Chief Stipe

LOL if it was a school yard they'd only last 5 mins. Most are weight handicapped and the rest have slow reflexes!!

So you are having win bets on 7 horses?

Blah blah blah. Must be the $10k bet you are putting on or your lead cell is inhibiting the WiFi connection.

Bollocks. You non-picked two horses now try and pick the first four.

I guess it is the Kiwi way to find someone to blame. What about the Club Committees and Members sbould they carry some blame as well? I believe so. So you were "interested and passionate" about the sport of racing but "voted with your feet" which presumably means for the last 30 years you didn't do anything. Yet you readily blame someone else? An amorphous group you call "those that govern the industry"! The tide turned when to be a member meant you no longer turned up for working bees or remained active or read annual reports or attended meetings or lobbied for change but instead just paid your membership fees and expected top class facilities to wine and dine at the few times a year that they could be bothered to turn up.

It is about markets and economics. Who in their right mind at today's costs would spend 4 to 6 years breeding and developing a stayer? Unless you are loaded with cash of course. Or you roll the dice and buy a developed horse from Europe with a syndicate. As for the Aussie's focussing on earlier - developing horses haven't you noticed that many of the horses winning in OZ still have Kiwi breeding?

So you bagged two horses and a Jockey. Not quite your best form. So that leaves 22 horses for you to give us your selections from.

Beats a local committee member going around with a fist full of tickets trying to sell them. From what I've seen of punters clubs is they never return a profit which I guess doesn't worry you as you are used to it now.

Just be greatful that they are running a punters club - you will have more chance of winning something.

Farmers for their time perhaps but methods improved and not many of the old school moved with the times hence the lack of track maintenance.

Well if that's your view why post about Tasmanian Court Judgements that subjectively say all padded whips hurt and are cruel? That was your interpretation. @curious you can't run a crusade batting for both teams. Unless you are Anti-Racing of course.

As per my post above - you get an A+ for creative writing. NO my stance is not Anti-Racing. I don't spend hours searching the internet on a single issue and selectively post out of context information and pictures I've screenshotted from the TV.

You didn't mention the fact that the Trainer whipped the horse 40 times and pleaded guilty to the charge!!! Plus you haven't quoted directly what the Magistrate said. A typical ploy on the online Anti-racing mob - being short on the full detail and creative in the presentation!! ...the Court drew on legal precedent, noting the horse was struck repeatedly, restrained by a bridle, vulnerable, and in pain for around four minutes. Date: 6 August 2025 Location: Devonport Magistrates Court On 6 August 2025, the Devonport Magistrates Court convicted Ms Liandra Gray of one count of animal cruelty under the Animal Welfare Act 1993. The conviction followed an RSPCA Tasmania investigation into allegations that Ms Gray had struck a horse, named The Bolt, more than 40 times with a whip, causing the animal to experience pain and suffering. Ms Gray pleaded guilty to the offence. In sentencing, the Court acknowledged her personal circumstances and accepted that the behaviour was out of character, noting she had no prior convictions. However, the Court emphasised the serious nature of the conduct and recognised the shifting community attitude towards animal cruelty. Sentence Summary: Convicted of 1 x Cruelty to Animals – doing an act that causes or is likely to cause unreasonable and unjustifiable pain or suffering, namely striking a horse over 40 times with a whip. Fine: $2,000.00 Court Costs: $101.22 No further orders made under the Animal Welfare Act 1993. In handing down sentence, the Court drew on legal precedent, noting the horse was struck repeatedly, restrained by a bridle, vulnerable, and in pain for around four minutes. The conduct was deliberate and intentional, involving multiple applications of force. His Honour also noted that while this was a single episode, it caused moderate to severe pain and suffering.

Banning whips or counting whip strikes won't change the Anti-racing mob at all. Giving in to them by trying to appease won't work. Why bother anyway when only about a dozen protestors turn up at the Melbourne Cup yet 95,000 go through the gates!! The biggest challenge to racing continuing is purely economics. A financially strong industry that economically benefits a wide range of the community will ensure its survival.

The name of the race was?

At least @TAB For Ever put his selections up BEFORE they ran. Whereas we only hear about your punting wizardry after the fact and it usually comes with a diatribe about certain also rans.

There is far too many likey you @Huey on these committees and unfortunately haven't retired to that row of Lazy Boys you are lined up in. From what I can see it would be a waste of time. The die has been caste and there appears to be no willingness to change or adapt. Bowling Clubs, RSA's, Rugby Clubs - only a few looked after their assets and invested wisely.

Blind eyes to what exactly? Counting whip strikes? These people have only one objective and that is to end racing. Why are you promoting racing instead of feeding them? If you can't write anything justifying racing horses then take up a different sport. Lawn bowls for example.

The first four horse will be?

