Dashman's harness examination - April 7

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

TURPIN PAIR SALUTE

Queenslanders Gus and The Janitor won their respective Group 2 assignments at Cambridge last Thursday.

They were contrasting wins with Gus sweeping home down the outside to score.

The Janitor was forced to work hard outside the leader and graft out an impressive victory.

Starting from wide off the front line, Gus eased at the start and when starting to make his run with 400 metres remaining, he was forced wider still with ground to make up.

Showing his speed, Gus charged home down the outside of the Cambridge straight to arrive in the closing strides to defeat Johnny Who.

The seven-year-old has now won all three of his races in New Zealand for trainer Chantal Turpin and driver Pete McMullen.

He heads into this week’s Trot where a return clash with Keayang Zahara looms.

Meanwhile, The Janitor showed his toughness.

He was sent forward by McMullen to sit parked soon after the start and dug deep for a strong win.

Establishing a new track record with victory, The Janitor defeated Sooner The Bettor and Merlin in a great preparation for this week’s The Race where he will again clash with Leap To Fame.

It was the 19^th career victory for the five-year-old from just 33 starts, with the win taking his earnings beyond $500,000.

In a perfect night for McMullen, he also claimed victory with a pick-up drive aboard the Arna Donnelly-trained Beta Prepare.

He landed three wins from three drives.

MARTIN PRODUCES MAGIC

Matt Elkins struck gold at Marburg when Martin Magic claimed the Goldstrike Series Final.

Elkins owns, trains and drove the seven-year-old who was able to hold a narrow margin over the Lola Weidemann-trained and driven Jekamias.

Jekamias finished second and Merge Right held third.

Smartly away from the 10-metre handicap, Elkins signalled his intentions and moved up to take the lead from Merge Right and Nathan Dawson.

Once in control, it was an even tempo throughout, with Martin Magic forced to dig deep in the closing stages to hold off Jekamias.

It was a second consecutive Goldstrike Final for Elkins.

He won the Marburg feature last year with Daggy Lamb.

Elkins is enjoying a successful start to the season and the win by Martin Magic capped a week that saw him reach 150 career training wins when Moops was successful at Albion Park on Tuesday.

Landing a winning double with Oakley Shard, Elkins also has 32 driving wins also to his credit in 2026.

STAR GAZING

Bay Of Biscay, the 2025 The Eureka champion, resumed from a spell at Melton on Saturday when finishing third.

Bulletproof Boy led throughout enroute to the Nullarbor, with Fighter Command finishing in second, with all three potential Inter Dominion hopefuls in July.

Also at Melton, Derby hopeful Cardigan Dan scored by an expanding margin in his first run this season.

The Riverina Championships at Wagga showcased several Queensland Constellations hopefuls in action, with none more impressive than Gunna Reload.

The four-year-old mare charged home from last to score an impressive victory, with The Rising Sun a definite target.

Seasider claimed a second Country Championship for the season, adding the Riverina title to his Western Region Championship victory back in January.

The Amanda Turnbull-trained and driven gelding defeated War Dan Buddy and Double Lou in a stacked race that will likely have strong form referencing in the Constellations.

Star three-year-old Hollywood Strip bounced back to winning form in defeating older horses to claim the Wagga Cup in a sizzling 1.53.0 for the 2270 metre trip.

SATURDAY SNIPPETS

Fate Awaits and Path To Greatness both claimed successive victories as the high-quality four-year-olds progress towards the Queensland Constellations.

Path To Greatness rated 1.53.4 over 2138 metres while Fate Awaits scored in a qualifier after being forced to sit parked.

The Rising Sun defending champion went 0.4 seconds quicker than his stablemate over the same trip, highlighted by a 54.1 second closing half.

Mufasa Metro bounced back into winning form for trainer Tayla Gillespie after scoring victory in the open trot.

Scoring an Inter Dominion placing in 2023, the eight-year-old secured a 16^th career victory in defeating Not As Promised and Golden Sunset.

Pete McMullen secured driving honours on the night with a winning treble, with wins aboard Attachment, Daisy Diana and Tough Shaz.

All three are trained by Chantal Turpin who took training honours.

THIS WEEK

Focus will shift to Cambridge on Friday night when Leap To Fame, The Janitor and Gus contest The Race and The Trot.

Leap To Fame is looking for a second successive victory in the $1 million event.

There are six meetings programmed in Queensland this week.

There will be three each from Albion Park and Redcliffe with the usual fixtures accompanied by a Sunday night card from Redcliffe.