By MICHAEL GUERIN
Even the good news is turning out to be bad for New Zealand's 3-year-olds campaigning in Melbourne.
Saturday night's heats destroyed the Victoria Derby hopes of Perfect Seelster and Matai Mackenzie after both galloped and failed to make the final.
And in Perfect Seelster's case the race will cost him much more than a shot at just one Derby - it has ended his 3-year-old career.
The Sales Series Pace and Waikato Guineas winner has a bone chip in the suspensory ligament area of a hind leg. The chip was discovered when trainer Mark Purdon ordered a veterinary examination after the gelding's uncharacteristic gallop in Saturday night's heat.
"It is pretty upsetting for the owners to receive news like that but at least now we know why he wasn't himself on Saturday," said Purdon.
While that ended Purdon's main Derby hope, he was still confidently looking forward to the race with Rare Gem, who bolted to favouritism with an effortless win in the second heat on Saturday.
But that confidence took a knock yesterday with what would usually be good news.
Rare Gem drew the often coveted ace in the $A100,000 Derby but Purdon believes he doesn't have the gate speed to utilise the draw.
"That is probably the worst draw he could have got because he doesn't have any real gate speed and is almost certain to get crossed at the start," said Purdon.
"Because it is a longer race that may not be so bad but he will still need a bit of luck."
But Purdon admits he won't have to worry about that problem too much - he will be paying champion driver Tony Herlihy to do that.
"I think Tony will take over as the driver for the Derby."
Even from his unsuitable draw Rare Gem is a $3.50 equal favourite with Manifold Bay.
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Champion trotter Lyell Creek faces one of the toughest tests of his career on Saturday night.
The freak will have to give fellow northern trotter Last Sunset a 50m start in their heat of the Australasian Trotters' Championships.
Last Sunset produced the run of the race, albeit a long way behind Lyell Creek, when fourth after racing parked in last Saturday's Dullard Cup.
But because most of his major wins were as a 3-year-old, Last Sunset is not even close to being open class under Australian handicapping conditions so he will receive the huge start this week.
By comparison, when the pair clash in next month's Rowe Cup at Alexandra Park there will only be 15m between them.
Lyell Creek may be good enough to give Last Sunset a 50m start and a beating but in a capacity field he wouldn't want any traffic problems as he attempts to do so.
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The most obvious investigation of the harness racing season is over and Yulestar will keep the second place he scored in December's Auckland Cup.
The giant pacer has been under investigation since returning an elevated blood bicarbonate reading in pre-race testing, a result which came back just minutes too late for the favourite to be scratched.
Harness Racing New Zealand general manager Edward Rennell announced yesterday that an investigation had been concluded and Yulestar's trainer Lorraine Nolan was found to have no case to answer.
The elevated blood bicarbonate level is believed to have been caused by physical problems.
These include fluctuating white blood cell levels and a lung infection, suffered by Yulestar in the lead-up to the race after he became sick upon his return from the New Zealand Cup meeting a month earlier.
While nobody inside the harness racing industry ever considered Nolan had milkshaked Yulestar, HRNZ bosses, in keeping with the importance of the case, sent the evidence to Professor Reuben Rose at the University of Sydney for his expert opinion.
Racing: Perfect 3-y-o breaks down as stablemate hindered by draw
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