Chief Stipe

5% of what? 5% of the Entain contribution or 5% of what the slot holders have coughed up? At the end of the day isn't most of the stake money sweepstake money put up by slotholders. Surely they can run their own raffles? Whether the concept is a winner and is long term sustainable - who knows.

Hardly a fair comparison given the difference in ability of the horses they ride. As they all do Macdonald can get a ride terribly wrong - sometimes he admits it sometimes he blames the track. Good horses give you a lot of scope tactically. Some types of horse racing patterns he isn't suited to as much as others. Pinn is a very good rider and his strike rate is up there with the top 4 in NZ.

Still six to find and the 8 they have are very good ponies. Although I think the CJC went too early.

The 2nd horse showed it is a very good horse. There was a fair bit of class in that race but without exposed form. What has the price of a horse got to do with a horse being "decent"? $1.3m is a snip for a Snitzel colt out of a Lonhro mare. The dam line has the French bred Snowdrift - a prolific producer of Grp winners in Australia including Snowland. If he keeps winning that $1.3m will be worth 20 or 30 times that. I'm disappointed but not surprised @Huey that your blinkers don't allow you to say the winner is obviously at the top level. I've seen him up close and he is a very well put together colt. Unbeaten to date in races and trials. His trial at Matamata on the 14th of January against older horses was impressive. One to watch if he stays sound. You can't knock it when it has only raced at Ellerslie once. Trainers are notoriously slow to adapt. Most of any perceived problems are related to the pattern and placement of this specific race. This race was being screwed by those things well before it was shifted from New Plymouth. Distance to travel and the track condition there didn't help either on attracting a good field. That said it was a useful G3 in the past. Both New Plymouth, Ellerslie and NZTR thought moving it would help it BUT one thing that has been learnt from this latest edition of the race is that location isn't the only problem. As I've posted on a few occasions before all pattern roads point to KM and then to March at Ellerslie. There is very little in the way of alternative pathways for non KM eligible horses. Very little for 3yr old sprinting fillies but that's another topic. It isn't a dissimilar model to what happens in Australia where all paths point to a few tracks in each State. The difference is the pattern isn't skewed and based around races where ALL comers are welcome.

So I guess you found the Taranaki Cup mildly hilarious?

It said sub-standard - how do you know it was worn? Could have been made in China.

All good questions but how do you rate the fields it has beaten?

Two very very good 2yr olds quinelled the race. Why would you consider it a joke? I will accept though that this race has been stuffed up from the pattern perspective. The field quality has dropped off since the introduction of the KM.

If they can run home the last 600m in a tick over 33 and the fastest part of that sectional is the last 400m why can't they break 1:10? Obviously the straight isn't soft is it?

Yes I believe it does. The horses lose their confidence and a bit of speed. Takes them maybe 80m - 100m to pull it together and balance up. Those that are in the front have got a 3 length break and that half second is hard to make up with only 300m left. That's my theory anyway. It is worse when it rains as I reckon the track turf floats because it has been sliced and diced during the week with tynes.

Since when do the gallops Stipes smash anyone on the choices the make? Hell when are they going to give them a lecture about having a decent pace in a race? In the Railway they ran the first half of the race five seconds slower than the second half.

7 days now and no Stewards vision from KM night. Pigeon is lost obviously.

It's obvious. I've heard numerous reports of horses becoming unbalanced on the last part of the turn. Sam Spratt is a master at stacking them up.

Happens most races now at the new Ellerslie. Short dash to the front, stack them then handles bars down from the 400m. Unfortunately I suspect the iconic bend at Ellerslie doesn't allow horses off the pace to improve before they straighten.

Sounds like a Kevin Morton or Leo Molloy trick! Was the Jockey any good?

How long does "the gear" last? I assume apprentices start out with new gear rather than second hand gear which you would think would be provided by the trainer that the apprentice is indentured to.

I see Huge Wave (Warsaw) picked up another win in Hong Kong on New Years Day 2025. Won over a NZ$1m now so going some way to recouping the purchase price.

Why did she need a vet check?

Stewards vision? Speaking of which - where is the Stewards vision for Ellerslie last Saturday? You would have thought that "Racing Headquarters" would have got the tapes downtown by now.

$130k net stakes? Not many are doing that. You also must be assuming a fair margin on training fees. Most horse trainers will tell you that the margin for training horses is very small and that their money is made from trading horses. Not sure a lot of trading goes on in Greyhounds!

Then the fate is sealed.

Well looking at the Trainers Premiership I can't seen any with 30 dogs that would be making much of a living. Many of those with more than 30 would also struggle. Especially if they are involved in the ownership. Rather than a Professional Sport it would appear Greyhound Training is an adjunct to other income and for most a hobby. https://www.grnz.co.nz/trainers/trainer-premiership.aspx

Meeting News Central Date/Venue Changes - March/April/June NZTR advises that the physical work for the Awapuni track reconstruction was completed successfully in December. Since then, the focus has been on carrying out subsoiling work and monitoring the “grow in” of the new grass. While very good progress has been made with grass growth, NZTR and RACE have agreed that the track is not quite ready to have horses on it. Accordingly, a decision has been made to defer a return to racing at Awapuni until Anzac Day to ensure that the track is in the best possible condition when racing recommences. Experience has shown that returning to racing too soon can create issues with track performance. NZTR and RACE have agreed, therefore, to take a conservative approach. As a result of the deferral of the return to racing at Awapuni, the following venue and date changes have been approved by the TAB NZ Dates Committee. The NZ Pattern Committee has also approved the venue changes for the affected Pattern races. Current Dates Calendar New Calendar Notes Sunday 2 March - Awapuni Sunday 2 March - Trentham Lowland Stakes Day Thursday 6 March - New Plymouth Thursday 6 March - Waverley Saturday 8 March - Trentham Saturday 8 March – New Plymouth Saturday 29 March - Awapuni Saturday 29 March - Trentham Sires Produce Day Friday 4 April - Whanganui Friday 4 April – Woodville Saturday 5 April - Awapuni Saturday 5 April - Whanganui Manawatu Breeders Stakes Day Saturday 7 June - Awapuni Saturday 7 June - Trentham

My understanding is that any surplus capital has been put into an investment fund wherefrom stakes top ups are drawn i.e. Ellerslie offers higher stakes than the minimum. They would argue that that funding IS going back into the industry via the stakes funnel.

It was evident from the persistent drone footage that they have a lot more work to do to ensure even irrigation coverage. Especially in the shute! Agreed. Especially when January/February isn't conducive to grass seeding anyway especially if there are irrigation coverage issues. Autumn is a better time! "Rehabilitation" is hardly descriptive of what they are doing!