The reinswoman got her hopes up and almost caused a massive boilover when $43 chance Mac Almighty hit the front in the last race on New Zealand Cup day on Tuesday.
But the pacer's run ended and he was claimed by the tenacious Brooklyn Brawler and runner-up Gentle Giant in the shadows of the post.
Butt heads to Ashburton with three chances to avenge that defeat.
The driver pairs with favoured pair Nui Ba Den in race 7 and Bushido in race 9 for Mac Almighty's trainer, Tim Butt.
Both pacers will go into today's races with minor, but possibly crucial, gear adjustments.
Bushido galloped in the last 100m of his last start when jumping a mark on the Rangiora track.
Today the horse will wear a shadow roll to ensure he does not make that mistake again.
''Hopefully, that will work, but he has never showed any signs of doing it before, so it was a wee bit out of the blue.''
Before his last-start effort the horse had pleased in his trial efforts and Butt was confident Bushido was going to be right in contention until he galloped, she said.
The driver is hoping a change of bit will help the consistent Nui Ba Den get away better from today's standing start than he did in his most recent start when second at Timaru.
''He had a wee gallop early at Timaru. He just shook his head at the grit, but we have changed his bit since then so, hopefully, that should make him a bit happier.''
Butt will also combine with the Bill Robert-trained Magastey who has had one start in which he too made a mistake and went for a gallop.
''He had been really good with his manners in his trials before that and he won a workout last Wednesday in a really nice way, so hopefully he can bring that form and be thereabouts.''
