It’s D Day in Invercargill on Sunday Three Group Twos will highlight Diamonds Day and to celebrate we have produced a ‘Diamonds Day Form Guide‘ with bet selections, fields, and previews on the main races to guide you through what will be a massive 12-race card. You can download your copy here to read or print it out. Be sure to also follow Southern Harness Facebook Page as they lead up to Diamonds Day. The racing gets underway at 11.30am – enjoy.
Month: April 2021
Foal education seminars
So You Think, Preferment, Jimmy Choux and Norzita are just some of the Group One winning graduates to complete the Foal NZ foundation behaviour programme. Next month Foal NZ will hold two 30 minute lecture sessions prior to the New Zealand Bloodstock weanling sale, explaining the benefits of their scientifically-proven training methods. Established in 2003, Foal NZ have continued to develop their processes, keeping their methods in line with up-to-date research to establish foundation behaviours that give each foal the best chance possible to become a successful racehorse. They are…
Alfa Oro retired
The racing career of talented five-year-old Alfa Oro has come to an end. Purchased by trainer Matt Laurie out of Regal Farm’s 2017 New Zealand Bloodstock Ready To Run Sale draft for $240,000, Alfa Oro went on to win six of his 11 starts for his connections, and placed on three other occasions. The son of Bachelor Duke showed plenty of early promise, winning first-up as a juvenile at Pakenham before finishing runner-up in his only other start as a two-year-old. He was touted as a potential Gr.1 Caulfield Guineas…
Ranting back on track ahead of Group Two test
Trainers Leon and Troy Corstens believe they have Ranting back to his best ahead of the Gr.2 Tobin Bronze Stakes (1200m) at Morphettville on Saturday. The Group Three winner finished ninth in the Gr.2 Oakleigh Plate (1100m) first-up in February before sustaining an injury when running eighth in the Listed Incognitus Stakes (1100m) at Flemington last month. Troy Corstens said the New Zealand-bred colt will take plenty of improvement out of his weekend assignment, but he believes they have him in fine fettle after a pleasing trial earlier in the…
Beer to unveil latest Kiwi import
Group Three winning three-year-old Opalescence will have her first start for new trainer Mitchell Beer on Saturday when she contests a 1300m BenchMark 78 at Sandown. Previously prepared by Byerley Park trainer Jenna Mahoney, Opalescence was a winner of the Gr.3 Bonecrusher Stakes (1400m) at Ellerslie in December and finished fourth on Auckland Cup Day behind quality gallopers Need I Say More, Babylon Berlin and Cornflower Blue in the Listed Mufhasa Stakes (1300m). Albury trainer Beer has been a good supporter of New Zealand and has formed a good association…
Johnson hoping to toast Travis success
Danielle Johnson set a single season stakes record for a New Zealand jockey last weekend and is looking to add to it on Saturday with some solid chances at Te Rapa. Johnson rides Savy Yong Blonk, the $2.40 favourite for the Gr.2 Travis Stakes (2000m) at Te Rapa on Saturday, along with several other good chances on the undercard. Johnson has a virtually unassailable lead in the jockeys’ premiership with 145 wins – nearly double her nearest rival, Sam Collett, who has 75. But in the past week she took…
Freda ready to ‘rock’ Bracelet
Rob Camilleri loves a challenge and that’s a very good thing after the Lara mentor recently took over training the immensely talented but enigmatic Freda Rocks. To paraphrase a well-known nursery rhyme, when Freda Rocks is good, she is very, very good but when she is bad she can be horrid, as her form will attest. Freda Rocks, which was trained by Mario Briganti until he suffered a severe hand injury, has won four of her 17 starts, the most recent a runaway 9.75 length 29.30sec (Best) romp at Sandown…
Playlist to inflict Wentworth Park ‘Payne’
Anthony Azzopardi is taking star kennel newcomer Playlist back to the scene of his greatest triumph in Saturday night’s heats of the Group 3 Bob Payne Sprint (520m) in Sydney. Last July, when trained by Matt Clark, Playlist won the G1 Vic Peters Classic, upstaging an all-star field that featured his multiple Group-winning litter brother Catch The Thief, Tommy Shelby and Houdini Boy. Playlist was recently transferred to Azzopardi and has had two starts for the champion ex-NSW mentor, winning first-up at The Meadows in a fast 29.82sec and then…
Sundees Son poised for seventh Group One
by Dave Di Somma, Harness News desk Colin De Filippi knows a thing or two about the Rowe Cup – and barring a major mishap he can’t see Sundees Son getting beaten tonight. The veteran horseman trained and drove Stent to win the great race in 2015. His winning time of 4:03.6 remains the race record. Twenty years before Stent’s win he also won with So Long Eden for trainers Roy and Barry Purdon. “I was also up there when Dad’s horse won it but I didn’t have a raceday…
Doggies and Durden ‘barking’?
Has TAB gone ‘barking mad’ with tonight’s AFL/Greys offer? The betting giant is offering $3.40 about the Western Bulldogs defeating Richmond in a Round 7 blockbuster and talented Tyler Durden winning at Bendigo greyhounds. You ‘can’t beat the boys of the Bulldog breed’ at present. So, TAB’s cross-sports proposition is sure to attract plenty of interest from the ‘Sons of the West’! The undefeated Doggies are on top of the AFL ladder with six wins, while the ‘Dusty’-less Tigers are seventh with three wins. Meanwhile, the Angela Langton-trained Tyler Durden…