Sport
10 October, 2025
Brothers combine in Donaldson trot
THE larger than usual weekday crowd that attended the Charlton harness racing last week included the family and friends of the late Matt Donaldson and the late Jeff Gadsden as well as members of Probus clubs from the local area.
THE larger than usual weekday crowd that attended the Charlton harness racing last week included the family and friends of the late Matt Donaldson and the late Jeff Gadsden as well as members of Probus clubs from the local area.
Stawell trainer/driver Jason Ainsworth had two starters in race 1 with the winner being driven by James Herbertson and then he drove the winner of race 2, the Vale Matt Donaldson Trot for his brother Ashley.
The second horse in this race was Zarski, who is trained by Matt’s son Gary, and surely would have been the winner if not for making an early mistake that cost him much more than the 1.6m margin that he was beaten by.
Race 5 on the programme was won by the 3yo gelding To The Nines for Charlton trainer Mick Gadsden and driver Ryan Backhouse. Ryan had won five races on the pacer when it was trained by Mick’s late father Jeff Gadsden at Merbien South.
Jeff had selected the winner at the yearling sales and held high hopes of a successful career for the son of Poster Boy who he raced with his wife Jennie.
The impeccably bred 6yo mare Fair Chance won race 7, the Ames Australia Pace Final as she continues to repay the faith that her connections have had in her. Owned and bred by Andrea O’Gorman the mare is by Always Be Miki from the NZ bred Hanover Chance who won twenty-one races and $422,521in prize money.
Trained by Leon Fanning and driven by Luke Dunne the pacer has now won three with four placings from her last seven starts.
Leichart trainer Ben Pell took the training honors for the day with his first winning double. His winners were Valiente, driven by James Herbertson and Insider Trading, who won the last race with Kerryn Manning in the sulky.
The fifth placegetter in the last race was the locally trained Hungry Hogarth who battled on well after pulling hard outside the leader for the entirety of the race. Trainer Mick Gadsden backed the 6yo up at Melton on Friday night where he won easily by 6.5m and set a career best rate of 1.56.4.
At Bendigo on Wednesday the Berimal trotter Champagnes made it four wins from its past six starts for Debbie and Nick Youngson. Starting $1.50 fav. The mare worked forward from her wide draw to sit outside the leader winning by 1.4m in 1.59.7. Third in the race was Poppy Popstar for Tarah and Jack McNamara.
The winner of the next race at Bendigo was the ultra consistent mare Redbank Molly.Trained by Shaun and Jason McNaulty and driven by J Herbertson the 6yo mare hadn’t finished further back than fourth at her previous eight starts and has now won sixteen races as her stake earnings moves closer to the $100,000 mark.
Luvaflair took her career wins to twenty seven when she was successful at Gloucester Park (WA) on Tuesday after coming from a seemingly impossible position on the home turn. The 7yo mare is trained by Nigel Johns for her St Arnaud owners Noel and Kaye Boyd and was driven by her regular driver Donald Harper.
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