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I remember well…. Also remember Montana Vance being the best early on, then Laud appeared and clearly was better. Laud sat parked outside it and clearly outstayed it with Peter Jones driving. Sadly, i think something happened to the horse soon after.

Yes doing a quick survey like the NSW website they have obviously decided the clean approach is best with no reference to the Punters Intelligence app which always meets with some obstacle to download and install. Yet all the push for the screen clutter data comes from NSW sources with great fanfare but then little enthusiasm afterwards

the southern surge races in southland over winter was just yet another example of HRNZ throwing money at a problem and artificially getting a short term solution through the injection of money in the form of higher stakes. Theres nothing organic about hrnz's solutions,they are all artificial and once the money goes the problems will still exist and then what.Its just dumb thinking in my opinion. And when hrnz got criticism for their poilicies of prioritising funding auckland, 2 year old bonuses and high end stakes.What was their answer.It was to placate the criticism by using more of hrnz funds to over subsidise races like the southern surge or the stallions under $5000, $60,000 day at ashburton. I mean,how is going from overspending to support the big players and the elite horses,to overspending at both ends ,how does that make any sense.Again,it just seems such a dumb strategy long term as they will just run out of money quicker. You say southland need to race 12 months of the year and use the success of the southern surge to support that thinking.All it proved was everyone is out for themselves in the short term and they all want their piece of the gravy train before it runs out and that they are willing to give up their principled criticism for just a few extra short term $. And mikeynz. Your the bloke who points out the unfortunate number of 6 horse fields, yet here you are saying you support a policy for southland that has contributed to 6 horse fields. I mean,your comments are contradictory.

Sorry Chief, some of your comments on various subjects show how out of touch you are.

I think you will find PD is used by a lot of clubs today. As far as moving a running rail is concerned these days, it's not such a daunting task and they are moved on a regular basis with track staff and casuals.

I wouldn't have thought the cost of GPS trackers and recording would be excessively expensive. Technology should be used but, I'd be more inclined to use a clean feed for live coverage and have all the whiz bang info available for anyone who wants to use it, post race.

That may happen in Wellington but certainly not in Canterbury. As for too much back patting and arse licking well that attitude is your cynical assessment of your neighbourhood. Do you really think the moaning and bitching achieves anything except put two tribes at war?

ENTAIN are already scaling back some of its "initiatives" made in haste. Now if this latest "initiative" produces data then make the raw data freely available so people can do what they like with it such as feed it into a spread sheet. ENTAIN head office should be driving turnover not doubling up on functions the responsibilty of NZTR or private enterprise. That applies to the myriad of "tipsters" at ENTAIN & NZTR as there seems little effort into promoting businesses and sponsors.

And some of the not so top ones too. Might take some guess work out of it. I always remember comments around timing and heart monitors in Australian Harness whereby Teddy Demmler was cited and quoted many times. He was a true horseman who needed neither device as he worked through feel and know how. I can't help think we shoukd be teaching the finer arts of racing and training rather than rushing through the numbers.

Yet again you miss the point which was where once there were local volunteers to help with maintenance work and local businesses gave of their time or donated services/cash this no longer happens. So instead of the amateur club being subsidised they had to hire people and pay them at least the minimum wage. I remember 55 years ago my father and half his staff to shift the old and installing a new running rail. With his best mate who was an agricultural contracted we helped and create grade a dirt track for training. Very little of that happens today nor is it sustainable if you wish to race more than two or three times a year.

Or maybe we could liken rugby to racing in that they have not nurtured grass roots, the interest is waning, the numbers declining and maybe the best rugby players are no longer there to come through a tried and true system. Too much back patting by admin and arse licking of the stars.

Or if you stopped to think about it is reflective of what has happened and is happening to Racing Clubs. In the Cities why have some Rugby Clubs survived when others haven't? The stronger clubs today amalgamated and refocussed on their core business.

You were talking to him as an owner/customer. Freda possibly talks to him daily as a peer.

Again you miss the point and are as adept at obsfucation as I am. If a Training Centre is running at a loss there can be only one reason. Income is less than expenditure. You have two ways of addressing that deficit - you charge more and/or reduce costs.

"Another reality is that Trainers, Owners and Jockeys were largely subsidised by the efforts of those Clubs, their business donors and their volunteers." In this world of "user pays" the Clubs are subsidising how much, do you think?

"Which highlights my point about Racecourses being run like amatuer hobbies instead of businesses. The statutory minimum annual wage in NZ is $49,000. If a Club can't earn enough to pay employees to do the work then someone needs to subsidise them." How many clubs do you think do not pay employees?

