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Following harness form and results often has me wondering why owners dont change their driver whrn they are not getting the right result! You only have to go through the fields and you will see many examples of a change of driver to a more competent driver will indeed get afar better result! Does anyone actually know why Paul Nairn continues to be the sole driver of Tu Tangata??? We all know that Paul Nairn is an  extremely good trainer of the trotter but to be honest most of us would not rate him as highly when he is in the cart at the races! His drives on Tu Tangata are less than meritorious and doesnt give the horse the best chance in his races! Why does he not put Bob Butt or someone else in the cart,  as there is no doubt in Brodies mind that it would improve the horses chances without doubt! Is there something we dont know about the horse that only Paul knows?

Sounds like the Ham sandwichs tomorrow will be discounted 😁

You are correct Mikey, the well heeled owners are buying the best bred ones and dont worry about buying the others! Reality is that in 2 years time there is absolutely no doubt whatsoever the stake money is going to be decreased substantially for all harness races! How much that is is but a guess but it is going to be substantially reduced without a doubt, unless someone from Entain or HRNZ can advise us that I am wrong, and mire than happy to be proven wrong? They wont as they know that I am correct and they are actually doing a disservice to harness racing by operating the way they currently are! These horses being bred now and being sold as yearlings now are going to be racing for much less money in a couple of years time and reduced owners and trainers. However, many of these owners can afford to race for less but the average owner probably can not. The frustrating part for myself is that it was not hard to utilise the cash splash from Entain so much better than it has been. Does anyone at all believe that the way the money from Entain that has been donated to HRNZ has been spent wisely??      

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In a well-watched race for the presence of 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' Ewing (Knicks Go), it was Oscar's Hope (Twirling Candy) on his return to sprints who stepped forward to take home the Ozark Stakes at Oaklawn Park. The Tom Amoss-trainee entered this contest off an unsuccessful attempt at two-turns Jan. 3 in the local Smarty Jones Stakes, finishing eighth and off the board for the first time in his six-race career. The runner-up there was Silent Tactic (Tacitus), who returned Feb. 6 at this venue to claim the GIII Southwest Stakes in dominant style. Before that, the son of Twirling Candy had been first or second in every start as a juvenile, winning the Jean Lafitte Stakes at Delta Downs two back Nov. 26 in his stakes debut. Cutting back from the 1 1/16-miles to six furlongs here, and leaving the blocks carrying 5-2 odds to Ewing's 3-5 favoritism, Oscar's Hope stalked Tiz Mary's Comet (Good Samaritan) and Swung (Instagrand) from third as that pair kept each other company on the front end. After the former posted an opening quarter in :22.01 and four panels in :45.37, and with Ewing not firing from fifth, Oscar's Hope rolled into contention passing the quarter marker and was the looming danger as they neared the final furlong. Overhauling his challengers from the overland route, he kept on well to win by 1 1/2 lengths. Tiz Mary's Comet held on for second by a length with Swung in third. “He's just a horse that always tries,” said Luis Saez. “He's got a big heart. The key to him today was we got a good post and was right there in the perfect spot. We tracked the speed. We were right behind it and when we came to the top of the stretch, he gave me a big turn of foot.” Of Ewing's sixth-place finish, jockey Cristian Torres said, “He was flat. He broke a step slow, but he never got into the bit, never engaged in the race. I started working on him early, going into the turn, but never responded.” The victor is the first to the races for GIII Schuylerville Stakes-placed Hopeful Princess (Not This Time), a full-sister to SP Johanny. That pair's third sibling, three-time winning mare Everything Magic (Street Sense), is herself the mother of MSP Heldish (Great Notion). Hopeful Princess has one other of racing age after Oscar's Hope, a juvenile colt named Major Ray (Nyquist). Her youngest is a yearling filly by Curlin, and she is due back to Twirling Candy for 2026. This is the immediate female family of GSW Street Magician (Street Cry {Ire}) as well as the dam of MGSW Future Is Now (Great Notion) and MSW & GSP Call Another Play (Audible). Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.     OZARK S., $150,000, Oaklawn, 2-16, 3yo, 6f, 1:10.34, ft. 1–OSCAR'S HOPE, 124, c, 3, by Twirling Candy       1st Dam: Hopeful Princess (GSP), by Not This Time       2nd Dam: More Than Magic, by More Than Ready       3rd Dam: Magical Meadow, by Meadowlake ($150,000 Ylg '24 KEESEP). O-Michael McLoughlin; B-Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC (KY); T-Thomas M. Amoss; J-Luis Saez. $85,500. Lifetime Record: 7-4-2-0, $323,434. 2–Tiz Mary's Comet, 119, g, 3, Good Samaritan–Suzie's Dream, by Tiz the One. ($50,000 2yo '25 OBSOPN). 1ST BLACK TYPE. O-Rotstein, Michael H. and Olof, LLC; B-Norman Stables, LLC (LA); T-Rylee Magnon. $28,500. 3–Swung, 119, c, 3, Instagrand–Queen's Gate, by Divine Park. ($17,000 Ylg '24 FTKOCT). O-Chad M. Call; B-Duncan Lloyd (KY); T-Matt Williams. $14,250. Margins: 1HF, 1, HF. Odds: 2.60, 7.80, 9.30. Also Ran: Chad Allan, Gnome, Ewing, My Dream Zapper. Scratched: Dirty Rich, Extract's Arrow. The post Oscar’s Hope Strides Home in Ozark, Ewing Off the Board in Seasonal Bow appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Grade 1 winner Baeza will head East to join the barn of Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. The move comes just days after the passing of his former trainer, John Shirreffs, who died Feb. 12 at 80. The Daily Racing Form first reported the news. View the full article

