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Ellerslie.

i agree with you about the need to showcase the sport. No argument there. You need your high end races . its just how you do it and whether you get the balance right as far as promoting and looking after all sectors. i belive  HRNZ and the mainsteam harness media's fail on both fronts because they over focus,almost to the point of obsession sometimes ,on the high end races like slot races,the age group races,the highend trainers and they also focus too much on junior drivers, prioritising them over the hard working grass roots participants.. so your talking about showcasing,well all within nz hraness racing are deserving of show casing,not just 10%. Harness racing is also losing the good will they have with so many who have supported them in the past. People may not realise it,but i believe thats been happening,Its being driven by poor decision making. And the average joe bloggs will be observing  the silence of the people who are deemed the special ones and who are riding the gravy train.  Rugby is nz's main sport. Nz rugby's 2025 vision:reimagining rugby.   "we're future focussed, while respecting where we have come from.Lessons from throughout rugby's strong history,as well as more recent events,have formed our direction in a way that will look after the entire game from grass roots level to the international performances.We intend to grow rugby at the heart of our communities as we know that the strength of grass roots flows throughout the game." Thats a message your always seeing the successful unions stating.Thats not what you get in nz harness racing. Anyway gamma,enjoy the showcasing of the likes of the slot aces. nothing wrong with that if your into them. personally my interest in those type of races continues to decline ,mostly because i view the money hrnz have thrown at those sectors will negatively impact the sport in the  future. Why would i bother showing interest in  all the pre race media hype about something which is a reminder of how hrnz prioritse the high end.  

Once bigger that the Auckland Cup! Once one of the bigger betting races each year! 1st 10,000 Pound race in NZ. Two famous winners come to mind!  1976 Show Gate!  Queen of the South! 1927 Nighmarch wins it as a 3 year old, later to be the first to win Cox and Melb Cup in a season! For 2026?  A full field of 22 have paid up! A very tough betting race!    

tick, it would be rather disappointing and more that purple prose will be used if they don't go around in the first! 

The 2026 February Digital Sale closed with gross sales of $5,881,500 for 189 horses sold and the topper was Neom Beach (Omaha Beach) who brought $300,000, the online auction said in a press release on Tuesday evening. The sale opened Thursday, Feb. 19 with offerings which included horses of racing age, racing/broodmare prospects, broodmares–including mares with foals at foot–stallion prospects, 'short' yearlings, and a 2-year-old in-training. Neom Beach (hip 1), a multiple stakes winner, went to Amy Moore of South Gate Farm. The $300,000 sales topper was consigned as a racing/broodmare prospect by Jeffrey Bloom, agent. A winner at 2, 3 and 4, the 5-year-old won last year's Ouija Board Distaff Stakes on dirt and the Wasted Tears Stakes on turf. The mare, who earned more than $745,000 on the racetrack, entered the sale off a three-length win versus allowance company in her last start. “Fasig-Tipton has mastered the art of blending their legacy bloodstock sales expertise with their proven innovative digital platform,” said Jeffrey Bloom. “Bringing buyers and sellers across the world together with such amazing efficiency opens up endless opportunities. I am a huge fan.” Rounding out the top five prices of the sale were: Miss Tapirado (hip 37), sold for $260,000 to Four Quarters Corp., NW Bloodstock, agent, from the consignment of Mill Ridge Sales, agent (Dispersal of Repossessed Horses). A winning daughter of Tapit, Miss Tapirado has produced a 2-year-old colt by Uncle Mo, which has not started, and has a yearling colt by Echo Town. She was offered not mated; Gun Party (hip 31), sold for $200,000 to KDE Equine from the consignment of Steve Asmussen, agent. Offered as a horse of racing age, the five-year-old son of Curlin out of GISW Carina Mia (Malibu Moon) recorded two 90+ Beyer speed figures last year at Churchill Downs and Saratoga. Gun Party has earned more than $315,000 to date; Misinformation (hip 36), sold for $180,000 to Lobo Farm from the consignment of Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent for DJ Stable Graduate. A 3-year-old colt by Essential Quality, Misinformation was twice a winner last year at 2 and was just a nose shy of victory in allowance company at Oaklawn Feb. 7. He has been on the board in five of seven career starts with two wins and earnings of more than $120,000; Paynterbynumbers (hip 3), sold for $160,000 to Ken Copenhaver from the consignment of Mill Ridge Sales, agent (Dispersal of Repossessed Horses). A winning daughter of Paynter herself, her first foal is multiple stakes winning juvenile of last year Counting Stars (Honor A. P.), who is entered in this Sunday's GIII Honeybee Stakes at Oaklawn. Paynterbynumbers has a yearling filly by Epicenter and was offered not mated. “We're absolutely thrilled with the results of this sale, which surpassed $5,800,000 in gross,” said Leif Aaron, Fasig-Tipton Director of Digital Sales. “Bidding was strong from start to finish, reflecting the depth and diversity of both our offerings and our buyer base. With more than 1,200 registered bidders and an 80% clearance rate, the market is clearly healthy and active–horses are getting sold. “We're especially encouraged to see new participants joining us each sale, and we're incredibly appreciative of the continued support from our buyers and sellers,” he said. “Also telling was that 85% of the horses that brought $100,000 or more were sold by traditional consignors, so it's exciting to see how comfortable they are selling high end stock on our digital platform.” Full results are available online. The next digital sale will be held Mar. 19-24. Entries close Mar. 9. The post Fasig-Tipton February Digital Sale Totals Over $5.8 Million In Sales appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Opie Bosson 4. Insatiable - Race 6 2. Never Too Much - Race 2 4. Our Approval - Race 10 1. Purple Prose - Race 1 5. Stonybreck - Race 9

