Stars fly in a month out from IRT New Zealand Cup

Some very serious horsepower has been safely delivered to Christchurch from the North Island, and the majority of them will be in action as early as Addington on Friday night.

With New Zealand Cup and Show Week now only a month away, a total of 16 standardbreds have arrived on a flight from Auckland organised by IRT (International Racehorse Transport).

Among them was star trotter Bolt For Brilliance (pictured above), who will renew his rivalry with Muscle Mountain in the Dancinginthedark M Canterbury Park Trotting Club on Friday night.

The powerful Barry Purdon/Scott Phelan barn had the biggest contingent heading south with six horses - Merlin, Sooner The Better, Kiss, Always Be Elite, Cold Chisel and Ultimate Racy Girl

Arna Donnelly is also well represented with Kango, Le Major and Jolimont.

The other horses (with trainers) are :

Coastal Babe (Steven Reid)
Paramount Kiwi (Matt White)
Hawkeye Pierce (Logan Hollis)
Treacherous Love (Brent Mangos)
Lucky Mum (Dave McGowan)
We Can Have It (Nathan Purdon)

Considered far less taxing on a horse than the long road trip and ferry journey the inter-island flight is clearly proving popular with northern trainers, and it's envisaged there will be regular flights by Tasman Cargo Airlines between the two centres over the next few months - something that hasn't happened in recent years.