Chief Stipe

You're letting your bias cloud your judgement. My point was that if the RIB had sufficient evidence to lay charges over race fixing then they should have rather than hiring the Police to go on a fishing expedition. Are suggesting that McKendry in this instance was manipulating the race result for financial gain? Or did he just make an error of judgement?

Well all bets are off at Ipswich today. The track is cutting out worse than Riccarton!

Well all bets are off at Ipswich today. The track is cutting out worse than Riccarton!

Silly me. I thought who was going to win the Waikato Steeplechase today was more interesting.

What does this have to do with Thoroughbred Racing other than a tenuous link to Art Cadeau?

Does anyone remember when we had a full field of journalists working for an independent racing publication? It wouldn't surprise me if NZTR pay for these articles to be written in the NZ Herald.

Horse Racing: Kiwi duo Chris Waller and James McDonald chasing Platinum Jubilee prize at Royal Ascot 18 Jun, 2022 08:12 AM4 minutes to read Trainer Chris Waller greets Nature Strip after winning The King's Stand Stakes. Photo / Getty NZ Herald By Michael Guerin at Royal Ascot The Kiwis who conquered the racing world on Tuesday face an even more important test at Royal Ascot tomorrow (3.20am NZ time). Because while Nature Strip thrilled Down Under racing fans when winning for ex-pat Kiwis trainer Chris Waller and jockey James McDonald, winning tomorrow's Platinum Jubilee with Home Affairs would be even more important and far more lucrative. Waller was true to his word about not backing up Nature Strip for tomorrow's race even after he barely raised a sweat in his stunning King's Stand Stakes win and with Home Affairs already set for the 1200m (approx) Platinum Jubilee, Nature Strip was never really a chance of being a rival. Because not only is the Platinum Jubilee, at one million pounds, worth twice as much as the King's Stand was, victory for Home Affairs would be worth much, much more than that. Nature Strip may be older and flat out faster than Home Affairs but the huge difference in the three-year-old is a colt so is worth tens of millions as a potential stallion. Having won two major group 1s in Australia this season, including beating a luckless Nature Strip at Flemington in February, Home Affairs is already hot property as a stallion and will stand this coming spring at Coolmore in New South Wales for a A$110,000 service fee. While that is already serious stuff for a first season sire, if Home Affairs wins tomorrow morning he instantly becomes a commercial stallion prospect in both Hemispheres, which is the main reason global racing powerhouse Coolmore and his syndicate of other owners sent him to Ascot. A good-looking, athletic young horse by Australian siring superstar I Am Invincible, if Home Affairs wins what would almost certainly be his last career start tomorrow he becomes one of the most valuable horses in the world. He will start a warm favourite not only because of his own record but the demolition job Nature Strip, Waller and McDonald did on their international rivals on Tuesday. Recent trackwork, including a pre-trip trial at Flemington three weeks ago, would suggest Nature Strip is about two lengths superior to Home Affairs at the moment, but the best of Nature Strip would be way too good in tomorrow's enormous 27-horse field. Perhaps one worry for Home Affairs is his wide draw, which can very often be a blessing in a sprint race late in a Royal Ascot carnival but on Thursday, the third day of the meeting, the best jockeys were steering toward the inside third of the track rather than trying to get wide. That of course could change by race start time tomorrow morning and Home Affairs does have McDonald, who even plenty in England are now declaring the best in the world with two wins this week from only a handful of rides. While McDonald loves Nature Strip, winning with Home Affairs would have deeply personal meaning to him as the colt is part-owned by New Zealand Bloodstock supremo Sir Peter Vela, who has been one of McDonald's greatest supporters during the highs and lows of his career. Home Affairs isn't the only Australian-trained runner in the Platinum Jubilee as the enigmatic Artorius, winner of last season's Blue Diamond but so often the architect of his own demise since, looks a realistic blowout chance around the $20 mark, especially if the inside of the track is the place to be. Domestically there are thoroughbred meetings at Te Rapa and Trentham today with the former hosting five jumps races including both the Waikato Hurdle and Steeplechase.But perhaps the most anticipated jumper on show will be superstar hurdler The Cossack (R5, No.9) as he steps up to steeplechasing for the first time, opening a very fair $1.65 with the TAB taking on maidens.

