2008 Mt Eden Sprint winner Sneakyn Down Under will start favourite to win the 2008 Village Kid Sprint
Northam club’s new $1 million stabling complex nearing completion
The $25,000 Village Kid Sprint at Northam next Tuesday night (25th November) has attracted a field befitting a race named in honour of one of Australian harness racing’s legends.
The Donald Harper trained Hayton Brain – 20 wins $271,667 - will be attempting to win a third Village Kid Sprint but he will have to be at his absolute best to bring up a hat-trick of wins.
The field also includes No Blue Manna – 41 wins $613,032, rising star Sneakyn Down Under – 12 wins $127,628, sub 1:50 American pacer Spirit Of A Shark – 24 wins $609,319, Roydon Holmes – 24 wins $245,796, Tartary Gladiator – 13 wins $119,153 etc.
Hayton Brain, a winner of the $30,000 Parliamentarians Cup over 2536 metres last Friday night, won the race in January 2006 and November 2007 on his way to establishing a reputation as the State’s best sprinter.
Hayton Brain’s other sprint wins include the 2007 Mount Eden Sprint, 2007 and 2008 FHRC Members Sprint as well as finishing third to No Blue Manna and Franco Amon in the 2007 Celebrity Sprint at Gloucester Park.
The 2008 Village Kid Sprint field in barrier draw order is:
Barrier Horse Trainer Driver (not final) Barrier Line
1 Talk To Me Courage NZ Gary Hall Shayne Cramp FT
2 Gary Bromac NZ Kim Young Kim Young FT
3 Ultimate Hanover Craig Billingham Chris Lewis FT
4 Tartary Gladiator Kevin Keys Ryan Bell FT
5 Sneakyn Down Under NZ Darren Duffy Chris Lewis FT
6 Patches NZ Debbie Padberg Mark Reed FT
7 Hayton Brain NZ Donald Harper Donald Harper FT
8 Glitzy Miss Debbie Padberg Michael George 2L
9 Meals On Wheels NZ Patrick Keating Ryan Warwick 2L
10 Roydon Holmes NZ Tony Svilicich Kyle Harper 2L
11 Spirit Of A Shark USA Ross Olivieri Chris Lewis 2L
12 No Blue Manna Justin Warwick Justin Warwick 2L
The now 28yo Village Kid will be harnessed up at Northam on Tuesday night and Bill Horn’s grand-daughter Tammy Horn will drive the champion as he leads the field onto the track.
Village Kid retired in 1993 with a record of 160 starts for 93 wins and $2,117,870 in stakes.
Previous winners Village Kid Sprint:
Year Winner Trainer Driver Rate
2004 Renascentur Tonia Stampalia Tonia Stampalia 1.59.4 (January 2004)
2005 Non Commital Jon Gavin Jon Gavin 1.59.1 (January 2005)
2006 Hayton Brain Grant Williams Grant Williams 1.59.6 (January 2006)
2006 Mustang Fighter Debbie Padberg Mark Reed 1.57.8 (November 2006)
2007 Hayton Brain Donald Harper Grant Williams 1.59.0 (November 2007)
Northam Harness Racing Club secretary/manager Verna Freind said work on the club’s new $1 million barn style stabling area is nearing completion.
“We expect that we will have the official opening at our Northam Cup meeting on January 24th but visitors next Tuesday will be able to see the progress that has been made to date”, she said.
As the unofficial President of the Village Kid Fan Club, Mrs Freind had hoped that the new stabling area would have been ready for Village Kid Sprint night but a wetter than normal August had delayed the works.
“It would have been great if Willie had been the first horse to set foot in the stables on a race-night but all associated with the Club are so pleased that we will have the best stabling facility in the State – it will be worth the wait”.
Hoofnote:
Village Kid fan Craig Kavanagh from Adelaide has been in Western Australia on holidays.
Craig has talked his wife into extending their holiday by a couple of days so he can hire a car and drive to Northam to see Village Kid in the flesh as he leads the field onto the track on Tuesday night.
In a letter sent to Bill Horn a couple of weeks ago Craig says “…while I never saw Village Kid race it seems every childhood memory I have of harness racing revolves around him. The first race I remember seeing was the 1986 Miracle Mile when I was seven, back when it was shown live on Channel Two. Village Kid won brilliantly that night and I was hooked on the horse”.
