Self Assured could lose more than the Ashburton Flying Stakes tomorrow.
Another defeat will almost certainly cost him New Zealand Cup favouritism and might even cost him valuable respect that could help him win the great race.
The New Zealand Cup, our premier harness race, is still 15 days away but the 2400m standing start Flying Stakes has long been the most important lead-up.
It is even more so tomorrow as it is the first time this season long-time Cup favourite Self Assured and his stablemate Spankem meet the northern stars Copy That and Mach Shard.
About two months ago Self Assured was looking a good thing for the Cup after the Auckland Cup winner put together a string of stunning wins. But since then he has lost two of his three starts, one through poor standing-start manners but another when outpointed by a flying Spankem at Methven. That will have rocked punters' confidence that Self Assured is clearly the most talented pacer in the country and if Spankem, or even Copy That, can step better than him tomorrow and lead then Self Assured is going to need to be very good to beat them.