Latest news with #MacarthurMile
NZ Herald
09-05-2025
- Climate
- NZ Herald
Heavy rain forces Alexandra Park meeting to be postponed after one race
Horses who were scratched from the Friday meeting have the option to re-enter Saturday's fields for what will be an eight-race card. 'There wasn't a lot we could do because the rain was so heavy,' said Harness Racing New Zealand's Matt Peden, who was at Alexandra Park. 'But speaking to John Denton [track expert] he is confident, if the weather plays its part, with a bit of work we will be good to go for tomorrow night.' The second Friday to Saturday shift at Alexandra Park in three weeks will make for a big Saturday night for harness racing fans as the Group 1 meeting will race alongside a huge card at Menangle, outside Sydney, where trotting heroine Keayang Zahara will be the star of the show as she contests the $100,000 Macarthur Mile. Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald's Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world's biggest horse racing carnivals.
News.com.au
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
'Our biggest test': Superstar trotter Keayang Zahara puts win streak on the line in Group 1 Macarthur Mile
GLEN Craven admits he will feel the weight of the record books when he heads onto the track with boom unbeaten trotting mare Keayang Zahara at Menangle on Saturday night. Victory in the $100,000 Group 1 Macarthur Mile will stretch Keayang Zahara's record to 16 wins. She will join Court Jester, a star of the 1970s, with the equal fifth longest winning streak by a trotter in Australasia. The incomparable Maori's Idol holds the record with 24 successive wins, which ended on March 11, 1978. This will be just Craven's second drive on Keayang Zahara – he won the first by a narrow margin at Melton last Saturday night – because his cousin, Jason Lee, drove her to win her first 14 starts. • PUNT LIKE A PRO: Become a Racenet iQ member and get expert tips – with fully transparent return on investment statistics – from Racenet's team of professional punters at our Pro Tips section. SUBSCRIBE NOW! 'She's certainly the best I've sat behind. It's good to be part of it and there is a lot of pressure, but it's what we're in the game for,' Craven said. 'It's more about not wanting to be the one driving her when she gets beaten for the first time. 'We tried not to get too caught up in the unbeaten thing. Sure you don't want it end, but unless you're Black Caviar, you know it will at some stage.' There were several moments at Melton last Saturday night, when Keayang Zahara was first-up from a long spell, when Craven thought she was in danger of her first defeat. 'Oh, definitely. From about the 600m until halfway around the home bend, I thought we were in real trouble,' he said. 'Im Ready Jet is a proven top class trotter and she was in front, but when we sort of got within striking distance turning for home, I thought we'd win unless my mare ran out of puff. She just did enough. 'Even though the margin wasn't great, we were thrilled with her effort. 'She's been so fast and so dominant against her own age, she's never really been in a dogfight, so it was a bit of an unknown, but she relished it and really wanted to win.' Craven expects much of the same the way the barriers have landed at Menangle, with the untapped Susan Is Her Name drawing gate two and Keayang Zahara in four. 'I've got huge respect for Susan Is Her Name. I'm not sure how quick she'll get out, but if she does land in front and runs the times she has been, this will be our biggest test,' he said. 'The best of Im Ready Jet is really good, too, and we just beat her last week.' Craven expects natural improvement from Keayang Zahara given last week was her first race since winning the Group 1 NZ Trotting Derby in Christchurch on December 6. 'Not so much fitness because we've got her pretty fit, but just sharpness that getting a race under her belt will be the big thing,' he said. Importantly, Keayang Zahara has been to the spacious Menangle track before. She won the NSW Trotters' Oaks and Derby double in September, last year. 'That's a plus. Yes, it's a big track, but some horses can take a run or two to get used to it,' Craven said, In line with Craven's wariness this week, Keayang Zahara has drifted from $1.25 to $1.45, while Susan Is Her Name has been crunched into $2.60 from a remarkable opening price of $9.50. Such is the hype around Keayang Zahara, which is chasing her eighth Group 1 win on Saturday, she is $2.50 prepost favourite for July's Brisbane Inter Dominion final despite her lack of open-class racing.
