Month: June 2020

By Josh Smith – Harness News Desk Ricky May and his golden helmet were back in the winner’s circle at Addington Raceway on Sunday in what has been a remarkable comeback. In bone chilling scenes at Omakau in January, the champion reinsman collapsed unconscious in the sulky mid-race and came close to death. It has been a steady return to the sulky since then and just five months after the harrowing incident he has not only returned to raceday driving, but to the winner’s circle as well. It may have…

By Dave Di Somma – Harness News Desk  It’s taken a while but Logan Darby says his breakthrough victory with Rainbow Wiri was worth the wait. It was his first win in 15 drives in what was the first amateur drivers race at Alexandra Park since July 2015.   “It was my first drive under the lights at Alexandra Park,” he said, “I was quite surprised at how well he went.” In the last at the Park on Thursday night Rainbow Wiri, trained by his father Ray Darby, was 9/10 in…

Decisions on venues and dates for next season should be known in the next couple of weeks. A revised draft calendar for the 2020-21 season was released mid May, and then opened to a consultation process.    Harness Racing New Zealand forwarded its submission yesterday to the Racing Industry Transition Agency (RITA) who will have the final say. HRNZ Interim Chief Executive Phil Holden says it’s been a complex and drawn-out process as they considered  hundreds of pages of submissions from clubs and other interested parties.   In next week’s “Chat”…

By Jonny Turner Star trotter Marcoola’s racing career could be over as his stud career beckons. While it may not be the news trotting fans wanted to hear, the New Zealand breeding industry is about to get a boost with owner Clint Ford confirming his seven-year-old will enter the breeding barn in some capacity this year. Ford and his father, Ken, who co-owns and officially trains the New Zealand record holder, are currently weighing up exactly what Marcoola’s spring will look like. And there is a possibility it will not…

By Dave Di Somma – Harness News Desk The joy of winning his 50th race for the season was written all over Robbie Close’s face.   “It was pretty incredible really,  getting to 50 is not easy”, he said. After driving Jenabella  ($11.40 and $3.10)  to victory in race 3 at Addington on Sunday Close celebrated the achievement by poking his tongue out in the direction of  Blair Orange who’d run second with Pembrook Tilly. It’s his version of the Pukana that is the trademark of both Blackcap Ross Taylor and jockey Michael Walker.   “I only do that…