Chief Stipe

Look at races 4, 5, 6, and 7. Plus 8. When they got to the Newmarket the Jockeys weren't keen on staying out wide. That could have been a collective mindset. It created a logjam. Regardless I first made the comment in respect of Damask Rose's chances. It did put me off Tentyris.

It wasn't stopping as much as the other horses were finishing over the top of it. Was wide on the turn and got to the front too soon. Collett could have waited. 10 horses finished behind it. Could have finished a place or two closer if it hadn't got jammed 100m up resulting in the Jockey standing up. Only 4 lengths from the winner. Note in the vets report he was suffering from mild heat stress.

Ok so now you are looking at the races you didn't see yesterday. Go back and look at those sprinr races. Compared to the Newmarket they were small fields. The barriers that the horses started from were in the middle of the lane i.e. there was an even number of empty gates each side of the track. Over 1000 and 1100m a Jockey in a small field would be brain dead to go more distance to get to the inside. The Newmarket was a large field spread across the track. After 100 to 200m they all went to the inside.

What IS really interesting is that both @the galah and @Brodie have admitted they haven't bothered to read the HRNZ Annual Accounts!!!! Which I might add are freely available for downloading from the Incorporated Societies website amd the HRNZ website.

THEY didn't use the comparison. I did and it wasn't SPIN. It was for CONTEXT and COMPARISON which you keep banging on about.

So they HAVEN'T squandered it all contrary to @Brodie and your assertions.

They essentially all won on pace and on the inside. The OZ commentors (which I rate) explained Damask Rose's odds lengthening from $4.4 to over $6 was due to the prevailng pattern working against her draw and racing style. Under the circumstances her run had a lot of merit. Especially when she was 3 wide albeit with cover for most of the race and wider on entering the straight. In the Newmarket it was noticeable they didn't split and all tried to get to the inner.

It is difficult to place a one dimensional horse whose forte is 2400m. You can only race that distance two or three times at most in a season and you have to build to it. We've discussed Leica Lucy before and as I said then they went to the well too many times. Robbie Patterson said she needed a break. She basically only had one preparation leading to the NZ Oaks win. Sometimes it takes a long time to recover sometimes they don't recover. I also wouldn't listen to what a Jockey says. Often their post race media comment is slanted by disappointment and or a poor ride. LOL I can think of numerous occasions where a Jockey has had a shyte ride and blamed the track conditions. If Thats Gold is better suited to mile-middle distance then he has more chamce in OZ than an outright stayer.

7% isn't it? Isn'r that significant?

Once the race pattern was confirmed for the day he had no chance.

Why is still no published Stewards Report for Champions Day Ellerslie? Even a draft would be good! I know there were 3 Enquiries but typists aren't that slow! If there was a report would it stop thw rumour that Well Written bled?

Yep she has some quirks. I'm not a fan of head gear but if a horse ever needed blinkers it's her. Not that I'm a trainer.

Yeah na! We'll turn it around. Think positive.

LOL here we go.

I bet there are questions asked about the track bias at Flemington today.