Where have those 118 years gone?
November 19, 2020
WHERE have those 118 years gone? OK, I am kidding . . . Harold Park has now been gone” for almost 10 years and we miss it dearly, but this week marks an anniversary of a different kind. It is 118 years – today – since that first race... Read more
Purdon-Rasmussen calling it quits
November 16, 2020
SYDNEY harness racing may get the chance to farewell one of the greatest partnerships in harness racing when Menangle hosts our biggest and richest sprint, the Miracle Mile early in 2021. Mark Purdon and Natalie Rasmussen dropped a bombshell yesterday when they revealed they intend to disband their All... Read more
Former champion on target to regain title
November 14, 2020
FORMER champion Spankem proved he is on target to regain his Miracle Mile title with a stylish victory in Addington yesterday. Runner-up in the famed New Zealand Cup over 3200 metres three days earlier, Spankem outclassed his rivals in the New Zealand Free-For-All. Driven by co-trainer Natalie Rasmussen, the... Read more
Kiwi in search of more Aussie majors
November 12, 2020
CLASSY New Zealand filly Mexicana will return to the scene of her biggest win in search of more Group One glory today. Winner of the famed Redwood Classic in Maryborough during her Australian debut a fortnight ago, Mexicana is heading back to the provincial circuit to contest a Breeders’... Read more
New Zealand Cup winner out of Free-For-All
November 12, 2020
A QUICK trip to the stables to check on his latest New Zealand Cup winner yesterday afternoon was enough to convince Mark Purdon to scratch Self Assured from Friday’s $180,000 NZ Free-For-All. The Cup hero didn’t eat up as well as usual on Tuesday night or Wednesday and while... Read more
Outrage over ‘shambolic’ start to New Zealand Cup
November 11, 2020
HORSEMEN and punters are demanding that New Zealand’s standing start procedures must change after another shambolic start to this year’s New Zealand Trotting Cup. In one of the worst starts to the country’s richest race, the horses drawn on the outside got a flyer, eventual winner Self Assured already... Read more
John Tapp goes head-to-head with Jack Trainor
November 11, 2020
JACK Trainor didn’t expect to have two runners in the same race just five weeks into his professional training career. Even more bizarre was the fact that he has only four horses in work at his Menangle base. Makoa and Shelby Bromac were both drawn in an early race... Read more
They’ve done it again…
November 11, 2020
THEY’VE done it again. The might of the All Stars has confirmed its reputation as the best big-race stable in the Southern Hemisphere after claiming another Group One $572,400 IRT New Zealand Trotting Cup at Addington yesterday. Headed up by the dynamic duo of Mark Purdon and Natalie Rasmussen,... Read more
Superstar retired to stud
November 10, 2020
CONNECTIONS of Tall Dark Stranger have confirmed the top-ranked horse in harness racing has completed his on-track career. With a mark of 1:47.2, a career summary of 19 wins and two seconds from 22 starts and more than $2.365million in earnings, Tall Dark Stranger will head to Hanover Shoe... Read more