Stewards got it wrong charging McKendry www.lincolnfarms.co.nz Since when do we penalise our drivers for making tactical errors in races? While punters might have been upset when Maurice McKendry chose the wrong option on Simply Sam at Alexandra Park a week ago, and saw their horse run to the line untested behind a wall of horses, does that mean charges should follow? Drivers make the wrong calls in virtually every race at every meeting but many, unlike that with the warm favourite at Auckland, go undetected. McKendry would be the first to admit his decision to cut down closer to the markers and not go wide behind eventual winner Harder Than Diamonds didn’t have the intended outcome. But did it warrant a charge of failing to take all reasonable and permissable measures to ensure his horse was gven full opportunty to win the race or to obtain the best possible position? Most drivers would have defended the charge but that’s not the McKendry way. New Zealand’s second most successful harness driver of all time, who has racked up 3353 winners in 47 years in the cart, could care less what the silly buggers think. McKendry simply admitted the charge and his penalty will be decided on an as yet unscheduled date. But you only have to examine decisions from earlier hearings into the charge to see a guilty finding was far from certain. McKendry with trainer Ray Green and Simply Sam.In dismissing a December, 2021 case against junior driver Korbyn Newman from Westport, adjudicator Olivia Jarvis made several crucial points. “It is well established that the stewards do not need to prove that there was a deliberate act by the driver to disadvantage the horse, however, there must be some degree of carelessness or incompetence in order to find the driver’s actions blameworthy.” Mere errors of tactics are not sufficient to find liability, she ruled. “Given the nature of harness racing, at any one point in a race a driver may have a number of options available. The decisions are required to be made in a mere instant with multiple uncontrollable variables. “A driver must, relying upon his or her experience and expertise, balance up a number of competing factors and chose one. “The driver does not have the benefit of hindsight, multiple video angles or the pause button.” Jarvis said situations arose during races where drivers were presented with two reasonable and permissable options. “Failure to implement one of these options could not merely equate to a breach. I am of the view that the purpose underpinning the rule is to attribute blameworthiness when a driver fails to take some measure which was the ONLY reasonable and permissible measure open to them.” McKendry clearly had two options. Shift in, save many lengths, round the turn, and look for a gap in the run home, or go wide. Any chance McKendry has of getting the passing lane on Simply Sam, arrowed, dissolves as Mr Kaplan runs in badly in front of him.Instinct McKendry said he made the decision on instinct. “I had two choices - do I slaughter the horse going wide or not? As it turned out I made the wrong one. It was a wet night, the track was slushy, and my horse was flat and struggling round the bend. “Sometimes you can get up the lane but Tony’s horse (Mr Kaplan) laid in. If I’d got up the inside and won I’d have been labelled a hero. I took my chance and it didn’t pay off.” But McKendry said there was no guarantee he would have won had he stayed where he was. “I’d have finished in the first four because he always finishes on but to win I’d need to have run 56 or better on a wet night, coming four wide.” (The winner Harder Than Diamonds was in front of Simply Sam and clocked 56.4 for his last 800.) McKendry said the tactic of switching in might work perfectly next week but he’d now be thinking twice about repeating it. McKendry said he knew the stewards had to protect the punter but in squaring off to them they were ignoring the fact Simply Sam, while a nice horse, had come a long way very quickly and was racing far better performed horses on the night. “I didn’t think I was guilty but I’ve been in too many inquiries to know you can’t win and they go easier on you when you plead guilty.” Was it incompetent for McKendry to think by going very wide Simply Sam would have too much ground to make up in the straight, even knowing the horse’s great turn of foot? Hardly. It’s only when tactical errors amount to bad judgement that the terms of the rule are applicable, Jarvis said. Drivers must have deviated from a standard of driving the betting and racing public are entitled to expect. “There may be circumstances in which a driver’s manner of driving may amount to merely a permissible error of tactics. “The betting and racing public are not entitled to perfection from drivers, though it is an aspirational goal. “That much is confirmed by the use of the qualifier “reasonable” in the rule. “What is required when assessing manoeuvres and decisions by drivers is a reasonable justification for taking particular measures at the relevant time.” As much as it hurt punters, McKendry surely had such justification. And what kind of precedent has this set? Stewards last night found Jay Abernethy and Andrew Poutama guilty on the same charge, suspended them for three days and fined them $400 and $300 respectively. But their charge related to a speed duel at Cambridge on June 3 when Peter Forsberg and Rory McIlroy went at it for the first 700 metres of the race, the horses ending up beaten 50 lengths and 85 lengths.

Lower threshold of proof presumably. They'll probably use the catch all - "bringing racing into disrepute" or some such nonsense.

Back to the Topic. Seems charges have been dropped and now the RIB are trying for double jeopardy by retrying the defendants under the RIB jurisdiction. Dependent on being allowed to use the Police acquired evidence. All arse about face.

That's fine. This is a Harness forum - there are other sub-forums where people can post what they like. If they choose not to that's fine. Hell some people complain when a forum goes off piste and I agree with them.

Then the Pzifer vaccine is not a vaccine instead it is a weak therapeutic. Hiwever you missed my point. I'll say again I know two people who have been jabbed 4 times and have had Covid twice. Their illness has been much worse the second time and considerably worse than my unvaccinated friends who have had it.

Fact.

Well there are actually other sub-forums on BOAY for other topics. This one is actually about Harness! I now know two people who have had 4 jabs and have had Covid twice! The second time worse than the first!

Will you ever post an original thought about Harness Racing on this forum? You fixation with @Brodie is pathological. Sad.

Whereas yours would be limited to 1. "Let's Troll Brodie"!

Time and time again I wonder why for these events NZ just doesn't broadcast the Ozzie feed? We see it Saturday after Saturday where once NZ racing has finished we get the greenhorn young studio presenter trying to sound as if they know more than their script. When all that would be required is to take the OZ commentary, lead up and post race reviews. Yeah na just bang another 5 races from some obscure track in between.

Probably won't start and the master trainer Waller has targeted Home Affairs to win the race.

Amazing how many times you are actually wrong. @Michael you are becoming nothing more than an irrelevant troll. Cut the bitterness. Yes I have a lot of time for @Brodie not that i know him that well other than through his posting on BOAY. Where you and he differ is Brodie will start topics of interest and contribute his opinions even if some are repetitive. Whereas you on the other hand are unhealthily fixated on attacking one poster. Do you no longer have anything else to contribute?

You're right less often than @Brodie

So you don't know everything?

Shame really that the NZ TAB and NZTR didn't promote this race. Big Kiwi names in the ownership - Steve Hanson, Peter Keen, Paddy Harrison and more.

I guess you missed the point about intelligence.