News.com.au
06-05-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
Harness racing: Top NSW driver Luke McCarthy to partner Victorian pair in dual Oaks bid at Menangle
Champion NSW driver Luke McCarthy is playing for 'Team Victoria' at Menangle on Saturday night. McCarthy will take the reins on two of Victoria's major chances – Soho Americano (NSW Oaks) and Gatesys Gem (NSW Trotters' Oaks) – on the stellar Group 1 card. 'They're both terrific drives and strong winning chances,' he said. 'Just as importantly, they're both drawn well, too.' • PUNT LIKE A PRO: Become a Racenet iQ member and get expert tips – with fully transparent return on investment statistics – from Racenet's team of professional punters at our Pro Tips section. SUBSCRIBE NOW! McCarthy was particularly impressed with the Michael Stanley-trained Soho Americano's win in her heat of the NSW (pacing) Oaks last week. 'She was super. I asked a lot of her early and wondered what she'd have left, but gee she hit the line well,' he said. 'She's got the gate speed to really use the good draw (gate three). I think she's one of the best chances in what looks like a really even Oaks.' Remarkably, McCarthy has only won the NSW Oaks once, when he partnered the Dean Braun-trained Its Nosurprisesthere in 2013. The Victorian flavour in this Oaks runs deep with six of 10 finalists trained down south. They include Emma Stewart and Clayton Tonkin's quartet – Luv The Nitelife (gate four), Iveseenheavenslight (eight), Ill Be Gone (10) and Beach Diamond (11) – and Miss Ari, who brilliantly won her heat last week for Gary and Deb Quinlan. McCarthy is thrilled to snare the drive on the Glenn Hunter-trained Gatesys Gem for the first time in the Trotters' Oaks. She was a star last season with six wins and two seconds from just nine starts and returned with a good second at Geelong last Friday night. 'A bit like the pacing Oaks, it looks like an open race and there's a few different formlines coming together,' McCarthy said. 'I've seen a bit of this filly and her best is right up with anything in the race, especially given she has the early speed to take advantage of the good draw (gate one). She'll be as hard to beat as any.' McCarthy's other marquee drive of the night is his only stable star, Eye Keep Smiling, in the Australasia's premier mares' pacing race, the $200,000 Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Mile (formerly Ladyship Mile). 'I couldn't be happier with her and she's certainly the class runner of the race,' he said. 'She's right at the top of her game and she is just so versatile. When she's against the mares like this, you've got so many options because you can do some work if you have to and she'll still be hard to hold out. 'Sure I'd have liked to have drawn in a bit closer (than gate 10), but I just know she'll run a mighty race.' McCarthy will have four Victorian rivals in the Queen Elizabeth, headed by Jess Tubbs' proven Group 1 performer Rakero Rebel, who is drawn better in gate five. The headline Victorian at the meeting is unbeaten young trotting mare Keayang Zahara, who is chasing her 16th win and eighth at Group 1 level in the $100,000 Macarthur Mile. She clashes for the first time with Emma Stewart's untapped Susan Is Her Name, while another Victorian, Im Ready Jet, looks the other of the big three players in the feature.
News.com.au
29-04-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
Harness racing: Unbeaten trotter Keayang Zahara faces ‘real test' stepping into open-aged racing for the first time
Unbeaten trotting mare Keayang Zahara will be at her most vulnerable when she returns from a lengthy spell at Melton on Saturday night. The four-year-old boasts 14 wins, including seven at Group 1 level, is the best young trotter Australia has seen for decades. Keayang Zahara hasn't raced since thrashing her rivals in the Group 1 NZ Trotting Derby in Christchurch on December 6. Despite stepping into open-aged racing for the first time, Keayang Zahara will be straight into the deep end against some proven older Group 1 stars, headed by Im Ready Jet and Great Southern Star winner Watts Up Partytime. Co-trainer Paddy Lee said a range of factors made this Keayang Zahara's biggest test yet. 'She's first-up, it's a sprint and she's against some quality, hardened older horses. It's a real test,' he said. 'Under the handicapping system, there's no easy transition from racing her against her own age. It's straight into free-for-alls and against strong opposition.' Lee said he and mother Marg, who co-trains Keayang Zahara, aren't overly worried about her unbeaten streak. 'Sure you'd love them to keep winning, but that means more to others than us. We know it'll come to an end, it could be this week,' he said. 'Maybe it's lucky Mum and I are quite relaxed people. I'm not saying we won't be a bit nervous by race time, but we're realistic, too.' Caution aside, Lee said Keayang Zahara was ready to resume. 'She's as ready as we can get her without a race,' he said. 'We normally don't like to give our horses too hard a trial at Terang because the surface is quite heavy, but we tried to treat her trial last week like a race because we knew she was going straight into a strong race. 'All the signs are good at home. I wouldn't say she's grown much during the break, but she's certainly filled out. 'I think that's just going to be her, she's a really athletic, long and lanky sort of mare.' Everyone put your hands together for Keayang Zahara ðŸ'� The daughter of Volstead makes it 14 starts for 14 wins taking out the 2024 Garrards New Zealand Trotting Derby in the hands of Jason Lee for trainer Margaret Lee @AddingtonNZ | @HarnessRacingNZ | @WoodlandsStudNZ — Trackside NZ (@TracksideNZ) December 6, 2024 Lee's cousin, Glen Craven, will replace Jason Lee and drive Keayang Zahara for the first time on Saturday. 'That's Jase's call. We all love sharing the load and opportunities down here and Jase wanted Glen to have a few drives on the mare,' he said. Craven will stay aboard when Keayang Zahara heads to Sydney to chase more Group 1 glory in Saturday week's $100,000 Macarthur Mile at Menangle. 'I think the plan is for Glen to drive for a while and then Jase to get back aboard for the Brisbane (Inter Dominion) series,' Lee said. Keayang Zahara isn't renowned for her gate speed and has barrier three on Saturday night. Im Ready Jet (two) and Watts Up Partytime (four) are either side of her. 'We just hope she isn't too fresh and doesn't get fired up with all the speed around her at the start,' Lee said. 'We're going there happy with where she's at, but also knowing it'll be quite a challenge to start her season.'
