It's a feat achieved just once in the last 34 years, but Australian trainer and driver Mick Stanley is looking to accomplish the rare act of crossing the Tasman to win the New Zealand Trotting Cup.
His four-year-old gelding Rock N Roll Doo is joint-favourite for the Cup, alongside Mark Purdon's Self Assured.
On Monday, the pair face-off for the first time at the Ashburton Flying Stakes.
Aussie harness racing star Rock N Roll Doo has his eye on history. He and trainer/driver Mick Stanley are chasing the New Zealand Cup.
"It's an iconic race," Stanley told Newshub. "You always look from afar in awe of everyone that gets to compete."
Purchased for just $14,000 at the 2019 yearling sale, Rock N Roll Doo has accrued more than $400,000 in stakes.
His most recent win? The Victoria Cup.
"To think that we would have come this far a couple of years down the track is what you dream of," he added.
Having won his last three starts, Rock N Roll Doo is currently the joint-favourite for the Cup - alongside Kiwi horse Self Assured, the 2020 cup winner trained by Mark Purdon.
"Talk of your horse against horses like this, Self Assured, is humbling," said Stanley. "Good to know people are enjoying Rock N Roll Doo, I guess."
The two favourites will meet for the first time on Monday in the group two Ashburton Flying Stakes, before the Cup race on November 8.
"History's there to be written, isn't it?"
It might not be the Bledisloe Cup, but it would certainly be something to celebrate across the ditch.
