Chief Stipe

Or the guy in the trench coat and low brim hat offering you cash for your tickets plus 10%. That was when money laundering was a breeze!

I'm not. Why risk a nice mare for a sweepstake race?

So why retire her? Te Akau made a business decision based on the vet report and her broodmare potential. BTW what would be the cost of insuring a mare worth around $6m for a year? I know it costs $26k per year to insure a filly that's valued at $600k.

Hope not. If Te Akau have vetted her and the information says don't race again as there is a high risk of injury racing again then I'd say NO. At the end of a horses season Te Akau fully vet and x-ray all their Group 1 horses.

But that was real time. No fourth referee review from down in the TV Bunker. Winston was sitting in a drafty commentary box blowing in the wind above Athletic Park.

I thought spellchecks were universal?

The "Social License" issue is BS. Change that to "where are the most votes". The reality is though that most people don't really care.

Hence my story about phone and radio. I think 3ZB was 1031AM. Remember fiddling with the aerial connection often and the dial on the radiogram in Hokitika when Dad's horses were racing at Addington. Those were the days when you got a recording of a race it came on a vinyl record. Only talking the 70's!!

EDUCATION: Are blinkers and winkers a profitable gear change? Blinkers or winkers – can either prove a profitable gear change? Photo: George Sal/Getty Images. By Greg Polson 02:00pm • 19 May 2024 0 Comments More number crunching this week looking at gear changes and the results are thought provoking. Blinkers first time, winkers first time and blinkers off first time are the focus of this week's analysis. Firstly, some background on the data. It covers the period January 1, 2023 to April 30, 2024, and I have chosen not to include horses that had blinkers or winkers on first time having there first start. **** Greg Polson is one of Racenet iQ's premium tipsters covering racing across the state of New South Wales. Click here to subscribe to his winning insights. **** I will leave it to Racenet readers to draw their own conclusions and whether the data will help there punting however there are a couple of salient points. Blinkers first time is over rated in the marketplace, blinkers off first time is actually a better guide for punters. Whichever way the data is spliced and diced, it's hard to get any sort off edge from blinkers first time, there are some profitable groupings in winkers first time and blinkers off that could be worth considering from a punting angle. Joe Pride is the star trainer with these gear changes. Interestingly he was also the best performer with change of tactic notifications in last week's article. **** EDUCATION: Are Changes Of Tactics Profitable? **** Here's the data on Blinkers and Winkers. Blinkers first time Starters Winners Winning Strike Rate percent Profit/Loss on Turnover percent 3131 317 10.1 -25.3 per cent **** Blinkers off first time Starters Winners Winning Strike Rate percent Profit/Loss on Turnover percent 1877 193 10 -17.4 per cent When the blinkers come off for the first time it's actually an improved return for punters. A similar strike rate but the losses nowhere near as high. **** Winkers first time Starters Winners Winning Strike Rate percent Profit/Loss on Turnover percent 1264 146 12 -11.7 per cent Winkers first time actually out performs blinkers. **** Blinkers first time by age Age Starters Winners Winning Strike Rate percent Profit/Loss on Turnover percent 2 140 9 6 -37.1 3 1209 148 12 -19.4 4 1098 108 10 -22.6 5 441 35 8 -34.8 6 174 12 7 -46.6 7 and older 69 5 7 -33.5 **** Winkers first time by age Age Starters Winners Winning Strike Rate percent Profit/Loss on Turnover percent 2 52 6 12 -49.8 3 413 53 13 -10 4 424 55 13 +15.5 5 220 22 10 -46.8 6 99 7 7 -4.3 7 and older 56 3 5 -65.5 Again winkers out perform blinkers and four-year-olds with winkers on for the first time are a profitable group. **** Blinkers off first time by age Age Starters Winners Winning Strike Rate percent Profit/Loss on Turnover percent 2 39 2 5 -89.7 3 587 66 11 -41.8 4 699 71 10 -22 5 413 35 8 +5.8 6 168 21 13 +50.5 7 and older 76 2 3 -86.8 Blinkers off the older horses five and six-years old profitable. Clearly a grouping underestimated by the market. **** Blinkers first time by distance Distance Range Starters Winners Winning Strike Rate percent Profit/Loss on Turnover percent Less than 1400m 1729 177 10 -33.5 1400m-1799m 1103 112 10 -13 1800m and longer 299 28 9 -23.5 **** Winkers first time by distance Distance Range Starters Winners Winning Strike Rate percent Profit/Loss on Turnover percent Less than 1400m 692 87 13 +1.3 1400m-1799m 444 45 10 -21.4 1800m and longer 128 14 11 -46.1 Winkers first time on horses racing at a distance less than 1400m is actually marginally profitable. **** Blinkers off first time by distance Distance Range Starters Winners Winning Strike Rate percent Profit/Loss on Turnover percent Less than 1400m 1123 119 11 -35.2 1400m-1799m 631 56 9 -1.6 1800m and longer 228 22 10 +6.2 Again blinkers off are more profitable