Contributor
YOU can tell the iconic New Zealand Cup Week is just around the corner. Three of Australia’s biggest stars will step out across two harness racing meetings on Saturday night with their sights set firmly on NZ. While Leap To Fame (Bettor’s Delight) and Gus (Majestic Son) are right on target and their runs are […]
EXCITING Western Australian pacer Mad Monday has emerged as the wildcard contender for the world’s richest pacing race, the $1.5 million TAB Eureka at Menangle on November 21. The four-year-old’s sparkling first-up win in strong company at Gloucester Park last Friday night prompted co-trainers Greg and Skye Bond to look seriously as crossing the country […]
EXCITING mare I Am Wilma’s win in the Group 1 Bill Collins Trotters’ Sprint added to the huge female influence in this year’s Australian Trotting Masters’ series. Mares won three of the four legs with Keayang Zahara (Volstead) taking out the first two – the Great Southern Star and Hammerhead Mile – and I Am […]
THE amazing Leap To Fame (Bettor’s Delight) is set to add more harness racing history to his phenomenal CV. The Queensland megastar will almost certainly become the first pacer to be crowned Australian Grand Circuit champion four times. Having won the past three titles, he still holds a 10-point lead with just two legs of […]
Get ready Kaikoura. Trainer Jason Grimson locked in New Zealand plans for his wonder mare Captains Mistress (Captaintreacherous) after she cruised to an historic win in last night’s Group 1 Victoria Cup at Melton. She became the first mare to win the iconic race since it was first run in 1974. It was his 14th […]
Let the “Million Dollar Chase” begin. Last year, NSW harness racing trainer Jason Grimson thwarted the great Leap To Fame’s agonisingly close quest to land Victoria’s $1 million Summer of Glory bonus. This year, Grimson is eyeing it off himself with wonder mare Captains Mistress (Captaintreacherous). And it all starts with Saturday night’s Group 1 […]
There is no replacing the best horse you have ever trained, but Saturday night’s Group 1 Woodlands Stud Victoria Derby favourite Palladium is proving something of a tonic for trainer Brad Hewitt. Just over three months ago, Hewitt left Albion Park with stars in his eyes, pondering how far his big, raw, gifted and untapped […]
THEY call him the “Pacing Priest” and for good reason. Father Brian Glasheen’s life has been spent across his two passions, the church and the racetrack. It was almost 50 years ago when renowned scribe Danny Power dubbed Glasheen the “Pacing Priest” in a story in the now defunct Sporting Globe paper. It stuck and […]
EMERGING star The Last Trip (Poster Boy) will head chase the $100,000 South Australian Cup as his quest for a slot in the world’s richest pacing race continues. Managing owner Ben Said said Harness Racing SA’s decision to boost the Cup prize money from $60,000 to $100,000 made it a very attractive target. “Lots of […]
Memories of the late great Vin Knight will come flooding back if Kingman (Always B Miki) can win Saturday night’s Group 1 Victoria Cup at Melton. Of all the great horsemen in Australian harness racing history, none have been as colorful or charismatic as the incomparable Knight, who dominated the major races through the 1980s. […]
THE world’s richest pacing race is still over six weeks away, but two of the key harness racing contenders will clash at Menangle tomorrow. It’s a trial not a race, but it will be fascinating how superstar three-year-old Loucasso (Sweet Lou) and exciting four-year-old Double Lou (Sweet Lou) perform as they build towards the $1.5 […]
WONDER mare Captains Mistress is poised to create history from a perfect barrier draw in Saturday night’s Group 1 Victoria Cup at Melton. No mare has won the Victoria Cup, dubbed the Cox Plate of harness racing, since its inception in 1974. But such has been Captains Mistress’ splash into the big league, she is […]
Two-time New Zealand Cup winning harness racing trainer Jason Grimson is poised to dominate this Saturday’s Victoria Cup. Grimson has six of the 18 nominations for the Group 1 race and five of them look locks for a start. Captains Mistress (Captaintreacherous) and Swayzee are the obvious, but Minos and Dangerous showed enough through the […]
STAR pacer Captains Knock’s quest to crack the $1 million in career harness racing earnings is on hold. A minor setback has thwarted plans for the son of Captaintreacherous to tackle next Saturday night’s Group 1 Victoria Cup. It denies the race a major player after Captains Knock posted five successive and impressive wins for […]
DON’T panic if you’re wondering why Inter Dominion trotting champion Gus (Majestic Son) hasn’t returned to the races yet. Co-trainer and driver Pete McMullen said the superstar trotter was “raring to go” but he and wife Chantal were weighing-up options ahead of his flight to NZ on November 1. Gus will have his third Albion […]
Harness racing history will be made this Saturday evening when South Australia’s first slot race the $100,000 Radiant is staged at Port Pirie’s circuit Phoenix Park. It’s a real coup for Port Pirie which outside of Globe Derby has regular meetings in South Australia along with Mount Gambier and Gawler. And its exactly the shot […]
NORTH America will have to wait a bit longer to see Australian driving sensation Cam Hart try to follow in the footsteps of other Down Under superstars like Dexter Dunn, Todd and Andy McCarthy. Hart revealed he was “so close” to moving to the US a couple of years back but then along came […]
It is amazing to think a decade has passed since a Kiwi harness racing raider won the Victoria Derby. There was a time when the Kiwi raiders owned Victoria’s premier three-year-old classic, taking home the trophy seven of eight years between Sharp And Telford’s win in 1996 to Bellas Boy’s triumph in 2003. Then came […]
MEMORIES of a childhood spent in the back of a car heading to racetracks with his late father stirred successful South Australian businessman Greg West to throw huge support behind harness racing’s most exciting new race, the $100,000 The Radiant at Port Pirie. West’s father, Murray, was a very well respected harness trainer who chased […]
Passionate owner Tony Licastro wants the TAB Eureka winning feeling again. Licastro’s superstar pacer Don Hugo gave him “by far” his biggest thrill in the sport at the time when he won the 2024 TAB Eureka at Club Menangle. When he realized he wouldn’t have a horse of his own for the $1.5 million race […]
Amidst the sadness of Denise Gath’s passing last week, it also stirred some wonderful memories. When times didn’t seem as rushed and going to the trots on a Saturday night at Moonee Valley as a genuine social occasion. That’s where I first met Denise and so many other behind-the-scenes and unsung heroes of harness racing […]
BE Good Johnny (Fake Left) was the ultimate family horse. The superstar late bloomer, who won 48 races including two Miracle Miles, passed away at the age of 26 in the paddock he spent his adoring retirement in at John and Narelle McCarthys property early last week. It was though he knew it was time. […]
AUSTRALIA’S boom three-year-old Loucasso (Sweet Lou) will bypass the Victoria Derby to focus on the world’s richest pacing race, the $1.5 million TAB Eureka. It is a major shake-up to the Derby, which starts with harness racing heats at Melton next Saturday night, as Loucasso was $2 favorite to win the final. Part-owner Aaron Bain […]
David Miles is starting to get excited. It is more than 15 years since he has raced a horse in NZ and even then, it was more with hope than expectation. That was talented pacer Villagem who ran third in a heat and 10th in the 2011 Inter Dominion final behind Im Themightyquinn (Smoken Up […]
