Chief Stipe

I've always tried to respond immediately to any abuse that people have reported. Quite frankly this isn't the issue here. The statement by Hesi that the issue is "looking after the people who contribute to your site" is a damn good clue to what the problem is. I repeat there has been a concerted effort by Hesi and his cohorts to lobby behind the scenes, often using the BOAY forum and facilities to do so, to undermine BOAY and attract contributors to a forum that Hesi is in charge of. Hesi (Heslop) threw his toys because he felt that because of the "work he did here" that I had a moral obligation to accept his demands on how to run BOAY. I felt no such obligation - I did NOT ask Hesi for support in the setting up of BOAY in fact I was very careful to say to him that I COULD NOT CONTROL WHAT HE WANTED TO DO and that it was entirely up to him. His actions caused me quite some grief. I had threats via email and texts from McKenzie and Molloy. I have several letters from Bell Gully and another legal firm threatening action for actions I had no part in. I'd love to post copies of that correspondence and more. Did I dob Hesi in or sacrifice him to the "suits"? NO. Do I have any obligation to Hesi for any work he did? NO. I did not lobby Peter J or Jason to join the site and promote their competitions. The moral argument of "after everything I did for you surely you can support me" does not hold any water when it conflicts with the principles of BOAY. IF it did then you would have the likes of Molloy and MacKenzie BUYING favours and controlling the conversations. I'm not a mercenary in that respect and is one of the reasons why I left Racecafe.

Write photo caption here by replacing this text. Tactical Landing (3, 1:50.4), the fastest harness racing son of former champion trotter and now premier sire Muscle Hill (1:50.2), will be available to ‘Down Under’ breeders this season via frozen semen from Stallions Australasia. Not only was Tactical Landing a Breeders Crown champion – he won the three-year-old title last year – he was sired by a dual Breeders Crown champion, Muscle Hill, his dam, Southwind Serena 1:55.4 ($385,088) was a Breeders Crown champion at 3 and he ranks as a full brother to the Breeders Crown winner Mission Brief 1:50.4. Tactical Landing was a top racehorse in his own right, winning $812,300 from 16 starts – an excellent total in a brief career. As a three-year-old he won nine races and was four times placed from 14 starts for $810,800 and was one of the highest stakes-winning trotters in North America in 2018. Undoubtedly the highlight of his stellar three-year-old campaign was his front-end win in the $500,000 Breeders Crown Final at Pocono Downs, in which he defeated Met’s Hall and Crystal Fashion by open lengths in 1:52.2 on a sloppy track. Tactical Landing took his record of 1:50.4, winning a leg of the time-honoured Kentucky Futurity at Lexington and finished second in the $434,000 Final in a world record 1:50. He also captured a division of the $240,000 Bluegrass Stake in 1:51.2 at Lexington and an elimination of the $1.2 Hambletonian in 1:52.4 and was a strong third in the final. Tactical Landing closed out his campaign with a hard-hitting win in the $350,000 TVG Championship at The Meadowlands, sitting parked for the last half-mile and defeating 3YO Trotter of the Year Six Pack by 2-½ lengths in 1:51.8. An $800,000 yearling, Tactical Landing, a commanding individual, 16 hands, looks every inch the blood he represents. He is a son of the great Muscle Hill, the world’s leading living trotting sire and sire of sires, while his dam, Southwind Serena, is a daughter of arguably the greatest trotter of all-time, Italy’s Varenne. Southwind Serena has stamped herself as one of the finest broodmares of all-time. Besides Tactical Landing, she is also the dam of a dual world champion in Mission Brief, winner of 19 races and $1.5million and voted 2YO and 3YO Trotting Filly of the Year, Exemplar (1:53.2) and Earn Your Wings (1:54.8). The second dam, Spice On Ice (1:57.8) left five winners and is the grand-dam of the Kentucky Futurity winner Ice Attraction (1:50.2) and Canadian 2YO Filly Trotter of the Year The Ice Dutchess, while the third dam Spicy Bones produced six winners. Tactical Landing stood his first season at the prestige Southwind Farms in New Jersey this year. His service fee will be $16,500 including GST in Australia and $15,000 plus GST in New Zealand. by Peter Wharton View the full article

