Chief Stipe

Yeah well I had to chuckle when it referred to the horse's Fresh Form. SEVEN years fresh in this case.

UPDATED: 12YO galloper now has a jockey after seven-year spell, watch him run Wednesday! Fighting Heart with Ipswich-based trainer Kathy Gruenefeld. Article Author Ben Dorries11:52AM23 June 2020 24 Comments Old warrior Fighting Heart now has a jockey and the 12-year-old gelding - who hasn't raced for seven years - is set to get a shot at an extraordinary farewell victory at Ipswich on Wednesday. On Tuesday, Racenet revealed how trainer Kathy Gruenefeld was struggling to find a jockey "brave" enough to ride Fighting Heart and you can read that and the tale of the horse at the bottom of this updated story. Now, two-kilogram claiming apprentice Adin Thompson has agreed to ride Fighting Heart in the gelding's return and also farewell to racing in Ipswich race four on Wednesday. "We are going to the races," Gruenefeld exclaimed excitedly on Wednesday morning, after both her much-loved horse had a jockey booked and also had to pass another vet tick-off. "He is a tough horse and hates losing. "He's been able to give me very consistent times in training and I've pitched him against other horses and he's been coming out on top against five and seven year-olds." In his return to racing, Fighting Heart has plenty of new gear with brushing boots first time (front and hind) and a Hanoverian nose band first time. Bookies have actually kept him fairly safe - with TAB.com.au only prepared to offer up $23 (price correct 9am Wednesday) on Fighting Heart returning a winner after a seven-year racing absence. Sportsbet reported Fighting Heart had been backed to win plenty. "Since a story appeared on Racenet yesterday the veteran has firmed from $67 into $21," a Sportsbet spokesman said. "Fighting Heart holds 40 percent of money wagered on the race. "He also has received the most bets, including $100 at $67 and several $50 each-way wagers also at that quote and a couple of $100 bets at $21." READ RACENET'S STORY FROM TUESDAY AS FOLLOWS ... Kathy Gruenefeld is convinced old boy Fighting Heart is ready to rumble after seven years off the racing scene – her only problem is she is yet to find a jockey “brave” enough to ride the 12-year-old at Ipswich on Wednesday. Racing throws up some weird and wonderful tales but few more so than the story of ex-Hong Kong galloper Fighting Heart, an Australian-bred son of Show A Heart who hasn’t raced since finishing fourth at Sha Tin in June 2013. Fighting Heart won four of 15 races in Hong Kong but struggled with the big city lifestyle and Gruenefeld bought him from an online agent with the intention he would be a dressage or showjumping horse. The doctrine of Gruenefeld’s Throw Away Thoroughbreds business is to train and rehabilitate horses that “have been thrown away or discarded” and horses that are “deemed too slow, untrainable, aggressive, not good enough, who have reached their supposed ‘use by date’ or suffer injury or neglect and can be given a home which allows them to flourish and reach their full potential.” At one point as Fighting Heart raced through a 300-acre property with such gusto that Gruenefeld concluded his racing days weren’t finished after all – Gruenefeld deciding to take out a training license specifically so she could get him to the races. It was a long and cumbersome process – taking more than three years lost in paperwork and other issues. While Fighting Heart was getting ready to race, Gruenefeld raced three other horses and only one has managed to beat a runner home in their six combined starts dating back to October 2018. In a bid to give Fighting Heart a farewell run (Australian racing rules stipulate he won’t be able to race when he turns 13 on August 1) Gruenefeld gave the old warrior a jumpout and got a vet clearance. Chief steward Peter Chadwick confirmed there were no abnormalities detected and Fighting Heart trialled to the satisfaction of stewards – although he will have to pass a raceday vet check before taking on Wednesday’s Benchmark 70 Handicap where he has been allotted 63kg. For Gruenefeld, it’s now a matter of trying to find a jockey willing to ride the rising 13-year-old. “I do get some of the ugly side of social media which I really don’t like but you can’t avoid it these days,” Gruenefeld says. “I am trying to find a jockey who is brave enough to stand up and say ‘yup I can do this, this is OK.’ “I was hoping to have Alex Patis ride because she has ridden for me once before and she is a lovely young lady. Plus she is an apprentice and she has a three-kilo claim. “But she is not game to face social media issues. “I admit feeling quite down and how can I help people understand I have never been in the business of making a quick buck or exploiting horses – I have been on the other spectrum. “I am still currently trying to chase up the jockey but my vet is happy with him. “The 63kg is not going to worry Fighting Heart in the slightest because he does trackwork with my daughter who is nearly six foot tall. He is quite used to carrying weight. “I just want to show people that these horses are not something you throw away. “They are an amazing animal and if you take good care of them and they are strong and fit and healthy they can do amazing things and there is no need for the kind of throwaway attitude we have in Australia. “I have never, ever been able to walk past a horse I saw injured or neglected or abused.” While there may be debate over the merits of racing Fighting Heart as a 12-year-old, there can be little doubt that Gruenefeld has given him a good life since he came into her care. She maintains he is happy and healthy and been ticked off by vets to return to racing – and she sees no reason not to give him a farewell race at Ipswich on Wednesday. “When I found Fighting Heart he was looking pretty bedraggled and muddy and I thought there is just something about him and I will buy him and figure it out,” she says. “My plan was he would do dressage or showjumping – I like to see what they like to do and I go from there. “We were living on a 300-acre property as I always like to give horses plenty of space, they had stalls but during the day they were out running. “I have stock horses that I run them with – Fighting Heart was going through that phase and we watched him one day and he just took off it, it was like watching a horse fly. “My husband said to me ‘Is there any reason he is not racing?’ “I then looked into becoming a racehorse trainer – I got my license but I didn’t have the right paperwork so it all took about three years.”

