Always back the horse named self-interest, son. It'll be the only one trying
What is wrong with this picture? The simple answer? Everything. Harness Racing Victoria is failing on every key indicator and metric that matters to the industry and to those in it, except prizemoney. We will come to that later. The number of meetings has dropped by over ten percent in ten years, and there […]
It was truly wonderful to see Bailey McDonough and his Dad with whom he has recently physically reconnected after years living on other sides of the continent win their way through to the final of the Victorian Derby in the heats on Saturday night with Blitzern. Bailey’s was a heady, patient, mature and all round […]
Wasn’t it nice of Captain Crunch to sponsor the NZ Harness Racing Awards this year? I am not quite sure how he actually did it, given that the Captain is a horse and thus can’t read, write, operate a bank account or hold any assets, but it was lovely of the shuttle sire to think […]
The Trudy Cottier case in Victoria is an interesting one. Cottier is a small-time trainer based at Hamilton who has just three horses in work. None of them are champions. She has a bit of luck but not much, and her winning strike rates are about 4%, with the wins usually coming in low rated […]
Three-year-olds have had a great record in the Arc in the 21st century, and have won eleven of the past twenty editions of the race run since 2001. Eight of those eleven winners were fillies. Four-year-olds have won the race on seven occasions, but it is important to note that two of those winners – […]
This handsome young man in the picture is Jeff, my local publican and a real good bloke. Jeff owns a share in a horse named Gunstock, a bay colt by Tavistock that is trained by the gun partnership of the Mick’s Price and Kent, who are masters of patience and care, and experts in setting […]
Tianni Chapman is just a young 3 kilo kid learning her trade riding at bush tracks and she has only had 40 rides so it is impossible to be too critical of her. But I bet this ride on Without Excuse at Bairnsdale today won’t be one that goes on her highlights reel at the […]
Somebody connected to the Natalie McCall stable knew that Fifty Four Squares was ready to put in a big run in race 4 at the Sunshine Coast on Sunday afternoon. They backed it from $41 into $9.50, while the $2.15 was still in the field, and in the barriers with too. Then the barrier stall […]
It is reassuring to know that your State’s Principal Racing Authority is up to speed with all that is going on in the sport, and has it’s finger on the pulse. Sadly the patient’s dead. As has become the custom in Queensland in recent months, the starting barriers malfunctioned at the Sunshine Coast yesterday afternoon, […]
Is Victorian harness racing really that poor that it needs to sacrifice 107 years of history and name it’s premiere blue riband classic after an American horse that not only never won the race, but has never even raced in the country? Really? The Lather Up Victorian Derby. It fills me with disgust even writing […]