I’mallaboutthebase after her win at the Northern Southland Meeting “It was great to see Southland getting some of the chocolates for once. It was also good seeing U May Cullect getting up to get the job done,” said Southland trainer Steve Baucke after his mare I’mallaboutthebase won the $40,000 Listed Uncut Gems Mares Classic at Addington last night. From gate six driver Tim Williams positioned the mare three back on the running line with Flying Milly Mac setting the pace. The order remained the same until the top of the straight when I’mallaboutthebase was presented with the passing lane and she came through nicely to nail Flying Milly Mac by a length with Naiya Franco another length and a quarter back in third. The winning time was 3-12.7. “It worked out well. Her sister (Delight My Soul) was deadly three back on the fence. She’s (I’mallaboutthebase) proving to be just as deadly. Tim was stoked and it was just the perfect trip for her really.” The win was I’mallaboutthebase’s fourth in thirty six starts over three seasons. She has now won $64,898. I’mallaboutthebase is by underrated sire Shadow Play out of the In The Pocket mare Soleil D’or and was bred by Steve and his wife Carol. “When she was born she had a bit of a rear end on her. I rang Graeme Henley (from Alabar Stud) and told him I was going to call her I’mallaboutthebase. He said ‘are you sure’, and I said I am.” The Bauckes no longer own Soleil D’or. After I’mallaboutthebase was born they sold her to Aucklander Kevin Haycock who has an Auckland Reactor colt out of her. Soleil D’Or’s fifth foal Delight My Soul won seven races for the Bauckes. She was retired from racing earlier this year after being served by Sweet Lou. It was the first time Baucke has won a race at Addington. Four different drivers have now won on the Shadow Play mare; Craig Ferguson, Matthew Williamson, Blair Orange and now Tim Williams. It was the mare’s first black type win. She previously ran second behind Dizzy Miss Lizzy in the 2017 Group Three Caduceus Club Of Southland Fillies Mobile Pace. “We’ll give her a bit of a holiday now and we’ll line up again next season. There has been a bit of interest (buyers) in her but we’ve always wanted to keep her.” Bruce Stewart View the full article

U May Cullect. Boom Southland pacer U May Cullect continued on his winning way at Addington last night. He had to draw on all his reserves but he beat Classie Brigade by a nose. However after the win, the rumour mill began churning which owner Tom Kilkelly found disappointing. “The word round Christchurch is that the horse has broken down. I had a couple of phone calls this morning asking what had gone wrong with him. We don’t have any issues. Kirstin put him on the truck this morning and wrapped his legs and said there was no sign of anything. We’ll get him scanned on Monday just to make sure,” he said. In last night’s PGG Wrightson Standardbred Uncut Gems Classic driver Kirstin Barclay took U May Cullect to the front early before handing up to Classie Brigade and driver John Dunn. From there the pace was on. “They went down the back in 27. I think Dunn’s idea was to run us off our feet so that we couldn’t beat him.” Classie Brigade, U May Cullect, Triple Eight and Smokin By gapped themselves from the rest of the field and coming down the straight it became a battle of two mighty willing horses with U May Cullect beating Classie Brigade by a nose. “I was a wee bit concerned when he took the passing lane. He sprinted for a wee bit then he lost his way but Kirstin felt he just got lost because he’s never taken the passing lane. He’s always either lead or come round them. It was a bit tense in that he didn’t win by lengths like he normally does but he was racing against Cup horses.” Kilkelly wasn’t even sure whether it was a win or not. “Everyone round me reckoned he’d won but I didn’t know – I thought it was pretty close. There was only a nose in it. I was talking to Graham Court this morning and he said that’s the sign of a real good horse. They just dig in and have got that wee bit extra.” The winning time was 3-08.7 on a showery night, on an easy track. The New Zealand record for 2600 metre mobile of 3-05.5 is held by Sheriff. The run of Classie Brigade was full of merit and was only his third race back since a nine month injury break. Kilkelly says U May Cullect pulled up well and that now’s the right time for a break. “He’s a bit of a dumbo. I went down to the barn afterwards and washed him down and he was just standing there like he normally does. He’s definitely going to get a nice month in the paddock now.” Next on the cards will be the Hannon Memorial at Oamaru in September. “If we’re competitive we’ll carry on to the Cup.” Despite the horse’s rapid rise through the grades Kilkelly says there have never been any offers to buy him. “There’s never been any money put up. We’ve made it very very clear that he’s not for sale. I don’t care what the offers are. I’ve spend my life waiting for a good horse and this is it.” He says without doubt U May Cullect’s win at Addington last night was a career highlight, surpassing Shard Ark’s win in the 2009 Yearling Sales Series Final. “Shard Ark hadn’t done much until that race whereas the journey with this fella has been unbelievable.” Kilkelly says the horse’s notoriety has spread far beyond Southland. “I was sitting in the stand last night and there was a guy sitting just along from me and he said to me after the race ‘I was cheering louder than you were and I’ve flown down from Auckland just to watch this horse’. It was just an unbelievable feeling. Everyone at Addington congratulating us. Money can’t buy that.” Bruce Stewart View the full article

