Chief Stipe

Well if the top Equestrian in the world has to use a whip to train certain disciplines in dressage there isn't much hope if the social licence minority get their way.

What banning dressage?

Yes unfortunately the rules and thresholds haven't kept pace with the testing technology which cannot very very small amounts of any drug or molecule thereof. Zero thresholds are a cop out. The infamous "poppy seed" case is an example where the levels present wouldn't have had a pharmacological effect. Similar with many of the Cobalt positives. I have yet to find any evidence that proves Cobalt has any effect on a horse yet threshold testing for that element has caused havoc in the industry. ALL racing jurisdictions and their integrity units need to up their game instead of copping out with catch-all rules of Zero thresholds.

So you are suggesting that Dressage should be banned? Charlotte Dujardin (the holder of the whip) has been described as the most dominant rider of her era. The first to hold the complete set of World and Olympic titles. Charlotte Susan Jane Dujardin CBE (born 13 July 1985) is a British dressage rider, equestrian, and writer. A multiple World and Olympic champion, Dujardin has been described as the dominant dressage rider of her era.[3] She held the complete set of available individual elite dressage titles at one point[when?]: the individual Olympic freestyle, World freestyle and Grand Prix Special, World Cup individual dressage and European freestyle, and Grand Prix Special titles. Dujardin was the first rider to hold this complete set of titles at the same time.[4]

There is an upgrade waiting for me to OK. Not sure I should...

Fake news let it go.

You're an absolute Muppet @Yankiwi. You are measuring lines on distorted photos taken by Google or a third party by an unknown method. You've now started using the 3D version of Google Map photos but you have no idea what Google have done to the photo to account for depth to give the impression of 3D. The other track you have clipped uses a different source of photos than the Wanganui one. You can tell this by the difference in the point where the Zoom function causes the objects on the photo to switch to computer generated vector drawings. So know I haven't changed the definition of straight but you have used a very poor method of determining straightness. You really are making an absolute fool of yourself.

Mmmmm the State Highway bridge across the Wanganui River doesn't look like I remember it!

You're an idiot - any moron can see that the picture is distorted!! You have changed the Google map options from 3D to 2D and then zoomed in effectively distorting the picture. You really are posting fake news now to discredit GRNZ for no other reason than you have an axe to grind obsessively. Here is a picture in 3D - doesn't look as crooked does it? The visual perception of it not being straight is because there is a variation in the depth from the satellite view i.e. there is a slight undulation. The galloping track isn't that crooked either as you can see from the 3D satellite picture from above.

Well he was until the 22nd when I wrote the post!!

There's a lot theories doing the rounds. I bet we don't get to see the Stewards vision. However the theory that they hadn't run over that piece of ground prior to race 6 is BS. As is the field size argument. 12 horses went round in race 5 and raced over that ground. Race 6 they ran over it twice. The first time without a problem.

The Stewards Report typist will be the 5 words a minute tonight.

How do you know it didn't? Maybe it was a lazy dog looking for an excuse.

@Yankiwi you are the self proclaimed expert show us what other tracks have e.g. Richmond Straight.

It took 5 races for them to slip.

Horse apparently slips in race 6 (I say apparently because one can only assume it didn't clip heels) and another goes over the top. How did they get round in the first 5 races? MEETING NEWS Racing Rotorua Abandoned The remaining two races have been abandoned at today's Racing Rotorua meeting, due to a horse slipping at the 500m mark.

Ask the dog. BTW have you ever had a dog? You don't seem to understand dog behaviour very well. What you don't want straight tracks now? The dog was well out of the race, decided to bash the other one and then went "right where is my handler - yep down where I started"... Do you have statistical evidence of that? Get onto it - number of dogs, distances they start stopping at, speed differences between runs. If there is a problem, and we are only taking your limited observations on this subject, then perhaps it is just getting used to running in a straight line. Perhaps the Wanganui track will be a dogs for courses track.

Look at it another way. How many tracks are cancelled or abandoned during the week? Or is it just raceday that everyone is worried about just because a Stipe might be liable?

WTF are you on about? One dog decides to go home the others get on and race.

Excuse me you're more likely to have an accident on a G3 than a "bottomless H10"! This liability issue is BS. If it isn't then they should stop paying their insurance premiums. Lisa Allpress wouldn't have been liable. She gave her opinion based on her professional knowledge. Legally that's all that is required. No horse would have fallen over on that track - more likely to end up standing still and the jockey falling off because he or she was going faster forward than the horse!

What have you done other than promote the Messara report? Certainly beats your approach which is "oh well I can't change anything so I'll just enjoy things as they are and go to all the parties..." - meanwhile the decline continues. Out of interest when was the last time you were on a Racing Club Committee? What was your biggest achievement other than accepting the Messara Report?

Nor do you or you would have cited it. Unless of course you are lazy and driven by pure ideology. Based on what research? What facts? Other than Pringle admitting he administered Ironvita which caused the level of Cobalt to measure above the arbitary threshold. What are the facts that it was performance enhancing or even detrimental to the welfare of the dog? If it isn't OK to give Ironvita within 48 hours of a race why is it OK to administer every day for the time between races (less 2 days) which on average can be 5 to 12 days?

There is no such proof that an unfair advantage was gained. Indeed the limited available research shows that there isn't any advantage. Again you miss the point entirely. Clearly you have no interest in animal welfare or Greyhound Racing continuing. Obvisiously you and @Seeyounexttuesdaytrainers attend the same meetings.

You miss the point entirely. There is no evidence that either Fe or Co at a certain level improves performance. I've been critical of the catchall rule across all three codes. It tends to capture more good people than bad. To take your point further - are you going to ban training? Afterall improving the efficiency of the cardio-vascular system and its oxygen carrying capacity is the goal of high performance training. Of course you can give all the Ironvita you want in training. I'm not actually sure you really do care about animal welfare.