Chief Stipe

Racing: Stipes promise at least a fine for riders who slow the pace 13 Feb, 2005 09:30 PM4 minutes to read By by Mike Dillon Watch out any jockey who gets the lead and packs a field up over the next few months - a fine or suspension is guaranteed. After Saturday's abortive stock car-like $100,000 Sir Tristram Classic, stipendiary stewards' tolerance of jockeys creating unnecessary danger by slowing fields down to ridiculous levels is zero. That no runner fell during the group-two Classic at Te Rapa on Saturday is a miracle. From the winning post to the beginning of the back straight, the field slowed to little more than three-quarter pace. The result was shuffling with such volatility that senior riders were white with shock. "That was dangerous," said Noel Harris, who won the race on Tusker. "Crap," was how Hayden Tinsley described it. Former stipe Ginger Tankard said it was the roughest race he'd seen in years. "It was bullshit. If one horse had fallen they'd have all gone." The problem began when Mark Hills went around the leader on Axis on the bend out of the straight with a round to travel. The tempo, already pedestrian, appeared to slow even further, although Hills denied that. Lisa Cropp, three places back on the rails on Myladys, was immediately in trouble when her mount tried to climb over the heels of Bible Class, the horse that had yielded the lead to Axis. As Cropp angled her horse out of trouble a chain reaction back through the field eventuated, with Tusker and Leith Innes on Sahara Flight flushing out wide to avoid clipping heels. Half the field was so badly affected that many were travelling sideways for a number of strides and eventual runner-up Authoress was so badly galloped on she returned with a gaping wound just above the fetlock on her off-side hind leg. The net effect was that a number of riders were forced into tactics that did not suit their horse, but meant lessening the danger. Finishing down the track was a better option than lying on it. Stipendiary stewards faced a massive problem. They had to act. They gave warnings to all those in the jockeys' room after Race 2, which was ridiculously slow - the time of 1.40.54 for the 1600m was more appropriate to mid-winter racing. The message from chief stipendiary steward Noel McCutcheon and assistant Alan Coles was, "Don't pack fields up to the point it creates danger for those behind". It had appeared Hills would be charged for the Sir Tristram Classic incident, but he was not in the room after Race 2. Stewards instead gave him a warning. There is no question that a big part of the problem is many of the younger riders are unable to judge pace to the same degree as the likes of Harris, Coleman, Innes and Tinsley. Australia has been clamping down, charging jockeys with careless riding, a rule which seems slightly inappropriate but is applied for the want of a better rule. McCutcheon said that when he attended a stipendiary conference in Australia last year the Australians were looking at framing a specific rule. It would be good if we followed. Stewards said they would have charged Hills with careless riding had he been part of the original warning, a stance Hills was not entirely comfortable with. Being able to judge pace was one of the first lessons jockeys of earlier decades learned. Norm Holland, still involved on raceday, rode against the best in his high profile career in the saddle. "You had it drilled into you. The likes of Bill Broughton and Grenville Hughes were outstanding at it," said Holland at Te Rapa. "And more recently David Peake and Bruce Compton had it drilled into them by [trainer] George Cameron. They were good." Tinsley believes it is probably the single most important talent a jockey can possess. "The best judge of pace will win a race. If you can do it well, you have half the field beaten before you go out. Half the jockeys out there can't do it well."

The track is not Te Rapa. Yes about Norm Holland. He and Noel McCrutcheon were probably the last of the ex Jockey's that played a hard but fair game as stipes. How many stipes do you see in the parade ring today? As ex-Jockey's they understood how to read a race and it took a smart Jockey to put one across them.

Quiz: Name the Horse. Name the Jockey. (I was seriously divided this day on who was better looking). The Racecourse. The man in the suit/black coat in the background.

@Forbury it wasn't you I was referring to. But since some of us are getting a bit nostalgic. Remember this era of forum chat:

LOL. I remember comments like those at the time. Standard line for some who didnt watch the entire race or understand the effort. She did everything wrong and was put off stride at least three times. It was that effort that got me excited topped off by the ease of win. She hasn't changed often throwing that head up and around.

