Chief Stipe

How often did Imperatriz wear them? Te Akau don't often try them as a last resort. For example Melody Belle raced most of her career in them. So your Blinkers First Time On or Off isn't a Te Akau metric to follow. BTW the First Time Blinkers in your Super Maiden at Rosehill yesterday only ran second. Didn't improve much. What science? Nothing you write has any scientific evidence based research that conforms to scientific standards. Largely it is finger in the air BS.

@Thomass if a Trainer said his/her horse suffers from "small man syndrome" would you be so quick to hit social media and protest?

So you find this post acceptable commentary? It is clear that John Kellly has an axe to grind and also doesn't know what classifies a "fascist". The other question I asked the gentleman moaning in the local was - What action did Trump do during his last term that could be classified as fascist? Again....

Yesterday at Addington a horse backed away just before the start, cannoned into another horse and locked wheels. The race started and both drivers had been knocked out of the carts. Fortunately they held their horses and weren't injured. A false had been declared so the horses lined up again. If a Jockey was left behind at the start would that constitute a false start?

Ok. I don't know why they don't do that between races on raceday. Addington yesterday had three large tractors levelling the track after each race as well as a water truck going around.

125mm depth. What's a "harrow break"?

It's like the other night at the local an elderly gentleman proclaimed that Trump was a terrible fascist. I asked what had he done that constituted fascism. Silence. I asked what was a fascist? Again silence.

Yes but then we can't dictate which side they take. For example Israel vs Palestine. Of course what is socially or racially "just" can be open to a wide interpretation. For example one side sees merit in the Treaty Principles Bill while some see it as such a threat that they need to bring Cities to a standstill to protest something that isn't even law. I don't see anything socially just with that.

@Thomass it is clear you only have 4 topics at most. Do you mind dropping a couple and imagining some new ones. No one likes a bore.

Role model? To whom? Surely we teach our youngsters to determine right and wrong and make their own opinions up rather than have the cancel or woke determine what is right or wrong.

Doing some research the majority of the starters in the Super Maiden are pricey yearlings. Leconfield was purchased for $1,000,000. A couple of exceptions - Rinsed Enuff purchased for $1,250.

Really? Seems like a 3yr old handicap race to me. You'll be backing number 5 Jolly Good Fellow. Blinkers for the first time even though it isn't after Christmas. Bought by Brett Thompson Racing for $160,000 at the Magic Millions.

A much stronger field than the 2000 Guineas of fillies lined up for the 1000 Guineas.

My I suggest Mr Downes that you lodge a complaint with the RIB and NZTR.

He did lead and dictate easily. Ran the last mile in 1:57.

Perhaps @Thomass should spend some time in Gore - might ground him.

Did you hear it live? Or just @Thomass banging on about it?

The only person trying to cancel everyone is you. Why do you give this shyte oxygen and longevity? The number of people that would have been offended probably numbers one - you.

That is close to what I think given the constraints facing the track manager. However it wouldn't be that hard if the track was renovated. However when you have 3 big meetings in 8 days you don't have many options if you are not going to irrigate within 2 days of a raceday. Looking at the forecast this week you probably wouldn't want to irrigate again.

Not at all because it wasn't the "Hayes Team" apparently it was Daddy Hayes phoning in from Hong Kong. The point is the horse probably didn't need them. It's form wasn't anywhere near average. Do you think they'll run him further than 1600m ever again? I doubt it.

I find red headed women are the most temperamental and of they are Irish it just adds another dimension to it.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Woodbine canceled the remainder of Saturday's program after the eighth race over concerns regarding the safety of the synthetic Tapeta surface. There were three catastrophic breakdowns on Saturday, beginning with a worker shortly after the 8 a.m. renovation break. Social Dancer was injured on the backstretch in the second race. Owen’s Tour Guide broke down on the far turn in the eighth, the Grade 3 Bessarabian, after which the final two races were scrapped.

Woodbine cancels late races after 2 fatal breakdowns www.horseracingnation.com Woodbine racetrack canceled the final two races on its stakes-laden Saturday card following two fatal breakdowns on the artificial Tapeta track, including a runner in the Grade 3, US $110,000 Bessarabian Stakes. Woodbine Entertainment, the operator of the Canadian racetrack in Etobicoke, Ontario, near Toronto, provided few details on the reason for the cancellation in a news release late Saturday afternoon. “Following consultation with the HBPA, Jockeys' Guild and (farm equipment manufacturer) AGCO, Woodbine Entertainment cancelled the remainder of Saturday's Thoroughbred race card (Races 9 & 10) in the best interest of equine safety,” it said. But Woodbine Entertainment said in separate posts on X.com that Social Dancer and Owen’s Tour Guide were injured during the second and eighth races, respectively, and were humanely euthanized as a result. It extended “sincere condolences” to the connections of both horses and noted that jockeys David Moran, the rider of Social Dancer, and Jose Campos aboard Owen’s Tour Guide were both OK after the incidents. It noted in the news release that the Grade 2 Autumn Stakes, one of the canceled races, would be rescheduled as drawn on Nov. 16. Owen’s Tour Guide, a 6-year-old graded-stakes-placed daughter of Tourist trained by W. V. Armata, had amassed a record of 38: 7-3-6 and earnings of nearly $275,000 US in her career for owner Tequesta Racing. The Equibase chart for the Bessarabian said she was racing four wide in the third flight of horses on the far turn when she “took a misstep at the quarter pole, fell, dislodging the rider, and left via equine ambulance.” Social Dancer, a 3-year-old filly trained by Michael Doyle for owner-breeder C. Scott Abbott Racing Stable, was making her third start in a maiden-optional claiming race earlier on the card, when she “took an awkward step nearing the half-mile pole, was eased, pulling up at the five-sixteenth maker and left via equine ambulance,” according to the Equibase chart. Tapeta, a Thoroughbred racing and training surface comprised of a carefully selected mixture of the finest silica sand, wax and fibers, is used at racetracks around the world and has long been considered safer than dirt of turf for racing, according to manufacturer Tapeta Footings Inc. One of its other big advantages is that it handles wet weather and heavy rainfall extremely well, according to the Tapeta Footings website.

@Gammalite and @Thomass in my opinion blindfolding a horse is a desperate option. Mr Brightside didn't need blinkers. His form showed that. Now the question is will he wear them next start? @Thomass what is your recommendation?

Or did Willo ride better?