Trainer Chris Wood is hopeful he may have unearthed a leading prospect for the deep winter tracks over the next few months after Mr Incredibull broke his maiden status at Te Awamutu on Sunday. The Encosta De Lago four-year-old had provided glimpses of potential in his four raceday starts prior to Sunday’s 1400m maiden contest including an eye-catching finish for fifth at his last start at Pukekohe. Relishing the testing Slow9 track conditions on offer at Te Awamutu, Mr Incredibull looped the field at the 600m for rider Matt Cameron to dispute the pace before forging clear in the run home to score by a comfortable two and a half-length margin. Wood was delighted with the win as he shares in the ownership of the horse with Highview Stud principal Brent Gillovic and a syndicate of friends put together by another stable client. “It was nice to get the win as he hasn’t had a lot of luck so far in his career,” Wood said. “He was supposed to be sold up to Hong Kong but failed the vet so Brent Gillovic asked me if I wanted to race him. “One of the owners of Wooden Edge, Sam Durrant, got eight to ten of his mates together and they took a share while Gilly and I own the rest.” Wood believes Mr Incredibull has what it takes to work through the grades over the winter months provided he can find some suitable races for him. “He certainly seemed to handle that track today once he got out wide and rolling into it,” he said. “If that’s the case then he should be able to pick up another win or two as the real winter tracks are now upon us. “The problem will be the rating 65 grade he is now in as he meets horses that have won three or four times that drop back into the grade and that makes it hard for the one-win horse to compete. “I would like to see them reinstate a one-win only class in that grade to help those horses that struggle once they clear maidens.” The win for Wood came in a timely fashion as the meeting was abandoned shortly afterwards. Rider Jasmine Fawcett parted company with the Andrew Meikle-trained Gingee in race four near the 800m mark when amongst a group of five runners who were disputing the lead at that point of the race. Fawcett was taken to Waikato Hospital for x-rays that confirmed a broken arm but thankfully suffered no other major injuries in the nasty incident. Senior riders conducted an inspection of the track at the point of the fall and after discussions with stipendiary stewards, the decision was made to abandon the meeting. View the full article

Surprise Baby. Paul Preusker is still ruing the nose defeat of Surprise Baby in The Andrew Ramsden Stakes which cost the stayer a guaranteed start in the Melbourne Cup. Surprise Baby and eventual winner Steel Prince staged a two-horse war up the Flemington straight on May 25 with the Anthony Freedman-trained gelding prevailing by the barest possible margin. Steel Prince earned a Cup ballot exemption for winning while Surprise Baby was in a distressed state post-race before quickly recovering and has enjoyed time in the paddock since. Surprise Baby will soon return to Preusker’s stable to begin his quest for a start in the Melbourne Cup at Flemington in November. Preusker has not mapped out a plan on how to get to the big race, but said The Bart Cummings, at Flemington in October, was a logical step. Like The Andrew Ramsden, The Bart Cummings gives the winner ballot-free entry into the Melbourne Cup. “What a difference a nose makes. That was cruel really but anyway, that’s life,” Preusker said. “I haven’t mapped out a program yet but the obvious one is The Bart Cummings that I’ll line up in, but I’ll probably listen to my horse and see how he does as to how we get there. “That’ll be his first target and then hopefully the big one.” Preusker said he does not want to give Surprise Baby too much more time off, preferring to keep some residual fitness on the gelding. “He seems really good,” Preusker said. “He’ll come back into the stable shortly. I don’t want him out for too long as he is a horse that does a bit better when he’s in work. “He’s a busy horse. We’ll keep pottering around with him and keep him happy.” Surprise Baby has raced eight times, registering four wins, including the Group Two Adelaide Cup (3200m) at Morphettville at his sixth start. View the full article

