Top Money Winning Aged Pacers   May 2010

Levi Series Starts

Monkey king Wins Auckland Cup

Blacks A Fake Wins Fourth Inter Dominion Cup

Television News Blacks A Fake Inter Dominion Win 2010

http://www.abc.net.au/news/video/2010/03/07/2838918.htm

Race 8 WATPAC 2010 INTER DOMINION CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL 5:00 PM:  Menagle Australia

M0 Or Better. For the Ten (10) highest point scorers, plus next 2 point scorers as emergencies, that competed in qualifying heats conducted at Harold Park and Newcastle.The two reserve horses in the Final and Consolation will be excluded from the draw however will be allocated numbers eleven (11) and twelve (12) in order of points attained. If however the respective horse(s) gain a start they will commence from the barrier position drawn by the withdrawn horse(s). RBD. Prizemoney:

$1,000,000 - 2300 METRES MOBILE START

Form Horse Trainer Other Eng. Driver Class Hcp

1 11921 WASHAKIE NZ J P McCarthy John McCarthy C22 M16 FR1
2 81023 OUR AWESOME ARMBRO NZ G C Small Philip Butcher C18 M11 FR2
3 11111 BLACKS A FAKE N C Rasmussen Natalie Rasmussen C47 M37 FR3
4 24213 ATOMIC ARK N C Rasmussen Natalie Rasmussen C18 M13 FR4
5 4s111 MONKEY KING NZ B R Hill Ricky May C25 M19 FR5
6 3s334 BAILEYS DREAM NZ B R Hill Todd Mitchell C19 M13 FR6
7 21124 CHANGEOVER NZ G C Small David Butcher C26 M20 FR7
8 s1111 BONDY NZ D J Butt David Butt C22 M16 FR8
9 22042 MR FEELGOOD USA T G Butt Anthony Butt C22 M17 FR9
10 22732 SMOKEN UP NZ L J Justice Lance Justice C25 M20 FR10

Emergencies:

11 15343 SAMMY MAGUIRE NZ (Em 1) G A Lang Menangl 07/03/2010 Gavin Lang C13 M3 FR-
12 12962 BE GOOD JOHNNY (Em 2) J P McCarthy Menangl 07/03/2010 John McCarthy C28 M23 FR

Elimination heat February 19, 2010     Harold Park

Elimination heat February 27, 2010     Newcastle

March 6, 2010     Menagle Race Course, Sydney Australia

2010 Inter Dominion Rankings

World Wide Harness Racing   by Joseph G Muscara        Jan 15, 2010

New Zealand Racing And The Inter Dominion Championship

      While North America is experiencing the coldest winter in recent memory, there is a place where harness racing is at the height of the season, Australia and New Zealand. Down Under the open pacing ranks are where the money is. Two year olds don't race for much money, three year olds race for good money but the biggest races are for aged pacers. And the biggest of all is the Inter Dominions, an annual clash of the top open aged pacers from New Zealand and Australia held this year in Sydney, Australia. There are two eliminations in late February and a million dollar final in early March. I will be there and will send back reports. I hope than I can explain the differences and similarities between North American and Aussie and Kiwi racing. I hope that I can add to your knowledge and understanding of harness racing worldwide and that this will be of help to you as a fan and as a bettor. The next time you bet that horse with an A (Australia ) or a N ( New Zealand ) at the end of their name you just may have a better understanding of where they came from, how they raced, and what their possibilities are racing here in North America. Later this season the Mach Three Down Under superstar Auckland Reactor will race at the Meadowlands. The best pacer since Cardigan Bay to come to America, the six year old has wicked speed and some question marks that will make his American trip a very interesting handicapping exercise. With a better understanding of Down Under racing you will have an insight into the difficulties he faces in adapting to our style of racing.

       In most cases it is easy to spot a New Zealand or Australian horse, just look at the program for a horse with an A or a N at the end of their name. Forty years ago when my dad, who is the largest importer of Down Under horses into North America, started bringing these critters to America they were coarse, boney, awkward animals with a face and head only a mother could love. They could pace all day but not very fast, lacking the wicked speed for which North American pacers are known. You could put a hundred North American pacers and one Down Under pacer in a field and the Down Under pacer would stick out like a sore thumb. Over the last forty years that has changed due to five generations of intelligent selective breeding and the introduction and great success of the shuttle stallions. Shuttle stallions live in North America from February to August. Then they fly to either New Zealand or Australia for breeding during their spring and summer from August to February , then back to America. First class horse fare to fly to New Zealand is just under $ 15,000. Mach Three, Presidential Ball, Mcardle and Art Major are the major players among the shuttle stallion horses. Now with the shuttle stallions and the broodmares from the shuttle stallions the breed has made gigantic strides Down Under, in speed and appearance. Mixing North American speed and Down Under endurance and heartiness is good for racing all over the world. In a later article I will explain the  effects of worldwide breeding on genetic diversity of the harness horse. A final caution about A's and N's. The USTA computer has 18 spaces for names. If the Down Under horse has 17 or 18 letters in their name there is no room for the space and letter. We had a horse from New Zealand a few years ago, Silverlinedpockets, and with horses like this you have to look at the program or eligibility sheet to tell where they came from.     

    The biggest difference in racing between North America and Australia is that 99.9% of American races are one mile in length. Down Under horses race one mile, a mile and a quarter, mile and a half, mile and three quarters and two miles. Most of the races are about a mile and a half. This causes a slight difference in body type.  Our horses have a little more muscle mass than Down Under horse. Look at the Olympics, the skinny guys run marathons and the muscled up dudes race 100 meters. Down Under horses are bred to go two miles and have a slighter body build. 

