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Cancer Survivors Meet Cyberknife Thursday
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Sy Dog Heads Diverse Cast in American Turf
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At 86, Lukas Ready for First Weekend in May
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Diamond Oops Sets Sights On Turf Sprint Feat
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Sapphire Sale Launched By Tattersalls Ireland
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OpenStable Launched to Engage Derby Fans
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ITBA Education Programme Begins On May 9
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Sentient Jet Returns as Derby Partner
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Upstart Share Sale Approved by Syndicate
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Churchill Announces Ed Brown Society Partnership
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Portuondo Leaving Woodbine
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Darragh O’Loughlin Appointed New IHRB CEO
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BSA Cape Mare Catalogue Announced
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Wasn't that long ago shield matches, major shield matches drew big crowds, spose 20 years ain't that long ago and hasn't amalgamation done wonders for Rugby in the top of the South Island, maybe some others unions could consider it. -
By The Centaur · Posted
H'mm.... got to admit this wasn't the Ranfurly Shield event I relate to. I went to the first challenge Taranaki had in 1957 against Golden Bay-Motueka which Taranaki won about 57 nil. Even for game like that there would have been almost 30,000 present with all the hoopla etc associated with it. In fact crowds up to in excess of 40,000 for other shield games were common. Looking at the Manaia event on youtube was a bit depressing compared to the 1957-61 era. Of interest a lot of the players from that era ended up being keen racing owners e.g. Neil Wolfe, Ross Brown etc. -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
By Michael Guerin Dylan Ferguson admits Crackerjack is going to need to improve to warrant racing our best three-year-old trotters again this season. The good thing is Ferguson thinks that improvement is almost certain. The three-year-old recorded the third win of his career with perfect manners in his Classique Landscapers Metro Trotters Heat at Alexandra Park on Friday night, skying away to an easy win with Dylan’s father Peter in the sulky. Being a Metro Trot heat the next target for Crackerjack is an easy decision, the $35,000 final next Friday but what comes later will be up to the son of Majestic Son himself. Crackerjack was initially rated an average to better than average three-year-old by Dyan and wife/training partner Jo but when his improvement curve started they chanced their arm in the Northern Trotting Derby. “That kicked his arse a bit so we have taken things along quietly getting him back to where he is now,” says Ferguson. “So we won’t be rushing to be taking on Meant To Be [Derby winner] any time soon and he will have to show us he is at that level before we would plan to go down south. “But we don’t really need to travel too much with him. “He can race for almost $20,000 any week we like at Alexandra Park and would be qualified for the Golden Gait series so he has a lot of options here. “He is a typical trotter and getting him to this stage has been a lot about maturity and the top two inches and now that is coming right we think he will keep improving.” Ferguson says Crackerjack is “three-quarters owned in Australia” so that is another option for him eventually but he and Jo will have no shortage of horses in training regardless of where Friday night’s winner ends up in a year or so. “We have 18 in work now which is actually too many for winter but a few months ago we have 25 and that is the sort of summer numbers we want to be training so we are getting plenty of support.” Crackerjack started a night of Waikato domination of the Alexandra Park trotting events with Dragonstone and Con Grazia Love also winning their features. Dragonstone showed ability for trainer Arna Donnelly last season and looks to have strengthened with how she won the second Metro heat in very similar front-running fashion, albeit more narrowly, than Crackerjack. And fellow Waikato mare Con Grazia Love was dazzling winning the main trot after being backed into hot favouritism. Her front line ace drawn was of no use as she was last of the bunch with 500m to go but unwound brilliantly in the hands of Emily Johnson for a stunning victory. The night also saw star driver Zachary Butcher move to 1100 career New Zealand wins with Tyson in the opening event. View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
