News Briefs : April 28

A celebration of Colin Hair's life, the latest on Next Gen, and the diamond winner on Diamonds Day all feature in this week's News Briefs. 

Colin Hair's funeral at Addington on Wednesday   

The funeral for respected breeder and administrator Colin Hair will be held at Addington Raceway tomorrow (Wednesday) at 1pm. He had key roles in the New Zealand and Canterbury Standardbred Breeders Associations, was a HRNZ Board member for 14 years and bred 42 horses, most notably two-time Horse of the Year and 14-time Group 1 winner Sundees Son. He will be taken for a final lap of Addington at 2.15pm.  The Colin Hair Memorial Trot will also be held this Friday at Addington.

To read his obituary click here 

Next Gen eligible horses now on hrnz.co.nz

A complete list of Next Gen eligible horses is now available on the hrnz website. There are more than 120 horses eligible overall.

To find out more about Next Gen and to see the complete list of Next Gen eligible horses click here

So far 18 horses have earned $5000 two start Next Gen bonuses this year.

They are : Coal Fire, Princess Kreka, Validation, Tour Party, Queen Of Troy, Tiare Magic, Daisy Bay, Supermodelle, Leon Galleon, Bamm Bamm, Baileys Beauty, Suva Baby, Chiggsy, Donovan, Ellie Diamond, Apollo Eleven, Travel Agent and The Sweetest Catch

Inter Dom noms close this week 

Nominations for this July's Inter Dominions close this Thursday (April 30). The heats start at Albion Park in Brisbane on July 4 with the Grand Finals a fortnight later. Local hero Leap To Fame is the pre-noms favourite with the TAB for the Pacing Final, at just $1.65. 

15,000 wins for Miller

They say 'everything's bigger in the USA' and the achievements of their leading drivers are a bit mind-boggling. Hall of Famer David Miller recently drove his 15,000th winner. That only ranks him fifth all-time in North America with Dave Palone leading the way at over 21,000. Compare that to New Zealand's leading driver Tony Herlihy - his tally stands at 3738 followed by Maurice McKendry on 3441 and Ricky May on 3200 following his win with B K Mumma Jamie at Rangiora on Sunday. Blair Orange is the only other member of the 3000 club - he is on 3076. Other milestones in the last week included Steve Telfers' 900th win after King's Command's win on Diamonds Day at Invercargill.

Special win for Ollie G 

Rookie northern driver Ollie Gregory doubled his lifetime tally of winners when Kamilla won at Cambridge last Thursday night. It was the Creatine mare's first win in 16 starts. She was initially with Brendon Hill and then Trent Yesberg and Prop Anderson before heading north to the Michelle Wallis and Bernie Hackett barn where Gregory works. Making the win extra special is that Gregory's parents own a share in the horse. Gregory's first win was with Tinkerbelle, also for the Wallis-Hackett barn, earlier in the year. Gregory now has two wins from his first 12 starts.

Change of date for Mares' race

The North Island Mares Championship Trot, originally scheduled for Friday, May 8, at Alexandra Park, has been rescheduled and will now be run a fortnight later on Friday, May 22. This decision was made in consultation with the Auckland Trotting Club and the Northern branch of the Trainers and Drivers Association, with the aim of achieving the best possible outcome for the race. HRNZ apologises for the late change to the schedule. For enquiries, please contact bureau@hrnz.co.nz.

Change of venue to Gore

Due to on-going infrastructure issues the Forbury Park Trotting Club's meeting scheduled for Wyndham will now take place at Gore on the same day, Sunday June 2. The racecourse suffered major damage in high winds last year particularly to its grandstand. The licence change to Gore, about 30 kilometres from Wyndham, has been approved by the TAB NZ Dates Committee. HRNZ would like to thank everyone for their co-operation in this matter.

Lakelsa takes top gong  

The Southland harness racing awards were held in Invercargill last Friday, two days before their Diamonds Day meeting, with the Horse of the Year award going to Lakelsa. Owned by brothers Bruce and Al Sinclair, Lakelsa won three starts in 2025 including the Group 1 New Zealand Breeders Stakes at Addington. The Captaintreacherous six-year-old has been retired from racing with a career record of seven wins from 24 starts. Nathan Williamson was Driver of the Year for the 17th time and he also claimed his ninth Trainers' award, a new record. 

Club News : Invercargill 
 
Haylee Mitiwai of Invercargill became the latest winner of a diamond ring when the Invercargill Harness Racing Club’s annual Diamonds Day race meeting took place at Ascot Park Raceway in Invercargill on Sunday.
 
The prize of a diamond ring, supported by Coats & Schuck Jewellers and the Invercargill Harness Racing Club, has been a feature of Diamonds Day for several seasons. Ladies at the event receive a coupon each time they place a bet of $5 or more and the coupons go into a draw to find the recipient of the ring. This year it was Mitiwai’s name that Invercargill Harness Racing Club President, Craig Heyrick, pulled from the prize barrel.
 
To add to her win, she was due to celebrate her birthday the day following the race meeting.