An Australian’s perspective on the NZ Cup carnival

The tide has turned, at least for the time being.

Australian influence in New Zealand’s premier harness racing has grown in recent years, but this week it was utterly dominant.

Of the seven major races the Aussies entered, they won six and finished third in the others.

The likes of Swayzee, Just Believe, Keayang Zahara and Leap To Fame have paved the way for this week in recent years.

But even the most biased and passionate Aussie fan couldn’t have predicted with certainty what we saw this week.

From Kingman’s stunning victory (Always B Miki) in the IRT NZ Cup, a horse that wasn’t even in the race a few weeks ago, to the contrastingly stunning Group 1 double Gus, a Queensland trotter who has always promised something special.

Leap To Fame impressed with a second place finish to Kingman and this was his own victory in the NZ Free-For-All. We should not overlook the fact that he became only the third Australian-trained pacer to win that race.

The Australian raiders’ ‘story’ – the story of the week, by the way – came as Tracy The Jet played her rivals at The Ascent, with a similar dominance to her compatriot Keayang Zahara in the first edition of the final race last year.

The emotions were overflowing, the tears were everywhere.

This was special.

Jess Tubbs returning to Addington seven months after the loss of her husband, champion driver Greg Sugars, and 12 months after they shared one of their greatest moments with Just Believe in the Dominion, was everything we love about racing.

This time she did it herself, after a week of remembering Greg.

It was everything we love about racing.

And Tracy The Jet shows all the qualities that suggest she will go on to do bigger and better things, just as Keayang Zahara has done and will seemingly continue to do.

Kyvalley Ray added an extra Aussie touch when he gave former Kiwi rider Brent Lilley, now hugely successful in Victoria, a Group 1 victory in the final of the 2YO Trotters’ Sires’ Stake.

You’ll be seeing a lot more of him. He is staying with Hayden and Amanda Cullen to chase more Group 1 glory in Auckland next April/May.

There were also many great moments for the Kiwis.

That epic battle between Got The Chocolates and Marketplace wrestled the NZ Cup for best race of the week.

It was a Got The Chocolates victory of sorts to get off the canvas.

Cran and Chrissie Dalgety had a great week, which could have been truly frozen had the Republican Party gone one step further than its courageous second after Leap To Fame in the New Zealand Free-For-All.

In the late 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s, the Kiwis came to Australia regularly and dominated our major races.

It made the Aussies better. Breed better horses, train better.

The tide has turned, but that won’t be forever.

As an Australian, I naturally enjoyed the week.

But what I enjoyed most was the real coming together of two great harness racing countries – whether it was in New Zealand or Australia.

Hopefully we’ll see a lot more of it.

What a week!

Through Adam Hamilton for Harness Racing New Zealand