At first glance an Interdominion heat against Courage Under Fire and a lowly $6500 race at Hawera wouldn't appear to have much in common.
But to Lorraine Nolan the two are perfectly linked.
The Hawera fulltime grandmother and part-time horse trainer takes a step into the unknown tonight when Yulestar contests the second pacing heat of the Interodminions at Brisbane's Albion Park.
Nolan is used to Yulestar taking on the best horses in Australasia. She is just not used to him doing so after a dramatic last-start failure.
The last time Yulestar raced he produced the worst performance of his career in the Hunter Cup. Nolan took him home, a virus was diagnosed and Yuley was given all the tender loving care a 500kg racing machine could want.
Now he is back. He looks great, he has settled into his Queensland quarters well and has a handy draw behind Cee New York which should ensure he gets a good run through in tonight's mile heat.
But the question remains - is Yulestar fit enough to mix with race hardened big boys just yet?
The answer may lie at Hawera this week. That was where former crock Wicklow Bay returned to his best form with two fine wins, albeit against mostly moderate opposition.
But for Nolan, Wicklow Bay's wins have been a giant confidence boost.
Two weeks ago Yulestar gave Wicklow Bay a 30m start in a Hawera trial and beat him by almost as much, pacing his last 2400m on the lush grass in around 3:2, which is remarkable.
"He went great that day and if Wicklow Bay has come out and won two races in a week then we must be somewhere near target," said Nolan.
"I know we are talking about two totally different classes of racing but he beat him by a long way after giving him a big start."
Some of Yulestar's best performances have been when on the fresh side and while Nolan's admits the giant gelding still has improvement in him she also knows he can redeem himself tonight.
"He worked well on Tuesday and while a mile hardly suits he is full of surprises. I think he can win."
Standing in Yulestar's way will be Courage Under Fire and the rejuvenated Cee New York as well as his Auckland Cup conqueror Flight South.
"We trackworked against Flight South on Tuesday and she is very well. I think she will be hard to beat," said Nolan.
While those rivals will be tough, of just as much of a concern is the Albion Park track, which is so fast those back in the field struggle to make ground on the leaders.
That could play into the hands of Cee New York and against Yulestar and Courage Under Fire in the most interesting heat of the night.
The first pacing heat brings together Holmes D G and Atitagain and with the better draw the former has to be favoured.
Holmes D G has won two Miracle Miles, a Victoria Cup and two Derbys from in front so while Atitagain is the early favourite it would take a stunning performance to run Holmes D G down. if, as expected, he leads.
The last pacing heat brings together Victorian big guns Shakamaker and Persistency against three of the big movers of the New Zealand elite pacing ranks in Pic Me Pockets, Pocket Me and Ouch.
Shakamaker is the horse to beat but his best form has been when saved for one run, so he is beatable.
Persistency is all class but unsound and was easily beaten in a far weaker field last week so Pic Me Pockets could be the value option.
Tony Herlihy has elected to drive the gelding over Ouch and his last start Easter Cup second was a boomer. Another Victorian, Wally Walton, looks the other trifecta hope as he has gate speed and should lead.
While the pacing series is the most open in years, the trotting championships should belong to New Zealand.
Rowe Cup runner-up Last Sunset has the front line handicap to dominate, especially over tonight's 2138m distance. Of most interest among his rivals will be Take A Moment, who is on the way back to his best while 1999 Interdom champ Special Force has worked well this week and should be running on from his 30m backmark.
In the other trotting heat the Purdon brothers should dominate with Mountain Gold (Barry) and Sundon's Way (Mark).
While they both face tough 30m handicaps it is not a great field and Mountain Gold looks set to be one of the big improvers of the series after an increased training workload which should make him strip fitter than he did in the Rowe Cup. Eastnor Lad, National Interest and Djerriwarrh look the only other trifecta hopes.
Racing: Yulestar set to atone
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