After all the Group 1 action and the prestige of Addington’s biggest carnival of the year there’s a change of pace for the next week, though no shortage of harness racing action.
There will be seven meetings in six days right across the country, with Manawatu hosting the first of its two meetings tonight with the feature being the $20,000 Wairarapa Cup.
Sandwiched between the two meetings is Rangiora on Wednesday with Invercargill and Auckland on Friday.
The meeting at Alexandra Park will feature the latest round of the $16,000 Northern Metro heats for the Pacers and Trotters.
There will be two heats of each before the $30,000 Finals at the Park on Friday November 29.
Timaru will see the running of the Timaru Nursery Stake for the two-year-olds on Saturday before the week finishes on the grass at Motukarara on Sunday.
Arna Donnelly has big hand in Wairarapa Cup
By Brigette Solomon
Country Cups racing continues in the north and Cambridge trainer Arna Donnelly has a trio of runners set to contest the Connie Stewart NZ Sotheby’s Int Realty $20,000 Wairarapa Cup today at Manawatu.
Her three runners Rough And Ready, Bad Medicine, and Red Rackham, all who have good form on the track.
“They’re all well and I think they should all go good races,” says Donnelly, “they’ve all been racing well and Rough And Ready has enjoyed a freshen up after some tough racing in Auckland.”
A winner of 15 races, Rough And Ready has a strong record with two wins and four placings from his six starts at the Central Districts track. He starts tonight from barrier four and is driven by in-form junior driver Crystal Hackett.
“I guess you could say he’s a bit of a course specialist here, he’s nice and fresh and he’ll certainly appreciate the drop back in class to what he’s been racing in Auckland,” says Donnelly, “I think he’s possibly my best chance tonight.”
Bad Medicine, driven tonight by Jay Abernethy, is another who boasts an excellent record in the CD and was the winner of the 2023 Wairarapa and Manawatu Cups. The Bettor’s Delight gelding finished second here in his last start after sitting parked for the majority of the race and was beaten a length by Gotta Elect Bill who also starts in the Wairarapa Cup tonight.
“He’s another with a good record on this track and he’s such an honest horse that always tries his best, so I expect he’ll give a good performance,” says Donnelly.
Donnelly’s third runner is Red Rackham, a horse who has recently come into his own having won five times in his last eight starts. The Vincent gelding has had just one start at Manawatu where he finished third on November 4. Driven tonight by Andre Poutama, Red Rackham starts from barrier six.
“It will be tricky for him tonight from the draw and he’s racing horses that have a fair bit more experience than him and are pretty seasoned,” says Donnelly, “but he did race well last week and if he gets a good drag into the race he should still give a good account of himself.”
Racing gets underway tonight at 5.08pm with the Connie Stewart NZ Sotheby’s Int Realty Wairarapa Cup (R4) at 6.29pm.
