News Briefs : December 3

A date for the HRNZ awards, Dexter's latest accolade and some huge numbers stateside all feature in this week's News Briefs.

Save The Date - HRNZ annual awards

A date and venue have been confirmed for the next Harness Racing New Zealand annual awards. The best of 2025 will be celebrated at Addington Raceway on Saturday, January 31, 2026. More details will be released soon.

Cadet finalists in 2025

The Cadet of the Year finals were held in Christchurch yesterday, with the winner being announced at the HRNZ annual awards. There were four finalists - Jacob Bennet (Cullen Racing), Nikita Burton (Stonewall Stud), Riley Black (Alister Black) and Sarah Walsh (Scott Phelan and Barry Purdon). They were involved in a number of tasks during the day's competition - some were related to harness racing, others were a bit more random like hamburger making and karting!

Addition to Alex Park meeting

A new race has been added to the Alexandra Park meeting on December 12 following the decision not to run both this week's North Island Non-Win Pacing races due to a lack of nominations. A Non-Winners Mobile Pace over 2200m with a stake of $15k will now be run.

RR off to Sydney  

Classy pacer Rakero Rocket has headed to Australia and is set to do his future racing for trainer Jason Grimson at Menangle. The five-year-old is a nine-race winner in this country including the first ever Group 1 Christian Cullen at Addington last year. His last win was in the Alabar Methven Cup in October. Rakero Rocket joins a powerhouse stable that is headlined by dual New Zealand Cup winner Swayzee.

DD's the Grand Circuit champ

Dexter Dunn's year just keeps going from strength to strength. The star Kiwi reinsman has just been confirmed as the Grand Circuit champion for 2025. The Circuit features all the most prestigious races at around 20 tracks right around North America. Dunn finished on 4371.5 points well clear of Yannick Gingras (3112.5). Dunn, a five-time USA Driver of the Year, is the second highest earner in North America this year at $14.9m, just behind Jason Bartlett ($15.7m). This year's Dan Patch Awards (harness racing's Halberg awards) will be held in Florida next February.  

Big numbers in USA

In an unusual coincidence, Tony Morgan and Aaron Merriman have brought up big milestones within hours of each other in North America. Morgan went to 18,000 career wins, and Merriman 17,000. They are second and third all-time behind Dave Palone (21,000+). This year Merriman has the most wins of anyone, with 834, well clear of Jason Bartlett (746). Brett Beckwith, who represented the USA in last month's World Driving Championship around New Zealand, is fourth on 542 wins.      

12th for Kiwi-bred mare

After having seven wins in this country, Always B Stunning has just chalked up her 12th in the USA this year. The five-year-old mare's latest success was at Plainridge, Massachusetts. Always B Stunning was purchased by Richard Poillucci, who also raced the great Shartin, the fastest pacing mare in history with 46 wins and over $2.5m in stakes. Always B Stunning was exported to North America after having seven wins from 41 starts for Peter and Vaughan Blanchard.