Chief Stipe

More likely tell you to come to the front gate and hand you a lead and halter with your horse attached.

I disagree. Participants do have an issue with the whip rules. I'm sure most punters have an issues as well. From a driver perspective they are unworkable in my opinion. None whatsoever. However when the whip rule(s) are applied inconsistently it very much becomes an issue of integrity for the industry. Yes. Yes. Really? I haven't heard a beep out of Harness leadership.

Bart Cummings would have charged you more.

Remember when the industry funded track work reports? Where can I find the track work reports for Pike or Pitman?

Te Akau Monday Update 22 AUG 2022 David writes: Since arriving home two weeks ago, our feet literally haven’t touched the ground. Gee it’s been a very busy time for the stables and the farm. Last weekend we staged our ‘Te Akau Soiree’ – a very special dinner for Te Akau’s owners, friends and senior team and what a huge success this sell-out event at Ellerslie racecourse was! Our special guest speaker was Champion jockey Glen Boss, who did a fabulous job. He was interesting, fun and he brought his three Melbourne Cups for our guests to even have a drink out of! His speech was riveting, educational and very well received indeed by everyone. We were thrilled that he made the effort to travel from Melbourne to be with us. The evening was brilliantly MC’ed by Michael Guerin and we also had a special fundraising auctio for EquiPotential NZ which Karyn and I are co-Patrons of. Huge thanks to our friends and supporters who donated goods, services and cash to benefit a wonderful organisation. The Auctioneer was Butch Castles who did an amazing job of raising over $50,000 – an outstanding result, and one we are hugely thankful to everyone for supporting, both the live and the on-line auctions. The evening was a great opportunity to thank all our owners for the incredible support they give us and to thank all the senior team (Foremen and Assistant Foremen) for the incredible job they have done looking after all our horses. We also were delighted to have Champion Jockey Opie Bosson and his wife Emily with us, as they welcome their new baby in about two weeks – it was also the opportunity to congratulate our apprentice Joe Kamaruddin for winning the 2021/22 Champion Apprentice Premiership. It was exactly two years since our last owners’ gala dinner and in that time we have won 314 races in New Zealand and Australia, of which 80 were black type and a phenomenal 24 Group One races. Now those figures are really worth celebrating. So a big thank you to everyone who has helped make the evening such a terrific success, especially to Julia-Rose our youngest daughter, who organised every last detail down to the minute. It was a night to remember for certain. This time of the year is always incredibly frustrating. Every August/September is always the same, but hey, we are only 10 days away from the start of Spring and only five weeks away from starting to see improving tracks. I’m incredibly excited about our two and three year olds in the stable. It is as nice a team of young horses that we have ever had. We are very much in a rebuilding phase this season without the class horses like Melody Belle, Avantage, Festivity, Sword of State, Noverre and Probabeel – however while they have big shoes to fill, we do have some rising stars such as Imperatriz to look forward to (and a good number of others waiting in the wings). Speaking of Melody Belle, how exciting is the news overnight on Saturday that she has become a mother for the first time, foaling a gorgeous Written Tycoon chestnut filly. Mother and daughter are both doing well, I am sure she will be an excellent mum. Our first big race day is this coming Saturday at Te Rapa where it is Group 2 Foxbridge Plate day. Our trainer Mark Walker also has a big team in at Taupo on Wednesday and Karyn will be on hand to enjoy catching up with our owners who are on course. Last week, Karyn and I, together with daughters Lydia and Julia-Rose and their husbands and children all went to Timaru for Karyn’s mother’s memorial service. Sylvia Fenton was a remarkable woman, a real pioneer in many fields, especially banking, and she even had her solo pilot’s licence. It was a very sad time for us all, but being able to celebrate Sylvia’s life with her local friends was a day we will always treasure. Heading south, I decided to fly into Christchurch and had a good look at the training tracks at Riccarton, which I thought were all in good order. The first of our horses that will campaign in the South Island went down last Thursday with Hunter Durrant in charge and another six are travelling south this week. We will have a team of about 20 at our South Island base at Riccarton within a fortnight. Our Te Akau Singapore stable has continued to fire on all cylinders with Donna and our team recording another winning double on Sunday. Last weekend saw a sensational four winners on the Group 1 programme – simply outstanding results that now see Donna leading the Trainers’ Premiership with 44 winners, 43 second and 45 third place-getters. Our prize money won for our owners has also topped the $2 million mark with four months of the season yet to run. In the last six weeks we have had a lot of rain but in the last week, it’s been very warm for August and the grass is really growing well. Our five year old ewes have just about finished lambing and the mixed-age ewes are about half way through their lambing programme. We will start docking the five year old ewes in about two weeks. The price for prime beef is going to finish up peaking in October at about $7.20 per kilo which is a record price in New Zealand. Have a great week and Go the Tangerine – can’t wait to see the team step out at Taupo!

Perhaps that's a given but she has never been trained like this before. Even the next season after her Melbourne Cup win she won the Chipping Norton over 1600m. I don't think she is up to winning the Arc. Seems to me all their eggs are in one basket. That's the problem when owners dictate the racing plans.

Typical European training though isn't it? First up over 2000m after a break. Not a Waller approach!

Not as much but then the RIB are more inconsistent with rule application. In my opinion it is going to kill NZ Racing. Who would you rather have driving your horse? Ben Hope? Or the likes of McKendry or De Fillipi?

I'm surprised any harness driver "tries" anymore. Fined for miscounting whip hits, fined for using your wrist, fined for pushing out, fined for duelling for the lead, fined for not taking a gap, fined for not improving your horse 3 wide......

Didn't look that bad to me.

