Classifieds

Eye on the World, with BH correspondent and world traveler Bob Kieckhefer, aims to look at international racing from an American perspective and, along the way, perhaps grow some interest in racing overseas.View the full article

you're a good trainer of trotters.  so keep at it.  Victoria is really taking off with trotters . In fact 8 of the 9 races at Melton on Saturday night are trots. something they have a lot of in Victoria to cater for all classes of trotters. The Group 1 is a Keayang Zahara benefit race though lol 🤣 A few good kiwi trotters trainers made the change to Victoria so well worth considering if you wanted to really enjoy your craft, and win some TROTS. Young Tristan Larsen still driving for ex-pat Brent Lilley , who has several group 1 wins training ,  and also ran 2nd in the TAB trot last year Cambridge with his star horse. they surprisingly only have 2 in on Sat.   and another kiwi Kiwi Trotter trainer Richard Brosnan has done well. None in this Saturday though.  Richard and Son Emmett winning the Interdominion trot Final 3-4  years ago with Maori Law and win trot races all the time in Vic. Another disgruntled kiwi trainer Kyle Marshall from Cambridge arrived a couple of years ago and does well. He has the favourite in race 2 . Alas the prizemoney in Victoria is very low these days , as not a lot of betting on them these days. Kyle's horse picks up just 3-4 thousand per win from it's 4 wins so you have to get used to that with the state of the economy. so has about $20,000 earned . but it's just a sport , and a wins a win  . Auckland has several great trotter trainers like BarryP , the Dickies, Balle , Hacketts ,McGowans, Herlihy, Mark with OscarB, Chilcott , Dr Chin should retire (but whatever) and several more even  . What they should do is Double the prizemoney , Double the trot races number . and that would double the number of trotters competing . and get them off correct rating races too .  Dunn's even sent some there for a while like 'Bounce and Beyond' and 'BraveheartHighlander' so they would support the trotting too no doubt. send all the Pacers to the South Island and have the North exclusively trotters and greater than Sweden . 😅  🏆 And MAKE AUCKLAND the Trotting Mecca OF the World for trotters . Bigger and better than Sweden even. Run the richest trots in the world .  NZ has had world class trotters (and trotter trainers)  for decades.  they should still try and prosper from such. The upcoming 'TAB trot' has made the Aussies look good so far  , so has lifted the Aussie game. Look what GUS did in NZ. and QLD is Not even a Trotting state lol. So things are Possible if you aim Big.  

Luke Ferraris reunites with David Eustace-trained Dazzling Fit (NZ) (Ribchester) in the HK$13 million Hong Kong Classic Cup (1800m) at Sha Tin on Sunday (1 March) and believes the galloper can be competitive despite being one of the lowest-rated entries in the field. A third-place finish in a Class 3 1800m contest under Zac Purton this month, raising Dazzling Fit’s rating to 76, was enough to secure a place in Sunday’s field. That day, he finished half a length behind the winner, to whom he gave 11 pounds, BMW Hong Kong Derby prospect Flow Water Flow. “He’s a nice horse and his lead-up has been pretty good,” Ferraris said. “He’s just going to need a race run to suit. He’s obviously still maturing and not the final product yet, but he’s given every sort of sign that he’s going to be a nice horse.” The South African jockey, who partnered Akashvani to eighth place in the first leg of the Four-Year-Old Classic Series, the Hong Kong Classic Mile (1600m), will vacate the saddle of David Hayes’ charge to reunite with Dazzling Fit. Despite enduring a mixed 2025/26 campaign so far, one highlight for Dazzling Fit was a short-head 1600m victory over Tony Cruz’s Beauty Bolt in November last year. The James McDonald-ridden Beauty Bolt went on to claim third place in the Hong Kong Classic Mile and is likely to be one of the market leaders on Sunday. Ferraris enjoyed a productive three-year-old campaign with Dazzling Fit last season, piloting him to two wins, a second and a third from five runs. He hasn’t ridden the gelding since October last year, but is happy to be partnering the New Zealand-bred again as he seeks a Hong Kong Classic Cup win to go alongside the Hong Kong Classic Mile title he claimed last season with My Wish. “He’s pretty easy to ride,” Ferraris said of Dazzling Fit. “He can get fired up a little bit, but he’s got a great action, and a relatively good temperament. So he’s not hard to work with.” While Dazzling Fit’s best form has come at 1400m and 1600m, Ferraris said he believes the son of Ribchester can handle the step up in distance on Sunday. “I think he’ll appreciate the 1800 (metres). If there can be a little bit of pace on just to help him get into a rhythm and settle, he’s got a big action on him and you want to see him use it. If he can get those things to suit, then, hopefully, he’s in with a shout,” he added. The Four-Year-Old Classic Series culminates in the 149th running of the blue riband HK$26 million BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) at Sha Tin on 22 March. Sunday’s (1 March) 11-race fixture at Sha Tin starts at 12.30pm with the Class 4 Citi Wealth Handicap (1800m). The HK$13 million Hong Kong Classic Cup (1800m) jumps at 4.45pm, while the meeting also features the HK$13 million G1 Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup (2000m), which will be run at 3.35pm. View the full article

Lol, how did they go? Bet they were nil on the horses and were allowed to feed as much as they wanted into the dogs with same race multi this, same race multi that ? What did they start with and finish with? If any single person wagered the way these OTG blokes do, theY would be betting irresponsibly and were compulsive gambler’s! And yet certain punters they make it hard and are treated poorly whereas the OTG are given major preferential treatment!

Jason, dont agree that harness racing is an awful industry? Yes it has certainly fallen from grace compared to the hay days when courses were full and it was semi affordable for many! There certainly has been some shocking business decisions made over the past decade or so and I believe that HRNZ stopped promoting the harness racing industry. Things are competitive in everything nowadays but personally believe that things are going to become very dire for harness racing industry 2 years or so due to very poor financial handling of things. The frustrating thing is that those making the decisions at the moment are not looking at the overall picture of what they are doing to the harness racing future. They have lost the plot and when things are shown up for what they actually are there will be heads to roll!