Category: Meeting Previews

Brilliant fields for the Hannon Memorial meeting couldn’t have come at a better time.With the future of regular Otago harness racing in the balance, Oamaru is set to put on an outstanding show on Sunday.Check out five horses from a stacked card that racing journalist Jonny Turner has his eye on. Franco Light – Race 3 | 1.36pm This emerging trotter could barely have been more impressive in his first two starts at the races.He worked early in his maiden win at Addington before charging home late in his last…

By Michael Guerin Master McGoogan might win his comeback race at Addington tonight but don’t expect it to be a comfortable watch if you back him. Because trainer Matty Williamson says the early season star of the southern juvenile trotting ranks will be significantly better for his outing in the Ricoh Mobile Trot tonight (6.55pm). “He has had two trials but he will definitely improve with this Friday,” explains Williamson. Master McGoogan showed some real depth to win two of his three runs in the autumn including the Group 3…

By Michael Guerin Two star stablemates, two wide draws but probably two different outcomes. That is the most likely scenario trainer Steve Telfer is expecting when he takes a pair of high class three-year-old pacers to Alexandra Park tonight. Telfer has Allamericanplayer (R6, No.7) and Ride The Waves (R8, No.8) back at The Park as they warm up for the riches of black type racing in the months ahead. Allamericanplayer is already proven at the highest level, having won the Group 1 Welcome Stakes at Addington 16 months ago and…

By Dave Di Somma, Harness News Desk  Classy mare and new mum Resolve’s re-appearance at the races, after a long spell away, will add plenty of interest to Sunday’s feature trot at Oamaru. The now eight-year-old, trained by Paul Nairn, is not only starting a new campaign but she’s returning to the Jasmyn’s Gift Fillies and Mares Stakes, the same Group 3 she won in 2023. Her last race was in January 2024, just over two and a half years ago.  “She cracked a pastern bone and then had an…

By Mike Love  Coes Ford trainer Ross Cameron expects good things from his team of four engaged at the first grass track meeting of this side of the season to be held at Methven on Sunday.  Race 3, the Dubliner Mobile Pace over 2300 (12.47pm), Cameron drives the first of his chances Harry’s Gold. The three-year-old Gold Ace gelding has placed once in eight attempts. Despite Cameron’s concerns of missing a workout, he is happy that Harry’s Gold can be competitive.  “He seems back to his old self and prefers…

By Michael Guerin Habibti Pat isn’t just ready to be competitive when she steps up to open class in the $40,000 ITM Ordeal Cup at Addington tonight (7.57pm) she is ready to win it. That is the opinion of the horseman in a perfect position to judge, her co-trainer Ben Hope. Hope and his father Greg not only have last season’s NZ Trotting Derby winner in tonight’s race but two of her main rivals in Midnight Dash and Mr Love. And Hope says of the three he rates Habibti Pat…

By Michael Guerin  After three months away one of New Zealand’s best harness racing drivers and unsuccessful basketball players returns at Alexandra Park tonight. And Zachary Butcher says while he wondered what it would be like getting back in the sulky after his injury-enforced layoff it only took him minutes to feel right back at home. “It is like riding a bike,” says Butcher. Riding a bike might be the sort of exercise Butcher should stick to heading forward as he was playing social basketball earlier this year when he…

By Brittany Graham  With 12 races carded for Friday’s ITM Race Night, the big guns are starting to roll out en masse at Addington Raceway. With a $20,000 late quaddie guaranteed, as well as a $5,000 First 4 on the ITM Ordeal Trotting Cup, many of the key players have been kind enough to provide their thoughts. Race 8 – ITM Ordeal Trotting Cup 1 Bounce N Beyond “He’s only had one quiet trial, but hoping he steps well and he is a horse you have to drive for his…