Trainer Brent Lilley insists his star trotting mare Queen Elida is primed to add to her fantastic Menangle record on Saturday night.

The six-year-old, fresh back from a fruitful two-race raid on NZ, has raced three times - all at Group level - at Sydney's home of harness racing for two wins and a second.

Champion mare Ladies In Red has a perfect draw to start her “farewell tour” in winning style in Australia’s biggest mares’ race at Menangle on Saturday night.

The Emma Stewart-trained mare firmed from $2.50 to $1.65 after drawing gate two in the $200,000 Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Mile (formerly Ladyship Mile).

Victorian star Catch A Wave completed a historic double and revived memories of the great Im Themightyquinn with a stunning last-to-first win in Friday night's $300,000 Group 1 Fremantle Cup at Gloucester Park.

It came just a week after he won Australia's second richest race, the $1.25mil Group 1 Nullarbor at the same track.

Victorian harness racing’s pride has been restored.

Back on March 25, I penned a “Forum” column about a disturbing fact for the passionate Victorian industry and some almost immediate opportunities which existed to address it.

Just a few weeks early, at Menangle on March 9, the $1mil Miracle Mile was run without a Victorian-trained contestant.

Sure, this is a cyclical game, but to think not one of the eight runners in Australasia’s premier speed test came from Victoria should and did spark alarm.

Champion Aussie trotter Just Believe’s huge week looks set to continue in Auckland on Friday night.

Earlier this week, Just Believe added to his already bulging CV by being crowned the 2023 Australian Trotter of the Year.

The buzz time Australian harness racing is enjoying was underlined by champions Leap To Fame and Just Believe fighting-out 2023 Australian Harness Horse of the Year honours.

It was Queensland pacing sensation Leap To Fame who prevailed with almost 70 percent of votes ahead of globetrotting square-gaiter Just Believe with almost 22 percent.

IT was a win "written in the stars" in the stars as the man who made it possible watched from the intensive care unit in hospital after open-heart surgery.

That's just part of the emotion and theatre behind Victorian raider Catch A Wave's win in Australia's second-richest race, the $A1.25mil Group 1 Nullarbor at Perth's Gloucester Park.

THE epic $1.25mil Group 1 Nullarbor left us wanting a rematch, and it's coming in just a few days.

Most of the key players from last Friday night's memorable Gloucester Park stoush, headed by winner Catch A Wave, will return to battle again in this Friday's $300,000 Group 1 Fremantle Cup.

Let's enjoy these last few months of champion mare Ladies In Red.

To the credit of owner-breeders Bill and Anne Anderson, Ladies In Red has raced on much longer than many expected given her broodmare value and overcome her share of injuries, setbacks and adversity along the way.

Brillant Victorian raider Catch A Wave gave superstar driver Kate Gath the most satisfying win of her stellar career in tonight's $1.25 million Group 1 Nullarbor at Gloucester Park.

And the five-year-old gelding, who had already won a Miracle Mile, smashed through the $2 million prize money barrier in the process.

The curtain is starting to come down on champion mare Ladies In Red’s glorious career, but she’s still got some Group 1 hunting to do.

Andy Gath is a lot more confident of winning the $1.25mil Group 1 Nullarbor than he was when he left home almost a week ago with stable star Catch A Wave.

The former Miracle Mile winner and millionaire pacer showed he was right on target for Australia's second-richest race on Friday night when he opened his WA raid with a terrific fourth from a back-row draw at Gloucester Park last Friday.

Now is the time for Victoria to double down. Trotting, as opposed to pacing, is Victoria’s point of difference and never has the climate been better to really drive that home.

Decades of sustained support, often against strong headwinds of negativity, have been rewarded for trotting in Victoria.

Champion trotter Just Believe headlines a team of five star Victorian horses chasing glory at New Zealand's richest ever harness meeting on Friday night.

Victoria's four best trotters – Just Believe, Callmethebreeze, Arcee Phoenix and Queen Elida – will tackle the inaugural $NZ600,000 TAB Trot at Cambridge Raceway, while Just Believe's multiple Group 1-winning stablemate Better Eclipse will give trainer Jess Tubbs and driver Greg Sugars the chance for a unique double in the $NZ1m The Race by Grins.

Champion driver Chris Alford has warned punters to drop off star trotting mare Queen Elida at their own peril.

Alford, who recently topped an Australasian record 8000 career wins, says Queen Elida is as good as any trotter he’s driven and getting back close to her very best just in time for Friday night’s stellar inaugural $NZ600,000 TAB Trot at Cambridge.

With an epic TAB Trot just days away in Cambridge, it seems perfect timing to start the debate over the best 10 trotters Australasia has seen since 2000.

Gifted Victorian pacer Rock N Roll Doo is out of the $NZ1mil Race By Grins.

But there is a silver lining to the heartbreak for owner Brendan James, trainer Mick Stanley and caretaker trainer Cran Dalgety.

A hoof abscess threatens to derail star Victorian pacer Rock N Roll Doo’s quest to win tomorrow week’s $NZ1mil Race By Grins at Cambridge,

Caretaker trainer Cran Dalgety had to scratch the former Victoria Cup winner from tonight’s $NZ60,000 Flying Stakes at Cambridge when he was “quite lame” this morning.