News Briefs - January 28

A half century to Seth Hill, five Riverton Cup wins for Green and Dalton Shard's racing future all feature in this week's News Briefs.

50 to Seth Hill

Junior driver Seth Hill achieved a significant milestone when Ukraine returned to the winner's circle for his boss Bob Butt at Oamaru last Wednesday. It was Hill's first win for 2026 and his 50th overall. His first win was with Falcons Watch at Wyndham in January 2024. Among the better horses he's won with is Arthur Shelby, trained by his father Brendon Hill. Seth also won the Revell Douglas Memorial Series last year.  

Orange wins second Revell Douglas heat

The third heat of this year's Revell Douglas Memorial Series was held at Taupo on Monday. It was taken out by the Zev Meredith-trained Dominus for Harrison Orange. It was Orange's second heat win this series, following on from The Night Agent at Hawera. Emily Johnson took out the first heat, also at Hawera, with Melton Mogul. Orange leads the series on 46 points, nine ahead of Johnson. The seven heat series will finish at Cromwell on February 20-22. The series is run in honour of Revell Douglas who tragically drowned in 2021.

Green lands fifth Riverton Cup

Kirstin Green just loves winning the Riverton Cup. On Sunday she took out the feature on the grass with the Brett Gray-trained The Big Lebowski. It was the nine-year-old's ninth win, and his first since November 2024. For Green it was her fifth win in the Cup following on from Wingandaprayer (2005), Paddyproudfoot (2019), U May Cullect (2020) and Bobbies Rock (2025). She also trained or co-trained Paddyproudfoot, U May Cullect and Bobbies Rock.  

McCormick 1-2 at Ashburton

Lawrence McCormick had a training first at his home track, Ashburton on Sunday. He produced his first ever quinella with Vertigo just nosing out stablemate Father Mike in the Hornby Club Handicap Trot. It was McCormick's 24th training success, his first was with It's How You Use It at Nelson in 2016.

MM gunning for fourth Cup win

Muscle Mountain will be gunning for a fourth win in the Group 3 Summer Trotting Free For All at Addington on Friday night. The millionaire trotter took out the feature in 2021,2022 and 2023, with Oscar Bonavena winning in 2024 and the now retired One All Over prevailing last year. At R119, Muscle Mountain is by far the highest rated horse in the race, ahead of Greg and Ben Hope-trained stablemate Midnight Dash (R92). The Cup will go at 8.54pm.   

Win at start 62

Pacific Thunder has once again proved that every horse can have its day. After being placed 15 times during his career the Auckland Reactor eight-year-old broke through for his first success at Oamaru last Wednesday. It was start number 62 dating back to 2022. Trained by Robin Thornley, Pacific Thunder was steered by regular driver and daughter Olivia.

Dalton Shard off to Aussie

Dalton Shard will do his immediate racing across the Tasman. The Always B Miki six-year-old has headed to Dean Braun in Victoria after winning 10 races from 60 starts in this country. In 2024 the Robert and Jenna Dunn-trained pacer won two automatic qualifiers for the IRT New Zealand Cup - the Maurice Holmes Vase and the New Brighton Cup. He was also second in the 2025 Hannon Memorial (behind Akuta) and the 2024 Invercargill Cup (behind Republican Party). His stakes earning topped $250K.

Fugitive in Aussie

One of NZ’s best juveniles of last season Fugitive is close to making his Aussie debut for new trainer-driver Mick Stanley. Fugitive raced 11 times last year for Cran and Chrissie Dalgety, netting five wins and four second across many of the major races. He won the Group 1 Young Guns final at Alexandra Park beating Allamericanplayer on May 2 and then ran second to that pacer in the Group 1 Welcome Stakes at Addington on May 23. “He won’t be going down to Victoria, the NSW Derby is the first target,” Stanley said. That is set down for Menangle on March 14.

Upset winner in Paris

At odds of 37-1, Hokkaido Jiel picked the perfect time to get back into winning form, taking out one of the sport's greatest races the Prix d'Amerique in Paris. It was his first win since June 2023 though he did finish second in the great race last year before being sidelined with injury. With a winning stake of $1m the race over 2700 metres had a capacity 18-horse field. On a rainy day and a muddy track it was all on throughout the race before Hokkaido Jiel prevailed by just a head.

Club News : Invercargill    
 
There will be free family fun at Ascot Park Raceway in Invercargill this Thursday (29 January) when the Invercargill Harness Racing Club provide free entertainment for children at their summer twilight race meeting. Racing is due to commence at approximately 4.12pm and the club is offering free Mr Whippy ice creams for the first 100 kids on course as well as free mini jeep rides and a bouncy castle. A $250 Prezzy Card will be up for grabs for all ages in the very popular and very easy Heads and Tails game. There will also be Kidz Kartz Pony racing on the programme. Admission to the course is also free!