There’s a real State of Origin feel about this Hunter Cup.
The marquee race of harness racing’s Summer Of Glory looks a match in two been Victoria’s superstar Lochinvar Art and the defending champion, NSW pin-up pacer King Of Swing.
They’ve clashed three times with King Of Swing holding a 2-1 advantage, but it was their latest meeting which turned the tide and is why Lochinvar Art is TAB’s $1.70 pre-post Hunter Cup favourite and King Of Swing is $3 second elect for the February 6 feature.
Lochinvar Art came from a worse draw, did more work and soundly beat a gallant King Of Swing in track record time in the Group 1 Victoria Cup at Melton on October 10.
Harness racing Summer Of Glory ready to rumble
Harness racing Summer Of Glory ready to rumble by Adam Hamilton
There s a real State of Origin feel about this Hunter Cup.
The marquee race of harness racing’s Summer Of Glory looks a match in two between Victoria’s superstar Lochinvar Art and the defending champion, NSW pin-up pacer King Of Swing.
They’ve clashed three times, with King Of Swing holding a 2-1 advantage, but it was their latest meeting which turned the tide and is why Lochinvar Art is TAB’s $1.70 pre-post Hunter Cup favourite and King Of Swing is $3 second elect for the February 6 feature.
Stuart McCormick photo
An ambitious plan for a mid-year harness racing campaign in the United States is on the radar for Australasia s best pacer, Lochinvar Art.
While there are a lot of ifs and buts to bring the plan to fruition, trainer David Moran and owner Kevin Gordon have actively been canvassing the concept of spending the Australian winter campaigning in the USA. We ve got a pretty exciting program ahead of us over the next three months or so, with Shepparton, Ballarat and Hunter Cups, then the Newcastle Mile and hopefully the big one, the Miracle Mile, Moran said. But if he s still going well, we ll look at a short letup then that s when the States would come into play, he said.
Twist And Twirl, the dam of King Of Swing and Bettor Twist, is an Artsplace mare out of Giveitawhirlgirl, by Jenna’s Beach Boy from the fine racemare Impish (1:54.9), by Falcon Seelster from a noted producer in Smarty Pants (1:58.6), by El Patron.
Twist And Twirl won seven races including the Great Northern Oaks and NZ Sires Stakes 3YO Championship, took a record of 1:56 and earned $283,258 and was a top racemare in her own right. She ranks as a sister to the NSW Group winner Feels Like Magic 1:51 ($261,728) and a half-sister to the Blossom Lady winner Bettor Give It 1:57.4 ($138,061), dam of this year’s SA Derby and NSW Breeders Challenge winner Mach Dan 1:51.7 ($204,892).
Tabcorp Park Menangle
Harness racing fans have been handed an early Christmas present with the elite pacers surprisingly set to have an A$1million race to decide who is Australasia’s best.
NSW harness officials confirmed yesterday the Miracle Mile set for Menangle outside Sydney on March 6 will be run for A$1million just months after they thought they may have to halve the stake.
Already stakes in many key pacing races have been reduced due to the economic impact of Covid while the Inter Dominions which were to have been held in Sydney this month were delayed a year.