Two days of scintillating harness racing at Ashburton on Saturday and Sunday confirmed what many have thought for a while: the Harness Jewels should have a permanent home at the Mid Canterbury track.
Sadly, in the parochial world of racing, this won't happen.
Cambridge, which hosts the Jewels on alternate years, has its advantages over Ashburton - such as floodlights in case the winter sun dips behind clouds earlier than hoped.
And the crowd does get nice and close to the action at Cambridge, as it's a venue constructed mainly for harness racing (with a greyhound track on the inside).
But the times run throughout the 12 Harness Jewels races over the weekend were too overwhelming to ignore.
We now have 3yr-olds running under 1.51 for a mile. Even at Menangle - widely accepted to be the fastest track in Australasia when it comes to mile racing - the fastest time for a 3yr-old sits at 1.52.1.
We had both Terror To Love and Christen Me recording times of 1.51 and 1.51.3 respectively, and who knows what the former may have done without a steady nor'wester slowing the speed on the back straight on Sunday.
If the harness racing fraternity wants to continue down the path of mile racing for the Harness Jewels, Ashburton is the answer.
The 1500m track means there is 109m before the field begins the final lap, and the bend coming out of the straight is not severe enough to restrict horses trapped wider from pushing on to the lead.
The long home straight gives horses an opportunity to come from the back, provided the race is run to suit, and the double passing lane - with room for two horses trapped on the markers to dart at the leaders - is strategically placed 150m into the straight.
Some of the sectionals recorded at the weekend were staggering.
I was told Franco Ledger's last 400m was clocked off the video by some officials at 24.4sec, give or take a fraction.
That's not just low-flying - we are starting to get into the territory of thoroughbreds with times like that.
Overriding the track, the times, and the weather - which was sensational for June, but that is the luck of the draw - the buy-in from Ashburton and the greater Mid Canterbury region really struck home for me.
My former employer, the Ashburton Guardian, had a super Saturday edition, with stories galore and plenty of information for punters and casual fans alike, while the whole town seemed to be buzzing.
But, as good as this all sounds, we're back to Cambridge next year, and I don't see its losing hosting rights any time soon.
Politics will play their part, and the travel factor and costs will be brought up by North Island trainers and owners. They've got a point, but every horse that runs in a Jewels race gets a minimum of $2500 for making the field, which is enough to cover the costs of floating horses down, plus extra expenses.
Let's not forget, it's a heck of a long haul for Southland trainers to take horses north to Cambridge - six or seven hours more than any trip from the Waikato to Ashburton, or four more than bringing your horse from Papakura or Clevedon to Ashburton.
We have seen some good racing at Cambridge during its three years of hosting the Harness Jewels, but a mile distance is not the answer there.
Certainly, if the powers that be are open to the idea of 1700m mobile affairs at Cambridge, or even 2200m, Cambridge very much has a part to play, but breeders in particular want to chase those quick miles for their mares' pedigree page.
So, there are two options: stick with the mile and stick with Ashburton, or mix up the distances and continue the alternate hosting arrangement that has been in place since 2007.
Unfortunately, I fear we will be left with a compromise of mile racing - much like the situation that left us with three extra Jewels races this year. An exercise I expect we won't see again.
