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I don't really see how the proposed new clause makes any difference to the current rule. This was tested rather frivolously a decade ago in the Morton case which concluded that he was expressing his personal view which, under the Bill Of Rights, he was entitled to. And to quote McKechnie that "Action before the Judicial Control Authority must be with reference to the conduct of racing or behaviour by licensed persons which goes beyond the expression of criticism or scepticism. We do not consider those boundaries have been crossed."

Any person covered by the rules isn't it?

Either or, someone should frame a book!

I am assuming this relates to licence holders only Thomas.

So if one makes the effort to get on course then fuck you? <--- yes I can 'attempt' to use my phone to do so! but the fecking thing isn't friendly contrast etc wise!

?????

doh! noted and to be brought up at the next meeting of the local Slowlearners Club!

found this! Wingatui Odds Surge All Races terms & conditions Odds Surge gives you an increase calculated on odds current at the time of bet, not including the stake. Bets must be placed in the "Odds Surge" promotional market. The maximum bet for this market is $100. This offer is available on All Races at Wingatui on February 7, 2026. This offer applies to your first "Odds Surge" bet in the race only. This offer applies to win bets only and does not apply to place bets or exotics. All bets are subject to refunds. Bets placed via a manned terminal or self-service terminal will not be eligible. Bets placed using Bonus Bets, Bonus Cash or other TAB promotions are not eligible for this promotion. TAB reserves the right to change, cancel or suspend this offer at any time. This offer is offered to you directly as an eligible existing TAB customer. It is only available for punters who have received this promotion directly. Clients not participating in the spirit of the promotion will be excluded. TAB Betting Rules and General Terms and Conditions for Accounts also apply to this offer.

I see that local horse Mawkeb is in two races again. R3 and R10 Favorite in both. Betted in so for R10 (6.5 / 3.30) Presuming it don't line up in both! Then if one has bets in R3, a surge bet say on #1, Mawkeb is scr, is there reduction on my bet?

Intrepido, trained by Jeff Mullins, defeated Desert Gate and Plutarch in the 2025 American Pharoah Stakes (G1) and is scheduled to meet them again in the Robert B. Lewis Stakes (G3) Feb. 7 at Santa Anita Park.View the full article

Tom and Noreen Quinlan's Athnid Stud has welcomed the first reported foal by the multiple Group 1-placed sprinter Shouldvebeenaring. The colt is out of the unraced Equiano mare Irish Madam, who is the dam of three winners from as many runners to date, including recent Dundalk scorer How'sthebai (Bated Breath). Irish Madam herself is a full-sister to the G1 Sprint Cup runner-up Strath Burn. The Irish National Stud's director of sales Gary Swift described the new arrival as “an excellent colt for Shoulvebeenaring [with] good bone, great depth at his hip and shoulder and an alert head, sharp and just like Havana Grey's stock.” He added, “It was also very fitting that a member of the Quinlan family welcomed his first foal as they are very close friends of the INS.” The G3 Prix de Ris-Orangis winner Shouldvebeenaring, who also finished second in the Sprint Cup and third in the Prix de la Foret as a three-year-old, covered 125 mares in his first season at the Irish National Stud in 2025. He will stand the upcoming season for €6,000. The post Athnid Stud Welcomes First Foal by Shouldvebeenaring appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

throwing in a historical comment about Human Testing. mid 80's! starting with a 'witch hunt'... cannabis in the "jockeys colony", Shock Horror! Amusingly, a senor rider from America was visiting and having a few rides, he was standing by me with reading a copy of FFlash, with some Large Headline!!! Gee, he says, all that for pot!!! Back home there would have been few riders! way more concern then around Class A drugs etc... The drums were beating to get 'these druggies' and lets get these druggie stable hands and track riders as well. *we all know they are on it*. I had a chuckle and a chat with Bud Flavell (Sen Racecourse Dect) about how was going to have a interesting time delivering on that.. Unbidden fallout from above: Cannabis testing came in, leading to some Convictions!!!! but slowly negated the use for Riders, Knowing how long it can stay in your system! easiest solution! trade up from Class C to the A's, out of your system way quicker!!! Enough said for a Public Forum! lol, in person, I could share some stories about what I have posted above!

lol, reality doing a fine job on that sort of thing!!! for some. "water of a ducks back" others "all rather booo who ho.." One of the (to me) unwritten rules that I like and followed on Channel X when it first started was "If you were going to be commenting directly about a 'named person' in racing that you would throw in you actual name at the bottom! otherwise, it will be a bit of fun seeing this 'policy' (which is always Trumped by Statutory Law!) policed!

