Tonight - Forbury Park. Tomorrow - I'll be on the couch. Maybe with a beer in hand (after 3pm perhaps), but definitely with my eyes firmly focused on the nine pacing and trotting races from Cambridge.
The Harness Jewels have by no means taken over from New Zealand Trotting Cup Day as the biggest day of the year in the standardbred code, but it has quickly become a date on the calendar that must be marked, nay carved in stone, for any harness fan.
. . . that I put down . . .
There have been a few mutterings this year about the number of withdrawals as Jewels day has neared. You can look at that two ways. One is that trainers are making savvy decisions about traipsing more than 1000km with a horse that may not be a realistic place chance, let alone a win chance.
Does that make a nationwide championship then? Not necessarily, but generally the best horses fight out the finish.
Trainers and owners may also realise their horses need to be at 100% and - if they aren't peaking after what can be very long seasons - it's in the horse's best interest to be bucking around the paddock rather than being stirred up on the track this weekend.
The alternate view is that the Cambridge venue has - to use the pop culture reference made famous by Fonzie on waterskis in the 1970s show Happy Days - well and truly jumped the shark as a location for the Harness Jewels.
Draws can have a big say in the result, the run to the first bend is pretty short, and the horses in the first three with 800m to go win most of the races.
I've already stated my case last year for the Jewels to remain permanently at Ashburton, so I will refrain from any further sentences on that matter.
. . . in words
But there's still lots more to like about the Jewels. I'm hopeful the Australian invitation process is fine-tuned and we get a few representatives here next year, and the basic concept is still essentially perfect - particularly the mile distance which is all-important for standardbred breeders.
Watch this space
As a newspaperman in the modern era, one of my responsibilities is to throw out little teasers about our upcoming coverage. What I will say to you is that a New Zealand record will be broken at Forbury Park tonight. What exactly that record is, you will find out in the next few days. How's that for being vague?
Lazy Fiver
Second for Marotiri Miss at Trentham on Saturday, paying $2.40 for the place. As I labelled No Doctor Needed as my long shot in yesterday's Jewels preview, I'll stick with him in race 6 at Cambridge tomorrow.
