Chief Stipe

Well that's about 6 times a year you are not moaning. I guess you didn't mind the thrashing it got the previous start.

How are they rigged?

Why don't you call Liz? I'm sure she'd love to hear from you.

Perhaps it enjoyed the trip away. Change of scenery, different dogs, new smells. Or are you suggesting that transporting dogs from Race meeting to meeting is an animal welfare issue? Hell that'll achieve your agenda - "all dogs must be within walking distance of the racetrack"! Double down Chazza.

Is there anything you like about NZ Racing?

So nothing dodgy. Stand down Chazza @Yankiwi

Thanks for the correction. Great win for some keen guys.

Geez @curious this has been going on for quite some time now. They have the bunker just like the NRLwhere a steward reviews the HD videos for indiscretions well after the fact. Do you honestly think they count whip strikes in real time? However as you know when it suits they can't post the Stewards vision online even after they have counted the whip strikes.

Well done! I hope you all waited until she drifted on the tote and got plenty. A good draw for a change and we'll ridden by Kelly Myers. A $60k race!!!

Again explain the criteria for determining the rewarding of one "battler" over another? That isn't a correct description of these finalists. Yes Te Akau display excellence in all aspects of the racing industry. Are you suggesting they should be eliminated from all awards just because of their success? BTW Te Akau weren't and aren't gifted their success. Their staff work the same hours and just as hard as any "battler". Did you ever think that even the term "battler" was a derogatory one?

Why are you so bitter? Please explain why you would give an award to what you term a "battler" and how would you determine which was the more deserving "battler"?

How am I am industry propagandist? @TAB For Ever would argue the opposite.

What is worth making a song and dance over? It isn't their fault that you have such bitter opinions.

What's wrong with those staff? They still have to work very long hours starting at 3am in the morning for a wage that very few young people would be bothered to get out of bed for. The shit on their stable floor is no different to any others.

He should tell his boss to sack the 20 start maiden.

To answer your queries.

You'd still run last.

Probably your lack of success.

Susan needs to reignite her own account to allow entry. (Note: double entendre intentional).

Swayzee poised to beat Leap To Fame again harnesslink.com Trainer Jason Grimson isn’t fazed by a tricky barrier and insists Swayzee (Rock N Roll Heaven) is primed to win his long-awaited third harness racing stoush with Leap To Fame (Bettor’s Delight) at Albion Park on Saturday night. Swayzee The scoreline sits 1-1, with Swayzee upstaging his younger sibling in last year’s Blacks A Fake, then Leap To Fame turning the tables in the Brisbane Inter Dominion final on December 16. Swayzee, who is tough but not known for his early speed, has drawn barrier one, while Leap To Fame will come from the back row (gate 11) in the Group 3 Mr Feelgood Open (2138m). Leap To Fame, who sparkled winning the Wondais Mate last week, is a marginal $1.85 favourite ahead of Swayzee at $2.25. While Swayzee hasn’t raced since a surprise defeat in the Lucky Creed at Albion Park on June 22. If emergency Send It doesn’t gain a run, Leap To Fame will start from three out of the back row (gate 10), which limits trainer-driver Grant Dixon’s options early. But you can be sure he’ll be off and running as soon as the pace slackens to try and control the race from on the speed with Leap To Fame. It’s the first of two clashes between Swayzee and Leap To Fame during the Queensland Constellations. They will meet again in the $400,000 Group 1 Blacks A Fake on July 27. Grimson also has hot favourites Frankie Ferocious and Aardies Express in other Albion Park features on Saturday night. Frankie Ferocious is $2 favourite for the $350,000 Group 1 Rising Sun despite a shock first-up flop at Albion Park last week. “Just forget the run,” Grimson said. “He kicked the wheels at the start, got fired up and ran himself into the ground. He’s done it before, but he’s been great since and I’m expecting to see him back to his best this time.” “His work and trials before that run were terrific, so I’d go on that more than the run last week.” Aardies Express dominates from a lovely draw in the Group 3 Fleur De Lil for mares. She has drawn gate two but will move into the pole if emergency Jewel Melody doesn’t gain a start. Like Frankie Ferocious, she heads into the race off a shock loss at Menangle last outing. “Not much went right. She got too keen in the run, and Cam (Hart) said the run (inside the leader) came too late for her to be able to muster speed and be right in the finish,” Grimson said. “This run is to top her right off for next week, and the main danger is my other mare, Tay Tay, who is absolutely flying.” Aardies Express is headed to a rematch with Australia’s champion mare Ladies In Red in next Saturday’s $150,000 Group 1 Golden Girl at Albion Park. For complete race entries, click here. by Adam Hamilton, for Harness Racing Australia

