Category: Punting

by Adam HamiltonChampion trotter Just Believe has been retired. It turns out his typically brave second to Oscar Bonavena in the Group 1 NZ Trotting free-for-all on November 15 was his farewell. Co-trainers Jess Tubbs and Greg Sugars today confirmed the global superstar had run his last after niggling issues emerged during that hugely successful NZ campaign late last year. “It’s with a tinge of sadness, but an overwhelming sense of pride we announce the retirement of our champion, Just Believe,” Tubbs and Sugars posted on social media. “We could…

Junior driver Leah Hibell has a handy book of drives at Otaki today including a strong contender in the Grant Plumbing Ltd Wellington Cup with Idolou, who she drives for Cambridge based trainer and her employer, Nicky Chilcott. “I think Idolou is a good chance today” says Hibell “She has been racing well in some strong fields and drops back in grade today which I’m sure she’ll appreciate.” The five year old mare by Sweet Lou has been lightly raced for three wins from just ten starts and has met…

by Michael Guerin Trainer Matt Purvis knows it won’t be as easy as the numbers suggest for Piccadilly Pete in today’s $25,000 Donegal House Marlborough Pacer’s Cup. Because if it was the pacing find of the summer would be almost a good thing to continue his grass track domination. The four-year-old comes into today’s 2850m beautifully, having won the lead-up on Friday but not being re-handicapped. That means he is a Rating 74 horse off a 10m handicap alongside horses rated 10 points lower than him while the Rating 76…

Stephen Doody likes the idea of being back in the big time. And in Doo You Want Me he just might have the horse to take him there again. The big son of Captain Crunch has only just turned three but scored his first win away from home (Manawatu) when he came from a tricky position to win the strongest pacing race at Cambridge on Friday night. It was win number four, all in a row, from just eight starts for Doo You Want Me and he is clearly the…

by Michael Guerin There may have been stranger debut victories than Manakau Blaze’s stunner at Blenheim on Friday. You will be hard pressed to find them. The seven-year-old trotting mare was having her first career start and went into it without a trial in eight months. Yet she won by a staggering 15 and a half lengths from trainer-driver Barry Ford, who just to add to the fun hadn’t driven a winner for four years and only three in the last 10 years. And yet this trainer-driver who rarely trains…

Selections for Blenheim Head to www.tab.co.nz to place your bet! Blenheim           Matt Markham Selections  Race 1 1.47pm 5    Rosary    1    Manakau Blaze    12  Heartbreak Hotel    8    Volstone  Race 22.20pm 2    Interrorgator    6    Mariana Trench    5    Frankie    10  Copenhagen Girl     Race 32.53pm 6    Shannon B    1    Nila Maree    10  Miki Skipper    4    Vesta     Race 43.18pm 4    Razors Edge    3    Hope For Love    6  …

By Michael Guerin If last month’s Alexandra Park Group 1 form stacks up as it should at Cambridge on Friday night then One More Moment is the mare to beat in the $50,000 Dunstan Waikato Breeders Trot at Cambridge. The race continues the new wave of support for trotting fillies and mares, coming off the back of the $100,000 Queen Of Diamonds at Alexandra Park last month. One More Moment caused a huge upset winning that Group 1 for young trainer Zev Meredith but proved that was no fluke when…

By Michael Guerin John Dunn has a warning for punters expecting more premiership heroics from the country’s top stable this year. Because while the Robert and Jenna Dunn stable have a big hand in the feature race at Blenheim on Friday, stable No.1 driver John says their start to the new year could be a lot quieter than some punters expect.   “Even though we just won the premiership the last few months we have had plenty of bad luck,” he told HRNZ.  “We have had some horses get injured…

After a highly successful Central Otago circuit, southern harness racing returns to Ascot Park today for Macca Lodge Northern Southland Cup Day. Racing journalist Jonny Turner has zeroed in on five horses who look well placed on the feature race day. RUSH – Race 9 A hard and fit Rush could set up a challenging chase for the backmarkers in Northern Southland’s trotting feature.It’s well known chasing from handicaps can be a big ask around the tight-turning Ascot Park track.While others in the Southern Lights Trot have more impressive resumes, Rush comes…

By Jonny TurnerOne Change will be out to break more than one drought when he starts in the Group 3 Macca Lodge Northern Southland Cup today. The Amber Hoffman-trained pacer gets an ideal opportunity to break through at group level for the first time since 2019 in the Ascot Park feature.Some harness racing fans may think One Change has been around forever, and for much of the past decade, he has. The former All Stars 8-year-old’s last group race win came in the 2019 group 1 Sires Stakes Final for…