by Michael Guerin One Mhor For Heather is doing exactly what was named to do. And that is win races so her owners could remember and celebrate in the name of the late harness racing owner Heather Williams. Heather, with her husband Lex, raced some wonderful horses before Heather sadly passed in November 2020. One of thosd good horses they owned together was One Over Da Moon, the Jewels winner of his juvenile year, who has since stood at stud and sired some smart trotters. Enter the fray Heather’s friends Linda and Neil Carter, who lived just up the road from Lex and Heather in Timaru. The Williams owned Leithe Ellen and bred from her with some success before she started to struggle to get into foal. The Carters took the mare over and Heather talked them into sending her to One Over Da Moon. The result is One Mhor For Heather, who took out the $34,000 Silk Road Winter Series Final at Addington on Friday night. Trained and driven by Robbie Holmes the four-year-old mare overcame a 10m handicap with a great beginning and eventually ended up trailing leader Priness Sadie before getting up inside her on the passing lane. It was her fourth career win at start 21 and every one of them does what Linda Carter intended when she named the horse. “This filly was only born a month before Heather died,” says Carter. “We got the mare off her and it was Heather who talked us into going to One Over Da Moon so I told her I would name it after her. “The Mhor part comes from the Scottish/Gaelic word meaning ‘great’ and the rest of the name is pretty self explanatory. “So obviously every time she races we remember Heather, who was such a lovely person. “We have a great bunch of owners in her, including Les, and we are loving having her. “To have her going so well and winning a race like this is a bonus.” While One Mhor For Heather was the emotional story of the night the numbers game was won by Team Telfer, as many punters expected it would be. They trained four winners at Addington, all driven by Tim Williams, including Slots who was professional in the main pace. Add that to the three winners they had at Alexandra Park and one on Thursday night at Cambridge and they are now 24 wins clear in the national trainer’s premiership with no end in sight to their winter of wonder. View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
by Michael Guerin Champion trainer Mark Purdon worries he may be all out of Inter Dominion miracles. Purdon and son Nathan take Oscar Bonavena to Albion Park in Brisbane tonight for the A$500,000 Inter Dominion Trotting Final, the veteran trotter joining fellow Kiwi trotter Bet N Win in giving New Zealand a great chance of winning the 3157m mobile iconic event. The only problem is Oscar Bonavena has finished just seventh and sixth in his two heats of the series, hardly Inter Dominion winning form, and he will need a special type of form turnaround tonight. Lucky for him Purdon specializes in Inter Dominion heroics, his history in the Trans Tasman harness racing carnival quite unbelievable. His first ever Interdom win came as a driver for his late father Roy and brother Barry when Mark Hanover won the Pacing Final at Alexandra Park 34 years ago. Think what you were doing 34 years ago. That is how long Purdon has been winning Inter Dominions. Mark trained the trotting series winner three years in a row between 1996 and 1998 with Pride Of Petite twice and Buster Hanover once, Pride Of Petite’s second win in Adelaide one of the most freakish performances in the history of the Inter Dominions. I Can Doosit went back to back in the Trotters Final for Purdon in 2011-12, while he trained Smolda to come from last to win at Gloucester Park (another miracle) in 2016 before Lazarus beat the Aussies up in the final at the same venue the next year. In 2019 Purdon doubled down, winning both the Pacing and Trotting Finals with Ultimate Sniper and Winterfell. So if anybody can cajole a tricky trotter into winning tonight it is Purdon. But even he admits Oscar Bonavena has him flummoxed as Oscar, like many humans, gets more eccentric with age. “Before last week’s heat he was trotting beautifully at home and I thought he’d win,” says Purdon. “So to see him trot that badly early stunned me. “Maybe it is just him being cunning as he has got older and he does serve [impregnate] mares as well as racing and maybe that hasn’t helped his concentration. “I have no doubts he could win on is best behaviour but he has let me down too many times this last year to totally trust him.” Oscar Bonavena may be suited by drawing the unruly (second line) tonight in the hope his rivals go hard, struggle with the long distance, and he can swoop late. That is probably how he is most potent but also a very rare path to winning a major harness race these days. Bet N Win is therefore the more logical of the two Kiwi hopes, unbeaen in the heats with perfect manners and driver Bob Butt in form. While New Zealand had no reps in the A$1million Pacing Final (11.10pm NZ time) punters who make it that far into the night will at least get to see a true champion in Leap To Fame, who looks unbeatable on his home track, with Captains Knock the best place bet at $3. New Zealand is also represented by Captains Mistress in the Queensland Oaks and Rubira for the Purdons in the Queensland Derby. View the full article
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