Month: February 2025

Dalgety fired up for Ultimate Driver Competition

NZHarnessNews

By Dave Di Somma, Harness News Desk   Carter Dalgety’s excited, and upbeat, about what he calls his “biggest” challenge to  date. The 21-year-old heads to Brisbane this week to take on some of the world’s best in the first ever Ultimate Driver Championship at Albion Park.    Ten drivers will take part in the 20-race series on Friday and Saturday with the top points-scorer at the end taking home the $100,000 first prize.  At the recent Harness Racing New Zealand Awards at Addington Dalgety, the country’s top junior driver in…

Sunday twilight to kick off at Manawatu

NZHarnessNews

The first of Manawatu’s new look Sunday meetings will be held this weekend. Three twilight Sunday meetings have been scheduled between now and the end of their season in May. They are on February 23, March 30 and April 6. Each of the Sunday meetings is teamed up with a Tuesday meeting two days later, while the club has a series of Tuesday-Thursday meetings as well. “We have had successful Sunday afternoon meetings before. They are good family days,” says Manawatu Harness Racing Club President Dan Lynch, “and these meetings…

Yearling sales head south after Karaka record-breaker

NZHarnessNews

By Dave Di Somma, Harness News Desk  Christchurch has a hard act to follow after Karaka’s record-breaking success on day one of the NZB Standardbred National Yearling Sales. On Saturday sales exceeded $5.7m, including 18 lots that sold for $100,000 or more. Christchurch on Tuesday is a  bigger sale numbers wise with around 200 yearlings, compared to 125 in Auckland.   Leading the charge at Karaka was Stonewall Stud with boss Steve Stockman spending just over $1m on the day including a record-breaking $360,000 for the top two lots, two Captaintreacherous…

Varenna Franco gives Leacock-Jones first training win

NZHarnessNews

By Mike Love  A lot of excitement greeted Greendale trainer Norm Leacock-Jones’ first training success at Banks Peninsula yesterday. “We were all jumping up and down because we thought we’d got second – so when the announcer called her in first we couldn’t believe it,” said Leacock-Jones.   In Race 3, the Seahorse Supplements Seahorse Mobile Pace, John Morrison eased Varenna Franco back from her outside draw to settle back of midfield in the running line. A couple of mid-race lead changes improved their position to one out one back…

Valachi legacy living on in star filly

NZRacingDesk

Kevin Hickman has left a lasting mark on New Zealand’s breeding industry, with the recent success of sensational filly Pivotal Ten an embodiment of his vision at Valachi Downs. A daughter of Ten Sovereigns, Pivotal Ten has been unbeaten in her last five starts for trainer-jockey Samantha Wynne, including victories in the Listed NZB Insurance Stakes (1400m), Listed Gore Guineas (1335m) and Listed Southland Guineas (1400m). At Gore, her nearest rival was six lengths away, while she was simply flawless at Ascot Park, putting nearly nine lengths on the field…

Futurity wait on I Wish I Win

NZRacingDesk

One of the headline acts for Saturday’s triple Group One meeting at Caulfield is the mouthwatering clash between weight-for-age heavyweights Mr Brightside (NZ) (Bullbars) and I Wish I Win (NZ) (Savabeel), but trainer and co-owner Peter Moody is keeping his options open with I Wish I Win. Moody said on Monday that while he will nominate the Group One star for Saturday’s Gr.1 Futurity (1400m), he is not locked-in to running I Wish I Win in any race. “There’s a race for him from now and until the middle of…

Monaghan Boy brings up milestone for Tyler

NZRacingDesk

Kelvin Tyler ticked off another milestone in his training career at Ascot Park on Saturday, bringing up his 400th winner with progressive gelding Monaghan Boy. The Riverton-based horseman has been a prominent figure in the South Island racing scene for well over a decade, while also successfully campaigning horses such as Lightning Jack, Lady Sass, Master Marko and Prince Alby in the north in recent seasons. Closer to home, Tyler had a big team of runners engaged on Southland Guineas Day and secured a winning double, bringing up the 400th…

Nicconi County on the board in New Zealand

NZRacingDesk

Former Hong Kong galloper Nicconi County saluted for the first time since arriving on Kiwi soil at Matamata on Saturday. The son of Nicconi was bred in Australia and had one run in his homeland under the name of Silent Theory, finishing second in the Listed Without Fear Stakes (1050m) at Morphettville. He was then sold to Hong Kong, going on to win three races and HK$4.7 million in the care of Caspar Fownes. A long-standing association between Fownes and Bob Vance brought Nicconi County to New Zealand, following in…