Actually upon further analysis the scratchings aren't that too bad. 94 horses going around over 10 races. 3 races hit a bit hard with scratchings. Two of them R65's. Is that a programming problem?

Shame about the scratchings today at Ruakaka. Surely you would want to race on a confirmed decent surface than take the risk that your next opportunity will be worse or even worse abandoned!!!!

Who couldn't see that coming. I guess the positives are he is a Kiwi and knows how horses are trained. Hopefully his first decision will be to disestablish is previous role of Chief Operating Officer! Now that he has the job here's hoping he puts a fire under Cameron George and the rest of the Board!

Hot and very humid at Ruakaka today. Currently 25 C and 130% humidity....OK I've exaggerated with the humidity. I hope the local club has a great day - they've had a raw deal compared to other clubs over the pandemic. Shame it is a closed meeting as there are 100's of locals gagging to get out to see the races. Ruakaka - the track where Verry Elleegant won her Maiden! Race Day Weather: Cloudy Track: Dead 5 Rail: True Weather and Track updated at 6.48am Wednesday 9 February

These two constraints to improvement annoy me the most. One is an easy fix - the handicapping (and the programming). The other not so easy - the tracks but still fixable with the right investment, planning and some flexibility and the utilisation of some really good existing tracks rather than closing them down. If you elevate the needs of the horse above everything else then many of the perceived constraints about some tracks become meaningless. So what if Foxton can't accommodate 3,000 people under cover? The tracks are another reason I get pissed off with the whipping rules virtue signalling. They talk about horse welfare yet are prepared to allow these horses to be sent out on unsafe shitty tracks. What I also find annoying is that Trainers are too scared to do anything about or even say anything. They tend to turn up and bury their heads in the sand (I guess that is another reason for all the sand on our tracks!) and just accept it. I've told this story before but it will always stick in my mind. I had a horse racing at Ellerslie and as I always did when she was racing I walked the track. So early in the morning before breakfast I walked the track and found it was in an appalling state for a Grp 1 Premier day - I even found a deep hole in the home straight that was like a large post had been pulled out and the hole not filled in. I quickly went back to the hotel on course and found the Trainer and we went back. A couple of Jockey's were walking the track and another trainer - Nigel Tiley. Anyway after we walked the track Tiley said - "I'm scratching my horses - this track isn't good enough" - my Trainer said "Shit I wish I hadn't seen that, if we hadn't come this far and all this expense I'd scratch too." They hadn't seen the hole at that stage. We ended up putting a tree branch in it - I wish I had taken a photo of this tree suddenly growing in the middle of the Ellerslie home straight. To this day I think about what would have happened if I hadn't walked the track and found that hole. You could put your arm down it up to your shoulder and still not touch the bottom. Yes a bit of an extreme example. BUT as far as I know only two trainers walked the track before the races and I backed the rides of the two Jockey's that I saw walking it. Of all the tracks I've walked on race day I've very rarely seen a Trainer do it. Let alone complain to the authorities. Last year NZTR in the annual report show expenditure of $95k on Track Maintenance. $2.2m on the new computer system and I understand the cost is blowing out by the week.

How long has this saga being going on for? 6 years or more? She deserves at least a medal for hanging in there.

I remembered the first sporting positive for darbepoetin alfa (Aranesp). It was at the 2002 Winter Olympics. So one year after Aranesp being approved as a human medication. Cross-country skiers Larisa Lazutina and Johan Muhlegg both Gold Medallists tested positive to darbepoetin alfa (Aranesp) at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City 2002. Three skiers returned positives to Aranesp at those games - the third was Olga Danilova. https://www.espn.com/olympics/news/story?id=1746641

