Chief Stipe

Come on @SLB2.0 you are bagging the Jockey don't try and draw a distinction. You are being hyper-critical of her ride i.e. the decisions she made. The difference is I don't see did as wrong. The horse wasn't up to it on the day. Didn't you read my comment about the competition proposal? Hardly hypocritical - it was my comment in response to the proposal that probably kiboshed the idea. As for having no time for hypocrites haven't you just kissed and made up to one so you can post in the echo chamber? Yes I will critique a bad ride if a horse wasn't given every chance and/or decisions were made that eliminated its chances but that wasn't the case in my opinion with Bello Mio. I'd say Hassman has more talent than some of the ex-Jockeys bagging her ride.

It couldn't hold its position in the first instance even when those drawn to its immediate outside could. It had no chance to get off the rail until turning for home. How do you know the inside was "much deeper" leading up to the home turn? Hassman didn't have an opportunity to do that until turning for home. It would have lost lengths even if it was going good enough to get to allegedly better ground. Which by the look of it was in the car park! The horse hadn't been going very well the whole trip. I can't understand why it was favourite. Its best races of late have been on Good tracks and it has only been able to manage one race a month. Sure it won on a Heavy 10 at Matamata but that was 2 years and 4 months ago. Yes it ran second over 1000m at its previous start at Riccarton but one could argue that wasn't a Heavy 10. The horse wasn't going well enough. I'd argue that the fact Hassman didn't ride the crap out of it shows she has some horsemanship skills. If the horse felt flat and wasn't responding to her urgings then why flog it just to satisfy the grandstand critics?

I've looked at the race again. Bello Mio was going that well from the get go. It had no opportunity to get off the fence until turning for home and even then it was going well enough to move out. It would have lost a couple of lengths doing so before it got to better ground and would have had not chance of getting to the ground that the winner finished on. Nothing worse than average ex-Jockeys bagging an apprentice for no reason. From my observation the horse was only plugging the whole way! In the next race Hayley Hassman's mount draw 12 and she rode it perfectly.

That's how it looked to me. If a horse draws one on a Heavy 10 then at some stage you need to use some energy to get off the fence and find better ground (assuming the inside is off). The horse didn't look to be travelling well enough to do that at any stage. LOL if the Jockey had starting riding hard a long way out @SLB2.0 might have been happier!

Basically if you draw 1 on a rated heavy 10 track you have zero options if the inside is a heavy 12.

A very good point @jess . My understanding is that it is so important that the sand for the AWT's was imported. I might be wrong on that but can you imagine rocks in a Poly track fill?

Sure it does but if your horse is aiming for a BM65 or even a maiden does the extra cost to travel to Hawera instead of Woodville really matter? Some owners gain some lose. Swings and roundabouts. The point is everyone is looking for flexibility in shifting meetings to avoid abandoments and when NZTR is proactive in doing so you all still complain!

Spot the Clegg hammer! Where are the stones! If you want to comment please comment on this thread:

Why redevelop the track? There were several issues with the performance of the grass track that prompted the decision to re-develop it. These included: Different Profile on ‘outside bend’ Interestingly the track has two home bends – an inner and an outer one, both of which can be used for race meetings. The outer one was re-built about eight years ago and it is inconsistent with the rest of the track. Drainage issues (course wide) Despite a lot of old installed drainage, the track has poor and inconsistent drainage. A lot of the existing drainage is damaged or undersized and it doesn’t encompass the entire track. To improve drainage performance a new drainage system that encompasses the entire track is required. Aging and poor condition of existing infrastructure (drainage mains and outfalls) The location and condition of much of the existing drainage collectors and outfalls was largely unknown. When the synthetic track was built, some of these drains were found to be blocked or broken. Irrigation system deficiencies The existing system is inadequate and needs to be replaced to give improved coverage and uniformity. Awapuni track redevelopment project These works are underway at present. The reconstruction work consists of the following main steps (in order of works): Killing off and removing the existing turf cover on the entire track. Earthworks to reshape parts of the surface where required (mainly in the back straight) to give consistent cross falls and level transitions. Decompaction of the soil profile following earthworks. Realigning the inside running rail to give a consistent track width (approx. 26m). Installing a new stormwater drainage system to collect and remove water from surface run-off from the track and from the new lateral / slit drain system to be installed. Installing a new automatic pop-up irrigation system with sprinklers located under the inside and outside rails (both sides of the track). Installing 110mm diameter perforated lateral drains in the entire track at 5m centres. Sand topdressing the whole track with sand to be applied prior to grassing. Planting and establishing the whole track with a pure ryegrass turf sward. Installing slit drains in the entire track at 1.0m centres following part way through the grass establishment. Additional sand top dressing. Replacement of track perimeter fencing. Return to racing following NZTR protocols. All the while that this work is underway the complex has to be kept open as a training venue for the local horse trainers with all the inside training tracks available. Perhaps the biggest impact of this is that daily construction works can’t start until after 9.30am which is when daily track work (horse training) finishes. Dust management is critical on what is a big site (5.0ha) with some very close neighbours in the path of the wind.