Queensland Harness Racing Wrap – February 20

THE GOOD

The 2022 harness season was celebrated on Sunday evening with the Racing Queensland Harness Awards recognising the achievements of the human and equine performers from the past season.

It came as no surprise that three-time Derby winning star, Leap To Fame, annexed both the Queensland three-year-old Pacer of the Year and Queensland Horse of the Year titles.

Leap To Fame joined a former stable-mate in Colt Thirty One in winning the Horse of the Year title as a three-year-old.

It was a breakout season for Leap To Fame, claiming the Victorian, New South Wales and Queensland Derby’s along with the Group 1 New South Wales Breeders Challenge Final.

John and Beryl Dawson and family received the Pegasus award which is presented by the Redcliffe Harness Racing Club every year to a recipient in recognition of dedication to the sport in Queensland and the impact of the Dawson family was evident throughout the night.

One of the Dawson grandchildren, Pete McMullen, was presented with both the state and national drivers premierships for the second successive season on the night, with McMullen also instrumental in the season of You No Ill Be Late who was awarded the Juvenile Trotter of the Year Award.

Descendants of John And Beryl Dawson to claim other awards included Nathan Dawson for the Redcliffe Drivers Premiership, Taleah McMullen for the Marburg Drivers Premiership and Pete McMullen for the The Creek Metropolitan Drivers Premiership.

Majestic Harry was awarded the Queensland Trotter of the Year, his season highlight coming with success in the Group 2 Trotters Spring Sprint before finishing fifth in the Inter Dominion Final.

Recognising the emerging talent, the BOTRA rookie of the year awards went to Lachie Manzelmann and Riley Butt.

The two inductees into the Queensland Hall of Fame, were Vic Frost and the pacer Henry Luca.

Vic Frost needs no introduction, the star horseman having won nearly every big race in Australia over a distinguished career highlighted by his champion pacer of the early 1990s Westburn Grant.

Henry Luca was a star of the track in the 1980s and the pacer and claimed his biggest feature in the Queensland Pacing Championship of 1987, a win that was one of 30 at Albion park

Club awards were also presented along with the centurion medallists, awarded to any trainer or driver that was able to claim 100 wins throughout the season.

Four trainers reached the triple figures in the 2022 season, Jack Butler, Chantal Turpin, Grant Dixon and Graham Dwyer, with Butler also recognised as the state’s leading trainer.

THE BAD

Attempting to dip the toe in the big pond with his exciting pacer Manila Playboy, trainer Shane Fraser nominated his star five-year-old for last Friday’s Newcastle Mile.

Unfortunately for Fraser it was one of the strongest editions in recent years, as connections chased automatic qualification to the Miracle Mile.

That saw Manila Playboy balloted from the event, and instead of heading south from his Tweed base, Fraser instead headed north to Albion Park on Saturday night to tackle the Open pace.

Facing a second line gate, driver Angus Garrard had the gelding in a perfect position through the first 500 metres as Northview Hustler pounced on the lead and took the field through a 27.7 opening split.

However, Garrard made a move and sent Manila Playboy around to sit at the wheel of Northview Hustler for the final lap, getting around easily to the chair with 1000 metres to travel.

Through a 29.2 second split, the speed went on down the back with the tempo increasing to a 27.4 third section as Mach Da Vinci was sent three-wide to try to reel in the deficit.

Turning for home Northview Hustler was being urged by driver Brendan Barnes for the effort to shake free of the chasers, while Garrard was sitting quietly and slowly eating into the margin as Mach Da Vinci felt the pinch and started to yield ground.

Getting busy as they straightened for the run to the judge, Manila Playboy was able to grab victory right in the closing bound, finishing in 28.3 seconds for an overall rate of 1.52.4.

The win was the 15th career victory for Manila Playboy from 34 starts as his earnings passed $275,000, with seven of those wins when driven by Garrard and the winning time set a new career benchmark for the Group 1-winning pacer.

It may have been with some disappointment that he missed the Newcastle Mile, with Mach Dan claiming the Miracle Mile invite with his second successive victory in the race, however the gelding responded by graduating to open company in impressive fashion.

