Harness Racing Blog

Below is what happened in harness racing this week, as reported on Harnesslink and from other places across the web.

From Harnesslink

• Auckland Reactor arrives back home, Don Wright - NZ
  Auckland Reactor arrived back at his Rolleston home with co trainer Mark Purdon at 2.30pm this afternoon June 3rd, none the worse for travel after suffering no discomfort on the float trip from Auckland.
• ‘Somebeach’ an awesome performance (Vids), Karen Briggs - Canada
  The countdown to the $1.5 million Pepsi North America Cup has begun. The richest race on the continent for three-year-old pacers will be contested June 14 at Mohawk Racetrack and tonight, three $100,000 divisions of the Burlington Stakes showcased the leading hopefuls for the classic.
• John Penney was an industry stalwart, Don Wright - NZ
  New Zealand harness racing’s foremost administrator John Penney who died in Christchurch this morning (Saturday 31 May) after a brief illness will always be admired and respected as a courageous advocate of fair play and drug free racing.
• Edwards scaling the heights again, Frank Marrion
  Saving a horse which was for all intents and purposes en route to Bombay some 27 years ago has never stopped paying dividends for Mangere’s Ted Edwards. First Grade was a 4-year-old at the time by Gerry Mir, a trotting-bred son of Rodney who had been a good pacer and who was one of the first sires imported by the then fledgeling Canterbury stud Nevele R.
• Jewels at Cambridge an outstanding success, Cambridge Raceway - NZ
  Harness Jewels Day 2008, at Cambridge Raceway last Saturday was an unprecedented success. It had all the components needed for a great day’s racing - good weather, an extremely good venue, with a perfectly prepared track surface which saw national records broken, top racehorses and thrilling racing.
• Hoosier casino officially opens its doors, Cindy Duran - US
  Indiana’s first fully integrated casino and racetrack opened this morning when the official first dollar slid into one of 2,000 new state-of-the art slot machines at the Las Vegas-style Hoosier Park Racing & Casino in Anderson.
• Price, Profit and Protection! ‘Wittstruck’, Chris E. Wittstruck - US
  Amidst the current swirling controversy over breakdowns, steroids and synthetic surfaces lurks a racing topic the mainstream media barely addresses. From the perspective of our sport’s survival, it is a subject matter as important as inbreeding, drugging and other highly exposed issues.
• The ‘COLD’ hard truth ruins storybook finish, Carol Hodes - US
  It would have been a sweet ending if Katie and Timothy Torbert celebrated their fifth anniversary in the winner’s circle at the Meadowlands on Saturday night [May 31], snuggling their faces into the muzzle of Cold Cape Cod, clutching a bouquet of red roses and hoisting the trophy for the $500,000 Anthony Abbatiello New Jersey Classic.
• Creating your own morning line, Derick Giwner - US
  A prepared horseplayer is a smart horseplayer. A smart horseplayer does his studying in advance and then makes exceptions for variables which turn up as the race-card unfolds.

Harness Jewels Stories (in order of number of views so far)

1. Changeover wins controversial Emerald (vid)
2. Tommy supplies Purdon/Payne double (vid)
3. Just reward for Fiery Falcon (vid)
4. Nearea Franco opens up Jewels with bang
5. Small/Butcher 2YO filly sets new record (vid)
6. Fourth NZ Record for Sovereignty (vid)
7. Back to back Jewels for ‘Richard’ (vid)

United States

1. Free-Legged: D-Day and American harness racing, USTA
2. When a threatened horse becomes a saved starfish, Examiner
3. Racetrack Slots Era Begins in Indiana, Blood Horse
4. Scioto Downs at 50. A crowd pleaser no more, The Columbus Dispatch
5. USA Today reviews Crazy Good, USA Today
6. Competition from nearby stats gives A>C> casinos a run for their money, NBC
7. USTA marketing: good idea, bad execution, Wire to Wire by Andrew Cohen
8. Marketing Committee Column Reaction, First Over by Andrew Cohen

Canada

1. Pepsi North America Cup favourites to run for berths Saturday, Guelph Mercury
2. Balzac setback frustrates horsemen, Calgary Herald
3. Not a job, but a way of life, Montreal Gazette
4. Somebeachsomewhere still undefeated, globesports.com
5. New Driver Fines Popping Up, Pull the Pocket
6. North America Cup Elims; Fair Odds Line & Handy Links, Pull the Pocket
7. Future of horse racing in Ontario at stake, Northern News

Australia

1. End of era, Barossa & Light Herald
2. Rogerson flexes his Muscle, Herald Sun
3. Harness Racing Australia CEO To Retire, Harness Racing Australia
4. Racing centre a step closer: 2009 start if plan gets green light, The Northern Daily Leader

New Zealand

1. Jaccka Lodge stud farm moving to Riversdale, Southland Times
2. Prelude tests pacer Indian Giver , The Nelson Mail
3. Galloping great in on harness racing action, Waikato Times
4. No Horses on the Courses, Scoop
5. Harness Jewels should always run in Ashburton, Southland Times
6. Two wins for Dalgety and Dunn, The Press
7. Relegation takes shine off Jewels, The Press
8. Another jewel in changeover’s crown, Sunday News
9. Breathing down his neck, NZ Herald

From the Harness Racing Blog Network

• Harness Racing in Pictures - Elitlopp, the Harness Jewels and some Interesting Shots, Harness Racing Blog
• Forbury Park Final Field early wagering, Harness Odds

[Click here to start a free Blog on our network]