By MICHAEL GUERIN
Brian Hancock is warning punters not to give up on Courage Under Fire - again.
The little former Kiwi champion pacer has cost his most loyal supporters the national debt of a small country this season with a string of performances ranging from average to simply pathetic.
But even through those dark days his trainer Hancock has stuck by Courage Under Fire, saying he would bounce back.
That opinion was vindicated when he came from the second line to beat Yulestar in his opening night heat but he only battled when fifth behind Atitagain on Tuesday night.
While he was three wide in midfield in what developed into a sprint home, Courage Under Fire still failed to run past some mediocre opponents and horses like Breeny's Fella were taking ground off him at the finish.
But Hancock says there is plenty of improvement in Courage Under Fire for a most unbelievable reason.
He doesn't believe he was hard enough on the stallion between Saturday and Tuesday night.
That may sound like a strange excuse considering Courage Under Fire had a gutbusting race on Saturday and was on the track again 72 hours later, but Hancock is adamant that is the problem.
"I think I was too soft on him and I reckon I just have to keep pumping the work into him," he said.
"I have been working him a lot harder this campaign and even between the heats I think he is going to need to be kept up to scratch.
"He will be fitter again on Saturday [tomorrow] night and I think with another week to work on him I can fine tune him for the Grand Final."
Bookies were keen to drift Courage Under Fire's Grand Final odds to $8 after Tuesday night's defeat but as the man who has trained five pacing championship winners Hancock's words should be respected.
Shakamaker's come from last heat win on Tuesday night has promoted him to $4 favouritism in Australia with Atitagain surprisingly drifting to $5 last night, even as the only undefeated pacer in the series.
Yulestar's two enormous seconds have seen him move into $6, just ahead of Holmes D G and Courage Under Fire with Persistency the only other pacer hovering around the single figure mark.
With tomorrow night's heats to go, at least nine of the 12 Grand Final spots appear taken.
Atitagain, Holmes D G, Shakamaker, Yulestar, Courage Under Fire, Lombo Rapida, Wally Walton, Pocket Me and Persistency would all need to suffer bad luck tomorrow night to miss the Final.
That would appear to leave, in points order, Zyuganov Leis (who is battling slight soreness) and the Mark Purdon pair of Cigar and Ouch competing for the final three spots with Cee New York, Back Of Benachie, Bancoora Next, Show Of Hands and Breeny's Fella, with the remotest possibility Safe And Sound could sneak in.
Racing: Trainer still backs little champ
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