By Michael Guerin
Dream About Me’s Inter Dominion campaign mirrors her New Zealand Cup — over before it began.
The glamour pacing mare was knocked out of Tuesday’s $800,000 New Zealand Cup before she had taken a stride, Seel The Deal swinging around at the start and stopping her in her tracks.
Now her connections have decided against putting her on a plane to Perth today to contest the Interdoms, which start tomorrow week.
Cup winner Lazarus will go along with Have Faith In Me while their stablemate Piccadilly Princess will contest the mares races at the Perth carnival.
“I was happy for her to go or not go but her owners said they were just as happy for her to stay here,” said Purdon.
“She can occasionally have hoof problems and the three runs in a week for the heats may not have been the best thing for her.
“So she will go to the Free-For-All on Friday (tomorrow) then the mares races at Auckland next month and the Auckland Cup again.”
Dream About Me won the Auckland Cup in race record time last season and could be joined in the race by stablemates Heaven Rocks and Vincent.
By not going to Perth she is the surprise entry for tomorrow’s $260,000 sprint, while Heaven Rocks is an equally surprise omission.
He disappointed Purdon with his manners in the Cup, the big occasion clearly getting to him.
Dream About Me would have been favourite for the Free-For-All but has drawn the outside of the front line while New Zealand Cup placegetters Jack’s Legend (3) and Tiger Tara (5) are drawn to control the race.
Tiger Tara, who was a gigantic third in the Cup after galloping down the back straight when he jumped a mark on the track, was originally set to miss tomorrow’s race as he too his heading to Perth but he is instead flying over the weekend, going from Christchurch to Sydney, Melbourne and then Perth all in one day.
The New Zealand TAB has Lazarus $2.40 to win the Inter Dominions, while Australian bookmakers have him as long as $3.20.
Another big name hugely disadvantaged by a group one draw tomorrow is Bordeaux in the $300,000 Dominion, with the free-going trotter to start off the second line while brilliant Tuesday’s Trotting Free-For-All winner Great Things Happen will start off the front.
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