Taku is totally correct they altered the conditions of the race after Origin won on Friday night! Yes very poor and is a continuation of some of the shocking decisions being made! When Origin won, HRNZ had it up for a short time with Origin starting of 20 metres so I also didnt give it a great chance of winning. Appalling decision by HRNZ once again and have never ever seen this done before ever! Nothing surprises us anymore as there is preferential treatment for some  and also victimisation towards others in racing in NZ! Look forward to getting the defense from HRNZ, but they will say nothing to see here?

So they are prepared to take $13k or $40k from some punters and yet other punters can not get $200 on?? Seriously flawed business practice that will backfire on them big time once the money dries up!

On what planet would the original conditions of the race have this part "Also horses with 1 win since 25/07/2025 if driven by a concession junior driver." The original conditions (and fields) were out before Origin won on 25/7/2025. The conditions were changed to align with the rules that allowed the horse to remain entered in its original position off the front.   

Good post. Totally agree, absolutely fanciful to think the bulk of turnover would just transfer to the TAB while ignoring the reasons it wasn’t bet with them in the first place. Unless of course every person betting overseas was a problem gambler which would then fall foul of there problem gambling rules (which is apparently one of the reasons the legislation change was needed). 

I bet into the race Friday thinking Origin was going to be off 20m and was going to struggle. Luckily the junior gave it an impossible task and and it all worked out well.

Brodster extending an invite to Brad Steele to come on Bit of a Yarn also good.

also,when m jones said origin,a 1 win horse got to start off the front when the other 1 win horses were made to start off 20m,well thats not true They also could have started off the front had they put concession junior drivers on. Unless what taku said is true. Maybe thats why taku has said what he said. Hes interpreted what mark jones has said as meaning that,when mark jones unintentionally left that possible inference open to interpretation,without meaning to. we will just have to wait and see if anyone clarifies it so we know for sure either way.. Also,if mark jones isn't happy with concession drivers getting drop backs ,then i have no problem with that. I don't believe in them either. I think drop backs should be based on a horses form and $ won ,not concession drivers. But i would point out the handicapping of drop backs for concessions drivers has always been around. Its nothing new. the only thing thats new is, they have realised it should aplly to 1 win horses as well,which to me is fair enough. having said all that,i think its good that mark jones is out there debating these things. Hes trying to help. And hearing both sides of the argument allows topics like this be discussed properly. People should always feel free to express their opinions,especially people like m jones.

Betting is not like other things.  Its hard to get along not buying food or petrol for your car but you don’t have to bet on sport or racing to get along unless you’ve got a problem.  The punters betting with overseas operators were doing it because they didn’t want to take rubbish odds from TAB/Entain.  I would always happily bet with the TAB if the odds were the same and they were prepared to take the bet at odds shown for the amount I wanted.  They weren’t very often but if they were I was always happy to bet with them.  Withdrawals from offshore operators can be a pain. Now I just won’t bet at all.  No POC tax from me.  Racing needs as many punters as it can get not as much as it can get from a small group of punters with a problem.  Long term what they’ve done will be detrimental to the game.

Just to clarify what your saying .as your making some serious allegations. Correct me if i'm wrong,you've just  alleged above,after origin won at addington,they changed the race conditions of todays race,thus giving preferential treatment to the connections of origin. Thats  a serious allegation taku as it would mean favoritism and corruptuion on a scale i've never heard of before. if true then why didn't mark jones allege that. He doesn't say that,he just says they allowed davis to change the driver after the driver notification time had elapsed,due to davis realising that since he won on friday,he could get to still start off the front today with a concession junior on. i also doubt p davis would want any part of what you are say taku. Hes very honest and wouldn't want to be seen to be getting preferential treatmant on the scale you have alleged. I can get why he may want to change the driver... so all thats different from what you say taku, so perahps you had better check that out as  what you have said seems a tad unbelievable.