Category: Meeting Previews

By Jordyn Bublitz After getting things wrong at Alexandra Park on Friday night, Crazy is set to step out at Cambridge Raceway this evening, and local trainer Tim Hall is confident the quirky campaigner is ready to deliver—if he can keep his cool. The eight-year-old son of Crazed returned from a two-year Australian stint in January.  Due to a lack of mobile racing for trotters here in New Zealand at that time, Hall made the decision to send him across the Tasman in search of more suitable racing opportunities after he developed…

Ashburton trainer John Morrison heads to Addington with three runners today for the Yaldhurst Hotel race day, with his main focus on the feature Winter Series Final. The feature on the card is race six, The Yaldhurst Hotel Silk Road Winter Series Final mobile trot over 1980m for $25,000 for fillies and mares, which gets underway at 4.11pm. Morrison trains and drives second favourite Lottie’s Moment ($3.40FF) in the event. She was an emphatic winner at her previous start at Addington, while the Ben and Greg Hope trained Freya ($2.40FF)…

Steve and Amanda Telfer had a good night at Addington raceway last night, training two winners to extend their lead in the trainers premiership. C C Ardern smashed them in the Garrards Horse & Hound Handicap pace with driver Tim Williams. The gelding negotiated the standing start well, was restrained but unable to slot in for the first six hundred metres of the race. From there Williams made all the right moves to end up 1×1 from the one thousand metre mark before the field broke up at the quarter.…

A $720,000 race day has been announced for Ashburton Raceway this December. A total of 12 finals will be held but they will be only open to trotters and pacers whose sire stood for an advertised retail service fee of $5,000 or less in the breeding season of conception. The “Harness 5000” finals will be for 3YO, 4YO and 5YO and older Fillies and Mares and Colts, Geldings and Entires for both gaits. Each final will carry a stake of $60,000 and will be limited to a field size of…

by Jordyn Bublitz It was a rewarding night at Cambridge Raceway for trainer Owen Gillies and the connections of Kumanovo, as the mare notched her second win in just three starts.  Driven confidently by Zachary Butcher, Kumanovo showed a strong turn of foot to take out the Gavelhouse.com Handicap Trot, validating Gillies’ belief in her ability. It’s been a bit of a journey getting the daughter of Father Patrick back to the races, and Gillies couldn’t be prouder of how she’s coming to hand. “She’s been a hard horse to handle, and it…

by Mike Love Current training premiership leaders Steve and Amanda Telfer look set to edge a little further ahead on the leaderboard tonight at Addington raceway with seven runners across three races.  “It’s been a really good run – long may it continue,” said co-trainer Amanda Telfer.  In race one tonight, The Peninsular Beachfront Resort mobile pace over 1980m, driver Tim Williams links up with Miki Flybye ($1.55FF) for the first time under race conditions. The three year old Always B Miki gelding will need to overcome the unruly draw,…

by Jonny Turner The chance Hayden Douglas took on harness racing paid off twice more at Wyndham on Thursday. The Oamaru junior driver reined home a winning double, with Magnetic Beckers toughing out a strong front-running victory immediately after Princess Sadie’s successful return to racing. Despite one being a trotter and the other a pacer, each horse wore about the same amount of gear in their wins. “Magnetic Beckers has had the hopples off, and he just feels so strong now that he’s free-legged.” “He’s really improved recently, and he…

HRNZ is pleased to release the proposed 2025/26 Feature Race Calendar, designed to support better seasonal flow and reduce overlap of major races across the North and South Islands. While this calendar will help trainers with early planning, stake levels are still being finalised and will be confirmed following the July Board meeting. Smarter Scheduling Across Islands This year’s planning focused on improving the timing of carnivals to ensure they complement rather than compete. The goal: more targeted racing opportunities, better progression between features, and reduced travel strain on participants.…

These 6 horses have trialled pleasingly in recent weeks and this week they head back to the racetrack. Duchess Of Kent (3f Art Major – Galleon’s Honour)  Tr. L Pearson Rewarded her followers at Invercargill (2/6/25) with an easy front running maiden win at only her 4th start in a 1:58MR, last 800m in 57.0 Had previously won a trial (16/5/25) at Winton so the win was not unexpected. Since her raceday victory, she has been back at the Winton workouts where she showed her customary gate speed to lead &…

by Adam Hamilton Jonny Cox is looking forward to launching his Aussie campaign with the exciting Pinseeker at Menangle on Saturday night. Cox and Pinseeker arrived in Sydney late yesterday (Tuesday) along with the David and Stacey White pair Bet N Win and Betterthancash, who also step-out at Menangle on Saturday. Pinseeker (gate four) will clash with Betterthancash (three) over a mile in the opening race on Saturday. “I don’t know a lot about the form yet, but it looks a good starting point because we’re racing a class below…