Hamilton
Hamilton: 2025 to be Leap To Fame's toughest test
Mon Feb 17 2025

Hamilton: 2025 to be Leap To Fame's toughest test

The dial has shifted, albeit just slightly.

As we rolled into 2025, most felt it would be another year of Leap To Fame dominance in our biggest races.

Hamilton: Australia's brilliance in New Zealand set to continue
Mon Feb 10 2025

Hamilton: Australian's brilliance in New Zealand set to continue

Just Believe’s historic NZ Horse of the Year crown could be a sign of things to come.

With NZ prizemoney on the rise and rich new races popping up, it’s a happy hunting ground for Aussie trainers.

 

Captain Ravishing joins Grimson for Miracle Mile quest
Tue Feb 4 2025

Captain Ravishing joins Grimson for Miracle Mile quest

While Hunter Cup winner Swayzee will miss the $1mil Miracle Mile, his trainer Jason Grimson has just landed the brilliant Captain Ravishing to target Australia’s premier speed test next month.

In a surprise twist, Captain Ravishing was flown back from Perth to Melbourne yesterday (Monday) and will join Swayzee on a road trip to Grimson’s Menangle stables later this week.

Hamilton: The party is set to continue at Cranbourne
Mon Feb 3 2025

Hamilton: The party is set to continue at Cranbourne

You could hear the groans go through Cranbourne a couple of years ago when the club’s Cup was moved to the week after the Hunter Cup.

Most feared it would be a disaster.

Hart hatches plan to beat Leap To Fame in the big dance
Thu Jan 30 2025

Hart hatches plan to beat Leap To Fame in the big dance

Young gun driver Cam Hart knows how to beat Leap To Fame and has a plan to do it again in Saturday night’s Group 1 Hunter Cup.

Hart drives Swayzee, the older half-brother to Leap To Fame, who famously beat him when they first clashed in a epic contest in the 2023 Group 1 Blacks A Fake at Albion Park.

Hamilton: Who will step up and take over as trotting's top dog?
Mon Jan 27 2025

Hamilton: Who will step up and take over as trotting's top dog?

The mantle is sitting empty, at least for six months or so.

Who will step-up and grab as Australia’s best trotter with Just Believe retired and Callmethebreeze limbo?

Hamilton: My reflections on a champion of the game
Mon Jan 20 2025

Hamilton: My reflections on a champion of the game

IT was early October, 2022.

I rang Greg Sugars to chat for a preview story a few days ahead of the Group 1 Bill Collins Trot.

A regular preview yarn turned into so much more when Sugars started waxing lyrically about the potential a relatively new stable addition, Just Believe, had.

'Gone to whole new level': Group 1 target for 10-year-old marvel
Tue Jan 14 2025

'Gone to whole new level': Group 1 target for 10-year-old marvel

Popular Victorian trainer Scotty Ewen can’t believe what he is seeing.

Almost eight years after his stable star Bulletproof Boy raced for the first time, somehow the now 10-year-old has “gone to a whole new level.”

Hamilton: The Kiwis are back and ready to cause a stir
Mon Jan 13 2025

Hamilton: The Kiwis are back and ready to cause a stir

It feels a bit like the good old days.

Those heady times in harness racing through the 1990s and early 2000s when we would watch with a mix of excitement and trepidation when the Kiwis stars crossed the ditch to chase Victoria’s biggest races.

The Kiwis won every Hunter Cup from 1993 to 1997 and a whopping 13 of them between 1993 and 2016.

They were similarly dominant in the Victoria Cup with 10 wins between 1993 and 2017.

Kanena Provlima is back and looking for redemption
Thu Jan 9 2025

Kanena Provlima is back and looking for redemption

Avoiding mighty stayer Swayzee and a love of smaller tracks is why classy NSW pacer Kanena Provlima is back in Victoria trying to go one better than he did in last year's Shepparton Gold Cup.

While most horses love the spacious 1400m Menangle track – Sydney’s home of harness racing – co-trainer Robbie Morris says it’s a different story with Kanena Provlima.

