BRISBANE - And then there were three.
The war of attrition that is the Interdominions may claim another victim today because Auckland trotter Sundon's Way is in danger of missing Saturday night's $A200,000 Grand Final.
The Mark Purdon-trained gelding was sore after his disappointing performance in Tuesday night's heat and will need to improve dramatically to take his place alongside stablemate and hot favourite Last Sunset.
"I knew we were in trouble halfway through his heat on Tuesday night when he went from going well to feeling terrible. He just doesn't do that," said Purdon.
"He is feeling sore somewhere in his near front leg and while we are not giving up on getting him into the final yet, it will be a battle."
Purdon attributed the problem to the very hard Albion Park track, which left several other standardbred stars feeling the worse for wear yesterday.
"It is disappointing how hard the track is because there is no reason for it. It doesn't help anybody."
Albion Park officials will work on the track to break up the surface, providing more cushion for the Trotters Grand Final and last round of pacing heats on Saturday night.
Chief steward Rod Osborne - an unusual racing official in that he has the words LOVE and HATE tattooed across the fingers on each hand - received official complaints about the surface.
"We will get the conditioner out to break it up a bit and I am sure it will be better on Saturday night," said Osborne.
But that will be too late for Sundon's Way. Even if he does make it into the Grand Final, he is no longer a serious winning hope, as indicated by the $15 price for the one-time third series favourite.
"Even if we get there he couldn't beat Last Sunset. Not giving him a 30m start," said Purdon.
That concession from Purdon leaves only three realistic winning chances in the race and all are New Zealanders.
Last Sunset's stroll in the park on Tuesday night has him a $1.90 chance with the major Australian bookmakers. The series' other heat winners, Take A Moment and Mountain Gold, are at $4 and $5 respectively.
The 1999 Interdominion champion Special Force is at $13.
Take A Moment's return to winning form on Tuesday night, his first victory in four months, has been attributed to some gear changes by trainer Tim Butt which helped him trot a lot squarer than he did on the opening night.
He easily accounted for Mountain Gold, who was missing some skin off a hind leg. Trainer Barry Purdon said the injury was not serious.
Even Australia's major trainers are willing to virtually concede the final to the New Zealand trotters. National Interest, at $21, is the most favoured of the locals.
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Two tiny slices of rubber may be the difference between Interdominion glory and another series of disappointment for New Zealand pacing.
No New Zealand pacer has won the Interdominion on Australian soil since 1977 when Stanley Rio won on the-then right-handed Albion Park.
Now both Holmes D G and Yulestar look serious chances to break that curse.
The latter has been helped by some smart training from Lorraine Nolan. The Taranaki grandmother quickly realised that the hard Albion Park track could have caused havoc for the gigantic Yulestar.
So before Tuesday night's second-round heats, Nolan fitted rubber pads on top of Yulestar's front shoes to provide valuable cushioning.
Yulestar's effort was the talk of the carnival. He worked hard three wide, was attacked in the middle stages but still surged clear on the home turn, only to be run down in record time by Shakamaker.
"On what I have just seen, Yulestar would be the greatest pacer in the world if he had gate speed," said Australia's leading harness racing bookmaker, Steve Single.
Far from being jaded, Yulestar was raring to go yesterday, said Nolan.
"The pads we put on top of his shoes worked perfectly and he is as sound as a bell. In fact, he seems to be getting better as the series goes on."
The magnitude of Tuesday night's performance was not lost on the bookies here, who now have Yulestar a 5-1 clear third favourite for Saturday week's $A400,000 Grand Final.
And Nolan is even happy with Yulestar's second-line draw for Saturday night's final heat, in which he takes on Atitagain.
"Being drawn on the second line means Tony [Shaw] can drive him quieter and look at swooping on him in the last lap. That would be an ideal final heat."
While Pic Me Pockets and Flight South have raced below their best, the pacing series is still progressing well for the Kiwi contingent. At this stage Yulestar, Holmes D G, Ouch, Pocket Me and Cigar are in the top 12 points scorers, which is where they will need to be after Saturday night to make the Grand Final.
Racing: Trainers sore at hard park track
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