KEY POINTS:
Even racing million-dollar racehorses can have its frustrations.
It's taken a while, but Graeme Nicholson has swallowed his bitter disappointment at the watered Trentham track costing Sir Slickhis chance in the group one Thorndon Mile last start.
"That was disgusting what they did (to the track) at Trentham.
"I told Bruce (Herd) two races before the Thorndon we were wasting our time being there."
Instead of Sir Slick being able to use the kick horses can get off the running rail on the Trentham home turn, the track conditions dictated that he needed to be out in the centre of the track and that made it impossible to successfully carry 60.5kg fighting off horses both sides.
The ninth Sir Slick ended up with is a travesty of justice for such a wonderful horse and has no bearing whatever on his chances tomorrow.
But they won't run the Thorndon Mile again and Nicholson is attempting to focus solely on tomorrow's $200,000 Whakanui Stud International Stakes.
Sir Slick easily won last year's Whakanui and it's difficult to predict a different result.
Last year he had one and a half lengths to spare from Sharvasti.
"I don't think this year's field is quite as strong as last year's," says Nicholson, who is delighted with the way Sir Slick came through his Trentham exercise.
He even believes the horse had less of a physically strenuous time than he would have had the track been firm.
"He's a funny horse Slick - if he decides he doesn't want to try he won't, no matter what.
"When they turned for home in the Thorndon I turned to my partner in the horse Barry (Brown) and said: 'Look at him, he's just said bugger you lot, I'm not trying in these conditions'.
"Straight after the race he wasn't stressed or anything - he'd looked after himself.
"He came through that very well and he loved it when we took him to the Paeroa races for a gallop.
"I think he'll be very hard to beat this time."
Fiscal Madness has come to form at the right time with high-profile victories in the Rich Hill Mile at Ellerslie and Trentham's Anniversary Handicap.
In the latter, he lumped 59kg and is well suited to this race being run under weight-for-age conditions.
His Matamata trainer John Sargent produced Sharvasti to chase Sir Slick home last year and lines up the biggest danger again.
Dezigna is a wonderful veteran racehorse who is probably in career best form.
His problem racing against the likes of Sir Slick is that he likes to relax early, the result being that he finds himself with five or six lengths to make up on Sir Slick and the horses up front from the 500m-400m.
Dezigna can run remarkable sectionals, particularly off a fast early pace, but there is a limit to what any horse can do at this top level.