Grimson to target Shepparton with his newest stable star
Tue Jan 7 2025

Grimson to target Shepparton with his newest stable star

Top trainer Jason Grimson loves going bush with his stars.

While Grimson trains at Menangle and boasts a string of mega wins, including two Inter Dominion and two NZ Cups, at major tracks, he is Young and remains a country lad at heart.

Hamilton: The headlines, stories and people that made 2024 great (part two)
Mon Jan 6 2025

Hamilton: The headlines,stories and people that made 2024 great (part two) - Copy

After focusing on the equine stars of 2024 in the first part of his 2024 review, Adam Hamilton returns with a broader look at the people, the headlines and more.

Bendigo Cup an 'ideal starting point' for Tact McLeod
Thu Jan 2 2025

Bendigo Cup an 'ideal starting point' for Tact McLeod

Champion driver Anthony Butt thinks Tact McLeod is the right horse to win him a remarkable eighth Group 1 Hunter Cup.

Butt, a former Kiwi now based in Victoria, already holds the record for the most wins by a driver in Victoria's biggest harness race with seven, but it has been 11 years since he last won it.

Hamilton: A look back at an amazing 2024 season (part one)
Mon Dec 30 2024

Hamilton: A look back at an amazing 2024 season (part one)

It is easy to forget how spoiled we have been this year.

We saw two all-time greats of their gait – Leap To Fame and Just Believe – deliver us the “Larry” and “Harry” show and provide so many memorable moments.

In my time, it was way back in 1985 when Preux Chevalier (pacer) and Scotch Notch (trotter) strutted their stuff in tandem since we have seen such greatness in both gaits at the one time.

Others will go back to Maori’s Idol and the best pacers during his career, but that’s just before my time.

Then, in the most spectacular of arrivals, along came Keayang Zahara. There has NEVER been a three-year-old trotting filly like her in this part of the world.

And we got all this in one year.

As I’ve said before, harness racing has many challenges, but it certainly isn’t with the quality of horses or a lack of star power. We’ve got it in droves.

Here’s some of my reflections on the horse front from 2024…

Don and The Locomotive to chase Victoria's most prized features
Wed Dec 18 2024

Don and The Locomotive to chase Victoria's most prized features

The two newly crowned Inter Dominion champions are heading to Victoria.

Catch A Wave to shoot for another Miracle at Menangle
Wed Dec 18 2024

Catch A Wave to shoot for another Miracle at Menangle

While Andy Gath’s big guns are resting, the decorated trainer has four chances across three races to snatch more feature race glory at Melton on Saturday night.

Hamilton: Victoria ready to take spotlight as big features draw near
Mon Dec 16 2024

Hamilton: Victoria ready to take spotlight as big features draw near

The baton now goes to Victoria.

After the shortest of breaks to enjoy Christmas, the stars will be back in action chasing feature races again in our backyard.

This is scary, but it’s just three weeks until the first of the big country cups, the $75,000 Group 2 Bendigo Cup, which is supported by the $60,000 Group 2 Maori Mile for the trotters on January 4.

Hamilton: Victoria to lead the charge towards an Inter Dominion crown
Fri Dec 13 2024

Hamilton: Victoria to lead the charge towards an Inter Dominion crown - Copy

Victoria doesn’t have the great Just Believe flying its flag, but still has the quality and quantity to continue its dominance in tonight’s Inter Dominion trotting final at Menangle.

Just Believe, sidelined by injury, has brilliantly won the past two finals, giving Victorians six wins in the past nine finals.

Hamilton: Who deserves the 2024 Horse of the Year crown?
Mon Dec 9 2024

Hamilton: Who deserves the 2024 Horse of the Year crown?

There can only be one winner.

But in a “normal” season, any of Just Believe, Keayang Zahara or Leap To Fame would be absolute locks for Australian Horse of the Year honours.

Hamilton: Victorian stars in New Zealand and New South Wales
Mon Dec 2 2024

Hamilton: Victorian stars in New Zealand and New South Wales

Victoria flexed its muscle last weekend and there is more to come.

Freakish filly Keayang Zahara set the tone when she toyed with her rivals yet again in the NZ Trotting Oaks at Addington last Friday night.