KEY POINTS:
Superstar 3-year-old pacer Changeover is going to remain a people's champion.
His army of owners have turned down a $1 million offer for the colt which would have seen him half-owned by Christchurch-based Ian Dobson.
And the 'Not For Sale' sign may be staying up for a while as Changeover gets ready for the second half of his season.
Changeover is raced by the ATC Trot 2006 syndicate, a group organised by the Auckland Trotting Club.
The ATC syndicates have proved an ideal way for those not wanting to outlay huge money for a horses or in training bills to get into ownership, with almost every horse the syndicates have started winning at least one race.
But what started out as fun for the dozens of owners has now become very serious business, with Changeover the most valuable standardbred in Australasia.
Already this season he has won the Sires' Stakes Final (although that is under inquiry), the Sales Series Pace and Woodlands Northern Derby.
He will start a hot favourite in the Flying Stakes at Addington on Friday night before heading to the New Zealand Derby a week later.
Add in races like the New South Wales Derby, Harness Jewels and Australasian Breeders Crown and he could push for millionaire status by the end of the season.
But Changeover's real value lies beyond that, with millions more beckoning if he can stay healthy as a four, five and six-year-old before a stud career that could net further millions.
So all of a sudden his syndicate of owners are no longer thinking about their share being worth enough to pay a few bills: it has become a very lucrative investment.
Dobson's $1 million offer for a share of his racing career and then his stallion rights was always going to be turned down but a far more lucrative offer, believed to be from a leading stud farm, has also been made.
"Because it is a syndicate we have to go through a process to vote on any offers," said ATC syndicate's manager Rob Carr.
"For that reason I couldn't table the second offer at the weekend's meeting so we will have to have another meeting to discuss that."
While Carr would not confirm the details of the second offer, Herald investigations reveal it would value Changeover at close to $2 million, a rarity in the history of Australasian harness racing.
Changeover had his first public outing since winning the Derby on March 2 when he was a strong second to Highview Badlands at the Motukarara workouts on Saturday.
With former arch-rival Fergiemack having died suddenly 10 days ago and Aussie hero Lombo Pocket Watch not expected to return to New Zealand this season, only Gotta Go Cullen looks capable of beating Changeover at his best.
* New Zealand's other champion young pacer, One Dream, will make her Cambridge debut on Thursday night but it won't be much help to punters.
One Dream will not be a leg of the guaranteed $400,000 Pick6, which many punters would have seen as a Pick5 had she been part of the jackpot.
She will contest the latest northern heat of the Nevele R Fillies series in what could be her last race before the Great Northern Oaks on April 13.
* New Zealand and Auckland Cup hero Flashing Red faces a far easier task in Perth this Friday than he did last week.
The 9-year-old was the beaten favourite in the Fremantle Cup last Friday.
He was checked early when starting from a 20m handicap and was then trapped three wide for the second half of the race.
He will have the luxury of starting from barrier six behind the mobile in this Friday's A$250,000 ($285,000) West Australian Cup, up against dual Miracle Mile winner Be Good Johnny, who will start from the second line.
