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The Listed Sibelia Stakes at Menangle headlines Saturday’s harness racing action in Australia. In addition to Menangle, Bendigo has some quality harness racing with resuming trotter Tracy The Jet. Emma Stewart is rolling out some Oaks-bound talent with Arrhythmia and Willows Girl lining up in separate events. We will also look at some Saturday harness […]
Harness racing heats up on Saturday night with Bendigo (now being run at Melton) taking centre stage as the Bendigo Pacing Cup and Maori Mile boast some of the sport’s biggest names. The Group 2 Bendigo Pacing Cup will be run over 1720m this year and features New Zealand Trotting Cup winner Kingman, Sunshine Sprint […]
Star two year old filly Afternoon Breeze (Classic Connection) maintained her impeccable record when she led all he way to win the Nutrien Equine Classic Prelude for two year old fillies at Bendigo on Tuesday evening. A hot favourite having been unbeaten in previous performances at Kilmore and Melton, Afternoon Breeze as expected took up […]
Prominent New South Wales driver Will Rixon made the right decision with a quick raid at Bendigo on Wednesday when his tough filly Miss Ohana (Art Major) led all the way to take out the First heat of the Nutrien Equine Classic race series for three year old trotters. An easing favourite Miss Ohana strode […]
Harold Smith (Andover Hall) completed the McNamara Memorial and Bendigo cups double with a powerful squaregaiting display at Lord’s Raceway. The New Zealand native overcame a 20m handicap to win the listed classic for trainer Emma Stewart and driver Mark Pitt on Wednesday night. Harold Smith settled in the one-out one-back position through the early stages […]
Classy pacer Tango Tara (Rocknroll Dance) scored his second win in less than 48 hours when he outpointed his harness racing rivals to take out the Bendigo Locksmiths Free For All at Bendigo last night. Used to racing in better company Tango Tara appreciated the drop in class even though he was backing up after […]
Astute Bendigo harness racing horseman Jim O’Sullivan doesn’t do a lot of race driving these days, but his competitive streak came to the fore in the recent Oxley Feed Mill Veteran Drivers Trot feature at his home track. O’Sullivan’s stellar career was marked though his association with superstar pacers of the past such as Quite […]
Two Victorian harness racing drivers remain in hospital with complications from serious injuries sustained in a horror fall at the Bendigo trials over a week ago (Aug 12). Ellen Tormey and Tony Xiriha were hurt when Xiriha’s horse fell in front of Tormey’s, and she was then hit from behind by another runner. Xiriha sustained […]
Five years ago, Shepparton harness racing trainer Casey Leijen had never been to a harness racing meeting, much less sat in a sulky – now she can’t imagine life without the sport. Leijen recorded her first training win at Bendigo earlier this month (July 10) with five-year-old mare Im Easy On The Eye (Sunshine Beach) […]
Philip Chircop is looking to the future ahead of Wednesday’s Nutrein Equine Haras Des Trotteurs heats for two-year-old trotting colts and geldings at Bendigo. Boot Legging (Volstead) is set to make his harness racing debut and according to the Bunding trainer the run will be all about experience. “He will be making up numbers as […]
Chris Svanosio’s pre-race hope of ‘making a statement’ with Arcee Phoenix (Trixton) was realized after that horse ran his harness racing trotting rivals ragged in the Group 1 Aldebaran Park Maori Mile at Bendigo. Svanosio urged Arcee Phoenix from a favorable front row draw and subsequently won the early battle for the lead over the […]
Ellen Tormey rounded off a memorable year with a winning treble at Bendigo’s Saturday night (Dec. 30) meeting. The win on Paris Jamilla (Majestic Son) in the final event concluded Tormey’s career-best season of 160 wins, eclipsing last season’s tally of 133 wins. Earlier in the night Tormey maintained her unbeaten record on rejuvenated mare […]
Royally-bred mare Niki Nah Nah (Captaintreacherous) is starting to realise her potential after scoring her fifth consecutive harness racing win at Bendigo. Ellen Tormey managed to slot Niki Nah Nah ($1.85 fav) into the one out one back trail from her wide front row draw before surging to the lead on straightening. She staved off […]
Greg Sugars thinks Just Believe’s (Orlando Vici) daring and successful Swedish harness racing raid may have made him an even better horse. More than eight months since he last raced in Australia, Just Believe resumes in the $30,000 Breeders Crown Open Trot at Bendigo on Friday night. The seven-year-old’s last Aussie run was a second […]
Third generation harness racing trainer-driver Ellen Bartley has every reason to be “over the moon” with the form of a recent purchase that has just kept ticking the boxes. “We didn’t really need another horse with the numbers we are doing, but I thought she would be ideal for the young boys working at our […]
It could only happen in Australian harness racing…. “Skippy” the kangaroo took centre stage at Lords Raceway in Bendigo tonight (Mar 29) – making a cameo appearance with his mum just after race 8. The troublesome two kept the crowd entertained for more than 20 minutes as unsuccessful attempts efforts were made to eject them […]
There’s a lot said about the affinity harness racing drivers have with the horses they handle – and there was an unmistakable connection between young Victorian reinswoman Tasmyn Potter and her first career winner at Bendigo last Thursday night (Mar 9). All So Sassy (Shadow Play) scored an effortless win for Potter at only the […]
It was love at first sight for Chris Lang and Kiwi-born harness racing trotter Ollivici (Orlando Vici). Lang remembers the day he first saw Ollivici at the yearlings sales in Christchurch in 2019. “I wanted him as soon as I saw him,” he said. “I really thought he was impossible to fault. He looked great […]
Central Victorian harness racing driver Glenn Douglas admits he’s lucky to have escaped with just a few bruises and scrapes from a nasty race fall at his home track of Bendigo last night. Whata Journey, trained by Douglas’s wife Julie, overraced then choked down and crashed to the track, cannoning into the trailing runners during […]
On North American tracks it’s all about speed over a mile trip, in Australia it’s a mix of both standing start and mobile features across a range of track sizes, in New Zealand it could be about an extreme two-mile contest or a grass track race featuring non-race winners and in Europe the champion trotter […]
Bendigo trainer Greg Hutton has been dabbling in harness racing on and off since 1989 but has now been rewarded for his persistence. Hutton achieved a dream come true with his first ever training win, when his lightly-raced eight-year-old gelding Salsboy (Union Guy-Makandilyn (Walton Hanover) got the money at his home track last week. “When […]
