Month: January 2023

Viatek Warragul Cup: Armchair Guide

Editor BOAY

Mobile Legend could play ‘accidental hero’ in the $74,335 Group 2 Viatek Warragul Cup Final (460m) – the second leg of the Gippsland Festival of Racing – on Friday night. Make no mistake, Mobile Legend (trained by Daryl Brennan of Napoleons – 15km from Ballarat) – is a ‘legend of the loam’ in his own way! But he was an ‘unlikely hero’ – even ‘unsung hero’ – from last Friday night’s eight must-win heats, which resulted in some stunning upsets. KEY TIMES 7:05pm First race 8:02pm $11,500 Viatek Cup Night…

Roch ‘N’ Horse on track for feature sprints

NZRacingDesk

Trans-Tasman trainer Michael Moroney is excited to tackle feature sprint racing in the coming month with his dual Group One winner Roch ‘N’ Horse (NZ) (Per Incanto). The New Zealand-bred mare won the Gr.1 Newmarket Handicap (1200m) at Flemington last year before returning to the Melbourne track to down a quality field in the Gr.1 Champions Sprint (1200m) in November. She has returned in superb condition according to Moroney, who is eying the Gr.1 Lightning Stakes (1000m) first-up for the daughter of Per Incanto. “She looks the best I’ve ever…

Carolina Reaper ready to kick-off in Dubai

NZRacingDesk

New Zealand-bred mare Carolina Reaper (NZ) (Vespa) is nearing her debut in Dubai. The daughter of Vespa was purchased out of Graham Richardson and Rogan Norvall’s Matamata stable following her victory in the Gr.3 Easter Handicap (1600m) last April and underwent pre-training in Australia before heading to the United Arab Emirates where she has joined expat Australian trainer Michael Costa’s barn. Costa moved to Dubai in June last year to take up a position as Sheikh Ahmed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s private trainer, and he is excited to welcome the…

Puntura hunting maiden Group victory

NZRacingDesk

Puntura (NZ) (Vespa) will be looking to snare his first stakes success when he heads to Trentham on Saturday. The five-year-old gelding finished runner-up in the Gr.3 J Swap Sprint (1400m) at Trentham last month before finishing fourth in the Gr.2 Rich Hill Mile (1600m) at the Hamilton track on New Year’s Day. Trainer Robbie Patterson was pleased with both efforts and he believes the son of Vespa is capable of taking home the lion’s share of the purse in the Gr.3 Dixon & Dunlop Anniversary Handicap (1600m) this weekend.…

Delbridge ‘juggernaut’ Warrnambool bound

Editor BOAY

Balliang’s “Team Delbridge” (Mark and Lisa) will launch a strong challenge in heats of the Mepunga Oaks (450m) and Aston Derby (450m) at Warrnambool on Thursday night. The Delbridge juggernaut was momentarily ‘derailed’ at Wannon Park last Saturday when superstar Jarick Bale was tailed off in the Ray Drew Memorial – albeit they did salute with Daksha Bale and went 1-2 with Spring Ammo and Jasmin Bale. One night earlier, it was also a ‘mixed bag’ when Landyn Bale landed a Warragul Cup heat and Spring Bart took out a…

Industry update – HRNZ Chief Executive Gary Woodham

NZHarnessNews

Industry update – HRNZ Chief Executive Gary Woodham 2022 was a turbulent year for our sport, and the signs are that 2023 will also have its challenges. Latest figures show that stakes and Gross Betting Revenue improved during 2022 but total turnover was down, albeit marginally. In December the TAB announced it was cutting its funding to harness racing by $4.4m, effective from February 1, 2023. Already HRNZ has announced how it will operate under this new regime. 1. HRNZ will use $2.1m of its reserves to make up the…

Voting Open – Peoples Choice – Best Moment of the Season 2022

NZHarnessNews

The voting is open for the People’s Choice Award – The Best Moment of the Season for 2022 We gathered four of the best moments that you picked on our Facebook Page and have put them together so you can relive each of them and then vote on the moment that you think was the best for the 2022 season.  The finalists are:  John Dickie winning with That’s What We Do just after good friend and owner Richard Bright passed away. Robbie Close winning his first Group 1 race aboard…

Early start for Standish Day at Flemington

AAP

Racing to begin early with a hot summers day predicted this Saturday. (Brett Holburt/Racing Photos) Racing Victoria have made the call to bring forward the starting time at Flemington this Saturday due to the predicted hot weather. The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting the mercury to rise to 38 degrees in Melbourne on Saturday afternoon, so the call was made on Wednesday morning to bring the forward the start time to 10:30am from the original start time of 12:33pm. The gaps between races have been reduced from 35 minutes to…

News Briefs – January 11

NZHarnessNews

Vale Ronald Roach and Graham Hansen Harness Racing New Zealand would like to send its condolences to the families of Ronald Roach and Graham Hansen, who have recently died. Christchurch-based, Ronald Roach was a successful hobby trainer-driver. Associated with the “Stereo” horses, including Stereo Scott (8 wins), Stereo Light (6 wins), and Stereo Lad (4), he had a lot of success in the 1970s. He was successful in business – mainly in the car industry – and was well known for always being immaculately turned out. A keen golfer and…

Romantic Warrior sizzles at the trials ahead of Stewards’ Cup

AAP

Romantic Warrior wins the Hong Kong Cup (Group 1, 2000m) at Sha Tin Racecourse today for trainer Danny Shum and jockey James McDonald. Romantic Warrior was the centre of attention at Sha Tin this morning (Tuesday, 10 January) as he pleased connections with a soft first-past-the-post effort in his 1000m turf course hit-out, only 19 days before his probable blockbuster showdown with Golden Sixty and California Spangle in the HK$12 million Group 1 Stewards’ Cup (1600m). Trained by Danny Shum and paired with Karis Teetan, Romantic Warrior clocked 58.75s down…