Harness & Greyhounds - Perth Turf Talk

Biggest Win Ever in a Feature Race

Markovina — Tue, 30 Dec 2025 04:59:46 +0000

My vote goes to Provocative in the 1988 NSW Oaks - with Andrew Peace in the cart

The racecaller Ray Hadley said its the biggest win ever at Harold Park and i agree

The race is on You Tube and well worth a watch

Harness Ownership Cards Discontinued

JayJay — Thu, 08 Jan 2026 01:10:42 +0000

All harness owners received notification yesterday that the owners cards will be discontinued as a cost cutting measure. These cards entitled owners to free admission to watch their horse race. Apparently, free entry will still exist provided you can prove to the gate staff that you are an owner from listings in the race book. Mr and Mrs Trotsynd 21 may have some difficulty identifying their bonafides.

A very progressive move from Cameron Brown, bound to produce nothing but argument and uncomfortable exchanges between owners and volunteer gatekeepers at venues that still charge admission (e.g Gloucester Park on big nights, Busselton etc).

No doubt, this initiative has been extended to all thoroughbred and greyhound owners as well.

Nothing like further incentivising the ownership experience, I am sure it will save buckets of money and attract many new owners.

Pinny

sonny — Mon, 05 Jan 2026 04:13:20 +0000

r3n9...r4n8... Quad....5.7.8.10/6/4.9/1.7.. Good Punting

GP 2/1/26

Gilgamesh — Fri, 02 Jan 2026 03:20:21 +0000

I've been enjoying watching a bit of racing over the last month and a bit and feel like it's time to pin the ears back with a couple of $2EW bets.

R1: I thought I be opposed to No1 Illawong Mustang but at the $16/$3.20 odd that is around - I don't see him having to anything special to at least be around the mark. No7 Sweet Coco can put in some fantastic runs but can also find trouble with seeming ease - wins at $1.24, $1.30 and $2.90 amongst a lot of zeros, have to take it on. Quinton is racing well but that is being hooked up and running home, needs a lot to go right. Heavenly Wage comes from far superior form lines than 1 but I thought it was actually entitled to win a bit better than it did last week albeit in fast time - maybe it just zaps the 1 and its all over??? Bet: 1by3 the 1 horse.

R2: No bet for me but I do find it interesting how the 1 Infinite Sign has tightened up in betting, looks like there are a couple of cases where the punters are looking for the really simple finds that might not actually accurately assess the risk of the bet.

R3: One for the dreaded twittersphere - If Henty is happy to take a sit I think the 3 Yawoma will quickly be there, lead and win. It might still be able to do so regardless of what the 1 wants to do. But if there is a good burn early 7 Lincoln River and even an absolute bolter in 8 Mister Kopa if its completely upside down could surprise.

R4: Solid go My Watchlist. I thought the 2 Sweet Lucifer was a very short quote to be able to cross it so you would be taking Mywatchlist as a leaders back bet. You never know what Lindsay is going to do but I thought if he just dropped No4 Chivalry back to the moving line early it could run on at the 40/1 plus. Bet No4 Chivalry 3w 1plc.

R5: No2 Its Crunch Time is the next of the this one might be the leader crunches. Surely it's not a 50% chance or better of winning this race.

R6: No3 Cara Diana - I thought this might be the leader and it wouldn't have to go any better than it did at it's last start to be in the finish at double figures, best of the night - maybe even $2.50 EW.

R7: Hunger Strike @$1.50, I remember a few weeks ago there was a Turvey horse drawn 1 with a jnr on, odds on that walked out. Obviously different horse, different scenario but with a horse like The Wildcard drawn wide I wouldn't want to take $1.50 on the 1 holding up. No2 Cold Hard Cash, probably every chance of getting stuck behind them on the fence but if a gap does come it will be flashing home. Bet No2 Cold Hard Cash 2wby1plc.

R8: Bet: No5 Classical Ellie win - might just be close enough to charge over the top of them.

R9: Bet No2 Trittritbangbang 2wby1plc - a repeat of earlier in the weeks run and it will be up on the pace and keep whacking away to fight it out.

Status of the Industry 2024/2025

JayJay — Sat, 20 Dec 2025 06:00:05 +0000

The RWWA Industry Status Report was released yesterday. It provides an assessment of where we are at with trends in turnover, licensed personal, foalings, horse population etc. Few in the Industry would read it (covers all 3 codes, 42 pages of graphs, tables etc), probably even fewer on this forum.

