Chief Stipe

FFS Schmidt's been there coaching since Foster was ill. He was appointed an All Black selector last December. He and Feek are part of the seven and if you dont believe he has been providing input then I suggest you stop reading your old Reefton racebooks and get up to date.

What I'd like to know is what dirt does Sam Cane have on so many All Black coaches? I've never rated him. For that matter I've never rated Beuaden Barrett as a first five.

Greg Feek one of the 7 was assistant coach with Schmidt in Ireland.

Joe Schmidt has - coached Ireland to win three Six Nations Championships and a Grand Slam. Arguably created the foundations for the current Irish success.

I hear @Brodie got plenty!

Which personnel in the coaching team of 7 are "unproven"?

Rubbish. Surely you can't be arguing that we go back to the old days where local communities ran cake stalls to help get their young players to All Black trials? Each of the home nations unions generate over NZD$200m a year. The French Rugby Union Clubs generate over NZD$750m per annum. Even the Japanese Clubs and Union are generating significant levels of revenue. The difficulty the NZRFU has is generating enough revenue to compete. However the current woeful display is cyclical not helped by poor selections and poor coaching. Why they need 7 individuals in the coaching team is beyond belief! The question you all should be asking is why is the Crusaders the most successful Super Rugby franchise ever? They've won 11 full titles and 2 regional titles with the last 6 in a row. Meanwhile Riccarton/CJC is still going backwards and will be lucky to retain the Guineas races soon. Why? Poor management, a lack of financial focus on the core product and no returns to owners.

What year were those tests?

Turf Lord. Originally trained and owned by Joe Hill at Richmond. Bred by Joe and his mate Allan Howat. I think it was sold to Charlie Hunter and then went to the USA. The granddam of Turf Lord left some useful horses including Johnny Rich and Rostrevor. Johnny Rich also won at Hawera. In those days Joe and his owners would take a team up to the lower north Island and do the CD country circuit. They had a ball most years and always picked up a few wins. My father went the year Johnny Rich won with his horse High Chapparell. I think it also won and the team created a record for the number of bottles of champagne they drunk while staying at the Hawera Hotel. They knew how to set a horse for the punt in those days!

I see the NZ Ministry of Health has stopped publishing some Covid statistics. I wonder why?

139 horses trialing at Cambridge on Thursday. Mostly 2 yr olds. About 80 racing tomorrow.

MEETING NEWS Cambridge Trials Postponed until Thursday The Cambridge trials have been postponed until Thursday. While there are no issues with the track itself, predicted wind and concern with water around the stabling area has meant that the club has taken the early decision to push back 48 hours.

Waller regularly takes his horses the next couple of days after a race to the beach for a swim. Ice baths straight after a race.

The Labour Government Covid Minister has just announced that they believe 43% of current infections are re-infections. What does that tell you about the efficacy of the vaccine?

Yes, it is made up of "more than Te Akau and its million-dollar purchases". Arguably the likes of TA and Chris Waller are no less passionate about racing horses than any other horse trainer. However, the issue is that there HASN'T been a focus on the commercial considerations of the industry/business of racing horses. Sucking owners dry of their cash with the promise of the "excitement of racing and winning" has always been unsustainable when the returns from winning are so poor.

Interesting @Basil how "the science" has been thrown to the turf and we now have a "let it rip approach". Remember when the country was thrown into lockdown for a few hundred cases? Yet now with 10,000 a day and growing with high levels of vaccination (not making any difference) the draconian scientific approach is no longer valid. Amazing what a drop in the polls does. At least now we are heading back to what the original pandemic plan was pre-Covid. Sadly the Government is still stuffing the lives and futures of our children.

And academic standards havent been corrupted?

The rate of infection is lower amongst the unvaccinated. But I guess your maths would say that 1 out 10 is far greater than 10 out of 100. BTW the unvaccinated don't all live in a cluster and so have just as much opportunity to be infected as anyone else. Arguably more using your logic that there are 10x more vaccinated people with infecting others.

@Freda?

My question was in response to @Freda's quote of a high profile trainer. Quite frankly I don't watch North Armerican racing. Prefer Australia, Hong Kong and UK/Europe. Last time I looked they largely ran on safe consistent turf tracks.

How did they know it was you?

Then why aren't they lobbying hard for safe and fast turf tracks? Afterall that is what most of the racing is done on throughout the world.

What exactly is not fit?

I've asked repeatedly "Where is the business case?" What revenue is required to maintain them?