Chief Stipe

Here it is if you have a spare hour!

Certainly a different perspective! Looks like fun!

MEETING NEWS Riccarton Park-Canterbury JC | Saturday 24 October Nomination Morning Weather: Fine Track: Dead 6 Rail: Out 8m to 1000m, then out 11m to winning post | 12mm irrigation applied overnight Weather and Track last updated at 8.54am Tuesday 20 October

Ok I'll put it another way - Did anyone Weigh In?

Boy that verti-drainer is getting a workout!

MEETING NEWS Waipa Trials Cancelled Due to concerns with the track the Waipa trials have been cancelled today.

Did anyone watch?

FORE! But this was the call of the Great Northern Steeplechase jockeys, not the golfers. Why golfers were permitted on-course inside the Ellerslie racecourse on Saturday is another matter but this is not a good look, to say the least. There is a popular pitch and putt course there and having hit an errant shot over the guard rail onto the steeplechase course the golfer thought he’d meander out can collect his ball. The golfer reacted about 50m before the horses got to him and all jockeys were able to avoid him. "We were all yelling at him, he obviously was more interested in his ball than the race," jockey Shaun Fannin, who was leading the race on Magic Wonder, and went on to win the iconic steeplechase was reported as saying. "When he heard us and saw us coming, he started pointing at his ball to show us what he was doing there. "But we just wanted him to get the hell out of the way. "Really, that is something you never expect to see during a race." Respected race commentator George Simon was less forgiving, labelling the lost golfer an "absolute dickhead," in his call of the race.

Rule Number(s): 330(3)(c)Prior to the running of Race 4, the ARC Great Northern Hurdle (Prestige Jumping Race), the Informant, Mr Williamson filed an Information pursuant to Rule 330(3)(c) alleging that Class D Rider Mr B Lammas failed to make the contracted weight for MASTER COURTSMAN. Mr Lammas was present at the hearing and ... (Feed generated with FetchRSS)View the full article

Rule Number(s): 638(1)(d)This charge arises from the running of Race 5, the Auckland Co-Op Taxis 1600. Senior Stipendiary Steward Mr Williamson filed an Information pursuant to Rule 638(1)(d) alleging the rider of INCY WINCY SPIDER (K Asano), allowed his mount to shift out dictating FLUROBUS wider which was hampered passing ... (Feed generated with FetchRSS)View the full article

Rule Number(s): 638(1)(d)This charge arises from the running of Race 5, the Auckland Co-Op Taxis 1600. Senior Stipendiary Steward Mr Williamson filed an Information pursuant to Rule 638 (1)(d) alleging the rider of JACK THE LASS (S Satherley) allowed her mount to shift in when not clear of HAKUNA MATATA (D Danis) which was crowded ... (Feed generated with FetchRSS)View the full article

Rule Number(s): NoneApproximately 10 minutes prior to the start of Race 3 (1:30pm) an Information was lodged with the Judicial Committee requesting a ruling to determine whether weights in the race were correct. (Feed generated with FetchRSS)View the full article

Where's the connection to racing?

This doesn't look too promising. The track was at 38% moisture reading same time previous meeting. MEETING NEWS Riccarton Park Update In preparation for racing on Saturday the Riccarton Park going is Dead5 (Penetrometer Reading 3.0) on Monday morning. Significant irrigation last week in the absence of any major rainfall was required with the track being Slow9 on Friday. The moisture reading is 33% in keeping with give in the ground. With little or no rainfall in the forecast and high temperatures predicted for later in the week irrigation will take place tonight (Monday) with the situation being accessed each morning as the week progresses.

According to the DIA and Treasury analysis when they handed out the last $35m+ (not including the AWT PGF money) earlier this year it was clear that it only got the creditors off the TAB's back so they could keep trading. JJ Flash would have you believe otherwise but it was also apparent that that would need to be topped up during the year. It was actually stated in the analysis by Treasury which was given to the Minister. The only thing that would have turned that around was substantial cost cutting and a phenomenal increase in revenue. The former was late and probably not enough and the latter no matter how they spin hasn't happened. That's the problem when you have someone on a benefit for a long time it becomes endemic and passed on from generation to generation.