There is news in Australia about a rising 13 yr old galloper having its first start back from a 7 year spell. A bit of a good news story although no doubt the animal rights protesters will get in on the act of saying it is cruel. Anyway the trainer does a lot of work with rehoming and retraining aged gallopers but the old boy is so full of life she thought she'd give him a bit of swan song. Here is the NZ TAB's form line comment: "Hasn't offered much fresh in the past. Badly drawn. Appears tested." Which I guess goes to support those of us who think that these form comments are computer generated!

It isn't broadband as we at home know it. They are commercial grade circuits running special protocols. I'd love to know what their circuit diversity is like and what the backup options are on raceday when there is a circuit failure. Satellite? I agree wholeheartedly with your statement. The changes in my opinion will be the death knell of the industry. Again I reiterate it seems RITA and previous NZRB boards are hell bent on racing down this slope.

Because RITA is dictating that the venues to reopen or continue require highly expensive broacast network equipment and connectivity to be permanently installed at a venue. This is a classic case of a solution being solved by techos who have no appreciation of cost or what the customer wants. The customer doesn't want high definition 4k or 8k Video of a race that is over in less than 120 seconds. Not only that they don't have the necessary equipment at home or the pub to watch it in that format. What's more - more than 80% of races shown on Trackside are imported and NOT broadcast in HD! Another rationale for justifying this extravagant broadcasting model is that it makes studio production cheaper and easier. Well if that is the case why is the outsourced company that provides this service housed in a flash high rent building in Parnell, Auckland? This same company has no experience with live horse race broadcasting down under. It provides the "bunker" technology for the NRL in Australia. That technology restricts the NRL from playing competition games in the provinces. Ring a bell?! I gather that RITA is signed up to very long term contracts both with this company and the network provider. In technology that is a 101 mistake to lock yourself into a technology model for 10 years. What's worse is RITA(NZRB) lent them money to set set up in the first place!

Are you talking about Owners or RITA? If the latter then in my opinion there is lots of avenues to cut costs. Some of those cuts should have been done 11 months ago. Other cuts still available to them will require some legal agility - there is one board member who has an aptitude for and experience of that. Yes - RITA have come to the end of that road with a thump. The reality is the WHOLE industry has been culpable - some parts more so than others. So arguably the WHOLE industry should suffer the pain in the short term - that means no new expensive toys that can't immediately pay their way (All Weather Tracks) and the slashing of stakes especially at the top end but all across the board. In my opinion the potential to increase revenue over and above the yearly CPI index is zero. That is we have reached the limit of the NZ market and we have no competitive global products. So when the last promise of higher stakes was made it was pie in the sky and and fiscally irresponsible. In may ways Peter's helped set that expectation with his $1 million dollar races. His AWT's should be viewed in the same light.

Rule Number(s): 869 (3) (b)Following the running of Race 5 Stewards charged Mr Tim Robertson with a breach of r 869 (3) (b) – careless driving – in that he allowed his horse MISS JESSICA to strike the wheel of TOLKIEN about the 1400 metres mark causing MISS JESSICA to break from its gait. Mr Robertson admitted the breach and appeared ... (Feed generated with FetchRSS)View the full article

Rule Number(s): 869(4)(6)(b)(c)Following the running of Race 8 an Information was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr P Williams alleging a breach of Rule 869 (4)(6)(b)(c) by Junior Driver Mr S Thornley. The Information stated “you shifted outwards near the 1250m causing POCKET CALL to be taken wider on the track”. Mr Thornley had signed ... (Feed generated with FetchRSS)View the full article

