It was another mammoth weekend on the Tasmanian harness racing scene in Launceston and Hobart.
The weekend was meant to see the last Tier Two meeting for several weeks, but early this week Tasracing announced an additional meeting would be held next month.
The meeting scheduled for Launceston on Sunday 6 September has been moved to Wednesday 9 September, with an additional meeting added for Devonport on 6 September.
As a result, the Golden Slipper moved to mid-December to avoid a clash of feature two-year-old races.
This week the action is in Hobart where a competitive nine-race card will be staged.
The Stars
Taylor Ford – claimed Friday nights BOTRA Claiming Novice Drivers series where she won two of the four heats conducted in Launceston. Ford produced a copybook drive to score on the Michael Laugher-trained Christain Jaz in the opening heat before partnering in-form three-year-old filly Estelle to a 4.2-metre win.
Leigh Rand – after being involved in the industry up until the late ’80s the north-west coast trainer returned to the sport with a bang when four-year-old mare Aussie Rock caused an upset win at $31 in the opening race on Friday at Rand’s first start as a trainer in over 30-years.
Gareth Rattray – had a night out in Hobart with four winners on the card. The reinsman who is already in the Tasmanian Harness Racing Hall Of Fame moved to second spot on the states drivers title and is now two-wins behind Rohan Hillier who has 54 victories for the season that runs until the end of the calendar year.
Ben Yole – also had an enjoyable night in Hobart with a training treble, including the feature race of the night, the Ladbrokes Blue Bonnet with Written In Silk. The Sportswriter filly never put a foot wrong out in the lead, scoring by 3.8 metres over Stepping Stones. The first two placegetters were purchased at last year’s Carrick Yearling Sale.
Scooterwillrev – the six-year-old gelded son of Somebeachsomewhere recorded his first win since early October when he scored in a rating 75 to 84 event in Hobart. It was the pacers third win back in the state since re-joining the Craig Hayes stable. Hayes has now prepared the pacer to 25 of his 26 career wins.
Multiple Winners
Launceston – Friday evening
Taylor Ford – driving double; Christian Jaz and Estelle.
Todd Rattray – driving double; Aussie Rock and Bounty Eyre.
Hobart – Sunday evening
Gareth Rattray – driving quartet; Spot Eight, Scooterwillrev, My Ultimate Major and One Yankee Ginga.
Ben Yole – training treble; Written In Silk, Spot Eight and My Ultimate Major.
Calculated Sectional Standouts
Quickest last halves (800m) from last week’s action.
Launceston – Friday evening
Bounty Eyre 57.43s, Perfect Mach 57.46s, Wandary Muscat 57.55s, Estelle 57.69s and Chilla Breeze 58.02s.
Hobart – Sunday evening
Somedan 56.81s, Proficient 56.98s, Still Hungover 57.00s, Beachboy Butch 57.01s and Mia From Memphis 57.02s.
View all available Tasmanian Sectional Data by clicking here.
Tasracing Official Price
Launceston – Friday evening
Hit’s: Christian Jaz $4.20 into $3.60, Estelle $2.90 into $2.30 and Feel The Burn $2.50 into $1.95.
Defied The Drift: Aussie Rock $26 out to $31, Wandary Muscat $4.20 out to $4.40 and Bounty Eyre $4.60 out to $4.80.
Missed: Karalta Moondance $7.50 into $3.60, Ideal Karalta $13 into $7.50, Upanatom $7.00 into $6.50, Jeans Mattjesty $8.00 into $6.00 and Karalta Dazzler $3.30 into $2.60.
Hobart – Sunday evening
Hit’s: Resurgent Storm $8.50 into $6.50, Scooterwillrev $1.55 into $1.12 and One Yankee Ginga $2.60 into $2.10.
Defied The Drift: My Girl Pearl $4.80 out to $5.50 and My Ultimate Major $3.30 out to $5.00.
Missed: Melnrowley $5.00 into $3.80, Black Ops $6.00 into $4.00, Kiavino Stride $3.80 into $3.60, Amazing Daisy $26 into $13, Delightful Junie $8.00 into $6.00, Pink Ponder $9.00 into $5.00, Somedan $15 into $10, Yellow Taxi $3.90 into $3.50, Jakes A Joy $8.00 into $6.00, Stylish Trend $21 into $9.50 and The Lemondrop Kid $21 into $8.50.
Trial File
Launceston – Friday evening
Karalta Invader, a three-year-old gelding by Fake Left was restrained to the tail of the four-horse field before moving up stylishly at the 600-metre mark to score by 9.6-metres over Dan Of Steel in 2m 4.9s. Karalta Invader is a half-brother to Modern Ruler who won 20 of his 100 starts.
Padoe Plugga is an un-raced four-year-old by Western Edition who took out the second trial. The pacer who raced greenly in various stages led early before settling behind the leader for the final lap to score by three metres over Itsadanceoff.
Hobart – Sunday evening
Two-year-old Sutter Hanover gelding Jack James settled behind the leader before working one off at the 450-metre mark to win his trial in 2m 8.1s by 6.8 metres over Maxi Jolt. The youngster is prepared by Juanita McKenzie and was driven by Ricky Duggan
Driver Dylan Ford continued his return to the sulky on race day with a trial victory on the Bradley Walters-trained Creme De La Creme who defeated the early leader Vladimir Hall by a neck in 2m 7.4s with the last half mile in a slow 63.4s.
Hobart – Monday evening
The Rodney Ashwood-trained, Ricky Duggan reigned Ninefortwentythree took out the first trial. The gelded son of Heston Blue Chip settled behind the leader before being too good for his two remaining rivals late in 2m 5.2s.
Bettonblack is a 10-start maiden who has had one start since joining the Taylor Ford stable. The four-year-old led and strolled around to score in a slow 2m 10.1s over stablemate Upanatom.
Trial Replays
You can view most trials since the resuming from the COVID-19 break by clicking here.
Week Ahead
The Tasmanian Trotting Club stages the states only meeting of the week with nine-races on Sunday night from 17:18.
Ryley Major has been the dominant pacer in the state this season and the Rohan Hillier- trained and driven pacer once again meets a quality field including Full Speed Ahead who narrowly defeated Ryley Major in Launceston last start, Blackbird Power who is going for a winning hat-trick, No Spring Secrets who won an open class race two-starts ago, this seasons Devonport Cup winner, and Shelby Bromac who won last year’s Tasmania Cup.
The free-for-all is race seven on the card and is scheduled for 20:22.
Some Tasmanian pacers doing battle over the next few days at metropolitan venues include;
Ballarst (Metro meeting) – Saturday night
Race 1 Horse 7 Streitkid,
Race 5 Horse 12 Terryrama.