Chief Stipe

Seems the horse "blundered" (whatever that means) and only slipped when trying to regain its footing!!!! Maybe the Stewards blundered: blundered; blundering ˈblən-d(ə-)riŋ Synonyms of blunder intransitive verb 1 : to move unsteadily or confusedly In their exhaustion they often blundered against each other …—Norman Mailer 2 : to make a mistake through stupidity, ignorance, or carelessness blundered by not acting sooner

Race 1 THE MASTERTON CLUB EST 1877 MAIDEN 2050m UNUSUAL NUGGET (M Singh) - Knuckled at the start. Blundered then slipped approaching the 400 metres when free of interference, hampering FIRST EDITION, PLATINUM TYCHE and MR MIYAGI. Rider M Singh raised concerns with Stewards regarding the area of the track near the 400 metres where his mount had lost traction. A post-race veterinary examination found the gelding to have a small abrasion on the left hind leg. PLATINUMREVOLUTION (L Sutherland) - Began awkwardly crowding GOLDEN LINING. GOLDEN LINING (A Lawson-Carroll) - Crowded at the start, losing ground. Bumped with MAGIC EXPRESS near the 250 metres. FIRST EDITION (J Riddell) - Restrained at the start to obtain cover. Hampered approaching the 400 metres. MR MIYAGI (J Chung) - Restrained at the start to obtain cover. Hampered approaching the 400 metres RED LADY (U Holmquist) - Raced keenly in the early stages. PLATINUM TYCHE (K Hercock) - Hampered approaching the 400 metres. MAGIC EXPRESS (C Dell) - Bumped with GOLDEN LINING near the 250 metres. DUBAI’S POTIKI (L Hemi) - Raced keenly throughout. Following the running of this event, Riders’ representatives, Stewards and the Track Manager examined the area of the track where UNUSUAL NUGGET had blundered. This revealed a significant slip mark where the gelding had endeavoured to retain its footing after blundering. A meeting was convened with all riders and after deliberating, the decision was made by the Stewards to abandon the meeting due to safety concerns. Stipendiary Stewards report as posted is provisional and subject to further review and amendment

In my opinion the horse looked to be under pressure a fair way out and under a hard ride (which might have been questioned). Did it clip heels? Or something else? The rumour mill has started - Jockey's wanted to continue - Goodwin said no - apparently it might not have been a slip.

Masterton Racing Club must be in with a chance to win this award. They need the cash - 3 abandoned meeting in five years!

Masterton Racing Club - that's 3 abandonments in 5 years!

No irrigation all week!

Meeting News Masterton RC @ Tauherenikau | Sunday 23 March Race Day Weather: Fine Track: Soft 6 Moisture Meter: 51% Rail: True Rain: No Rain Last 24 Hours | 13mm Rain Last 7 Days Irrigation: N/A Weather and Track updated at 6.49am Sunday 23 March Saturday Afternoon Weather: Fine Track: Soft 6 Moisture Meter: 50.6% Rail: True Rain: No Rain Last 24 Hours | 14.5mm Rain Last 7 Days Irrigation: N/A Weather and Track updated at 4.22pm Saturday 22 March Saturday Morning Weather: Fine Track: Soft 6 Moisture Meter: 51.1% Rail: True Rain: No Rain Last 24 Hours | 14.5mm Rain Last 7 Days Irrigation: N/A Weather and Track updated at 9.00am Saturday 22 March Thursday Morning Weather: Overcast Track: Soft 7 Moisture Meter: 53.8% Rail: True Rain: 4.5mm Rain Last 24 Hours | 12.5mm Rain Last 7 Days Irrigation: N/A Weather and Track updated at 9.56am Thursday 20 March Withdrawal Morning Weather: Drizzling Track: Soft 6 Moisture Meter: 52% Rail: True Rain: 7mm Rain Last 24 Hours | 8.5mm Rain Last 7 Days Irrigation: N/A Weather and Track updated at 8.27am Wednesday 19 March Nomination Morning Weather: Overcast Track: Soft 5 Moisture Meter: 51.2% Rail: True Rain: 1.5mm Rain Last 24 Hours | 4.5mm Rain Last 7 Days Irrigation: N/A Weather and Track updated at 9.01am Tuesday 18 March Head Stipe - Neil Goodwin 027 444 1854

Meeting News Wairarapa Meeting Abandoned after Race 1 Wairarapa Meeting Abandoned Sunday’s Wairarapa meeting at Tauherenikau has been abandoned after Race 1 due a track issue at around the 500m point. More information will follow.