Some snapshots

Number of race meetings static at 255
100 less races than in 23/24 (back to 20/21 levels of 2092 races)
Number of starters down from 19921 to 19219
Stakes distribution unchanged at $30.6 million from 23/24, so effectively a 3% to 5% cut to participants depending on what you believe inflation was.
Driver/Trainers in decline , 218 in 22/23 to 85 in 24/25 but number of licensed trainers only up from 168 in 22/23 to 259 in 24/25 as licenses to drive are relinquished or taken away under new regulations.
Drivers only numbers in decline from 50 in 21/22 down to 37 in 24/25 which includes the influx of concession drivers , the majority of whom don't train (as yet).
Number of horses that raced down from 1576 in 23/24 to 1474 in 24/25
Number of foals down from a 5 year peak of 399 in 23/24 to 362 in 24/25.
National Harness Wagering Turnover down from $421 million to $388 million.
On Course Betting Turnover in WA static at $3.8 million.

I have done individual club figures for return on investment, a fairly labour intensive process of trawling through the turnover figures supplied in the report, applying the percentages that apply to determine the revenue generated (different scales apply for different clubs depending on their status, metropolitan, provincial, community) and lining them up against stakemoney paid. This is an annual comparison that clearly shows the return on investment on a revenue generated versus stakes paid basis. There are other various and large scale costs involved in running a meeting that are met by RWWA but this is the best and easiest comparison to understand.

It is complete but I just have to format and post which I will attend to shortly.

GP and Donaldson Park NY/Eve

Markovina — Wed, 31 Dec 2025 07:16:39 +0000

(a) GP Race 5 no 6 Sundancer Rainbow @ $34 E/W , 11TH of 11 and 12th of 12 , but its last start was acceptable , he will drive it absolutely stone cold , if its a genuine tempo , it can be dangerous late , it has got a decent kick on it

(b) DP - Race 2 no 9 Jamie Kim @ $10 E/W , im being very kind saying this is a very ordinary race , and JK is not racing at its best but it is dropping from a Friday night race to this calibre so i think it has got a strong e/w chance

Harness Calendar Foreshadows Harness Metro Stakes Cuts

JayJay — Sun, 28 Dec 2025 02:19:39 +0000

As yet unannounced Stakes Cuts at the base level (as we have already seen at the
Sunday Community tracks) are already happening with the reappearance of
$9,360 staked races on Friday nights, $23,000 races reduced to$21,000
and just 8 "codes" advertised, down from 11 or 12.

But
tellingly, the big end of town will be avoiding any pain with the $31,000
figure for Free For All's being retained. Can't go sharing the pain, can
we? Gotta look after the Geckos.

The Nights Of
Thunder Final scheduled for January 23 has an advertised stake of
$48,500 which is a cut from last years $50,000 but this is of course for
only mid range horses 0 to 3 wins.

One would have thought the impresarios that run Harness might have issued a statement or an Industry Update informing the fraternity of the cuts and the reasons why? Or maybe not. Calendar programming decisions such as these are not made overnight, the new programmers would have decided on this course of action prior to publishing the codes and stakes on the HRA calendar.

Something has to be done about the monumental losses incurred every Friday Night and stripping some stakes from the lower end, lesser performing horses appears to be their modus operandi. No doubt BOTRA and WACHRA were consulted extensively prior to these decisions. Both bodies are most definitely aware of the Return on Investment data that has been posted.

Return On Investment

JayJay — Sat, 20 Dec 2025 06:55:43 +0000

The return on Revenue from National Turnover generated by each club has a variable rate. Fro Gloucester Park, the return is set at 3.32%, for Pinjarra, Bunbury and Northam, it is set at 3.06% and for all other clubs, it is set at 2.78%. Just why this is so has never been explained to me. Below is a list of all clubs, the return received from turnover, the stake money paid, the profit/loss generated, the return on investment for 24/25 (cents in the dollar outlayed) and a comparison to last financial year 23/24.

Note: RWWA's Financial Year runs from July 31st to July 31st and these figure would not reflect up turns in field sizes, turnover etc that have apparently occurred in the latter part of 2025. It will also not reflect stakes reductions applied to Country Club Feature races announced after July 31st 2025.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Club Return on Turnover Stakemoney Profit/Loss ROI 23/24

