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When the Brian O’Meara owned Jesse Owens (Bettor’s Delight) won at Ashburton last Thursday, he added to the list of horses with famous names O’Meara has trained. Christian Cullen was the most famous, he was named after his namesake in the All Blacks. CC won twenty two of his thirty one starts and over a […]
The first harness racing rankings lists have been released for the IRT New Zealand Trotting Cup and the Renwick Farms Dominion Trot at Addington Raceway on Tuesday, November 12. The top three have already sealed their place in the $1m New Zealand Cup. They are Inter-Dominion champion Leap To Fame (Bettor’s Delight), fellow Australian and […]
Old Town Road’s (Bettor’s Delight) tilt at the IRT New Zealand Cup is back on track after a slick private harness racing workout at Addington on Friday morning. The Cup third favourite missed the Cup trial on Wednesday as trainer John Dickie battled to get him over a skin infection but he is confident that […]
Harnesslink’s Bruce Stewart has compiled some points of interest, oddities, and things to watch for Cup Week. Harness racing trainers Mark Purdon and Natalie Rasmussen trained eight winners on Cup Day in 2018. Their winners were: Having The Faith (Art Major), Winterfell (Majestic Son), All U Need Is Faith (Art Major), Ultimate Sniper (Bettor’s Delight), […]
After another dominating win in the G2 Kaikoura Cup, Akuta (Bettor’s Delight) has been shortened to $1.90 in the betting market by the TAB for the IRT New Zealand Trotting Cup on harness racing’s big day at Addington in fifteen days time. “We were a bit slow away again but he was able to get […]
Lester Drake has been around harness racing horses all his life and if Swayzee (Rock N Roll Heaven) starts in next month’s IRT New Zealand, it’ll be the thrill of a lifetime for the former Southlander. “I never missed a Trotting Cup when I lived on the coast (West Coast). That was my trip away […]
Leviathan Aussie harness racing owner Jean Feiss has won races at the highest level but not even that has prepared her for what she is about to experience in New Zealand on Tuesday (Nov. 8). Feiss has a record number of her horses taking part of the pinnacle NZ Cup meeting. “I have seven horses […]
Aussie harness racing raider Rock N Roll Doo’s (Rock N Roll Heaven) New Zealand Cup tilt is right back on track after a sparkling trial win. The Victoria Cup winner set tongues wagging when he smashed the clock in a smaller-than-usual traditional Cup “Trial” at Addington today (Nov. 3). Just as importantly, the Mick Stanley-trained […]
One Cup down and an even bigger one to come for harness racing’s brightest young star Rock N Roll Doo (Rock N Roll Heaven). Fresh off a dominant, bordering on arrogant win in Saturday night’s (Oct. 8) Group 1 Victoria Cup, the four-year-old is booked on a flight to Auckland on Thursday to chase NZ’s […]
The Aussie influence on harness racing’s famed New Zealand Cup has been huge in recent years, but Michael Stanley wants to take it to another level. It’s such a thrill to hear Stanley and his passionate owner Brendan James so excited about this NZ Cup raid with their rising star Rock N Roll Doo (Rock […]
Anyone notice the trip of a lifetime that harness racing’s top pacer, Bulldog Hanover, enjoyed up in Canada last week? Well, now it’s your turn! Harnesslink is getting ready to celebrate its 20th anniversary covering harness racing throughout the world. The actual anniversary date is October 10 and Harnesslink is offering a “trip of a […]
Harness Racing New Zealand has today confirmed that there won’t be any changes to two of its biggest races this year. “It’s business as usual as far as we are concerned,” says HRNZ Chief Executive Gary Woodham, “the New Zealand Cup and the Dominion Trot will take place at Addington during Cup week and they […]
A decision on whether star Australian pacer Majestic Cruiser (Art Major) chases New Zealand’s biggest harness racing events hinges on a controversial meeting between NZ racing chiefs this week. Trainer Jason Grimson wants to take last Saturday’s Group 1 Blacks A Fake winner across to Christchurch for the $NZ800,000 NZ Cup at Addington on November […]
Barry Lichter writes for Lincoln Farms that a directive from Harness Racing New Zealand that the country’s top five standing start features will in future be handicap races has ignited a storm in the industry. The HRNZ board has unanimously voted that the New Zealand Trotting Cup, Auckland Trotting Cup, Dominion Trot, Rowe Cup and Invercargill […]
Wagering on the IRT New Zealand Trotting Cup meeting yesterday (Tuesday, 9 November) has held up well in spite of challenging trading conditions on the back of last year’s record harness racing meeting, TAB NZ figures show. The 3200m pace was won by North Island-trained Copy That, who led most of the way to win, […]
A split-second battle won early in Tuesday’s NZ$600,000 IRT New Zealand Cup ultimately won Victorian-owned Copy That the war. Merv and Meg Butterworth were celebrating on Tuesday after their horse captured the country’s biggest feature while beating last year’s winner Self Assured, who is raced by fellow Victorian Jean Feiss. The result also left 76-year-old trainer Ray […]
Harness racing partnerships didn’t come any bigger in the high-flying 1980s than that of Alan Hunter and Jim O’Sullivan. Big-spending owner Hunter and his trainer O’Sullivan won an Inter Dominion, a New Zealand Cup and countless other Group One features in Australasia headed by stars like My Lightning Blue, Quite Famous and Its Motor Power. […]
