Category: Punting

By Mike Love Southland trainers will be looking to bring home a few slices of the Phoebe Stud Harness 5000 pie from Ashburton on Sunday. A total of 28 Southland-trained horses will line up in the inaugural meeting. The 12 $60,000 finals were created with qualifying taking place over the past five months by stallions with a service fee of $5,000 or less. All races are classed as Listed and will be run over 1700m from the mobile. The shortest priced favourite of the southern-trained runners is November Nine ($1.50FF)…

By Mike Love Southland trainers will be looking to bring home a few slices of the Phoebe Stud Harness 5000 pie from Ashburton on Sunday. A total of 28 Southland-trained horses will line up in the inaugural meeting. The 12 $60,000 finals were created with qualifying taking place over the past five months by stallions with a service fee of $5,000 or less. All races are classed as Listed and will be run over 1700m from the mobile. The shortest priced favourite of the southern-trained runners is November Nine ($1.50FF)…

By Michael Guerin Tonight is one of the most unique night on the New Zealand racing calendar, bringing the top class and battlers together racing for the same money under the same conditions. The Golden Gait series is designed to reward horses who regularly start at Alexandra Park during the year with 10 mobile mile finals all worth $50,000. That means former Miracle Mile runner-up Sooner The Bettor (R5, No.7) goes around for the same money over the same trip as 10-year-old veteran Benjamin Button (R7, No.8) who will be…

With top-quality harness racing taking centre stage this weekend, TAB bookmakers have rolled out a stack of special markets ahead of one of the biggest harness racing weekends of the summer.  Feature meetings at Invercargill and Alexandra Park on Friday lead into the inaugural Phoebe Stud Harness 5000 meeting at Ashburton on Sunday.  Most of the special markets for the meetings are already open, and there’s something for punters at all three venues.  All 10 of the Golden Gait races at Alexandra Park on Friday are over the 1609m distance,…

By Jordyn Bublitz  David Marshall might not be as visible around the race-tracks as he once was, but he will still have a strong presence at Cambridge Raceway tonight with two fillies stepping out for the Movie Night At The Raceway 21st Dec Mobile Pace. These days Marshall keeps his operation deliberately small, a change that has come about as his son Kyle has forged his own successful path across the Tasman. Kyle, alongside partner Sophie Jeffries, has built a thriving training business in Victoria.  “He’s doing so well over…

By Dave Di Somma, Harness News Desk  After impressing with a win on debut Amistozo will line up for the second time in eight days, at Methven today. “When I saw there was another race for her, a one win trot, I thought we’d make the most of it,” says trainer-driver John Morrison.  The Creatine three-year-old had a slight bobble at the start of her first race on the grass at Oamaru last Wednesday before going to the front and holding comfortably to win by a length. “She just wanted…

By Jonny Turner  Bob Butt doesn’t have to do any second guessing ahead of The Lazarus Effect’s Group 1 Ascot Park Hotel Invercargill Cup quest. The rising star comes into the Southland feature at Ascot Park on Friday with all kinds of ticks next to his name. He’s in great form, has been beginning brilliantly in recent standing starts and has proven himself at Group 1 level. It is the latter of those which means Butt will head into the Invercargill Cup with the utmost confidence in his pacer. A…

By Jonny Turner  Is 20m a long way in a Group 1? That’s the question harness racing fans will need to ask themselves ahead of the Group 1 Ascot Park Hotel Invercargill Cup on Friday. Race favourite and defending champion Republican Party will be back in the south ready for a repeat of his brilliant 2024 victory in Southland’s biggest race. An outstanding fresh-up victory at Addington last week left no doubt about what kind of shape he is in ahead of his title defence. That means considering whether Republican…