Chief Stipe

Queensland trainers want all revenues rather than just a share raised through a new point of consump… View the full article

I was going to respond in the negative to your post then re-read it. I assure you PM's are not checked on BOAY. I'm very hot on privacy and one day may well share a few experiences from somewhere else. At the end of the day BOAY doesn't favour any stakeholder as the point is to give everyone a forum to express their views. BOAY rules are simple.

You tell me? I don't know but what I do know is that old Roy Purdon was as good as any trainer in his day. Blair Orange may not have listened or observed. Having worked in a trotting stable I couldn't work out why the endless hours of jogging a horse. That's one point.

Heavy rain combined with sand kickback has forced the abandonment of today’s Auckland Racing Club me… View the full article

Sheikh Mohammed's royal blue Godolphin silks have been carried to victory in the Epsom Derby for the… View the full article

I'd go so far to say even an AWT would have been abandoned. It is an extreme weather event. Slow moving low - dumped 30mm on us in Whangarei last 24 hours. Auckland copped it last night and this morning. Now in Hamilton.

It's the rate of fall. Large amount in a couple of hours on ground that would already be at water capacity. Hasn't been a lot of drying lately.

They've had 9mm since midnight half of that in the last hour. Raining now and more to come. Te Rapa is stuffed and I've been saying that for about 4 years. However abandonments will happen and are budgeted for.

I have no idea but given the vast majority of horses bleed when racing why wouldn't you?

Trainer Peter Snowden admits he considered scratching Snippet's Land before the gelding scored his f… View the full article

On the same day Egg Tart made her way back to the winners' list in Queensland, her talented Chris Wa… View the full article

Waller Up Front Following Lasix Positive by Rob Burnet, Thoroughbrednews.com.au As was widely reported last week, Sydney’s leading trainer Chris Waller was fined A$30,000 by a Racing NSW stewards’ panel, chaired by chief steward Ray Murrihy, over a positive sample of the prohibited substance furosemide. The sample was taken from Junoob (GB) (Haafhd {GB}) after the gelding’s win in the G1 The Metropolitan H. at Randwick racecourse Oct. 4. The positive test for the diuretic, better known as Lasix, made public the use of the product in horses in training in Waller’s stable, an aid that was not generally known by the racing public. Lasix is generally understood by the Australian racing public to be a drug most commonly used on race day in the U.S., but it is also used–legally–in Australia in horses in training, usually when doing fast work, as a preventative drug and has been for some time. Waller, who pleaded guilty to the charge and will not appeal, has been up-front about the use of Lasix in his stable after the stewards’ inquiry last Thursday. “I believe it helps with the longevity of horse’s career,” he said. “It reduces the frequency of bleeding and reduces the chances of a horse bleeding. Every time they bleed they get closer to a major bleed.” Junoob was tested to be at 440ng/mL of Frusemide, in excess of the Australian 50ng/mL threshold. Any trace of the drug above the threshold must be out of the horse’s system by race day, and it was here that Waller’s stable went afoul of the rules. The stewards’ report said that they were satisfied from the scientific evidence that the administration of Furosemide to Junoob most likely occurred at or around 3:30 a.m. the morning of the race. They found that the administration of furosemide was inadvertent on the part of Waller’s experienced stable foreperson, Analise Trollope, whilst conducting scheduled administrations of the drug to eight horses in Barn 1, where Junoob was housed, and prior to those horses completing fast work on the Rosehill training track that morning. Racing NSW chief vet Craig Suann said research suggested the treatment be given between 12 and 16 hours before the sample was taken later that day at Randwick races. Suann told the inquiry Furosemide could be a masking agent because it increases urination. It is also a performance-enhancer when given four hours before a race in the absence of water because it increases the power-to-weight ratio of a horse. In this case, neither was a factor, Suann said, because the length of time it was given before the race as the effect diminishes in short time. In the meantime, Waller is taking full responsibility. “It is embarrassing,” said Waller. “It was a mistake and we have learnt from our mistake and changed our procedures. The rules are clear and I have respect for them and the process the stewards had to go through and they did their job.” Waller has been dominant in Sydney racing and he currently leads the Sydney metropolitan trainer championship by a wide margin. The stable has had considerable success with tried horses from the UK allowing them to adapt to the Australian climate, training methods and feed. Junoob, a 6-year-old Haafhd gelding, is an example of the stable taking the UK listed winner to Group 2 heights after his arrival in Australia in 2013. This prominence has also brought with it heavy scrutiny from racing integrity departments. “You must be the most-swabbed trainer in Australia, about 50% of runners would be tested (1544 runners in 2013-14),” said Murrihy when handing down the fine. “There has to be a deterrent for this not to happen again,” he added. The stewards said that Waller’s good record of having only one sustained charge in 19 years as a trainer was in his favour at the time of assessing the penalty. Ironically, the stable provided the quinella (first and second) in the Metropolitan with Opinion (Ire) (Oasis Dream {GB}) promoted from second to first after the disqualification of Junoob.

