There’s nothing I’ve enjoyed more over the years than the many conversations I’ve had with veteran horsemen - especially harness horsemen who were around in the days when the sport was drawing big crowds all around Australia.

Ian Verning doesn’t mind his life long nickname of “Spud” although he is frustrated by the fact that he has no idea of its origins.

Australian harness racing currently boasts a plethora of talented drivers in the 20-25 age bracket. Those who appear regularly on metropolitan tracks enjoy the bulk of available media attention.

Trainers lucky enough to have a runner at a major trots meeting are conscious of the atmosphere only big time racing can generate. Miracle Mile night is something else again.

There’s no better pointer for punters than a Darren Hancock trained horse turning up at Penrith. The leading horseman has been an unabashed fan of the 1400m Menangle circuit since its inception in 2008

The 2022 Penrith racing year concluded on December 29th with what looked to be a run of the mill programme on paper. It took a rare training double by father and daughter duo David and Katie McGill, to inject a little “buzz” into the night.

Sean Grayling is emerging as a pretty serious race driver, and he appears to have a good handle on the art of training a harness horse.

Abbey Turnbull’s winning drive behind Dalvey Robyn at the Riverina Paceway on Melbourne Cup night was about as good as it gets.

You could fill a decent sized page with the names of trainers and drivers who are second, third or fourth generation harness racing people.

Scott Adams was quietly chuffed when Humming Top’s number flashed onto the semaphore after the fifth race at Young on August 2nd.

We’d like to share with you a snappy HRNSW promotional video featuring the highlights of the sport in the first half of the current season. This video was produced by Power Productions.

David Brown is one of several trainers alarmed by recent rumblings about the future of the Penrith Paceway. The regular Thursday night meetings are the lifeblood of those trainers who work day jobs.

Stephen Conroy has never forgotten the moment he realised just how much harness racing meant to him. It was a regular Friday night meeting at Harold Park in the mid 1980’s and he’d just won a trophy race with his consistent gelding Saint Albans.

Bill Hansell’s career in harness racing had just begun when the dual Academy Award winning movie “The Quiet Man” was released in 1952. The title of the famous John Wayne classic best describes the persona of Bill Hansell.

I was surprised the first time a polite teenager insisted on helping me unharness one of my horses at a Penrith meeting in 2014.

Leon Jurd has been thinking outside the square for most of his forty four years in harness racing. In a remarkably diversified career, the now 61 year old has made his mark as a driver, trainer and bloodstock agent.

Greg Coney had barely reached his teen years when he first set foot in the bustling north western NSW city of Tamworth - the state’s second largest inland city.

Ross Adams was nursing some pretty painful injuries when he hobbled out of Westmead Hospital on Tuesday October 26th.

“The only certainty about luck is that it will change” - a quote attributable to nineteenth century American short story writer Bret Harte. Gavin Fitzpatrick isn’t into philosophical quotes but he’ll relate to this one.

Bruce Harpley was as happy as a dog with two tails when daylight savings resumed in NSW on October 3rd. For the last thirty years daylight has been a precious commodity for the personable Harpley…