Chief Stipe

Found out? You're the one promoting stereotypes. "All bus drivers of colour are immigrants"! "The West Coast, South Island isn't multicutural"! Really? My parents GP was Sri Lankan - his children were first generation NZ. By the way the local dairy owner was a 5th generation West Coaster! Not from India. My next door neighbour was Croatian and his son was my Geography teacher at High School. I could give you numerous examples of growing up with people of different cultures. One of my atheletic coaches was Chinese the other Scottish. Actually the Chinese one was an International Rugby referee. I was educated by Irish Nuns. Of course you could look at the facts. For sure the West Coast may not be as mulitcultural as South Auckland but it is not as mono-cultural as St Heliers.

ROYAL ASCOT 2024 | ALL DAY 2 FINISHES

So I take @curious the industry is no longer acceptable to you?

What does that statement mean? I must say you are doing a very good job of provimg you are a plonker. Did you get a bus to the Karaka Millions night?

Don't we all?

"Team"? I wonder what the salary cost is and who is paying.

Seems as the day goes on they are getting wider and wider at Pukekohe. In the same class as Wanganui? They've been avoiding the inside 3 lanes since race 2! Any comments @Pete Lane ?

I detected a hint of bigotry and prejudice. You would have no idea if the bus driver was a recent immigrant (unlikely), had been in the country 10 years or was a second or third generation Kiwi. Not to mention why you feel important to draw the distinction at all. However on the topic of emigration or immigration most people do it to improve their personal situation.

Andrew Gourdie to join NZB Kiwi Ranks June 19, 2024 NZRacingDesk One of New Zealand’s brightest broadcasting talents, Andrew Gourdie, is set to join The NZB Kiwi ranks as Head of Communications and Content for the Southern Hemisphere’s richest three-year-old race. Commencing his position on 1 August 2024, Gourdie will play a vital role in driving all content and promotional activity for The NZB Kiwi until the race’s inaugural running on Champions Day – 8 March 2025 at Ellerslie Racecourse. Gourdie’s major responsibilities include leading The NZB Kiwi digital content strategy, front-of-camera talent for subsequent promotional interviews and videos, as well as generating cut-through for mainstream engagement. The previous Television Sports Reporter of the Year looks forward to bringing a fresh take on NZB Kiwi-related content as New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing (NZTR) looks to extend the race’s profile beyond the domestic racing industry. “I’m really excited to be part of the team that’s helping to bring the NZB Kiwi to life,” Gourdie said. “It’s an incredibly exciting time for racing in New Zealand. This event is a major addition to the annual sporting calendar in our country and an innovation that will be a game-changer for an industry I care deeply about. “My previous roles have given me the chance to tell some amazing stories, and I’m really looking forward to sharing the journey of the people and the world-class New Zealand Thoroughbred talent that will be involved in this race over the coming months. “I’d especially like to thank outgoing NZTR Chairman Cameron George for this opportunity, and I can’t wait to begin the build-up towards what will be a massive day for Kiwi sport,” he said. With over two decades of broadcasting experience, Gourdie has covered some of New Zealand’s finest sporting achievements and memorable moments, including the All Whites’ unbeaten run at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the All Blacks’ 2011 Rugby World Cup victory, the Black Caps’ historic 2015 Cricket World Cup campaign as well as two consecutive Rugby World Cup campaigns in 2019 and 2023. Outgoing NZTR Chair Cameron George is thrilled to have Gourdie join The NZB Kiwi team. “To have an award-winning communications professional with over 20 years of experience reporting and presenting sport in mainstream media is a huge win for NZTR,” he said. “Andrew has a proven track record of developing and implementing strategies to engage with and grow mass audience numbers towards Kiwi sports. “We are confident he will be a great fit in our team and help elevate The NZB Kiwi to a level New Zealand racing has never seen before,” George said. There is plenty to look forward to following Gourdie’s appointment, with the country’s inaugural Thoroughbred slot race headlining a major revamp of the New Zealand summer racing calendar next year. The NZB Kiwi will become one of the major highlights of a newly established ‘Champions Day’ that will feature more than $9 million in total prizemoney in year one, climbing to $10 million in year two. Held on the second Saturday of March at Ellerslie Racecourse, Champions Day will also include the Trackside New Zealand Derby and three other iconic Group 1 races, positioning the meeting as a pinnacle event on New Zealand’s racing calendar. Champions Day forms part of the new summer Thoroughbred racing calendar that will boast a series of truly world-class races and meetings, offering more than $23.8 million in stakes across 51 black-type races from January to early April. View more about the revamped summer calendar details here. Last week, NZTR also announced a raft of NZB Kiwi-related initiatives that included the public auction of NZTR’s year-one Slot for The NZB Kiwi. This auction will take place at New Zealand Bloodstock’s 2024 Ready to Run Sale of Two-Year-Olds, held next November at the Karaka Sales Centre. View the full announcement here.

