10 July 2013 - The racing spoils of Bendigo local pacing hero Mother Courage are now on display in the Club's entry foyer for all to see. Trained by Bendigo's Bruce Morgan and raced by Mary and Murray Sweeney, Mother Courage (Stonebridge Scooter - Talk To Me) won 30 races and close to half a million in prize money racing mostly in Victoria in the late 1990's to early 2000's. Her big wins include; 1998 Youthful Stakes, 1998 Vicbred 2yo Filly final, 1999 Victoria Oaks; 1999 Australian Oaks, 1999 Oceania Eldorado and the 2002 Bendigo Pacing Cup. Mary Sweeney has donated Mother Courage's trophies and trophy cabinet to the Bendigo Harness Racing Club.
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7 July 2013 - Two-year-old Major Secret added his name to Australia's list of juvenile stars with his fantastic Group 1 victory in the Empire Stallions Vicbred Super Series 2yo C&G Final at Melton last night.
Bendigo owners share in the successful standardbred group that race the son of Art Major. Major Secret was coming off a tough sixth in his semi-final after he had to sit parked and prior to that the pacer had only lost one of his four starts, in the Southern Cross final at Globe Derby in early June. From barrier two he was able to cross down to the pegs early before allowing race favourite Business In Motion to work around and find the top going out of the first bend. The $2.40 favourite was then pressured by one of the well supported outsiders Master Mach Manus who worked to the death seat mid-race. With that horse quickly fading off the back, Business In Motion and Major Secret snuck away from the bulk of their rivals with Kiwi hope Messini producing a three-wide run inside the last lap. The trio squared off on the final bend and just as Messini loomed up to the favourite, Major Secret secured the pegs run and dashed after the two leaders. Inside the final 100 metres it was all the Emma Stewart-trained colt and Bendigo's champion driver Daryl Douglas spoke glowingly of his efforts post-race. “It was really the run we’d hoped for and with the barrier draw falling our way it just all worked out. With a bit of mid-race pressure we had a lovely run in behind,” Douglas said. “He’s a great little horse, I think when he comes back next year he will be better again. “I don’t know about me, all credit has to go to Emma (Stewart) and Clayton (Tonkin) and all the team.” On a wet start to the night, the mile rate was recorded in 1:58.2 with a 57.5 last half. 11 June 2013 - Eight-year-old gelding Earl Harbour produced a career best performance to win in Saturday night's $15,000 Bendigo Bank Bendigo Trotters Cup (2650m) at Lord's Raceway. The Peter Manning trained squaregaiter had been beaten in easier races at recent assignments and Manning said the win was "a little bit of a surprise." Starting well in the market at $7.50, Earl Harbour, driven by Kerryn Manning registered its eighth win for 79 starts and finished strongly to narrowly down Backas Cobber (Chris Alford) with Tsonga (Nathan Jack) in third place. The race favourite I See Icy Earl (Greg Sugars) galloped on the final bend when making its claim for the prize and failed to beat a runner home. Earl Harbour's winning mile rate was 2:03.7. Earl Harbour now joins an impressive list of Bendigo Trotters Cup winners which include the Peter Manning trained champion Knight Pistol (1994), True Roman (1980) Scotch Notch (1982/83), A Touch Of Flair (2007) and Aleppo Sunrise (2012). He is also the second son of Earl to win the race, following Ella Powell's success in 2009. Three other feature races were raced at Bendigo. The Bendigo Bank 3yo Trotters Classic was won by the locally trained The Boss Man. Driven by trainer Scott Dyer, The Boss Man started the $3.00 race favourite and was far too good for Invasive (Lance Justice) and Bellmac Kody (Haydon Gray). The Empire Stallions Vicbred Super Series races produced two outstanding young winners. Majorlook trained and driven by Ian Montgomery extended its unbeaten winning streak to six in the 3yo C&G heat and Youranut made it five from five for trainer Ross Sugars and driver Greg Sugars in the 4yo C&G heat. Bred and raced by Donna Montgomery Major Look is a son of Art Major and outstanding mare Classic Rain. Youranut formerly raced in NSW and has now won six races in succession. The chestnut son of Blissfull Hall is unbeaten in Victoria.
