Tasmanian Harness Highlights – 25 November

The Tasbred finals for 2022 ended with the Group 2 Prydes Easifeed Evicus and Dandy Patch for the two-year-olds in Hobart last Sunday.

The open class features now take centre stage for the next few months, and they will be on show in the second heat of the Lees Orchard Tassie Golden Apple in Launceston on Sunday night, with the $50,000 Final to be held on Saturday 3 December.

Nationally, the Inter Dominion series kicks off at Ballarat on Saturday night, where there is strong Tasmanian representation.

Monday saw another prize money increase announcement by Tasracing, with $480,633 being allocated to harness code funding for 2022/23.

The Stars

Ben Yole – eclipsed Grant Dixon’s record for the most number of wins in a 12-month season when Yole broke the record of 340 wins. Yole prepared nine winners across the meetings held in Burnie and Hobart.

Iylac Pakaria – Almost died after an allergic reaction to an ulcer injection seven weeks ago, but Bianca Heenan and her team nursed the daughter of Betting Line back to the track to claim the Group 2 Evicus, where she led all they way for a 15.6m win with Mitch Ford in the sulky.

Matthew Howlett – claimed his second Group 2 win as a trainer-driver in as many weeks, with Triedtotellya being his latest feature race winner in the Dandy Patch. The gelded son of Well Said was forced to sit parked and proved too tough for his rivals late.

The Shallows (pictured) – recorded his third win of the season, in a career-best winning mile rate of 1m 57.4s, when running over the top of Ryley Major and Lip Reader in the open class race. Trainer-driver Heath Woods was presented with a replica trophy for his win in the 2021 Tasmania Cup after the race.

Feats of the meet

Burnie, 18 November
Ben Yole – seven training wins, including a new Australian record for the most number of wins in a season,
Nathan Ford – driving double.

Hobart, 20 November
Ben Yole – training double,
Matthew Howlett – training and driving double,
Mitch Ford – driving double.

Calculated Sectional Standouts

Hobart, 20 November
Karalta Artemis 55.74s, The Shallows 55.75s, Triedtotellya 56.01s, De Goey 56.09s, Lip Reader 56.28s and Nyack 56.30s.

Tasracing Official Price

Burnie, 18 November
Hits: Lalibela $11 into $8.00 and Ranieri $4.20 into $3.10.

Defied the drift: Spot On $4.20 out to $6.00, Juniper $5.00 out to $7.00, and Written In Silk $6.00 out to $8.50.

Missed: Bold Centurian $11 into $7.00 Oneofthelads $3.30 into $2.45, Spikey Boy $10 into $6.00 and Maywyn Macduff $5.50 into $4.80.

Hobart, 20 November
Hits: Missin Rock $7.00 into $5.00, Hurricane Rock $6.50 into $4.60, No Nukes Skipper $8.00 into $5.00 and Iden Miss Lucy $8.00 into $5.00.

Defied the drift: Triedtotellya $6.00 out to $8.00, Iylac Pakaria $2.30 out to $3.00, The Shallows $8.00 out to $9.50 and Iden Black Prince $4.80 out to $6.50.

Missed: De Goey $2.90 into $2.50, Iden Lady Lincoln $6.50 into $5.00, Sports Illustrator $6.00 into $4.60, Nero Stride $9.00 into $7.50, Kenya $9.50 into $6.00, Debt Till We Part $20 into $11 and Dapper $15 into $9.00.

Week Ahead

Friday: Hobart hosts an eight-race card commencing at 17:35 on Sky Racing 2 and TasracingTV.

Also, the Summer Racing Festival will be launched on Friday evening, with the Festival including many harness racing features, including the upcoming country cup series.

At Gloucester Park in Perth, Cool Water Paddy will be chasing back-to-back wins after a brilliant 5.2m win last week.

Saturday: The 2022 Inter Dominion series kicks off at Ballarat.

Horses contesting the series of Tasmanian interests include;

Heat 2 – 2. Mach Dan, part-owned by Warren Viney, 9 Longfellow, Tasmanian bred and part-owned by Ben Yole,

Heat 3 – 7 Max Delight, owned by Mick Maxfield.

Sunday: Launceston host a nine-race card, which features the last heat of the Tassie Golden Apple.

The meeting will be shown on Sky Racing 1 and TasracingTV from 17:59.

Monday: Trials scheduled for Carrick Park.

Tuesday: The Inter Dominion heats continue at Shepparton, in Victoria’s Goulburn Valley, for Round 2.