Matt Smith

A change in footwear might give Great Things Happen the extra edge he needs to take on his intermediate-grade rivals at Oamaru tomorrow.

Southerners beware - Eric The Viking and Aaron Bidlake are back for another pillaging of the South Island stakes.

Small fields can be the worst to figure out.

At the start of every season, Matt Smith has an educated guess - and in some cases a wild stab - at what might happen over the next 12 months of horse racing. With just a few weeks to go, he decided it was timely to see how he went and whether he's a soothsayer or simply a regular battler.

In the extremely unlikely event the Highlanders didn't understand how much love was out there for the boys in blue, gold and maroon - and occasionally green - the answer was clear at Dunedin airport yesterday.

Five years ago, the names James Lentjes and Alex Ainley would have drawn a bemused look from rugby fans.

The John ''Coaster'' Howe and Jonny Cox combination could be in for a feast or a famine at Timaru tomorrow but it all comes down to an intangible quality.

Where Blair Orange goes these days, it pays to follow.

Spinyback is doing his best to fill the gap left by Successful Way for Invercargill trainer Alister Black and his Lorneville co-owner, Pete Duggan.

Dunedin-raised Jack Trainor has found a new lease of life since moving to New South Wales to further his driving career. He talked to Matt Smith about his time across the Tasman just days after winning the New South Wales Rising Stars Championship.

The battle to be crowned the season's best junior driver is on - but Stevie Golding is happy just to be in the fight.

He does not quite have the staff at White Robe Lodge looking twice, but Ghibellines does evoke some memories of a great White Robe Lodge sire from the past.

Kiwi Focus earned her Golden Girls finals win the hard way at Forbury Park last night but, for her breeders, it was a nice way to see their mare come full circle.

Supercharged clears the second hurdle in the straight on the first circuit, ahead of Jachil in the Noel Welsh Memorial hurdle at Wingatui yesterday.

Winter meetings often throw up a few firsts and the Otago Racing Club's final meeting of the season at Wingatui yesterday was no different.