Tim O'Connor picks his favourite bits from the harness racing week that was and the one ahead...

THE HERO

PETER MATTHEWS

A lot of blood, sweat and tears came to fruition for Woolsthorpe hobby trainer Peter Matthews at Melton Entertainment Park last Friday.

Five-year-old mare Livermere was only having her second run for Matthews after transferring from the Michael Bellman yard and broke her maiden under the guidance of Kerryn Manning at career start 31.

Livermere’s success provided the 77-year-old Matthews with his first victory as a trainer since all the way back on April 8, 2022 when stable favourite Fire Official won in South Australia.

HOW GOOD WAS…

DAN’S CALL

It took more than 100 trips to the races, but handy trotter Mielicki has finally won to the call of the man he was named after.

Legendary broadcaster Dan Mielicki gave everyone tuning in at Ballarat on Thursday night a little chuckle when he uttered “Mielicki over the top! The good-looking horse got up and won it!” as the seven-year-old gelding stormed home to claim the Oakbank Estate Trot.

Trained by Anne-Maree Conroy and driven by her brother Glenn, Mielicki has now won 12 of 105 starts.

KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR...

JUICY FIRST 4 POOLS

Once again, the jackpot money has been spread out across four races this Saturday night at Melton.

The TAB has confirmed First 4 pools in races 1-4 will be boosted by $2,500.

GOOD LUCK TO…

CONNOR CLARKE

The man affectionately known as “Rocket” will say goodbye to Victorian racing when he leaves for Queensland next week.

The young reinsman has accepted a job with prominent owner Josh Davine, who operates N40 Racing.

The 22-year-old will work at Davine’s Biddaddaba stable under the guidance of private trainer Michael Brennan.

Read more about Clarke’s move here.

POP THIS IN YOUR DIARY

THE LOCOMOTIVE

Looking forward to seeing The Locomotive carry the Ausssie flag in Sweden this weekend.

After a down-the-track finish in his heat of Elitloppet last month, the Yabby Dam Farms-bred squaregaiter will tackle the Norrbottens Stora Pris at Boden in the early hours of Sunday morning (Australian time).

The Stora Pris is the same race Just Believe finished second in for Jess Tubbs and Greg Sugars in 2023.

The Locomotive, who has been left in the care of respected Swedish trainer Susanne Frang with Brad Hewitt now back home in New South Wales, will leave from gate four.

Keep an eye out on my X handle (@chrissymonal) for a link to watch the race.

ONE FOR THE BLACK BOOK

KWICK SAND

Been impressed with a number of this guy’s runs and he looks ready to win for AJ and BJ Tindale.

The son of Somebeachsomewhere has been scratched from Melton on Saturday night, but keep an eye out for him to race again soon.

SOMETHING TO PONDER

Win and you're in.

It's a great concept. And we need more of it.

I loved the inaugural running of the Durham Park 2YO Rising Star at Ballarat last night, with Cardigan Dan snapping up a golden ticket into the $500,000 Protostar at Albion Park on July 12 thanks to a narrow victory over stablemate Loucasso.

Durham Park’s Bruce and Vicki Edward and the Ballarat and District Trotting Club should be commended for creating the race, which added interest and brought a buzz to the track on an otherwise quiet week in Victorian harness racing.

With the new-look summer carnival set to light up Victoria in the new year, consideration should – and certainly will – be given to golden ticket races which help build narrative and entice major stables to hunt some of the state’s feature events en route to bigger targets.

In my opinion, the more the merrier.

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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.