Chief Stipe

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?

Seems Waverley is in the elite group. How many meetings shifted there and now an extra one? Or is it a plan to squeeze as much as it can out of the lemon before composting it?

MEETING NEWS July 19 Trials now at Foxton The trials that were scheduled for Waverley on Tuesday 19 July will now be run at Foxton due to Waverley having a race-meeting added into the schedule on Thursday 28 July

Was told by a CEO once that if the company started believing its own propaganda then we were well and truly stuffed.

Which is incorrect data and needs to be corrected. HRNZ don't have many jobs and I would have thought data integrity was a priority. I agree. I agree. Reminds me of when I gave an old car away to be scrapped. It wasn't a very pleasant experience to have a Police Sergeant visit my work to tell me that that car had been involved in a crime. To say I got a bollocking for not completing the change of ownership papers would be an understatement. I was lucky not to be prosecuted! If ownership details are made more accessible and HRNZ educates owners (does a new owner get an ownership pack detailing what they can and can't do?) then there would be an element of self policing. I've been bitten in horse ownership before and I would want to know if the insurance that I was paying was registered against the horse as a pecuniary interest. Yes and that is my biggest concern. It is easy to rub out those that err when they are eventually caught and you could argue that it is the interests of HRNZ to makes sure that as much noise is made as possible. As it gives the impression that they are actually doing something. However they are not addressing the fundamental problems. I've always said there is a direct correlation between the level of stakes and racing opportunities available and the cheat levels people will reach to try and survive in the industry.

The asset grab pressure will ramp up very soon judging by the average to below average performance from the TAB. Plus the extra costs of the AWT maintenance will kick in over the coming months. It will only take a few bad turf tracks in the Spring to further tip the balance.