Chief Stipe

Ok you posted a rhetorical question?

So most Queensland and South Austalian punters spend their money on Victoria and NSW racing? Bit like NZ.

I guess he learnt more from Bart than Gai.

Chris Waller has sights on 200 Group 1 winners after 12th Sydney trainers' title www.racenet.com.au Chris Waller didn't set goals when he was struggling to fill 20 boxes in his stable so don't expect any outrageous predictions for this season. Waller last week wrapped up his 12th successive Sydney trainers’ title and while he’s never been one to say what he wanted next, I had to ask him if Tommy Smith’s 33-straight Sydney trainer’s titles could be beaten. “I do think about it,” Waller said. “But I also think to myself how long I’ve still got to go and that it’s still a lot of years down the track. SET YOURSELF UP FOR THE SPRING CARNIVAL AND JOIN RACENET IQ TODAY FOR JUST $4.99! “There’s no ambition to run it down but I am keen to get to 200 Group 1 winners then assess after that.” Trainer Chris Waller recorded his first international Group 1 win with Nature Strip in the King's Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot in June 14. Picture: Getty Images Waller’s currently won 137 Group 1s and all but one (Nature Strip’s Royal Ascot triumph) have come in Australia. He did admit going back home and winning a major in New Zealand was a box to tick. “It is an ambition, my word it is,” he said. “I’d love to go back there and win a Group 1 race and it’s something I will do when the right horse and the right opportunity comes along.” Waller’s story is well known as the unknown trainer from Foxton in New Zealand who turned up in Sydney with nothing. But not once did he think he wouldn’t make it, even when he was struggling to find horses to train. “When you’re young, you don’t feel the pain as much and you’re just used to running on empty,” he said. “I do remember watching Golden Slippers and Cox Plates from places like Newcastle and Kembla Grange.” The circumstances Waller found himself in when he was battling in Sydney are still influential in the way his horses run to this day. Gai Waterhouse was one of the elite trainers that Chris Waller learnt from in his early years in Sydney. Picture: Getty Images “I was lucky when I started. There was Gai Waterhouse, Bart Cummings, John Hawkes and John Size as the leaders and they are all elite trainers who specialised in different areas,” Waller said. “It’s a pretty good area to learn in. His horses generally always sit off the speed in their races. For a short period, he even tried to get Nature Strip to take a sit behind the leader. “I think that (get back style) just came from having to keep the boxes full,” Waller said. “I didn’t have enough horses to fill the boxes and if you couldn’t fill your boxes, you couldn’t pay your rent. “I needed to get longevity out of my horses and I saw it with that training approach and that riding style. They seem to fit together. “I couldn’t afford my horse to be hitting the front at the 300m and hitting a hole and not being able to back it up in two weeks’ time. “The position I was in back then has shaped the way my horses run to this day. “I don’t always like it because you do need a lot of luck when your horses are back. It’s tempo related, but it’s just a bit softer on the horse.” Waller’s alarm goes off at 2.58am every morning which is something from the past he’s trying to change. Chris Waller and jockey Hugh Bowman have combined for over 420 victories together. Picture: Grant Guy “My alarm probably goes off two hours too early but it’s the old timers who don’t want to accept that we need to change to look after the young people,” he said. He’s referring to later track work starting times, which he and others are continuing to fight for. In recent times no jockey has won more races for Waller than Hugh Bowman (423) but in the post-Winx era James McDonald has ridden more winners for the master trainer and is close to notching up his 300th for the 48-year-old. Waller’s never had a stable rider but I asked him if James McDonald gets first pick of his horses. “No,” Waller said quickly. “James doesn’t get my best horse all the time. “If he rides one in a trial and it goes well, we try and keep him on but he makes his own decisions. “There’s