28 May 2013 - A horse named in memory of a little girl with big blue eyes and pretty ringlets created tears of joy at Bendigo’s Lords Raceway on Saturday night.
Four-year-old trotting mare Sophie Gorgeous was named after Sophie Goss who passed away in her sleep at the age of seven on June 2, 2009. “Sophie Gorgeous” was there in spirit as her namesake sprinted from the middle of the field to snatch a surprise victory in race nine at odds of $13. Sophie’s family stood at the finish line to cheer Sophie Gorgeous home to her first win. Sophie’s mother Rachel said she was a “special little girl from day one’’. “We used to say she was gorgeous with her big blue eyes and ringlets,’’ she said. “She called herself Sophie Gorgeous.’’ And that was how she would introduce herself to others. Bendigo horse breeders Denise and Brian Gath heard about Sophie at the same time one of their mares had a little filly. “I got to know Rachel when I went to the deli at Coles,’’ Denise said. “Sophie would come up and say: ‘Hello, I’m Sophie Gorgeous’. She was the cutest little thing.’’ “When Sophie passed away in her sleep, I told Rachel I was going to name the filly Sophie. “She asked me if we could call it Sophie Gorgeous.’’ Harness Racing Victoria granted the Gath family special permission to submit one name instead of the traditional six. Sophie Gorgeous has started eight times for Ballarat trainer Brian Kiesey but Saturday night’s win was her first. “It was an overwhelming sense of emotion – everyone was in tears,’’ Rachel said. “You could hear the crowd screaming, and that was us. “We didn’t think she would go close to winning, then Brian (who was driving) came home for us. “She just came from the middle and took off.’’ Bendigo Harness Racing Club general manager David Aldred said Sophie’s friends and family were excited by the win. “They let out a big cheer, her mum was extremely happy,’’ he said. “It’s the type of win you like to see in racing. There wasn’t a lot of money in it but it meant everything to a lot of people there. “It was very emotional – to those people it meant the world.’’ Rachel said Sophie Gorgeous the horse was beautiful and calm, just as her daughter was. “It’s nice to say the horse’s name has meaning behind it and somebody thought of us when thinking of that,’’ she said. “We’ve never been a family that had anything to do with horses – it’s a really warm and fuzzy feeling to know a family we didn’t know that well would do something like that for us.’’ 19 May 2013 - Bendigo Harness Racing Club treasurer Paul Best celebrated a feature win at Melton on Friday night with the David Aiken trained Real Bonus giving a dashing front running display to win the Harness Breeders Vic. Cinderella Stakes.The 4yo Art Major mare was bred locally by the Winzar and Pocock families and is raced by Best in partnership with Ian and Reece Carmichael and P W Ryan. Real Bonus rated 1:56.3 to beat Tara Toplady and Classic Bliss in the 2240 metre event. Real Bonus has now won 10 of its 36 race starts.
8 May 2013 - New Zealander Katherine Hagan celebrated her first Australian race win in the first race of the 2013 Harness Racing Training Centre Rising Stars Young Drivers Series at Bendigo's Lord's Raceway last night. Hagan (23) showed good skills with a patient drive to win the race on the Burrumbeet-trained mare Metrofromelle. From gate one Hagan was able to lead the early charge but surrendered the top spot mid-race before using the sprint lane to grab a 1.5 metre victory. A former thoroughbred track rider in Pukekohe near Auckland, Hagan switched to harness racing and notched her first and only other winner in her home country in her first season of racing. In two years of driving in races, Hagan has had limited opportunities both here and in New Zealand. A sales representative for a promotional company, the Melton based Hagan was working for leading trainer/driver Lance Justice for some time but more recently has been driving work for John Justice. “I have only had about 10 race drives in Australia and I am trying to mix working as a sales rep with my driving,” Hagan said. “I started my career in thoroughbreds but riding track work isn’t the same as trying to win races so I decided on the change to harness racing. A four-year-old by Metropolitan, Metrofromelle defeated Damascus Road, driven by Mitchell Shrimpton with Pensicola (Sammy Kilgour) charging through on the inside late in the race for third place. Metrofromelle is trained by Ashleigh Herbertson has now won three races.
3 May 2013 - Young Goornong driver Katrina Salathiel posted her first winning double and her first interstate win at Penrith NSW last night.