Fresh from claiming the title of leading buyer at Karaka for the 18th time, Te Akau Racing principal David Ellis is turning his attention to one of his highlights of the racing calendar at Te Rapa this Saturday. Both Ellis and his wife Karyn Fenton-Ellis are former chairs of the Waikato Racing Club, and Te Rapa’s Gr.1 Herbie Dyke Stakes (2000m) and Gr.1 BCD Group Sprint (1400m) raceday features a prestigious race named in honour of their contributions – the Gr.2 David & Karyn Ellis Fillies’ Classic (2000m). The $275,000 feature for three-year-old fillies has carried the Ellis name since 2020, and the stable has recorded two victories during that period with Amarelinha (2021) and Self Obsession (2022). Te Akau will be represented in the 2026 edition on Saturday by last-start winner Born To Be Royal, who was bought by Ellis for $260,000 from Karaka 2024. In addition to her recent victory over 2000m at Matamata, the King’s Legacy filly has placed in another five of her eight career starts, including the Gr.2 Matamata Breeders’ Stakes (1200m) and last month’s Gr.2 Sir Patrick Hogan Stakes (2000m). Born To Be Royal will contest the Gr.2 David & Karyn Ellis Fillies Classic (2100m) Photo: Kenton Wright (Race Images) “It’s a very special race meeting for Karyn and I every year, and we’d love to win the race that carries our name again,” Ellis said. “I think we’ve got a really strong chance in it this year with Born To Be Royal, and we’d especially like to win it with her because our good friend Butch Castles has a share in the filly with us. “Cameron George also has a share in both that filly and also Towering Vision, who will be a leading contender in the Waikato Guineas (Gr.2, 2000m), so he has a couple of very good chances on what should be another fantastic raceday at Te Rapa.” Ellis is more than satisfied with his results from the 100th edition of the National Yearling Sale at Karaka, where he extended his long reign as leading buyer. NZB’s Book 1 statistics credit him with 17 purchases from that top-tier session for a total of $4.26 million. He finished $545,000 ahead of the second-placed Chris Waller Racing/Mulcaster Bloodstock (10 purchases for a total of $3.715 million). Although Ellis was underbidder on a couple of yearlings on his wishlist – most notably the $1.1 million sale-topping colt by former star Te Akau racehorse Sword Of State – he came away with a range of yearlings priced from $40,000 (a Circus Maximus filly in Book 2) up to $475,000 (a Home Affairs colt out of stakes-performed Te Akau mare Special Memories). “It’s great to be leading buyer again, although I always say that the competition is not to see who buys the most, but who buys the best,” Ellis said. “That’s what we’re aiming to do when we go to these sales every year.” Ellis has a proud record in that regard too, famously purchasing eight of the last 10 winners of the Karaka Millions 2YO (1200m) including the subsequent multiple Group One winners Melody Belle, Avantage and Probabeel. Te Akau reached 100 Group One victories when Return To Conquer took out the Sistema Stakes (1200m) at Ellerslie last March, and 61 of those successes have come from horses bought at Karaka. Other notable Ellis yearling purchases include the likes of Darci Brahma, Burgundy, Xtravagant, Heroic Valour, Cool Aza Beel, Maroofity and King’s Chapel. That track record is a hard act for the new batch of yearlings to follow, but Ellis sees all the right signs among his latest intake. “It was a very successful sale at Karaka with an extremely competitive buying bench, and we were made to work hard for our purchases,” he said. “I couldn’t be happier with the yearlings we’ve bought. We missed out on two that we had on our list, but we got all the rest. “My vet Chief Stipe Black came around and saw all the horses with me the other day, and both he and I think that we’ve done extremely well with the horses we’ve managed to bring home. “We bought across a wide range of prices, so there’s many different levels available for people to get involved and buy shares at. Interest has been pretty strong so far – Karyn thinks they’re selling the best they have been for three or four years. “All up, we bought 15 at Magic Millions and 21 at Karaka, so that’s a lot of horses to try to sell all the shares in. We buy them all on spec too. So it’s a big job every year, but one that we really enjoy.” View the full article

