Catch up on the week’s harness racing action in our weekly review, thanks to Darren Clayton.
THE GOOD
Wee Man Trouble continued his remarkable return to racing with victory in the PSP Trotters Mobile at Albion Park on Saturday night.
After finishing down the track in May 2021, a decision was made to pull the pin on the racing career of the Group 1 winner.
Fast forward 11 months and the seven-year-old was not only back at the track, but in top form, with successive Saturday night victories.
Starting from barrier four, following the scratching of his stablemate Van Sank, the son of Superfast Stuart was eased to the rear of the field.
Gaining a three-wide cart into the race, on the back of Garland Greene at the 500-metre point, driver Adam Sanderson angled the gelding four wide as the field turned for home.
Unleashing a powerful closing sprint, Wee Man Trouble (below) stormed home for a 2.2-metre victory over Stress Factor who used the passing lane.
The win, over the mobile 2138-metre trip, followed his victory two weeks ago at Albion Park ago over the mile when Luke Whittaker took the drive.
Just two races after Wee Man Trouble claimed victory, the Shannon Price stable recorded a winning double after Sporty Dancer also made it successive Saturday night triumphs.
Beaten for early speed from the pole, Sanderson quickly kicked-up Sporty Dancer to regain the front and controlled proceedings with 1400 metres to travel.
With a steady tempo, Sanderson let the four-year-old mare rip home, with a closing 400-metre split of 26.8 seconds, putting the race out of reach of the chasing pack.
Closing in on 900 career training wins, Price has put together a formidable team this season, with 37 victories and striking at an impressive 28%.
With Constellations Carnival approaching, the Price stable will have some power to call on with Wee Man Trouble and Van Sank in the trotting features, joined by the likes of Speak The Truth in the 3YO showcases, Sporty Dancer in the mare’s features and the classy 4YO Sumomentsomewhere.
Currently sitting on a winning streak of six, Sumomentsomewhere was driven quietly when attacking the line stylishly last week in a trial behind Jilliby Kung Fu.
THE BAD
After three starts since joining the Matt Elkins stable, not much has gone to plan with the mare Valkyrie.
At her first Queensland appearance, the four-year-old was delivered an unfavourable barrier and from gate seven, it was made worse with a starting error.
Placed with an ODM embargo for her poor manners, she started from gate seven at her second appearance and once again her manners proved costly, ending her chances soon after the start.
Given a pair of trials to remove an ODM embargo, the mare then lined up in a mid-week event on May 10, where it appeared her luck may have turned, drawing barrier one for the 1660-metre event.
Sent out deep into the red as the $1.60 favourite, the mare led for nearly the entire journey, only to face defeat in the last strides as Delightful Lou claimed victory by a head.
Having difficulty in finding a suitable mid-week race, Elkins opted to give Valkyrie (below) a start in Saturday night mare’s qualifier, with more than four weeks since her previous outing.
When the fields were released, there was another level of exacerbation, with the Group 1 winning mare Soho Almasi landing gate one and Valkyrie drawing gate four.
With Elkin’s partner Narissa McMullen taking the drive, she had Valkyrie away smartly from the gate and, soon after the start, had found the pocket trail on the back of the favourite.
After a steady first three quarters, the favours looked to be firmly with Soho Almasi as McMullen angled her mare into the passing lane.
The closer the winning post came, the less likely the favourite looked and, with 30 metres to travel, Valkyrie darted through along the passing lane, hit the front, and claimed victory.
It was the fifth career victory for the Art Major four-year-old, setting a career benchmark of 1.55.1 with the win.
The victory was the first for the trainer-owner combination of Matt Elkins and Trevor Barsby.
Having had previous success together with Gotothemoon, formerly trained by Donny Smith, Barsby sourced Valkyrie from Victoria and had no hesitation in again partnering with Elkins, this time as his trainer.
THE MILESTONE
Last Tuesday at Albion Park, the efforts in trying to expand the trotting gait in Queensland were on display when a field of eight took to the track for the first two-year-old race of the season.