That may reflect the drop of popularity in rugby over any other factors. I'm not sure where it ranks with children of sport playing age but, it's at least behind football and netball.

Returning from a seventh-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1), Nevada Beach towers over four foes in the $100,000 Native Diver Stakes (G3) at Del Mar Nov. 22.View the full article

How much do you think should be charged to train at a training centre that would be affordable, profitable and sustainable judging by current average charges:- $6 per use of plough or sand $12 per use of gallop grass Not forgetting the $20 trackwork riding fee per ride.

@Freda could put one on the collar of her Greyhound and monitor its whereabouts or movements! Thinking about that Trainers in the bigger training centres could use the technology for training purposes although some of the top ones already are.

@The Centaur as my old man used to say to the consistent moaner - "you'd moan if your arse was on fire!" Regarding your lead post the extra marginal cost of providing the data on screen in real time and storing it for later is neglible. I just hope some Trainers take their Jockeys aside and show them how badly they read pace in a race and point out where and when they could have improved two lengths to at least give their horse a chance of winning. Just like in Rugby the data collected has the potential to improve the quality of our racing. Here's hoping NZTR facilitate the education of Trainers and Jockeys on how to interpret the data.

Calandagan, winner of the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes and Champion Stakes, has been named Cartier Horse of the Year. He becomes the fourth horse bred by the Aga Khan Studs to be given that honour following Daylami (1999), Dalakhani (2003) and Zarkava (2008). By Gleneagles, who was himself the Cartier Two-Year-Old Colt of 2014, Calandagan is the first Cartier winner for the operation since the passing of His Highness Aga Khan IV in February. Trained by Francis-Henri Graffard, the four-year-old has won three consecutive Group 1 contests this season, including the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud, and is set to run in the Japan Cup a week on Sunday. Calandagan, who also received the Cartier Older Horse award, won the Cartier Horse of the Year award ahead of Prince Of Wales's Stakes and Juddmonte International winner Ombudsman and multiple Group 1-winning three-year-olds Delacroix and Minnie Hauk. New Coolmore stallion Delacroix was named Cartier Three-Year-Old Colt, having defeated Ombudsman in the Coral-Eclipse Stakes and captured the Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes. The Coolmore partnership and trainer Aidan O'Brien were also represented by Minnie Hauk, who is the Cartier Three-Year-Old Filly for 2025 following victories in the Oaks, Irish Oaks and Yorkshire Oaks. In his category, Delacroix was given the nod over Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Daryz, Irish 2,000 Guineas and St James's Palace Stakes winner Field Of Gold and dual Derby winner Lambourn. Minnie Hauk's runners-up were the Prix de Diane and Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf heroine Gezora, Whirl and Desert Flower. In addition to taking the two three-year-old prizes, the Coolmore team and Aidan O'Brien also landed a clean sweep of the juvenile awards, as did the Coolmore stallion Starspangledbanner, the sire of Gstaad and Precise. The Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf winner Gstaad took the Cartier Two-Year-Old Colt title ahead of Gewan, Zavateri and Puerto Rico, while Moyglare Stud Stakes and Fillies' Mile winner Precise received the Cartier Two-Year-Old Filly award ahead of stable-mares True Love and Diamond Necklace, and Prix Morny winner Venetian Sun. During the ceremony at London's Dorchester Hotel Asfoora became the third Australian-bred horse to receive the Cartier Sprinter award following Black Caviar (2012) and Starspangledbanner (2010) thanks to her wins in the Nunthorpe Stakes and Prix de l'Abbaye. Trained by Henry Dwyer for her breeder Akram El-Fahkri's Noor Elaine Farm, she claimed the award over Lazzat, Arizona Blaze and Big Mojo. Godolphin's homebred Trawlerman dominated the staying scene in 2025 and the son of Golden Horn, who is trained by John and Thady Gosden, was duly awarded Cartier Stayer of 2025 over Scandinavia, Al Riffa and Sweet William. Brough Scott, the respected journalist and acclaimed author, was the recipient of the Cartier/The Daily Telegraph Award of Merit for 2025. The 82-year-old former jockey has been a well-known face on terrestrial TV for three decades as well as co-founding the Racing Post. Laurent Feniou, managing director of Cartier UK, said, “My congratulations go to all of the winners at this year's Cartier Racing Awards. It is very pleasing to see Calandagan take the Cartier Horse of the Year award after his outstanding season. We are honoured to present the Cartier/The Daily Telegraph Award of Merit to Brough Scott, someone who has tirelessly contributed across the industry for more than 60 years. Everyone at Cartier is delighted to be able to celebrate another brilliant year of racing and I would like to thank our media partners Racing Post, The Daily Telegraph and Sky Sports Racing for their continued support of the Cartier Racing Awards.” The post Calandagan Named Cartier Horse of the Year appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Get with the programme! You can buy GPS tracking tags for less than $10 now. With a local wireless set up which every course now requires for broadcasting the extra cost is stuff all. Super Rugby franchises have been doing it for close to 20 years!!!! Data storage is now cheaper than chips. It is good to see that they will be creating an online database with historical data as well. As for the system being "State of the Art" well it will be even if other jurisidictions had similar technology 10 years ago. You should congratulate ENTAIN for bringing NZ racing forward.