The Trentham track yesterday was a disgrace. Did anyone see the lack of grass in the 1200m concrete chute? Seems they have reduced the width of the track to accommodate only 14 horses. But you wouldn't want to race more than 3 wide down the first 600m straight due to the condition of the turf which sort of defeats the purpose of having a chute. I'll post some photos soon - have asked a friend to download some shots off their race recordings. Keeping up with the trend - is the 1400m start no longer on the main course? The photo below is a picture of it. Seems they either have a porina problem or the sprinklers are toy ones or when irrigating during the summer it blew a gale every day! Notice the reduced width of the track? Will the field sizes be reduced if the rail is placed out from true?

Valley track cops criticism Andrew Eddy@fastisheddy 22 March, 2025 Racing Victoria’s chief steward Rob Montgomery said he was disappointed with the state of the track on Saturday at The Valley with an “exploding” surface leading to a pronounced leader bias. The Valley track was rated a Soft 5 at final scratching time of 7.30am on Saturday but, despite there being only clear skies, the track was later downgraded to a Soft 6 at 3.17pm following the running of the fifth race. “As it drying out, it’s deteriorating,” Montgomery explained. “It’s like there is no root system to it. “It actually raced better when it was a bit softer, but as its drying out, it just seems to be exploding. It’s not holding together. “For a Group 1 meeting, you’d certainly be hoping for better. It’s disappointing. “There is a bit of kickback. The top if coming off – there is no moisture underneath but it’s (surface) shearing off.” The shifting surface meant that horses out wider on the track were finding it hard to get a grip and unleash their sprints, resulting in a domination across the meeting of horses racing near the fence and on the speed. A number of jockeys that rode in the G1 William Reid Stakes were critical of the surface, with Rey Magnerio’s rider Jye McNeil describing the track as “terrible”, while Lachie Neindorf explained his mount Stretan Angel “dipped and dived” through the conditions. Harry Coffey said his filly Arabian Summer wasn’t happy and was “confused on the loose ground”. The Valley’s acting track manager Tony Salisbury said the track had traditionally struggled later in the season. “It’s this time of year – this meeting,” he said. “It’s (track) always looking for the end of the line. “We’ve got one more meeting on April 26 for the season, so we’ll do a heap of work on it. We haven’t been able to aerate the track for a long time as, if we do, the track loses surface tension. “The root system is not good, but it’s an old track.” Salisbury said he had no fears the ageing track will be a problem for its final spring carnival before the track is replaced. “It’ll be fine in the spring as always,” he said. “After we get through August and get some sun on the track, it will perform well, but it’s such a shame it’s come up as it has today.”

Is this the bit that appeals to you?

EARS BACK (J Fawcett) - Declared a late scratching at 3:35pm after refusing to load. Connections were advised that EARS BACK must barrier trial to the satisfaction of a Stipendiary Steward prior to racing next.

The track isn't a Slow 6. They ran 2:28 in the Oaks!

That's nearly a NZ Record for 1200m!! Second fastest in NZ ever!!!

They just ran 1.06.63 in the Lightening - go figure!

Na. Surely they have measured the 1200m course numerous times. If you look at the shute it is rock hard.

I'd say irrigation issues. If it was grass grub there would be patches within the green bits. Again the shute must be concrete - break 1:08 on a Soft 6? Yeah na!

Yeah well the Champagne Turf looks more like the Moonshine Sod. What a fall from heady heights in a short space of time. It looks trashed.

@Transparency Ears Back - sacked or back to the barrier trials?

No doubt @Freda you'll get a rum out of him.

Congrats on the win in Race 1 with Malfy Rosa. https://loveracing.nz/RaceInfo/53337/1/Race-Detail.aspx

Correct. Both Thoroughbreds and Harness at the moment can expect to have their revenue reduce to a quarter of what it is now as it is heavily subsidised by ENTAIN to the tune of 100%. The horse codes can't expect the revenue to have improved 100% on what they were getting prior to ENTAIN therefore the revenue will drop back to what it was then which is half today's funding. However TABNZ signed a deal that gives ENTAIN 50% of the profits therefore the horse codes will get only 25% of what they have now. The only issue with ditching dogs is they are a bridgehead and a distraction. The anti-mob will regroup and target Harness now and if the revenue figures are correct Harness will fold very quickly.

Only confirms he was always a career bureacrat that had zero understanding of wagering and racing.

Your cynicism knows no bounds. There have been at least two positives in Australia. No excuse needed the cause has been found. Contamination of one of the products ingredients. I guess you didn't bother to read the information posted.