Author: NZHarnessNews

April is a big month for harness racing in the south with total stakes of $700,000 on offer. The Winton Harness Racing Club hold their Cup Day at Central Southland Raceway in Winton on Saturday 9 April, the feature races including the Winton Businesses Cup raced for a stake of $20,000 over a distance of 2400 metres, the $25,000 Southern Belle Speed Series Final supported by Vet South Equine, the Southern Standardbred Breeders Assn and AON Insurance over a distance of 1609 metres and a 2400 metre heat of the…

Spellbound has been officially withdrawn from The Race, following a freak paddock accident. The five-year-old Art Major mare was taken out of the $900,000 race at Cambridge on April 14, following a veterinary inspection. The Kiwi mare had come here from Australia specially for The Race by Grins, Australasia’s richest harness race, after taking up a slot owned by the Hole In The Wall Gang. A replacement for Spellbound will have to be nominated by 11 am tomorrow.  

By Adam Hamilton  Everything looks on target for Stylish Memphis and Alta Orlando heading towards Thursday week’s $900,000 The Race at Cambridge. Both pleased connections in defeat behind the very much in-form and classy Majestic Cruiser in a free-for-all at Menangle on Saturday night.  Stylish Memphis absolutely smashed the clock making plenty of ground from near last to finish fifth. While Alta Orlando led and improved a lot on the previous week by fighting on strongly to finish second, beaten just a half-neck by Majestic Cruiser in a slick 1min53.8sec…

By Jonny Turner An already epic harness racing journey continued when Regan Todd trained his 200th New Zealand winner at Rangiora on Sunday. Todd brought up the milestone in style with Play Philly and Stac completing a race-to-race double. The trainer admitted he is living a harness racing dream that has some of its earliest beginnings back in his home province of Southland. “Back in Wyndham I used to jump the fence at school a lot.” “I would have the old school bag on and I would jump the fence…

By Jonny Turner Van Shard faces his biggest test soon after trainer Brendon Hill completes the rarest of accomplishments at Rangiora on Sunday. Van Shard will be out to back up his impressive first up win when he takes on a quality field in the Rangiora 3YO Stakes. Before then, Hill will line up his first trotting starter in a whopping 16 years. The trainer has had just nine trotting starters in 21 years as a trainer with Martytecola his sole winner back in 2005. Hill admitted his recollection of…

By Michael Guerin Alexandra Park are taking immediate measures to boost field sizes during April. The Auckland Trotting Club has been disappointed, and like many, slightly perplexed by the recent struggles to get larger fields and only attracted enough horses for six races at tonight’s meeting. It constantly attracts less horses than Cambridge meetings which race for lesser stakes, with one possible factor the fear of horses not being able to win at Alexandra Park, which considering the struggles for numbers at the Auckland track seems largely unfounded. But the…