0:00 /1:17 1× View the full article

A close [ trainer] acquaintance of mine was given the 'white paper' and told to present to produce a sample. He did the bolt, and was suspended immediately, pending a sample being produced for testing. He refused, and was disqualified. Still is, eight years later. One's licence is contingent on presenting for drug testing when required. The way I read it, is there are no mitigating circumstances.

Where do you get the zero tolerance for jockeys and trainers? Is it different for other licence holders?

Talk about Trump like TOTALITARIANISM! I can understand personal abuse of officials et el but "humiliate...or that is harmful to the reputation of the NZ racing industry" Give me a break! What about video of thoroughbreds being assaulted over the head?? A ban for upholding SOCIAL MEDIA Social Media platforms can be used to abuse participants within the racing industry. NZTR has reviewed the current Rules and found that they could be improved to more effectively address this type of harmful behaviour. As a result, NZTR is proposing an update to Rule 801(1)(s)(ii) to ensure that all forms of abuse on social media are clearly covered. These changes are intended to better protect everyone involved in the industry from online abuse. NZTR proposes that Rule 801 be amended as follows: 801 (1) A person commits a Serious Racing Offence within the meaning of these Rules who: (s) either by themselves or in conjunction with any other person: (i) does or permits or suffers to be done any act which an Adjudicative Committee deems fraudulent, corrupt or detrimental to the interests of racing; or (ii) at any time writes or causes to be written (including in any form of electronic or digital communication), publishes or causes to be published, or posts or causes to be posted on any website, medium, forum, platform or any social media or social networking service, or utters or causes to be uttered, any insulting or abusive words with reference to a Tribunal, NZTR, committee of a Club or a member or Official of any such body or a Stipendiary Steward or Investigator, or Registered Medical Practitioner; (iii) without limiting sub-Rule (1)(s)(ii) of this Rule, posts or causes to be posted on any website, medium, forum, platform, or any social media or networking service, that is available to the public, or any section of the public, any comment, image, video, digital or electronic communication, that may insult, humiliate or cause serious emotional distress to any entity or person referred to in that sub-Rule or to any Licenceholder or other industry participant, or that is otherwise harmful to the reputation or standing to the New Zealand racing industry;

Well the rule for drug testing is about any licence holder performing a safety-sensitive activity. Whether that is a jockey, trainer, strapper, work-rider or whatever doesn't matter. I personally think it should also cover non-licence holders such as starters and assistants for example.

With the Southwest Stakes (G3) set for Feb. 6, it's only fitting that the winner of last year's edition also returns this weekend at Oaklawn Park. Speed King is set to make his 4-year-old debut in the Feb. 5 Fifth Season Stakes. View the full article

Super Corredora, the champion 2-year-old filly of 2025, faces Explora in the Las Virgenes Stakes. The two top sophomore fillies ran 1-2, respectively, in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1).View the full article

Tell me if a Trainer has taken drugs how does it improve the performance of their horses? I realise you have quite a few more clues than @Comic Dog who seems to believe it does. Comparing a Jockey about to ride a horse that same day with a Trainer who on raceday the closest they are likely to get to a horse is saddling it is not an apples with apples comparison. Regardless if the Jockey doesn't present for a test on raceday then he isn't likely to ride that day is he? Then they would be immediately suspended for failing to fulfil their engagements. In either case if charged with failing to present the person concerned is very unlikely to present in the future while under investigation with drugs in their system knowing full well that they can guarantee they will be tested. The other factor too is the zero tolerance for both a Jockey and a Trainer but that's another whole area of discussion about environmental contamination.

I thought because of the Cropp case, the law was changed such that if a jockey or indeed any licensed person was charged, they could not continue in that role, even though they may be challenging the charge, which is what Cropp did, right through to the Court of Appeal

Hmmmm... He didn't have a +ve test but failure to appear for testing surely has to be treated as +ve. The primary purpose of D&A testing is H&S. So, you would say that a jockey say with a +ve breath test on race morning should be allowed to continue to ride until they have been charged and undergone due process?

