Blue and gold invasion at Ascot Park

By Jonny Turner Catching Otago’s star three-year-olds Cracker Hill and Spirit Of St Louis looks an almost impossible task for their opposition at Ascot Park on Saturday. Cracker Hill looks as closest thing to a racecourse certainty since lockdown ahead of his clash off level marks from behind the mobile in race 7. A 20m handicap looks far from enough to stop Spirit Of St Louis when he has his first run since March in race 8, the meeting’s feature handicap pace. Trainer-driver Brad Williamson has Cracker Hill ready to…

Licencing deadline looms

Harness Racing New Zealand is encouraging all trainers and drivers to renew their licences as quickly as possible.   “COVID-19 has forced a re-think on how we do things,” says HRNZ Racing and Marketing Manager Darrin Williams, “all licences will be completed on-line and there will be some new payment options.” “In addition to the option to “pay now” when you complete the licence process, the HRNZ Board has approved the ability for you to be invoiced and begin paying the fee from future earnings prior to the start of the…

The Diva vying for successive wins

By Josh Smith – Harness News Desk The Diva will be vying to record back-to-back wins when she contests the Blue Star Taxis Pace (2000m) at Addington Raceway on Sunday. The daughter of Art Major ran away to a dominant 2-1/2 length victory over 2600m at the Christchurch track last Sunday, a performance trainer Jason Thomas was expecting in her previous run. “It was a good win,” he said. “I thought that was going to happen the first week, but she did run in around that last bend. “We just…

Bendigo Battlers Cup Heat Review

Watch the replays and hear from connections in the Battlers Cup final at Bendigo which will be run on Bendigo Cup night. Battlers Cup heat wrap Ten heats of the inaugural Greyhound Racing Victoria – GRV Battlers Cup were run at Bendigo on Wednesday with participants embracing the concept. Posted by Bendigo Greyhounds on Wednesday, June 24, 2020

Hurrah’s just Gr8

Former top-flight sprinter Last Hurrah has found a ‘middle ground’. And in the process, he’s become a “Gr8 Eight king”. Earlier this year, Last Hurrah contested one of the sport’s most prestigious sprint events – the Group 1 Australian Cup (525m) at The Meadows. But since turning his paws to middle-distance racing, he’s been an absolute marvel! Trained by young gun Brett Nye, 28, Last Hurrah won his third Gr8 Eight with a customary frontrunning display in a keenly contested affair over 595 metres at Sandown tonight. He’s previously won…

Count on Christo to bounce back

A bout of Canine Coronavirus hasn’t derailed Christo Bale’s rise to stardom, with the excitement machine set to bounce back from a luckless last start defeat in Saturday night’s GR8 Eight Series (525m) at The Meadows. Trainer Mark Delbridge’s big opinion of Christo Bale was justified with three scorching wins in succession at Sandown Park, clocking 29.21s and 29.29s, and The Meadows, where he posted 29.72s. That airborne winning streak came to an end last Saturday when Christo Bale missed the start in a FFA event but came from near-last…