Dashman's harness examination - August 25

Catch up on the week's harness racing action in our weekly review, thanks to Darren Clayton.

DAWSON DELIVERS

The past five driving premierships in Queensland have been dominated by Nathan Dawson and Pete McMullen, the only two drivers to drive 200-plus winners in each of the past four seasons.

2025 appears to be no different and following the conclusion of Friday night’s meeting at Redcliffe last week, the pair were locked at 148 wins apiece.

Dawson gained the outright lead after the first race on Saturday night, partnering Rocket City to a dominant all the way victory, stopping the clock in a sizzling 1.50.5 rate.

Quickly bringing up a double by race three, Dawson guided Moth Hunter to a passing lane victory, producing an inspired drive aboard the mare after easing back from outside the front line in the early stages.

By race four, The Postman had a treble, partnering Frankie Ferocious to victory in the standing start open class event, taking control of the race with a back straight attack.

Platinum Jewel was the fourth winner for Dawson, scoring a tough victory aboard the mare for trainer Gemma Hewitt, who is currently holidaying in Greece.

The quintet was secured in the last race of the night, bookending the card for trainer Donny Smith, when Sitting On Eight defeated the long odds-on favourite James Alfred.

Taking his season tally to 153 wins, Dawson moved to a four-win lead over McMullen who managed to post one winner for the night, dictating aboard Miss Idaho.

Both Dawson and McMullen have now landed five winners at a meeting on six occasions, for Dawson, his bagful was the second this season.

LADIES RULE LOCKYER VALLEY

The Darling Downs Harness Racing Club conducted their second grass track race meeting at The Lockyer Valley Turf Club on Sunday.

Hosting the first meeting in 2024 at the Gatton track, six of the eight races were won by female drivers and in 2025, the ladies again dominated, taking home five, while trainer Lacey Hinze joined in the success with Icanandiwill.

In the Gatton Grass Cup, the first three across the line secured a trifecta for the Darling Downs trainers, with Dayl March from Warwick snaring first and second across the line, while Clifton based Lol Weidemann finished third.

The Cup was taken out by Bonnies Cam, with Paige Bevan taking the reins, with March opting to partner Our Major Day which battled on for second after leading the field when they swung for home, the veteran placed in the Cup for the second time.

Driving honours for the day went to Taleah McMullen with a winning double, the first winner when partnering with Alwaysmissingyou for trainer Ricky Gordon.

The second leg of the double was aboard Lydias Art, the five-year-old trained by Taleah’s partner Trent Lethaby, with the pair also owning the gelding.

Julie Weidemann scored in the seventh race of the day, scoring with Gracenava, a mare she owns that is trained by her sister, Lola who also claimed training honours for the day, as she did 12 months ago.

Keayang Tara was the other Weidemann winner on Sunday, the eight-year-old mare charging home from back in the field to deny Lulu Lucifer, giving the Weidemann sisters the winning quinella.

The next meeting for the Darling Downs Harness Racing Club will be at Warwick on December 14.

CALL TO ORDER EUREKA BOUND

The Grant Dixon trained Call To Order will take the Racing Queensland slot in the Eureka, heading to the $2million event in winning form.

Claiming the Eureka slot with a win in The Hayden two months ago, the Dixon trained four-year-old secured his first victory since that night when scoring a dominant win on Saturday.

Driven confidently by Trista Dixon, the gelding was sent forward to race outside the leader, Watchmedazzle, with a strong 58.9 seconds opening half.

Moving up to attack the leader, Call To Order moved away from the field and with Dixon driving confidently, the gelding responded to post a 9.8-metre winning margin.

In securing a sixth season victory and tenth of his career, the gelding stopped the clock in a 1.54.0 rate for the 2138 metre journey, highlighted by closing splits of 27.7 and 27.3.

The Dixon stable will be dually represented in the Eureka, with star three-year-old Fate Awaits announced for the race later in the evening.

However, in somewhat of a shock, the Rising Sun winner will not be racing under the Kevin and Kay Seymour slot, instead a deal has been struck for the reigning Australian two-year-old of the year to race in the Western Jewel slot for Wayne and Julie Loader.

That paves the way for potentially a third runner to line up in the worlds richest harness race for Grant Dixon.

THIS WEEK

Six race meetings will be conducted in Queensland in the week ahead, three from Albion Park, two from Redcliffe and Marburg rounding out the week with a Sunday afternoon fixture.

Tuesday from The Creek, Springboard Finals for the trotters will be conducted, a small field of four to tackle the two-year-old division, with 11 to contest the three-year-olds where Laydownluna will looking to complete the Triad/Springboard double.

Saturday night will see Speak The Truth contest the open class event in readiness for a tilt at the Len Smith Mile at Menangle the following week, while his stablemate Sure Thing Captain will round out his preparations for the Group 1 event with a trial at The Creek on Tuesday afternoon.