On a three month stay with trainer Ian Wilson, the victories were Katrina's first from just a handful of drives in NSW. Her father, local trainer/driver Peter Salathiel said last night the Penrith drives were Katrina's first real opportunity for her to get some runs on the board in Sydney. "She drove Giggling Girl to a second there and I said to her before she drove last night that she had a real chance of winning a couple of races at Penrith," he said. Both of Katrina's winners last night were for the Wilson stable. Stephanie Major was the fourth favourite at odds of $5.70 in the Carmen Vella Ladyship Pace and Katrina's gave the mare a perfect run to flash down the outide late and win by almost 3 metres from the favourite, Poster Girl with Stephanie Major's stablemate and second favourite Mrs Devine, a similar distance back in third. The second leg of Katrina's double was Western Destroyer ($7.30) in the Vicki Vella Pace. Again the Wilson trained pacer was given a perfect run, one out and one back by Katrina but the driver was pocketed on the turn and she had to work hard to get clear. The 5yo gelding sprinted quickly late and won in a close finish defeating the more fancied stablemate Cullens Impact, the favourite for the race, by a head. "I wasn't worried as my horse was going forward and going well," Katrina said. Katrina, 22, has been driving for less than two years and has driven about a dozen winners from limited opportunities. "I am enjoying driving here and right now my plans are to stay here for a year and drive as many winners and get as much experience as I can," Katrina said. - David Aldred 19 April 2013 - Shepparton's Rebecca Bartley has won the Goulburn Valley Central Victoria Young Driver's Challenge which concluded yesterday at Maryborough. The two day, six race challenge series was raced at Shepparton, Bendigo and Maryborough. Kilmore's Monique Burnett charged up the leaderboard in the final two races, winning both events but could not catch the consistent race winner and placegetter Bartley. The final points score for the challenge is:
1. Rebecca Bartley (Vic) 69 pts; 2nd Monique Burnett (Vic) 62 pts; 3rd Joshua Duggan (Vic) 56pts; 4th Aiden De Campo (WA)... 54pts; 5th Haydon Gray (Vic) 53pts; 6th Ellen Tormey (Vic) 52 pts; 7th Zac Phillips (Vic) 49 pts; 8th Matthew Smith (SA) 45pts; 9th Jayson Finnis (SA) 40pts; 10th Amanda Turnbull (NSW) 36 pts; 11th Todd Rattray (Tas) 30 pts. 7 April 2013 - Jukebox Music continued a dream run in feature races for Daryl Douglas since his return from injury when he claimed the Renown Silverware Ararat Pacing Cup thanks to a canny drive.
The $11.80 chance found the spot behind the early leader, Flash Of Freedom, however looked in danger of losing his position when the outsider started to tire off the back. Douglas quickly extricated his charge off the pegs and bustled into the clear on straightening to challenge the leading group. Country Cups specialist Veranjee worked to the death seat mid-race and found the lead as they went off the back and looked the likely winner. As they turned for home Our Blackbird pulled out wider after having the three wide cart in and loomed as a threat but could only chase Jukebox Music as he let down with an impressive sprint. Race favourite Mister Sheedy used the three wide line to advantage, sitting behind Our Blackbird in the final lap, however despite running on well for third, he never looked a major danger to the winner. Jukebox Music recorded his 20th victory in a marathon career of 127 starts. The mile rate was 2:02.6 with a last half completed in 58.4 for the stand start affair.The other feature race of the night, the Clive Reid Memorial Ararat Trotters Cup, went to Posimistic for Maree and John Caldow. - Blake Reddan 26 March 2013 - Harness Racing farewelled Ron Crimmins today, the former BHRC meber, harness racing trainer, club steward and Race for Fun Club member who passed away last Thursday aged 75 years. There was a Service of Thanksgiving for Ronnie, who had a passion for horses and followed his grandfather Charles Pratt who trained the winners of the VRC St Leger and Moonee Valley Cup into the racing industry. Ron had success as a standardbred trainer and stayed involved in harness racing until he had a stroke.
His most recent passion was to follow Race for Fun Club filly Addy aka Spirit of Bendigo. His children Tony Crimmins and Mary Dempster provided the Words Of Remembrance at today's funeral service in Bendigo. |
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