News Briefs - April 8

Six wins apiece for Bruntwood Brigade and Melton Mogul, a huge boilover for Dexter Dunn in North America and a fun fact from Manawatu all feature in this week's News Briefs.

BB and MM leading the way

After his win at Addington on Easter Saturday, Bruntwood Brigade has joined Melton Mogul as the "winningest" horses in this country so far in 2026. Both have six wins this year. The Robert and Jenna Dunn-trained Bruntwood Brigade has won six from eight starts all over the South Island including Blenheim, Moukarara, Westport and Addington while Melton Mogul, trained by Scott Dickson, has had 11 starts with wins at Palmerston North, Cambridge and Hawera. Bruntwood Brigade has earned just shy of $60,000 this year while Melton Mogul is at $47K. The highest earner in this country in 2026 is Jumal. He is three from three with earnings of over $150K this year. His showdown with Got The Chocolates at Addington on Friday night promises to be a cracker. They will clash in the Shenan De Silva at Corcoran French Mobile Pace (8.38pm) with Got The Chocolates opening at $1.65 and Jumal at $2. After Friday night's Night of Champions the top of the leaderboard will be the winner(s) of the $1m The Race by Sport Nation with the winning stake there being $420,000.

Record-setting night at Cambridge

Just days out from the Night of Champions the Cambridge track is clearly lightning fast. Last Thursday Lulana set a new Cambridge track record when winning over 2200 metres in 2:37.7. That eclipsed the old three-year-old Fillies' mark set by The Orange Agent (2:38.3) in 2015. Aussie visitor The Janitor also equalled the mile track record on the night, winning in 1:51.4. That record was set by Chase A Dream at the same meeting last year. And after finishing second to Lulana on debut Miss Brabant's win at start number two proved to be another collect for the Pukekohe Rugby Club. She has now won nearly $10,000 in stakes for trainers Brian and Gareth Hughes. Gareth Hughes, who also part-owns the Vincent six-year-old, has pledged to give 10% of her earnings to the Pukekohe Rugby Club. Gareth Hughes played a lot of footy at the club and says this is his way of giving something back as well as encouraging some new people at the club to get interested in the sport.  

Change to Addington meeting

Addington's meeting on Friday, April 24 has been brought forward by a couple of hours. The change has been made to minimise the impact on wagering as a result of the first ever game at the new One New Zealand Stadium in Christchurch between the Crusaders and the Waratahs. That match kicks off at 7.35pm. HRNZ, in conjunction with Addington Raceway and Entain, have agreed to start the 10-race programme at 3.14pm, with the  final race scheduled for 7.22pm. The Taylor Mile/Anzac Cup Group 1 meeting at Alexandra Park, scheduled for the same evening, is unaffected by these changes, with Race 1 set down for 5.16pm.

Dunn-Ryder win at massive odds

Who would have thought it? Over the weekend  the powerhouse trainer-driver combo of Chris Ryder and Dexter Dunn won at Yonkers in New York paying $52 in a six-horse field! The horse in question is Millwood Bliss, a Sweet Lou five-year-old bred by Katie Carville who was exported to Australia in 2023 before heading to North America. She has now had 12 wins. Millwood Bliss' latest victory came in the MGM Ursula McIntyre Pacing Series. Other winners on the night in the same series included the formerly Steven Reid-trained Coastal Babe and Always B Stunning, who won seven races in this country for Peter and Vaughan Blanchard, before heading to the USA in February last year.

For anyone wanting to keep up to date with Dunn in North America check out his new facebook page : https://www.facebook.com/DexterDunnRacing

Keayang Zabrina makes trials debut

As hot favourite Keayang Zahara (Volstead) prepares for Friday's $530,000 TAB Trot at Cambridge's Night of Champions her half-sister has shown she is more than capable as well. Last week Keayang Zabrina won a trial for the two-year-old trotters at Terang in Victoria by two metres. Both are out of nine race winner Keayang Yankee with Keayang Zabrina (Bold Eagle) being her sixth foal.

Fun fact from Manawatu

Seven years ago tomorrow (April 9, 2019), Manawatu Raceway witnessed a rare and possibly unique event. The first race that day was the Cartown Handicap Trot, and it resulted in a dead-heat between the favourite Such Fun and Need Luck, driven by the Butcher brothers, Zachary and Benjamin. Brothers driving dead-heaters has been extremely rare, with the most recent being Darren and Greg Schofield at Gloucester Park in 2008. What made the Manawatu feat even more significant  was that both winners were trained by their father, David. (Thanks to Royden Williams, Manawatu Harness Racing Club historian for today's fun fact.)

Club News : Winton

Central Southland Raceway in Winton hosts a huge day of harness racing on Sunday (12 April) with a programme of quality harness racing including several feature events. The Group 3 Miki’s Deal 2YO Fillies Classic (1609m) carries a stake of $40,000 while other features include the VetSouth Equine/Southern Standardbred Breeders Assn Southern Belle Speed Series Final also for $40,000 over 1609m.

The $25,000 All Lay Carpets and Drapes Winton Cup will be raced over 2400m and the programme also features heats of the Alabar Southern Supremacy Series and the Macca Lodge/Nevele R Stud Southern Oaks Series both over 1609m for a stake of $20,000 as is the Murray Gray Memorial for 2YO Colts and Geldings.

There will be plenty of free children’s entertainment with mini jeeps and a bouncy castle plus pony rides while the first 100 children on course receive a free Mr Whippy Ice Cream.

Dene Allen provides musical entertainment throughout the day and there will be a range of food choices on course while some hospitality options for groups are still available. The action will run from 12.15pm until 5.38pm and admission to the course is free.

It is part of a big month of harness racing as towards the end of the month the culmination of many of the region’s major series – Diamonds Day - takes place at Ascot Park Raceway in Invercargill on Sunday 26 April.

Diamonds Day features another full day of quality harness racing with several of the region’s biggest finals, with the added opportunity for one lucky lady on course to win a Diamond Ring valued at over $5000 courtesy of Coats & Schuck Jewellers and the Invercargill Harness Racing Club.