Har ness Racing Ma gazine

MOBILE ROLLING

Bendigo Trotting Cup and Maryborough’s exciting

Redwood Day is just around the corner - READ MORE INSIDE

25 May 2012

2011 Elitloppet champion Brioni

Maryborough Trotting’s big day

24 May 2012 - Two-year-old trotter Blitzthemcalder could

be world class according to international driver Luke

McCarthy who has partnered the rising star at three of his

victories. Trainer Ross Payne was beaming after his juve-

nile trotting star shaved 2.5 seconds off the 2yo Trot track

record tonight at Bendigo winning the first heat of the Tat-

low Stakes with ease. The 35.8 metre romp was Blitzthem-

calder’s sixth consecutive win and the second record in

his short career. His winning time was 2:42.4 (2:01.6

MR). Two runs back he also set an Australasian record at

Menangle with a 1:59.6 mile. At Bendigo, Blitzthemcalder

was driven Leigh Sutton who has now also won three

races on the ‘black flash’. The $1.10 favourite for the

heat, Blitzthemcalder worked his way to the front early

then jogged through the early sectionals before being

revved up at the half mile. When extended for the last

quarter, Blitzthemcalder trotted home in 28.5s. “He is the

best I have driven, he has got gears,” Sutton said. Payne

said that Luke McCarthy has already compared this horse

to Muscle Hill (the trotter he steered to win the World Trot-

ting Derby at at the Illinois State Fair in DuQuoin in 2009).

“He reckons you won’t see the best of this horse until you

can get one to go with him and test him,” Payne said. Per-

fectly balanced Blitzthemcalder does his work so easily.

“You could balance a cup of coffee on his back,” Payne

said. A son of pacing sire Metropolitan from the trotting

line that produced Maoris Idol, Blitzthemcalder,bred and

raced by Calder Park’s Rick Burchell, will start a short

priced favourite for the 2yo Tatlow Trot Final, a Group 2

race with as $30,000 stake at Tabcorp Park next Friday

night. The second of the Tatlow heats for 2yo trotters was

won by the Maiden Gully trained Bellmac Cody. Trained by

David Van Ryn and driven by Haydon Gray, Bellmac Cody,

a gelding by Barcardi Lindy won his race by 8.4 metres.

His time was 2:44.6 (2:03.2) which was also faster than

Gluteus Maximus’ 2007 former record mark.— David

Aldred

Calder could be world class

Bendigo blitz record romp

Harness Racing Magazine May 24th, 2012

In this issue

Redwood Day 2

Bendigo Trotters Cup 2

Elitloppet 2012 3

HRITC Success 4

Addy’s Back 4

MOBILE ROLLING

GIRLS ONLY SYNDICATE

Girls, - Race a 2yo filly by

Major In Art for just

$1 per day

Go to our website for

photos and full details

on how you can join and

have fun racing. this filly.

www.girlsgoracing.org

Sunday July 15 is fast approaching and

that means that it is once again Redwood

day in the state’s north-west.

Maryborough will host what has become the flagship carnival for Trotting in country Vic-

toria. The meeting will feature the $75,000 Group 1 Seelite Windows & Doors Victoria

Trotters Derby Final and the $50,000 Group 1 Seelite Windows & Doors Redwood Clas-

sic on the Sunday. This is the only opportunity squaregaiting fans have to experience

Group 1 racing in a relaxed country environment. Given the strong interest in the day the

Metropolitan and Country Harness Racing Association has decided to put together a

package for those in the Melbourne and Melton regions. You will get a return coach trip,

entry to the racetrack, race book, lunch and afternoon tea plus all the fun and excite-

ment of the Redwood, for the cost of $65.00 per person. There will also be a punters

club on track and a raffle on the bus for those who wish to join in. The coach will leave

Moonee Valley at 8.45 sharp and Tabcorp Park Melton at 9.15 am sharp, returning after

the last race. Bookings are essential and must be made by June 30, to book call Len

Baker on 0401 679 745 or John Muller on 03 9743 5507.— HRV Media

Redwood Day is

rolling around again

John Justice holds the trophy aloft

Bendigo Bank Trotting Cup should be super night

Bendigo Harness Racing Club will host a

super night of trotting on Saturday 9 June

with the feature race the annual $15,000

Bendigo Trotter’s Cup.

