Queensland Harness Racing Wrap - March 13

Catch up on the week's harness racing action in our weekly review, thanks to Darren Clayton.

THE GOOD

A hot start to the season continued for trainer Donny Smith over the weekend, producing four winners from five starters.

Uptown Beachgirl, Mach Daddy, Stormtide and Our Modern Minnie were all successful, while his only other runner in Katacha Man went unplaced.

With Stormtide continuing his good form with his fifth victory for Smith and Our Modern Minnie making it two wins in the week for the Redcliffe-based mentor, it is the sizzling form of the four-year-old mare Uptown Beachgirl that is generating some hype.

Ending her three-year-old season with victory in the Group 3 Fillies Classic, the mare is on a fast-paced upward trajectory, claiming her fourth successive victory and three on the bounce since resuming this season from a spell.

Speaking to Chris Barsby on Mobile Rolling last week, Smith outlined how the spell at the end of last season has seen the mare really starting to furnish into a complete package.

“I was wrapped with the way she came back and wrapped with the way she is racing at the moment,” he said.

“She seems to have gone up another level, especially in her head, she’s really starting to switch on about being a race racehorse now.”

Resuming with a victory at her home track of Redcliffe, the daughter of A Rocknroll Dance sat parked and proved too strong for her rivals over the 1780 metre journey and quickly followed that with an all the way victory over the 2138 metre trip at Albion Park.

Sent straight to the front by regular driver Nathan Dawson on that occasion, she was never bothered to claim an effortless victory with just on seven metres to spare over her nearest opponent.

When asked by Barsby last Thursday on the plans moving forward for Uptown Beachgirl, the answer Smith delivered has now been proven prophetic.

“She has signalled the fact that I think we should aim for bigger and better things with her because I’m sure she has 1.51 or 1.50 time written all over her and do it basically on her ear,” Smith said.

On Saturday night, Dawson signalled his intent early, firing the mare to the front and running the field through a 3.4 second lead time and then a sharp 27.1 second opening split, able to ease it off slightly to 29.6 seconds through the second stanza.

Forcing the tempo as they ran down the back straight in 27 seconds flat, Dawson let the mare slide and she responded by quickly putting a margin on the chasing rivals as they approached the home turn.

Racing clear, Uptown Beachgirl continued to run it hard with a last quarter in 27.4 seconds to claim a winning margin of seven metres.

The time matched the trainer’s assessment, stopping the clock in a mile-rate of 1.51.0, the victory setting a new class record for mares over the 1660 metre journey, eclipsing the previous best of 1.51.3 set by Fairy Tinkabell in the 2022 Queen of Hearts.

Matching that statement on Saturday night, exciting times lay ahead if Uptown Beachgirl can fulfil Smiths evaluation of his star mare.

“I think she can go as good as any mare in Australia at the moment to be honest," the trainer said. 

“I don’t think I would swap her for any mare in Australia.”

The Sunshine Stars Yearling Sales were held on Sunday afternoon where 128 catalogued lots were up for sale, before the afternoon wound up with the auction for barrier slots in The Hayden.

Overall, the clearance rate saw 50 of the 128 sold through the ring, with that increasing to 54 with terms met for another four reached later in the day for an average of $26,342.

That equates to a clearance rate of 42.19% with the breakdown being 47 of 103 pacing lots sold and seven of 25 trotters reaching sale.

The top price of the day was split, with two colts reaching $80,000, the top price filly went to $75,000 while the top trotter was $25,000.

Ladbrokes Racing Club outlaid $80,000 to secure the Brittany Graham consigned and prepared colt by Captain Crunch out of Lets Go One Bettor, a Bettors Delight mare that placed one in three starts.

Michael Boots also had to go to $80,000 to secure the Sweet Lou colt out of the eight time winning mare Rock On.

The colt is the first foal of his dam and was prepared by Burwood Stud on behalf of the Stu Valentine Advanced Standardbreds.

Rickie Alchin consigned and prepared the top filly, out of the seven win race mare Ourark, which hails from a family littered with top Queensland performers, the filly being by the first season sire Stay Hungry.

Jack Butler was the successful bidder, going to $75,000 to get the filly, with Butler outlining he came to get the filly and was happy to be going home with the one he wanted.

Daniel Cordina secured the top-priced trotter from the sale, outlaying $25,000 for a filly by the French stallion Up And Quick out of Black Mamba Cheval.

The two-year-old Sebastian K half-brother to the filly is also owned by Cordina and qualified last week at Albion Park and will race under the name Agent Black.

At the completion of the yearlings, the auction for slots in The Hayden was conducted, with interest high for the inaugural event.

Barrier one was the first lot to go under the hammer with some stalled bidding early before it started to get going, eventually knocked down to Harvey Kaplan and Harshell Investments for $19,000.

