Chief Stipe

Yes only six winners for the week and only one Grp 1. Maybe they'll improve the average by picking a couple up tonight at Singapore.

Not much in it in most races. I don't know what the Jockeys are thinking but most of the races have been walk and sprint. No wonder our horses struggle in OZ.

In what would have to be the irony of the day...George Simon - "the race was won by those up on the speed". Could Matt Cameron have gone any slower?

Seems fair from anywhere so far.

Interesting stat. A one turn track has double the injury rate of a two turn track. We await Chazza's erudite analysis.

That track was a Good 3 from early morning NOT a Soft 5. The shute was rock hard. Not surprised as @Reefton mate Oatham was the Stipe in charge.

Really? You put a racetrack in the same category as hospitals and schools and the roads to get to them? I suppose you expect the Government to fund you next Lamborghini! Yes and it shouldn't have happened. The TAB was insolvent and should have been sold. Instead we had Mackenzie play smoke and mirrors, rob the taxpayer and make no substantial changes to the fundamental issues the TAB had and still has. Agree and I have been consistent with that line. @Michael disagrees of course. Primarily at the big tracks. The Westland Racing Club was still pulling the same crowds but the experts deemed it needed to be closed down. As I said there were more people at Kumara on Nuggets Day than at Trentham on their Group Race day with the best horses in the country going round. Who's got it wrong? Trentham has been screwed by the administrators (the industry and their own club) and is suffering a death of a thousand small cuts. Many many posters on BOAY have posted the reasons. Not at Kumara or Te Aroha. But a bit pointless having phone betting apps if you can't get internet access on course like at Motukarara! Racing will fail unless it provides a point of difference between other entertainments and the hospitality industry. The biggest difference is the horse and the oncourse experience. Both should be promoted and facilitated. Probably because all the options have been closed down both in the CD and Riccarton! As for the Trentham track it was as rough as and inconsistent. You only had to look at the patchwork colours of the grass. Anyone thinking otherwise is in dreamland. The Club doesn't have any money to renovate the track even after selling off land around the shute while turning it into an urban housing and development rubble eyesore. The WRC awaits the promised land with the Joint Venture it has signed up. That worked well for the Auckland Trotting Club - NOT! Even if they do get the windfall I bet they don't spend it on a complete renovation of the turf (a horse focus) but will waste money sprucing up the amenities for punters that no longer turn up.

Isn't there a pub down there called the something Sun? Or something... Had a mate that used to live on Rangiora Terrace which can't be too far from you.

Shouldn't "allegedly" be in that post somewhere?

There was more at Te Aroha last week and definitely more at Kumara!

Just thought about this... Does that mean the taxpayer is still paying as the depreciation on the asset they funded defers any tax being paid on any profit until who knows when?

Well then I can't be accused of being a "Fanboy" then can I?

Right so it's only for the winter months?

The TA stable or stud didn't own her. The Syndicate did and the rule of the Syndicate is that she is sold at Auction at the end of her career. You only have to look at the differences of opinion on BOAY to understand its a great rule!

I don't actually contradict myself. Bit I'm not interested in discussing the topic with someone who has no interest, no experience and basically is an anti-fan.

Correct Avantage sold for double that. $4.1m

You really are an "anti-fan" bullshitter. If you haven't valued her then how do you know $2.1m is too much? You didn't even know Avantage's 2yr old record! Why do you bother commenting on things you state you don't have an interest in?

My apologies it was worse than "half a brain" - the inference was that the people that did spend that much on a yearling didn't even have a "functioning brain".

Obviously as you don't have a clue about what you are talking about. Yet you have the gall to say some who have millions of dollars invested and 4 decades in the game have "half a brain"!!

That's what I said. If you didn't know Avantage won 5 as a two year old then you have no hope in hell in putting a market value on her.

Horse racing: Mastermind behind Ellerslie transformation not playing ‘I told you so’ card www.nzherald.co.nz The man who helped transform Ellerslie into a world-class racetrack says he is more nervous about tomorrow’s reopening than any other stage of the $55 million project. Auckland Thoroughbred Racing chief executive Paul Wilcox has overseen the installation of a StrathAyr track at the Auckland racecourse, the spiritual home of New Zealand racing. StrathAyr tracks have enormously superior drainage to anything seen in New Zealand racing before and theoretically should see Ellerslie always providing footing classed as “good” rather than “slow” or “heavy”. That should increase punter confidence and make for better racing and the relaunch has been one of the most anticipated in the history of New Zealand racing. AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME. Now it is here, with what was supposed to be a soft opening or test run at tomorrow’s twilight meeting, Wilcox says he just wants it to be over. “We were kind of hoping to have a nice quiet, almost undercover relaunch but that isn’t going to happen,” Wilcox told the Herald. “Not because we don’t have total faith in the track. Jason [Fulford, track manager] has that well under control, the nerves are more us reopening as a race club for crowds again. “We were keen to make that not a big thing but the interest in Sunday has been huge and I think we will get a big crowd in.” AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME. However many turn up on Sunday will be nothing compared with TAB Karaka Millions night on January 27, when Ellerslie will not only host New Zealand’s richest-ever race meeting but stage its official opening. “We were hoping to cap that night at 9000 people but it is creeping up toward 10,000, more likely 10,500 people,” says Wilcox. “It will be an amazing night and even having horses back here racing on Sunday will be amazing but we can feel the anticipation too. “There has been this really pent-up feeling in the racing industry with so many people wanting to get back racing here and now it is here we just want it to go well, which I am confident it will.” There were plenty of doubters during the depths of last year’s winter, when Ellerslie looked like a soaked quarry, that tomorrow’s meeting would even be possible this early. Wilcox isn’t playing the “I told you so” card and never has, being mindful to temper expectations through the installation process and sticking to the mantra that Ellerslie wouldn’t be racing until every safety box had been ticked. Track gallops, jumpouts and then trials have all drawn high praise from jockeys and finally the time has come. So massive is the reopening for the racing industry that it almost overshadows today’s huge Trentham meeting which hosts two Group 1 races. The $500,000 Cambridge Stud Levin Classic brings together an even, high-class field over 1600m with the fillies Quintessa, Mary Shan and even Impendabelle favoured over the boys. The $450,000 Berkett Telegraph is one of New Zealand’s great sprint races but minus Railway winner Waitak so the winner should come from his stablemate Dragon Leap, Bonny Lass or Shamus.

Or what? Her form line was 111121 as a two year old. There's 5 firsts in that form line. Hint: a 1 = a win.

But she won't be worth zero will she? A couple of black type wins and she may well be worth twice what they paid for her. Except that is what the market determined her value was. I know this is a difficult concept for you but there are other ways to approach purchasing yearlings. I prefer the looking for value approach but that's not to say that different approaches are not valid. How many horses have you purchased that have won races, black type or increased their residual value? Let me guess...🤔😏

You might not realise this but a filly doesn't have testicles. On a well bred stallion one testicle is worth a minimum of $500k. Remove them and you have a gelding with ZERO residual value. Now what residual value after racing does a well bred filly have?

Your point? I imagine that emoji you use quite often is the closest there is to a self portrait.