There was no more deserving winner at the Waikouaiti harness meeting on Tuesday than Bruce Negus.
Bruce and the rest of the Eastern Districts committee put in plenty of hours coming up with the youth versus experience concept then making the arrangements to get the drivers to the East Otago town from all over Australasia.
The day appropriately opened with Bruce training the quinella in the first race, as Delightful Dash, yet another Lis Mara-sired winner for Bruce and breeder Barrie Barber, got home ahead of Highland Reign.
Lance Justice chuckled after the meeting as he recalled one of the trotting races in which both he and Tony Herlihy were on horses that had made mistakes, bringing back memories of Herlihy and him getting left behind by better horses when they were both driving in a race in the United States.
... to the old(er)
The series appeared to be run in good spirits, even if Dexter Dunn couldn't resist a barb or two at his older counterparts during his winning speech, although they seemed to take it in the right manner.
Let's face it. Tuesday could have been another mundane ''industry'' harness meeting, but both the Waikouaiti and Eastern Districts clubs thought outside the square, and they were even rewarded with a crowd comfortably above the usual two men and a dog that go to regular Tuesday meetings.
Hopefully, next year a downpour doesn't open up on the racecourse the night before - as timing goes, that was far from ideal.
Speaking of the invited drivers, I had a chance to grab a few minutes with both Tony Herlihy and Lance Justice on Tuesday. Look out for profiles on the pair in the next fortnight.
The bully on 'Bully'
As I started to pen this column yesterday afternoon, I had one eye on the racing department TV, which - needless to say - is permanently tuned to Trackside.
The production team, along with presenter Greg O'Connor, had put together a nice interview with the recently retired jockey Jamie Bullard, during which he talked about some of his great days in racing.
You may see a replay of the interview between races some time next week, or my contacts at Trackside said it would be uploaded to YouTube in the next day or two.
Lazy Fiver
The weather did not play its part at Wyndham on Sunday, which ruled out making money on Ima Geegee. On the upside, you didn't lose any either, did you? See, I'm always thinking about your financial wellbeing.
The grass at Methven is a good way to find some tidy dividends, so let's travel to the outer islands of Italy and tip Sicilian Secret in race 7 on Sunday.
