Merlin back on track for New Zealand Cup

By Michael Guerin Merlin’s New Zealand Cup campaign is back on track and he could even be joined by another stablemate in the great race. The five-year-old recorded his first win in nearly a year in the $100,000 Alabar Kaikoura Cup and it was a proper victory too, coming from well off favourite Akuta to overpower him in the last 150m. Akuta led early and was briefly challenged by Sooner The Bettor but Merlin still had to come from a long way back, three wide down the back straight, and…