By Dave Di Somma, Harness News Desk After 15 months away one of the country’s brightest talents Sarah O’Reilly will return to competitive driving at Addington on Friday night. “I definitely missed it,” says O’Reilly, “and I am ready and good to go.” The Ashburton-based trainer-driver has been off the scene since July 2024 when a horse literally jumped into her cart during trackwork, breaking her arm and causing other injuries. Since then the road to recovery has been a long and trying one. Some weeks ago O’Reilly got the…
Category: Punting
Harnesslink to continue under new ownership
Popular harness racing platform Harnesslink will continue, under new ownership. It has been saved by major Australian owner Mick Harvey after earlier concerns that it would close, with the loss of half a dozen jobs, if a new owner wasn’t found by last Friday. The Sydney-based businessman has stepped in to buy the website as Kiwi founder and long-time owner John Curtin looks to step away from the day to day business. “Harnesslink has been a trusted source of global harness racing coverage for more than two decades,” says Harvey.…
It’s Punter of the Year time again
A new format’s been finalised for the TAB Show Day Punter of the Year Challenge at Addington Raceway. The Friday (November 14) meeting is always a massive part of Cup week and includes the two $500,000 slot races, the Majestic Horse Floats THE ASCENT and the Hill, Lee and Scott THE VELOCITY. This year’s Challenge will see one major change from previous editions – all transactions will be done on-line whereas last year teams were given a betting voucher and then had to bet on the tote. Each syndicate can…
Track re-surfacing complete at Ashburton
Ashburton Raceway has had a major makeover ahead of its huge finish to the year. An entirely new surface has been laid, with around 600 tonnes of material being replaced. The work was overseen by Harness Racing New Zealand’s Track Facilities Manager John Denton. “We had a slight delay to doing the work because of bad weather earlier in the month but the whole process went smoothly,” says Denton, “we are confident that the track will provide an excellent racing surface.” View track video here The Ashburton Trotting Club will…
HRNZ delighted with latest turnover figures
Harness racing turnovers topped $3.5m for three meetings in this country over the weekend, a big increase on previous years. The Akaroa Trotting Club’s meeting at Motukarara moved from Saturday in 2024 to Sunday and the impact on turnover was telling. Overall turnover was $1.34m, up 67 per cent, with nearly 6000 more punters placing a bet this year, compared to 2024. It attracted the second highest number of unique punters at any Motukarara meeting and beaten only by the Banks Peninsula Trotting Club meeting there in December 2023. The…
Classy field confirmed for Canterbury Classic at Addington this Friday
By Michael Guerin It is hard not to get the feeling the road to the IRT New Zealand Trotting Cup actually starts this weekend. We may suggest that is starts with the first open class race of the spring or some of the others along the way. But it is not until you get all the big boys together in one place you get to really measure who is going in the right direction for November 11. Friday night’s $60,000 Lamb And Hayward Canterbury Classic at Addington is that race.…
The Kaikoura Cup through the years
The Kaikoura Cup will celebrate its 100th running this year. Over the next few weeks Kaikoura Trotting Club historian Phil Gourdie will look back at the history of the great race, starting today with The First 50 Years. The Kaikoura Cup – 1914 to 1964. By Phil Gourdie The Kaikoura Cup was first raced for 111 years ago. Since then it has had a far from uninterrupted run due to World Wars, the depression and the creation of the new track. In 1914, the first running of the Kaikoura Cup…
Update : Addington Wednesday Trials
Following feedback from the industry, and in conjunction with the New Zealand Metropolitan Trotting Club, we wish to advise that the Wednesday trials at Addington will now be open to: – Horses requiring qualification– Horses needing to pass from a specific start type– Horses that have been stood down to trial by the Stipendiary Stewards. This change provides additional opportunities for connections to trial and qualify their horses midweek. Preference will continue to be given to qualifiers, with trials limited to four heats. Nominations for trials this Wednesday, 15 October,…
Akuta to miss Friday’s Canterbury Classic at Addington
By Michael Guerin Akuta’s New Zealand Cup campaign has hit a speed bump with the wonderful pacer set to miss this Friday’s Lamb and Hayward Canterbury Classic at Addington. The former Auckland Cup winner has been the comeback story of the spring but was found to have mucus in his throat after failing at Addington last Friday. Co-trainer Nathan Purdon says Akuta will start treatment straight away and with five runs under his belt already this spring and plenty of lead-up options left he can still make the IRT-sponsored Cup…
Kiss The Girls wins action-paced Akaroa Cup
By Mike Love Yaldhurst trainers Derek and Adele Jones continued to have success with their team after Kiss The Girls was a very impressive winner in yesterday’s Cavalier Trotting Products Akaroa Cup at Motukarara. In what were dramatic events before the race got underway – with two false starts and the late scratching of Ted’s Legacy with his trainer and driver Jim Curtin being injured – Kiss The Girls made two fliers from those false starts before scrambling away when it mattered to settle six back on the fence. Driver…