Author: NZHarnessNews

By Adam Hamilton  The records keep tumbling for young gun driver Emily Suvaljko. The diminutive Suvaljko became the first female to snare a Group 1 Fremantle Cup winner when she drove a glorious race and caused an upset on $31 shot Mighty Ronaldo in last Friday night’s feature at Gloucester Park. “That was a huge thrill and a bit of a surprise. I missed the WA Cup winning drive on Vultan Tin two years ago when I suspended and then ran second in that race on Miracle Moose,” Suvaljko said.…

By Adam Hamilton Caretaker trainer David Aiken thinks former Kiwi pacer Cranbourne could “pinch” a really big win before he moves to the US. Aiken was thrilled with the six-year-old’s narrow but impressive first-up win in Australia in last night’s $75,000 Group 2 Shepparton Gold Cup (2690m). Cranbourne, who won 12 of his 42 runs in NZ, came through the win so well he will definitely back up in the Group 1 Ballarat Cup next Saturday night. “He didn’t go much quicker than he would have in a trial and…

By Joshua Smith, Harness News Desk Diamond Racing were a dominant force at Nelson on Sunday, with trainers Robert and Jenna Dunn taking out half of the 12-race card at Richmond Park. Their charge was headed by Mighty Looee, who backed up his Nelson Cup (3000m) heroics on Friday to win the Nelson Classic (1609m) two days later. “He burnt hard quite early, but he held them off quite nicely in the finish,” driver John Dunn said. “It was good that he backed up from his good run on the…

By Joshua Smith, Harness News Desk Sentimentality has drawn Rodger Austin to Nelson on Sunday where he hopes to take out the race named in honour of his father, Mike Austin. Mike Austin was synonymous with the trotting gait and bred Idle Stuartia, who his son will line-up in the Mike Austin Memorial Trot (2400m) this weekend. “He bred her and the race is one of the main reasons why we are going to Nelson,” Austin said. The daughter of Superfast Stuart finished eighth on the opening day of the…

By Michael Guerin Champion trainer Barry Purdon has no regrets about allowing Merlin miss the final Group 1 of last season and the decision could be set to pay a big dividend. Purdon and training partner Scott Phelan let their stable star bypass the $100,000 Ace Of Spades at the Grand Prix meeting at Addington on December 4, realising the three-year-old features for the new season would roll around before long. “He needed to have a break after the Sires’ Stakes in November otherwise he wasn’t going to get one,”…

By Jonny Turner Mighty Looee continued his epic harness racing journey when powering to victory in the Nelson Cup on Friday. The six-year-old led a Dunn domination by taking out 3000m feature on the first day of Richmond Park’s two-day summer meeting. In just his third start back from an Australian campaign, Mighty Looee worked to the lead before running away from his rivals on a big day out for trainers Robert and Jenna Dunn and driver John Dunn. Somewhat ironically, the horse was sent to Australia for mile racing…

By Joshua Smith, Harness News Desk Australia is once again beckoning for Majestic Man after his win in the Group 3 Cambridge Flying Stakes (2200m) on Thursday night. The Majestic Son gelding showed his gate speed to quickly take the lead for driver Brad Williamson who dictated terms throughout and guided his charge to a comfortable 1-1/2 length victory over stablemate Love N The Port. “He has got the game for the sprinting and with it not being a strong field, he was always going to be very hard to…

by Jonny Turner The old firm of Greg and Nina Hope and Ricky May look a big chance of adding to their hundreds of wins together at Nelson on Friday. May will put on the Monbet colours to combine with six runners from the Hope stable at Richmond Park while Ben Hope is on the sidelines through suspension. While Ben hasn’t been able to fulfil his driving duties, he is still well and truly on the job as the Hope stable’s media representative. There is only one slight query in…

Trottech’s selections for Nelson today.    Head to www.tab.co.nz to place your bet! Race TrottechForm Analyst Race 12.28pm 1 Secret Cocktail5 James Cagney3 Melando Chief4 Treasure Trail    Race 23.03pm 7 Spells Of Love10 Sebastian Coe5 Premium Player11 King Of Diamonds  Race 33.29pm 10 God Of Thunder3 Double Time7 Rita2 Archie  Race 43.54pm 3 Michael Caine1 Sailor Boy8 Remy Brown9 Divine Angel   Race 54.19pm 4 Trot To Chevron1 The Present maker9 Kohli Trouble2 Whats Wanted  Race 64.49pm 7 Chrislynn3 Move It On Over5 Franco Cornel16 Lone Wolf  Race 75.16pm 10 Sioux Princess7 Repeat…

Craig “The Whale” Thompson shares his thoughts on Nelson today.