Last season's leading pacer, Have Faith In Me, tops the New Zealand Trotting Cup rankings released yesterday.
The 5yr-old's win in the Auckland Cup last year gives him top billing for this year's edition of the country's top pacing race following a three-hour meeting of industry officials on Tuesday.
Last year's New Zealand Cup runner-up, Smolda, is ranked second, with New Zealand free-for-all winner Tiger Tara taking third spot ahead of Locharburn.
Titan Banner, who will stay with Mark Purdon and Natalie Rasmussen for his tilt at the cup, sits right above the cut-off point at 15, with another 14 horses below him all chasing their spot in the 3200m feature over the next 10 weeks.
Master Lavros is on top of the Dominion rankings courtesy of his win in last year's race, just ahead of reigning horse of the year Monbet.
Both the New Zealand Cup and the Dominion have an encouraging numbers of nominations from Australia: four and seven respectively. Messini (7) in the NZ Cup and Keystone Del (3) in the Dominion are the highest ranked of the Australians.
The next meeting of the rankings committee will be held on September 7, following the Maurice Holmes Vase meeting.
New Zealand Trotting Cup rankings.-
Have Faith In Me 1, Smolda 2, Tiger Tara 3, Locharburn 4, Mossdale Conner 5, Christen Me 6, Messini 7, Lazarus 8, Philadelphia Man 9, Franco Nelson 10, Mighty Flying Mac 11, Itz Bettor To Win 12, Costa Del Magnifico 13, Hug The Wind 14, Titan Banner 15, Franco Ledger 16, No Doctor Needed 17, Alleluia 18, Quick As A Trick 19, Cullect A Guinness 20, Brilliant Strike 21, Seel The Deal 22, Expressive Victor 23, Didjamakem Bolt 24, Maverick 25, Lewy Risk 26, Expresso Martini 27, Idealindiamonds 28, Moonrock 29.
Dominion rankings.-
Master Lavros 1, Monbet 2, Keystone Del 3, Glenferrie Typhoon 4, Stent 5, Alley Way 6, Valmagne 7, Sheemon 8, One Over Da Moon 9, Habibti 10, Sunny Ruby 11, Jag's Invasion 12, Quite A Moment 13, Kyvalley Blur 14, Daryl Boko 15, Vincennes 16, Zachary Binx 17, Harriet Of Mot 18, Sun Of Anarchy 19, Overanova 20, Harrysul 21, Scarrymcleary 22, King Denny 23, Le Reveur 24, Monty Python 25, Foray 26, Golden Gate 27, Paramount Dream 28, Waterloo Sunset 29, Amaretto Sun 30, Cool Cobber 31, Arya 32, Belles Son 33, Realmein 34, Pegasus Dream 35, Arran Chief 36, Bordeaux 37, My Tribeca 38, Springbank Eden 39, Sunset Peak 40, Quevert 41, Tornado Valley 42.
