The upsets in Hobart harness racing continued on Friday night when the Kent Rattray-trained Karalta Moondance scored at odds of $81 in the two-year-old fillies Tasmanian Sires’ Stakes Final, the Evicus, when she outsprinted the leader and race favourite Spoilt Sport over the concluding stages.
The colts and geldings final was won by the talented Betterthancheddar Colt Resurgent Storm for New Norfolk trainer, owner and breeder Rodger Whitmore.
This week we see the first four heats of the BOTRA (Tas) Claiming Novice Drivers series commence with two heats in Devonport on Friday night and a further two heats in Hobart on Sunday night.
The programme in Hobart also sees the running of the Tasmanian Sires’ Produce and the first trotting race in Tasmania since Lampton won at Carrick Park in 1927. Trotters have been able to race against the pacers since and have done so successfully on a small number of occasions with the most recent being Yankee Avenue winning a race during each of the last two seasons on King Island.
In May 1994 Ratz time trialled in Launceston, recording a mile of 2:02.2 (which remains a Tasmanian State Trotting Record) for trainer-driver Ken Tippett. The Tarado Hanover gelding was the winner of 15 races on mainland Australia and was bred at Scottsdale by Rodney and Denise Boyle.
The Stars
Resurgent Storm – top two-year-old who remains undefeated after four starts, he only did what he had to do to win the Group 3 Dandy Patch Final. The Betterthancheddar colt is owned and trained by New Norfolk’s Rodger Whitmore who also bred the pacer.
Karalta Moondance – caused an upset in the Group 3 Evicus Final when she showed a good turn of speed over the concluding stages. Trainer Kent Rattray and driver John Walters have now teamed up to win a Group 3 race every year for the past three seasons. The Rock N Roll Heaven filly is owned and bred by Kent’s parents Wayne and Gaye Rattray.
Call Her Julie – “Julie, you beauty,” were the words trainer-driver Matthew Cooper proudly said when he took the Lombo Pocket Watch mare past the post in first position in the Col Saunders Memorial Brighton Cup. After working forward to find the lead in the early stages the mare was too tough for her rivals. It was the seventh win of the season for Call Her Julie who will be a strong contender for the Tasmanian Mare of the year for the 2017/18 season.
Bettabrown Tiger – once again the Melissa Maine-trained pacer was too good for his rivals when he led all the way to win untroubled by 16.6-metres to record his seventh career win at only his eighth racetrack appearance. Keep an eye out for this Betterthancheddar gelding in Victoria in the coming weeks as the connections chase a $7,000 Vicbred bonus.
Rohan Hillier – continued his good form with a driving double on Friday night with Offthetopofmyhead who made it back-to-back wins while Hillier took out the Shirley Hills Mares Handicap with El Jays Mystery. He then backed up with a treble in Launceston on Sunday to tighten the gap between him and Todd Rattray on the state driver’s premiership.
Multiple Winners
Hobart – Friday
Ricky Duggan – driving double; Usain Jolt ad Resurgent Storm.
Rohan Hillier – driving double; Offthetopofmyhead and El Jays Mystery.
Launceston – Sunday
Mark Yole – driving treble; Pushkin, El Jays Monet and Delbelle Legend.
Rohan Hillier – driving treble; No Apachemee, Stylish Trend and Sheza Bettormak.
Ben Yole – training treble; Pushkin, No Apachemee and Stylish Trend.
Calculated Sectional Standouts
Quickest last halves (800m) from last week’s action in Hobart on Friday.
Betterbrown Tiger 57.40, Offthetopofmyhead 57.73, Usain Jolt 57.85, Elegantly Spoken 57.97 and Victoria Pass 57.99
From Launceston on Sunday
Scooterwillrev 56.25, Sheer Strength 57.37, My Ruby Rose 57.47, No Apachemee 57.59 and Finn Mac Kee 57.75.
View all Tasmanian Sectional Data here.
Tasracing Official Price
Hobart
Hits: Usain Jolt $4.80 into $3.50 and El Jays Mystery $4.00 into $3.80.
Defied The Drift: Karalta Moondance $71 out to $81.
Missed: Streitkid $3.70 into $3.30 (2nd), Black Ops $71 into $31 (9th) and Bremusa $7.00 into $6.00 (3rd).
Launceston
Hit: Scooterwillrev $2.30 in to $1.80.
Defied The Drift: No Apachemee $5.00 out to $6.00 and El Jays Monet $5.50 out to $7.50.
