Author: NZHarnessNews

The times are changing for the Akaroa Trotting Club. So often used to having the first Sunday of December on the grass at Motukarara all to themselves this year they will be running their one and only meeting for the year a day earlier, this Saturday. “We are a tenant club and we have to do what’s good for the industry,” says Akaroa Trotting Club President Keith Ballantyne, “and it will be interesting to see how we go on Trackside 2 on a Saturday as opposed to Trackside 1 on…

The 2022 SENZ Cadet of the Year winner will soon be crowned. The final stage of the competition is upon us with the four finalists excelling in all of their regional challenges. They will now battle it out for the right to call themselves the SENZ Cadet of the Year. Representing Canterbury is the regional winner Carter Dalgety and runner-up Tom Bamford. Travelling up from the deep south to contest the title is the Southern regional winner Oliver Kite and the Northern regional winner Zev Meredith will also make the…

He must train at one of New Zealand’s most remote locations – but Wayne “Ox” McEwan wouldn’t have it any other way. Last week he notched up a first from his Te Anau stable when Kirstin Green drove both Branxholme Lass and Major Fire to victory in Invercargill. “I’ve had quinellas and stuff in the past but that was my first double so that was pretty good.” And it seems that McEwan is only going to increase his involvement in the sport in the years ahead as he pivots away…

Bulldog says farewell in style The racing career of one of the all-time greats Bulldog Hanover is over. It was a fitting finale for the world record-holder too as he won at the Meadowlands over the weekend in 1:47.6. “Week after week, he puts those kinds of runs in,” said his driver and 10-time Kiwi champion Dexter Dunn, who gave several fist pumps crossing the finish line. “He’s got all the power. It was an amazing performance tonight and a great way to go out for him.” It was the…

By Adam Hamilton A broken string cost Bolt For Brilliance his second round Inter Dominion heat and saw his Grand Final odds drift. Just when trainer-driver Tony Herlihy started his move and went to pull the plugs, the string broke and everything went wrong at Shepparton last night. Only one ear plug released, the blinds malfunctioned and Bolt For Brilliance ducked-in and locked wheels briefly, losing valuable ground. While all that happened, driver James Herbertson skipped away on the leader Nephew Of Sonoko with a big break. Bolt For Brilliance…

by Michael Guerin Champion trotter and current Horse of the Year Sundees Son is out of this Sunday’s Grand Prix meeting and the entire summer of racing. The last-start Dominion winner, making it a three-peat in the race, has knocked a leg in a paddock and will be sent for a spell. That means he misses the $100,000 NZ Trotting Free-For-All at Addington on Sunday, the open class trotting highlight of the new eight Group 1s raceday. It means Muscle Mountain, who all but beat Sundees Son in the Dominion,…

By Michael Guerin New Zealand’s newest Group 1 race meeting this Sunday could end up playing a deciding role in who wins the harness racing trainer’s premiership. If that is to be the case then it may be advantage the All Stars barn of Mark Purdon and Hayden Cullen, even though they go into the weekend in second place. While the partnership would be the automatic first choice if most punters were asked who was New Zealand’s leading harness stable, the All Stars last won the premiership in 2019 with…

Dual New Zealand Cup-winning trainer Ray Green is making good progress after undergoing emergency surgery last week. Green was kicked in a stomach at his stables just over a week ago by a filly. He was in a serious condition initially with news now that he may be discharged from Middlemore Hospital later this week. To see the complete story click here

   Two words pretty much summed up how Tom Bamford was feeling after his breakthrough training win at Geraldine on Saturday – “bloody good”. And what a commanding win it was. After settling handy Muscle Bank went to the lead with over a lap to go for driver Gavin Smith and from there it was a done deal. The five-year-old mare ran her rivals ragged, winning by more than nine lengths for her fourth win in 18 starts. But it was Bamford’s first training success. “This is win number one…