The New Zealand Trotting Cup has lost its second leading contender in a week following the withdrawal of Ultimate Machete yesterday.
Last week it was Perth star Chicago Bull who was withdrawn with a back injury following his impressive win in Auckland and now the sole Australian raider Tiger Tara is the firm favourite for next week's $800,000 feature.
Ultimate Machete was the early Cup favourite but some dodgy standing start displays followed by a flat effort at Addington last Friday night, when the five-year-old Bettor's Delight entire finished a very disappointing sixth, saw him drift in the market to the third line of betting.
"We got the vet (Lindsay Colwell) to him on Saturday and she strongly suspected it was a foot abscess although nothing has come to the surface just yet," said trainer Mark Purdon.
"But we worked him this morning and he clearly wasn't right, so we made the call to pull him out of the Cup.