By Joshua Smith, Harness News Desk Trotting maestro Paul Nairn will take a trio of square-gaiters to Addington Raceway on Friday and he believes they are all in with a chance. Unbeaten three-year-old Bitamuscle will be out to extend his winning streak to four in the Haras de Trotteurs Sires’s Stakes Prelude Mobile Trot (1980m) “He is nice, good-gaited horse,” Nairn said. “I am very happy with him, everything has gone to plan and he has trained on well since his last race.” The son of Muscle Hill will start…
Month: September 2020
Repeat performance expected from Copy That
By Joshua Smith, Harness News Desk Trainer Ray Green Is expecting much of the same from his gun pacer Copy That when he contests the Franklin Long Roofing 2020 Spring Cup (2200m) at Alexandra Park on Friday night. The American Ideal entire has strung together four wins from as many starts this preparation and Green can’t see that picket fence form line ending this week, despite his wide draw. “You can’t fault what he has done,” Green said. “He has done some spectacular stuff and long may it continue, I…
Big Fish, Little Fish | Addington, 25 September
Big Fish, Little Fish – Auckland 25 September
Big Fish, Little Fish is the brand new Whale Watch brought to you by Michael Guerin and Craig Thompson. Today they look over the Auckland meeting
Berry booked for Victorian mare in Everest
Tommy Berry’s partnership with brilliant sprinter Chautauqua has helped him to secure the ride on Victorian raider Tofane (NZ) (Ocean Park) in the $15 million The Everest. Trainer Mike Moroney confirmed the booking of Berry, citing the jockey’s relationship with Tofane’s part-owner Rupert Legh, who also raced six-time Group One winner Chautauqua, as a key factor. Damien Oliver partnered Tofane to her first-up third in the Bobbie Lewis Quality at Flemington but COVID-19 travel restrictions prompted connections to look for a local hoop. “With the current COVID-19 restrictions in place…
New Sulky Warrant of Fitness required
All sulkies are due for a new WOF (WHITE tag) by 31 January 2021 A new WOF is required every two years and the black WOF tag will expire on 31 January 2021. There is a fine of $100 for presenting your horse to race with an unwarranted sulky and in addition to the fine, unless your sulky has a white WOF tag attached effective from 1 February 2021 it will not be covered for any claims under the Sulky Fund. Contact details for WOF Inspectors can be found here Chris…
Initial NZ Cup & Dominion Trot Rankings
Please see here for the initial Rankings for the IRT New Zealand Trotting Cup and the Majestic Son Dominion Trot. Despite being installed a $2.50 favourite with the TAB, Copy That has been rated eighth in the first list of Rankings for the IRT New Zealand Cup at Addington on November 10. In Cup week’s biggest race for the trotters, the Dominion Handicap, last year’s champion Habibi Inta is ranked number one, ahead of 2019 Inter Dominion champion Winterfell and Sundees Son, who opened his campaign with a second consecutive Ordeal Cup victory a…
Houdini Boy’s a Ruff diamond
Mark Ruff is no stranger to success on the racetrack, being a part-owner of 2017 thoroughbred Melbourne Cup winner Rekindling, while he was also involved in the ownership of runner-up Johannes Vermeer for good measure. “That was the first time I’ve had a Melbourne Cup runner and they ran one-two. Mind you, I’ve owned horses for 30 years and had plenty of slow ones,” Ruff said. While it took decades to celebrate victory in the race that stops the nation, Ruff hasn’t had to wait nearly as long to unearth…
James is on a Shaw thing
Young Kiwi ex-pat James Shaw, 30, departed the ‘land of the long white cloud’ for the ‘lucky country’ in 2013. Shaw had accepted a job offer as a kennel hand at one of Victoria’s biggest and most successful greyhound training operations. Consequently, during the past seven years, Shaw has been accustomed to handling Jeff Britton and Angela Langton’s greyhounds on some of the sport’s biggest stages. Shaw – husband of GRV communications and content ‘Golden Girl’ Molly Haines – still makes the short drive each day from Lara to Anakie…
Belated birthday gift for Marriott
Opaki trainer Brian Marriott may have just turned 91-years-old but he is showing no signs of slowing down. It was Marriott’s birthday on Tuesday, but he was delighted with a belated celebration when his sole runner Bellissimo (NZ) (Showcasing) won the Kem Keene Memorial (1400m) at Woodville on Thursday by 4-3/4 lengths. “It was a really nice win, the jockey (Maria Sanson) did a great job,” Marriott said. The eight-year-old mare had finished runner-up in her two previous starts and Marriot said he was confident of a good showing on…