Chucking money into something that is going to lose money to my mind , is not a winner! Cambridge chucked money into the slot race when they can not afford it, in fact they are broke and no way on earth will they trade out of it! Gamma, you need to realise that the only reason harness is functioning at the moment is due to the money that Entain has Chucked in and it isnt going to continue indefinitely. Totally agree harness racing is very poorly promoted in NZ, HRNZ would rather boost the stakes now and have nothing to show at the end of the 5 years? it is very puzzling how someone who is not on the HRNZ payroll is the biggest promoter of harness racing in NZ?.?? They just do not get it but then again while they are getting big salaries then what is the problem?  

Which you plan for by allowing a contingency in your budget

Having claimed a first Group One victory for Cambridge Stud owners Sir Brendan and Lady Jo Lindsay with Jaarffi (NZ) (Iffraaj) at Ellerslie last Saturday, Lance Noble is hoping to add to that tally back at headquarters on Champions Day. Noble was familiar with Group One success from the early stages of his training career, initially in partnership with his mentor Jim Gibbs, then with fellow Gibbs protégé Roger James and most notably from his own stable with triple Group One-winning racemare Viadana (NZ) in 2013-14. In the decade since he was appointed private trainer for the Lindsays at their well-appointed Karaka property, further elite success had eluded Noble, albeit by narrow margins on a number of occasions. Jaarffi was one of those Group One placegetters, having gone down by a short head to Provence in last year’s Gr.1 New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1600m) at the inaugural Champions Day and second again behind Kingswood (Roaring Lion) in the Gr.1 Zabeel Classic (2000m) at Ellerslie on Boxing Day. “Since the Zabeel Classic the plan was to target two more Group Ones, either go to Te Rapa for the Herbie Dyke Stakes or wait for the Ōtaki-Māori Classic and then to the Bonecrusher Stakes on Champions Day as her grand final,” Noble said. “In the end we decided on the two Ellerslie races as she does go well there, and it was great for Sir Brendan, Lady Jo and everyone to see her get up and win on Saturday. “She’s tough and not the easiest to deal with, but that tough streak stands to her on raceday, as we saw on Saturday after she’d had a pretty tough trip. “She’s come through it well and all going to plan she’ll be there next week for what might be her last start; after all she’s six years old and as a Group One winner she’ll be another valuable addition to the Cambridge Stud broodmare band.” At the other end of the spectrum, Noble is also looking forward to the Group One debut of talented two-year-old Liguria (NZ) (Snitzel) in the Sistema Stakes (1200m). The daughter of champion stallion Snitzel and the Noble-trained Vernazza (NZ), winner of the Gr.2 Matamata Breeders’ Stakes (1200m) and runner-up in the Sistema Stakes at her next start, displayed her share of family talent when winning the Gr.3 Colin Jillings 2YO Classic (1200m) at Ellerslie on January 31. That confirmed a tilt at the Matamata Breeders’ Stakes, but a heavy track deniedLiguriathe chance to emulate her dam in the biggest race on Noble’s former home track. “I was looking forward to heading back down to Matamata with what I considered a strong prospect for another Breeders’ Stakes, but it wasn’t to be,” Noble said. “The track was already heavy when we decided to leave her in, but later in the morning as we were heading out the gate, I got word that the track had a further downgrade. “I said to myself ‘this is crazy’, so I rang the stewards and pulled her out. It was the right decision, she went to the trials at Avondale last week and won really well. She’s all set, so here’s hoping for another big day.” In the meantime Noble will line up a lesser light in his select team at the closest racecourse to his Karaka base, Pukekohe Park, on Wednesday afternoon. Kakasisisi (NZ) (Yes Yes Yes), a three-year-old filly by Yes Yes Yes from the Frankel mare Kakariki (NZ), lines up in the fifth race on the twilight programme as what her trainer describes as a “top three” chance. “She went well enough for fourth in her first two starts but then got in a bit of trouble last time, but she’s been working well and I think she can get some of it,” Noble said. View the full article