My theory is Purdon works his horses hard and doesn't do endless miles of jogging. Hence they are race fit when they get to the races while the others are underdone and "need a race or two"... Bit like Waller's horses. I did read an article a couple of years back that when Waller works his horses hard he gives them Lasix. That makes sense to me as a preventative measure and a way of working your horses hard in training without causing too much harm. Perfectly legal as well as far as I understand.

I would think that this puts an end to any innuendo about the All Stars having something "extra"?

Horses in drugs scare get the all-clear The 10 harness horses at the centre of a drug contamination scare this week have all been cleared to start at today's Jewels meeting. Precautionary tests requested by trainers Mark Purdon and Natalie Rasmussen (nine horses) and Terry and Glenys Chmiel (Dibaba) and conducted by the Racing Integrity Unit showed no presence of drugs in any horse. The unusual concerns were raised when two, now former, staff members of the All Stars stables were believed to have used recreational drugs in the last week and had been in contact with all 10 of the horses tested as they were transported from Canterbury to Waikato. One of the staff members provided a sample to a professional drug tester called in by Purdon and returned a positive while the other refused a test and both were subsequently dismissed. Purdon and Rasmussen contacted the RIU on Wednesday and asked for all nine of their horses who had been in contact with the two employees be tested to ensure they were drug-free heading into today's $1,275,000 meeting, while Dibaba as also tested as it has come north on the same transporter. All 10 horses will take their places at today's meeting, which boasts nine group one races. The TAB, which had been asked by the RIU on Wednesday to suspend betting on six of the Jewels races, re-opened those at 4.30pm yesterday. "The RIU is very pleased with the result. The integrity system worked as it should," said RIU general manager Mike Godber. "The trainers were proactive in advising the RIU of the potential contamination."

Racing: Super stable blitz Jewels 3 Jun, 2018 5:00am 2 minutes to read Shez All Rock brilliantly won the 3YO Diamond yesterday. Photo / Trish Dunell The all-conquering stable of Mark Purdon and Natalie Rasmussen dominated yesterday's showpiece Harness Jewels meeting at Cambridge with six winners on the nine-race group one card. And it was fitting that Australasia's top stable produced the first Australian winner at the Jewels when super filly Shez All Rock treated her rivals with contempt in the 3YO Diamond. In a brilliant front-running performance, she stopped the clock at 1.51.9 for the 1600m with a five-length margin to her contemporaries. Although she won in the name of Purdon and Rasmussen, she wore the green colours of her homeland and will head back across the Tasman to former trainer Mark Pitt. Purdon, usually reserved, was in raptures with the filly's performance. "She was just beautiful today and it was just brilliant the way she did it ... she could have gone a second quicker if I asked her too." Purdon picked out Shez All Rock, the Victorian and New South Wales Oaks winner, for good friend Chris Ryder, a former Kiwi based in the US. Just as quickly as Purdon and adoring New Zealand fans fell in love with Shez All Rock, they will have to say goodbye — she's off to Australia next week and, eventually, America. "She'll go back across to Mark now and contest the Vicbred and Breeders Crown before heading to America." Earlier, Princess Tiffany started the stable roll with a dominant display in the 240 Diamond, while Enhance Your Calm was too good in the 2YO Ruby trot. The stable's other winners were Another Masterpiece, Eamon Maguire and classy trotter Winterfell. There were jubilant scenes, the likes of which haven't been seen for a long time on a New Zealand harness racing track, when Pat's Delight took out the final race. The Dexter Dunn-driven second favourite won a stirring home-straight battle over Sheriff, sending a section of the grandstand in to raptures.

Gronkowski is an interesting horse. Only a couple of weeks with new trainer in USA. By Lohnro. Some NZ breeding in him.

Jockey Skye Bogenhuber's affinity with spirited gelding The Monstar has given her a first Group Two … View the full article

The rest of the training mob need to lift their game. It is a bit like Chris Waller in Sydney - he is dominating. But like Purdon it is through good training systems. Low stakes don't help of course and it limits the options for the next tier down to lift their game.

Another Masterpiece too good in 2YO Emerald with Australian raider Petes Big Jim strong in second. View the full article

Tomelilla faced different track conditions and a classy weight-for-age field in today’s Listed Ag Ch… View the full article

Trainer John Thompson will confer with Caloundra winner Commander's owners before committing the gel… View the full article

There jubilant scenes when Utmost Delight capped a good season with a second Group 1 success in the … View the full article

There were jubilant scenes, the likes of which haven’t been seen for a long time, if ever, on a New … View the full article