Could it be the reason we keep getting deeper into the hole? At the end of the day unless the industry administrators solve the racing issues which flow onto wagering profitability then Entain will pack their bags. They are accountable to shareholders. Perhaps Racing should have the same ownership structure!

How do you know they are immigrants? By the colour of their skin? Reminds me of a story a Scottish friend of mine told me. I struggled to understand him most of the time because of his strong accent. He went back to Glasgow for a catch up with family and went to get a curry. The Indian running the show was as Indian looking as could be. My Scottish mate could barely understand him because of how strong his Scottish accent was. He was about a 4th generation Scottish born "immigrant".

It was apparent about 3 years ago when we had a discussion on BOAY about the lack of maintenance on the Steeple track at Riccarton. I got some private messages from a jumps jockey saying the track was like a skating rink. The grass had burnt off during a drought and had not been irrrigated or much work done on it. I recall @Pitman writing that it was "normal" and the brown top grass would "revive" when it rained.

Not surprising when they have these facilities. Most of Australia's top trainers have stables at Cranbourne or Pakenham. Less than 30km between them. PAKENHAM TRAINING COMPLEX Located an hour from Melbourne, the Pakenham Race Club is one of the biggest racing and training precincts in Australia. The Club holds over 30 meetings a year and boasts some of the finest training facilities in the southern hemisphere which include 2400m Grass Course Proper 2000m Polytrack 1800m Training Grass Two Sand Tracks Swimming Pool – 50m straight pool Dressage Arena The new “1400m Hill” track is scheduled to open in the Spring of 2022 which is an exciting addition allowing to train the "English way" where horses are worked predominately uphill to build greater cardio and aerobic fitness whilst keeping the horses sounder.

Asfoora stamps Imperatriz's form. I wonder what @holy ravioli thinks.

Asfoora's Royal Ascot triumph | RACING.COM www.racing.com Asfoora continued Australia’s brilliant record in Royal Ascot’s feature sprints with a scintillating win in the Group 1 King Charles Stakes (1000m) on Tuesday. Henry Dwyer’s gamble to campaign the five-year-old on the world stage paid handsome dividends when she demolished a field of the UK’s premier sprinters. The mare always appeared to travel sweetly just behind the speed on the stand side and noticeably quickened when jockey Oisin Murphy asked for an effort inside the final 400m. Asfoora claimed the lead inside the final 150m and put a length on runner-up Regional at the iconic winning post, with race favourite Big Evs a further half-length away in third. SHE'S DONE IT! Asfoora wins the King Charles III Stakes for @HDwyerRacing & Australia ⭐ pic.twitter.com/asoXdQNOLE — Racing.com (@Racing) June 18, 2024 Asfoora is the eighth Australian-trained horse to win at Royal Ascot and the third mare after Miss Andretti and Black Caviar. Six Aussie sprinters have now won the King Charles Stakes. Dwyer said the win was a dream come true and vindication for the decision to chase an international Group 1 win, despite the fact she hasn’t won at the elite level in Australia. “We’ve come a long way from Ballarat but it’s been an amazing experience from start to finish and we’ve been so well looked after and we’re so grateful for that,” Dwyer said. “It was a bit of an audacious plan and we got a bit of stick at home for bringing her over because she wasn’t seen as one of our better sprinters but we were just so confident that she was a really textbook five furlong (horse) and she’s proven that today. “I fully expected to be broke by the age of 30 but I was incredibly lucky to have a couple of Group 1 winners in my first year but it’s been a bit of a dry spell since then in terms of Group 1 wins. “This mare really deserved one because she’s had so much go against her in the Group 1 races she’s run in Australia. “To get a Group 1 win at home is great but to get one at Royal Ascot is amazing. “We don’t expect to have these horses, it’s just an absolute luxury to have them and I’m so grateful to Akram (El-Fahkri) for entrusting me with her.” Murphy said he was confident in the run that Asfoora could finish off up the stiff Ascot rise. “I’m thrilled for connections because it was very brave to come from Australia with a very good horse but she’s taken all the travel and performed on the day,” Murphy said. “I wasn’t focusing on Big Evs, I was focusing on Regional and he gave me the perfect tow to halfway. “She lugged a little bit right under pressure but how good was she on the line.” "We've come a long way from Ballarat."@HDwyerRacing adds his name to the list of Australian trainers to have conquered Royal Ascot 🎩 pic.twitter.com/CaGOfDaNrs — Racing.com (@Racing) June 18, 2024

