KEY POINTS:
ADELAIDE - Embattled trainer Peter Tonkin has hit out at harness racing's rumour machine heading into the A$500,000 ($565,000) Interdominion Pacing Final.
The Victorian horseman prepares third favorite Robin Hood and has been put under extra pressure this week after rumours concerning the soundness of his star pacer were rife in the tight-knit community.
Almost everybody you spoke to at this carnival yesterday suggested Robin Hood was suffering from a quarter crack after his final-heat fourth last Saturday night and the concern even reached chief steward Gerrard Lalor, who ordered a veterinary examination of Robin Hood.
That was carried out yesterday and the big pacer was found to be fit and healthy to take his place in the final.
While glad to have the issue resolved, Tonkin was outraged that idle gossip had caused him so much stress.
"I am sick of all this nonsense," he yelled.
"People saw him go a bit rough on the home bend on Saturday and then all of a sudden they start making stuff up.
"Sure this horse has had problems in the past and will always be a horse who needs a lot of attention.
"But the only reason he went rough was because he was three wide with some good horses sprinting inside him.
"I think most other horses would have done the same under the same circumstances."
Tonkin took Robin Hood back home to Victoria after that heat but will have to have him back in Adelaide by Friday when 24-hour security guards go on all horses in both the pacing and trotting finals.
Robin Hood is one horse unlikely to be too greatly affected by last night's barrier draw as he doesn't have the gate speed of other favoured runners like Blacks A Fake, Be Good Johnny or Winforu.
That means he will almost certainly have to come wide on the track at some stage of Saturday night's final, suggesting his third favouritism yesterday is more about his past record than his actual winning chance.
While he is undoubtedly one of the best pacers in Australasia he does not look entirely comfortable on the tight Globe Derby track so will need a hot pace or a lot of luck to win.
While most trainers with horses in the pacing final spent yesterday counting down the hours to last night's crucial barrier draw, the Kiwi trainers were at least doing so in familiar conditions.
Many of them feared before the series the heat would drain the New Zealand horses, especially after 40C days were forecast last week.
Such temperatures have not eventuated and while yesterday was hotter than most Kiwi horses would be used to, the connections of all five New Zealand horses in the finals reported no problems.
While the weather hasn't been overly hot things could get that way when the leading harness racing administrators from throughout Australasia meet on Friday.
The Interdominion council will have its first meeting since the Herald broke the news the two New Zealand host clubs plan to pull out of the series.
That sent the major Australian clubs into a frenzy and has prompted a radical new plan from the three states to host the next three Interdominions - Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland.
They met yesterday and indications are a Queensland benefactor has promised A$1.5 million over the next three years to save the series.
That would mean a guaranteed $1 million pacing final for the next three years to be held on the first Saturday in March.
While that will please trainers and owners it will outrage the Auckland Trotting Club, who have worked hard to position the Auckland Trotting Cup in the first week of March. That could make for some very interesting discussions come Friday, with the tri-state move a direct snub to Auckland.
