Category: Harness

Orange aiming to make his mark at home in WDC

NZHarnessNews

By Dave Di Somma, Harness News Desk  New Zealand’s representative Blair Orange reckons home country advantage will be key to his chances of winning this November’s World Driving Championship (WDC). The 10 drivers who will compete in the WDC were announced at a function at Addington Raceway on Saturday night. It was no surprise to anyone that Orange got the nod to wear the silver fern. He has after all won the last seven driving premierships and is well on his way to taking out an eighth in 2025. “To…

Jumal goes two from two at Addington

NZHarnessNews

By Michael Guerin Steven Reid might be wondering whether he should let his partner buy all his horses. Because it seems to have worked with exciting juvenile Jumal, who remained unbeaten in two when thrashing his opponents at Addington on Saturday. The son of Downbytheseaside put six and three-quarter lengths on his rivals even after sitting parked in the $20,000 Breckon Farms Easter Stakes, with a 57.4 second last 400m. Trainer Reid has always thought Jumal was a smart one and the colt has again demonstrated Reid’s eye for a…

Motukarara’s Monday meeting to be moved to Addington

NZHarnessNews

Following a track inspection this morning it’s been decided that Easter Monday’s meeting at Motukarara will now go ahead at Addington. “We had no option but to make the call, there has been a decent amount of rain in Canterbury already with a lot more forecast,” says Harness Racing New Zealand’s Head of Racing and Wagering, Matthew Peden. Today representatives from HRNZ, the Banks Peninsula Trotting Club and a stipendiary steward all inspected the grass track at Motukarara. “The track is in reasonable order considering how much rain we’ve had…

Blair Orange opts for Addington today

NZHarnessNews

By Michael Guerin Our best driver is lamenting not being able to be in two places at once today. Blair Orange has had to forgo his drives at Alexandra Park tonight after that meeting was postponed on Thursday because of the Auckland weather, with Orange having flown to Auckland by the time the announcement was made.  He will instead drive at the Addington day meeting today. “There isn’t much you can do about Mother Nature so I went up to Auckland and came back and will drive at Addington on…

Minor changes to Auckland’s weather-delayed meeting tonight

NZHarnessNews

By Michael Guerin The two-day delay to tonight’s Alexandra Park meeting has only brought about only minor changes to the major races. Namely: Arafura out of the Northern Oaks Prelude while Got The Chocolates comes back into the Northern Derby Prelude. The meeting was to have been staged on Thursday night but was postponed because of high winds and constant rain in Auckland, both of which were gone by early Friday. So the meeting moves to tonight, overlapping with the Addington day fixture, with leading driver Blair Orange driving at…

Miki’s the real deal in Fillies Classic

NZHarnessNews

By Jonny Turner  There’s no disputing that Miki’s Deal’s impressive debut win in the Group 2 Entain Southern Fillies Classic at Winton was a local triumph. The filly made the most of her trip in the one-one for driver Matthew Williamson, charging away from her rivals for an emphatic win. Miki’s Deal was raised by her breeders and owners, Marty and Daphne Fairbairn, who live just minutes from Central Southland Raceway, and she is trained by Winton committee member Brett Gray. The filly had had all of her trial outings…

Thursday’s Alexandra Park meeting postponed until Saturday

NZHarnessNews

By Michael Guerin The Alexandra Park meeting postponed on Thursday because of shocking weather in Auckland will move to Saturday, but with one race less. The meeting is a crucial lead-up to next Friday’s five Group-1 race meeting at the same venue, with Thursday’s canned meeting scheduled to hold both the Oaks and Derby Preludes. But Cyclone Tam has brought heavy rainfall and strong winds and left thousands of homes in the upper North Island without power. Ferries have also been cancelled and many domestic flights in and out of…

HRNZ roadshows on “utilisation” changes

NZHarnessNews

HRNZ is hitting the road in late April-early May. It will host roadshows from Invercargill to Auckland to explain the latest initiatives by the Utilisation Reference Group (URG) that have been endorsed by the HRNZ Board. Among the topics that will be addressed are : The Conduct of Race MeetingsHandicapping and Programming of RacesThe Rating SystemScratchingsOperating of the National BureauAmendments to Claiming Races. The schedule for the Roadshows is : Invercargill, 1 pm, Monday April 28 – RacecourseOamaru, 2pm, Tuesday April 29 – Racecourse, after the trialsTimaru, 11am, Wednesday 30…