In this series, we will have a look predominantly at American-bred first-time juvenile starters (through the end of 2025) and debuting 3-year-olds in maiden races at Meydan Racecourse, with a specific focus on pedigree and/or performance in a sales ring. The flagship venue for racing in the United Arab Emirates is Meydan Racecourse, which will host racing on Fridays through the end of March, with the exception of Super Saturday on Feb. 28 and Dubai World Cup night Mar. 28, 2026. Here are the horses of note for this Friday's program at Meydan: 3rd-MEY, AED165k, Mdn, NH2yo/SH3yo, 1600m, 9:40 a.m. A pair of Godolphin-owned and Charlie Appleby-trained American-bred juveniles sourced at this year's Arqana May Breeze-Up Sale try the dirt for the first time here, with bigger and bolder targets to aim for if proving equal to the task. NATIONAL HISTORY (Maxfield) was knocked down to Oak Tree Farm for $70,000 at Keeneland September last fall, but was one of four to fetch seven figures at the French sale, hammering for an even €1 million. The Maryland-bred is out of the stakes-winning American Victory (Victory Gallop), herself a daughter of MGSW Who Did It And Run (Polish Numbers), also the dam of MSW & MGSP Giant Run (Giant's Causeway) and GSP Who's Cozy (Cozzene). National History improved for a debut fifth going seven furlongs at Kempton Aug. 6 to just miss when tried over a mile three weeks later. Richie Mullen rides. Devon Island (Practical Joke), a $62,000 Fasig-Tipton October yearling, was purchased by Godolphin for €650,000 at Arqana. The Apr. 25 foal is a full-brother to the Japanese MSP Dugat and finished runner-up to Juddmonte's promsing Item (GB) (Frankel {GB}) on seven-furlong unveiling at Kempton Sept. 3. The latter made it two-from-two in a Bath novice on the turf Sept. 30. James Doyle has the call. 2nd-MEY, AED165k, Mdn, NH2yo/SH3yo, f, 1400m, 9:05 a.m. TJAREED (Yaupon) changed hands for $90,000 at the 2024 Fasig-Tipton July Sale and breezed an eighth of a mile in :10 1/5 at this year's Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sale before being knocked down to bloodstock agent Kim Valerio for $350,000. The grey filly, a half-sister to UAE SW & MGSP Cosmo Charlie (Stay Thirsty) and MSP Aliana (Majestic Warrior), made a favorable impression against the boys in a Nov. 12 trial (video). “She comes out of a good trial,” trainer Julio Olascoaga said. “She has shown good ability in the mornings, so she will be competitive.” Yuno (Rock This World) made $33,000 at KEESEP last fall and hammered to Harmash Racing for $230,000 after covering an eighth of a mile in :9 4/5 at OBS April. The post Desert Doings: Godolphin Duo Loom Large In Meydan Mile Maiden appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

The New Jersey Racing Commission on Wednesday approved a 2026 Thoroughbred schedule of 50 spring/summer dates at Monmouth Park and nine for an all-turf autumn meet at the Meadowlands, mirroring the state's allotment of racing days in 2025. A one-day steeplechase license for Far Hills in '26 is expected to be okayed by the commission at a subsequent date upon completion of local approvals. The exact opening and closing dates for the meets were not discussed at the Nov. 18 meeting. In the post-pandemic era, New Jersey's Thoroughbred dates allotments (based on dates awarded by the commission and not actual racing days conducted) have looked like this: 2021: Monmouth 56 dates; Meadowlands seven. 2022: Monmouth 60 dates; Meadowlands 11. 2023: Monmouth 51 dates; Meadowlands 10. 2024: Monmouth 51 dates; Meadowlands 10. 2025: Monmouth 50 dates; Meadowlands nine. The post New Jersey Keeps Status Quo of 60 Dates for ’26 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article