Bits and Bridles

Mark Jones notched up a milestone last night at Addington when he trained his 800^th harness racing winner Tempo Warrior (A Rocknroll Dance).

TEMPO WARRIOR REPLAY

779 of those winners have been under his name while the balance (21) have been with Brendon Hill.

His first winner was Man O Man at Oamaru in September 2002. His best season to date is 2014 when he trained 73 winners.

His biggest winners have been Master Lavros (20), Sioux Princess (17), Artatac (16), Saveapatrol (12), Crystal Star (11), Plutonium Lady (11), Rocker Band (10) and Kowhai Shadow (10).

Group One successes for the Jones stable are the New Zealand Trotting Derby with Eyre I Come, the Harness Jewels Four Year Old Diamond – Rocker Band, the Dominion Handicap – Master Lavros (2), the Rowe Cup – Master Lavros, the New Zealand Trotting Championship -Master Lavros and the New Zealand Trotting Derby with Shezoneoftheboyz.

Leading drivers for the 800 stable wins have been Samantha Ottley (245), Mark himself (231) and Blair Orange (100).

The decision regarding the distribution of funds from the sale of Forbury Park is closer to being finalised.

“Lex Williams and HRNZ signed off today (Tuesday) on one part of that jigsaw puzzle but there’s still one little piece left to solve. I expect that in the next three to six months we’ll get a wee bit of clarity around that,” stated Brad Steele, CEO of HRNZ.

Blair Orange drove Vrilo to win at Addington last Sunday, achieving his one hundredth winning drive for the season.

It’s the eleventh time Orange has reached the ton in a season. His highest seasonal tally was 267 in the 2021 season.

With 2,759 winning drives in his career, he’s fourth on the All-time winning drivers list. Tony Herlihy (3,683), Maurice McKendry (3,398) and Ricky May (3,118) are the only drivers ahead of him.

Frozen semen from trotting stallion Six Pack (Muscle Hill) will be available at Macca Lodge in Southland this spring.

“His oldest stock are just three this year. He hasn’t hit the headlines yet but the trainers in America are pretty high on them. They reckon they’ll be better at three, so we’ll find out. The kiwis (trainers) don’t keep up with what’s going on over there and they like to see them going around,” Brent McIntyre from Macca Lodge said.

Six Pack was named the Dan Patch 3-Year-Old Trotting Colt of the Year in 2018 and renowned trainer Ake Svanstedt who trained Six Pack for his entire career said, “Six Pack is an incredibly powerful horse bundled with speed and intelligence.”

His 19 wins included the Stanley Dancer in 1:50.0, the Kentucky Futurity 1:49.1, and Allerage Open Trot as a 4-year- old in 1:49.2. All three of those wins were world record times. His total career earnings were $1,939,604.

From his first crop Six Pack is the sire of 35 two-year-old qualifiers in America and he’s fourth on the two-year-old sires’ list.

Six Pack has six foals on the ground already in New Zealand.

by Bruce Stewart, for Harnesslink