After his second win in Sunday’s Hannon Memorial, Akuta has climbed up three places in the latest IRT New Zealand Trotting Cup/ Renwick Farms Dominion Trot rankings.
Both races, limited to 15 starters, will held at Addington Raceway on Tuesday, November 11.
The Mark and Nathan Purdon-trained Akuta, who also won the 2022 Hannon, was 10th in the rankings before the weekend. He is now seventh. It was his second win this campaign after a long lay-off with a tendon injury.
Dalton Shard and Renegade who finished second and fourth in the Group 3 feature have also improved this week. Dalton Shard goes from 20th to 15th while Renegade is now 21st, up three spots.
Swayzee, Republican Party, Leap To Fame, Mo’unga and Alta Meteor have already sealed their places in the field.
The next automatic qualifier for the $1m Group 1 feature is the Holmes DG at Alexandra Park on October 3, followed by the Canterbury Classic at Addington (October 17) while for the Dominion it is the Worthy Queen (October 10) and then the Canterbury Park Trotting Cup (October 17), both at Addington Raceway.
Already qualified for the Dominion are Bet N Win, Arcee Phoenix and Oscar Bonavena.
In the latest rankings for the Dominion there are no major moves though Hidden Talent does move one place to inside the top 15, after her third in the Group 3 Jasmyn’s Gift Fillies and Mares Stakes at Oamaru on Sunday.
The winner of that race I Dream Of Jeannie improves three to 17 for Team Dunn while northern trotter Belle Neige has gone from 28th to 25th on the back of her third successive win at Alexandra Park on Friday night.
Rankings will be updated weekly with the final rankings coming out after the Kaikoura meeting on Monday, November 3.
View them here
