SA Harness Highlights - December 8, 2007

Maybe Third Time Lucky for Hill

For the third time in four years, Penfield reinsman Wayne Hill will represent South Australia at the Australasian Young Drivers Championship, to be conducted during the 2008 Watpac Inter Dominion Carnival in Victoria next year.

Hill earned his right to wear the state colours for a third time after finishing 20 wins ahead of his sister Danielle in the SA Young Drivers premiership during the 2006-2007 season. Danielle Hill is the only other South Australian driver to attend the Young Drivers Championship in the past four years.

The Australasian Young Drivers Championship is fought out by 10 of the best junior reinsman under the age of 25, with a representative from each state of Australia, three from New Zealand plus the defending Champion. Wayne Hill turned 25 last week however he is still eligible to compete as he was below the required age at the start of the racing season.

Amazingly Tasmania has been the most successful state in the Championship since its inception under the current format in 1993. Apple Isle reinsman have won the title on five occasions, including three of the last five years.

No South Australian has finished at the top of the rankings, with Danielle Hill (2006) and Gary Buckley (2001) getting the closest by both finishing as the runner-up. Wayne Hill will be hoping to change that and build on his previous placings of ninth (2005) and eighth (2007).

It is only the second time the Australasian Young Drivers Championship has been conducted in Victoria, although they did hold the initial heats of the Tasmanian Series in 2006.

The 2008 Championship will be held between February 20 and 23 at Ballarat, Geelong, Bendigo and Moonee Valley.

 

Mermaid Stakes Goes So Deep

Kiwi-bred filly So Deep did all the work in the 2007 Ridley Agri-Products Mermaid Stakes and was still too good for her rivals, winning by eight metres in a rate of 2:01.2 to give driver David Harding his first win in the race.

So Deep was purchased by Dr Richard Noble from her breeders Alabar New Zealand, prior to a heat of the two-year-old fillies Australasian Breeders Crown in July and sent to Globe Derby trainer Les Harding. She subsequently finished a disappointing ninth after pulling hard in the race and was set for a spell.

The daughter of Safely Kept, out of In The Pocket mare Heel On, had impressed with two trial victories in the lead up to last Saturday nights feature by beating a couple of her highly fancied rivals and punters didn’t miss the trial form by installing her as an odds-on favourite.

From barrier six David Harding edged forward to sit outside the in-form leader Art For The Heart, and allowed So Deep to show her class by edging to the lead in the back straight on the last occasion and holding off a challenge from Fragments in the run home.

Driver Mark Billinger and his trainer-father Val were searching for back-to-back Mermaid Stakes victories with reigning South Australian Horse of the Year Same Action, but the filly had to settle for fourth place after getting back in the field.

So Deep might have only won two races now but her stakes have ticked past the $30,000 mark due to her first win in New Zealand being in the listed Delightful Lady Classic.

The SA Oaks now looks a likely target in the New Year.

 

Locals – and Former Locals - Shine At The Valley

Conte De Cristo won his first clash with full-brother Conte Centovalli at Moonee Valley on Saturday night, however the Carbone-Sergi trained gelding had to be content with second place.

Conte De Cristo was driven well by leading junior reinsman Nathan Jack in his first steer of the horse, getting on the back of the leader and favourite Karlsruhe, however they couldn’t catch him in the home straight and finished a 2.5 metre runner-up.

Earlier in the night on the same card Our Mateship had not luck in finishing tenth for his Roseworthy trainer Rob Caruso. Quantum Kiwi won the event but Unique Style was an eye-catching third for former Two Wells horseman Scott Ewen who has recently taken a position with the Lance Justice stable.

Another South Australian ex-pat in former Gawler River trainer Greg Norman also shone at Victoria’s harness racing headquarters when he put the polish on Sportivo for a third-up victory in the hands of legendary reinsman Brian Gath.

 

Consistent Night for Harvey

Kadina trainer-driver Leah Harvey enjoyed a successful night at Port Pirie on Friday, driving a winner, training a quinella and placing in two others. In fact the only time Harvey was not in the placings was aboard the Bill Atkinson-trained Tell No Tales which finished fourth. 

Harvey finished second in the first event on the Jayson Adams trained Atom Again and third in the second race on Contrarymary Lombo, trained by herself.

She was in the winners circle in the fourth event on the card aboard the Anne Rogers trained Fleetwoodjazz. It was the seven-year-old geldings first start since March and he showed great heart to find the line first.

Harvey then trained a quinella in the sixth event, where she drove Pacific Lignum into second place while Hyland Zali was the victor for Kapunda reinsman Matthew Smith.

Both fillies were racing for the first time this year with the three-year-old Alabar Southern Cross Series being a long term target.

