Motor Sport

Because Harness Racing Australia has applied a stallion tax which the studs just pass on to the breeders.  Plus they implement a book limit of 150 mares.

Frankie Dettori brought the curtain down on his career in the saddle by claiming Group 1 glory in Brazil on Sunday.  His final appearance in the saddle at Gavea racecourse could not have begun any better when Dettori came from the rear to score aboard Speak Alpha on the undercard, a success that prompted his trademark flying dismount celebration.  The fairytale finish was completed when Dettori partnered Bet You Can to victory in the Grande Prêmio Estado do Rio de Janeiro, the Brazilian 2,000 Guineas, securing the first leg of Brazil's Triple Crown. “I can rest now, whatever else happens today,” Dettori told Racing Post after his opening win. “I couldn't have asked for a better way to finish. From the minute I got on the horse, it felt phenomenal. It's a great place to finish – trust me. I'm very happy.” The post Dettori Bows Out From The Saddle With Classic Glory In Brazil appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Frankie Lor Fu-chuen is confident Regal Gem can capitalise on his light weight and clinch the DBS x Manulife Million Challenge crown in the series finale at Happy Valley on Wednesday night. Leading the Million Challenge on 42 points, Regal Gem will carry only 116lb when he faces several leading series rivals in the Class Two Blue Pool Handicap (1,200m). The annual Million Challenge is for runners of all races Class Three and above from September 10 until Wednesday night, with points awarded to...View the full article

the first new zealand race starter,by king of swing is running on thursday at addington.Fanfare its name. its won each of its 4 trials so far,so looks promising. its a half brother to minstrel and some other handy horses. The dam is a mach three mare that it looks like the butts have bred 11 foals from the 16 yer old mare,so she already been a good producer. king of swing certainly a wonderful racehorse and seemingly very intelligent.  will be interesting to see how fanfare goes. king of swing was $5000 plus gst last year in nz,$8000 plus gstin aussie. aussies obviously expected to pay the higher stud fee even though he's based there. Not sure how that works.

yes hrnz thinking has been,,because they're aren't many 2 year olds around to race, they need to encourage more and to achieve that the answer has been large bonuses,increased stakes and this year pay 90 of them $5000 just to start,even if they run a tailed off  last.  thats how hrnz think. its consistent with their thinking when it comes to north island harness racing. Up there they don't have enouigh horses to fill the fields, so HRNZ think the answer to that is more races. so theres that consistency in hrnz policy,that is ,the less horses you have available,the more racing you put on for them and the more you give them higher stakes to aim at. now clearly anyone can see that has not been working whatsoever and never made any sense in the first place,but they get points for consistency,even if its stupid. then hrnz's answer to the ATC financial worries is,don't worry,keep going as you are,because we've got your back and we will throw a few million into your financail hole,because we  believe the population of auckland is going to all of a sudden have a change of heart and start supporting the harness product in auckland.And hrnz will budget $20m to build a training complex on a property that they don't even own. then  HRNZ has said to cambridge,well,we know your in deep shit financially,but what does impress us is you only owe hrnz about 1.2-1.5 m,now thats pretty dam good when we compare you to ATC..So look,we know the slot races you ran added significantly to your debt,so hey,we have a solution to that. Lets have HRNZ run those slot races and take the financial hit,that way the good aussie horses can come and take even more nz harness indutsry money back to australia for their billionaire owners.. again pretty consistent thinking by hrnz. then there was nz  sires bonuses. What they did there was say to people,breed to a nz sire and we will pay you  bonuses when they race and win in years to come.But ,thers a catch,we may cancel those bonuses before you ever race.For unknown reasons,many seemed silly enough to think they may be getting a bonus for their foals sired by nz sires in the future,but no they wont,as very predictably, hrnz cancelled those. But your right brodie,not much point saying the same thing repeatedly as even we get tired of reading our own posts. as to the 2 year old race programmed for southalnd this week.My guess was they would get zero nominations. I based that on it appears they have no qualified 2 year old in southland yet.  and the $12,000 stake.at addington. Points to hrnz at least showing some common sense by reducing the stake by 20% due to the small number of starters. But even a $12,000 stake seems ridiculous given it will generate no turnover whatsoever. It will be interesting to see whether the 20% is smoke and mirrors. In other words, will they be reducing the winning stakes by 20%,or is the 20% reduction just what would have come off anyway,due to not haveing any also rans to pay staring money. In other words ,unless they reduce the winning stakes,then they  really are just playing with people.