There were many highlights across the meetings in Burnie and Hobart last week.
Most weeks the wins of pacers such as The Shallows and Frankie Falzoni in Hobart, and the training double of trainer Geoff Smith in Burnie would have made it into “The Stars” section but unfortunately, they miss out on what was an action-packed weekend.
There were also highlights off the track with Rod Burgess being inducted into the Circular Head Councils Hall Of Fame on Sunday for his lifetime achievement and contribution to harness racing in Tasmania.
This week we race in Devonport on Friday with a combined harness and greyhound meeting, a combined non-tab meeting with thoroughbred and harness racing on King Island on Saturday before the action turns to Carrick Park on Sunday for a twilight fixture.
The Stars
Ryley Major – Dominant win once again in Hobart on Sunday night where he was first-up for four weeks. The Rohan Hillier-trained and driven pacer recorded a mile rate for 2090m in 1m 57.2s, just 0.9s outside the track record. Hillier nominated Ryley Major for Sunday’s Stawell Cup but has since decided not to accept for that race.
Cold Crusher – raced outside the leader to score in the opening race in Hobart. The time for the mile trip was 2m 1.1s which is a state record for trotters. Trainer Deborah Williams has done a terrific job with him, winning three of his seven Tasmanian starts.
Cold Crusher wins the opening race in Hobart Sunday.
Juanita McKenzie – prepared a double in Hobart on Sunday night including Cool Water Paddy who scored a 20-metre victory in a rating 60 to 66 event, it was the sixth win in a row for the gelded son of Ohoka Arizona. McKenzie’s other win was with Im Jaks Teller who appreciated a drop back into claiming grade with an all the way win.
Nancys Baby – won on debut in Burnie on Friday night where she was able to lead all the way in the 2180-metre event. Driver Gareth Rattray after the win indicated that she would win a couple of races, particularly with her good manners.
Ben Yole – continued his good run of late with a treble in Burnie on Friday night with Altana Blue, Chilla Breeze and Weerrook Harry, with Sam Gangell in the sulky for the last two victories. Somedan flew the Yole stable flag in Hobart on Sunday night with Troy McDonald driving the gelding to victory.
Multiple Winners
Burnie – Friday evening
Ben Yole – training treble; Altana Blue, Chilla Breeze and Weerrook Harry,
Geoff Smith – training double; Rollon Jack and Laid Back Kenny,
Samantha Gangell – driving double; Chilla Breeze and Weerrook Harry.
Hobart – Sunday evening
Ricky Duggan – driving treble; Cold Crusher, Cool Water Paddy and Im Jaks Teller,
Juanita McKenzie – training double; Cool Water Paddy and Im Jaks Teller.
Calculated Sectional Standouts
Quickest last halves (800m) from last week’s action.
Burnie – Friday evening
Unavailable
Hobart – Sunday evening
Ryley Major 56.68s, Star Chamber 56.91s, Krafty Boy 57.21s, Chasing Cheetahs 57.23s and No Spring Secrets 57.26s.
View all available Tasmanian Sectional Data by clicking here.
Tasracing Official Price
Burnie – Friday evening
Hit’s: Altana Blue $5.00 into $2.90 and Nancys Baby $2.90 into $2.50.
Defied The Drift: Rollon Jack $10.00 out to $15.00, Island Bliss $7.50 out to $12.00, Weerrook Harry $12.00 out to $19.00 and Laid Back Kenny $17.00 out to $21.00.
Missed: Hear The Call $2.60 into $1.70, Midair Meltdown $7.50 into $4.20 and Chris Be Quick $3.80 into $3.40.
Hobart – Sunday evening
Hit’s: Ryley Major $1.14 into $1.05 and Im Jaks Teller $3.00 into $1.95.
Defied The Drift: Frankie Falzoni $5.50 out to $8.00, The Shallows $3.30 out to $4.40 and Somedan $6.50 out to $8.50.
