The collective eyes of the Oamaru Harness Racing Club committee would have lit up when they saw Christen Me among the nominations for Sunday's Hannon Memorial.
It's a real bonus for the club as some of the bigger guns in recent years (Monkey King aside) had bypassed the race.
It could be argued the Hannon has actually grown in importance in the last couple of years with the introduction of the rankings system.
The fluid nature of the rankings means a placing in a race such as the Hannon can give a horse on the cusp a much-needed boost towards getting a start on the second Tuesday in November.
. . . but time up for Justy
From the good news front to the bad, with the untimely death of Jaccka Justy last week.
He was a trotter with a punishing sprint when he was in the right mood.
We saw it in the 2013 Banks Peninsula Trotting Cup, and of course, last year's Dominion.
What is easily forgotten is the big run he put in three days prior to the Dominion when he rattled home for fifth in the New Zealand trotting free-for-all.
One of my other favourite wins of his was the way he dismantled Vulcan with plenty in store at Omakau in January 2012, just two months after Vulcan had won both the free-for-all and the Dominion during the 2011 New Zealand Cup week.
As Jonny Cox said last week, the horse did Otago and Southland proud.
A dangerous trio
Best of luck to former Wingatui trainer Paul Richards, who is teaming up with old friends Peter and Dawn Williams at Byerley Park next week under a new training partnership.
Paul will bring his five horses in work into the Williams' stables, where they have about 25 horses already in work.
''It's another chapter - I thought it was too good an opportunity to pass up. They are very good horse people with a good success rate,'' Paul said yesterday.
Paul had a conversation with the couple two months ago before a ''yarn'' last weekend confirmed the plan.
The first runner for the new partnership could be Special Duke at Avondale next Saturday, he said.
Come a'calling
I don't get a HECK of a lot of feedback from the readers, but I had an email and a couple of people come up to me to agree with my thoughts on commentator Tom Wood not getting a crack at the Hastings triple crown meetings.
I'm not going to ''start a group'' or anything, as Paul Henry might say, but hopefully he gets his go sooner rather than later.
Lazy Fiver
Extra Guinness needed a refill on Friday and was scratched so that's a neutral result.
Sticking with the harness, and I'm hoping That Guy Finn will use his draw inside Major Bubbles to his advantage in race 9 at Addington tonight.
• Check out Matt's two-minute racing tips videos on www.odt.co.nz every Friday
