The Tasmania Cup carnival kicked off in Hobart last week, where the Victorians proved too good.
It promises to be a big weekend this week, on Friday we have the final meeting of the season in Burnie before a bumper Saturday night.
Ignatius will fly the flag in the $1,000,000 Miracle Mile, while Ryley Major and Max Delight will also be spotted racing interstate.
Closer to home, we have the 2021 Tasmanian Harness Racing awards night at the Hotel Grand Chancellor in Launceston. For those that are unable to attend, the function will be live-streamed on TasracingTV, commencing with the arrivals just before 6:00 pm.
If that wasn’t enough, the second heat of the Tasmania Cup, along with the Tasmanian Guineas and Three Year Old Fillies Championship, will be held in Hobart on Sunday night.
The Stars
Dean Braun and Chris Alford – love coming to Tasmania, and when they do, they always leave with a winner, or in Sunday’s case, two. The Victorians teamed up to win the opening heat of the Tasmania Cup with Willie Go West who handled his rivals with ease before Jaffa Josh stamped himself as the horse to beat in the Eric Reece Memorial Final after a 19-metre heat win.
Mascott – gave Chris Alford his first feature Trotting race win in Tasmania when he partnered the six-year-old gelding to victory in the 2021 Aldebaran Park Hobart Trotting Cup. The trotter is raced by the Tasmanian Trotting Club and led home a stable quinella for trainer Rodney Ashwood.
Kosimo – returned to racing from a spell and the Mark Jones-trained pacer made it a winning return when scoring in the opening heat of the Eric Reece Memorial.
Deborah Williams – continued her brilliant start to the 2021 season with Our Percius delivering the trainer her fourth win of the season, which sees her lead the female trainers title.
Matthew Howlett – trained his fist winner with Iden Reactor in Devonport on Friday, becoming the third generation of the Howlett dynasty to prepare a winner.
Multiple Winners
Devonport – Friday evening
Hannah Van Dongen – driving double; Metro Star and Laid Back Kenny,
Rohan Hillier – driving double; Emjays Black Chip and Top Hanover.
Hobart – Sunday evening
Chris Alford – driving treble; Mascott, Willie Go West and Jaffa Josh.
Dean Braun – training double; Willie Go West and Jaffa Josh.
Ben Yole – training double; Baccarat and Oneofthelads.
Calculated Sectional Standouts
Devonport – Friday evening
Laid Back Kenny 59.1s, Metro Star 59.4s, North Star Lad 59.6s, Perfect Mach 59.6s and Wandary Muscat 59.6s.
Hobart – Sunday evening
Earl Jujon 56.3s, Jaffa Josh 56.8, Tarleton Riley 57.4s, Willie Go West 57.5s and Somedan 57.7s.
View all available Tasmanian Sectional Data by clicking here.
Tasracing Official Price
Devonport – Friday evening
Hit’s: Metro Star $7.50 into $4.20, Island Bliss $5.00 into $3.50, War Chest $4.20 into $2.60 and Iden Reactor $3.50 into $2.50.
Defied The Drift: Emjays Black Chip $8.00 out to $11 and Laid Back Kenny $7.00 out to $7.50.
Missed: Brighton Prince $3.20 into $2.90, Heza Rummage $8.50 into $6.00, Big Bang Raj $8.50 into $6.00, Border Cross $17 into $7.50, Ideal Karalta $21 into $9.00, Kiavino Stride $4.60 into $4.00 and Devil Of Tyne $41 into $26.
Hobart – Sunday evening
Hit’s: Kosimo $3.30 into $2.50, Mascott $10 into $4.60, Gipsy Treasure $10 into $4.00, Willie Go West $1.90 into $1.75, Jaffa Josh $1.28 into $1.05, Bonacci $5.00 into $3.90 and Oneofthelads $8.50 into $5.00.
Defied The Drift: Baccarat $14 out to $18.
Missed: Signorina Jujon $3.60 into $3.10, Kennys Killer $3.20 into $2.90, Tarleton Riley $15 into $8.50 and Ozzie Major $19 into $7.00.
Trial File
Carrick Park – Monday evening
Three-year-old fillies Bridwood Bella and Melnrowley clashed in a trial at Carrick Park on Monday ahead of the upcoming fillies features.
Bridwood Bella, driven by Conor Crook showed a good turn of speed to find the lead.
After being crossed at the mile, Crook was happy to quickly whip around and retake the lead before Melnrowley led up the running line from the 1400 metres, her driver Gareth Rattray was happy to take the spot behind the leader for the final 600 metres.
There was three metres between the duo at the conclusion of the trial in the favour of Bridwood Bella who recorded a mile rate of 2m 2.8s, with the last half mile privately clocked in 59.3s.
Other winners included; Offthetopofmyhead (2m 6.0s), Hes Apples (2m 9.0s), Evies Dressmaker (NTT) and Winknblink (NTT).
Week Ahead
Friday: The Burnie Harness Racing Club stage their fourth and final meeting of the season with a six-race card. The D & J Crawford Builders Sweepstakes being the feature race of the night. The meeting will be televised on Sky Racing 2 and TasracingTV, with the opening event set down for 18:20.
Saturday: This is a massive day for the state.
Tasmanian trained, owned and bred Ignatius will contest the $1,000,000 Miracle Mile at Menangle, where Tasmanian owned Max Delight will also contest a Group 1 event on the support card.
Ryley Major could also have a big night, as he will contest the open class race at Melton while he will also be looking to claim the 2019-2020 Tasmanian Horse of the year title at the Tasmanian Harness Racing Awards night at the Hotel Grand Chancellor in Launceston.
The awards night will be live-streamed on TasracingTV, commencing with the arrivals just before 18:00.
Sunday: Night two of the Tasmania Cup Carnival continues in Hobart on Sunday with the Tasmania Cup’s final heat to be held. The meeting also sees the three-year-olds have their last hit-outs before Saturday weeks Tasmanian Oaks and Derby in the Tasmanian Guineas and Three Year Old Fillies Championship.
Monday: Trials were to be held in Devonport however due to staffing issues, the trials will now be held at Carrick Park. As a result, the trials scheduled for Carrick Park on 22 March have been moved to Devonport.
Duncan Dornauf for Tasracing