Author: NZHarnessNews

By Jonny Turner Rory McIlwrick combined with a couple of quirky characters when winning half the harness racing card at Wingatui on Monday. McIlwrick bagged a winning treble when scoring with Gentle Mac, Bobbies Rock and Northview Rock on a six-race card at the Forbury Park club’s dual code meeting. McIlwrick wouldn’t have got to three wins had he not been able to quickly settle Gentle Mac back into a trot after he broke at the start of race 1. Seen to be something of a handful early in his…

A win and a third at Motukarara yesterday have helped propel Buffy Northstains and Ruby’s A Delight into a clear lead in the Racing Reward Series. The highly popular series, which was last year known as the RATTO Showcase, will have their finals at Addington Raceway on Saturday April 8, with three pacing and two trotting races over 2600m, each worth $27,000. There will be 16 starters in each of the trots, with 14 pacers in each of their three races. The series is all about encouraging and highlighting intermediate…

by Adam Hamilton Dual Group 1 winner Better Eclipse is back in winning form as he prepares for his assault on the $1mil Race by Grins at Cambridge on April 14. Jess Tubbs and Greg Sugars’ Chariots Of Fire and Sunshine Sprint winner added Saturday night’s $50,000 Group 3 Melton Plate to his terrific CV. It came courtesy of a superb Sugars drive to land the one-one trail and Better Eclipse just did enough for a head win over flying former Kiwi pacer and leader Outlaw Man in a 1min56.2sec…

By Jonny Turner Rain looks the big factor in assessing the chances of Borrisokane at Wingatui on Monday. On paper the Bruce Negus trained pacer looks close to a certainty, dropping back into maiden grade after running a huge second when taking on quality horses in a heat of the Southern Supremacy Stakes at Wyndham on Saturday. The pacer’s run was bigger than it needed to be after he staged a big recovery from an early gallop. Negus is confident his horse can put his feet in the right places…

by Jonny Turner Though he has just taken down a select country cup field at Wyndham’s Centennial meeting, there is more to come from Wheels Of Fortune. The pacer won the milestone running of the Wyndham Cup in front of a sizeable crowd on Saturday courtesy of a classic front-running drive from John Hay. Hay had his lightly raced pacer in front soon after the start, with Wheels Of Fortune stepping brilliantly from his 10m handicap. In the remaining 3000m of the 3200m feature, the pacer’s rivals never got a…

by Jonny Turner Contrasting draws await Kerryn Tomlinson in the drivers series events at Motukarara on Sunday. Tomlinson heads north to link up again with Razors Edge in a heat of the Revell Douglas Memorial Junior Drivers Series. The Jim and James Geddes trained pacer starts from the ace draw in barrier 1, a luxury compared to the barrier 8 draw Olive Cook has copped in Sunday’s Team Teal event. Razors Edge looks a big player in race 6 on the back of two excellent second placings on the West…

by Michael Guerin On a milestone night Mark Purdon’s star three-year-olds couldn’t have looked more ready for their Oaks and Derby assignments than they did at Alexandra Park on Friday. But an even bigger name is set to miss next Friday’s meeting as the feature-race season starts its inevitable twists and turns. Purdon recorded his 2500th New Zealand training success earlier in the night at Addington when Bollinger won, joining his brother Barry as the only other New Zealand harness trainer to get to that number. But there was no…

By Dave Di Somma, Harness News Desk  Muscle Mountain has again shown his class, and dominance, with his 25th career victory at Addington last night. Despite starting off 30m in the Group 3 Lamb and Hayward Trotters Classic, the six-year-old circled the field with over a lap to go for driver Ben Hope. From there it was job done as he cruised home by a length. It was a Greg and Nina Hope-trained quinella with Midnight Dash second. “It was trackwork to be honest,” Hope told Harness Unhinged’s Nigel Armstrong…

By Jonny Turner The Wyndham Harness Racing Club are not the only ones who have been counting down to their big centennial meeting at Young Quinn Raceway today. The Eastern Southland club are marking their big day with the running of the Centennial Handicap. The feature event is a chance for Nathan Williamson to test Sand Wave over 3200m and it is a challenge the trainer-driver has been counting down to. The four-year-old has only had one crack at the staying trip when running a fair race in the Group…