Hunches are all around...

Horse breeders know how to run a breeding business and trade horses but have limited understanding of racing or wagering.

Perhaps she could practice on herself first and then only if successful start on someone else.

Uh? Please explain.

Jacinda Ardern to lead global fellowship of progressive leaders By 1News Reporters 3:10pm Jacinda Ardern. (Source: Jacinda Ardern/Facebook) Former prime minister Jacinda Ardern has announced she will lead a new fellowship programme for political leaders about leading with kindness and empathy. Named Field, the programme will begin in Europe and bring together progressive politicians for a year-long programme. "Field is hosted by Global Progress and will create a network of like-minded political leaders who use pragmatic idealism, speak to people with hope and optimism rather than fear or blame, and want to unite, rather than divide as we look to solve the challenges ahead," Ardern said in a statement. She said it was an "incredibly humbling and exciting" project to lead. "[It's] all part of my ongoing mission to help rehumanise leadership and just be useful."

17 in my case.

Have you stopped breeding @curious ?

Russell Warwick Appointed Chairman of the NZTR Board Russell Warwick has been appointed by the NZTR Board as Chairman at today’s June Board meeting. Taking effect immediately, Warwick will replace current Chairman Cameron George following his announcement to step down at the end of the current racing season, 31 July. Russell Warwick brings a wealth of industry knowledge and administrative experience to the appointment. As the General Manager of Westbury Stud, Warwick’s ability to lead one of NZ’s elite breeding and racing programmes made him an excellent candidate for the NZTR Chair. “The industry has made excellent headway in recent times, but there is still a lot of work to do,” Warwick said. “I really enjoy being able to give back to the industry, and timing wise, I feel I can offer a constructive view as we look to inspire a new generation of stakeholders and encourage further growth within the business.” Warwick is quick to congratulate outgoing Chairman Cameron George on the improvements to racing during his tenure as Chairman. “Cameron George’s contribution to New Zealand Racing throughout his tenure is unmatched. He has driven growth and guided the industry into a period of change that has brought new life and excitement to the sport.” Under his leadership, George, who has served as Chair since 2020, has played a pivotal role in steering NZTR and the racing industry through various challenges and sizeable achievements over recent years. “My journey at NZTR started with navigating a path forward for the business through COVID-19,” George said. “Over time, we have managed to rebuild the industry into the strong position it now holds, demonstrating the resilient team environment I’ve been fortunate enough to be involved in over the last four years. “ “I’ve enjoyed all the challenges this role has presented me with and the changes that have be made. We have developed initiatives like the NZB Kiwi alongside NZB and Entain and I couldn’t be more excited to see that race come to life.” “With a proven track record in outstanding leadership, industry knowledge and relationships we have absolute confidence in Russell’s ability to continue with the momentum underway." Corporate Communications New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing Contact: Catlyn Calder +64 27 252 2803 nztrcommunications@nztr.co.nz FacebookLinkedInWebsite