SATURDAY STORY..
'TROT TACTICS"..16/05/2009..
In the reverse of the normal process,Karrabin based trainer-driver Ann Manwaring and partner Lee Woldt went from the outhouse to the penthouse in the 2yo Stakes at Gold Coast on Friday night May 8th.Beaten a fair way after being checked under the same conditions a week previous,Crackerofaparty,a gelded son of Partywiththebigdog and Manwaring's former mare,Megsamillion,ran the 1609 metres out in 1-59.3 to score a skinny,but impressive victory over another Ipswich pacer,Jack In Flight,prepared by Brett Cargill at Fernvale.Crackerofaparty is Megsamillion's second foal,and the multiple winning chestnut is currently in foal to Enrique,a talented son of Presidential Ball,standing for Colin Knox at Braycrest Lodge,Thagoona.Who knows,with a win on the board,"Cracker' could be the next Abermain for team Manwaring..
Over the last two decades,successive control bodies have slowly compressed the sport of harness racing/trotting into the South East corner of our very large state.Originally the sport flourished from Southport to Cairns,and now the most northerly point with regular racing is Redcliffe and the western extremity is the soon to close Rocklea.Enter Leigh Wanless,the most flamboyant of the three brothers who followed their father Merv into the game.Currently Leigh is based in the Wide Bay area and is a strong force in a move to restore regular racing to the 900 metre circuit at Maryborough.Never one to do things by halves,Wanless has established Glenorchy Springs Stud and will be standing prolific sire Peace of Art,and the multiple New Zealand classic producer,Caprock.A hardline approach to the economic realities of racing the average light harness horse in Queensland sees both horses in the breeding marketplace at $1000 +GST with live foal guarantee..Serious value..Denis.