SA Harness Highlights - 8 October 2007

Justice ‘Holiday’ Proves Successful

Former leading South Australian reinswoman Lisa Justice seized on an opportunity to return ‘home’ and grab some spending money when first starter Wholelotasound and former top juvenile Elijah were impressive winners last weekend.

The school holidays presented Justice with the opportunity to visit family with her daughter and the decision to tack on the float and bring a couple of horses paid handsome dividends.

Lisa Justice, now training from Rockbank in Melbourne’s outer west, couldn’t get a start with three-year-old Wholelotasound late in his two-year-old year and brought him west for a debut run at Friday nights Globe Derby meeting.

Justice bred the gelding out of race-winning Classic Garry mare Wholelota Rosie, whom she also trained in a very short racetrack career, making him a half-brother to talented five-year-old Knowlsies Crown. Knowlsies Crown has won 10 races with the Lisa Justice polish plus a second placing in a Breeders Crown Consolation.

Wholelotasound was sent out an odds-on favourite in the final event last Friday night, highlighting the respect with which Justice is still held in SA, and after sitting parked outside the leader found an extra gear when the deafeners were released to win comfortably.

Justice returned to headquarters the following night with Elijah, a horse who local harness racing fans would be very familiar with from his days racing in the Neil Cavallaro stable.

Elijah won the Golden Nursery and Lordship Stakes at Globe Derby Park as a two-year-old as well as being placed in the Premiere and Youthful Stakes at Moonee Valley.

The In The Pocket five-year-old returned to Globe Derby for the first time in 20 months, after overcoming a stress fracture which threatened his career, but showed no signs of soreness by leading all the way to win by 10-metres.

In form pacers Angel Flyer, Smoke On The Water and Karion Kweeny were left in his wake as a 58.6 final 800 metres set up the impressive win and completed a very successful visit for Lisa Justice.

 

All The Way For Iris

Despite not winning since April last year and failing to fill a place in her last six starts, Iris had plenty of supporters when sent out a $3 favourite in the final race at Globe Derby Park last Saturday night and didn’t let them down with an all-the-way victory.

Iris, an eight-year-old by super sire Fake Left, had run a number of handy races from back row draws in the past couple of months without troubling the judge. A front row barrier in Saturday night’s event and a slightly easier class of opposition were all it took for the mare to record her sixth career win.

Trained and raced by Naomi Shelbourne at Lewiston and driven by her partner David Jolly, Iris looked decidedly keen to run along with her tail high in the air from the moment she sprung from the mobile. However Jolly was able to keep her mind on the job at hand and kept a genuine pace throughout, establishing a winning break off the back straight and holding off all challengers in the run to the line.

 

Jet’ From Last to First

Freeling trainer Rob Turner enjoyed his third win in just his second season of training when Jetpilot came from last to win the Barastoc – Calm Performer Pace at Globe Derby Park last Friday night.

Six-year-old gelding Jetpilot has provided Turner with each of those victories, and last weeks success was easily one of the best runs in his 55 start career.

With Danielle Hill in the cart, Jetpilot was last 400-metres from the finish but unleashed a finishing burst as the leaders struggled into a head breeze and grabbed a three-metre victory.

Turner only started training in his own right at the beginning of last season and took on a winless Jetpilot. While it took him 13 starts and six months to break his maiden status, Turner has enjoyed 10 placings and a further two wins in his 28 runs since then.

 

Changes to SA BOTRA Pace

SA BOTRA have reacted to the lack of nominations for the 2007 BOTRA Pace by introducing new conditions for the two-year-old event which will be conducted in March from this season forward.

The race was previously for horses sired by stallions standing in SA, but with the numbers of local stallions declining the race suffered from a lack of eligible young pacers.

The new guidelines establish that any two-year-old will be eligible for the race provided the owners or lessees are fully paid-up members of SABOTRA at the time the entry is lodged and a once-off entry fee of $137.50 is paid with the nomination by the closing time – which this season will be 5pm on December 14.

$2000 qualifying heats will be conducted in the month preceding the BOTRA Pace Final, which is expected to be run for $20,000 at its first edition scheduled for March 8, 2008.

Further details and a nomination form will soon be available on the HRSA Industry Pages on the harness.org.au website under the BOTRA link.

 

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Neal Conder

HRSA Ltd