Queensland harness racing wrap

Catch up on the week’s Queensland harness racing action in our weekly review, thanks to Darren Clayton.

THE GOOD

The meteoric rise of trainer Jason Grimson continued Saturday when Majestic Cruiser (Art Major) claimed victory in the Grand Circuit Group 1 TAB Blacks A Fake.

It was the second G1 of the season for the Majestic Cruiser, driver Cam Hart and trainer Jason Grimson-combination.

The Blacks A Fake came after they secured victory in the Messenger in Auckland in April.

As the first name drawn in last Monday’s barrier draw, Grimson had 13 mobile barriers available. When he turned his card over, he secured gate four.

From there, Hart angled into the running line as Alta Orlando was first to the poles before Turn It Up quickly crossed to take over.

Race favourite Spirit Of St Louis then took up the running after 400 metres of the 2680 metre journey, with Majestic Cruiser one out and two back, in the running line.

The field stayed in that formation for most of the race, as Jack Callaghan aboard Spirit Of St Louis ran the field through opening splits of 28.6 and then 29.9.

As they approached the 500-metre mark, Like A Wildfire eased from the one-by-one trail to make a run, with Majestic Cruiser getting on the back of that runner as the leader increased the tempo to a 27.8 third split.

Turning for home, Majestic Cruiser worked into the race strongly and loomed up to the leader and had the winning momentum to claim a 1.8 metre win.

Spirit Of St Louis battled gamely to hold on for second, with the Shane Graham-trained and driven Turn It Up, holding down third.

MAJESTIC CRUISER REPLAY

With four runs across the previous five weeks at Albion Park where he had been placed just once, the Blacks A Fake was always the main target for the seven-year-old.

“At the start of the Carnival we drove him a bit upside down to get him fit because he’s such a fat horse,” Grimson said.

The longer trip of the Blacks A Fake was always going to favour Majestic Cruiser whose victory in the Messenger at Auckland over 2700 metres highlighted his staying powers.

Hart had flown to New Zealand for that victory and knew the staying abilities his drive possessed, and what would be required to claim the Blacks A Fake.

“We’ve been setting this horse throughout the Carnival for this race,” Hart said.

“We were confident the whole way, though.”

The Hart and Grimson combination won the race before the Blacks A Fake, although they had to share the prize.

They teamed with I Cast No Shadow, who was unable to secure a start in the Grand Circuit feature but was huge when sitting parked over the long trip of 2680 metres, to share the spoils in a dead-heat victory with Crime Writer.

It may have been a lean carnival in overall winners for Grimson, however, he returns home to NSW with the biggest trophy in Queensland harness racing.

THE BAD

It was a tough night for the Queensland locals on Saturday (Jul. 23), with eight of the 10 races being won by interstate-trained horses.

It had been lean pickings in big races for local trainers during the Constellations Carnival, with Narissa McMullen’s win with Global Flight in the Darrel Alexander Memorial the only Group 1 winner prepared by a Queensland-based trainer.

However, in the first G1 on Saturday, Wee Man Trouble (Superfast Stuart), trained by Shannon Price and driven by Luke Whittaker, secured a local win at the elite level in the Queensland Trotters Cup.

The win was the second Group 1 success for Wee Man Trouble, adding the Cup to his 2019 win in the DJA Final when he was prepared by Grant Dixon.

While it was the second for the seven-year-old gelding it was a pair of firsts for Price and Whittaker.

Shannon Price had trained G1 winners before, with all of those being pacers, Wee Man Trouble giving the stable their first square-gait winner at G1 level to boost the tally to six wins at the elite level.

Meanwhile, for Whittaker, it was also significant.

From limited opportunities, Whittaker secured his first ever Group 1 success with the Cup victory, just his sixth driving success of the season and in Australia since arriving from New Zealand.

No smile was bigger on Saturday than that of Whittaker’s when he returned to the presentation area aboard the seven-year-old.

“That’s pretty special,” Whittaker said.

“To do it on this horse tonight for Shannon and Scott means a lot.”

Two races later and there was more Group 1 success for Queensland, this time with the Grant Dixon-trained and driven Leap To Fame (Bettor’s Delight) in the Queensland Derby.

It was a tough performance by the three-year-old.

He sat parked, for most of the 2680 metre journey, after being sent forward to sit outside the leader, Dangerzone, and worked to the leader’s wheel with 1800 metres to travel.

It was a solid tempo set by Brendan Barnes aboard Dangerzone, with the first 1200 metres of the last mile run in splits of 29.5, 28.8 and 27.5.

Leap To Fame edged to the front with 250 metres to travel and was brave up the stretch to hold off Cantfindabettorman in a 28.5 closing quarter, running the trip in a brutal 1.54.9 rate.

“To his credit, he coped all that pressure and still got the job done,” Dixon said after the race.

Leap To Fame now joins a very select group to have claimed both the NSW and Queensland Derbies, with For A Reason the last to achieve the double in 2010.