Just three years ago, the first-ever two-year-old-only trotters’ event was held in Queensland and only three starters lined up behind the starting tapes.
On that occasion, it was the Tim Gillespie-trained Shegotsass that was successful in a moderate mile rate of 2.19.0.
In 2020, a field of four started with the Grant Dixon-trained Okanagan proving successful in 2.07.8 and last year it was again a field of four with You No Ill Be Late winning for Chantal Turpin, in a rate of 2.07.7.
And once again it was Turpin that trained the winner of the first race of the year in 2022, with Susan Is Her Name (below) proving too smart first up, recording a winning mile rate of 2.06.9 over 1628 metres.
Owned and bred by Bruce Wyborn, Susan Is Her Name is a daughter of the champion sire Sebastian K and was driven to victory by the state’s leading driver Pete McMullen.
The Turpin stable was heavily represented in the race, turning out five of the eight first starters with Chantal driving the third-placed Venus Love.
Venus Love is the first progeny to make it to the track from the 2018 promotion held by RQ in conjunction with Haras Des Trotteurs.
Out of Lucky Love, a mare that Trump Bloodstock secured via the promotion, she was sent to the court of Sebastian K, with Venus Love the resultant foal.
This coming Tuesday, Turpin will step out the second foal from the promotion, when Razzleme Dazzleme takes to the track.
Also bred by Trump Bloodstock from the mare Feona Joy, the gelding was purchased at the 2021 APG Yearling Sales by Turpin.
THE WILDCARD
It was a strong week for the Jack Butler stable, preparing seven winners to extend the lead in the State trainers’ premiership to eight.
The figures were boosted with a treble on Friday night followed by a metropolitan double on Saturday night.
Thursday was the only day Butler missed saluting the judge, with one winner on Tuesday and another on Wednesday.
Father Christmas (pictured) started the week with just his second career victory at Albion Park and the first since being trained by Butler, after taking on the square gaiter for previous trainer Al Barnes.
Brian Christopher, a pacer also formerly with Barnes, won at Redcliffe on Wednesday night, scoring with Brendan Barnes in the bike in the opening race.
Friday night’s training treble also returned a driving treble for Brendan Barnes, with victories to Mount Hercules, Dangerzone and Roll With Sam.
It was the first win in Queensland for Mount Hercules, as Barnes steered the eight-year-old to victory via the passing lane having placed in both previous starts since joining the Butler stable from NSW.
Dangerzone backed up his impressive last-start victory when he dictated the speed to defeat the McCarthy-trained Cover Girl, peeling off a sizzling 26.7 closing 400-metre split, for back-to-back wins.
Roll With Sam completed the treble. The two-year-old gelding showed a nice turn of speed on debut and finished hard down the centre of the track to claim victory.
The first leg of Saturday night’s double was classy open-class performer Deus Ex, the son of Changeover, claiming his ninth win under Butler’s care and 16th overall.
Chloe Butler had the drive on the six-year-old for the first time after Brendan Barnes started a suspension following his Friday night obligations. The victory was never in doubt, after controlling the tempo to claim the race by six metres.
The double was completed when Mohs Em Down, driven by Leonard Cain, scored an all-the-way win in the veteran’s event.
Claiming a century of training wins at each of the past six seasons, the current firepower in the stable has Butler on track to set a new benchmark.
THIS WEEK
Six meetings again this week in Queensland, with Redcliffe hosting four and Albion Park just two.
The Creek will hold nine races on Tuesday followed by Saturday night’s metropolitan fixture.
With nominations closing on Monday morning, Saturday’s meeting looks set to see more interstate campaigners arrive, with several horses aimed at a Constellations campaign.
Redcliffe will host four meetings this week, the regular Wednesday and Thursday fixtures are back on the schedule, followed by Friday and Sunday night.
Friday night will be a huge night of action with several feature races to be decided.
Along with the heats for the Garrard’s Yearling Sale Pace for two-year-olds, the Chris Garrard Patrons Purse, the 3YO Sales Final, the Showcase Finals and the Redcliffe Trotters Cup are all on a bumper Friday night card.