News Briefs : May 28

The latest round of Metro finals at Alexandra Park, the latest on the AYDC, and a stack of training and driving milestones including 300 driving wins for a teenager all feature in this week's News Briefs. 

Strong line-ups in Friday's two Metro Finals

Two cracking fields have been confirmed for Friday's two Metro Series Finals at Alexandra Park. Both are worth $35,000, and came after a series of heats were run at The Park on May 10 and 23. The Trotters' Final (7.39pm) includes all four heat winners - Higher Power, Youneverknow, Freya and Paramount Lady - in a field that looks to have plenty of depth. The Pacers' Final (8.08pm) will see two-heat winner Double Parked square off against last Friday's heat winner in Hooray Henry. Not that the chances end there. Also in the line-up are the highly-rated trio of Carrera Hombre, South Side Story and Roy Kent. The next round of Heats and Finals will be held in June, with heats on June 13 and 20, and the $35,000 Final on Friday, June 27.

Silk Road Final delayed a week to July 4

A change of date has been made for the Silk Road Northern Fillies and Mares Trotters Series No 1 Final at Alexandra Park. Originally scheduled for Friday, June 27 it will now be held a week later to avoid a clash with the June Metro Series Heats and Finals. The Metro Trotters and Pacers Finals will be held on Friday, June 27 with the Silk Road Final on Friday, July 4. A number of horses could potentially qualify for both finals.

Tight battle for last spot in AYDC

The fourth and final spot for the Australasian Young Drivers' Championship (AYDC) is going to be a close-run thing, with the cut-off just days away. At the moment defending AYDC champion Sam Thornley, Wilson House as the leading South Island driver and 2024 junior drivers' premiership winner Carter Dalgety are all confirmed for the championships in Queensland in July. The fourth place will go to whoever is the leading North Island junior as of Sunday, June 1. The two contenders Crystal Hackett and Harrison Orange are both even on 36 wins. If they remain dead-locked the winner will be decided on UDR (strike-rate). The AYDC will be held over 10 heats, at Albion Park and Redcliffe, starting Tuesday, July 15. They will conclude on the Inter Dominion Pacers and Trotters Finals night at Albion Park on Saturday, July 19.

Milestones galore

There have been plenty of milestones over the last week or so. Peter Ferguson notched up his 2200th driving success when he had a double at Cambridge last Thursday with Monaro Meg and Minjee, while in the training ranks the on-fire Steve and Amanda Telfer brought up their 400th win together when Music Mistress won at Addington on Friday. After having 10 wins in just the last week or so their total now stands at 405. They have 58 wins in 2025 to be second in the premiership behind Michael House (69). Bob Butt brought up his 200th training success in good style when The Lazarus Effect made it three from three at Winton while Derek Jones and Greg Hunter both had their 50th training successes with Eurostyle and Beach Day, both at Addington.

Oh la la at Elitloppet

The French domination of trotting's great race the Elitloppet continued over the weekend with Go On Boy winning the big race at his third attempt in Stockholm, Sweden. It was his 20th win in 67 starts and driver Romain Derieux's second win in the race, following on from Dijon in 2019. It was the fourth year in a row that France has won the Elitloppet. The day also saw the retirement of former champion Etonnant. Australian hopeful The Locomotive finished fifth in his heat and did not advance to the final. 

She's back!

2025 has kicked off on a successful note for Dan Patch-winning Horse of the Year Twin B Joe Fresh in North America. The star pacer became the first mare since Shartin in 2018-19 to win back to back Betsy Ross Invitationals at Harrah's Philadelphia over the weekend. She has now won 31 from 41 starts and nearly $NZ4m. It was a success too for the horse's Kiwi connections, trainer Chris Ryder and driver Dexter Dunn, who also share in her ownership. Twin B Joe Fresh won by over three lengths in 1:49.6.

Australia's next whiz kid

He's just 17 but Jett Turnbull got his 300th win in a $100,000 race, the TAB Regional Championships State Final, at Menangle on Saturday night. He teamed up with his father, Nathan, to do it on four-year-old gelding Glitter Aint Gold. A week earlier, they also won the $100,000 Regional Western final at their home track, Bathurst, with the same horse. Jett is the fifth generation of one of Australia’s best-known harness racing families, with his grandfather  Steve Turnbull, still a major training force and best known for his former superstar pacer Smooth Satin. Jett’s great-grandfather is the late Tony “AD” Turnbull, an icon of the sport who trained and drove the mighty Hondo Grattan.

Grimson bags treble

Dual New Zealand Cup-winning trainer Jason Grimson flexed his muscle with a treble at Menangle on Saturday night. Recent stable addition, the Kiwi-bred Major Hot, winner of last year’s Queensland Derby, completed the treble with stable driver Jack Callaghan aboard, after earlier wins with another former Kiwi pair No Heart Throb (Callaghan) and Miki Pins (Will Rixon). When Major Hot won the Derby he was trained by David and Stacey White, who have since had more Group 1 success with their Rowe Cup-winning trotter Bet N Win.

Spelling services around NZ

Recently HRNZ put the call out for those providing spelling services for horses. We got a good response and would like to thank the following for their help. If you are looking for agistment and other services then these come highly recommended.

Donna Williamson BApplSc BVSc (Belmont Park)
150 Station Road RD1 Kirwee ChCh
021 339 555
[email protected]

Foaling , veterinary supervised, full year agistment of broodmares and weanlings, weaning , breeding packages for fresh chilled and frozen semen services

Ged Mooar (Nevele R Stud)
Prebbleton, Canterbury
03 349 8627
[email protected]

Agistment, breeding, foaling, weanling, yearling sales prep

Anne-Marie Luxton (Woodlands Stud)
Auckland, Clevedon & Ardmore
09 292 8250  
[email protected]

Agistment, Breeding, Foaling, care of youngstock

Paul Wilkins (Horsepitality)
Methven (800m from racecourse)
027 773 1743
www.horsepitality.co.nz

Agisting broodmares, spelling racehorses and jogging up horses before they return to their trainer. Racehorses receive softened barley/chaff mix and all horses receive the equivalent of 1/3 bale of hay from April- Oct.

Seahorse bringing the thrill of harness racing to young readers

A  harness racing-themed children’s book,  called "Seahorse: A Big Heart Wins", has been published in North America and is available on-line. The debut book ,by harness racing owner, breeder, and enthusiast Nicole MacPherson, follows the journey of a real Standardbred born with a distinctive seahorse-shaped marking, who, despite her small stature, captures the hearts of those around her. Now available for pre-sale, Seahorse: A Big Heart Wins can be ordered at theharnessracinghub.com or retromedia.ca.

Club News :  Invercargill 

The Invercargill Harness Racing Club’s annual Bluff Race Day takes place at Ascot Park on the Monday of Kings Birthday Weekend, 2 June. The feature races of the day are the South Port NZ Ltd Bluff Cup which will be run over a distance of 2700 metres for a stake of $15,000 plus two heats of the Diamond Creek Farm/SBSR Silk Road Southern Winter Series, one for trotters and the other for 4-year-old & older R60 mares.

Most races on the programme are supported by Bluff-based businesses or businesses with close links to the port town including Awarua Synergy, Barnes Wild Bluff Oysters, Southland Farm Services, Hyde Landscaping, United Fisheries, KB & Associates Accountants and the Mountfort Fishing Company plus the Northern Southland Trotting Club. The first race is scheduled for 11.30am and the last at 4.19pm. Admission is free.