Only 10 days to Night of Champions at Cambridge

The harness racing fields for both the TAB Trot and the $1m Race by Grins at Cambridge on Friday, April 12 are now complete.

The latest horse to secure a slot, for the Bolt For Brilliance Syndicate, is Mystic Max (Village Mystic) in the TAB Trot, after running second to Muscle Mountain in Saturday’s Group 1 Fred Shaw Memorial NZ Trotting Championship at Addington.

Owned and trained by Michael Purdon, the eight-year-old gelding has won eight from 35, with his last victory being at the Group 3 IRT Your Horse Our Passion South Bay Trotters Cup at Kaikoura last October.

The TAB Trot stake has increased to $600,000 thanks to an additional $25,000 from the Northern Regional Programming Fund.

Other key information leading up to the Night of Champions includes :

Barrier Draw – The barrier reveal event will take place between 6 and 8pm on Monday 8th April 2024. The barrier draws will be made by HRNZ prior to the barrier function. The draw will be done in accordance with HRNZ’s usual procedures and with a stipendiary steward being present. The draw will be kept confidential until the reveal at the function later that night. The barrier function will be held at the Smith and McKenzie Steakhouse in Hamilton and shown live on Trackside TV and Social Media channels.

Barrier Configuration – The barrier configuration for both races is 8 across the front row. One emergency (as outlined below) will be drawn into each field as though it was a starter. This will mean 11 horses are drawn in The Race by Grins (8 front/ 3 second row) and 9 horses are drawn in the TAB Trot (8 front/ 1 second row).

Emergencies – Between the closing of nominations and acceptance time there will be up to three horses declared by an Independent Appointments Panel (IAP) as additional nominations into each race. In the event one of the nominated horses is withdrawn before acceptance time, slot holders will have the option to reach an agreement with any of these horses to run in their slot. One of these horses will be selected by the IAP for each race to be the emergency and will be drawn in the field as if it was a starter.

Dates and timings :

Nomination time
Friday 5th April 2024 at 11:00am

Acceptance time
Sunday 7th April 2024 at 12noon

Field announcement
Sunday 7th April 2024

Barrier draw
Monday 8th April 2024

Final scratching time
Friday 12th April 2024 at 7:30am

The fields for both slot races are now complete:

TAB Trot – confirmed runners:

Arcee Phoenix (Trixton)(Aldebaran Park)
Callmethebreeze (Trixton)(Haras Des Trotteurs)
Just Believe (Orlando Vici)(Taylor St Racing Syndicate)
Midnight Dash (Muscle Hill)(Hidden Honey)
Muscle Mountain (Muscle Hill)(Cullen Breeding Ltd)
Mystic Max (Village Mystic)(Bolt For Brilliance Syndicate)
Oscar Bonavena (Majestic Son)(All Stars Racing – Chris Ryder)
Queen Elida (Love You)(TAB NZ)

The Race by Grins – confirmed runners:

Better Eclipse (Betterthanchedar)(TAB NZ)
Don’t Stop Dreaming (Bettor’s Delight)(Cullen Breeding Ltd)
Mach Shard (Mach Three)(Dunstan Horsefeeds)
Merlin (Art Major)(SENZ)
Old Town Road (Bettor’s Delight)(Hydroflow)
Rock N Roll Doo (Rock N Roll Heaven)(Barrett Homes)
Self Assured (Bettor’s Delight)(Hole In The Wall Gang)
Sooner The Better (Bettor’s Delight)(Summit Bloodstock, Aaron Bain, Richard Cole, Glenn Holland, Stephen Hunt and Trevor Casey)
South Coast Arden (Somebeachsomewhere)(P I and G J Kennard Bloodstock)
Speak The Truth (Bettor’s Delight)(Hidden Honey)

From Harness Racing New Zealand