Author: NZHarnessNews

The New Year will usher in a few changes in the training and driving ranks, including a new training partnership of Ray Green and Nathan Delany. Just 24, Delany has gone from being stable junior at Lincoln Farms to joining 79-year-old Ray Green at the helm. Green is in the top echelon of this country’s trainers with 510 winners, including dual New Zealand Cup winner Copy That. To read more of their story click here  After a very successful 2024 season that’s included 23 wins, Hayden Cullen will be joined…

By Dave Di Somma, Harness News Desk  The highlights just keep coming for Sam Ottley. 2024 has finished with a roar for the history-making driver. She has had 14 wins in six days either side of Christmas and along the way became the first New Zealand woman to drive 100 winners in a 12 month season. And it gets even better – yesterday she won in front of a huge crowd at Motukarara with Justa Terra, a Terror To Love four-year-old trained by her mother Denise. “The last few days…

  By Michael Guerin In a harness racing season full of surprises what Greg Sugars has achieved might just be the greatest. The harness season ends tomorrow night with the $250,000 Trillian Trust Auckland Cup meeting, with Sugars trying to win the Cup for the second time in seven months with Better Eclipse. He originally came to New Zealand to drive champion trotter Just Believe, trained by his wife Jess, in the $600,000 TAB Trot in April. They won. Sugars decided to stick around for the Alexandra Park carnival in…

By Mike Love  Piccadilly Pete ($2.25FF) is in a great run of form going into today’s Rosco Contractors Reefton Pacers Cup over 2500m.  After winning the Westport cup and backing up on day two of that meeting with another empathic victory there is no reason to doubt he will be hard to beat once again.  One horse that may spoil the party is a newcomer to the circuit in Clonakilty.  The Brent and Tim White trained runner has opened a close second favourite at $2.90FF although co-trainer Tim White suggests…

By Mike Love  Piccadilly Pete ($1.75FF) will be looking to double down on success at Westport today after winning the Frank Dooley Memorial Westport Cup on day one.  After a dominant performance on the first day the three-year-old Sweet Lou gelding has come through his run well and trainer Matt Purvis is expecting another strong performance today.  “Very happy with him. He showed first up at Rangiora that he would measure up. I was a little bit worried the way the track was playing that he might not handle it,…

By Dave Di Somma, Harness News Desk  Dexter Dunn is back. The 35-year-old has secured his fifth USA Driver of the Year award in the past six years, after a stellar 2024. Dunn, who won 10 consecutive New Zealand driving premierships before heading to the USA in 2018, has won this year’s award after having 304 wins in North America in 2024.  He had won more than $15m in stakes before, but his total this year ($16.645m) was his best ever, and $2m more than the second highest earner Yannick…