clockwise harness racing

[ambrose]

can anyone tell me if alexandra park is the only clockwise track in the world for harness racing , i know that there are galloping tracks that are used to race anti clockwise , but i want to know specifically , the auckland way

[David Summers]

Merredin Trotting Club WA http://www.casinocity.com/au/wa/merredin/merredtc/

Ruakaka Trotting Club , NZ https://www.harnesslink.com/www/Article.cgi?ID=77702

I am not speaking from experience , just found these on the net. The photos of the Ruakaka finishes certainly look like they are on a non-grass surface.

[David Summers]

Also, I may be wrong , but I seem to remember , from the short-lived harness racing coverage by SKY last year from France , that almost all the trotting tracks shown race clockwise.

[ambrose]

many thanks for replies, ruakaka is the home track of the whangerei thoroughbred club , so that cancels that one out

[Bitteroldhack]

many thanks for replies, ruakaka is the home track of the whangerei thoroughbred club , so that cancels that one out

Ah no, it doesn't cancel that out. The Northland Harness Racing Club holds one meeting a year at Alexandra Park, but there is also the dual code day in early January held at Ruakaka. There is a harness track on the inside of the thoroughbred track - very flat turns. See this video from the January meeting this year - http://racevideo.hrnz.co.nz/Videos/2011/01/05/20110105-00101-0256.wmv

[Big K]

There has been no harness racing in Merredin for many a year and when there was it was anticlockwise as it is with every track in WA.


Cheers

[eliteblood]

Sydney used to have two right handed tracks, Hawkesbury and Richmond (grass track).
Albion Park also raced right handed in its early days, 1970's I am guessing

[triplev123]

G'day Eliteblood,

I can't remember Hawkesbury but I sure can remember Richmond. What an embarrassment it was.

[eliteblood]

I think it was a 1000m track. Bloody freezing on a winter's night.
I used to go there quite often and remember Hondo Grattan winning there as a 3YO.

[triplev123]

Richmond was a dreadful place.
The late Laurie Moulds used to have a mate/stable hanger on/associate or whatever who was a Catholic Priest and an absolute desperado Punter. When they wanted to put their money down Laurie would position the afformentioned Man of the Cloth at the end of the stable row to act as a Cockatoo and alert him to the presence of approaching Stewards while Laurie would duck out the back& tube the chosen horse with a bottle of Laudanum & various goodies. True story.