The Bendigo Bank have come on board to

sponsor the Trotting Cup for the first time.

The Trotters Cup is for TM0 or better class

horses and is a standing start Discretionary

Handicap over the marathon 2650 metres.

Also on this program is the $7,000 Alabar

3yo Guineas and the $7,000 Bendigo Bank

Trotters Classic for 3yo’s. The 3yo Fillies

race feature on the program is the

inaugural Les Pratt Memorial Fillies Classic

carrying a purse of $10,000. The Club has

organised a host of activities for the night

including sweepstake draw on the Trotters

Cup.

Art Colony dies Loddon Valley Stud’s John Campbell has

sadly confirmed the passing of dual

hemisphere stallion Art Colony which has

stood at his stud for the past two

seasons at Lockwood in Central Victoria.

The winner of $863,750 and a brilliant

1:51 mile rate performer at two years,

Art Colony died at Winbak Farm Stud in

Ontario, Canada in early May.

www.bhrc.com.au

03 54493205

currently at $15 in the

heat after running

home strongly for

second from the awk-

ward draw in the Group

2 Prix des Ducs de

Normandie. They will

be joined by the 2010

Elitloppet final winner

Iceland who is $7.50

to take out the heat

and $14 to be only the

ninth horse to win the

race twice. Heat two is

likely to be dominated

by the second of the

French raiders, Rapide

Lebel who has drawn

mobile position six.

Even with the awkward

draw he has come up a

The Elitloppet favourite

for the first heat is the

local squaregaiter

Commander Crowe

who is at the prohibi-

tive odds of $1.75 with

TAB Sportsbet. Given

the polemarker easily

accounted for his

closest rival in the mar-

ket last time out he

should prove hard to

beat here. American

contender Arch Mad-

ness who is the second

favourite at $5 will give

USA legend Brian

Spears his first drive in

the race. French stal-

wart Oyannax is

$1.90 favourite with

TAB Sportsbet fixed

odds. German invader,

Brioni squeezed into

last year’s final by

finishing fourth in the

heat, he then atoned by

coming from near the

back of the field with a

withering burst to win in

one of the closest

finishes ever recorded

in the race. He is back

in form following a win

at Galve just over a

week ago and is $9

with TAB Sportsbet to

take out the heat but

joins Iceland on the

$14 line to be a dual

winner.

Page 3

2011 winner

Brioni is $9

with TAB

Sportsbet to

take out the

Elitloppet heat

but joins

Iceland on the

$14 line to be

a dual winner.

May 24th, 2012

The 2012 Elitloppet is raced this

weekend and this year the race is

going to be as competitive as ever

with 16 horses from six different

nations all staking their claim in one

of the world’s premier trotting

events. The unique mile race worth

over $990,000AUD consists of two

heats, each with eight runners

followed by a final run on the same

day which is compiled from the first

four across the line in each heat.

The race will be conducted for the

61st time. The format has been

tinkered with over time with match

races taking place for the heat win-

ners, distance increases from 1,580

metres to as high as 3,200 metres

in 1959 and walk up starts called

“volts” common practice until 1962

when a mobile start was adopted.

This year the race will be run over its

now consistent 1,609 metres from a

mobile start. Elitloppshelgen, or the

Elitloppet weekend as it is known in

Sweden, will see the Solvalla race-

track host three meetings across

three days which will culminate in

the Elitloppet Final run early Monday

morning Australian time. Punters are

already into full gear with TAB

Sportsbet supporting the meeting by

offering fixed odds on both heats

and the final almost a week out from

the event.