lots of little pieces to the puzzle and I try and get the best I can which I’ve done from day one.” “When I first started, Larry Cassidy was the leading rider and I used to use him then Darren Beadman made a comeback and I used to ring him every Sunday morning at 8am after John Hawkes told him what he was riding. Chris Waller would call on Darren Beadman when the champion rider was available. “One time out of 10 I’d get him but that one time out of 10 he made a difference so I’ve stuck to that system. “I’m not saying Hugh Bowman, James McDonald and Nash Rawiller are necessarily the best horseman but they’ve got an uncanny knack of riding more winners than anyone else.” Due to going up in weight from 53kg last start to 60.5kg for Saturday’s race, Hugh Bowman is the new rider of Bold Mac in the ninth event at Randwick. The ex-Kiwi-trained runner won at Rosehill two weeks ago when defeating to handy Blesk in a 1400m race and he’s up to a mile on Saturday. “It is hard to win on your Australian debut and on that occasion, he did a few little things wrong,” Waller said. “Jay Ford said he has a good future once he puts it all together.” Waller is backing Yggdrasil to get back into form in the third race on Saturday after running seventh last start off a four-week break and the quick back up changes things now. “I think the wetter the better for her and I don’t think running last Saturday over 1800m is going to do her fitness levels any harm. She’s a fit horse and ready to run well,” Waller said. The leading trainer has a typically big team heading to Randwick on Saturday and it’s rare he goes a weekend without multiple winners around the country. Bold Mac (centre) winning at Rosehill at his Australian debut last month. Picture: Getty Images He had 1102 starters in city racing last season – 716 more than the next most, Bjorn Baker. Last season in town Waller trained more 94 more winners than Godolphin’s James Cummings and with that dominance comes criticism. “I’m aware of it,” Waller said. “I do watch social media but I don’t comment on it. “It’s funny, you see some comments from some people and you just sort of think, is there any sense about what they’re saying and with some people you think fair comment. “I started from the bottom without a hand in any way and I’m lucky I’ve got a system that works. “Am I denying anyone any opportunities? I doubt it. “I’m not afraid to run my horses. I could have one or two runners a race and leave the others at home but is that good for my owners? No. “We help prop up field sizes but I don’t think we completely dominate races.” I asked Waller if it was a good thing for racing if he had six runners in 10-horse fields. “It would be disappointed if we were costing people getting runs. It wouldn’t be a good look if we have six in a race and there were five emergencies trained by five different trainers,” he said. Chris Waller feels Yggdrasil can get back to form when he backs up from his seventh at Rosehill last week. Picture: Getty Images On his horses, Waller said The Autumn Sun was the only horse he’s ever trained who would give Winx a run for her money. A huge stud deal prevented the racing public from seeing him as an older horse and the new rich prizemoney races, including the ones introduced on Wednesday, should ensure those stallion types race on for at least their four-year-old season like Anamoe is. “The prizemoney is what drives a lot of things. It takes a while for the Group status to catch up with prizemoney but in time that will happen,” Waller said. “I think we have to respect that these prizemoney increases come through turnover and good management. “Things are changing and if you don’t move with the times, you get left behind. Waller should simply win his 13th successive trainer’s title this season and get one closer to Tommy Smith’s seemingly once impossible record. Unless something unforeseen happens, Waller will break Smith’s record if he keeps going the way he is – for another 20 years. But that would make him nearly 70 and he’s ruled out being an 80-plus year-old trainer like Bart Cummings and so many other before him were. “No, that won’t happen,” Waller said. “I’ll do it for however long I enjoy it and however long my wife Steph will allow me to do it.”