Missed: Holme On The Bayou $8.00 in to $7.00 (2nd) and Sign Of A Tyne $18 in to $13 (2nd).
Trial File
Hobart on Monday
New Norfolk trainer, owner and breeder Rodger Whitmore produced the quickest winner of the trial session when Sutter Star won his two-year-old trial in a time of 2min 3.3secs for the 1609-metre journey.
The colt is by Sutter Hanover and is out of Our Etoile, who is a half-sister to Resurgent Star.
Resurgent Star is the dam of Resurgent Spirit ($196,000), Resurgent Dream ($62,500) and recent Dandy Patch Final winner Resurgent Storm ($41,500).
Other trial winners included; Tizyalator (2:06.7), Shaws Last Hand (2:04.3) and Origin Billy (2:04.0)
Devonport on Monday
Trotters My Jackofdiamonds and Ten Caisses continued there preparation to Sunday night’s event when they stepped out in the opening trial on Monday night.
The Ben Yole trained My Jackofdiamonds took up the lead in the standing start event which was conducted over 2286-metres. The seven-year-old gelding who is raced by well-known owner Colin Croft scored by four metres over pacer White Eagle, with the Adam Emery trained, Natalee Emery-driven Ten Caisses finishing 4.2-metres behind the winner in a mile rate of 2min 12.1secs.
The remaining two trials were won by Flying Wingard (2:03.0) and Freds Under Fire (2:01.7)
Week Ahead
The action kicks off with a twilight programme at the Devonport Showgrounds on Friday where the first two heats of the BOTRA (Tas) Claiming Novice Drivers Series will be held.
Defending champion and recent Youngbloods Challenge winner Brady Woods will be joined in the series by Matthew Cooper, Samantha Gangell, Samantha Freeman, Wade Rattray, Allister Woods, Kirsty Grant, Braden Howlett, Charlie Castles and Connor Crook.
The first heat is race two on the card at 17:33 with the first race set down to start at 17:00.
Tasracing.com.au‘s hosted live stream coverage will be in Hobart on Sunday night when the trotters return to the state.
It will be Tasmania vs Victoria in the T0 and better Discretionary.
Victorian trainers Jayne Davies and Brent Lilley have one horse each in the 2579-metre event.
Davies is represented by last-start Warragul winner Redason who started off a 10-metre handicap and was able to quickly find the lead to win untroubled by 10.3 metres in a mile rate of 2:06.8 for the 2210-metre event.
Our Summer Vacation
While Lilley will be represented by All The Way Mae. The daughter of Pegasus Spur is the winner of eight races, with her most recent win coming at Ballarat five starts ago.
Tasmanian trainers Adam Emery, Ben Yole and Todd Rattray will fly the flag for “Team Tassie”.
Emery has taken over the training of Ten Caisses who led all the way to win the Strathalbyn Trotters Cup on June 11. The Tennotrump gelding has proven that he can handle all track circumferences with a win coming at the Wayville Showgrounds circuit in the heart of Adelaide late last year.
Yole prepares the Colin Croft owned My Jackofdiamonds who was a trial winner in Devonport on Monday evening while Rattray will gear up Our Summer Vacation who is first up since mid-December and is another recent trial winner.
Tasracing.com.au will have a hosted live stream of all of the action that includes a further two heats of the BOTRA (Tas) Claiming Novice Drivers Series and a very competitive Rexel North Hobart Tasmanian Sires’ Produce.
Prior to the Hobart meeting the eyes of all Tasmanian harness racing fans will be glued on fifth race at Menangle when star Tasmanian owned and bred pacer Ignatius chases Group 1 Glory in the $150,000 NSW Breeders Challenge three-year-old Colts and Geldings Final at 14:47 on Sunday afternoon.
The Roll With Joe gelding is trained by former Tasmanian James Rattray, who will also take the drive.
Ignatius has won 13 of his 14 career starts and has earned more than $172,000 in prize money.
Tasmanian bred mare Shezallapples will contest Group 1 NSW Breeders Challenge for four-year-old mares at the same meeting.
Tasmanian bred and three-year-old Tasmanian Sires’ Stakes winner Nostra Beach will contest a semi-final of the three-year-old Fillies Vicbred series at Melton on Friday night while Solid As A Rock, who has Tasmanian interest amongst his connections, will contest a semi-final for the four-year-old Colts and Geldings division.
Duncan Dornauf