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k newman is another who was associated with the brennan queensland stable ,but he obviousy came back to christchurch pretty quick,for the warmer weather.. i also see connor  clarke ,who was a sucessful junior and i  had read had moved to the brennan/davine stable mid year ,seems to be back driving in victoria again. People seem to move around a bit from over there. talking about  queensland,or ex queensland. leap to fame is the $1.45 favorite with kingman paying $2.10 tonight due to the draws in the victorian ballarat cup . That seems surprising as leap to fame has drawn wide and given the ease in which kingman won kast week. Still,i hope leap to fame can win .

No , but horses that are loose PANIC mate. You know this. I know this . Quite often they get loose at the gallops and crash into rails and all sorts of things can happen. some even try and hurdle the rails to get out there. they hit things alright.     and don't they ever. Horses usually get a FRIGHT when losing their driver. Driving races is nearly a Fright and flight response we get from horses to make them go anyway. they take flight on most occasions.  Horses are pretty stupid when making the decisions themselves mate. this is for sure. Most get on the steel (bit) early and just want to get the race over and done with. I had a nice mare from NZ that got tipped out in a race in a bad accident at Albion. Her driver was badly injured and the horse continued until it caught the field and piled straight into the back of someone and crashed to the track . Sly Davita was never the same after that and was a real shame as just about had her running 2 mins at the time , and was a basket case after.  Horses would pile into things all the time if running loose Mr Galah , especially in a race . They've got no idea they're climbing over a wheel until they actually do it. Every race the driver will stop them from doing this. You know this ? so to be honest I've seen horses hit lots of things . a pole would be different but certainly not out of the realms of possibilities lol 🤣😎 afterall How many stupid car drivers lose control and hit poles All the time for one reason or another. (fate and luck sometimes) I see a horse as no different when out of human control.  p.s my dad got a fractured skull in a race at Brighton once and was in a coma for 4 days , but luckily his horse got home safely after going out the service tractor gate , and a kilometre up the road to her stables , where she was trained from near that track, and even got the sulky' turned around in her stall (somehow when it was wider than the open stall door 😮 , and had her head in the feedtin in the corner getting her after race meal , trying to eat it with the bit in her mouth still a bit of a challenge lol 🤣  bit of a miracle she didn't hit any poles on the way though ? 👍😉  

How do you rate the fields quality now that those second and third tier Aussies have done their thing?

like i keep saying, you need to base your assesment on what played out. not what horses  may or may not do,just base the analysis on what did happen. And besides,using your own argument,that a horse will go anywhere with no driver, then can't you see your contradicting yourself. in other words theres 2 parts of your argument. 1)That the horse could have veered off in any direction. 2)that hacket and delany took the best option by getting so close to becker,because getting close to a horse that can veer off in any direction, is  the smart thing to do.Contradictory,isn't it. so,herlihy had a rein detach from the bridle when driving harrison john,so that left him with only a rein to steer with,so it was herlihy placing weight on the inside rein which saw harrison john run in,not the horse chosing to run in. And when  you say you were worried about herlihy hitting a light pole,i think you are just pulling my leg,.No horse is going to run into a big pole head on. Put simply,horses aren't that stupid.In all the years of racing anywhere,can you give even one instance of a horse running head on into a lighting pole?  anyways,i will leave it at that.

Alexis Badel is hoping to continue his flawless record on My Wish when he looks to cause an upset against Romantic Warrior and Voyage Bubble in Sunday’s Group One Stewards’ Cup (1,600m) at Sha Tin. The Mark Newnham-trained five-year-old put up some huge efforts last year, including wins in the Hong Kong Classic Mile and a close-up fourth in the Group One Champions Mile when only a length and a half behind Voyage Bubble. It has been mixed fortunes this season, however, with the Flying Artie...View the full article

my bestie struggling home after yet another successful night on the punt

Byerley Park conditioner Barbara Kennedy made her first foray to the South Island on Saturday a successful one as her handy mare Pour The Wine dominated her rivals in the closing stages of the Listed Speight’s Timaru Stakes (1200m) at Riccarton. The Daniel Nakhle-bred and part-owned daughter of Telperion had been struggling to recapture her form of old that had seen her finish in the top three in 13 of her 31 starts, and it had been nearly two years since she had featured in the winners’ enclosure. A last start seventh at Ellerslie, less than three lengths behind Sweynesday, hinted at better things and she stripped a fit horse for Kennedy and rider Kendra Bakker, although punters remained unconvinced as they let her start at odds of $24.80 on the tote. Bakker allowed her to find her feet early in the contest as she sat back near last on the inner before saving many lengths on her rivals by pushing up inside of runners rounding the home bend. Pour The Wine let down with a terrific sprint at the 300m and quickly burst to the front and went clear before easing down to beat the late closing Betty Spaghetti and Tomasina who filled the minor placings. Kennedy, who flew down from Auckland for the race, was overjoyed with her first stakes victory and also that she could provide apprentice Bakker with the same result. “That is my first stakes win and the same for Kendra so it is such a great feeling,” Kennedy said. “I had expected her to go well but when she got caught down on the inside I didn’t think she would finish off like that, but she handled the track really well. “She normally has quite a short sprint and then sort of peaks, but Kendra produced a pearler of a ride and she was just so strong at the end.” Kennedy had felt the mare could return to her best despite not having won for such a long period of time. “She has had some really hard luck stories and is always just in behind them,” she said. “This is going to be her last season before she goes to stud, so we thought she might get her best chance of a black-type win down here and I’m thrilled for Daniel and her other owners we could achieve that. “She is likely to stay down here for another couple of months as we have some more stakes races planned for her. “I do have to thank Lance Robinson, who has been looking after her for me since we sent her down last week, as he has done a great job keeping her ticking along in preparation for today.” Out of Nakhle’s O’Reilly mare Needlly, who won six races and was placed at stakes level, Pour The Wine is closely related to stakes winners Tomorrowland, Sahrhys and former top Hong Kong-based performer Flame Hero. She has now won five of her 32 starts and over $250,000 in prizemoney. View the full article

