Author: NZHarnessNews

“Red” keeps racking them up at Cambridge

NZHarnessNews

By Dave Di Somma, Harness News desk  Red Rackham has started October the way he finished September – and that’s by winning at Cambridge on a Tuesday. The Vincent gelding has turned into a midweek marvel, winning five times there in his past six starts. The only time he didn’t win he was second. Fittingly his success last came in the Dunstan Horsefeeds Tuesday Pacers Final Mobile Pace while the Stephen Doody-trained Sweet Olivia took out the Garrards Horse and Hound Tuesday Trotters Final. The finals were eligible to horses…

Coastal Babe set for Aussie debut

NZHarnessNews

By Adam Hamilton  Classy Kiwi filly Coastal Babe has grabbed favouritism for the Group 1 Victoria Oaks. The absence of Australia’s best filly, Very Pretty, combined with a gun draw in Saturday night’s heat, has Coastal Babe into $1.80 to win the final a week later. Coastal Babe has won five of 12 NZ starts and is raced by the Summit Bloodstock team, who has a strong relationship with champion Aussie trainer Emma Stewart. Coastal Babe has been based with Stewart for a couple of weeks and should use her…

Diane Reilly eyeing up THE VELOCITY

NZHarnessNews

THE ASCENT and THE VELOCITY are the brand new $500,000 slot races that will be a big part of the Show Day Twilight race meeting at Addington Raceway on Friday, November 15. The slots for the two races for the three-year-old trotters and pacers were snapped up in quick time – so who are the people behind the names? Over the next few weeks we will profile many of the slot holders. Today is Diane Reilly  By Adam Hamilton  Hugely successful Aussie owner Diane Reilly (pictured above, second from left)…

Countdown on to $30,000 Final at Alexandra Park

NZHarnessNews

The penultimate heat of the Silk Road Northern Spring Series for the Fillies and Mares will be held at Alexandra Park on Friday night. So far there have been three heats, with the first two in each automatically qualifying for the $30,000 Final on Friday, October 18.  Those six are Wicked Wanda, Mhai Surfer Girl, Courtney Rose, Always B Stunning , You Little Beauty and Cyren Shard. The series, in its first year, is all about encouraging and rewarding intermediate grade (up to R54) fillies and mares to race at…

News Briefs : October 2 

NZHarnessNews

Dexter Dunn on fire in the US, Kypros Kotzikas into the Hall of Fame, the NZ Sires’ Stakes latest podcast and Methven gearing up for its biggest race day all feature in this week’s News Briefs. Dexter Dunn goes No 1 in USA  Dexter Dunn’s amazing run of success in North America has continued with six more wins at Ohio over the weekend. The former Kiwi champion driver dominated the card with a clean sweep of the four Dayton Derbies. His stellar day was spearheaded by Twin B Joe Fresh,…

Big shake up in IRT New Zealand Trotting Cup rankings

NZHarnessNews

Two races, one at Addington and one in Kilmore in Australia, have had a big bearing on the latest rankings for the IRT New Zealand Trotting Cup at Addington Raceway on Tuesday, November 12. The first three from Friday’s Group 2 Lamb and Hayward Canterbury Classic were always going to gain automatic qualification for the Cup, with Tact McLeod, Franco Marek and Alta Meteor duly doing the business. Before the win Tact McLeod was 30th in last week’s rankings while Franco Marek was 24th and Alta Meteor 13th. With that…

$41,000 raised during Blue September

NZHarnessNews

Harness Racing New Zealand’s Blue September campaign is over for another year, with the total raised in excess of $40,000. Following the month’s final race meeting at Timaru on Sunday it’s estimated the final figure will be around $41,000, at least $7000 higher than last year. Money was raised every time one of the 12 Blue September ambassadors won a race during the month, with contributions coming from HRNZ ($100 per win), clubs and the drivers’ individual sponsors. The country’s leading driver Blair Orange led the way with 24 wins…

200 wins as an owner for Tom Kilkelly

NZHarnessNews

By Jonny Turner Tom Kilkelly hasn’t lost any of his enthusiasm for harness racing after putting 200 wins on the board as an owner. The Invercargill breeder-owner, former trainer and longtime industry sponsor (pictured above, second from right) reached the milestone in grand style when his promising trotter Fiery Bandito ran to a big win in the Airpark Canterbury Trot at Addington on Friday night. The victory continued an incredible ride for Kilkelly whose interest in the sport goes back to his teenage years, before he first started racing horses…

Trotting into the Tuesday finals at Cambridge

NZHarnessNews

By Brigette Solomon Two “Tuesday Finals” will highlight action at Cambridge tonight. The Garrards Horse & Hound Tuesday Trotters Final Handicap Trot and the Dunstan Horsefeeds Tuesday Pacers Final Mobile Pace are eligible to horses that have had at least two starts at Cambridge since August 1. Both races have stakes of $12,500 and are rating penalty free to the winner. Palmerston North based trainer Stephen Doody has two runners contesting the Trotters Final with Sweet Olivia driven by Todd Mitchell, and Johnny Who driven by junior driver Crystal Hackett.…