Despite piloting the odds-on favourite Lignum Twister in the final event, Harvey was forced to settle for second place behind Our Deal, but must have finished the night satisfied with the results.

 

 

---------------

Neal Conder

HRSA Ltd

 

SA Harness Highlights - December 2, 2007

Government Acts Immediately on Change

The Harness Racing South Australia Board met with its Member Clubs recently to conduct a General Meeting which served to approve changes to their Constitution. The important changes, which took six months to work through, where identified as part of the Bentley Report, which was released in May, and paves the way for some significant financial benefits to the industry over the next decade.

Mr Goodall further said “the Harness Racing Industry has shown maturity in embracing the changes and signalling a new direction for the industry.”

Changes included a shift of voting power of one vote to the South Australian Harness Racing Club (SAHRC) and one vote to the South Australian Country Harness Racing Clubs Association (SACHRCA) where previously each individual Club in SA had one vote making it a complex process to enforce change.

The HRSA Board in future will have four Independent Members and two Industry Members.

The HRSA Board met again late last week to discuss the announcement by Racing Minister Michael Wright, that he was delivering on his promise to the Racing Industry with much needed tax relief.

Chairman, Grant Goodall said that "his Board was delighted with the Minister’s announcement and HRSA could now plan for the future with more certainty in its next business plan cycle."

"This will surely give Harness Racing SA a more stable base to work from and create a feeling of security and expectation for the South Australian Harness Racing Industry into the future that it hasn’t seen for some time," he said

Based on current TAB distribution percentages the Harness Racing Industry would receive approximately $450,000 from July 2008 increasing to an expected $1,300,000 by 2012 with the funds earmarked to go directly back into the industry participants

“This good news was timely as our industry is suffering greatly from the affects of the EI outbreak.

"This gives us great hope that when we get through the next few months we can rebuild our losses quickly.

"Harness Racing in SA had only just turned the corner putting in its best financial performance in 8 years, announcing the first stake-money increases in 8 years and releasing a 2 year plan off the highs of one of the best Inter Dominions in recent times - EI has been a cruel blow.

"The timing of the tax relief announcement could not have come at a better time to get us back on track, and for that I applaud the Minister," Mr Goodall said.

 

Raider Steals Italian Cup

A well-timed raid by leading Victorian trainer Andy Gath with former West Australian pacer Jay Pees Ruler landed the 2007 Access Civil Italian Cup in front of a bumper crowd at Globe Derby Park last Saturday night.

It is fair to say Jay Pees Ruler has not set the world on fire since arriving in Victoria earlier this year, winning just one of his seven starts, after scoring at 11 of his 30 attempts in WA.

Gath sent his charge to SA last weekend with former leading Port Pirie horseman Peter Thompson whose suggestion it was that the race looked a suitable target for the six-year-old entire who is not quite up to the top-line Victorian pacers at this stage of his career.

Jay Pees Ruler drew ideally in barrier two and with the services on premier reinsman David Harding looked hard to beat if he found the front.

And find the front he did, with Harding rating him through a comfortable middle section before scorching home to record a 1:57.6 mile which earned him a $500 bonus, but was 1.5 seconds outside the class record and well outside Be Good Johnny’s track record.

 

Monte Upstages Conte

Conte De Cristo was never a factor in the Access Civil Italian Cup last Saturday, due in most part to the barrier draw and speed off the front line forcing him to go back early and wide late.

However the Golden Grove training partnership of Joe Carbone and Peter Sergi had something to smile about in the very next race when Monterosso won his Australian debut with consummate ease.

Monterosso, a full-brother to Conte De Cristo, was a short-priced favourite after his trouble-free trial win the previous week and despite working hard in the early stages of the race was never pressured in winning by 10-metres.

The five-year-old gelding bears a striking resemblance to his older brother, with the notable exception being the way he dropped the bit and cruised through the middle sections of the race, opposed to Conte’s habit of pulling fiercely early in his Australian career.

 

Four’ Makes Three for Harding

Globe Derby reinsman David Harding edged out Jock Dunlop in the quest for drivers honours at last Saturday night’s Italian Cup meeting at Globe Derby Park.

Dunlop, also from Globe Derby, won the first and last races on the eight event card however Harding claimed the night with a winning treble that included a feature race double with Jay Pees Ruler in the Access Civil Italian Cup and Four Carat in the Caffe Primo Salisbury Rome Trotting Cup.

After leading all the way in the Italian Cup, Harding used a similar tactic in the squaregaiters feature by taking Four Carat to the lead early in the event before holding off a determined challenge from Rovers Return in the home straight to win by a head.

Harding’s treble was completed in race seven with Prez remaining undefeated from three lifetime starts in easily accounting for his fellow three-year-olds.

 

---------------

Neal Conder

HRSA Ltd