by Garrick Knight photo courtesy of : Sharlene Mitchell Derek Balle scoffs at the suggestion his exciting juvenile trotter War Machine “did a thousand things wrong” when winning at Alexandra Park on Friday night. The big, bold son of Pegasus Spur defied his far older opponents with a strong performance with Balle in the sulky.…

Raelene Balle is more than the rock of her Pukekohe family. The mother of three and wife to Group One winning trainer Derek is starting to make her own impression in harness racing. Many times a winning owner, Balle is now starting to make an impact on the breeding scene with her foundation mare, Cool…

Angus Fogg is starting to lose his “bull at a gate” tendencies and is slowly developing into a nice racehorse. That’s the opinion of the 4-year-old gelding’s trainer Derek Balle after the son of Angus Hall and Sun Isa nailed his first win in 12 starts at Cambridge Raceway yesterday (Monday). Angus Fogg didn’t just…

With his eighth victory back on the 26th of March, five-year old grey Monkey Bones gelding Sir George Grey furthered his fine grass track record to five wins from six starts for Mike and Susan Clegg. This latest grass track success came on the opening day of Hawera’s Easter meeting, settling back in the field,…

One name that popped up three times in the pricier lots at Karaka was that of John McIntosh, a sharp-witted 91-year old “just out of nappies” from Pokeno, on the south side of the Bombays. He spent $211,500 on three colts, all to be trained in Pukekohe by Derek Balle. “I’m getting older and it’s…

Derek Balle isn’t too enthusiastic about lining up Cool Cobber in next Friday’s Dominion Handicap, but his hand might be forced if the open class trotter wins at Alexandra Park this evening. “The owner Kenny Baynes is quite keen to go to the Dominion next week but I am not too fussed, non-committal,” he told…

Kenny Baynes was always destined for a life of harness racing. His father Colin is a Southland legend of the sport, and right from day one Kenneth Charles Baynes was set to follow the family tradition—whether he liked it or not. “Dad named me Charles after one of his top stallions— a U Scott bay…

Pukekohe trainer Derek Balle has seven horses accepted for his home town meeting at Alexandra Park this Friday night, and rated Bruno Paillard as his best winning prospect of the night. Here’s what Balle had to say about his team (in order of winning chances): Race 5: BRUNO PAILLARD (3) – “He found one or…