Champion trainer Mark Purdon finds himself in an unusual position heading into Tuesday's $540,000 New Zealand Cup at Addington — but he says it is the right one.
Purdon, along with training partner Natalie Rasmussen, has trained five of the last six New Zealand Cup winners and even the year they got beaten it was by Arden Rooney, a horse they used to train.
Even more clockwork than them having the Cup winner is having the Cup favourite, with superstars like Lazarus getting as short at $1.40 when he won his second Cup in 2017.
Yet on Tuesday the All Stars stable will have to make do with having the second and third favourites in Self Assured and Spankem, and Purdon says they both deserve to be behind northerner Copy That in the market.
"I don't think it is one of those years we can go into the race confident, definitely not as confident as some other years," says Purdon, who will drive Self Assured.