Nominations out for NZ Cup and Renwick Farms Dominion Trot

By Michael Guerin

Harness racing bosses have moved to protect the integrity of the New Zealand Cup with a stinging new rule and boosted deterrents for late entries.

And that should allow punters to bet into the market for the $800,000 classic at Addington on November 10 with more confidence.

Entries for the Cup and the Renwick Farms Dominion Trot, to be run the same day, closed on Monday with only one major absentee being Inter Dominion pacing heroine Captains Mistress.

While her trainer Jason Grimson nominated four horses for the Cup his exceptional mare wasn’t among them, curious after she was heavily backed by “smart” punters on Friday to win the Cup.

That saw her start Monday as the $3 second favourite behind Leap To Fame at $2 but it now looks certain she won’t be coming to Addington, well at least not for the Cup.

The punters who backed her on Friday, or before, get their money back though as the NZ Cup market was “pre-noms” with bets refunded on horses not nominated.

While it is not impossible Captains Mistress could be late nominated, which could become appealing if something was to go amiss with Leap To Fame, that path has become significantly more expensive to go down and would need to be decided earlier.

Harness Racing New Zealand and host track Addington have got together to almost double the late entry fee for the Cup, a huge deterrent to owners belatedly deciding they want to take on New Zealand’s greatest race.

The fee will be $40,000 plus GST this season whereas it was $25,000 plus GST last season when owner Mick Harvey paid to get Kingman into the Cup after he had won the Victoria Cup.

Kingman then produced one of the great modern day pacing performances to win the Cup but as stunning as he was the result was a bleeding nose for punters and a black eye for harness racing.

There had been no earlier indications Kingman was a New Zealand Cup contender so he wasn’t in any markets, meaning punters couldn’t back him.

He was added to the markets when the late entry fee was paid but those who had backed hot favourite Leap To Fame in the Futures markets only to see him beaten by a horse they couldn’t back for the preceding 6 months, could rightly feel peeved.

To make matters worse it was the second year in a row the New Zealand Cup market was turned on its head by a late entry as in 2024 Swayzee had his late entry fee paid eight days out from the race and also won.

While there is no integrity issue with connections of horses paying late entry fees and they can be a useful source of income for Addington, it leaves a sour taste in punters' mouths when they back a horse in the Futures market only to have it subsequently beaten by a horse who wasn’t even a betting option or being discussed as a entry until a week or so out.

But with officials having moved to deter that with the new $40,000 late entry, effectively $46,000 with the tax added, will make even the most flamboyant owner think twice about paying a late entry fee.

And to double down on punter protection if any owner does fancy a late shy at the stumps, the last day for late entries will be October 19, two days after the Victoria Cup.

“That means we can’t have horses joining the race after October 19,” said HRNZ's Head of Racing and Wagering Matthew Peden. 

While Captains Mistress looks set to miss the Cup, Leap To Fame is entered on and trainer Grant Dixon says the great race is the champion pacer’s main spring aim.

“We will bypass the Victoria Cup this year as we have had no luck there and aim to be in New Zealand about six days before the race,” says Dixon.

“At this stage he is definitely going.”

A fully fit Leap To Fame would be too strong for most of the locals especially with arguably New Zealand’s best pacer Got The Chocolates sidelined for the rest of the year.

But fellow Aussie stars Kingman and Swayzee, who has won the last three New Zealand Cup between them, are also entered along with the high-class The Janitor.

The Dominion market is dominated by superstar trotting mare Keayang Zahara, who hasn’t raced since smashing the Kiwis in the TAB Trot slot race at Cambridge in April.

Her driver Jason Lee has also confirmed the Dominion is her main spring aim and she will be back trialing in three weeks.

The Australians appear to have a stranglehold on the Dominion with defending champion Gus returning and the local ranks having seen Oscar Bonavena, Muscle Mountain and Bet N Win all retired in recent months.

There are a total 77 horses for the Cup and Dominion nominated, with the first rankings due out Thursday 

To see the nominations click here