Tim O'Connor picks his favourite bits from the harness racing week that was and the one ahead...
THE HERO
Ewa Justice
The daughter of harness racing great John Justice brought up her 100th driving winner on Wednesday night at Bendigo with stable longshot Muskee.
The 22-year-old's career only started in season 2022 and her tally of winners has already included a Group 1 Tasmania Pacing Cup and Group 2 Australian Trotting Grand Prix.
Bravo, Ewa. Here's to many more!
HOW GOOD WAS...
Great to see the half-sister of champion filly/mare Ladies In Red start her career with a bang last Friday at Geelong.
Luv The Nitelife, who is by Poster Boy out of the brilliant producer Kabbalah Karen B, dominated to win her first start by 11.8m for Emma Stewart and Mark Pitt.
She was bred by Lauriston Bloodstock and is raced under the name of Anne Anderson, who enjoyed the Ladies In Red ride of 28 wins and more than $1mil in prizemoney with husband Bill between 2020 and 2024.
CAN'T WAIT FOR THIS!
I've always loved Mildura Cup week, and I'm excited for the opening meeting of the two-day carnival next Tuesday night.
Trainer Shane Sanderson won the last two features with Sahara Tiger and Dangerous, and will chase a third-straight Sunraysia crown with last-start Charlton Pacing Cup winner Catalpa Rescue.
Other notable starters in the heats include Young Bluey (Matthew Craven), Dee Roe (Aaron Dunn) and local 101-rater All Da Rage (Andrew German).
Qualifiers from Tuesday night's heats progress to the $30,000 final the following Friday night (April 4).
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KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR...
Victorians will chase Group 1 success at Saturday night's Bathurst meeting.
Sam Barker and James Herbertson team up with favourite Discernment from the pole in the Gold Tiara Final, while Emma Stewart prepares both Ripples and Willows Girl for the $150,000 two-year-old fillies' feature.
The Victorians chasing success in the Gold Crown for two-year-old colts and geldings are Usyk (David Jack), Mister Americano (Geoff Webster), Soho Park Avenue (Michael Stanley), Loucasso (Emma Stewart/James Herbertson) and You Gotta Believe (Russell Jack/David Moran).
POP THIS IN YOUR DIARY
A $10,000 First 4 jackpot has been placed on the opening race at Melton this Saturday night, with a projected pool of $50,000.
Tough race, but I'm with Edwarde Grange ahead of Hugo Rocks, El Boston and Momentum Shift.
ONE FOR THE BLACK BOOK
I'm not sure Saturday night is his chance to win with the smart Susan Is Her Name engaged, but I'll be following the progress of Call Me Jack closely this preparation.
The Matthew Purcell-trained squaregaiter is first-up from a spell in race four at Melton and hits the track on the back of a good trial win at Geelong.
He loomed to win his last start at Menangle in November but galloped, and before that went off stride at the corner before flashing late to grab third behind Lovemeto at Melton.
I'd be staggered if he doesn't find some success this campaign.
SOMETHING TO PONDER...
I've fired off plenty of ideas already in this column, but hey... that's what it's for. Just some food for thought.
Okay, here's another one.
I always enjoyed the Speed Star races in the greyhounds, where dogs would battle it out in head-to-head events with times used to declare an overall winner and placegetters.
Would something similar work in harness racing?
What about this? Eight horses. Four 1200m head-to-head heats run between races on a Saturday night at Melton. Winners progress to the next round while losers are eliminated. Then comes the two semi-finals, where victors move into the final. From there, one more showdown determines the night's champion.
Picture this: Catch A Wave v Bulletproof Boy into Triple Eight v Act Now into Mach Dan v Max Delight into Rakero Rebel v Perfect Class.
Tactical, fast-paced and plenty of betting options through win, multi and all-in markets.
Thoughts?
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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.