Chief Stipe

Especially when the parent company Entain PLC has had close to a 40% share price drop due to declining revenues.

I agree. I just can't work out where the money is coming from. We don't see turnover figures anymore......do we?

Exactly WHY doesn't it get used against those trainers? Your best Harness investigative journalist had a dig at Ben Hope why not discuss that riddle? Those that fail whether it be training or punting look for something to blame.

How Tommy Berry doubled as his twin in stewards' hearing Tommy Berry (left) hugs twin brother Nathan after Nathan’s victory aboard Unencumbered in the 2014 Magic Millions. Picture: Adam Head By Ben Dorries 02:03pm • 21 November 2023 We've all heard about twins who have confused their teachers by swapping school classes – but what about the jockeys who did the same to salvage a hot date? Sixteen years on, the incredible and comical story of how jockey Tommy Berry was the body double for his identical twin brother Nathan in a stewards' hearing can be revealed. Much-loved Nathan Berry tragically passed away in 2014 and the amazing tale of what happened in Perth one day is one of Tommy's cherished and fun memories of his brother. It was 2007 and the 16-year-old Berry apprentices were riding in Western Australia, heading there at a minute's notice after the equine influenza outbreak shut down racing in NSW. READ | Tommy Berry confident in Roots ahead of Railway Stakes Nathan (left) and Tommy Berry. As Berry prepares to head back to WA to ride Group 1 Railway Stakes fancy Roots on Saturday, he takes up the rollicking tale. "It was a Saturday and Nathan wanted to go on a date with a girl after the last race," Berry told Racenet. "But he came in after the last and said he needed me to go into the stewards' room for him. "He told me he had tightened up a few horses around the corner – but he was going on a date and he really didn't want to miss it. • Gold Coast track passes final test ahead of Magic Millions "So I went into the stewards' room, I had no idea what I was doing there. "The stewards asked me for evidence and I told them it was just a little bit of tightening. "They showed me the replay and he (Nathan) had caused interference to about three or four horses. "He ended up copping a couple of weeks (suspension). "I remember coming home and talking to him and saying ‘I really hope you like the girl because you have now got two weeks to spend with her'. "He said ‘yeah, the date wasn't too bad'." Racenet has Berry's permission to recount the tale, which he says he has also told at several sporting lunches. "I have told it at a few functions since, as it's a great story," Berry said. "Nathan obviously can't get in trouble for it now and surely I can't, it was 16 years ago." • Tony Brassel's black book: Horses to follow out of the trials The Berry twins celebrated when Tommy rode Overreach to win the 2013 Golden Slipper. Berry will jet to Perth on Friday seeking his first West Australian Group 1 – but it is a state he has happy memories in. He and Nathan spent some great times there and their 2007 riding stint was the first time they had been away from their parents. "Nathan and I did three months over there during EI in our apprenticeship, he was apprenticed to Kellie Grantham and I was apprenticed to Robyn Lockwood," Berry said. "WA was so far away that they didn't get EI – racing was going to be shut down in New South Wales and Dad organised us two plane tickets and we were on the plane. "It was a bit of a shock to us. "We just got dropped at two trainers' places and they said this is going to be your home for the next three months. "They were only four doors away from each other, so I used to sneak out every night and spend the night at Nathan's place. Nathan (left) and Tommy Berry in 2013. "We weren't used to being away from each other, we spent pretty much every night together when we were over there. "It was our first time away from home without our parents, and being so young, we leaned on each other quite heavily. "Nathan had a really good run over there he rode a heap of city winners for Jim Taylor. "I didn't have so much luck in the city, but I rode up around the country area a lot. "We made a lot of good friends over there and so it's always been a place I've wanted to get back to." Berry, who cherishes the memory of his late twin brother every day, remembers how he and Nathan enjoyed spending time with legendary WA trotting identities Gary Hall Snr and Gary Hall Jr. "We spent a fair bit of time out on their property with the trotters and we used to go to Gloucester Park (harness races) every Friday night," Berry recalls. "I really enjoyed that and just getting away to the beaches in WA. "I rode a lot at Albany and Geraldton, they are beautiful places to go and visit." Read all news by Ben Dorries

No it reinforces what they THINK not what they KNOW. If you think things are different to what they were in the 70's and 80's, arguably the halcyon days of NZ harness racing you are wrong or have a poor memory. I was hands on involved in those days and the rumours and tall poppy syndrome was as rampant then as now. The difference is we didn't have mobile phones or social media to build our conspiracy theories on.