Barrier five also went for $19,000 and was taken by Sam Barletta on behalf of Panasonic Studio Productions, while Jamie Durnberger-Smith and Summit Bloodstock went to $17,000 in securing barrier nine.

In total, the auction raised $131,000 which will go into the stake money of The Hayden, meaning the 2023 inaugural edition will be run for $231,000 following the $100,000 seeding provided by Racing Queensland.

THE WILDCARD

Heston Zoolander was a big winner at Redcliffe last Thursday when ripping around The Triangle and claiming a nine metre winning margin.

Sent to the front soon after the start by Brendan Barnes for trainer Graham Dwyer, the tempo was sizzling early with an 11.1 second lead time followed by a slick 27.8 second quarter.

Not taking the foot off the pedal at any stage, a 29.3 second split was followed by a 27.5 second third quarter to open the field right up.

Despite getting a little weary in the latter stages, Heston Zoolander had created a big enough gap on his rivals to claim the victory and stop the clock in a sizzling 1.53.5 mile rate.

That is the fourth fastest winning time ever recorded at Redcliffe, just 0.4 seconds off the track record held by Sam Is Perfection, a pacer which Barnes also drove to victory in claiming that record.

The two other fastest times around The Triangle are former track record holder At West Point in 1.53.3 and Tommy Lincoln with his 1.53.4 performance recorded in March 2022.

Heston Zoolander has now had 34 career starts, recording eight wins and six minors, with his best winning time a 1.52.5 mile claimed at Albion Park in December last year, with four of his eight wins since joining the stables of Dwyer.

Another Dwyer-trained runner claimed victory on Friday night just outside a personal best, with Hipstar winning the AQWA Constructions Qualifying Pace in a slick 1.54.9 for the 2138 metre journey.

Settled four back along the inside behind a hot tempo, Barnes was able to squeeze off the inside at the 800 metres, which proved to be a master stroke as the leader, Geldof, started to yield ground at the 600 metre mark. 

With The High Commander looking to establish a winning break, the only danger appeared to be Hipstar and the seven-year-old chased hard, finishing best to record  the 13^th win of his career.

It was a good week for Dwyer’s Kingslodge team, with a Marburg win to Little Change and another strong performance by Despondent to win at Albion Park on Tuesday.

The Kingslodge team rounded out the week as the most active of any of the local stables at Sunday’s Sunshine Stars Yearling Sales.

Directly or for stable clients, they came away with a filly by Bettors Delight, a filly by Always B Miki and a Sweet Lou colt, which is closely related to Heston Zoolander.

THE MILESTONE

The 13^th running of the Jim McNeil Memorial series got under way at Albion Park on Friday night with the 2023 edition the tenth series to be held at The Creek following the closure of Gold Coast in 2013.

First round heat winners over the 2138 metre journey were Everysecondcounts for trainer Richard Hutchinson and Kar Manor for Tim Butt.

Lachie Manzelmann handled the reins on Everysecondcounts and soon after the tapes were released had the mare safely into stride and was able to make the winning move turning out of the home straight on the first occasion.

Moving up to keep the early leader Banff moving, Manzelmann created the space to drop in behind for the trail.

With Banff travelling sweetly throughout, Manzelmann right lined the six-year-old mare at the top of the home stretch and she responded to arrive for a narrow victory over Banff, with Zealous Spur grabbing third in front of Hammer Son.

In the second heat, the race changed complexion with the first 150 metres when a number of runners were caught in a scrimmage to have their chances severely hindered.

Race favourite Riley Moment was caught up in the mess, with Nortie Nortie, Hapenny Bridge, Set Me Free and Hello Jolene Jolene all striking trouble to differing degrees.

Kar Manor conversely, who can be a risk at the start, began like a rocket and charged through the pack early and had worked to the front from his 20 metre handicap by the time they reached the mile.

Never in danger thereafter, Riley Butt drove a confident race aboard the gelding to record a 12 metre victory over the Trent Moffat trained and driven Natty Pagger.

After losing a stack of ground soon after the start, Hello Jolene Jolene was able to grab third placing marginally ahead of Riley Moment.

Second round heats are scheduled for this week, again over the 2138 metre trip, before the 2647 metre Final to be run for $27,186 will be held on Saturday March 25.

THIS WEEK

Six straight days of harness action lay ahead in Queensland with three meeting a piece from Redcliffe and Albion Park.

The week kicks off on Monday evening with seven races from Redcliffe before they host a 10 race card on Wednesday night, followed by the Thursday afternoon fixture.

Wednesday night will see the end of the Team Teal campaign for 2023, with the female drivers moving closer to a $15,000 tally.

Albion Park will host 10 races on Tuesday afternoon before a day meeting on Friday and then the Saturday night metropolitan fixture.

The second-round heats of the Jim McNeil Series will be held on Friday afternoon at The Creek.

Australian three-year-old of the year for 2022, Leap To Fame, is nearing a return and could be a trial starter at some point in the week ahead.