The recent Thoroughbred Daily News piece by Mike Repole and The Jockey Club's response were both timely and important. Regardless of where one stands on the broader debate, Mr. Repole is plainly correct on this point: the Thoroughbred industry still does not do enough to fund aftercare. For decades we relied on good will, volunteerism, and heroic nonprofit work to clean up the back end of an industry that generates enormous revenue at the front end. That model was not sustainable nor was it morally defensible. In 2011, Jack Wolf and other stakeholders recognized what many in racing would not say aloud–that there was little-to-no meaningful industry funding for retirement, rehabilitation, and rehoming. In response, the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA) was established in 2012, supported by an initial $1-million donation funded by Breeders' Cup, The Jockey Club, and Keeneland. The TAA created standards, accountability, accreditation, and a mechanism to direct funding to legitimate aftercare organizations. This was good progress, but let's be honest: aftercare funding has not grown nearly enough since 2012. The industry and the public have tolerated inertia for far too long. As a founding board member of the TAA, I was involved in its funding development and have knowledge of its history. Let's examine three key funding sources where meaningful change is overdue: public auctions, The Jockey Club registry, and the Commonwealth of Kentucky. 1). Auctions: a “starter” assessment frozen in time. Early on, the sales companies developed a mechanism whereby 0.05% of public auction sales could support the TAA–paid by sellers, buyers and the sales companies themselves. We intentionally started small (too small for my taste). The goal was to get industry buy-in, prove the concept, and expand overtime. The original structure included an “opt in” by sellers and buyers. The concern was that market participants, particularly international buyers, might resist contributing to a U.S aftercare initiative. Over the next couple of years, sales companies moved toward mandatory deductions on the seller side and buyer mechanisms that allowed opt-out. But here is the problem: we never grew beyond the starter number. Thirteen years later, the contribution is still 0.05%. That means that on a $200,000 horse, aftercare receives roughly $100 from the seller, $100 from the sales company, and $100 from the buyer (unless the buyer opts out). This assessment was never intended to stay permanently at 0.05%. It was supposed to increase within a few years. It didn't and it must. Any buyer who participates in the U.S Thoroughbred marketplace should do so with the expectation that aftercare funding is part of the deal. Aftercare is not optional. 2). The Jockey Club's “$2.5 million donation”: credit, but also clarity. The Jockey Club recently stated it donates $2.5 million annually to the TAA. I don't dispute that number, and we all appreciate support for aftercare, but I do believe it is misleading without clarification, because a meaningful portion of funding is generated through breeder-paid registry transaction fees, effectively a pass-through mechanism. In other words, it is not “The Jockey Club” alone funding aftercare through The Jockey Club. It is actually the breeders. 3). Kentucky's $250,000 contribution is appreciated and a start, but inadequate. The Commonwealth of Kentucky–through Kentucky House Bill 8–provides $250,000 annually to the TAA, starting in 2025. That is progress. But given what Kentucky earns from Thoroughbreds, it is insufficient. Look at stallion-season tax revenue alone. Even using conservative assumptions–an average of $35,000 per season–and a 6% sales tax–Kentucky could conservatively realize around $40 million in state revenue from stallion seasons alone. Add auctions, racing, tourism, payroll, and sales tax on goods and services, and revenue to Kentucky becomes far larger. With that reality, a $250,000 aftercare contribution is not a “solution.” It is a token. Given the economic reality, Kentucky should be funding aftercare at a far higher level, well into the millions. These horses are part of the state's brand, identity, and economic engine. The state can lead the nation in caring for them when their earning years end. The TAA has changed aftercare for the better. But the funding model has stalled, and the industry is still living far too comfortably with the bare minimum. That is no longer acceptable. Additionally, the TAA itself must become more transparent. I spoke with Walt Robertson, the newly elected president of the TAA, who assured me that changes are being explored and he is the right person to help drive them. Boyd Browning is also 100% behind sale increases. That gives me real hope. But hope is not a strategy. We must stop tolerating inertia, complacency, and neglect. The post Letter to the Editor: Aftercare–Hope Is Not a Strategy appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article