Argentine champion and GI Breeders' Cup Distaff heroine Blue Prize (Arg) (Pure Prize–Blues for Sale {Arg}), by Not For Sale {Arg}) died at the Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital on Monday after complications from foaling, according to Frank Taylor, the Vice President of Boarding Operations at Taylor Made Farms, where the 13-year-old mare has been boarded for her entire breeding career. “She had complications from a hemorrhage,” Taylor said. “She had a foal [by Life Is Good] about a week ago.” According to Taylor, her latest filly is doing well. “She had been at the farm since the foaling,” Taylor said. “We try to keep them quiet when they hemorrhage. We didn't want to ship her to the clinic if we didn't have to, since moving them adds stress, and increases the chances of losing them. But she started to colic [Sunday], and we had to go to the clinic. She died on the operating table.” Winner of a trio of Grade Is in North America–the Spinster in (2018-19) and the 2019 Breeders' Cup Distaff over champion Midnight Bisou–she also won at the highest level in Argentina, taking the G1 Premio Seleccion in 2016, the same season that she was named Argentine Champion 3-year-old Female. Bred by Haras La Manija, the chestnut was acquired by Merriebelle Stable and was sent to Ignacio Correas for her U.S. campaign. In North America, she won eight races in the U.S., including the GII Fleur de Lis, GII Falls City and GIII Locust Grove. Retiring with over $2.6 million in the coffers following her Breeders' Cup victory, the mare was purchased by OXO Equine's Larry Best for $5 million at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton November Sale. Her initial foal, Playback (Into Mischief), won once from seven career starts for trainer Paulo Lobo. Subsequent foals have yet to start–a 4-year-old colt by Instagrand named Flock Hill in addition to a 3-year-old colt by Practical Joke named Boylston. In 2024, she produced a Life is Good colt and her last reported foal was a filly by the WinStar stallion sired earlier this year. The post Breeders’ Cup Distaff Winner Blue Prize Dies appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

With the stakes on offer still not attracting numbers anyone with a draft horse must be tempted to stick a sulky behind it and go racing, HRNZ might just welcome all the numbers they can get.

What you are seeing in harness racing is a small number of rich buyers buying all the top stuff for a few serious large numbers trainers hogging up everything leaving the scraps for the rest, eventually it becomes mostly uninteresting and uncompetitive, financially as it stands the ones at the top are most likely doing extremely well as a business module....if the stakes fall as could be the case will their bisuness module stand up ?..