Tasmanian harness highlights

It was an excellent weekend of racing from a Tasmanian perspective in the past seven days, with this week’s “stars” being one of the toughest to narrow down for many weeks after a brilliant card in Hobart on Sunday.

Across Bass Strait, we saw Tasmanian owned and bred mare Still Hungover win at Melton, while on a cold Saturday morning at Goulburn, Ignatius was able to score in a three-horse trial where he dashed home in a 56.2s last half mile.

This weekend, we have two meetings: the St Virgils Football Club Race Night on Friday in Hobart before a Tier One meeting in Launceston on Sunday.

The Stars

Mitch Ford – at only his second race drive, the 17-year-old was able to succeed when scoring on the Bianca Heenan-trained Cool Hand Easton. Mitch is the son of former reinsman Scott Ford.

Extrinsic – remains undefeated after two starts. The Kate Hargreaves Betting Line filly overcame the outside of the second-row draw and a betting drift when utilising the Nutrien Sprint Lane for the half-head victory.

Iden Gorgeous – won her third race on end and continues to win by big margins. The daughter of Major Bronski won first-up from a break by 15.1 metres on 6 June before an 8.7-metre win in Devonport on 13 June. But on Sunday, she spaced her rivals by 25.3 metres and looks one of the main contenders on her current form for the Group 2 Granny Smith later in the season.

Kosimo – is another on track for a Group 2 feature, with the Raider Stakes the pacers main goal. He took a progressive step with a first-up win on Sunday when coming from well back in the field to score. The gelded son of Major Bronski was driven for the first time by Malcom Jones, with the four-year-old prepared by his father Mark.

Alex Ashwood – is a former Tasmanian who is based in Victoria and he achieved a personal milestone with his first training win on Saturday night at Melton with the Tasmanian owned and bred Still Hungover.

Multiple Winners

Hobart – Sunday evening
Ben Yole -training treble; Hez Razor Sharp, Hez The One and Montana Lad,
Conor Crook – driving double; Extrinsic and Iden Gorgeous,
Troy McDonald – driving double; Hez The One and Montana Lad,
Dylan Ford – driving double; Abs Boy and Say A Prayer

Tasracing Calculated Sectionals

Hobart – Sunday evening
The Shallows 56.40s, Montana Lad 56.59s, Be Major Threat 56.98s, Earl Jujon 57.08s and Boston Busker 57.18s.

View all available Tasmanian Sectional Data by clicking here.

Tasracing Official Price

Hobart – Sunday evening
Hits: Iden Gorgeous $1.80 into $1.60, Something Bettor $7.00 into $3.10, Montana Lad $6.50 into $4.60, Abs Boy $11 into $7.50 and Say A Prayer $2.70 into $2.45.

Defied The Drift: Extrinsic $2.20 out to $3.80, Kosimo $8.00 out to $11, Hez The One $17 out to $26 and Coolhand Easton $2.50 out to $3.20.

Missed: My Ultimate Danny $31 into $8.00, My Ultimate Romeo $10 into $5.00, Richmond Tiger $3.40 into $2.20, Rocknroll Turbo $3.20 into $2.25, Aha reaction $10 into $6.50, Captain Cosmonaut $5.00 into $3.60 and Boulder City $7.00 into $3.60.

Trial File

Carrick Park – Saturday morning
It was hard to find a future winner with thick fog rolling over the track for the first half of the trial session.

All trials were held over the mile with two quick times recorded by the last two winners with Shady Story, who led all the way in 2m 0.8s and Cardinal Ringo, who won the fast class trial in 2m 0.1s.

Other trial winners included the well-bred Maybee (2m 9.2s), who won in a controversial photo finish, Hivoltage Glenwood (2m 6.5s), Tactic Stride (N.T.T) and Hesa Bit Diffrent (2m 3.1s).

Hobart – Monday evening
Three trials were held on Monday evening where the quickest winning mile rate was recorded by Iden First, who led all the way to win a rating 57 to 64 trial by 5.2 metres in a mile rate of 2m 1.5s.

Other winners were Major Seascape (2m 13.4s) and Squatter Shannon (2m 3.4s).

Week Ahead

Friday: We have two meetings in the state this weekend, and it kicks off in Hobart on Friday for the St Virgils Football Club Race Night. For those that can’t make it trackside, you can catch the action on Sky Racing 2 and TasracingTV.

Saturday: Metropolitan racing in Victoria heads regional for the next four weeks, kicking off at Bendigo for a Saturday twilight meeting.

The opening race sees the Geoff Smith-trained Rambleon and Tasmanian owned and bred Streitkid go around in a race restricted to horses that are yet to win a race worth $15,000 or more in prizemoney.

Race three is for the trotters where the Tasmanian Trotting Club owned Beau Garcon has a second-row draw to overcome. While last start Melton winner Still Hungover will contest race six.

Sunday: Harness racing returns to Launceston for a nine-race card with the Four and Five Year Old Classic the headline event. The $12,000 feature looks a race in two between Tasmania Cup winner The Shallows and recent Melton winner Yorkshire. The meeting commences at 16:49 and can be seen on Sky Racing 1 and TasracingTV.

Monday: Trials will be held in Hobart from 17:30.

By Duncan Dornauf for Tasracing