Catch up on the week’s harness racing action in our weekly review, thanks to Darren Clayton.
THE GOOD
It was a whirlwind 24 hours for the husband-and-wife team of Vic Frost and Gail Geeson last week, claiming a Redcliffe win on Thursday night, followed by a Newcastle win on Friday night.
Both wins were recorded by a pair of pacers that are closely related and trace back to Frost’s champion of the early 1990s, Westburn Grant.
Scotch En Ice is out of the mare Frostiness and Candykane is out of the mare Likeness, with both pacers sired by Hurrikane Kingcole.
Frostiness and Likeness are full sisters, sired by the mighty Westburn Grant.
Thursday at Redcliffe saw Candykane lead throughout with Matt Elkins taking the drive aboard the three-year-old filly, making the most of an inside barrier.
Controlling the speed with a 63.8 opening half, Elkins started to increase the tempo through a third split covered in 28.4 seconds.
Pulling clear of the pack, Candykane closed it out with a 28.5 last split for a smart 56.9 last 800 metres to post an impressive winning margin of 16.9 metres.
While most of the stable are trained by Vic, Gail has a few in her own name and the victory by Candykane provided Geeson with her 100th training victory.
Although racing almost exclusively in South East Queensland, being based in Northern New South Wales at Sleepy Hollow meant that the Frost/Geeson stable meet the eligibility for the NSW Regional Championships.
So, on Friday, Frost took Docta Feelgood and Scotch En Ice to Newcastle for the heats of that Series and regular driver Matt Elkins also headed south to drive both pacers.
Docta Feelgood was sent out as the favourite for his heat from gate three, but after settling in the one-by-one trail, could only manage a fifth placing.
Starting from barrier five with Scotch En Ice, Elkins sent the four-year-old forward and soon after the start had found the front of the 2030-metre event.
Keeping them rolling throughout, Scotch En Ice had a kick turning from home and never looked in danger to claim a six-and-a-half-metre victory.
Despite having driven more than 500 career winners, including success across the Tasman in New Zealand, Friday’s victory was the first interstate success in Elkins’ career.
Scotch En Ice now qualifies for the Group 1 Hunter Final and will head back down the Pacific Highway this Friday to contest the $100,000 feature.
THE BAD
The onset of cold weather in the Central West of New South Wales can make for tough days for horse trainers.
Bitterly cold mornings where a heavy frost can see the temperature plunge below zero, a thick fog keeps the sun hidden until after midday or a southerly wind that feels like it freezes your bones.
Having campaigned in Queensland for the past two years during the winter months, the Betts family have left behind the frosty mornings of Bathurst and returned for another working holiday, with an expanded team in 2022.
This year, the patriarch of the Betts clan, Graham, has also headed north and what a first week in the Sunshine State, it was with four winners, that included a treble.
Redcliffe last Wednesday was the starting point for the northern campaign, where Elpine Sally, a mare trained by Monica and driven by Phoebe, finished in third placing behind the in-form Schooby.
A fourth for Preacher Quince followed two races later with their second runner before Graham stepped out with Pom Pay in the eighth race of the night.
The nine-year-old mare is owned and was bred by Graham and Monica and after settling in the one-by-one trail finished over the top to claim victory.
On Thursday, Phoebe landed a winning drive when partnering with the Chris Frisby-trained Remember Eve to an easy victory.
Friday night back at Redcliffe and it was a treble for the Betts team who are preparing their runners from West Tweed.
Snoop Stride was the first leg, claiming a tough victory after sitting parked with Phoebe taking the reins of the veteran of 308 starts that is owned and trained by her mother.
One race later and Graham made it two from two at Redcliffe, training and driving the half-brother of Pom Pay, Dinosaurus Rex to a passing lane victory.
The treble was completed with Monica and Phoebe again combining, this time with Jacobs Thunder, making the most of his barrier to lead throughout.
After the super start to the week, the bad weather of home will be a distant memory.
