Surfin At Midnight's win at $51 in R1 at Shep tonight was Owner/Breeder/Trainer John Morris's first winner for 3yrs (not that he has had many starters since that last one)
Surfin's name caught my eye this morning and seeing the winning odds and the same name for owner/breeder/trainer piqued my curiosity
I don't know John, but did a bit of research and although the Career Stats we can access only go back 20yrs (which is at least better than HRA's Trainer Chronicles, which only go back to 2012 - gosh HRA have let us down), John has been training much longer than that as his best horse Outer Limits had his first start in 92/93
Who can tell me more?
There must be much more as his career stats say 109 wins (now 110) but the listed last 20yrs only add up to 34 wins when he seems to have mostly bred/owned and trained a few as a hobby. I imagine his listed Top Horses tell the story
The first year on the list '2000/2001' shows he had 102 starters before it dropped off so his numbers were likely far greater last century
Tonight's win took his prizemoney over $500,000
https://www.harness.org.au/racing/fi...23#SPC23052306
https://www.harness.org.au/racing/tr.../john-morris1/
Greg Sugars was a Champion harness racing person
The first horse I recall John Morris training and driving was the good pacer Outer Limits, who made its debut as a 3yo winning a restricted race at Birchip in April 1993. He bowed ot 9 years later having recorded 27 wins and 35 placings. I am sure he had other horses prior to breeding Outer Limits. From the northside of the Murray at Barham.
Great to see Kyle Marshall breakthrough for his first Aussie winner in race 2 at Shepparton tonight. Kyle recently upped stumps and relocated from Auckland to Cranbourne, bringing his star 3yo Son of Mac with him. Son of Mac was runner up to Merlin in the NZ Northern Derby at its last start - put him in you black book.
Gee, things must be crook in NZ if you reckon Victoria is a better option!
The last at GP tonight is a nice little earner of $18,225 for the Bonds as they train all 4 starters (and part own 3), they left $608 behind by scratching a 5th starter
https://www.harness.org.au/form.cfm?...rc=GPM02062302
Greg Sugars was a Champion harness racing person
The first starter out of this lot is by Indomitable Saab (deceased), a stallion I had not picked up on before now.
Infinite Merit will be only his 6th starter but he has the excellent record of 5 starters for 5 winners from 12 of racing age (including Infinite Merit) and an average of $92k per starter
I am figuring they are all pretty much homebreds
Infinite Merit is the 3rd Indomitable Saab from mare Never Waver Lombo, which means that after tonight this mare will account for half the stallions starters
I don't think this percentage will change as she is also responsible for one of two yearlings from his last crop
Greg Sugars was a Champion harness racing person
Theyre not bad horses either! Very fast. I wonder if he had an accident or died through human means. Wish he'd had a chance with some other maresOriginally Posted by Messenger
I had my horse in that race but didn't think we could compete against 5 stablemates. The handicappers are flooding the market with 2yo races which results in tiny fields and walk-sprint type racing. I think there was one planned for last monday, one tonight, one tomorrow, sunday then monday, tuesday, wednesday and then friday again. Only one or two races are standing up each week and none are ever full fields.
I am not sure we could call this a race
https://www.harness.org.au/racing/fi...23#GPM02062302
An example of why you should never have one stable races
Greg Sugars was a Champion harness racing person
You shouldn't penalize one stable just because nobody else turns up. In reality, it is a reflection of dwindling horse stocks.
I see your point but we already heard how one trainer did not fancy taking on 5 from the one stable
Greg Sugars was a Champion harness racing person
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