Chief Stipe

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!

To quote RACE: TRENTHAM TRACK UPDATE With six meetings in six weeks under the belt, the Trentham turf is now undergoing some well-deserved rehabilitation. The earlier than usual finish to the Cup Carnival has enabled Track Manager Jamie Phillips to begin a programme of mowing off, drill-seeding, verti-draining and fertilising that will see the track ready for three weekends of action in March:- Sunday 2 March Little Avondale Stud Lowland Stakes Day Saturday 22 March Al Basti Equiworld Dubai NZ Oaks Day Saturday 29 March Courtesy Ford Manawatu Sires Produce Stakes Day We can see the benefits of some of the work that was undertaken last winter, with the home turn irrigation coverage more satisfactory via a wider spread, and the tree-reduction program at the HIBS end of the course to be continued.

That's a new angle.

With this setup for 70 horses it shouldn't take long to really make a mark. As many stalls as at Matamata.

I've actually had the opportunity to speak with Pam Gerard a few times in recent weeks. Very approachable and a hard worker. Does very well with a limited number of cattle.

A number of online social media "critics" were saying Book 1 was a blood bath when it was just another average sale not much different to last year or the year before.

Perhaps it has something to do with name of the first race?

Why are you being so negative? @curious posted that Waller was working remotely successfully 20 years ago. I lot easier to do it today with modern technology. I've seen videos being done of trackwork, followed up by vet report and a video of a horse cool down post work sent to a remote trainer seconds after being taken. I've even seen a video call where the trainer from a long distance away is in a conversation with an assistant trainer at the track. Get with the programme @TAB For Ever !!!!!

How was posting the accurate stats and essentially correcting misinformation posted by @Newmarket "constant negativity"? WTF are you on about? What is wrong with questioning the sustainability of the TAB promotions? Particularly in terms of customer retention. I gather you have no idea what his innuendo about Greek was? Therein lies another innuendo. @Thomass just repeats the topics he has been rolling out for decades. Gets boring and repetivie.

Well oh great TAB mentor please explain how is the promotion sustainable?

You seem to struggle with most things racing @Newmarket. Would you like to see the Wexford video?

Generally they do have 3 or 4. If it wasn't for injury they could well have had 5 this year. There were some very nice yearlings at value prices. @Huey you should downgrade your resthome from a 5 star and move into a 3 star then spend the freed up cash and buy a couple of shares.

I agree hence my questions around sustainability and the benefit of ENTAIN promoting the BGP punting promotions.

Well you thought wrong. Perhaps you should check the stats and facts first before commenting. A strike rate better than 1 win for every 5 starts at an average of 22%. No trainer in the top 10 in Victoria has a better strike rate. race location starts 1st 2nd 3rd win % place% prize Money p.o.t VIC - Metro 34 5 1 3 14% 26% $1,075,125 41.2% VIC - Country 26 8 4 6 30% 69% $379,630 43.6%

Shame they decided to customise a StrathAyr instead of copying the best in Australia.