Two year old races in August are a crime.

Same description applies to flat racing. The only difference now is you'll have horses to rehome sooner to appease the mythical Urban protester. Jumps racing disappearing from the South was flagged years ago when the CJC started to neglect the Steeplechase course. Brown top or no brown top. Again the industry participants let it happen. As an aside I'd love to know how much the CJC and NZTR spent promoting the National Jumps meetings. Woops we forgot to have the horses! As the temperature drops, our jumps racing stars are just warming up! With nerves of steel and a taste for adrenaline, watch our lionhearts go to battle this winter. Doused in courage, bravery and exhilaration, there’ll be slogging finishes, gallant performances and heroic triumphs. It’s time to celebrate our jumps racing, so dig out your tweed, your tartan and your trilby and get amongst the action track side.

Serious spinal and head injuries. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/racing-jockey-taiki-yanagida-suffers-serious-injuries-after-horror-fall-at-cambridge/QMAFE7LW3JQ5AZS2M35PO4363Y/

His answer was "gambling culture".....a few dots to connect after that. Although it would seem the "gambling culture" isn't the same in Queensland or South Australia.

I think @Reefton was asking how do they fund non-TAB racedays.

They're still discussing it and have just stopped for lunch. They'll be back at 2pm.

Australian focus for Nelson this weekend NZ Racing Desk 2 August 2022 Champion jumps trainer Paul Nelson will be in Australia rather than Christchurch this weekend as he watches his star hurdler The Cossack take on Australia’s best. Nelson won last season’s New Zealand jumps trainer title with 19 successes, including a startling eight prestige jumps races, but he won’t be represented on the first day of the Grand National carnival at Riccarton on Saturday. Instead he’ll be at Sandown in Melbourne on Sunday for the A$300,000 Grand National Hurdle (4200m), where The Cossack takes on local champ Saunter Boy and a high-class field. “We are very happy with him,” Nelson said. “He’s bright and he’s wanting to do his work, and that’s all we wanted.” Though Nelson’s former main rider Aaron Kuru is now based in Australia, he said he had no hesitation in giving The Cossack’s regular New Zealand rider Shaun Phelan the mount at Sandown. “Shaun has stuck with us right through the season and he’s ridden everything that we asked him to ride,” Nelson said. “I wanted him to have the chance, and I’m sure Aaron would see it that way as well, and Shaun’s ridden over there before as well.” Nelson plans to fly over to Melbourne for the weekend, return on Monday, and then head back later in the month if The Cossack is able to compete in the Grand National Steeplechase (4500m) at Ballarat. “He’s had the one race over fences in New Zealand but he’s got to have a school at Ballarat before he can race in the steeplechase,” Nelson said. “It will all depend on how he comes through the race this weekend.” Nelson said he wouldn’t be taking any horses to the Riccarton winter carnival because of the impact it can have on the horses for the rest of the jumps season. “If the horses went to Riccarton, that would be them for the season. The track’s very wet, and it’s hard going and it looks like they’re going to get some more bad weather,” Nelson said. “I was going to take Nedwin for the hurdles but he wasn’t quite right, and you’ve got to go down there 110 percent right. “We’ve taken hurdlers down there and still returned for the Great Northern, like The Cossack did last year, but we haven’t done it for a steeplechaser. They seem buggered by the time they get back from there.” With Nelson not going down, and given the fact that jumps racing in the South Island is now restricted to this Christchurch carnival, the nominations for the first day jumps races have been very light. Nelson said it was extremely disappointing that jumps racing had all but come to a halt in the South Island, with none of the nominated runners hailing from the South Island. He said a meeting held in Christchurch last year had some enthusiasm for jumps races to be staged at Riccarton on the same day that the Riccarton synthetic track was used for flat racing, but it wasn’t pursued. “Those at the meeting thought it was a great idea, it would give South Island races a boost, it would make sense to have it at Riccarton so riders could get down there – it’s too difficult for riders to fly in and then drive down to other tracks,” he said. “Everybody was very happy with the idea and it was in New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing’s hands, but they decided to do away with jumps racing in the South Island bar the National. “I don’t believe the Canterbury Jockey Club can do without this weekend of racing, and without jumping being a huge part of it. As far as most people are concerned, it’s not the Winter Cup meeting, it’s the Grand National meeting.” Nelson said the lack of tracks in the North Island wasn’t helping either, and the fact that Ellerslie, where jumps racing has ceased with the steeplechase hill sold, and Te Aroha, where the Great Northern jumps racing carnival was held last season, were being remodelled at the same time didn’t seem to make sense. However, he said attendances at the jumps meetings that were taking place had been very encouraging. “At the Wellington Steeplechase meeting three weeks ago there was a bloody good crowd. The stands were full and all the rooms were chocker,” he said. “Hawke’s Bay, both days they’ve had, were huge. There were people around the parade ring before the first race. When do you get that in winter other than jumps racing?”

Ironic that the picture they use is taken at Riccarton!!!

You are right. They decided this morning but have yet to make a statement. 9 races scheduled for the first day - two Open Jumps races. All races will remain open until Wednesday 03 August at 9.00am Jumps Races – All Three Days The jumps races will be reviewed at 9am Wednesday 03 August (for all three days) and a decision made at that time re any deletions.

Yeah na - not silent. They must have been speaking to someone to get these stakes. MEETING NEWS Cambridge Stakes Uplift – 17 August Further to the previous announcement that the R75 1550m (Richard Bright Memorial Cup) will race for $50,000, the Cambridge JC are pleased to announce the following stake increases for the same day: R60 1300m from $14,000 to $35,000 (Group 1 Turf Bar 1300m) All other races from $14,000 to $15,000

MEETING NEWS CD Trials Update – Otaki/Synthetic The trials scheduled for Otaki on Tuesday 9 August have been cancelled due to the extremely wet weather and wet tracks in the central region over the past weeks. NZTR and RACE are looking at the possibility of scheduling a set of trials on the synthetic track at Awapuni on Thursday 18 August. This will be confirmed or otherwise next week.

The problem in NZ is that they need abandonments to stay solvent.

Finally you are getting onto the problem - the turf! They have no one to blame but themselves.

It's worse than it looks too @Joe Bloggs. Under McKenzie's regime at TAB NZ a number of functions were devolved to the codes. So if the Stakes increase promises are to be met one or all of the following will have to occur: reduction in total stakes paid; less races (abandonment's help immensely); and/or, those devolved activities will not be funded e.g. code marketing. There must be some concern about RIB funding with Gaming profits taking a hit AND the RIB having increased operating costs. So much for efficiencies in amalgamating the JCA and RIU!

But they were mostly volunteers!!! Mills and his lot plus NZTR have been on the industry tit for decades! They only have one job!!!

But they've never got this part of planning right - never. It's so simple to do as well. So simple that one must think that they have an agenda to NOT do it. Why do they need to rely on being contacted when someone could spend a few hours on the phone and call the Trainers? Isn't that how Club Secretary's used to work in the old days without smart phones and the internet?

So you're happy with the status quo? Typical.

Tim Mills 27 year legacy. That's how long he has been CEO. Can we blame him for the state of the track?

No change, no gain.