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She's just replacing Justine Sclater isn't she?

SAFE are getting plenty of ammunition. https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/360815092/watch-secret-footage-brought-down-melbourne-cup-winning-trainer-darren-weir    

That was 30 years ago!  I sense you have the same type of gripe that @Yankiwi had.

Very sorry to hear that damage to your horse like that in race conditions. a sad day when stuff like that happens.  There is a 'Duty of Care' that should be applied , no matter what class of race or horse , and whoever is driving. (just like we all have to display while driving on the road ) Is not worth it to 'knock someone down' by exceeding basic safety guidelines. The standard is very high for race driving these days ,and the 'Bubble' you mention,  consists of a lot of drivers that are related to each other through family and marriage . all through NZ and all the Aussie states too. This is a Good thing . You don't see the recklessness you described very much at all these days . Very few crashes and serious incidents that were common in NZ last century with the Big fields and makeshift drivers. One thing that is done well now, is the same basic group of drivers go around in each race , at Metro venues, so the racing is high quality, way safer , and the drivers all have Great respect for each other , and are regular opponents etc.  so the close relationships is probably a good thing. Mostly they seem to drive to win . The top stables generally end up with a few in a race. Emma Stewart has 4, and Grant Dixon 3 of the 10 runners in the $2,000,000 Eureka tomorrow night. so that is likely to keep it more 'Sedate' than 'Reckless' really. for the biggest prize race going. The last serious Incident I remember , leading to a horse being destroyed in a race, was the 2014 Interdominion Final when a large field thundered around Menangle , with Beautide taking Victory. But alas for the 2nd favourite, named Im Victorious , he had his front leg tendon severed by an appalling drive from a local driver , who was Desparate and bamboozled by the size of the field and the Big occasion , that she was not capable of adjusting too. She got 8 weeks suspension . and  the beautiful NZ bred horse racing for WA who had won 22 of his 34 starts and was looking at being the next millionaire pacer got the death sentence. thankfully these sort of things are very rare now.  

Let me guess you are Anti-Racing as well?

i agreed with the banning of the live exports.shame they are going to allow the cows to be exported again. Its just another example of the current government  prioritising the $ over the environment and  animal welfare issues. I've always thought the whole dairying and to a lesser extent the cow exports is quite a tangled web of influence by people with  big money. its not just central government, its local. Just look at the backgrounds and the connections of some of those who got postions at  ecan and those people,then allowed all the water to be taken to enable dairying on such a massive scale,knowing with it came very serious environmental issues. the press, some years ago, had a very well researched article which delved into the links between one of nz's richest men and the people making the decisions at the likes of ecan.  I could name several examples of men who have either themselves or through their proxies,got into positions of authority and influence on water right decisions who have had hundreds of millions of dollars riding on the dairying expansions and the taking of water. but back to the sinking of that big ship . it was very interesting to follow that. the ship,with a history of mechanical, maintenace issues,sailed into a typhoon when all the other ships on the seas in that region had taken cover ,as they knew what had been forecast.Hell they had engine issues not long after they left napier.They didn't lay the total blame on the inexperienced captain ,but the guy must have been an idiot who chose to risk everything ,seemingly partly to create a good impression with the financially troubled company he was working for and to meet deadlines for the watering and feeding of the cows. Seems so crazy that someone could be that stupid.  anyways,i say ban live cow exports.

You can't say she is not from a racing background, that has always been one of the issues in the past.  Her mother-in-law is Karen Fursdon, whose father is Norm Crawford

I think you will find that they are reducing head count.

Who cares anymore. It's just rearranging furniture at further unnecessary cost to the industry.