There never has been. Wasn't the last and most successful amateur trainer W. E. Lowe from Hinds?

I agree it's a good initiative and you are right about 1600m. One issue I have is that they won't attract OZ horses and they wont get a quality field worth the stakes money. It would be better to spread that money down the chain and build up the quality of our fields.

What did they get caught for in NZ Harness? Stupidity mainly. None were using any wonder PED. Perhaps they were sick of working extremely long hours (since they were old enough to hold a horses lead) and getting very very little in return. Desperate. There were also issues of gambling and recreational drugs. What's staring me in the face is how hard it is to make a living in the industry now. As for these guys being bright enough to manage a complex PED using scheme. You're dreaming @the galah . However the rumours justify the ineptitude of many - including the RIB, the administrators, the average trainer and the poor punter.

They all got caught. You would have us believe that with today's testing science and source samples to test against supposedly the best labs in the world can't find anything! Fairy tale stuff. Is Grimson a scientific genius? Bollocks.

How is "hiding in a hedge" keeping someone honest? Surely you would have to know they were hiding in the hedge and if you knew they were hiding in a hedge wouldn't you do something different? Na - only old school ex-cops hide in hedges. Even then when they use modern technology such as phone taps they find nothing. Those that have been caught quite frankly haven't been the brightest sparks on the planet. Really? I may not be paranoid but that doesn't mean someone isn't out to get me. It doesn't do anything for honesty. I met someone who went on the INCA raid and what I heard it was all a big joke and a chance to play like FBI agents from TV.

The "average" trainer. Why invest with an average trainer? How did trainer 1 know that "others were using"? When was this decade so I have some context to understand what I allegedly "don't fully understand"? A cocktail of what? A classic target for the snake-oil seller. Interesting stuff @the galah - you've been close the action. So I'm guessing now that since you mentioned blue magic that we are talking 20 years ago. Did you trainer get a full blood analysis done of the horse that bolted in before giving it some concoction? He may have found there was a problem which was addressed by the concoction. So the decade is the late 90's into the new millennium. Are you suggesting that Purdon, Stewart and Grimson AREN'T hardworking? The reality is it is easily detected in testing just as it was 20 years ago but today much much easier.

Surely they don't expect to see OZ horses coming here for the Thorndon Mile?

The point is that if that is the case as you describe then the mystery elixir is nothing new - i.e. it is a mass-produced drug in wide use. Just like "Blue Magic" is. Of course it got a sensational sounding name but was just a drug used to treat stomach and digestive tract illness. ...and just as easier to test for. I don't disagree which is what I proffered as the most likely scenario with Grimson. He like all the top thoroughbred trainers would have done a thorough blood analysis on Swayzee and now Cya Art and adjusted feed and supplements accordingly. It's not illegal but if done properly can produce amazing results. And NO not all trainers know how to do it and those that don't but are successful hire specialist nutritionists to help. That's why it costs to race a horse in those stables.

New Zealand Summer Series Bonus Points Structure Last week, Entain Australia and New Zealand and New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing collectively announced the inaugural New Zealand Summer Series Bonus, whereby New Zealand and Australia’s leading middle-distance horses will compete for a lucrative purse of $650,000 in bonuses. The bonus structure for entry and Series races has been finalised by NZTR, with the overall winner being determined by a points system, and points weighted towards the Series races as indicated below. Points Structure for Entry and Series Races Bonus Structure (Total bonus, including Trainer payment) Series winner: $500k Series runner up: $100k Series third placegetter: $50k *Mandatory 10% Trainer payment to be paid from bonus amounts listed above. To be eligible for the winning bonus, a horse will need to run in one of the two 1600-metre entry races – the $400,000 Harcourts Thorndon Mile at Trentham on 20 January or the new $1,000,000 Elsdon Park Aotearoa Classic at Ellerslie on 27 January, held on TAB Karaka Millions night. The Series will then progress towards two of New Zealand’s most iconic 2000-metre races – the $600,000 Herbie Dyke Stakes at Te Rapa on 10 February and the $450,000 Bonecrusher New Zealand Stakes at Ellerslie on 9 March. Learn more about the New Zealand Summer Series Bonus below. NEW ZEALAND SUMMER SERIES BONUS INFORMATION Should you have any questions about the Series, or require further information, please do not hesitate to contact us. Yours in racing, Darin Balcombe Chief Operating Officer New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing

What @Forbury said was this: The inference being that someone had developed something outside of a commercial lab or manufacturing plant. That inference is BS because it is implausible. Blue Magic was an existing chemical called propantheline bromide - which had been around since the 1970's or earlier. There were tests for it in 1979! The chemical formula is: It isn't something you can cook up in the home lab. It was discovered many many years prior to the Blue Magic scandal and was on the list of prescribed medicines for use for humans and animals. In animals it acts as muscle relaxant and aids digestion issues. Which interesting in itself as digestive issues are one of the biggest issues with racing horses and feeding them high energy foods. We all know how we feel when we get indigestion or a guts ache - imagine what it's like for a highly trained horse? Yes but that's where you and that bottom feeder excuse for a journalist @Archie Butterfly get it wrong. Firstly the drugs are mass produced and testable - often relabelled for sale by snakeoil salesman to the gullible looking for an edge. Then there are the gullible that believe the stories. Don't forget Fishman was done for fraud - that is mislabelling drugs and profiting from it.

BS @Forbury !! You're worse than @the galah on this subject. You can't make EPO analogues or restructured peptides or any novel complex chemicals in a home lab. If there is anything circulating it is something that is already manufactured in large quantities, is well documented and described and testable. The USA case was exactly that where they were mixed and relabelled mass produced drugs. Nothing novel or uniquely made by some genius scientist in a hidden lab somewhere.

Recent?! Nine years ago?

By Jonny Turner Winton racegoers may have thought they were dreaming yesterday when they witnessed one of the most staggering performances in Southland harness racing history from Dreams Are Free. After making a mistake behind the mobile and trailing the field by up to ten lengths for much of race 8, the two-year-old tacked near the 500m mark before somehow powering home to win. While he knows more than anyone how good Dreams Are Free is, trainer-driver Nathan Williamson admitted he was like many of those racegoers who were left gobsmacked by the stunning victory. “I was just as surprised as everybody else at how good he went, and certainly with the time they ran, it was the most staggering thing.” “He didn’t feel like they went that quick, but he has certainly got a big motor.” That strong pace set up by the leaders resulted in a 2.55.3 winning time in the 2400m event for Dreams Are Free. The pacer went past the 2400m starting point seconds after the official start of the race, and he was hand-timed to run post-to-post in 2.53.3. The remarkable performance was set up by a surprising gallop behind the gate which may have had punters tearing up their tickets on the hot favourite. Williamson admitted he thought the race might have been over then too, and he didn’t push the pacer too hard to catch the field. “Obviously, he made a mistake behind the gate and that wasn’t ideal.” “He just got himself a little bit keyed up and made a mistake.” “Once he made that mistake, I sort of thought he was probably out of the race.” “He was giving those older horses quite a head start.” “I was just letting him turtle along, and I was thinking that they might back off at some stage and come back to him a little bit quicker than they did.” “But they didn’t; in saying that, he got down to about the 700m, and he was still travelling nice.” “I asked him to quicken up onto the back of them a little bit, and he did that quite easily.” Dreams Are Free had to win yesterday’s race to qualify for the Group One Ace Of Spades event on Grand Prix Day at Addington next month. There, Dreams Are Free will be able to show off his incredible speed and stamina against the best two-year-old pacers in New Zealand. “He had to put a phenomenal performance up to qualify.” “I do think as long as we can get him there and as well as he was today and obviously a mistake-free performance, get him doing it right behind the gate, he’ll be competitive.” Dreams Are Free is raced by Brendan Fahy and the Dreams Are Free Syndicate. The pacer’s half-brother Don’t Stop Dreaming will also be at the Grand Prix meeting, where he will be the hot favourite for the Group One New Zealand Derby.

@the galah I suppose you knew that the Junior FFA was run in the slowest time in 8 years by 2 seconds?

I'm really pleased you have something to look forward to.

So you'd believe anything a snakeoil salesman would say? I don't believe it is your strong suit as your assessments are skewed by your conspiracy theories. If you'd accurately assessed Swayzee's career performance you'd know that Grimson has him performing up to his best form. Same with Cya Art. Its Junior FFA second wasn't exceptional. Feel free to detail your quantitative analysis showing otherwise.

Then why did Swayzee lose form? In average time. Ran second in a Group 2 beaten 1 length giving the winner a 10m headstart in Handicap.

Yep another BS race based on no pattern. A sweepstake! Promo race! Bit like The Everest. Only had 4 starts since. That Nullabor field was crap so didn't beat much.

Geez the conspiracy gets even better! Godolphin is in on it.

So you are an expert on analysing camel racing performance as well?