Tonight's the night: Verry Elleegant to make European debut www.racenet.com.au Verry Elleegant will make her eagerly awaited European debut in Sunday night's (Australian time) Group 1 Darley Prix Jean Romanet (200m) at Deauville, France. TAB Fixed Odds have the reigning Melbourne Cup winner a $3 favourite for her first assignment for new trainer Francis Graffard. The 11-time group 1 winner is the only group 1 victor in the eight horse field where she will be piloted by master hoop Frankie Dettori. The 2000 metre feature is slated to be run at 11.50pm AESTD. In the countdown to Sunday night's assignment, trainer Francis Graffard told the Racing Post that he is now much happier with the seven-year-old's progress after she was originally scheduled to race in the Prix Rothschild over a mile on August 2. "She‘s really picked up in the last three weeks and I couldn't be happier," Graffard said. "I can‘t wait to go to the races with her and with the wide draw and it being her first time in Europe, we'll probably see her finishing nicely."

I think he means Not as 'daring' and 'grandiose' Chief. Then why not say that. So not trying more like not as aggressive or more risk averse? Nowadays you get fined for being too aggressive in drives.

That wasn't the question. WHY wouldn't he be trying?

Why wouldn't he be "trying"? Where's the gain in not doing so?

Obviously they don't have as much influence as some people attest.

Baeed is not likely to run in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe instead going for the Championship. If he ran in the Arc Verry Elleegant wouldn't get within 6 lengths of him.

Could pass Frankel on Timeform Rankings who is the only horse in Europe to be in front of Baeed. By Timeform — published 17th August 2022 Baaeed has been awarded a provisional Timeform rating of 137 following his victory in the Juddmonte International at York on Wednesday, making him the highest-rated horse in Europe since the days of Frankel. Frankel's performance in the 2012 Queen Anne Stakes earned him a rating of 147 - the highest Flat rating in the organistation's history. The highest rating achieved in Europe since Frankel retired had been 136 - a standard reached by Battaash and Cracksman - but Baaeed surpassed that benchmark on Wednesday. Timeform Flat Editor David Johnson said: "The Juddmonte International has proven more of a king-making race than any other in Britain since the turn of the century, with no fewer than 11 horses breaking the 130 barrier that Timeform believe to be that of a top-class racehorse. "However, few have shown themselves capable of what Baaeed did on his first start at beyond a mile in beating last year’s winner Mishriff by six-and-a-half lengths. A provisional rating of 137 makes it the second-best performance put up in the Juddmonte International this century, splitting those of Frankel (143+) in 2012 and Sakhee (136) in 2001. Johnson added: "Although his career is likely to conclude in following the same path as Frankel, at Timeform we’d firmly be in favour of him instead bidding to emulate Sakhee in the Arc." Baaeed's sire, Sea The Stars, didn't need to show his very best form when winning the Juddmonte International or Arc but retired with a Timeform rating of 140, a figure only 13 horses have reached.

A fantastic turn of foot.

Baaeed hailed after crushing star field www.racing.com Baaeed's stunning success in Wednesday's Juddmonte International at York had onlookers drooling and they included former top jockey Johnny Murtagh, who labelled his six-and-half-length destruction of the classy Mishriff as the "wow performance the sport had been waiting for". Unbeaten in nine, but never tried over further than a mile, Baaeed went off the red-hot 2-5 favourite and gave his supporters hardly any worries when romping home. "Look at the brilliance of Baaeed, soak it up and enjoy – he is a fantastic racehorse," ITV commentator Richard Hoiles purred moments after Jim Crowley's mount had flashed by the winning line. Equally impressed was ITV colleague Murtagh, now a Group 1-winning trainer having been a world-class jockey who won the Derby three times and Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe once. "What a performance," said Murtagh, whose countless Group 1 wins in the saddle included two in the race he had just seen Baaeed dominate. "That's the performance we've been waiting to see from him. We heard how good he is and we knew how good he was, but he had to do it on the track and going a mile and a quarter was made for him today. "You saw how he travelled into the race and that's what good horses do, he went down to the furlong pole on the bridle, was given the office to go and quickened up. He blitzed horses rated in the 120s and that's what he needed to do. This was a wow performance. "Now you can start making the comparisons to the two greats – Frankel and Sea The Stars – because we have seen it on the track." Brough Scott, the author and broadcaster regarded as an authority on all things racing, was also part of ITV's coverage and said: "That was what we wanted – it was the best performance of the season and everyone was clapping as he went by the post. You suddenly got lit up and that's what racing longs for. I think he's better at a mile and a quarter – he's murdered them. "I think Frankel's performance was the best in this race, but that is very close to it." Classic-winning jockey Jason Weaver, a mainstay of the network, added: "I was frightened as Jim was just taking him back and being patient and confident. I wondered if he'd find. It's so hard not to do anything and then push the button, but it was control, power, domination and so much ability."

Still waiting for accountability and integrity to be shown in a review of the INCA debacle. But then you see INCA as a success because it put the industry on notice. Regardless that it found SFA crimes to do with harness and cost millions of dollars.

That would be a good point if it was a fair description of the ex-police recruits. But it isn't as the majority of them didn't have unblemished careers in the force.

They played some great rugby on the high veldt last Saturday.

What's more we were self sufficient in fuel and gas offering strategic protection from external disruption. We are now heading back towards the "one bad shipment stopping the nations car/truck fleet". BTW "Think Big"was largely the brain child and project of the Hon. Bill Birch. One of the most intelligent men to ever grace the Treasury Benches. A farmer as well and a thorough gentlemen. One of my best ever life memories was being picked up by him in the Crown Ministerial Limo and touring the LPG installations in Christchurch and Lyttelton when I was a candidate in the 1984 General Election.