By Jordyn Bublitz Team Coppins will again be out in force at Cambridge tonight as junior driver Kate Coppins looks to continue her good form in the sulky. She has three drives, all for her grandmother, Morrinsville trainer Jill Coppins. In Race 4, the Wednesday Quiz Night at The Clubhouse Handicap Trot she takes the reins behind Bonny Parker, who ran third her last start at Cambridge on May 6. It was her first placing in five starts. “It was a huge improvement for her, we’ve had a lot of…
Category: Meeting Previews
The Lazarus Effect going for three in a row at Winton today
By Jonny Turner Carter Dalgety is opting for quality rather than quantity this harness racing weekend. Dalgety heads to Winton on Thursday to team up with a select book of drives including The Lazarus Effect. The talented pacer will put his unbeaten record for trainer Bob Butt on the line in search of a penalty-free junior driver’s win. “I was thrilled to get the call-up from Bob,” Dalgety said. “I know he has always been a lovely horse, even before he raced Nathan Purdon had a good opinion of him.”…
More meetings and more races proposed for 2025-26
Harness racing will have an extra 146 races and 15 additional meetings, under the just-released draft calendar for the 2025-26 season. The extra dates will see a total of 304 meetings and 2817 races in the 12 months from August 1, 2025 – July 31, 2026. The 15 additional dates will be : NZ Metropolitan Trotting Club (6)Auckland Trotting Club (4)Waikato – Bay of Plenty (4)Oamaru (3)Banks Peninsula, Invercargill and Methven (1) The clubs losing dates are : Kapiti Coast (2)Forbury, Manawatu and Rangiora (1) Of the ATC’s four meetings…
Chase A Dream scratched from Aussie trip
By Michael Guerin Chase A Dream’s Queensland campaign and any hope of a stud career are both over before they began. The exceptional but erratic four-year-old was pulled out of the Rising Sun at Albion Park in July 5 on Wednesday morning by co-owner and trainer Mark Purdon following a so-so second to stablemate Rubira at the Pukekohe trials on Tuesday. That means he won’t board a plane to Sydney on Sunday with Rubira and Oscar Bonavena, instead staying home and heading to the spelling paddock. But before then he…
Higher Power looks to bounce back in Metro Series
After taking on Meant To Be in recent starts, Higher Power looks a huge chance of returning to the winners’ circle when the TAB Metro Series continues at Alexandra Park on Friday night. The Barry Purdon and Scott Phelan-trained Father Patrick gelding lines up in Heat 4 of the Series (for R50-54 trotters) at 7.53pm. The two-race winner has had to play second fiddle to the all-conquering Meant To Be this year but with his stablemate out for a well deserved spell Higher Power gets his chance. At his last…
Chase A Dream fails to impress in Tuesday trial
By Michael Guerin Chase A Dream’s Queensland campaign is hanging by a thread. The rollercoaster four-year-old didn’t thrill co-owner and trainer Mark Purdon with one of his below performances in a three-horse trial at Pukekohe on Tuesday. Chase A Dream took on stablemates Rubira and comeback pacer Akuta in the 2050m mobile, with Purdon driving Chase A Dream and giving them a small start early to try and maximise the trial’s effectiveness. He then looped the field to lead but was run down by Rubira, leaving Purdon pleased with that…
Team Whitelock is going Next Gen
By Dave Di Somma, Harness News Desk Next Gen has just got some serious sporting star power. Successful breeders/owners Braeden and Caroline Whitelock purchased a filly at this year’s National Yearling Sales and have now roped in their four rugby playing sons into the ownership. George, Adam, Sam and Luke Whitelock will race the filly along with their Mum and Dad. “It’s the first time for the four boys ever,” says Braeden Whitelock. The syndicate will be known as “Team Whitelock”. “They’ve always had an interest in it but they’ve…
Tuesday trial at Pukekohe has ID2025 implications
By Michael Guerin New Zealand’s chances of having a serious Inter Dominion pacing contender this winter could be finalised at a quiet Pukekohe trial meeting on Tuesday. That is if any horse can be termed a serious contender going to Queensland to take on local champion Leap To Fame on his home track at Albion Park. The Inter Dominions move to July this year and revert to two rounds of heats on July 5 and 12 into the July 19 pacing final for A$1million. The stake increase will go some…
HRNZ at AEIMA 2025: Working Together to Advance Equine Welfare and Safety
Harness Racing New Zealand (HRNZ) was proud to represent the harness racing community at the 2025 Australasian Equine Industry & Management Association (AEIMA) Animals in Emergencies and Disasters Conference, held at Massey University’s Large Animal Teaching Unit on May 9-10. The conference brought together a wide range of equine professionals — from veterinarians and scientists to welfare advocates and racing officials — to explore current challenges and innovations across the industry. HRNZ’s representative was Education and Animal Care Manager Natalie Gameson. The conference included hands-on, scenario-based training which gave the…
“May” day at Rangiora
By Dave Di Somma, Harness News Desk More than half a century after his first success, veteran Methven-based trainer Terry May was back in the winner’s circle at Rangiora yesterday. The 92-year-old combined with Slyx in the Anne Thompson Pacers Graduation Final, with the Terror To Love three-year-old having his first win at start number three. To make it even better this was a family affair – the horse was driven by son and Hall of Famer Ricky May, and bred by Ricky’s wife Judy. “It was a big thrill…