Sampson second (outer) in the 2019 Ipswich Cup. Evergreen stayer Sampson confirmed his place in the Gr.3 Tattersall’s Cup (3000m) at Eagle Farm this coming weekend with a fighting run for second in the Listed Ipswich Cup (2150m) on Saturday. The Howie Matthews-trained nine-year-old never looked like shirking his task as he slugged it out with eventual winner Bergerac for the length of the Ipswich straight after working hard to dispute the pace for the last 800m of the contest. Matthews was thrilled with the run and the judgment exhibited by rider Mark Du Plessis who was having just his second raceday ride on the horse. “I said to Mark before he went out that I wanted him to use every ounce of his skill as a world class jockey to give the old boy his best chance at winning the race,” Matthews said. “We could see from the speed map that there wasn’t really a pacemaker in the race so I was keen for him to roll forward if he could. In saying that, you often get two or three others that think the same thing so I didn’t want to see him get caught in a war up front. “He (Sampson) was just a little tardily away so Mark did exactly the right thing by dropping him in and taking cover before asking him to come into the race when he did. “He won the New Zealand St. Leger (2600m Listed) at Trentham with a similar effort and he nearly pulled it off again on Saturday.” Matthews is thrilled with how his charge has settled into the Australian environment as he looks towards to his next challenge at Eagle Farm. “He is loving it over here as it is like being at home in the summer,” he said. “It is normally around 27 degrees and he has blossomed. “He has certainly paid his way and there are numerous other opportunities for him that are coming up over the next few weeks. “He looks an excellent chance in the Tatts Cup this weekend as the 3000m will be perfect for him while there is also the option of the Caloundra Cup (2400m Listed) a week later if he pulled up alright. “A month later there is the Queensland Cup (3200m Listed) at Eagle Farm again so we are a little spoiled for choice if he can maintain his form and the handicapper treats him well.” Matthews advised that once Sampson’s current campaign was concluded he would spell him in the warmer Queensland weather before making any future plans for the horse. View the full article

The local training partnership of Chris Gibbs and Michelle Bradley were back to doing what they do best on their home patch at Ruakaka on Saturday – producing winners. The pair picked up four victories and six placings from their 18 runners on the day with none more impressive than three-year-old Mac Attacka. The Makfi gelding had impressed when making a winning debut at the venue back in May but followed up with a disappointing run on a Heavy10 surface at Ellerslie earlier this month. Back to a Dead5 track on the weekend, Mac Attacka produced a sustained finish from well back on the home corner to defeat his age-group rivals over 1600m, including stablemate Quizmaster who finished runner-up. “It was good to see him bounce back like that after the disappointment of Ellerslie,” Chris Gibbs said. “In hindsight, we probably shouldn’t have run him that day but we thought with his breeding he might cop it on a wet track and we were looking to see if he was worth taking to Queensland for a hit and run raid on the Sunshine Coast Guineas (Gr.3 1600m). “That hasn’t panned out for him but he did remind people of what he is capable of on Saturday.” Immaturity issues contributed to a late appearance on the track for Mac Attacka but Gibbs is confident he is over those problems now. “He trialled up as a two-year-old but he just wasn’t mature enough and he picked up a few of those niggly issues you get with younger horses as a result of that,” Gibbs said. “He is definitely getting much better these days so I think we will see an even better horse for his next campaign.” Gibbs was also impressed with the effort of emerging stayer Dragon Storm, who picked up his third career victory in the day’s opening event despite bungling the start of the 2100m contest. “That was a good performance from Dragon Storm and a good ride by Matt (Cameron) as he didn’t panic when he missed away,” he said. “Matt said he reared as the gates opened so he had to ride for luck from there on and he managed to find some. “We think he has a lot of potential as a stayer but the issue has been trying to find a race for him. He looks like an out and out mile and half horse but there simply aren’t many of those races available in the lower grades. “We are trying to get his rating up so we can have more options available to him. He is rising five-year-old and if we can get him into some of the better staying races next season, I think he can be competitive as he has that ability to quicken off a good tempo which is essential for a stayer.” Gibbs also reported that dual Group One winner Danzdanzdance would be heading back to the stable in the next week after completing a month of pre-training at co-owner Kylie Bax’s property. “Danzdanzdance has been thriving down at Kylie’s and she will be back in the stable sometime next week,” he said. “She looks amazing and we can’t wait to get her back. “We are currently working out what her spring programme will look like as there are so many options available to her. “I’m heading to Melbourne for a couple of days on Monday to look at the logistics of a campaign there but we also need to consider Sydney for her. “With great prize-money in both Melbourne and Sydney we just need to work out what our best option is.” View the full article

