Dashman's harness look ahead - March 27

Look ahead to this weekend's harness racing action in our weekly preview, thanks to Darren Clayton.

A total of 17 races across the next two days will be decided at Albion Park, where the highlight will be the appearance of Leap To Fame on Saturday night.

At Bathurst, the Gemma Hewitt stable will be the lone representative, with Scar Struck contesting the Gold Consolation of the Gold Crown.

FRIDAY FIND

Race five - Major Generaljujon. In a race where many will find the 2138 metres a hurdle too high, the Ricky Hart-trained gelding should be finishing strongly.

SATURDAY SPECIAL

Race two - Charge Ahead. Rising to 2138 metres for the first time this campaign should be ideal for the Grant Dixon-prepared gelding who was luckless but still impressive on the clock last week.

OPENING RACE WILL SIZZLE

Race one on Saturday night at Albion Park is the NR75 Final, with the concept continuing to attract strong fields throughout the heats.

This month’s Final shapes as another keenly contested event, headlined by Cotchinellie who lines up following three successive victories.

Following a slick 1.51.5 victory at the mile, the Narissa Elkins-trained gelding shaved a further 0.3 seconds off his lifetime best when securing heat two of the series.

Strikem finished third in that heat from barrier seven and will have to overcome the outside front line gate if he is to turn the tables this time around. 

Mynamesevan secured victory in the Redcliffe heat.

The Charlie Martin-trained gelding was first-up from a spell when faced with an outside second line gate.

Sent around the field and working to the lead, the six-year-old impressed with a strong 1.55.7 victory in his first run back in Martin’s stable following a NSW campaign at the end of 2025.

Set to jump from inside the second line, Mynamesevan will follow out the Matt Elkins-trained Bellisimo Acquisto from barrier one, who finished second in his heat on March 20.

The seven-year-old fired across from gate five to lead on that occasion and was grabbed in the last stride by Sir Richard Lee who set a sizzling 1.51.1 mile.

LTF BACK ON HIS HOME DECK

There will be an unexpected bonus for racing fans this Saturday night with Leap To Fame lining up to finalise preparations for the upcoming The Race in New Zealand.

Leap To Fame will start from barrier one in the eight-horse field.

It is not a gate that trainer Grant Dixon would prefer.

He has won six of seven attempts when starting from the inside alley.

This week’s race is over 2138 metres which is a distance that Leap To Fame has contested on 18 occasions at the venue.

He has won the past 16 of those in succession.

District Attorney will be the lone second line runner and is the only horse in the field that has beaten the Hall Of Fame pacer.

That win came in the 2024 Patrons Purse at Redcliffe.

District Attorney trailed Leap To Fame and then finished hard to claim a narrow victory.

Leap To Fame has only been beaten once in 17 Queensland starts since the Redcliffe defeat.

He finished second in the 2025 Blacks A Fake behind Don Hugo.

Frankie Ferocious was the sectional star of 2026, running 52.65 seconds for the last 800 metres in finishing third last week.

But, Frankie Ferocious has been dealt a tough ask from barrier seven.

BATHURST WATCH

Scar Struck finished third in the opening heat of the Group 1 Bathurst Gold Crown last week and will contest the Gold Consolation on Saturday night from barrier six.

Brendan Barnes will take the reins on the colt.

Head Rush for trainer Steve Borg will contest the Silver Consolation on Friday afternoon, with Jett Turnbull to take the drive.

There will be a strong focus for the 2026 Queensland Constellations at the meeting.

Unbeaten three-year-old Hollywood Strip is a potential The Rising Sun and Queensland Derby hope.

As will be the Bernie Hewitt-trained Yottie who was an eye-catching third in the New South Wales Derby.

The Gold Crown and Tiara Finals will also be key races.

The 2025 Protostar champion Loucasso finished unplaced in last year's Crown Final.

SUNSET IS GOLDEN

Not As Promised will be chasing back-to-back victories when the six-year-old attempts to overcome a 30-metre handicap at Albion Park on Saturday evening. 

The Graham Dwyer-trained gelding was back in winning form last week.

He was faced with a 10-metre impost on that occasion and once finding the front within 300 metres of the start, he was never in danger of defeat.

It will be a bigger ask this week as the gelding moves to the back mark to start alongside the Shawn Grimsey-trained Golden Sunset.

Runner-up at her past three starts, Golden Sunset was giving Not As Promised a 10-metre start last week when finishing strongly in the closing stages for second.

A consistent performer since joining the Grimsey stable, Golden Sunset has stepped out on 33 times for the trainer.

Golden Sunset has won 14 of those, including a heat of the 2025 Inter Dominion.

Majestic Lavros finished third in last week’s event and will strip fitter for the run following two runs back from a spell.

Aldebaranstilinski made a mess of the start last week and finished unplaced after winning his previous four in succession and could benefit from facing a handicap this week.