THE WILDCARD

It was a mixed night for Queensland trained horses campaigning at Menangle on Saturday, with four trainers chasing some southern spoils

The Shawn Grimsey-trained Teddy Disco was the first Queenslander to step out, eventually, after the meeting was finally able to go ahead after several time amendments owing to storms and lightning activity in the area.

In a race that featured several runners that missed a place in the Chariots Of Fire field, Teddy Disco finished down the line as Ripp showed his class with a dominant victory.

Race two saw last start winner Sumomentsomewhere looking to replicate his last start victory, this time with David Morris taking the reins for trainer Shannon Price.

Looming up strongly in the long Menangle stretch, the five-year-old could not quite see it out, finishing a neck astern of the winner.

The first of the New South Wales Oaks heats was up next and Queensland was represented by the Grant Dixon-trained Fraya, while Sky Blu trained by David Thorn is raced by Queensland based connections.

Sky Blu was able to progress through to the Final by finishing third, while Fraya also scraped through to this Saturday’s Final by finishing in sixth position.

Unfortunately, Dixon was unable to qualify his other filly through to the Oaks Final when Cheer Leader finished in eighth place.

Queensland was dually represented in the Keystone Del Trotters Stakes with Majestic Harry for Brittany Graham and Van Sank for Shannon Price.

Majestic Harry made an error as the mobile pulled away, galloping out but was able to reset quickly back into a trot as Credit Master worked to the front.

Turing for home, Van Sank was on the back of Majestic Harry and was able to angle to the outside and taking every step of the Menangle stretch was able to arrive right in time for the narrowest of victories.

Tims A Trooper was the last Queenslander to step out, taking his place in the Chariots Of Fire field, finishing down the line behind Catch A Wave.

THE MILESTONE

Last Wednesday night at Redcliffe, Nathan Dawson became the first driver in Australia to reach a half-century of driving wins for the season, number 50 realised when steering Feelin Flirty to victory.

The win was the final leg of a winning treble for Dawson who finished the week on 51 wins so far this season, holding a 19 win advantage in both the state and national premierships.

In second place in both premierships is Narissa McMullen, currently on 32 wins, and also is the leading female driver in the country.

Looking set to be without a winner through the first three meetings of the week, Narissa was able to finish in style, claiming the last two races on Thursday night aboard Last Time Joe and then Bahamas Miss.

Claiming another double on Friday, the wins came aboard Wheres Our Money for Chantal Turpin and then claimed a decisive victory with Heaven In Locksley, a horse she also owns and trains.

Making the most of her brother Pete’s suspension, McMullen rounded out the week at “The Creek” on Saturday night with a metropolitan double.

Both wins were for trainer Chantal Turpin, the first an all the way victory aboard Melton Beach, with his win proving to be a milestone for the stable.

Melton Beach is out of the New Zealand-based mare Miss Sunshine, with the Turpin stable having raced the four progeny of the mare that have left the Shaky Isles.

By claiming the win on Saturday, all four are now metropolitan winners for Turpin with Melton Beach joining his siblings, Mattgregor, Miss Ruby Sunshine and Dance In The Sun to have won a metropolitan race for the stable.

Narissa completed her driving double with victory in the PSP Trotters Mobile aboard Sugarinspice which led home a Turpin-trained trifecta with Majestic Simon in second place ahead of Leesa Castelton in third.

The double allowed Narissa to skip three wins clear in the metropolitan driver’s premiership, holding the advantage over Nathan Dawson.

THIS WEEK

The racing week ahead in Queensland looks vastly different, with Albion Park unavailable for racing for the next 10 days as work is carried out on the new broadcast and judges box.

That will see Redcliffe take on the bulk of the racing load, which also includes a Monday night meeting, meaning “The Triangle” will be hosting five meetings in the week ahead.

Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday night meetings will follow from the Monday night fixture, before racing on Friday afternoon and Saturday night’s metropolitan meeting will complete the week.

The change in schedule will see Marburg step into the weekly schedule to host a Thursday afternoon fixture.

Queensland will again be well represented in Sydney as Menangle’s Carnival of Miracles continues, Fraya landing barrier nine, with Sky Blu drawing favourably in gate two.