for punters particularly at distance 1400m and longer. **** Blinkers first time by career starts Career Starts Starters Winners Winning Strike Rate percent Profit/Loss on Turnover percent Less than 10 2416 256 11 -22.3 10-19 582 57 10 -41.2 20 or more 231 18 8 -11.9 **** Winkers first time by career starts Career Starts Starters Winners Winning Strike Rate percent Profit/Loss on Turnover percent Less than 10 1210 134 11 -5.6 10-19 284 31 11 -27.4 20 or more 148 12 8 -14.3 **** Blinkers off first time by career starts Career Starts Starters Winners Winning Strike Rate percent Profit/Loss on Turnover percent Less than 10 1177 122 10 -34.4 10-19 535 58 11 +14.6 20 or more 270 17 6 -24 What about breaking down the data by trainers? Joe Pride is the star when it comes to blinkers first time with a 35 per cent winning strike rate and a profit on turnover of 177.50. Chris Waller and Ciaron Maher the two trainers with the most runners with the gear change perform poorly. Matt Dunn, Grant & Alana Williams, Brad Widdup and Gerald Ryan and Sterling Alexiou are all profitable trainers applying blinkers first time. When it comes to taking blinkers off for the first time Joe Pride performs with distinction again with a winning strike rate of 25 per cent and a POT of 50.8. **** Greg Polson is one of Racenet iQ's premium tipsters covering racing across the state of New South Wales. Click here to subscribe to his winning insights. **** Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, Annabel Neasham, Leon and Troy Corstens, Matt Dunn and NSW country trainer Brett Robb also know when to remove the blinkers with impressive strike rates and profit on turnover. Symon Wilde is the leading trainer with a 17 per cent strike rate and 39 per cent profit on turnover applying winkers first time. Blinkers first time by trainer Let's have a look at some of the leading trainers without any price filter, the first five in the table is by volume, the second five are the most profitable Trainer Starters Winners Winning Strike Rate percent Profit/Loss on Turnover percent C Waller 67 7 10 -46.1 C Maher 51 6 12 -71.4 K Lees 46 5 11 -38 B Baker 34 7 21 -21.5 P Stokes 34 4 12 -12 J Pride 20 7 35 +177.5 M Dunn 18 3 17 +227.2 G & A Williams 17 3 18 +54.1 B Widdup 15 3 20 +97.3 G Ryan and S Alexiou 13 2 15 +84.6 **** Let's add a couple of price filters for the trainers. Market Price less than $21 Trainer Starters Winners Winning Strike Rate percent Profit/Loss on Turnover percent C Waller 55 7 13 -34.4 C Maher 44 6 14 -66.8 K Lees 36 5 14 -20.8 B Baker 30 7 23 -11 P Stokes 28 4 14 -22.9 T Gollan 23 4 17 +3.9 J Pride 20 7 35 +177.5 T Busuttin and N Young 19 3 26 +.5 G & A Williams 17 3 18 +54.1 Mitchell Freedman 11 4 36 +37.3 **** Market Price less than $10 Trainer Starters Winners Winning Strike Rate percent Profit/Loss on Turnover percent C Waller 36 6 17 -33.1 C Maher 32 6 19 -54.4 K Lees 26 4 15 -50.8 A Neasham 24 4 17 -50.8 B Baker 22 7 32 +21.4 James Cummings 16 4 25 +22.5 T Busuttin and N Young 14 3 21 +36.4 D O'Brien 13 3 23 +16.2 J Pride 13 5 38 +109.2 Mitchell Freedman 9 4 44 +67.8 **** Winkers first time by trainer Let's have a look at some of the leading trainers without any price filter Trainer Starters Winners Winning Strike Rate percent Profit/Loss on Turnover percent B, JD & W Hayes 31 2 6 -71.6 S Wilde 29 5 17 +39 T Dabernig 27 2 7 -37.4 M, W & J Hawkes 21 2 10 -66.2 P & P Snowden 20 3 15 -43 L J Hatch 12 4 33 +100 C Waller 10 2 20 +85 **** Let's add a couple of price filters for the trainers. Market Price less than $21 Trainer Starters Winners Winning Strike Rate percent Profit/Loss on Turnover percent B, JD & W Hayes 27 2 7 -67.4 S Wilde 26 5 19 +55 T Dabernig 25 2 8 -32.4 P & P Snowden 19 3 16 -40 M, W & J Hawkes 15 2 13 -52.7 **** Market Price less than $10 Trainer Starters Winners Winning Strike Rate percent Profit/Loss on Turnover percent B, JD & W Hayes 19 2 11 -53.7 T Dabernig 17 2 12 -.6 S Wilde 16 4 25 +53.8 ***** Blinkers off time by trainer Let's have a look at some of the leading trainers without any price filter Trainer Starters Winners Winning Strike Rate percent Profit/Loss on Turnover percent C Maher 35 4 11 +9.7 K Lees 27 3 1 -48.1 G Waterhouse & A Bott 26 6 23 +50.4 C Waller 23 3 13 -50.9 M Price & M Kent Jnr 17 1 6 -76.5 Annabel Neasham 13 3 23 +99.2 J Pride 12 3 25 +50.8 L & T Corstens 12 3 25 +34.2 M Dunn 11 3 27 +38.2 Brett Robb 9 3 33 +68.9 **** Market Price less than $21 Trainer Starters Winners Winning Strike Rate percent Profit/Loss on Turnover percent C Maher 29 3 10 -44.5 K Lees 23 3 13 -39.1 G Waterhouse & A Bott 22 6 27 +77.7 C Waller 19 3 16 -40.5 T Gollan 16 2 13 -24.4 B Cavanough 14 2 14 +17.9 A & S Freedman 13 5 38 +23.1 J Pride 11 3 27 +64.5 Annabel Neasham 11 3 27 +135.5 M Dunn 10 3 30 +52 **** Market Price less than $10 Trainer Starters Winners Winning Strike Rate percent Profit/Loss on Turnover percent C Maher 20 3 15 -19.5 K Lees 17 3 18 -17.6 G Waterhouse & A Bott 15 5 33 +52 C Waller 15 3 20 -24.7 T Gollan 13 2 15 -6.9 J Pride 16 4 25 +22.5 T Busuttin and N Young 14 3 21 +36.4 D O'Brien 13 3 23 +16.2 J Pride 6 3 50 +201.7 Read all news by Greg Polson