Big day for Mark Purdon harnesslink.com Today is a significant one for Mark Purdon. It is “day one” for his top trotter Oscar Bonavena (Majestic Son) as he embarks on a new harness racing campaign and the champion trainer-driver will also be re-united with reigning Horse of the Year Millwood Nike (Captaintreacherous). Both have followed Purdon north, joining him at his new base in the Waikato. Last month Purdon made the move to join partner and well-known Matamata vet Barbara Hunter. Already he’s bought a house “less than five minutes drive” from the Matamata Racecourse. He’ll use one of Matamata’s all-weather race tracks to prepare his star-studded team of two. The winner of all 17 of her starts, the now four-year-old Millwood Nike has not raced since December last year after suffering a small tear in a front leg tendon. “I’ll just bring her up quietly and I’ve told the owners that I’ll let her tell me when she’s ready (for a race day return).” “But the prognosis is good – it was a 10 per cent tear.” As well as continuing his racing career Oscar Bonavena, the Majestic Son eight-year-old, will be offered as a stallion for the first time this breeding season ($2500 plus GST). It’s very early days but Purdon is hopeful the winner of 26 races and more than $850K will be popular. “If he got up to 40 mares I’d be rapt.” Owned by Purdon and ex-pat Kiwi and top North American trainer Chris Ryder, Oscar Bonavena last raced on May 24 when he was second to the all-conquering Just Believe in the Reharvest Rowe Cup. Both are stabled close to the racecourse along with Purdon’s small team of gallopers. They are officially trained by Glenn Old but Purdon is very much involved. “I give Glenn a hand and try and further my knowledge a bit,” he says. And that’s required one big change in particular. “I’m up at 3am and at the track at 3.30. All the big trainers are up early and they get finished early and they seem to like that system, I’ve warmed to it, initially I thought it was the middle of the night.” “The track is all lit up – it’s like a race night at Alexandra Park!” by Dave Di Somma, for Harness News Desk

Crippling interest payments threaten Auckland Harness Racing harnesslink.com The ATC’s financial future was destroyed when the first two apartment complexes built at Alexandra Park encountered enormous issues and losses, the fallout from which still continues. The ATC found itself owing over $120m although that amount was almost halved by the sale of remaining land at Alexandra Park, which will now be developed by its new owners. The ATC has a contract to sell the Franklin Park Training Centre in Pukekohe for $100m, with the Chinese-based company who is buying it having already paid its $10m deposit. The remaining $90m is due for payment on November 8, just days before Cup week in Christchurch and it can’t come soon enough for the ATC. ATC president Jamie MacKinnon revealed to the Herald this week the club is paying $115,000 interest a week on its outstanding loans and when the $90m is paid and it clears its debts the ATC will have little more than $10m left. That is, sadly, its only cash uplift after selling all the property it can while still retaining Alexandra Park as a race track. Whether that affects the size or quality of the training centre the ATC is committed to building remains to be seen but the numbers make depressing reading, although without an understanding bank and some astute legal assistance the damage could have been terminal. Alexandra Park came far closer to closing than most in the industry will ever know and that would have been disastrous for harness racing in New Zealand, meaning the code wouldn’t have had a presence in New Zealand’s two biggest cities after Hutt Park near Wellington closed in 2002. With that threat seemingly behind the ATC, the future strategic battles loom larger. While the club could soon be out of debt that may not last long as it is committed to building a new training centre to replace Franklin Park. “The developer who is buying it has agreed to a two-year lease back to us so we have two years from November, all going well, to have a new training centre,” says MacKinnon. “We have looked very hard at three different places and the one that is most favoured at the moment is in Maramarua. “We also need to talk more to Harness Racing New Zealand about how much they can contribute to it because we don’t believe we should be the only club in the country who has to build a training centre to keep racing going up here. “Obviously we are looking forward to the money coming through as the interest we have been paying for a long time now is quite stifling.” The mega money stuff up aside, the ATC now faces a less important but still challenging problem of how to draw enough horses to race there almost every Friday next season. It will be aided by Cambridge having most of its meetings moved to Tuesdays but MacKinnon says for Alexandra Park to be able to fill fields it will look to programme more sprint and 2200m races. “We like holding 2700m races but we believe horses are more likely to back up the next week if they race in sprints or up to 2200m races so we will be programming more of those.” by Michael Guerin, for the NZ Herald

Sarah O'Reilly?

Is that your horse @curious ?

Have you ever spoken to Liz?