Category: Meeting Previews

It’s here! Today will see the start of the World Driving Championship 2025. Ten of the world’s best drivers will battle it out over the next nine days, starting with three races at Kaikoura today. Heat one is Race 5 @ 2.35pm.Heat two is Race 7 @ 3.47pmHeat three is Race 9 @ 5pm  To see the media guide produced specifically produced for the WDC click here 

Selections for Kaikoura today.         Head to www.tab.co.nz to place your bet!   Kaikoura      TrottechForm Analyst  Race 1 12.20pm 12 Delightful Dreams7 Courage Reactor4 Gimmesomelovin10 The Highlander     Race 212.47pm 6 Fox Terror5 Fear Gogh3 Star From Heaven2 Special Edition  Race 31.26pm 6 Prince Teka11 Kowhai Sunburst2 Royal Diedre4 Pasternak     Race 41.57pm 1 Blaze Craze2 Scotlynn Crunch4 Spirit Of Atlanta8 Fear The Diva  Race 52.35pm  4 Hoof It Hagrid5 Val Thorens1 Billy Kimber2 Steelintheheel  Race 63.08pm 4 Franco Elvis6 Whatz My Choice3 Here Comes Marty8 Jesse Owens …

By Michael Guerin The two highlight winners at Alexandra Park on Friday may be at different ends of their careers but they are both heading in the same direction. And that is the Golden Gait Finals at Alexandra Park next month for both Lord Popinjay and Captain Sampson.  Veteran trotter Lord Popinjay continued the best form of his life when he overcame a 30m handicap in the main trot for in-form driver Monika Ranger. He had every reason to be beat at it looked like he would struggle to catch…

By Adam Hamilton Champion stayer Swayzee’s quest for a slice of IRT NZ Cup history looks over. The mighty seven-year-old was scratched from a vital lead-up race at Menangle tonight (Saturday) with a suspected cold. Given Swayzee hasn’t raced since October 4 and the NZ Cup is just 10 days way, it’s hard to see any way he’s on the scheduled flight tomorrow (Sunday) week to Christchurch via Auckland. Trainer Jason Grimson told Melbourne’s SENTrack radio the trip was now unlikely and plans would be finalised after he spoke with…

By Adam Hamilton  Champion driver Gary Hall Jr’s quest to win the World Driving Championship was almost over before it started. Just hours before the Hall Jr was due to fly to Perth to Christchurch, via Sydney, he lost his passport. If not for a woman at the passport office working a remarkable two hours past closing time, he would have been out of the series, which starts at Kaikoura tomorrow. “When I get home, I’ll be straight back to the office with a big gift for her, she was…

By Jonny Turner  Brett Gray had to change his New Zealand Cup Week plans immediately after Friday’s Winton meeting. Gray’s talented trotter Julie Jaccka burst back into winning form, putting a frustrating run behind her and booking her ticket to Addington in the process. Julie Jaccka starred on New Zealand Cup Day when winning a middle-grade trot, but her chances of returning to defend her victory this year looked slim after a run of ordinary form. Though two of her recent misses had come in Group races, the five-year-old wasn’t…

By Michael Guerin For Captain Sampson tonight’s handicap pace at Alexandra Park isn’t a question of class. It is more about the dual questions of manners and timing. Nobody who has seen the best of Captain Sampson doubts where he is heading, to open class and maybe one night to a Group 1 winners circle. But tonight the three-year-old at just his 13th start faces rivals like Jolimont and Little Spike who already proven at the top level and the ATC Members Handicap is also Captain Sampson’s first standing start…

By Jonny Turner  One of the final steps in a New Zealand Cup Week plan will be completed at Winton on Friday. Tyler Dewe put himself on the map as a trainer when Teddy Baker won the South of the Waitaki event on Show Day at Addington in 2022. Now Dewe is eyeing another victory in the popular feature event with his stable star Share A Dream. Share A Dream brings the best kind of form to Winton, having run second behind the talented Dreams Are Free in last weekend’s…