Gloucester Park

Friday Night $4,652,473 $16,241,960 -$11,589,487 28.6 32.9

Mid week $2,237,644 $ 3,588,733 -$1,351,089 62.4 68.1

[Overall] $6,890,117 $19,830,693 -$12,940,576 34.7

Pinjarra $2,364,825 $4,217,050 -$1,852,825 56.1 55.4

Albany $341,991 $681,920 -$339,929 50.2 46.5

Bunbury $909,562 $1,895,360 -$985,798 48.0 48.2

Narrogin $458,326 $1,083,560 -$625,234 42.3 45.0

Northam $673,760 $1,417,600 -$743,840 47.5 53.4

Bridgetown $37,097 $97,400 -$60,303 38.1 35.1

Busselton $147,836 $245,582 -$97,746 60.2 57.2

CWHRC $186,851 $494,320 -$307,469 37.8 39.5

Collie $85,886 $192,887 -$107,001 44.5 43.0

Wagin $183,413 $314,040 -$130,627 58.4 63.5

Williams $30,741 $91,160 -$60,419 33.7 32.9

____________________________________________________________________________________

Totals $30,561,571 -$18,251,767

I think the above is pretty self explanatory. Industry losses of $18,251,767 occur on a stakes payout of $30,561,571.

The Principle prime venue, which has both a moral and a financial obligation to "carry the industry given its prime location, prime stakes allocation and metropolitan population base, that is, to do the heavy lifting on behalf of the Industry, is responsible for $12,940,576 of the $18,251,767 loss on a revenue generated stakes paid basis, which is 70.9% of the Industry Losses. It is failing monumentally to fulfill its obligations giving its prominent status and treatment. And still, the calls for a Parliamentary Inquiry fall on deaf ears.

Sadly, the exit ramp to which we all head, some sooner than others, leaves behind a world that ignores facts, figures, evidence, testable theory and hypothesis (the basis for all Science) and rational debate. No matter what evidence or data you present, there is no shortage of people prepared to declare the earth to be flat and gravity as just fake news or an unproven theory.

G.P and Busso

sonny — Fri, 26 Dec 2025 07:34:07 +0000

R1n2...r2n2...r4n11...r5n7...r6n11... Busso,,r4n8...r5n1... Good Punting

G.P

sonny — Tue, 16 Dec 2025 09:17:16 +0000

r3n2...r4n6...r5n1...r6n5

Novice Drivers Series

JayJay — Thu, 18 Dec 2025 05:39:32 +0000

Got to be fair and the Novice/Junior/Concession Drivers Series initiated by RWWA has been an unqualified success. HWOE all but killed off Junior drivers and under National Ratings, coupled with the No Penalty Novice Series, it has seen a rejuvenation with so many of those on the list making astounding progression. One more round to go. Good also to see some positive publicity on the HRA website:

Novice Driver Series – 2025 Points Standings

Liam Elliott – 123 points (15 drives)
Abbey Vidovich – 114 points (12 drives)
Tom Nally – 112 points (12 drives)
Kylah Madden – 111 points (16 drives)
Briana Edman – 106 points (14 drives)
Joseph Suvaljko – 99 points (14 drives)
Aaron Suvaljko – 86 points (14 drives)
Lachlan Kennelly – 77 points (13 drives)
Toby Lynn – 60 points (10 drives)
Ajay Markham – 56 points (11 drives)
Darcy Kulcsar – 50 points (13 drives)
Ashley Shepherd – 33 points (7 drives)
Sara Grout – 22 points (6 drives)
Tom Bryant – 18 points (4 drives)
Anna Hiltunen – 18 points (5 drives)
Mikayla Jones – 15 points (3 drives)
Ryan Eyre – 14 points (1 drive)
Daniel Suvaljko – 4 points (2 drives)

Gloucester Park Oncourse.

Bushbookie — Fri, 12 Dec 2025 10:34:19 +0000

Qld Bookie here walked down to Gloucester Park for big race tonight . Jesus dissapointed . Best viewing track in Australia with perfect location but no atmosphere . No Xmas parties . Poor old bookie barely wrote up 500 dollars hold after 3 races . Watching him now after race 3 and no ones bet with him for 20 minutes . If they ever spend one more cent upgrading any public facilities here it will be a total waste of money . Looks like theres a few hundred members upstairs but deadset Bedourie , Tambo , Cloncurry , Winton and Dingo have a trillion times more action then Gloucester Park .

Is it time for another “Match Race”

lick — Sun, 14 Dec 2025 01:42:36 +0000

Minstrel v Magnificent Storm over 2100 metres - contribution from owners and RWWA - won’t get the same crowd as Pure Steel v Satinover but maybe worth a try, winner takes all.

GP Saturday 13th December

Chariotsonfire — Sun, 14 Dec 2025 00:06:31 +0000

A night for the hobbyists winning 5 of the 8 races.

Only two odds on favourites ($1.85 and $1.95) and both were unsuccessful.

Something seems to be working.

