Chief Stipe

www.racing.com Snitzel with Arrowfield Stud manager Joe Hickey (Image: Joan Faras/Arrowfield Stud)Https://bitofayarn.com Arrowfield Group Chairman John Messara has reflected on the career of Snitzel, following the news of his passing on Wednesday. On the track, Snitzel's greatest achievement was his success in the 2006 Group 1 Oakleigh Plate. He also won five other Stakes races and was placed in races like the Gold Coast Magic Millions 2YO Classic, the Newmarket Handicap and the T.J. Smith Stakes. Snitzel then joined the stallion roster at Arrowfield in 2006 and enjoyed a remarkable career at stud. "He was a lovely horse with a wonderful temperament, a bit of a pocket rocket, he was not a big horse but by golly, he passed on his genes, those great Danehill genes, on through him to his produce," Messara told Andrew Bensley on RSN. "A lot of people had a lot of success with him and we're just the lucky ones to stand him." LISTEN: Messara pays tribute to Snitzel Https://bitofayarn.com As a stallion, Snitzel produced horses that could perform over a range of distances and overcome different track conditions. "He was a very, very versatile horse and could do anything, could handle the wet, could handle the dry," Messara said. "They had great temperaments, his produce, very much like himself. He was like a big puppy dog, he was a lovely, lovely animal, loved being patted and a great favourite around the farm here. "There are a lot of teary eyes today, I can tell you." Messara then went on to explain Snitzel's recent health issues that ultimately led to him being humanely euthanised. "He had a liver complaint for a few months, which we were able to deal with," Messara said. "Over the last week or so, the liver virtually collapsed on us and the vets determined that there was nothing we could do. He is 23 years of age and it's a fair age for a stallion and they find ways and means of deteriorating around that time. "He'd been wonderfully healthy for the previous 22-and-a-half years, as it turns out, it's just happened over the last six months."

Our stats all round are appalling.

Are you still waiting for your 20 start maiden to win a race?

BTW last season there were 650+ races in the South Island.

But perception doesn't match reality. Sure the South Island programming doesn't provide an ideal pattern for certain types of horses but that doesn't mean that for the horse population there aren't ample opportunities. The 5 trainers in the head post of this topic have had 1500 starts so.far this season. If there is a problem why aren't 4 of them knocking on the door or the 1 that has virtually dominated the South Island Programme Committee for a very long time.

I'm struggling with your logic or more so the point you think you are making. Are you suggesting that we need more trainers with high numbers of starters and low success rates? Or are you saying we need more owners wiling to subsidise South Island racing from a charitable perspective? Put it another way would you rather own a horse tha won a race every 15 starts or one that won every 5? Yes strike rates are important in my opinion for two reasons - one they are a measure of the ability of a trainer to choose the right horse and place it correctly. It is also a measure of the trainers willingness to sack a horse if it isn't good enough. No I'm not saying it doesn't count even though that $300k was earnt by just two horses. However overall it took more than a few more starts to do it - it took at least twice as many on average.

No I'm arguing their owners are. What's more there are some less successful trainers who would have loved to have had the cattle that @Pitman and Carston have had. Carston averages a winner every 19 starts.

Only Trainers would. The Owners paid for that. Te Akau have 8 times that in Stakes winnings for only twice as many starts. But let's not talk about that. Given I'm apparently a TA Idol.

That wasn't the point. They trainers listed are all within 5 wins of each other. @Pitman has had 370 starts - 200 more than Furlong. Both have the same number of wins.

Actually I'll answer my own question. @Pitman is at 12 (11.97 R. Dennis 7.7 Parson's 7.2 Tyler 8.1 Furlong 5.55 Anderton 8.46.

Which one is at 11?

So you'd be quite happy being referred to as a "horsewoman"?

Great promotion and photo.

Yes well it takes another woman to understand a woman.

It would be interesting though.

Perhaps you should also list the strike rates by Trainer.