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Rule Number(s): 870(3) and the breaking horse regulationsThis is an uncontested protest arising from the running of Race 7 the ‘Creatine’ at Nevele R Stud Handicap Trot 2200m. Stipendiary Steward Mr Muirhead, alleged that the 4th placed KAY CEE was in an incorrect gait when it crossed the finish line having galloped over the final 60 metres of the race. Mr ... (Feed generated with FetchRSS)View the full article

I'll resist diverging into a wider debate comparing past and present Governments and stick to racing. Other than throw money at racing (in return for NZ First funding and votes) what has Winnie really done for racing? Compared to many industry's in New Zealand, Racing has had many many more advantages and privileges than all of them. What has the Racing Industry done for itself? From a privileged position it has steadily turned itself into a beneficiary.

True but we imported most of if not all of those races. I hope they are analysing the data they captured during Covid-19.

Maybe not in recent months. By December 2019 RITA had done deals with 80% of the online Australian Bookmakers. So you are right this would have shown up in the half-yearly report. That information would have given a solid indication of the returns to be expected from this channel. If it was good news then the release of those figures would have gone some way to appease those of us that have doubts about RITA's predictions on the returns. In the last annual report $22m was received in fees from offshore agencies for betting on NZ races. $28m was paid in fees for offshore races shown and bet on through the NZ TAB. A deficit of $6m. Which is not surprising given we imported 88,000 races and exported 10,000 races. There's also another $1.5m in commingling fees. Interesting too that 50% of the races we export are greyhound races.

But it would have at least given us a view that the necessary actions were being taken however I suspect there was a lot of hand sitting, borrow and hope, and waiting for the Racing Reform Bill White Rabbit. Covid-19 was an external risk that although not exactly able to be quantified could have been broadly identified as one of those risks that reserves (rainy day) are used for. With regard to the very quick depletion of substantial reserves we have had years of constant mist and drizzle rather than a torrential downpour. The latter being Covid-19. Essentially my point is the half-yearly report would have shown us that the new management was taking steps to address the fundamental issues quickly. As for racefields revenue - what is your calculation on its quantum? Enough to cover the fees of the 80% of the races broadcast that come from other jurisdictions?

The withheld half-yearly report would have shown us: What actions had been undertaken to reduce costs; The status of the revolving credit drawdown; Senior Executive salaries including the new CEO's; The RITA Board members remuneration, number of meetings and meeting attendance; Shortfall in creditor payments; Most importantly - 6 months of the new betting system and impacts on revenue.

Which meant they needed to slash costs straight away instead they drew down the rest of the revolving credit and stopped paying creditors.

And no doubt full access to the NZRB's financials.

Brodie I have to agree with those that are saying you are behind on this one. This was posted on the Gallops forum on May 3.

Especially when the MAC and RITA's Board are the same people. Also is it correct to say RITA continued with the new season stakes commitment based on the borrow and hope policy of the previous Boards?

He did have - he could have slashed costs.

They used up their revolving credit facility of $45m which has to be paid up or renewed April 2021. I would assume they will need a Government guarantee to either repay, renew or refinance. For that to occur it would probably need an amendment to the new racing reform bill!

It wasn't bank repayments but payments for the new software and broadcasting. Two strategic decisions that are affecting all current decisions.

I'm asking you as you purport to have more experience and knowledge than the rest of us on this matter. However that is doubtful especially based on your interpretation of employment law. You "suspect"?! Didn't you read the terms of reference for the Racing Industry Transition Agency? Or the MAC for that matter? The bill was introduced into Parliament in MAY 2019. So it wasn't on RITA's priority list!! RITA's brief was to transition the industry towards the recommendations of the Messara report. Of course one of the tasks of RITA was to move the industry towards profitability and growth. You write this statement as if it is a fundamental truth when in fact it is far from that. Numerous new boards brought in with a clear mandate to address issues of insolvency or negative profitability move quickly to make changes. That is largely their mandate. As was RITA's. As for the RITA's Board "not knowing the business they inherited" is a load of BS. They had full visibility of the business for a full 6 months BEFORE becoming Board members. Plus they were appointed for their "experience and knowledge" of the industry! MacKenzie presumably once had the full support of the Minister who made him Chairman AND CEO of RITA. A position of incredible power over RITA. What was done? Nothing until Covid-19 arrived AND creditors pulled the pin. MacKenzie and co were relying on the Bill going through quickly enabling asset pillaging and racefields POC legislation to balance the books and provide new revenue. They were sitting on their hands waiting for this to happen because they didn't have the gumption to act and do the hard yards.

Why didn't McKenzie and his Board TWELVE MONTHS ago start that process?