THE MILESTONE
It was a satisfying victory for trainer Lachie Manzelmann with Sheza Chance at Albion Park on Tuesday, the three-year-old filly breaking her maiden status with an all-the-way win.
Bred as a pacer and completing her two-year-old season in the lateral gait with 12 starts for three placings for trainer Donny Smith, Manzelmann drove her in every start.
With Smith looking to move the filly on, Manzelmann decided to take a chance with the daughter of Gotta Go Cullect and took over her training late in the season and soon went about converting her to the trotting gait.
“I had a bit of an opinion of her when I was driving her, but everything just started to fall apart towards the end of her two-year-old season,” Manzelmann said.
“She started wanting to trot, so I just went with her and gave her a couple of starts in her first prep just to see if she could actually trot, and she could, so I gave her a break.”
Returning to the track first up from a spell, Adam Sanderson was given the reins aboard the filly, with Manzelmann more than willing to just watch.
“She steps straight into a trot when Sando drives her, I can’t get her to trot so I don’t drive her - it’s a Sando special,” the trainer said.
Leading off the tapes, Sheza Chance trotted cleanly throughout to claim the maiden-breaking win with a margin of one-and-a-half metres, claiming the $14,000 QBRED first win bonus with the victory.
The win also provided Manzelmann with his 50th training success, while the Group 1-winning reinsman also ended the week just one win shy of a driving milestone.
Driving the trotter Valley Ess Jay to an all the way victory at Redcliffe, Manzelmann now sits on 299 driving victories.
THE WILDCARD
Trainer Shane Fraser completed an impressive training achievement at Albion Park on Saturday night, claiming a training double with Manila Playboy and Bangkok Deejay, with both pacers resuming from a spell.
Not only were both pacers driven to victory by Angus Garrard, but the pair are also half-brothers as both are out of the mare Bangkok Dancer, with Manila Playboy by Pet Rock and Bangkok Deejay by A Rocknroll Dance.
Manila Playboy was mighty impressive in his victory, easing from barrier six before charging home wide off the track, with some sizzling closing splits.
Still sitting last between the final two turns, Garrard had the four-year-old the widest runner swinging for home, attacking the line and sweeping past to claim a five-metre victory.
Setting a new PB time of 1.53.4 in claiming his 10th career victory, Manila Playboy ran his last 800 metres in 54.58, with the last 400m a scintillating 26.94 wide off the track.
The win also saw Manila Playboy breakthrough $200,000 in career earnings.
Bangkok Deejay claimed his fourth career win from just his seventh start when scoring a determined victory on the track and then having to win it a second time in the steward’s room.
Sitting outside Its Back Page News, Bangkok Deejay did hang in on his way to claiming the three-and-a-half-metre winning margin.
Driver of the second-placed Its Back Page News, John Stariha, lodged a protest against the winner, however the margin was deemed too great to overturn the result.
Bangkok Deejay will now head to the QBRED Breeders Classic second-up this coming Saturday.
THIS WEEK
There will be six meetings held in Queensland this week, Albion Park taking the bulk of the load, conducting four meetings with Redcliffe to conduct two.
Tuesday’s meeting from The Creek has also been shifted to a twilight slot, with the first of 10 races to be held at 4.22pm with the last scheduled to jump at 9.05pm.
Wednesday at Redcliffe will see the last two heats of the Trot Rods before the big Final night to be held next Wednesday, May 25 and the other meeting from The Triangle for this week to be held on Sunday evening.
The highlight of the week ahead will be Saturday night at headquarters when the QBRED Breeders Classics are held for the two-year-olds and three-year-olds.
Cat King Cole will be chasing back-to-back feature race success in the three-year-old fillies division, while the colts and geldings looks the highlight of the card even before the barriers are drawn.
All last start winners - Teddy Disco, Bangkok Deejay, Speak The Truth, Dangerzone and Class To The Max headline a stellar edition of the race.
