Bits N Bridles

The first three home in last Friday night’s Western Australian Derby Prelude at Gloucester Park were SBSR horses.

Im Stealthy (Downbytheseaside) bred by Macca Lodge won the race while Havtimeformiki (Always B Miki) bred by Murray Little and D Mac (Downbytheseaside) bred by the Morris family, filled the minor placings.

Im Stealthy is trained by Gary Hall senior and has now won eight of his eleven starts in Australia including his last three.

The Western Australian Derby will be held at the end of this month.

Half-brothers Beetastic (Bettor’s Delight) and Hugotastic (Sweet Lou) each won a race at the same meeting.

They’re both out of Its All On and were bred in New Zealand by Petra Hazlitt.

Races for trotting fillies and mares in New Zealand have been a real winner for the code.

The latest race for the fairer sex was sponsored by Yabby Downs Farm and held on Sunday at Methven. From a capacity field of seventeen the Lawrence McCormick trained Vertigo (Peak) driven by Wilson House was the upset winner.

Her thirteen wins put her in the top fourteen for the Harness 5000 for Five Year Old and Older mares.

The $100,000 Group One Three Year Old Flying Stakes is one of a handful of feature races on the card at Addington tomorrow night.

Having had it’s inception in 1980, it’s a time honoured race. In the last six years it’s been won by Got The Chocolates, Chase a Dream, Don’t Stop Dreaming, Akuta and Krug have won the feature.

In the last twelve runnings, four of the winners have also gone on to win the New Zealand Derby; Akuta, Krug, Lazarus and Have Faith In Me.

Trail blazing filly Hilarious Guest will be honoured tomorrow night at Addington.

Trained by Maurice Vermeulen, in 1982 Hilarious Guest became the first filly in eighteen years to win the New Zealand Derby. She was also the first filly to win both the New Zealand Derby and the New Zealand Oaks.

She won twenty one races including the New Zealand Two Year Old Championship, the NZ Sapling Stakes, the NZ Oaks, the NZ Derby, the Ladyship Stakes, the Northern Oaks, the NZ Messenger and the New Zealand Standardbred Breeders’ Stakes.

As a three year old Hilarious Guest won ten of her eighteen starts.

She also ran second in the Auckland Cup twice, beaten by Roydon Glen (1985) and Armalight ((1983).

by Bruce Stewart, for Harnesslink