I bet you the Hastings weight debacle won't get the bollocking that it deserves. What's the bet we see a video of a horse galloping on the brand new AWT at Cambridge?

Rule Number(s): 638(1)(d)Mr Davidson alleged that in Race 9 Mr Chew (FULL FURY), rode carelessly in that he allowed his mount to shift in when not clear of RAISE YOU FIVE (J Lowry) which was checked near the 200 metres. Mr Munro demonstrated on the films that Mr Chew was towards the rear of the field with a horse to his outside. ... (Feed generated with FetchRSS)View the full article

That's crap. Tell them to get stuffed. Too late to save him from whatever. We all know that he is a great horseman. If he turns up and passes the test why can't he ride?

A jockey gets fined for riding overweight who will get fined for the weight stuff up at Hastings? Normally fines are commensurate with your responsibility and level of management in other industries. Based on what Lammas got those that stuffed up the Hastings weights should get fined $3,000, 1 year off and a charge of bringing racing into disrepute (or embarrassment?)! B Lammas MASTER COURTSMAN Unable to make contracted weight [Rule 330(3)(c)] Suspended 18/10-1/11 incl, 1 day and fined as below Unable to make contracted weight $300 [Rule 330(3)(c)]

That is the same for the majority of the PGF projects. It is hard to get information on them individually because they are supposedly "commercially sensitive" e.g. the AWT's! I could give you a list of strange ones. The Marae paint job $100m will supposedly create 3,000 jobs! Well that's 33,000 for each job. Some Marae's only get 12,000 for each job. That doesn't include paint and materials!! You and I know where that money is heading. The amount dished out by Jones to Northland is disgraceful. Take another project that I did some digging on. My first degree was in Horticulture so this particularly project piqued my interest. I think it was about $15m for an "Organic Hothouse Hydroponic Tomato" growing enterprise at Marsden Point. Now the company that got this money has only one director who lives in the Waikato. I know for a fact that Tomato growers struggle as it is as and the returns are not huge - I worked in the industry for 5 years. For the life of me I can't work out how you can grow hydroponically using only organic material! Secondly hot house's are a nightmare for diseases and pests - good luck with economically producing product to cover your costs! Geez I wish I was in Parliament I would be shoving tomatoes right up the complicit Labour Party's arse!

Potentially negative. I don't believe the full economic impact of the draconian approach to Covid-19 pandemic management has been felt yet. The cash that has been thrown around to supposedly create jobs has ended up in non-productive or sustaining areas. For example there is only so many times you can paint a Marae and even then what does it add to the economy? You could compare the painting of a Marae with the building of All Weather Tracks for Gallops. The AWT's seem to have no associated business plan nor any indication of how the extra revenue to maintain them will be obtained. So when the financial bite hits do you think TAB NZ will be bailed out again to the tune of $70m? That is not in Princess Snowflakes song book. With all the printed money floating around (Quantitative Easing - ironic that Social Credit polled so badly when this was their idea!) it will only take an 70's like energy shock to plunge this country into dire straights. We got ourselves out of that exposure by investing in oil and gas exploration and building our own refinery. Labour has killed both. So energy costs go through the roof - inflation takes off - interest rates rise and no one will want to lend to us. Venezuela here we come. Would we have been better to invest $1b in oil and gas exploration and the refinery than give it to the Iwi, Racing and Green Schools? Did you know that Labour has invested in turning productive farmland into Manuka scrub? What happens when the Manuka Honey bubble bursts? Which it will because it is built purely on marketing hype. The Reserve Bank has shot its load prematurely and they have stuff all tools left. They can't print much more money and they can't do it during inflationary times. Otherwise you will be borrowing the pram to take loads of cash down to the bakery to get a loaf of bread. If we don't turn these current policies around at the next election or sooner then look forward to one hell of a depression. This is all frustratingly deja vu for me.

But it is the same outcome. I bet Tony Pike wouldn't have appealed if it had been the other way round i.e. the carded weight was 59 - the T's and C's of the race was 58. He would have been happy with the Stipes decision!