Addington will race twice a week on Fridays and Sundays under the draft calendar released for the rest of the season.
Addington harness big winner in post lockdown dates, securing Fridays and Sundays
By Barry Lichter • 21 April 2020
Addington has been the big winner in harness racing, securing the lucrative Friday spots for its meetings until the end of the season.
The draft calendar released for consultation by the Racing Industry Transition Agency today has Addington securing four Friday day meetings in June.
In July it keeps all the Friday meetings for night cards, starting at 5.30pm.
Addington will race twice a week, also getting seven Sunday slots through June and July.
Auckland and Cambridge will alternate on Thursday nights through June and then their meetings move to Wednesday night slots in July. The Thursday harness spot is taken over by Invercargill day meetings which move from Saturdays when gallops meetings resume.
Thoroughbred racing starts in the north on July 3, with racing alternating on Saturdays between Te Rapa and Pukekohe in the north, and Awapuni and Riccarton.
Friday meetings will be held at Riccarton, Wanganui, Southland and Awapuni through July.
Dates for gallops and harness meetings are:
May
June
July
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Lincoln Linda best of the night at Cambridge - she has the engine to cross Soul Artist
Our runners this week: How our trainers rate them
Ray’s comments
Thursday night at Cambridge
Race 1: Rivergirl Bella
5.44pm
“She did well here last time as she had to do a bit to get to the lead and she dug in and fought on. She’s certainly a chance if she repeats that effort.”
Race 4: Lincoln Linda
7.09pm
“I thought she went super last time after doing a lot of work. She can do that because she has an engine and is tough. She’s a bit one-dimensional - you have to turn her loose early - but from the two draw she should be able to lead and that’s where she does her best work.”
Race 5: Sugar Ray Lincoln
7.34pm
“I think he’s a bit stronger after his spell. It’s not a great field - most will die on that mark - and I don’t see a problem with the standing start as he’s nicely gaited. He could be marginally unfit after three months out but he’s done quite a bit of work and I can see him going a half-decent race.”
Race 6: Lincoln Maree
7.59pm
“She had every chance last time but I can’t see why she won’t go well again. She’s as honest as they come and tries like hell.”
Race 7: The Night Fox
8.29pm
“You’d think he’d lead easily from the inside. He’s had bad draws and still got the money, so I’m sure he’ll go another good race. I’m surprised they sold him so cheaply. He’s better than people think.”
Ray’s comments
Friday night at Auckland
Race 1: Lincoln Wave
5.09pm
“With the trip he got in the Harness Million I thought he’d have run on a lot better. But he was still a bit short on fitness and sometimes we can expect too much of these horses, he was racing the best, after all. It’s a big drop in grade here and he’s a pretty fair horse.”
Race 1: Leo Lincoln
5.09pm
“He’s an honest sort who’s in a good space but he won’t get a wonderful trip from the outside of the gate this time so I’m not holding my breath.”
Race 3: Sammy Lincoln
6.04pm
“He’s training down well but you never know what he’s going to do. You think you’ve got him sorted and he does something silly. But we know if the real Sammy turned up, he’d be very hard to beat as he’s got a lot of speed.”
Race 5: Prince Lincoln
7.05pm
“He’s another where you don’t know which one will turn up but we’ve gelded him since his last run, so we’ll see if that helps. He trained well the other day.”