You clearly haven't been reading my posts on the subject. I find it bizarre that a horse trainer would come onto a public forum and admit to using a specific EPO on their horses sometime between 2001 and 2010. As for you assertion that "anti-doping tests weren't picking it up" that may be so for your alleged activity. However there was a test available and anti-doping tests WERE picking up the specific type of EPO you refer to. If my memory serves me correctly the first darbepoetin alfa (Aranesp) positive in sport was returned in 2002. WADA was testing for it soon after it first came on the market. Which wasn't all that hard to do as it is just another form of rHuEPO. Now if by inference you assertion is that the NZ Racing jurisdiction wasn't testing for it when they could then that may well have been the case. On that I can't comment because I don't know. With regard to your question "why did we not make our horses sick?" - were you sure that the product you were using was actually Aranesp? What UI were you administering? If you look at the Kentucky/Scollay commissioned research ALL those treated with EPO exhibited visible signs of adverse reactions. You probably considered similar reactions in your horses as localised and "just the jab". So in summary - yes Aranesp is detectable and it was being tested for soon after it come onto the market

Should really be a separate thread on Kate. So if you don't mind I'll create one.

Speaking of attacks on the industry...... I see dear old Archie Butterfly hasn't responded to my challenge. That's evidence in itself that his allegations have no substance. @Archie Butterfly if you won't respond here why don't you give me access to respond on your website? Good Journalism is about balance unless of course your publication is nothing more than an online muck rucking tabloid of no substance. I doubt that William Jones at Black Horse will be publishing anymore of your crap!

You're welcome. I do find it amusing that those who preach "positivvviddy" are willing to allow the attacks on the Harness Industry without evidence. I guess that's why they do it behind closed doors.

I agree with your post. I've said that for years. The horse is the only thing that differentiates us from any other sport or form of entertainment. Even wagering/punting is no longer exclusive to horse racing. Why we continue to think that we can compete or should compete with the hospitality industry amazes me. I remember years and years of enjoyable on course experiences where there was only two or three beers on tap and one type of gin, whiskey and rum. Plus the standard drinks for the kids. Food - nothing fancy. Something to grab and eat on the run as you went from parade ring to the grandstand or your favourite possie to watch the races. Percy "Pie" Hurren only ever had two types of pies available at the Hoki races - mince or steak and sausage rolls. No myriad of differentiated pie flavourings. The Stapleton Sisters ran the sit down public lunch room where everyone got the same fare - a plate of one cream cupcake, one lamington, and a club sandwich. Coffee or tea from a big urn. I digress..... The focus for the entire industry should go back to what differentiates it from every other option available today. The horse! Start with the tracks, then the handicapping, then the rider skills...keep more horses in the game which means more people involved. Stakes will come as will attendance. Remember the days when everyone either had a share in a horse or knew someone who did? Accessibility was the key. Remember when you could take your kids down to the stables and show them a horse and ask the trainer politely if they would let them pat one? Sure OSH and drug contamination rules have stymied that but why can't you have a couple of tame ponies or proper horses that people can go and actually see and touch? Smell the damn things and their dung. Stop focusing on "The Party" where you can't compete week in week out - focus on the damn horse!!!!

I'm a tad reluctant to engage in this line of discussion as it doesn't achieve anything. However as many of you probably realise by now my judgement is questioned all the time and I take it on the chin or throw a decent punch back. If I take offence it isn't for long but it never results in censorship or banning. No one has been banned from BOAY and moderation is only engaged for extreme personal or offensive abuse. Such abuse if extreme is hidden and if less so is sent to The Vent. Contrary to many allegations I've never outed anyone online. It still amazes me how some let their ego's reveal so much about themselves online that you would have to be living in a cave not to know who they are i.e. they out themselves. Yet they are the one's who are the most critical of others and often the most abusive and demand anonymity.

So there were no mixers for the spirits? Did the reason why you were there complain? As in your horse?

Yet your recent gripe when you attended a meeting was that they didn't have a big enough selection of beer?

Actually I'm not going to play this game @Blossom lady. Aranesp was first approved for human use in 2001 and large scale production began. There were anti-doping tests available for it soon after. So you only had a few years at most to benefit from it. Assuming of course that you administered the right amount to achieve an improvement in performance and didn't make your horses sick. In the 20 years since testing technology has advanced considerably and nowadays you wouldn't have a shit show in hell of getting away with using it or any rHuEPO.

How long ago was that?