Chief Stipe

Said like a true socialist! Knock off the Tall Poppy and everyone else gets a bit more.

Maybe the populus is not thinking enough. A very small band of scientists (I use that description loosely) and health professionals numbering in total less than ten have driven Government pandemic management decisions. Now if you research each of those individuals you will find that they have been writing research and opinion pieces for years that have a particular political slant to them. For example Professor Michael Baker along with Wilson, Boyd and Osman Mansur, have published papers promoting the idea of New Zealand being an isolated island State for many years. The pandemic has given them an opportunity to test their hypotheses. I fall short of calling it an agenda. Now their approach to the Covid-19 pandemic may well prove to be the right one. Personally I don't think it is. Certainly I see no plan to extricate ourselves from the current situation even with a vaccine. Baker et al certainly have no plan as isolation is the end goal. So getting back to the populus - we live in a democracy yet this year many many draconian Government edicts have been put in place. They were put in place by the executive order of a very small group of politicians numbering 3. They remain in place and it looks like there will be more. These measures were not even presented to Parliament for debate but handed down by decree. That isn't how it is supposed to work in a Parliamentary Democracy. The debate needs to be held and held soon. Getting back to the essay above the writer quite correctly points out that those who will bear the highest cost of these changes are those least able to afford it. The changes are boing foisted upon us by an elite intelligentsia (I don't think they are that bright!) funded by the taxpayer. Baker just got another $1m to pursue his research!

Have you trained Greyhounds?

Yeah right!

Once was?

Central Districts?

I was just asking if you were previously involved in the Greyhound racing industry? Simple question.

Rule Number(s): 868(2)Following the running of Race 1, the Thank You-Jim & Susan Wakefield Trot, an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr V Munro against Open Driver, Mr A Clark, alleging a breach of Rule 868(2) in that he failed to take all reasonable and permissible measures between the 1400m to the 800m after ... (Feed generated with FetchRSS)View the full article

Rule Number(s): 869(3)(b)Following the running of Race 4, the Rosedale Farm 2021 Yearling Draft Mobile Pace, an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr V Munro against Open Driver, Mrs A Lethaby, alleging a breach of Rule 869(3)(b) in that she shifted inwards when not clear of EMMA’S GIRL near the 1500m causing a check. ... (Feed generated with FetchRSS)View the full article

Rule Number(s): 834(2)(a)Information number No A13628 was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr R Quirk, against Licensed Public Trainer Mr T Bagrie, alleging that as the trainer of STARVIN MARVIN, acceptor for Race 7, the Kohatu Flat Rock Café/Ron Crook Memorial Pace “was late scratching STARVIN MARVIN after the horse was sold”. ... (Feed generated with FetchRSS)View the full article

Rule Number(s): NoneFollowing the running of race 1, an Information instigating a protest was filed by Stipendiary Steward, Mr R Quirk, against MENTALIST (L O’Reilly), placed 2nd by the judge, on the grounds that it “galloped in excess of 50 metres in the final 200 metres”. The Respondent Mr O’Reilly had signed the Information ... (Feed generated with FetchRSS)View the full article

Mehe - you've got two days to contribute something positive. BTW were you involved in Greyhound racing?

Get over yourself - you speak for no one but yourself.

I tell you one thing and this is my personal opinion Lisa Mumby deserves an honour way more than that fraud Professor Michael Baker!

FFS Mehe can you get it into your head that no one on BOAY is "protected"! Except me of course but you can't expect me to ban myself. Mehe you can't pull the Royal We and talk for others. Who knows if people are sick of Brodie always talking about being restricted. But I'm sure people are sick of you moaning about it all the time. At the moment many of us are watching the Auckland Trots and imagining life without Mark and Natalie. With regard to that I think NZ Harness will be the poorer for their sabbatical.

True but that has come with experience and a lot of rides. Yes it doesn't say much for those behind her in the CD. Part of the problem is there isn't the like of Kevin Grey and his wife mentoring young apprentices like they did. Geez did those two train some class jockeys!

Reminds me when I won the West Coast Secondary Schools 800m (and 1,500m) at Westport (one before lunch the other after!). Westland High had its best athletic team in decades and we all hatched a plan to get as many points as possible in our events and take the School Championship title. Even if it meant a bit of team driving. One of my mates was a distance runner and knew I had a good chance in the 800m and 1,500m but was a bit green having bloomed late. So the plan was he would lead and set a solid pace (he had no sprint) and I would slot in the trail. He said he would move out (a cart width) and give me the inside run just before they started sprinting for home. Half way down the back straight he moves out taking a couple out wider with him and yelling at me to "Go now, go now!" I thought shit I wasn't planning on going this early!

Yep - well deserved. A very hard worker who has done very well. Even she will admit that she isn't the most talented rider (she actually said that in an interview) but makes up for it with hard work. Although like fine wine has got better as she has aged. Nice hands, kind to a horse and great balance. I met her at Kevin Grays stable at Waverley when she was an apprentice. Bubbly and enthusiastic and well trained by Kevin and Kath. Should have dumped the woman I was seeing at the time!

The jury still is and that doesn't look like changing anytime soon. FFS you swallowed the Messara Report hook, line and sinker.

You are assuming that the Stipe's actually know which given your constant haranguing of them according to you they don't know. So we will now have the incompetent becoming Judge and Jury. Good luck with that.

Is that why you keep going on and on and on and on about it?

Which is going to get worse with the creation of a Mega-Judiciary arm probably under the control of Godber and the abolition of the JCA independence!

You miss the point - again I'm not surprised that you have. Using your logic we would have four days at New Plymouth with four races each day. The fact is there aren't enough horses around to sustain two days at the same location two days apart. In the CD there are 7 race meetings in 14 days. Running 6 or 7 races at one meeting costs the industry. Add to that poor quality fields and the industry receives a net loss. What's more it puts punters off even more. Congrats to Carey for doing a great marketing job at NP - but it isn't paying the industry bills! But that is what you get from this mob when they are driven by calendar dates and not key industry metrics like: number of horses in work, number of horses ready to race by rating, race field sizes relative to punting revenue generated and so on and so on. As Joe Bloggs says - "what can you expect from someone who thinks you gallop a horse EVERY day!"

Don't take up Thoroughbred Racing administration as a career. The point that was being made, which I realise escapes you, is why have two days at New Plymouth two days apart? 7 races each day. Especially when there aren't the horses available. Add to that the fact that revenue is generated off course with quality fields.