Author: NZHarnessNews

Bella just keeps on winning

NZHarnessNews

  by Dave Di Somma, Harness News Desk When it comes to winning races this year Bella Button is in royal company. Last night she made it six wins in 2023 after another finely-judged drive by Gemma Thornley in the Hydroflow Distributors Ltd Handicap Trot at Addington. That makes her the equal most successful horse in this country this year wins-wise with two others, none other than the unbeaten Millwood Nike and superstar trotter Muscle Mountain. Millwood Nike has won six from six this year and 14 from 14 overall,…

First hat-trick for for White

NZHarnessNews

by Mike Love, Harness News Desk Cambridge trainer Matthew White dominated at Alexandra Park last night when he trained and drove a hat-trick of winners. This was White’s first hat-trick of wins, in his fourth season of training. “Feels really good. I thought they’d go well, but didn’t expect them to win.” The first win of the hat-trick was in race two with Sweet Lou gelding Over The Top. The gelding started favourite on debut at Cambridge, only to run into trouble. However, last night White settled back, and let…

Carter (and friends) head back to Addington

NZHarnessNews

By Dave Di Somma, Harness News Desk After having a double and a treble there already this month, Carter Dalgety looks set for another productive night at Addington tonight. The talented junior driver will drive three very strong chances for his parents Cran and Chrissie Dalgety with Fernetti (R2), Ohoka Le Bron (R5) and Franco Sinatra (R6) as well as two outside drives in Glenthorne (R7) and Betterwithbling (R9). Fernetti was a hugely popular winner at Addington a fortnight ago and Dalgety is hopeful of more of the same in…

Interim HRNZ Funding Update

NZHarnessNews

The recent exciting development with the formalisation of a partnership between the TAB and Entain promises much for our sport. Harness Racing New Zealand is excited about working with Entain and we are currently evaluating what this new relationship means for our sport and the funding for the next racing season. We expect to make an announcement by the end of this month. Entain took over the running of the TAB on June 1, and this will see around one billion dollars flow into support of the sector in the…

South Coast Arden looks to go three in a row

NZHarnessNews

By Adam Hamilton Former Kiwi pacer South Coast Arden looks to have found the right race to stretch his unbeaten NSW streak to three at Menangle on Saturday night. The class gelding has clearly enjoyed the switch to Australia as evidenced by an impressive first-up win at Bathurst, followed by a narrow but blistering 1min49.1sec mile win at Menangle on June 3. Connections opted for the move from Brent Mangos’ NZ stables to NSW when South Coast Arden raced below his best late last year, culminating with 15th in the…

Youngsters coming out to play at Alexandra Park

NZHarnessNews

By Michael Guerin The second wave of Steve Telfer’s juvenile army launch their assault on Alexandra Park tonight and the premiership trainer says strength could end up being the deciding factor. Telfer is the head of New Zealand harness racing’s biggest stable, training in partnership with his sister Amanda and Hayden Cullen, and after dominating the domestic sales market in recent years he decided to flex some of that equine muscle last week. The stable produced the trifecta in last Thursday’s juvenile race, with Rock Band the first of their…

Dave Branch decides against trans-Tasman move

NZHarnessNews

Leading administrator Dave Branch has decided his immediate future will be in New Zealand. The chief executive of Cambridge Raceway and the key figure behind the $1m Race by Grins had been “seriously considering” a move to Australia. He’d been linked to a high profile job in Queensland he called “tempting”. “But in the end I feel there is a job that’s only been half done at Cambridge and I feel a lot of loyalty to the team there.” “We are on the cusp of a really exciting milestone in…

News Briefs : June 14

NZHarnessNews

Ottley and Tritton lead the way on big weekend On the same weekend that Sam Ottley became the most successful female driver in this country with her 678th win at Addington ex-pat Australian Lauren Tritton has made history in North America. She became the first woman to not only start in the Battle of Lake Erie at Northfield Park, Ohio but she also won it with millionaire pacer Lochinvar Art. Compatriot Kerryn Manning, a celebrated trainer-driver,  was also made a member in the General Division of the Order of Australia…

Online Licence Renewals 2023-24

NZHarnessNews

Online Licence Renewals for the 2023/24 licensing season 1 Aug 2023 – 31 July 2024 are now open (due date 30 June 2023) You can renew your licence online via your My HRNZ login on the HRNZ website or on the HRNZ Infohorse App on your mobile phone, download from the App Store or Play Store. If you need to supply a medical clearance, please complete your online renewal application and submit the medical once completed. If you would like help completing your online renewal please contact Maria Harris, details…