Chief Stipe

LOL there aren't 8,000 active members over there!!!! LMAO!!!

No I just don't give up! Then again I've given up trying to find all my mystery identities and all the toxic posters here. Haven't found any of the latter yet...

How many provincial and super titles has your team won?

The antagonism towards @curious derives from one simple fact. A number of individuals (two in particular) cannot accept a differing opinion that is cogently and persistently argued. Yes sometime some of us might press the point for too long but that is no reason to ban anyone. There is also an element of paranoia and insecurity. In the past and more regularly an administration line has been crossed.

Well the new Gorge road is close to opening. The Hawkes Bay will boom!

So I guess Waipukurau was out of the question?

Yeah but Insider thinks Trentham is in the CD!! Central Districts from a cricketing perspective also involves ferry travel! The CDCA is comprised of eight District Associations: Hawke's Bay, Manawatū, Wairarapa, Horowhenua-Kāpiti, Whanganui, Taranaki, Nelson, and Marlborough. From a Police perspective:

Float fare Otaki to Woodville? I don't get it - on the one hand you want more of the country tracks utilised but when they are you criticise it. Not to mention how many actually train at Otaki anymore.

They obviously consult @Pitman

Nothing has changed in that regard except the black line has got further away. I guess you were more of a "creative" accountant than a cost one.

But you are not doing an equal comparison. You are loading up the KiwiB while discounting the NZ Cup. You are also loading the Champions Day total marketing on one race. As for CJC having a slot - they wasted their "gift" by choosing a runner that had no show. Doing what? Arguably the Stakes races had been loaded enough and the supporting races are all well funded.

Yeah I don't get that. Oatham and his team allow the meeting to continue in a storm when participants are saying no. Then walks the turf track in relatively benign conditions which are forecast to improve and agrees that it isn't suitable to race on.

I've never understood the point of a suspension. It is actually a ban as you elude. But what is it supposed to achieve? Are you repenting? Are you attending confession and doing contrition and penance while kneeling at a station of the cross being whipped into submission while grasping your rosary beads? Or have you been asked to donate to a worthy cause to atone for your mortal sins? Oh that's right you did that last week on that channel. Are you really going to change your views or will you dumb yourself down and become an obsequious sycophant? Have you had any instructions on how to atone?

I don't get why it would matter. Aren't black type races graded on the performance of participants not the surface they race on?

To be fair @TAB For Ever has invested a lot of money in both Thoroughbreds and Harness over the years. He has had a lot of success that many of us would be envious of. So I cut him some slack.

Exactly. They butchered their summer carnival. Auckland Cup and the Derby. They are starting to get a bit of a following with the KM but hardly a carnival when no one else is involved. What do they call solo sex?

So I gather with your time at Otago University you didn't embrace everything that the South Island has to offer? JAFA.

So how do you describe yourself? Of have you stopped attending Cup week to watch your horses?

Unbelievable!!! I see the Dog is accusing Brent of "Incorrect Information"!!!!! What utter utter BS! No response to the fact he has logged into other peoples accounts, checked their PM's and then clicked like emoji's (accidentally?). Nor edited posts AFTER he has been caught out and had to back track to save face. Cry me a river!

Yes but Cup week has been a tradition for 100 years - well a very long time with annual marketing from Throughbred Racing, Harness, Dogs, the local Councils and businesses. It is one of the last bucket list racing carnivals in NZ. Decades of tradition and ingrained in NZ'rs throughout the country.

No I said they were party to drug adulteration and mislabelling. The mislabelling had "snakeoil type names". Some of those convicted and banned from racing DIDN’T know that what they were injecting were common drugs used to treat horses more often outside of competition. Some of those banned under racing rules were banned NOT for returning positives but because they were injecting something that was unapproved because it wasn't labelled correctly. There were guilty of not following the rules of racing and using something they THOUGHT was performance enhancing without knowing what it was!! For example one of the mislabelled drugs was Clenbuterol - a known bronchodilator i.e. a drug that opens the airways making breathing easier (if you have asthma then your inhaler containers a bronchodilator). BUT it was labelled something along the lines of "Go Fast 1000" with no indication that the active was Clenbuterol. The reasons positives weren't returned is because the "secret administration instructions" which had to be adhered to just happened to match withholding periods or detection limits. That said a couple of trainers did stuff up and positives were found. Samples of ALL the mislabelled drugs were found well before investigations were complete or charges laid. It would be extremely naive to think that the authorities didn't know exactly what to look for in race testing. Both there and here in NZ.

So about 1:58 for the mile?

I have no problem with their involvement at all. My understanding of the blood spinning science is that it is therapeutic as opposed to being a performance enhancer. The theory is that the platelet rich plasma (PRP) is separated from the red blood cells and then is injected into tendons, ligaments and joints (which generally have poor direct blood supply) to enable quicker repair from wear and tear or injury. The PRP has growth factors in it that are found naturally in the body and are what stimulates repairs. As @Gammalite will attest when training race horses at a high level a lot of stress goes on the joints such as the fetlocks, the knees and the hocks as well as the connecting ligaments and tendons. These parts experience a lot of wear and tear. So the injections reduce inflammation and aid repair and recovery. They don't make the horse go faster other than the horse heals and can maintain longer periods of training and high level racing. There are different substances that are available now that can be injected that do the same thing as blood spinning. Some would argue that the newer technology is better at getting results. For example a common one is Arthramid Vet (tradename) which has the active ingredient Polyacrylamide Hydrogel (PAAG) and it is injected directly into the fetlock joint. It has less complications and long term negative affects than the traditionally used corticosteroids. The Arthramid injections cost around $500 a fetlock and last a year. https://arthramid.co.nz/arthramid-vet-2-5-paag/ Having had a knee injury through my sporting career I've always taken a keen interest in the research. So I don't find the technology alarming at all but fascinating science. They don't make a horse go faster (very few if any alleged PED's do) or have more stamina but they help reduce wear and tear and so a horse is less sore less often. A happy horse is a fast horse.

Yeah but when was your last winner?

Well we all know the Sharrock quote about the positive relationship between stakes and wagering is a nonsense. The point I'd like to make is that that KiwiB is a slot race and the stakes largely come from slot holders NOT the industry pot. So in terms of returns to the industry from wagering turnover it is greater from the KiwiB than it is from the NZ Cup even if the latter had a higher turnover.