WA Pacing Cup Barrier Draw

JayJay — Tue, 09 Dec 2025 00:24:22 +0000

1. Better Eclipse

2. Minstrel

3. Little Darling

4. Gee Heza Sport

5. Never Ending

6. Captain Ravishing

7. Wave Rider

8. Magnificent Storm

9. Penny Black

_______________________________________________________________

10. Lavra Joe

11. Mighty Ronaldo

12. Mister Smartee

BBY

sonny — Tue, 09 Dec 2025 08:59:57 +0000

r3n9...r5n6...r7n5...t8n8...

G.P and Wagin

sonny — Thu, 27 Nov 2025 22:48:51 +0000

G.P r2n9...r3n1..r6n5... Wagin..r2n8...r5n5..

Pinny

sonny — Mon, 08 Dec 2025 05:55:37 +0000

r4n5...r6n8...r9n4...

G.P.& Ngn

sonny — Fri, 05 Dec 2025 08:19:47 +0000

G,P r1n1..r4n12...r5n9...r9n10... Ngn..r4n5

G.P

sonny — Mon, 01 Dec 2025 22:17:20 +0000

r1n4...r3n1...r6n4...r8n6.. Good Punting

Harness Racing NSW Annual Report

warrenrobinson — Wed, 26 Nov 2025 07:50:18 +0000

The HRNSW Annual Report is now available for the 2024/25 year, a quick summary income down 3.34%, loss for the year $ 5.88 million, administration cost up 38.8%, if not for the future fund investment from the sale of Harold Park loss would have been $8.3 million. Not one Harness Racing State actually runs at a profit. The future looks grim Australia wide.

Pinny

sonny — Sun, 30 Nov 2025 23:28:08 +0000

Very Open races.. R4n6...r7n10.. My only e/w bets today...

Pinny

sonny — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 00:34:58 +0000

R2n9...r3n2...r7n7...r8n11

Bad day to be a Ford

G-Mac — Fri, 21 Nov 2025 00:24:34 +0000

Nathan Ford, Mitchell Ford, Tyler Ford charged over alleged drug supply

Three Tasmanian harness racing drivers have been charged over serious allegations they were transporting ice and cocaine between NSW and Tasmania.

Three brothers and Tasmanian harness racing drivers accused of transporting the drug ice and cocaine from NSW to Tasmania in exchange for cash and in postal consignments have been extradited to Sydney.

The State Crime Command’s Organised Crime Squad Casino and Racing Unit and Tasmania Police Operation Avanti established Strike Force Chiel to investigate alleged prohibited drug supply by a criminal syndicate linked to the harness racing industry.

Brothers and drivers Nathan Ford, Mitchell Ford and Tyler Ford have all been charged as a result of the investigations.

“Investigations uncovered the group was allegedly transporting methylamphetamine and cocaine from NSW to Tasmania in exchange for cash on domestic flights and in postal consignments,” NSW Police said in a statement.

Five people have previously been charged and remain before the courts.

“About 6.25am on November 18, Tasmania Police officers arrested three men aged 38, 22 and 29 in Tasmania on outstanding NSW warrants,” the statement continued.

“The men appeared before a court in Hobart the next day, where strike force detectives applied for – and were granted – the men’s extradition to NSW.”

The brothers will face court in Sydney today. Picture: NSW Police

Nathan Ford was charged with knowingly directing a criminal group, large commercial drug supply, and knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime.

Mitchell Ford and Tyler Ford were both charged with large commercial drug supply, knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime, and participating in a criminal group.

All three were refused bail to appear in Bail Division Local Court 7 today.

G.P

sonny — Fri, 21 Nov 2025 01:51:55 +0000

Open races tonight.. Here are my e/w bets
r1n7...r2n7...r3n8...r4n10...r5n7...r6n7...r7n7..
Good Punting All .. And please post your selections if any.. We are missing a few regulars

Redcliffe

sonny — Wed, 19 Nov 2025 09:36:02 +0000

R6n9. Will follow them around does not win many but runs a hole..

G.P

sonny — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 09:53:21 +0000

R5n12..r6n8..

Pinny

sonny — Mon, 17 Nov 2025 03:54:56 +0000

R4n3...r5n1...r6n1...r7n9... r9n2e/w... Menangle r8n3.. Was disappointing last start.. Is better than that.. .. Good Punting

Northam

sonny — Sat, 15 Nov 2025 10:36:14 +0000

R2n1...r3n7...r4n5...r5n6...

G.p

sonny — Fri, 14 Nov 2025 08:40:25 +0000

r3n4...r4n2...r5n11e/w...r7n5...r9n4....r10n1 ...Good racing tonight.. Good punting