Right so Kah can't win can she? If the horse is well ridden and wins its the horse that did it and anyone could have ridden it. If the horse gets skittled early and Kah recovers but the horse won't move out when she reins it to its Kahs fault. Just keep banging on and on being a knocker and don't back her ever again. Geez you must have a lot of time on your hands if you can sit their analysing all her rides. Actually you don't really do that do you? I gather your hobby is trying to knock down tall poppies.

Watching Lord Module win the Allan Matson FFA in the Trainers stand. Also a lasting memory was being allowed to drive my Dads horse or maybe even McShane round the pre-parade ring, down the walkway to the birdcage and then drive the horse back to the stables after the race. I was so excited when told I could do it after gearing the horse up that I jumped in the sulky waiting for the horse to be unhooked and the reins handed to me. I was told in no uncertain terms to get out and do it myself the way I had been taught with the trainer saying - "who the bloody hell do you think you are? Maurice Holmes?!"

We lived in Starveall Street. Had my 21st in the Brightwater Hall with entertainment provided by the Waikatu Variety Band. Only a stones throw from Waimea West where I used to help jog McShanes Road namesake McShane.

Yep no doubt the homegrown Jockey star Jamie Kah was a huge inspiration to them.

Very good point.

Sorry @Thomass how was my radio/phone post Fake News?

But on most measures they are not catching up. All Stars still have the better ROI and 7 months to go in the season. The Dunn stable has been starting 3 to 4 times more than AS for years with little change in average ROI or UDR. Has Lurch suddenly learnt how to drive or is Dexter on his way home now that INCA is well done and dusted?

Didnt you read the Stewards report? Suggest you watch the race again she tried to move the horse out but it wouldn't move. As I said before you need to brush up on your race reading skills. As @Special Agent said you are very quiet on JMac's ride and the rides of a few top jocks who didn't actually get a win at Doomben yesterday. If you can't overcome your predetermined bias and eliminate emotion from your analysis then you are going to struggle on the punt. But that's OK ENTAIN loves you.

Another annoying aspect of the App and the Website is you keep getting logged out. Is there a setting to change that?

@Newmarket before you comment next time on Kah's rides can you make sure you watch the races first? Thanks in advance.

I remember being at Uni at Lincoln in the early 80's and Dad having a horse racing at Timaru. He lived in Brightwater and couldn't get reception so I drove to my Uncles home in Christchurch as he had a phone AND radio. I then phoned Dad and he listened to the commentary on the phone.

It's not the point Ranga. Prior to the "upgrade" you could see the place odds. What's the advantage to ENTAIN in not showing them? 90% of the time there is enough screen real estate to show them. I guess it is problematic in a 24 horse field but we haven't seen that since the 1968 Hororata Cup.

Yes but your analysis doesn't stand up to the facts i.e. the stats! Which it is not surprising as it is based on anectdotal evidence. An average of 0.43 UDR over the life of the partnership is not too bad at all. Plus $4m in stakes!

Excuse me how the hell is the Dunn stable "closing in"?! The Dunn's have had nearly 4 times the number of race starts and their UDR is substantially less than Mark and Nathan Purdon. The Dunn's return per start is $3,424. M&N Purdon: $9,952 i.e. 3 times the Dunn's! Seems the Purdon's are doing a lot less work for 3 times the return!!!