KEY POINTS:
His only real challenger for the title is Changeover.
New Zealand Cup winners traditionally have a great record in the awards.
Flashing Red returns to New Zealand today.
QuoteBox1: It is very hard to pick because they both had amazing years. Tim Butt
Flashing Red will arrive back in New Zealand just in time for one of the more unlikely victories in harness racing history.
The amazing 10-year-old will rejoin trainer Tim Butt and Phil Anderson today to start his defence of the New Zealand Cup he won last season.
And it could be his first win of the new season is just 36 hours away in the Horse of the Year awards tomorrow.
The supreme award at the annual dinner in Christchurch comes down to a battle between Flashing Red and Changeover.
While others like Monkey King, Ohoka Arizona and One Under Kenny have had fantastic seasons, the veteran and the young gun will dominate voting.
And Butt says while he can see a case for both he thinks Flashing Red may take home the title.
"It is very hard to pick because they both had amazing years," said Butt.
"But the New Zealand Cup is still our biggest race and we are hoping that will sway voters.
"You look back to races like the Auckland Cup and he had top horses struggling a long way from home.
"Changeover would be a worthy winner too but I hope Red gets it."
The award is voted on by the harness racing media, of which there are few fulltimers, and horses who perform at the New Zealand Cup carnival traditionally have an advantage as so few of the southern voters ever get to Alexandra Park or beyond.
So Flashing Red could well record a win that would have seemed most unlikely a year ago.
Back then he was a struggling open class journeyman in Australia, having just turned nine and nobody knew he was even going to be trained in New Zealand.
Yet under the care of Butt and Anderson he pulled off a string of stunning spring victories, including the Ashburton Flying Stakes and the New Zealand Cup.
He went on to run second in the Victoria Cup, third in the Hunter Cup and then smashed the national record in the Auckland Cup.
Most other years that would be enough to see him almost unanimously voted our top standardbred but Changeover will give him a run for his money.
His 15 wins from 17 starts have made him the most talked about pacer in Australasia and the rising star among both codes in New Zealand, especially now that galloping great Xcellent has been derailed again.
While Changeover has dominated an outstanding crop of Australasian 3-year-olds he could lose votes for the yet unresolved cases involving the great youngster.
They involve his caffeine irregularity which will almost certainly cost him the Sires' Stakes Final and the charges against trainer Geoff Small for his driving tactics behind stablemate Pocket Baileyship in the Sales Series Pace, which Changeover won.
Such things shouldn't affect voters but they probably will and that could hand the award to Flashing Red.
Regardless of who wins tomorrow night, Butt is simply happy to have Flashing Red back in his care and looking so well.
"Ant (Butt) went to Australia and saw him last week and he looks even better than when we took him over last season.
"And he will need to be. Last season most of the open class horses weren't absolute top horses whereas this season he will be up against Monkey King, Changeover and possibly Mainland Banner."
Add to that the fact Flashing Red faces a 15m backmark in the New Zealand Cup and tomorrow night's Horse of the Year victory could be his last major one for a while.
Butt says while Flashing Red will follow a similar race programme to last season his training will be different.
"We have got to find away to put some speed back into him," he said.
"I think in the past it has been trained out of him so we might lighten his work load and try some other things to get him pacing better so he can get around the corners more smoothly."
Butt's two other open class pacers, Tribute and Foreal, both impressed at the Rangiora trials on Tuesday and will race soon.
"Tribute will kick off in at Addington around mid September while Foreal will go to Australia next week and stay there until the Miracle Mile," Butt said.
