By Michael Guerin Scott Phelan knows Better Knuckle Up and Jeremiah are up to open class. What their co-trainer doesn’t know if whether that is good enough to win their comeback race at Alexandra Park tonight. The two four-year-olds resume for Phelan and senior training partner Barry Purdon in a serious 1700m scamper at Alexandra Park tonight, up against Akuta, who was super costly for punters when being beaten in a similar race two weeks ago. Akuta should be fitter for his third that night and could be ready to…
Category: Meeting Previews
One week until IRT NZ Trotting Cup and Renwick Farms Dominion deadline
There is just one week to go before nominations close for the IRT New Zealand Trotting Cup and the Renwick Farms Dominion Trot at Addington Raceway on Tuesday, November 11. Nominations opened on August 11 and already there has been significant interest from both sides of the Tasman. Though numbers are expected to increase markedly before the deadline so far there are 20 nominations for the Cup and 19 for the Dominion. This year no nominations will be accepted until payment has been made. Nominations close at 3pm (NZT) Thursday,…
Ya Eejit Ya headlines Johnson’s drives at Cambridge tonight
By Jordyn Bublitz Emily Johnson is gearing up for a busy night at her home track tonight. She’ll take the reins behind four runners at Cambridge Raceway, with two drives for her employer Sean McCaffrey, and one each for Todd Mitchell and Craig Sharpe. Her first engagement of the night comes in Race 1, the Wednesday Quiz Night At The Clubhouse Handicap Trot, where she partners the promising three-year-old trotter Ya Eejit Ya. The gelding finds himself in a slightly easier field after a solid fifth at Alexandra Park, where…
Leroy’s life in Queensland
As a trotter Royal Shine won seven races for trainer Sam Smolenski – the last of them when driven by star reinsman Dexter Dunn at Ashburton in 2017. Now, the 13-year-old son of Monarchy is “Leroy”, a para-riding horse based in Queensland. To read about Leroy and his Life After Racing click here
Metro series returns after winter break
After a short break in August, the very popular Metro series is back. September 12 will see four heats run, two each for the R40-50 Pacers and Trotters. Each heat will be worth $17,000 with the first four in each of them automatically qualifying for the two $35,000 finals a fortnight later (September 26). All heats and finals will be held at Alexandra Park. The Metro series is a key part of the Look North strategy launched last year to reinvigorate racing in Auckland and Cambridge. The last finals were…
News Briefs – August 20
A great weekend for turnovers, a permanent change at Addington, a tonne of horse feed and Dex hitting $6m all feature in this week’s News Briefs. Turnovers up across the board Harness racing turnovers had a sharp upturn over the weekend, with $2.36m spread over the Addington, Auckland and Oamaru meetings. The total was over $200,000 or 12.4 per cent up on the corresponding meetings last year. On Friday night Addington totalled $917.4k, up 10.2%, on the same number of races while Auckland’s was $582.5k, up 18.5%. The Kurow…
Eagerly-awaited debut for blue-blooded pacer
By Dave Di Somma, Harness News Desk There will be a lot of eyes on No 5 in Race 2 at Alexandra Park on Friday night – and for good reason. No More Dreaming, a full brother to millionaire pacer Don’t Stop Dreaming and a $340,000 sales topper at the 2024 NZB Standardbred National Yearling Sales in Christchurch, will make his debut in the NZB Standardbred – Here for the Horse Mobile Pace at 5.55pm. “We are aware of the expectation,” says co-trainer Scott Phelan, “but you are going…
Winning owners-breeders for June and July
The winners of the Harness Racing New Zealand Owner and Breeder of the Month awards have been decided for June and July. Every month the winners are selected at random, with the only proviso being that their horses must have won during the specified month. For June Cheree Wigg (pictured above, right) was breeder of the month after Helius won on debut at Addington while Irene Jessett was the winning owner after Iron Brigade’s success at Alexandra Park on June 13. “It was very rewarding,” says Wigg, “and we were…
Roydon Downey : one yes and one maybe for Harness 5000
By Dave Di Somma, Harness News Desk With the Harness 5000 still four months away, northern trainer Roydon Downey is committed to having one starter there but a question mark remains about his second runner. Both Santapazienza and Saninarmbro have already meet the qualifying criteria for the new series at Ashburton on December 21. “They are different types of horses – Saninarmbro has a lot of quick speed whereas the other fella likes to keep rolling,” says Downey, who’s based at Kumeu. The Harness 5000 will feature…
North Island Mares’ revamp confirmed
HRNZ is pleased to announce a revised schedule for Mares’ racing in the North Island next autumn. From March 6 to May 22,2026 there will be a suite of seven races for the mares at Alexandra Park and Cambridge, with stakes worth more than $210,000. The biggest change is the $50,000 Magness Benrow Northern Mares Classic (Listed) which moves from New Year’s Eve to March 20, 2026. “After seasons of the Classic shifting dates and even being cancelled we are delighted to have a long-term solution locked in,” says New…