Chief Stipe

Still doesn't negate the fact that it is ultimately the Trainers responsibility. The Vet made an assessment and didn't recommend x-rays in one case and did in the other. Do you want every dog that displays soreness to be x-rayed?

That's incorrect. There has been more than one meeting transferred. One today at Pukekohe which is at least the second. Don't forget the calendar was readjusted as well. Which is a bit like rewriting or manufacturing your own evidence. Guerin has just taken the lazy journo approach and added a couple of paragraphs and name to a press release.

Pure spin. Marketing hyperbole at best. Hasn't improved much in 33 years.

Wilcox used that explanation after the KM debacle and the "fix" after that was to remedy the "getting the toe in". An abandoment or two and closing the course plus 800 more tonnes of sand will fix the toe in. "Hunches all around me, so the feeling grows...." Where's MIA Sharrock?

Why don't they just remove the grass and call it an AWT? Begs the question though - why didn't they get it right the first time? If you buy a Ferrari you expect to be able to drive it more than once. $55m was supposed to buy a premium track.

Auckland Thoroughbred Racing chief confident in Ellerslie Racecourse track refurbishment www.nzherald.co.nz It will be the zenith of 22 meetings Ellerslie hosts next season, which means that getting the new StrathAyr surface right and consistent is crucial after a messy end to this season. Auckland Thoroughbred Racing chief executive Paul Wilcox is confident the surface will deliver on its earlier promise even though it got slippery after rain late on Karaka Million night in January and then two later meetings saw partial abandonments. Those teething problems saw ATR move one late-season meeting to Pukekoke so Ellerslie’s track renovation work could start earlier and horses returned to the home of Auckland racing for the first time on Monday. Six horses galloped in three pairs ridden by top jockeys Kennedy and Craig Grylls and both were happy with the surface, which the horses were able to get their hooves into rather than staying on top of. The inability for horses to always “get their toe in” to the new surface was a key reason, when combined with rain, why it became slippery in its initial season, albeit most meetings went off without a hitch. “Our team has done an enormous amount of work on the surface,” Wilcox says. “The top surface was broken right up to take the tension out of it and 450 tonne of sand was added, with that work to continue and another 350 tonne of sand to be added. “We have been working really closely with experts like Liam O’Keeffe, the track manager at Flemington, and Chris Hay from Elwick [Hobart, also a StraythAyr track] and they are both really confident we have got it right. “So Monday was an important first step and to hear Warren and Craig so happy was very satisfying. “We will have more gallops, jump-outs and then trials and, all going well, we will be back racing on September 21.” Ellerslie is in for a summer of such scale that most in the New Zealand racing industry are still struggling to get their heads around it. As well as Group 1 racing at Christmas, it will have the Karaka Million in late January, which next season will also include the Railway, moved from New Year’s Day and boosted to $600,000. Then looms Champions Day and New Zealand thoroughbred racing’s first slot race, the NZB Kiwi as the centrepiece of the strongest race meeting yet held in this country. “I know we really shouldn’t be comparing ourselves to another jurisdiction but to have a $9m race meeting [in its first year] puts Champions Day up there with Australia’s biggest racedays,” Wilcox says. “So we are very excited and Monday was one of the first steps toward all that.” Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald’s Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world’s biggest horse racing carnivals.

Meanwhile who got the $5m for delivering nothing? Is NZTR trying to rake some of it back? Cameron George before you scarper can you comment? Or even MIA Sharrock?

Not as popular as turf.

Yep and they massage the colour as well.

Obviously not enough sand in this profile.

Um has anyone seen good turf growing on a beach?

So the trainer should. Why do the Stewards and the Vet have to get everything right on the night? At the end of the day the Trainer is responsible.

I agree. But in today's era the old methods won't work the same.

I didn't say my phone was red hot. You can interpret whatever I say anyway you want as you will. But your initial assertion that Racing administrators don't review racing forums in NZ is incorrect.

Really? You said I was delusional. I assure you the industry administrators look at these sites judging by the phone calls and other correspondence I've had. You only have to trace a few IP addresses to know who is looking. I'm sure you have the capability to do that.

But that's where the disconnect is. Both parts of the wider racing industry are interlinked. They need each other. If Breeders dominate the decision making around slot races, handicapping and favour fillies then the industry suffers as a whole.

Certainly not delusional. But thanks for the drive by piece of negativity.

Are you having a senior pedantic moment?

How do you know she never had a trial? Mind you in those days they had about 6 lead up races before they were fit. In today's era, particularly in OZ, if you are not firing near top fitness first up or at worst second up then you'll have no chance of winning. Then 6 starts in one campaign and you are spelling. Get with the programme @TAB For Ever.

The size of the industry.

Leith Innes (centre) is taking over the running of the Apprentice Jockey Academy. Photo: Nicole Troost New Zealand Equine Academy under new leadership LOVERACING.NZ News Desk 16 July 2024 There has been a changing of the guard at the New Zealand Equine Academy (NZEA). Previously led by Donavan Mansour, the Skill NZ NZQA Level 2 course runs out of Byerley Park in Kingseat while the Level 3 and Apprentice Jockey Academy, powered by Entain, operate out of the satellite campus in Cambridge. “Donavan has really put the New Zealand Equine Academy on the map as a career pathway provider since it was established in 2021,” NZEA director Daniel Nakhle said. “While we are sad to see Donavan go to pursue other career opportunities, it is an exciting time with Leith (Innes) taking over the Apprentice Jockey Academy and Amie (Best) coming in as Programme Leader of the Level 2 and 3 course. “Leith has already started and has taken to the role like a duck to water. The Level 3 course starts next month, and recruitment is underway for the September Level 2 intake, so Amie will hit the ground running there. “We’re very grateful to our sponsors and supporters. We look forward to continuing our partnerships with New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing, Entain, New Zealand Bloodstock, Dunstan and Majestic as the New Zealand Equine Academy continues to go from strength to strength.” Champion jockey Leith Innes is looking forward to working with the apprentices and imparting his knowledge and experience to help develop the young riders. “This is a great opportunity for me to help the younger generation that are pursuing a riding career,” he said. “Obviously the goal is to see them become successful apprentices and then continue on to add real value to the senior riding ranks.” “I used to ride for Daniel a lot and we have we have been friends for a very long time so I’m looking forward to working with him in this capacity.” Amie Best brings a wealth of industry experience to her role as Programme Leader having worked for stud farms and racing stables around the world as well as coming from a strong equestrian background. She has extensive marketing and media experience as well as her Masters in Psychology. “I’m excited to take on this role and using my skillset to help develop the skills and passion necessary for those wanting to build a career in the thoroughbred industry,” Best said. “We all know that staffing is an international industry challenge so I’m looking forward to helping the students follow a creditable career pathway and seeing them go on to contribute to the industry.” Best is supported by well-respected industry professionals Aleisha Legg and Elen Nicholas who are tutors of the Level 3 course in Cambridge. For more information about the New Zealand Equine Academy head to: https://www.byerleypark.co.nz/equine-academy/

Isn't declaring the current foal crop level as optimal lacking a vision for growth?