THE WILDCARD

The Final night of the Queensland Constellations saw a galaxy of stars take to the track across the big 10 race card, where there were some glittering performances.

Shining brightly was the Matthew Craven-trained and driven Bettor Isolate (Bettor’s Delight), the winner of the 2022 JC McMullen, a potential star on the rise.

Beginning a well-supported favourite from the second line, early scratchings though meant the four-year-old would start from a potentially awkward barrier, from inside the second line.

Easing back at the start to avoid being pocketed, Saginaw, drawn to the outside of Bettor Isolate, also eased to find the position on the favourite’s back although the pair was some 50 metres off the early leader Rockin With Elvis.

Sliding up to join the main pack as the field approached the winning post with a lap to travel, the leader had run them through an opening split of 27.5 before backing it off to a 30.9 second split.

Bottle Rock was the first to make a move and Craven was quickly onto the back of the Narissa McMullen-trained runner with 700 metres to travel.

Bottle Rock found his way to the position outside the leader, leaving Bettor Isolate three-wide but, at that point, Craven let his charge loose and hit the front through a 28 third split.

Within the space of 100 metres, the four-year-old exploded clear, and the race was over before the home turn.

Bettor Isolate sprinted hard up the stretch, in a 26.8 closing split, to claim a 15-metre winning margin.

While Bettor Isolate is trained in Victoria, sharing in the ownership is Queensland-based Ryan Spice who got to see the exciting gelding race live for the first time.

“He is the most exciting horse I own,” Spice said.

“That last half on Saturday where he was run 53.6 his last 800 is exceptional by any measure”

“It has been very pleasing with what he has achieved in his two Queensland starts and we are hopeful the travel will help the horse mature”.

Always showing plenty of ability, the gelding had 12 months off, owing to a small fracture that required surgery.

Since resuming from a spell, Bettor Isolate has won five of his six starts and will head home to Victoria to be freshened before a tilt at the NSW Breeders Challenge Series in October.

“Mattie Craven and Wayne Ross really need to be thanked for the work they have put into Bettor Isolate in developing him”.

THE MILESTONE

On the second line in the Fleur De Lil and then the Golden Girl in the previous two weeks, the return to a front-line gate for Fairy Tinkabell (Big Jim) saw her capture the Queen of Hearts and her third Albion Park victory.

Making full use of her blazing gate speed, driver Jack Callaghan sent the six-year-old mare to the front soon after the start and once in control, kept them rolling.

Following across with stablemate The Honey Queen at the start, that mare got the trail on Fairy Tinkabell, leaving race favourite Maajida exposed to lead in the one-wide line, with Momentslikethese securing the one out and one back spot.

Running the first quarter in 27.4 seconds, the Belinda McCarthy-trained mare then eased slightly through a 28.5 second quarter, running the first half of the last mile in a slick 55.9.

Dialling the tempo up and down, Callaghan was driving confidently and, with a 27.1 third split, had those to the outside off the bridle and being chased up.

Turning for home, the only danger looked like the Luke McCarthy-driven stablemate The Honey Queen, but with 100 metres to travel, Fairy Tinkabell had them covered. She pulled away again at the line for an 8.2 metre win, running the closing split in 28.3.

Jenden Strike for trainer Chris Frisby and driver Shane Graham was third after racing three back along the pegs.

“Front end domination” was how Chris Barsby described the performance of Fairy Tinkabell, with the mare stopping the clock in a mile rate of 1.51.3.

That shaved 0.1 off the mare’s class record for the Albion Park 1660 metre trip, with the previous mark of 1.51.4, proving a hard benchmark to eclipse.

Four mares had jointly held that record, with Annika Magic owning the record outright for just one week in July 2019 after setting the record in claiming the Fleur De Lil that year.

Jossie James equalled the mark seven days later, then Chevrons Reward joined the trio with victory in December 2020, before Saucy Dreams made it a four-way tie in May 2021.

One of just a handful of mares to have broken 1.50 in Australia, the Albion Park mares record of 1.51.3 can now sit beside Fairy Tinkabell’s best of 1.49.9.

That benchmark was secured earlier this season in February, with victory in the Robin Dundee Stakes.

THIS WEEK

Seven straight days of harness racing action are scheduled in Queensland to see out the month of July.

The week starts with a nine-race card at Redcliffe on Monday night, with a further nine from the Peninsula track on Wednesday night and then a Thursday afternoon fixture.

With the Constellations Carnival completed, racing will continue at The Creek with three meetings for the week.

A 10-race card starts the week at the Breakfast Creek Oval and will be complemented with a night meeting on Friday followed by Saturday night’s metropolitan fixture.

Friday’s fixture will see the running of the up to 70 Final and Consolation that was due to be held last Friday, however, was not conducted after the meeting was called off because of wet conditions.

Marburg will complete the week, making it seven meetings in seven days, with a Sunday afternoon fixture at the Showgrounds.

For complete race fields, click here.

by Darren Clayton, for Racing Queensland