Excuses no longer wash - it’s time to ban horse racing www.thepost.co.nz It might be a view to thrill the punters, but Sandra Kyle argues that horse-racing is unnatural, cruel and deadly. Alan Crowhurst / Getty Images Sandra Kyle is an animal advocate, and a member of the Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses (CPR). She has just written a book entitled Pawprints On My Heart, A New Zealand Woman’s Journey To Help Street Animals In India. OPINION: In 2020 I wrote an article stating that horse racing should be banned, and highlighting a spate of horse deaths that had occurred over several days. Fast-forward to 2025, and nothing at all has changed. Between August and October this year, in the space of two months, eight horses perished - two in one day - as a direct result of being raced for gambling profits. The latest casualty is Burn to Shine, a 5-year-old gelding who fractured his left shoulder and was euthanised on the track at Ellerslie on October 25. Forever Young, a 7-year-old gelding, suffered a fractured fetlock at Ashburton on October 19, and was euthanised after his race.https://bitofayarn.com Shocking Delight, a five-year-old mare, lost her life on October 9 after breaking down in the Power Farming Timaru Maiden 1200m. She fractured her knee bone and was euthanised shortly after returning to her stable. On October 1 Just Faith was euthanised on the raceway, after severing her right hind flexor tendons. Inmyshadow, a 9-year-old gelding, collapsed and died of cardiac arrest shortly after finishing race 5 at New Plymouth Raceway’s “Xtreme Raceday”. On the same day at Riccarton Park Racecourse in Christchurch, 6-year-old mare Our Milly Bee suffered a catastrophic fracture to her right fore fetlock and was euthanised on track. On August 30, 5-year-old gelding El Chapeau was euthanised following a severe tendon injury at Riccarton Park. On August 23, Our Daymo was euthanised after sustaining a fatal pelvic injury at Hawera Racecourse.https://bitofayarn.com They were eight young, healthy horses who boarded the float on the morning of their race, never to return home again. Their last moments were filled with fear and agony. The issues I outlined five years ago remain the same today. Deaths and frequent injuries; the cruelty of whip use and painful tongue ties; over-exertion resulting in nose and lung bleeds. Lives lived in unnatural confinement, where they are unable to exercise freely, graze, or socialise with other horses, the most basic needs of any horse to feel safe and content.https://bitofayarn.com When “retirement” comes, it’s a very lucky few who will find a permanent, suitable home. Instead, many will board the horse float one final time, but they won’t be going to the racetrack. They will be going to the abattoir. I love horses, and have rescued and rehomed them. They are highly intelligent, sensitive animals, known for their ability to form strong bonds with humans. This is why they are used in therapy to help people who are sick, or have physical, emotional, or cognitive challenges. We owe horses a debt we can never repay. They have carried soldiers into battle for millennia - in World War I alone, an estimated 6 million died on the battlefield. Yet in the 21st century these noble animals remain commodities, not as unwilling participants in bloody wars, but for human profit and entertainment. Those of us who campaign against horse racing are familiar with the excuses of those in the industry, who object to our presence at racetracks. “It’s tradition,” they say, as if tradition is a justification to hurt others, and we should prioritise precedent over progress. “We love our horses,” they say, cognitively dissonant to the fact that they constantly put them in harm’s way, and use a whip on their sensitive skin to inflict pain and fear.https://bitofayarn.com Seriously, can you imagine doing that to your dog!? “They love to race,” they say, but this also isn’t true. Horses don’t love to race; they love to run, which is not the same thing. We have a mountain of video footage of horses being coerced to enter the starter boxes, literally pushed in by burly barrier attendants, two on each side. This is known in the Industry as “bad manners” – not on the part of the attendants mind you, but on the part of the horse, who no doubt senses that statistically, things might not turn out well for them. Yet another excuse we constantly hear is, “they’re bred to do this”. Well, so are dancing bears, performing seals, and bulls used for bullfighting. That doesn’t make it right. Finally, there's this one: “Equine athletes are like human athletes – human athletes get injured too.” This is also disingenuous. Horses cannot opt out, sign a waiver, or willingly consent to be pushed beyond their limits. They have no say in the matter at all. The pattern is clear: horse racing is an exploitative, cruel and deadly business, with victims who are helpless to do anything to help themselves. The average New Zealander, I believe, no longer accepts such abuse of innocent animals for human spectacle and gambling. It’s time to rethink our relationship with racehorses and to treat them with the respect and care they deserve. There is no way to make horse racing safe for them, so it should be banned entirely. Greyhound racing’s ban becomes effective this coming August, after a 20-month wind-down. It’s time we did the same with horse racing. The majority of horses exist because of the racing industry’s constant breeding cycle. Slowing down the breeding cycle now will be a first step to phasing out the Industry entirely. Let those who want to gamble find other ways of spending their money, other than hurting helpless animals.https://bitofayarn.com Just as with the hounds, as Winston Peters said of the dog-racing ban, “it’s the right thing to do”.

I doubt it. From what I've seen nearly all Committees havent a clue how the industry works let alone what is required to safely stable, train and race a horse. Hence the cluster F we are in now.

Read again through a Cynics set of shades.

Elucidate. Please.

Perhaps they are turning it into a girls day promotion. @Huey will be in.

I understand that the November 8 meeting at Te Rapa is now at Pukekohe!!!