Drug-tested horses win as All Stars grab Jewels
Two horses caught up in the Harness Jewels drug contamination saga won races at the glamour Harness Jewels meeting.
Princess Tiffany and Winterfell, both trained by Mark Purdon and Natalie Rasmussen of the All Stars stable, won Group I races at Cambridge on Saturday.
But the stablemates made up just one-third of the success for Purdon and Rasmussen who went on to win six of the nine races in an incredible, but not unexpected, display of dominance.
The success for the Rollestonbased stable would have been extra sweet given there was doubt nine of its 20 runners would be able to start. On Wednesday, Rasmussen alerted the Racing Integrity Unit (RIU) that nine of the stable’s horses – plus another horse from a rival stable who was travelling with them– could have been exposed to drug contamination during a float trip from Auckland to Cambridge.
The contamination fears came after the driver of the truck transporting the horses became concerned about activities of two workers travelling with the horses and reported their possible drug smoking.
But the drama was a distant memory by the time Princess Tiffany won the opening race – the two-year-old Diamond – by five and a quarter lengths. From there, Enhance Your Calm (twoyear-old Ruby) and Shez All Rock (three-year-old Diamond) gave the duo the first three races.
Shez All Rock was the first Australian invite to win a Harness Jewels since the inception of the race day back in 2007. She was bred in New Zealand before being exported to Australia but has been trained by PurdonRasmussen for a two-start New Zealand campaign that has seen her win the New Zealand Oaks and the Harness Jewels.
Another Masterpiece (twoyear-old Emerald) scored the All Stars fourth win of the day in the hands of stable driver Tim Williams.
Eamon Maguire (four-year-old Emerald) and Winterfell (threeyear-old Ruby) completed the sixpack for the All Stars outfit.
The six wins advanced Purdon and Rasmussen’s record to an astonishing 23 races wins from 45 Jewels races since the partnership formed in 2014. A big defensive play in the final minute helped the Southern Steel to a narrow netball premiership win over the Northern Stars.
They prevailed 63-61 at ILT Stadium Southland in Invercargill yesterday, after trailing at the end of each of the first three quarters, shrugging off any worries their 31-goal loss to the Central Pulse in the middle of the week may have caused.
For the Stars, it was another lost game in a campaign where they are yet to get a win.
The crucial play came with just over a minute to play, as Steel defender Courtney Elliott got in the way of a bounce pass from Holly Fowler to Stars shooter Maia Wilson when the Aucklanders were looking to tie the game.
The scores had been locked 56-56 as they reached the halfway mark, and that was when the Steel were able to go on a little run, opening up a three-goal advantage, but the Stars were able to draw level again, 60-60, as the clock ticked under three minutes, after a couple of big defensive stops.
Elliott then came up huge when her team needed her the most, and they were able to claim their fourth win of the season, moving up to second place.
In the late game, the Central Southern Steel 63 (Jennifer O’Connell 21/27, Te Paea SelbyRickit 37/45, Olivia Bates 5/6) Northern Stars 61 (Maia Wilson
42/45, Paula Griffin 19/22) Q1:
15-16; Q2: 31-33; Q3: 48-49 Central Pulse 60 (Aliyah Dunn
39/42, Tiana Metuarau 5/7, Ameliaranne Ekenasio 16/18). Northern Mystics 38 (Bailey Mes
19/27, Jamie Hume 19/28). Q1:
18-12; HT: 31-18; Q3: 47-28
Points (games played): Pulse 12
(6), Steel 8 (6), Tactix 7 (5), Mystics
6 (6), Stars 3 (5), Magic 3 (5).