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 (AM) in the King’s Birthday Honours. Closer to home Gemma Thornley’s double at Invercargill on Friday with Verlander and She’s Classy took her past 50 career wins. She’s been driving since 2019, with her now 51 wins coming from 541 drives. And at Addington on Friday it was a triumph for female junior drivers in the night’s feature pace, with Sarah O’Reilly (Sweet Belle), Devon van Til (Mossdale Ben) and Olivia Thornley (Lifes A Beach) completing the trifecta in the Alabar Mobile Pace.
Todd three from three at Addington
To use a baseball term Regan Todd batted 1000 at Addington’s two most recent racedays. The Canterbury-based trainer took three horses to the races and all three won with Magic Dash and Fernleigh Blackbird on Sunday, two days after Treacherous Miss had won her debut by more than three lengths on Friday. Todd now has 14 wins for the year.
Southern trotter settling into in in Oz
Impressive winning at Addington last start, Southland trotter Smokin Bandar is now based in Sydney, ahead of his assignments in Brisbane. He’ll have his first start at Albion Park on June 23. Smokin Bandar resumed with an easy win at Addington on June 1. It was the stunning grey’s 10th win in 30 starts.
Raptors Flight’s winning run
A winner of five starts in this country for trainer Barry Purdon, Raptors Flight continues to keep winning in North America. The 10-year-old won at Meadowlands over the weekend to make it eight wins from 20 starts this year. It was his 34th victory overall. Raptors Flight was exported to Australia in 2019 before heading to the USA.
Craig family sends thanks
The Craig family would like to extend its thanks to the harness racing community for their their support and kindness following Peter’s death. They say they are very grateful for the condolences, letters, and flowers and would like to thank those that attended his funeral and “as many addresses are unknown please accept this as a personal acknowledgement”. Peter, a well respected harness racing historian, died suddenly in April, aged 67.
New information on ww.hrnz.co.nz
There have been two new additions to the hrnz website which contain important information. Suspended and unavailable drivers will be updated every week and can be viewed here
and for those keen to race their horses in big races across the Tasman the Australian feature race calendar can be viewed here
Anyone wanting to know about the Australian races can contact Liz Hunter at HRNZ (liz@hrnz.co.nz)
Club News : Invercargill Harness Racing Club
The Invercargill Harness Racing Club hold their final harness race meeting of the 2022/23 season (August 1 – July 31) at Ascot Park Raceway in Invercargill this Saturday. Ten races are programmed, the first at 11.59am and the last at 4.21pm. Admission to the course will be free. Following this meeting the Winton Club hold their final meeting of the season, Southern Winter Rewards Race Day, on Friday 30 June.