KEY POINTS:
Changeover will start a commanding favourite after drawing barrier one in New Zealand's first match race in nearly three decades.
The champion 3-year-old pacer will clash with arch rival Gotta Go Cullen in a two-horse heat of the Australasian Breeders Crown at Cambridge on Thursday night.
While small fields for Australasian Breeders Crown heats are not unusual, Thursday's clash takes on far more importance as TAB bookies have indicated they will take fixed odds betting on it.
That means it will be shown live on Trackside, with Cambridge harness racing officials putting it on at 9.48pm.
That gives punters the rare opportunity of betting on a two-horse race knowing it will be a genuine contest because the winner gets direct entry into the semifinals of the ABC.
The runner-up will have to contest a repechage in Australia.
That was one reason trainer Geoff Small was so thrilled with Changeover drawing the inside of the two barrier yesterday.
While the draw wouldn't seem to matter too much over 2200m - with no possibility of traffic problems - Small was still aware it holds the key to the race.
"I am a lot happier about drawing one than two," said Small.
"They probably have similar gate speed but from one he should stay in front and then we have all the options."
The most logical option would be Changeover staying in front and dictating the tempo and turning the race into a sprint home.
That would mean if Gotta Go Cullen has to come around him down the back straight he will cover extra ground around the final bend, whereas if he waits until the home straight he has only 200m to outsprint Changeover.
While that could all change if Gotta Go Cullen was somehow able to lead early, TAB bookmakers had Changeover very short last night.
They opened him at $1.20 and Gotta Go Cullen at $4.20 before support for the latter moved him into $3.30. That saw Changeover ease to $1.30.
While $1.30 may not be enough to get the average punter interested in Changeover it could appeal to the small number of large punters who go as high as $10,000 on harness racing fixed odds betting.
It could also attract multi-bet punters looking to boost the return for fixed odds bets on other racing or even sporting events.
Either way any turnover will be more than what the club would have received had it staged the race as a non-tote event.
Small said Changeover had made good progress since he returned to the public arena with a winning workout at Alexandra Park last Tuesday.
"I was very happy with him that day because they don't often go 2:45 [for 2200m] at the workouts," said Small.
"He did that easily and has had three good workouts since."
Changeover worked strongly over 2400m at Small's property yesterday, pleasing his trainer by sprinting at the start and end of the workout.
"He will be ready for Thursday night."
