By Jonny Turner Craig Ferguson hopes playing chess rather than checkers with Wag Star will pay winning dividends in today’s Group 3 Central Otago Cup. Ferguson heads to Omakau knowing he has a horse to match it with any of his rivals in the 2000m feature. So the trainer-driver has been doing everything he can to encourage his stable star to show it to the big crowd that will be watching at Central Otago’s biggest annual race meeting. “He can be a moody horse and when he is on the…
Category: Harness
Wag Star “looking pretty positive” heading into Omakau meeting
By Jonny Turner Craig Ferguson hopes playing chess rather than checkers with Wag Star will pay winning dividends in today’s Group 3 Central Otago Cup. Ferguson heads to Omakau knowing he has a horse to match it with any of his rivals in the 2000m feature. So the trainer-driver has been doing everything he can to encourage his stable star to show it to the big crowd that will be watching at Central Otago’s biggest annual race meeting. “He can be a moody horse and when he is on the…
Selections | Omakau
Selections for Omakau today. Head to www.tab.co.nz to place your bet! Omakau Jonny TurnerRacing Journalist Race 1 12.28pm 6 Mr Cash Man8 Destiny’s Dream7 Bettor Way3 Nyla Race 212.59pm 4 Kairo8 Jaccka Jim11 Fiery Adi8 What’s The Whisper Race 31.32pm 2 Turn N Burn3 Cinderella Franco10 Captain Christina12 Mighty Flying Miki Race 42.06pm 8 Sonofamistery10 By Chance6 Rise Up N Dance9 Quinn Race 52.42pm 8 Princess Sadie7 Dreams Pat3 Vertigo4 Randel Huston P Race 63.17pm 2 Beluga5 Anita Mary3 Rockoutray11 Franco Seb …
Big day for Kate Coppins at Tauherenikau
By Dave Di Somma, Harness News Desk Junior driver Kate Coppins finds herself in an unusual position at the Wairarapa Harness Racing Club’s short and sharp dual code meeting at Tauherenikau on Friday. All four of her drives on the four-race programme are on heavily-favoured runners for Michael House. “I am very excited for it,” she says, “Micky always has all his horses on point.” Her drives will be Koko Kaboom (R1), Big Gee (R2), Million Dollar Chic (R3) and Goorambat Art (R4). Both Koko Kaboom and Million Dollar Chic…
Driving debut for Lane at Rangiora today
By Dave Di Somma, Harness News Desk The New Year will also see a new driver step out for the first time. Josh Lane will make his race day debut with two drives at Rangiora’s 11 race meeting which starts at 12.25pm. “It’s been a goal for a long time, ” he says. The 31-year-old, who works for Robbie Holmes at his Balcairn barn in North Canterbury, will take the reins behind Inquizitive Man for trainer David McKenzie in Race 4, the Jack Behrns Memorial Trot (1.50pm) and then MM…
Mighty Logan in “ideal race” at Alexandra Park today
By Michael Guerin The new superpower of one of New Zealand’s elite stables could help them end the season as our leading money makers at Alexandra Park today. While there are two Group 1s tonight, the $250,000 Trillian Trust Auckland Cup (7.35pm) and $100,000 Peter Breckon Memorial National Trot (6.25pm), most of the national harness racing premierships are already decided. Team Telfer had the trainers premiership won six months ago and put an exclamation mark on that when they broke the national record with win 169 for the season at…
It’s on again – Republican Party vs Merlin in tonight’s Auckland Cup
By Michael Guerin When one of our greatest ever horse trainers says has no doubts Merlin can handle the 3200m of tonight’s $250,000 Trillian Trust Auckland Cup you have to listen. But as confident as Barry Purdon is in the most favoured of his three reps in tonight’s Group 1 at Alexandra Park, he also admits the enormity of the challenge they face in beating favourite Republican Party. Barry Purdon has trained eight Auckland Cup winners, his first an incredible 47 years ago with Sole Command. He and training partner…
Deceptive Lee “pretty forward” for Reefton Cup
By Mike Love Elgin trainer David Mitchell joins the party on the coast for the final day of the circuit today. He takes three sound chances to the Reefton meeting, including Deceptive Lee in the feature, the $25,000 Rosco Contractors Reefton Cup over 2500m. “He seems pretty forward,” said trainer David Mitchell. Deceptive Lee has not raced since winning at Addington in September but has been to the workouts. “His last workout at Methven was good and a bit of form has come out of that.” It will be tough…
Tanzania aiming to go back to back at Motukarara today
By Dave Di Somma, Harness News Desk Ashburton trainer Laurence Hanrahan lines up two good chances on what will be a huge meeting at Motukarara today. The 13 race programme gets underway just before noon with big open fields the order of the day. The day’s feature is the Paul Renwick Joinery Motukarara Christmas Cup (4.03pm) where the Hanrahan-trained Tanzania will be one of many chances. The Rock N Roll Heaven five-year-old won the race last year and is going into today’s contest in good form with two seconds in…
Republican Party opens at cramped odds for Auckland Cup
By Michael Guerin Cran Dalgety shakes his head when he looks at the TAB market for the Trillian Trust Auckland Cup. It is not that the Canterbury trainer doesn’t believe his stable star Republican Party should be a warm, or even hot, favourite for the $250,000 iconic feature at Alexandra Park on Wednesday night. It is just that Dalgety never thought he’d have a pacer paying $1.40 to win one of our great races. “It is kinda crazy when you think about it,” he says. “We don’t often have $1.40…