Chief Stipe

@Brodie it was the dream team when you look at Mark's and Nat's experience and achievements. Both natural horseman and from what I've learnt a big part of training horses is being tuned to the horse. Not only in training but also in a race. Hard to replicate what those two had. Mark and Nat had different styles of driving and full credit to them they recognised that and they selected the right horses to drive for their style.

I'm a bit worried about you @Newmarket - Are you safe? I guess they should have finished the rest of the meeting for you. But did you get your bets refunded? Christchurch has been placed under a state of emergency after torrential rain triggered widespread flooding. The announcement was made by Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell, who has travelled to Canterbury this afternoon to survey the damage.

Where are the pictures?

Apparently the Comic Dog has "sources"... Verti-draining wouldn't cause the problem in my opinion. This is all going to get messy. Trainers are NOT track managers and it is a bit late to be moaning now.

I lived in Christchurch for 20 years. Was up at 6am working in -7 degree frosts. I guess you are just a punter and have never worked a horse?

Well you must have got to the pub by this afternoon. Actually observations from the Met Office. Wind Chill was down to 4 degrees. Probably less than 2 on a horse galloping. I suppose you were mowing the lawns?

That isn't entirely correct. Aren't they upgrading the remaining and making them more multipurpose? New Plymouth's biggest issue is the state of its track. I recall asking a very good Senior Jockey about 18 years ago what was the worst track in the CD. His answer was New Plymouth. I can't say I've seen any improvement since then.

The Stipes inspecting the track.

Yes there is some irony but given the weather they were lucky to get through 5 races. It is 8 degrees and with the wind chill it is 4 degrees!! Good old Canterbury Sou'wester! You wouldn't last two seconds in it @SLB2.0 even with the mink coat your mum bought with winnings off Sunline!

Meeting News Riccarton Races 6-8 Abandoned Races 6-8 of today’s race-meeting (1 May) have been abandoned due to safety concerns caused by prevailing weather conditions. To be fair the weather is fairly horrendous down there at the moment. 40km/hr winds and torrential rain. Wouldn't be all that safe. Apparently Trentham has been blown away.

Vandalism would be fairly easy to determine. For example unlikely that there would be any reason to be spraying Roundup at this time of year given the weather!

So he disagrees with the official communique? Plonker. I've been worried about this for a while. With all the publicity that abandonments have been getting it wouldn't take the anti-mob long to work out where the industry's soft spot is.

Ōtaki Raceday Postponed Due to Track Condition Please note the correction to racemeeting date. Following a full inspection of Ōtaki Racecourse this morning involving the Racing Integrity Board and Regional Track Managers, it has been determined that the surface is not in a safe condition to host racing. As a result, Sunday’s scheduled meeting (4 May) at Ōtaki Racing Club has been postponed. NZTR suspects that sections of the track may have suffered intentional turf damage, which has compromised the safety of the racing surface. The damage, upon inspection, appears to be an act outside of the Club's control. Investigations are underway to determine the cause and NZTR is working closely with the Otaki-Māori Racing Club and relevant authorities to support this process. The safety of horses and participants remains NZTR’s top priority. NZTR and the Club are currently assessing the possibility of rescheduling the meeting and will provide further updates to participants as soon as possible. Corporate Communications New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing Contact: Emma Thompson +64 21 071 2929 nztrcommunications@nztr.co.nz

Ōtaki Raceday Postponed Ōtaki Raceday Postponed Sunday’s Ōtaki racemeeting has been postponed after an inspection found the track surface was not safe for racing. NZTR suspects sections of the track may have suffered intentional turf damage. The damage appears to be an act outside of the Club's control and investigations are now underway. NZTR and the Club are assessing rescheduling options and will provide updates as soon as possible.

You don't give up @the galah I'll give you that. To cut to the chase you are suggesting that the All Stars used PED's to maintain their dominance and now they are not. Is that correct? Contrary to your view they are still performing at a high level. You refuse to understand the statistics supporting that. As for PED's there has been no evidence found to support your assertion I don't understand why you aren't arguing that the stables that are supposedly dominant now ARE using PED's. I agree with @TAB For Ever and @Gammalite that if they aren't as dominant (I dont' agree) then it is because of the factors they have listed. It only takes a 1% drop in perfomance to be well down the track. If Mark isn't in the stable full time as he once was then that alone could accout for the 1%. Yes Nathan has been trained well no doubt BUT until you are in charge fulltime you are not tested. I've seen countless examples of where changes in Trainers have seen a drop in performance. For example one could argue that with Mark Walker now working more and more at the Melbourne stable there has been a drop in the Te Akau dominance. It may be only slight but it doesn't take much at the elite level. As for undetectable PED's - check this out: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.analchem.1c01273 That technology has been around for decades.

Thanks for clarifying that @curious aka Brent. I've known you online for a very long time - getting close to 20 years now. Previously when I was the Admin/Developer for the channel you refer to and more recently since the start of BOAY. Without reservation I have found you polite and straight up. We have differing opinions on a couple of Racing subjects but neither of us have held a grudge over a different opinion. I've found your opinions well researched and based on facts and must say you have on occasion broadened my knowledge. I've never felt threatened by your superior knowledge on some subjects and have enjoyed that challenge. For the sake of full disclosure I caught up with Brent and @Freda at the iconic watering hole the Racecourse Hotel across the road from Riccartion before the 1000 Guineas last November. We walked the Riccarton track looking for a fast lane (which we found) and also had a wander over the AWT Polytrack. I'm happy to say on behalf of the other person in our company that day that Josh Parr found that fast lane and used it to full advantage! Their first Group 1 winner from their first dip into race horse ownershp. However I first met Brent in person at Ellerlise at the Kevin Morton JCA hearing where we were both there supporting Kevin. It is perhaps ironic given the recent Awapuni track upgrade that the primary issue of those RIB (RIU) charges against Kevin were his online comments about the abandonment of an Awapuni meeting and the state of the final bend at that track. The Purcell "90 horses" was secondary to what started that whole episode. I guess it is also ironic that you presented statements in support of Kevin and your fundamental argument was that a license holder had the right to express an opinion publically and not be penalised as a license holder for doing so. The Adjudicator agreed and that was a landmark decision in NZ Racing. It is a shame that that freedom is taken up by more license holders to raise awareness about the problems the industry faces. At a time when we need voices to be heard loud and clear it is a shame that valid well thought out opinions are still censored or at best constrained. Contrary to the perception of some it doesn't happen here. The only people to have been moderated or restricted in posting are those who have either been abusive, have not followed the clear rules especially that concerning facts or have sought to undermine BOAY for nefarious reasons.

So in a nutshell what you are saying is the "perceived drop in dominance" is due to less hands-on involvement by Mark Purdon, the loss of input from Nat Rasmussen and lower quality bloodstock due to it being spread around more. All makes sense. Although even with those challenges the Mark and Nathan partnership has been going not too badly - high stakes to runners return and a leading UDR.

He didn't grow much.

Did it piss down between Race1 and Race 4? They dropped it two ratings to a Soft 8!!!

Didn't horses gallop this morning? Didn't the RIB inspect the track after 7:30am when they took charge? And the BS continues - they downgrade 1 rating from a Soft 5 to a Soft 6. FFS.

So your oblique reference earlier to drug use had nothing to do with INCA?

Well hard to argue with make believe. You disagree with fact.

Or is offering? ENTAIN is trying to sell what HRNZ are offering.

FFS the All Stars have reduced the number of horses in training and still pick up most of the Stakes. LOL House isn't anywhere near dominant other than at The Watu.