      The two biggest tracks in New Zealand are in Auckland on the North Island and Christchurch on the South Island. Christchurch's races are anti clockwise like ours while Auckland goes the other direction. I would use caution when buying or betting a horse that only races at Auckland. Horses can be dead lame in one direction but go pretty good in the other direction. Some horses race at Auckland because that's the only way they can race and these are the horses to avoid when they come to America. In North America our horses race in one direction and jog in the other. But since New Zealand horse race both ways they are not so much ingrained to go fast in one direction and slow in the opposite direction.  Many New Zealand horses are absolute loony tunes when you try to jog them. Usually we jog the sane ones and tow with a lead rope the crazy joggers. They usually calm down when being towed.

     Another good thing to know about Down Under racing is that the tracks are not level. Some go uphill and some go downhill. They were built before bulldozers and follow the lay of the land. On my trips to New Zealand I rent surveying equipment and check the stretch. Ashburton on the South Island of New Zealand is 11 feet six inches downhill from the beginning of the stretch to the finish a 1,000 feet away, over 13 feet if you come wide off the bank. New Zealanders take their horses to Ashburton to get fast times and then sell them to Americans and Australians who will never see such fast times again. Be careful betting or buying horses off times at Ashburton. Auckland Reactor has some 25 last quarters there and it is an impressive time but you have to know the rest of the story to understand how good a time that is.

     New Zealand and Australian sulkies are much different than ours, they are more like North American jog carts. The driver sits more over the wheels rather than behind the wheels as in North America and the North American sulky is about a foot wider. The reason for this is that many races in New Zealand are from a standing start. Horses often rear up from a standing start and with the driver so far behind the wheels like in North America when the horses rears up the driver just may flip out the back. It is not unusual for a race to have 18 horses, 12 on the starting line, 3 ten yards back, 2 twenty yards back and 1 thirty yards back or more. Horses are given handicaps according to the number of wins a horse has. A peculiarity of the Down Under handicap system is that horses go up in class but don't come down. This causes good horses to get stranded giving handicaps from which they can no longer win. Their only recourse is moving to America. When betting on newly arrived Down Under horses check to see if that 10 yard loss would have been a 10 yard win without the 20 yard handicap. As for the wider sulky you will be amazed how little fear Down Under drivers have of going two, three, or four wide for long stretches. With a much narrower sulky the distance lost is much less racing wide. The Down Under bike is heavier and stronger than the North American bikes. They need to be because of the interference rules, or more precisely the lack of interference rules. Down Under racing can at times be a contact sport in New Zealand and a collision sport in Australia. Our light bikes may not last for more than a few races. North America's  light fiber wheels were just banned there because they could not take the sideways bumping. I have had the pleasure of watching races at Meadowlands with some of the best owners, trainers, drivers, and breeders from Down Under. At first they often remark what sissies we are what with the lack of contact in our races. But as Mark Purdon, the trainer of Auckland Reactor and one of the best trainers in the world, said to me a few years ago after watching his first races at Meadowlands, "I didn't like it at first but it is fairer and does more often identify the best horse and that is the purpose of racing."

      Our top aged open pacers go out in 27, run 27 and 27 middle fractions, then come home in 27. Niatross was the first pacer to put up four evenly spaced wickedly fast quarters and now all our great open horses do that. Not so Down Under. The first quarter will seem curiously slow, then they pick up interest in the second quarter and turn it on in the last quarter. This has some ramifications in the style that produces winners. It is much easier to go wire to wire when you aren't pressed till the second half. In North America the best open pacing races except on half mile tracks are won from off the pace. Down Under people say get out in front and get out of trouble. That may be true over there but here getting out in front is making yourself a target for the other horses. The biggest reason why it is almost impossible to tell how a Down Under horse will do in North America is you have no idea how that Down Under superstar will react when they have to run four blazing quarters. Of course that's what makes watching our four legged friends race so much fun.

       The importation of New Zealand and Australian horses into North America is international trade and thus sensitive to currency exchange rates. Last year if a New Zealander wanted $ 100,000 for his horse it was $ 45,000 in US dollars. This year it is getting close to $ 80,000. Same horse but much more expensive due to the fall in value of the dollar with respect to foreign currency. This has caused a large reduction in the number of Down Under horses imported into North America. If the dollar falls much more in relation to New Zealand and Australian currencies you may see more Down Under buyers at our yearling sales. With the amount of money aged pacers go for in New Zealand you may see more attempts to purchase good horse in North America who can grab some of that big aged pacing money. In 2008 Mr Feelgood, stranded behind Mister Big and Artistic Fella, was sold to Down Under interests. It worked out very well, Mr Feelgood is the defending 2009 Inter Dominion Champion and will compete again this year. And he did it North American style from way off the pace.   

      A final word of caution. When meeting someone from New Zealand or Australia do not say, "are you from New Zealand ?" or "are you from Australia ?" It's not that they hate each other but that they are both proud people who love their countries. You only have to watch a rugby match between the New Zealand and Australian national teams to see the intensity in the level of competition between the two countries. Just say, "are you from England ?" They both get along with the British and they will usually say, " I hear that all the time but no I am from Australia" or "I am from New Zealand". It never hurts to start out on the right foot.   

       Next few weeks I will preview some of the top horses in the Inter Dominions and how this year is turning into the "Year Of The Monkey", Monkey King that is. If you have any questions please email me at josephmuscara@yahoo.com