THE following is an initiative proposed by Harness Racing Australia, supposedly for â industry consultationâ.
This in itself, would be a novelty given the âconsultative processâ which we were told preceded the adoption of the horrendous âratingsâ handicapping system with which we are now saddled.
Australian breeders are set to benefit with a prizemoney injection of more than $2m into new racing opportunities for Australian bred horses which will lift the industry to new heights.
The Harness Racing Australia (HRA) Executive is proposing the immediate introduction of a new Stallion Levy which will raise the critical funds to promote, improve and support the harness racing industry.
Champion trotter Tornado Valley on target to break $1m barrier
Champion trotter Tornado Valley on target to break $1m barrier by Adam Hamilton Kate Gath and Tornado Valley Image: Ashlea Brennan
Champion trotter Tornado Valley s first trip down the highway to Geelong could be a historic one.
The 10-time Group 1 winner and former Inter Dominion champion is poised to smash through the $1 million stakemoney barrier if he wins the Group 3 Sundons Gift Trotters’ free-for-all at Geelong’s Beckley Park on Saturday night.
It would make Tornado Valley just the third Aussie-trained trotter to top $1 million in earnings. Sundons Gift ($1,275,264) and Keystone Del ($1,063,560) are the other two. Australasia’s highest earner is the great Lyell Creek, but much of his thumping $2,256,724 was earned during a stint in North America.
Last Comment: March 4, 2021 9:18 am ET | 1 Comment(s) | Jump to Comments
A pair of new names have entered the most horses in the 2021 editions of the MGM Borgata and Blue Chip Matchmaker Series, to be contested at Yonkers Raceway throughout March and April. Both newcomers to the North American stakes scene, trainer Shane Tritton has seven horses between the two events and Neil Balcerak has five in the Borgata.
A total of 46 horses nominated for the 2021 Borgata (née Levy) and 20 were made eligible to the Matchmaker. Both events were cancelled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
With four in the Borgata and three in the Matchmaker, Down Under native Tritton is feeling good about his chances and excited about his first stakes action since arriving in the U.S. less than a year ago.
Up-and-coming youngsters
Three promising young pacers to win at Boxing Day meetings on the eastern seaboard were Pelosi, Letterkenny Boy and Our Road To Mecca, who all belong to the same family.
Pelosi, who won at Albion Park and has now won 12 of her 24 starts, is a three-year-old filly by
American Ideal from the Life Sign mare For Dear Life 1:55.8 ($322,331), a thrice Group 1 winner.
Pelosi Dan Costello photo
Letterkenny Boy, also a winner at Albion Park, is a four-year-old by Art Major from Postmark (2:00.3), dam of the Victoria Derby heat winner Major Post 1:52.6 ($177,026) and Missing Letters 1:53.7 ($123,410). Postmark was a Fake Left mare from the Monarch Hanover mare Irish Mail, the dam of the top flight filly Express Post (1:57.6) and the grand-dam of Our Road To Mecca, who scored at Ballarat on the same night as Pelosi and Letterkenny Boy won.
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).