Some of the bits and pieces that caught Tim O'Connor's eye in the world of harness racing...

THE HERO

JASON HACKETT

It was great to see Jason Hackett land a feature race success with his handy – and well-named – trotter, Tipple Time.

The daughter of Six Pack continued an unbeaten start to her career with a gutsy and narrow victory in the Graeme Lang Aldebaran Park 2YO Trotting Mile at Bendigo on Wednesday night.

Hackett leases, trains and drove Tipple Time, who dug deep in the concluding stages to win the $20,000 event by a head over Hallebesofine.

Hackett, 37, is well known within the harness racing industry as a horse breaker, but has enjoyed plenty of success in the sulky here in Australia following his move from native New Zealand.

Wednesday night’s win was the 174th of his career, which includes an Inter Dominion Trotting Championship Consolation triumph with Lance Justice’s Earl Of Mot in 2012.

You can listen to my chat with Jason on Facing The Breeze here.

HOW GOOD WAS…

KELLY’S METRO WIN

Kelly Stuart-Mitchell had been hunting a first metropolitan success as a trainer for some time, but it finally arrived at Melton on Saturday night.

The talented horsewoman prepared Always Be Blakey for victory in the Lionheart Security Pace, with James Herbertson securing victory up along the sprint lane.

The 36-year-old Stuart-Mitchell started training in the 2019-20 season and has now prepared 30 winners at a strike rate of 16 per cent.

You can watch my post-race chat with Kelly here.

FROM THE RACING OFFICE…

There’s some key feature races at Melton this coming Saturday night.

The Holmfield, which has been won by some great three-year-old trotters over the years such as Noopy Kiosk, One Over Kenny, I Didn’t Do It and Majestuoso, is part of the card, as is the newly-created Bob Conroy 2YO Trotters Classic.

The two events should form part of a great night’s racing.

ONE FOR THE BLACK BOOK

TINEY

He was well beaten, but what a big effort it was by Tiney at Ballarat on Thursday night.

The Tony Xiriha-trained trotter made a mistake at the start and was off the vision for much of the race, but made up late ground to finish ninth, beaten 27.3m.

His sectionals were very impressive, clocking clearly the best last half of 58.8 as well as the slickest last three quarters of the final mile.

Stick with him.

SOMETHING TO PONDER

Should a driver’s weight be listed in the form guide?

I’ve had this discussion a few times – including on radio this week – and I personally think it should.

While I won’t proclaim to know the full science behind how significant weight is when pulled by a horse as opposed to being carried like in gallops racing, it’s surely a factor in how a runner performs.

If you follow the thoroughbreds, you’ll know how much emphasis is placed on a few kilograms when it comes to a swing in the weights.

In the trots, there would be a significant difference between the lightest drivers and those that are on the heavier end of the scale.

And while it might only be of minimal concern to some and only have a slight bearing on performance, I think it’s a factor worth noting.

What do you think?

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The opinions expressed in The Forum are those of the author and may not be attributed to or represent policies of Harness Racing Victoria, which is the state authority and owner of thetrots.com.au.