Trotting mares answer the call at Alexandra Park

A week removed from a public outcry about the discrepancy in opportunities for squaregaiting fillies and mares, Harness Racing New Zealand programmers called on nominations of trotting mares for a night of mile racing at Alexandra Park held on Thursday night.

It had been pointed out that since August 1 last year under the Fillies and Mares Breeding Credit Scheme, there have been 188 credit-eligible races for pacers, and only 30 for trotters.

Local trainer Michelle Wallis further pointed to the fact that trotting fillies and mares in her care had received just the three opportunities to earn credits under the scheme in the North Island since the start of the season.

To the surprise of absolutely nobody, the support was overwhelming with nominations bristling to the tune of 19 fillies and mares jumping at the chance to race against their own sex under the ‘ribbon of light’

Instead of just the one race, there were sufficient nominations to run two and in a first for the trotting mares in the north island this season, the events were won by the punters elect with the favourites taking out both races.

The first came in race three when the Arna Donnelly trained Keep It Klassy (What The Hill) won the What The Hill @ Woodlands Stud F & M Mobile Trot in a fitting reward for being a model of consistency over the last few months.

The four-year-old has been in the judges call in each of her last 12 starts, all the while failing to get her nose in front, but nevertheless delivering a great sense of joy and revenue for her connection.

KEEP IT KLASSY REPLAY

“She is super consistent I think out of her last dozen or so starts she hasn’t been out of the top four and has been like a little Eftpos card,” laughed Donnelly.

“My Mum owns her too which is great. She always wanted a trotter and she picked her out of the yearling sales. She was pretty taken by her and bought her sight unseen really, so she gets all the credit for that one. She is only a wee peanut, she would be 15 hands top and is just a little wee girl.

“Like most trotters, she had a bit of a patch there where she was doing things wrong. We got on top of that and she has come back this time around and she is trotting really good. She lacks a bit of speed, but she usually steps away well and is good off the mobile gate too so she always gets herself handy which is a big help and she tries her heart out which is all you can ask for,” she said.

Keep It Klaasy is out of the Armbro Invasion mare, Classic Armbro, a granddaughter of the trotting star, Merinai (Tuff Choice). She was purchased in 2021 for $37,500 and despite picking up just her second win overnight, combined with her 12 placings, she has exceeded that sales tag in amassing $47,861 in stake money.

Last night after securing the trail having attacked the leader in the early stages, the ‘wee peanut’ scooted up the lane, only to be headed by Royden Downey and Sans Au Revoir (Love You). To her credit, Donnelly’s mare dug deep and fought back on the line for a well deserved victory by a nose.

Donnelly credited a trip away to Hawera as part of the turnaround in the mares performances which have led to an impressive run of seconds, thirds and fourths.

“We threw her in the deep end there and she made a bit of a blue the first day but got it right the second. Ever since then, she hasn’t been out of the money and it’s been good fun.

“It was awesome that she was able to run against her own sex tonight. I wasn’t quite sure whether we would even get a run or it would be too good of a field for her, but it just goes to show that there should be more of them and possibly every other week.

“There are a number of the mares around and if you don’t look after them they will be lost prematurely,” she said.

Jo Stevens, the winning trainer of the Border Fencing Services F & M Mobile Trot in race six echoed those sentiments after the emphatic win of Kiss And Run (What The Hill), one of the North Island’s star female trotters took out the higher assessed race on the programme

“It’s always the case with the fillies and mares trots and it was awesome see them programmed, but it really wasn’t much of a surprise to see the level of support,” said Stevens.

“I usually hate going out the favourite, I feel like I get the favourites curse. The miles racing is always good competitive racing and a good spectacle. It was good to get a quicker mile rate on her record, of course she is already black type but it all helps when it comes time to be a broodmare,” she said.

KISS AND RUN REPLAY

The four-year-old daughter of What The Hill is another who has been a model of consistency in the North Island having ran in the top 3 at 16 of her 19 starts since joining Jo Stevens in September last year.

“She is going really well and is a lot more tractable in her races now and racing a lot kinder,” said Stevens.

“When she first came up here we wanted to keep her away from mobiles. The actual races from the mobile aren’t the issue, she is a NZ record holder from the mobile, but it was just more a case of it was hurting her in the weeks that followed. The riding between races keeps her fresh and has been a good way to mix up her regime.

“She would go a bit loopy and it was getting her back to race kindly the next time that was a problem. Now we have a good routine established where we can swap and change between the two start methods and it’s not as big of an issue going forward,” she said.

With Peter Ferguson doing the steering, the pair hunted up early from barrier seven before being restrained to near the tail of the field. Ferguson bided his time patiently before delivering a withering burst down the centre of the track to score comfortably and pick up win number five from start 28.

The one and three quarter length victory took Kiss And Run’s stakes tally over the six figure threshold where it now sits at an impressive $108,872. While it is a day by day approach for Stevens, she hopes to now aim the Group Two placed mare at some of the Northern features on the horizon.

“Since the owners decided not to send her south to the Oaks last year it has been a week to week type thing, but now we have a routine going I think the Golden Gate will be a good target for her to start with.

“Then of course I would love her to win and I think she would deserve a black type race like the Waikato or Northern Breeders early in the new year. They aren’t easy races to win, but she had some issues around the time they were run this year and it was the only time she was out of the top three for me.

“She is very good right handed and we can make pretty good money without over racing her,” she said.

Should common sense prevail, logic would suggest that the next instalment of fillies and mares trots wont be too far removed from Thursday night.

The only thing about common sense in harness racing however is that its application is not all that common.

For complete Alexandra Park results, click here.

by Brad Reid, for Harnesslink