A clever ride and some good old-fashioned kiwi grit resulted in Savabeel filly Acer (NZ) (Savabeel) collecting her maiden victory in some style as she took out the Listed Grangewilliam Stud Oaks Prelude (1800m) at New Plymouth. Consistent rain during the week and some heavy showers earlier in the day presented a very testing Heavy10 track surface, which had many struggling to cope with conditions a long way from the winning post. Wexford Stables pair Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott prepare Acer, who appealed as one who would get through the ground as she is a daughter of stakes-winning mare Sweet Treat, who scored her five career victories on wet tracks. Rider Erin Leighton made good use of an inside barrier draw to position her mount in behind pacemaker She Suits Herself, despite having her heart in her mouth immediately after the jump where the filly blundered before picking herself up and moving into the trail. Leighton took advantage of a slackening pace and charged through to dispute the lead at the 800m before hugging the rail around the home turn and seizing a two-length advantage. She Suits Herself was nothing if not game and fought hard to draw level once again, however, Acer was too tough and held her out by a neck at the line with Unbounded making up many lengths in the closing stages to take third. “I was really confident she had that residual fitness under her belt today and her Mum was a swimmer, so she had the breeding on her side to get through the track,” Leighton said. “Wexford knew what they were sending down as they looked at the forecast yesterday and told me she had water wings, so I was really confident. “I was advised to go forward, but if you look at the start she completely spreadeagled and we were about two feet from the ground. “She picked herself up and we went to Plan B which saw us get a prefect rails run and when she poked through on the inside she was tough enough to hold them all out.” Bred by the Smithies family under their Monovale Holdings banner, Acer failed to reach her $150,000 reserve at the 2024 New Zealand Bloodstock Yearling Sale and has been retained for racing by the family. She holds a nomination for the Gr.1 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai New Zealand Oaks (2400m) at Ellerslie on 21 February where she now sits at a $21 quote in the TAB Fixed Odds market behind current favourite and stablemate Ohope Wins and Group One placed filly Tajana, who are both at $5. View the full article

Up-and-comer Taken (NZ) (Ardrossan) recorded his sixth win from only 12 career starts with another impressive performance in the A$150,000 A Caulfield Kind Of Summer Handicap (1700m) at Caulfield on Saturday. The New Zealand-bred gelding made a big impression with his progress through the grades last year, stringing together five consecutive victories at Pakenham on April 24, Sandown on May 24, Flemington on June 7, Flemington on June 21 and Caulfield on November 15. That winning sequence came to an end when he was unplaced in the A$1 million Supernova (1400m) at Pakenham on December 13, but Taken bounced back to form in style on Saturday. The four-year-old was ridden by Jamie Melham and took up a position on the outside of the front-running Slane before kicking away at the top of the straight. His six rivals tried to reel him in down the straight but made little headway, and Taken went on to score comfortably by a length. Trained by Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr, Taken has now had 12 starts for six wins, five placings and A$489,360 in prize-money. “We were a bit perplexed after his performance in the Supernova,” Price and Kent’s racing manager Tom Sheahan said. “We ran over him with the vet and nothing was amiss. He’d run really well fresh before that, and it’s possible he was just a little bit dull second-up. We did also throw him in at the deep end. “We just took stock after that, gave him a nice tick-over trial in between, and as you saw today, he’s back up and firing. “The race worked out perfectly. We had him dual-accepted in Sydney as well, but this race came up light in numbers. The map looked super. We thought we’d be able to sit outside the lead, travel and win. “The 1700m is a new box that he’s just ticked today, so that might open up a few more doors for him going forward.” Originally prepared in New Zealand by Sam Mynott, Taken was sold to the Price-Kent stable following a trial win at Tauranga. By Waikato Stud’s emerging young sire Ardrossan, Taken is out of the Henrythenavigator mare Katherine Wright and stems from the same family as Ardrossan’s Group Three winner Beau Dazzler. Taken was bred by the Dewar Partnership, which was put together to support Ardrossan when he launched at stud by some people who raced the Group One-performed son of Redoute’s Choice. View the full article