Category: Meeting Previews

By Michael Guerin A horse who snuck into his $100,000 Golden Gait final at Alexandra Park on Friday through a technicality is the biggest danger to our best two-year-old trotter. Meant To Be opened $1.80 for the two-year-old trot on Friday but is likely to start closer to $1.30, with the unbeaten Ya Eejit Ya rated his clear and perhaps only threat at $3.10. But you have to go deep into the fine print of the inaugural Golden Gait series to find how Ya Eejit Ya even got into Friday’s…

No-one’s won more Invercargill Cups than six-time winner Blair Orange, so leading into this Friday’s $100,000 Group 1 Ascot Park Hotel Invercargill Cup he talks about his favourite horses and memories. By Dave Di Somma Harness News Desk  It was back in his days as a junior driver that Blair Orange won his first Invercargill Cup. It was with the Laurence Hanrahan-trained The Tough Nut in 2000. Now he is a six time winner, the most in the Cup’s history. “I was just a kid then, driving The Tough Nut,”…

The race for the junior drivers’ premiership, Swayzee’s race day return, a notable 21st and movie night at Cambridge all feature in this week’s News Briefs.  Junior drivers’ premiership battle heats up The Junior Drivers’ premiership is down to one. Last night’s meeting at Addington saw Carter Dalgety get a Trent Yesberg-trained double with Whosdreamingnow and Major Performer to take his tally for the year to 60. He trails leader Sam Thornley by just one. He had a win last night with Kawactus. Snapping on the leading pair’s heels is…

Friday’s Invercargill – Auckland double header will highlight harness racing action around the country this week. The $100,000 Group 1 Ascot Park Hotel Invercargill Cup and the Group 3 Brendan Franks Farrier David Moss Stakes headline a huge day at Ascot Park before Alexandra Park hosts its first ever $1m Golden Gait meeting. There will be 10 $100,000 races.   Invercargill’s meeting will start at 2.55, with Alexandra Park underway at 5.16pm.  Today’s Addington meeting to kick start huge week  The week starts today with a nine race Tuesday meeting…

By Adam Hamilton  Could Gary Hall Sr have another Im Themightyquinn? OK, that’s a huge call, but the champion WA trainer insists his latest star, former Kiwi pacer Mister Smartie, is second-only to “Quinny” as the best horse he’s trained. Mister Smartie, who has two starts for Craig and Aimee Edmonds in NZ for a win and a second, took his record to 15 wins from 18 starts when he toyed with his rivals in last Friday night’s $200,000 Group 1 Golden Nugget (2536m) at Gloucester Park. Despite sitting outside…

By Mike Love  Woodend Beach trainers Robert and Jenna Dunn have Bryce’s Meddle flying.  The four-year-old Terror To Love gelding made it career win number eight while taking his earnings up to and over $100,000 by winning the feature New World Rangiora Summer Cup on the grass at Rangiora. It was his second win in a row after securing the Geraldine Cup last week. Driver John Dunn was able to get safely away from their back mark of 20 metres before making the killer blow at the 1000m when they…

The Locomotive could be full steam ahead to New Zealand, Luke McCarthy wins elusive final and Cantfindabettorman gets some consolation in today’s wrap of the Inter Dominion Finals at Menangle. By Adam Hamilton  Owner Glen Holland will look seriously at a New Zealand trip with newly crowned Inter Dominion winner The Locomotive. Holland said now the $NZ650,000 TAB Trot was confirmed for Cambridge in April, it was a serious option. Like Just Believe the past two years, The Locomotive made a clean sweep of the series, winning all three heats…