Obviously not which I also understand. Tracks are going to be all consuming for some time and from my perspective that's the priority rather than virtue signalling. I'd rather have a horse with a sore arse than a stuffed leg.

FFS @Huey it was just a circular notifying that the non-inclusive language had been removed. For example horseman has probably been changed to horseperson or licensed trainer etc. From a legal perspective it makes sense. No big deal. But I guess it is something else for the disenfranchised GOM's to moan about online.

Do they? I doubt you view every race in the world let alone any inside view which very few jurisdictions do or can afford to do. This crusade of yours only feeds the minority. A bigger concern in my opinion is the safety of the tracks and I find it ironic that @Thomass has very little or anything to say on that subject especially his beloved Trenthan. But then who am I other than a narcissistic know all that provides a forum where you can have an anonymous identity to express your views.

@Thomass I've told you I don't want photos like this published as they are misleading at best. It is a bit like slo-mo in High Definition on the Rugby field. In real time the average viewer doesn't see anything. Let alone the anti-racing minority who don't even watch the races because it is so appalling to their senses.

The point is the other Jockey may have as well but it can't be policed. Therefore if the rule can't be enforced evenly it is an arse.

Ciaron Maher is new trainer at Leilani Lodge at Royal Randwick www.racenet.com.au Ciaron Maher, the nation's premier trainer, has been given the keys of famous Leilani Lodge at Royal Randwick. The Australian Turf Club board had a phone hook-up early on Thursday morning as some directors were overseas and determined Maher's application for the High Street stable complex had been successful. It is understood the board decided on Maher over the Gai Waterhouse-Adrian Bott training partnership. Maher is the nation's reigning premier trainer and with 279 wins on all tracks so far in the 2024-25 season, he is on track to retain the title. He will also win another Melbourne trainers premiership as his 98 wins so far this season has him well clear of Team Hayes on 64 wins. Maher has also trained the winners of 10 Group 1 races including The Everest (Bella Nipotina) and Caulfield Cup (Duke De Sessa) this season to be second only to Chris Waller (19 wins) for most Group 1 wins. With stable earnings of $57.2 million already this season, Maher has set a new national prizemoney record – with still more than a month of the season remaining. Maher's growing presence in Sydney racing has some suggesting he could one day challenge Waller's premiership dominance. • J-Mac gets on the board at Royal Ascot Leilani Lodge has been with the Cummings family for five decades until Anthony Cummings was forced to vacate the stables when his trainer's licence was revoked by Racing NSW in early March after his business went into liquidation. Anthony's father, the legendary Bart Cummings, first moved into Leilani Lodge at Randwick in the early 1980s and won a Sydney trainers' premiership from those stables in 1989-90. An original Hall of Fame inductee, Bart Cummings prepared some of his greatest champions out of Leilani Lodge including Saintly, So You Think, Beau Zam, Shaftesbury Avenue, Sky Chase, Campaign King, Dane Ripper and many others.

Take this image for example what does it prove? Nothing. However in the context of the Topic it was posted under it infers a lot. That's misinformation. Of course you can't see where the other Jockey was whipping their horse because there is no vision of it even for the Stewards. A rule that can't be accurately enforced.

On BOAY these posters would be warned (as they should be under @Comic Dog rules) for stating things out of context and without proof. However I guess the quest for traffic out weighs principles. Of course BUCKY hasn't got the spine to state who he is referring to but just tells a story full of inferences. @Comic Dog if you are following your own rules then where is the "proof" that there are rules for some and not others?

"Huey and Bucky" likely refers to Bucky Barnes, also known as the Winter Soldier, and Huey Long, a historical figure who was a prominent politician in the United States. In the Marvel Universe, specifically in Captain America comics, Huey Long's rise to power is depicted as a catalyst for the outbreak of a civil war in the US, which leads to Bucky Barnes enlisting in the army while his best friend Steve Rogers is initially rejected.