The first race of the night will kick off at

6.20pm (AEST) on Sunday with a mara-

thon ensuing from there. Heat number

one of the Elitloppet will go at 10.57pm

(AEST) while the second heat is sched-

uled for 11.25pm (AEST). Punters will

then have the chance to bet on revised

fixed odds with TAB Sportsbet for final

which will be run at 1.45am (AEST) Mon-

day morning. The race has been rarely

attended by Australasian standardbreds

however New Zealanders Pride Of Petite

(1996), Special Force (1999) and Lyell

Creek (2001) paved the way for Austra-

lian representation in 2008. Chris Lang

took his champion trotter Sundons Gift

over to Sweden for a creditable sixth in

the heat without advancing to the final.

Lang will be back at the Solvalla track

this year to provide live commentary for

Sky Racing on what is shaping up to be a

massive night of harness racing.

All of the action will be live on Sky Racing

1 from 9.40pm (AEST) with harness ex-

perts Adam Hamilton and Gareth Hall

taking punters through an elite night of

squaregaiting. All of those who are social

media savvy will have a chance to have

their say by joining the Elitloppet

conversation, simply add #Elitloppet to

your tweets or tweet to the hosts

@AdamTABSports and @ghall27.

- Blake Redden

World’s best trotters go for Sweden’s top prize

Elitloppet heat snap shot—the form runners

MOBILE ROLLING Page 4

“They are all keen to

learn we have a very

enthusiastic class this

year with some real

talent there as well,” -

trainer Roma Pocock

Six-year-old mare Auzzie Rose con-

tinued the success for Bendigo’s

Harness Racing Industry Training

Centre with her first win in over a

year, this month at Echuca. The

H.R.I.T.C. Board of Management

race the Conch Deville mare which

was bred by the Board chairman,

Steve Warren. Trained by Roma

Pocock and driven by champion

Bendigo reinsman Darryl Douglas,

Auzzie Rose, came from a 10

metre handicap in the 2530 metre

Choice Hotels T0 Trotters

Handicap and got home by a half

neck over 60 metre backmarker

Cameos Moment with Abbotshall

(30m) close up in third place.

“Daryl (Douglas) just let her bowl

along in front and in her right class

she was able to go her own speed,

and she hung on,” Pocock said.

Auzzie Rose’s front running victory

follows hot on the heels of stable

mate Village Patrol’s win earlier

this month at Cobram.

Pocock said the harness racing

trainees attending the Bendigo

H.R.I.T.C get very excited when the

horses race and do well in their

races. “Only a couple of the

students were there last night

because some on them had the flu

and couldn’t make it but the ones

there were jumping up and down

and got very excited,” she said.

The students put a lot of work into

the training centre team of trotters

and pacers, working and caring for

the horses under the watchful eye

of trainer Pocock, day in and day

out. Pocock said that the students

including current reinsman Clinton

McSwain are learning everything

there is to learn about harness

racing, Pocock said. “Driving,

training and feeding the horse, the

horse care skills, they learn every-

thing. When the horses win it just

makes it that little bit easier for

them all to front up for ‘work’ early

each day. They are all keen to

learn we have a very enthusiastic

class this year with some real

talent there as well,” Pocock said. -

David Aldred

Training school getting success on and on

the track at Bendigo

Lauren Daffy with Auzzie Rose

Addy aka Spirit Of Bendigo is back in training

at Paul and Maree Campbell’s Maiden Gully

property after having more than six weeks rest

to recover from an inflamed splint bone in her

leg. She has returned to the cart and started

jogging as she prepares on her road back to

the trials and her long awaited race debut. The

Campbell’s are happy with Addy’s progress.

“She has done a lot of swimming in recent

weeks but her legs have been given complete

rest from the trackwork,” Paul Campbell said.

”we will bandaged her legs and box her of an

evening just to make sure . The bandages will

give her extra support for the concussion work

of jogging..” Addy will also continue her swim-

ming routine to build her fitness.

Addy’s back

Addy aka Spirit Of Bendigo at the trials