NZ Trotting Cup: What you need to know

Swayzee driven by Cameron Hart, wins the 2023 NZ Trotting Cup. Photo: PHOTOSPORT

A couple of New Zealand horses are out to spoil the party for Australian star trotter Swayzee in today's New Zealand Trotting Cup.

Swayzee is the defending champion for the $1 million dollar event at Addington Raceway in Christchurch.

The Sydney connections paid a late nomination fee ($28,000) to get into the field and was now the one to beat following the scratching last Friday of hot favourite and fellow Australian, Leap to Fame.

Swayzee only arrived in the country on Sunday night and was hoping to become just the seventh back to back winner of the race.

He was in impressive form, coming from the back of the field to win the recent Victoria Cup.

Hoping to chase down the Australian invader and grab the $540,000 first prize are a couple of New Zealand stars, Don't Stop Dreaming and Merlin, who were two of just four horses in single figure odds.

Barry Purdon and Scott Phelan train Merlin and Mark Purdon and his son Nathan train Don't Stop Dreaming.

The brothers have clashed many times in the Cup and today should be just as compteitive.

In a recent warmup race Merlin headed home Don't Stop Dreaming in the Ashburton Flying Stakes.

Merlin has won 20 from 31 and $1.2m in stakes while Don't Stop Dreaming has won 15 from 30 and around $900K.

The only other horse in single figures (as of early Tuesday morning) was the one named after All Black star Richie Mo'unga.

Mo'unga was just outside the top 15 for the big race before winning last Monday's Kaikoura Cup. That propelled the Regan Todd trained horse into the field.

FACTS :

Race: 5:46pm

New Zealand Cup: First run in 1904

Three horses have won the Cup three times :

Terror To Love (2011-12-13)

False Step (1958-59-60)

Indianapolis (1934-35-36)

Race record: Lazarus 2016 - 3:53.1

Most wins as driver :

Ricky May 7

Mark Purdon and Cecil Devine 6

Previous Australian winners of the NZ Cup include Steel Jaw (1983), Lightning Blue(1987), Arden Rooney (2015), and Swayzee (2023).

When Arden Rooney won it marked the first time a female driver won the Cup.

The history-maker of that occasion was Kerryn Manning.

This was the first time that the country's two biggest pacing and trotting races, the $1m IRT New Zealand Cup and the $400,000 Renwick Farms Dominion Trot were being held on the same day.

Both will be raced over 3200 metres. Previously the Dominion was held on Show Day, on the Friday of Cup week.

The last time the NZ Cup was worth $1m was in 2009.

Gates open at 11am with first race at 12:08pm. The New Zealand Cup is race 11.

Weather fine.

Field:

1 Tact McLeod

2 Aroda (Australia)

3 Charlie Brown

4 Mo'unga

5 Don't Stop Dreaming

6 American Me

7 Better Eclipse (Australia)

8 Mossdale Ben SCR

9 Lady Of The Light SCR

10 Merlin

11 Leap To Fame SCR

12 Franco Marek

13 Mach Shard

14 Republican Party

15 Swayzee (Australia)

16 Beach Ball

17 Dalton Shard

18 Alta Meteor

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