The Shallows wins in Hobart on Sunday.
Missed: Prosecution Witness $5.50 into $3.80, Thomas Burns $14.00 into $7.50, Chasing Cheetahs $4.40 into $3.30, Finn Mac Kee $21.00 into $10.00 and Radiant Red $2.90 into $2.60.
Trial File
King Island – Saturday morning
Results unavailable at the time of publication.
Hobart – Monday evening
Once again only two trials were held in Hobart on Monday where Dasher Houli recoded the quickest mile rate of the night of 2m 2.9s.
The gelded son of Stonebridge Regal led all the way to score by 40-metres over Wattabout Spangher in the 2090-metre standing start trial.
Princely Reign took out the second trial in a mile rate of 2m 7.0s where he defeated Really Ellen by one metre.
Carrick Park – Monday evening
All Style Sammy was a dominant winner of his rating 53 or better trial over 2150 metres where he recorded a mile rate of 2m 4.4s.
The 87 rated pacer was very well placed in the trial with his the next highest-rated horse being the second place getter Art Frenzy who finished 15 metres from the winner.
The final two quarters for the trial were 29.9s and 27.8s.
Other winners included: Bobbi Direct (2m 7.8s), Bettabrown Tiger (2m 9.6s), Auckland Ruby (2m 10.6s), Whenthegroundshook (2m 7.1s) and Juniper (2m 9.9s).
Week Ahead
There are three harness meetings in the state this weekend and it kicks off in Devonport on Friday night where there is plenty to look forward to on the seven-race card.
The meeting features the first heat of Allen Williams Memorial, two heats of the 6ty° Youngbloods Challenge and the North West Light Harness Association Cup.
In the Cup, Izaha faces a very tough task when he faces a 30-metre handicap in the 2645 metre event.
Izaha winning recently in Launceston.
He is one of three handicapped runners in the race with Illegal Immigrant off 20 metres and Full Speed Ahead who has won two of his last three starts allocated a 10-metre handicap.
The first harness event is set down for 16:57 with the first greyhound race at 15:10, all races are on Sky Racing 2.
King Island host their first meeting of the season with a non-tab card on Saturday.
Two mobile start harness events are scheduled on the card with a total of nine acceptors on the day.
Last season’s King Island Cup winning driver Adrian Collins has two drives including Elegantly Spoken in race one and last start winner Yellow Taxi in race two.
The attention then swings to Carrick Park on Sunday in the twilight zone with eight races commencing at 16:10.
The meeting will be televised on Sky Racing with the first four races on Sky Racing 2 and the last four races on Sky Racing 1.
Two heats of the Trainers Encouragement Pace are the highlights of the meeting with the two heats attracting even fields.
Cardinal Ringo in heat one will appreciate a drop-in class but his task is made hard by being a RODM horse and having to come wide on the Carrick Park track which has less camber than our two main tracks.
Heat Two sees the Brooke Hammond trained Moonlite Bay also drop-in class but is another that will have to be put into the race at some stage.
The $5,500 final will be staged at the clubs next meeting on 29 December were the winning trainer will win a brand new Missile Sulky.
Looking further afield, the first round of heats for the 2019 IRT Inter Dominion will be held on Friday at Alexandra Park in Auckland.
There is a Tasmanian connection with the series favourite, Cruz Bromac, with Latrobe’s Warren Viney being a part-owner of the gelded son of Falcon Seelster.
Cruz Bromac won the New Zealand Cup two starts ago before finishing third in the New Zealand Free For All.
The Inter Dominion heats will be televised on Sky Racing 1 plus an extended showcase coverage on each night of the series on Sky Racing Active’s Plus channel.
The first heat of the series is scheduled to start at 18:04 AEDT.
Interstate this week at metropolitan venues some of our Tasmanian representatives include;
Melton – Friday Night
Race 2 Horse 4 Offthetopofmyhead.
Menangle – Saturday night
Race 6 Horse 7 Harjeet.