Hanger (inner) is about to claim Spider as he surges to victory at Ruakaka An inch-perfect ride from Ryan Elliot has seen progressive galloper Hanger return to the winner’s enclosure when successful over 1400m at Ruakaka. The O’Reilly gelding had been in indifferent form since winning first-up over 1200m at Awapuni back in January. A disappointing last start-performance at Te Rapa back in April saw trainers Roger James and Robert Wellwood give him time to get over that run and some impressive trackwork during the week had them confident of a bold showing. Allowed to drift back from a wide barrier by Elliot, Hanger was giving the leaders a healthy start with 500m to run as the field fanned wide approaching the home bend. Elliot hugged the rails with Hanger who produced a sustained finishing burst to snatch victory from local galloper Spider by a bare nose as the pair hit the finish line locked together. “It’s great to see him back to winning form as on his day he has any amount of ability but he can do things wrong,” Wellwood said. “I wanted Ryan to let him find his feet early on and come with one run and he handled him perfectly. “To be fair, where I was standing, I thought we were going home with the consolation prize so to get the win was a surprise and a very pleasing one at that.” Wellwood will sit down with James to plan a schedule for Hanger over the winter months although they do have in mind a feature event in the South Island as a possible target. “Now that he has found some form, I’m hopeful he can maintain that level,” Wellwood said. “He doesn’t mind some cut in the track so we can pick and choose where we take him over the next couple of months. “We have talked about the possibility of tackling the Winter Cup (Gr.3 1600m) at Riccarton in early August so we may look at a plan that can get him there as long as he is doing everything right.” Wellwood was philosophical with the performance of stablemate Killarney who dropped away in the home straight after giving plenty of cheek up until then. “He (Killarney) has had his issues but we thought we had him somewhere near his best for today,” he said. “Obviously there is something not quite right with him so we will take him home and have him checked out as when he is at his peak, he would have been very competitive in a race like that.” View the full article

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Ruby Guru. Tough Toowoomba mare Ruby Guru will get her chance in the Listed Ipswich Cup (2150m) after trainer Michael Nolan decided she had too much weight in a restricted class race. The consistent Ruby Guru would have been favourite in the Provincial Stayers Final (2500m) also at Ipswich on Saturday. When Ruby Guru got 59kg in the Stayers’ Final and 54kg in the Cup, Nolan said he took a punt and accepted in the Listed race. “As it turned out a couple of the higher weighted horses in the Cup didn’t accept and we have probably pulled the right rein,” Nolan said. “It would have been a big ask to lump 59 kilos around a tight track like Ipswich. Not that I don’t think she will run out a strong 2500 metres. “I think she is a genuine stayer and she will get her chance at those trips later.” Ruby Guru, a New Zealand bred daughter of Gallant Guru, was a last-start winner over 2400m at the Sunshine Coast but Nolan has no worries about her coming back in distance. “I say that provided the track is dry. I know she has some placings on wet tracks but really she doesn’t get through it,” Nolan said. “Her only bad run was on a really heavy track at the Gold Coast but the rest of her form is good. “Anyway there is no sign of rain so that is a bonus.” Nolan has booked Dale Smith for Ruby Guru after apprentices have ridden the mare at her past two starts. “We’ve had a lot of luck with Dale since he moved up here from Victoria and he is a jockey with a heap of big-race experience,” Nolan said. The Ipswich Cup is a race Nolan would dearly love to win after his former top galloper Jumbo Prince was minor placed in it twice in recent years. “Jumbo didn’t have much luck either time and hopefully it will be third time lucky,” Nolan said. His father Paul Nolan Sr won the Ipswich Cup with Paul’s Folly in 1998 and the gelding went on to win that year’s Caloundra Cup. Ruby Guru could follow a similar path into the Sunshine Coast race on June 29. “She has a good record at the Sunshine Coast,” Nolan said. -AAP View the full article

Torcedor. Former Te Akau runner Torcedor is being set to tackle the Gr.1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) later this year. The son of Fastnet Rock won two Group Three races for his former high-profile owners, who included Sir Patrck Hogan, Sir Peter Vela, Mohammed Moussa, and Laurie Laxon. Torcedor also went on to place at Group One level in the Goodwood Cup (3200m), Ascot Gold Cup (4000m) and Irish St Leger (2800m) before his sale to Australian Bloodstock. Now in the care of Andreas Wohler, Australian Bloodstock co-director Jamie Lovett said her will head towards the Melbourne Cup after missing the famous race last year with a high temperature. “He’s currently in work and on target to come out for this year’s Melbourne Cup,” Lovett told Racing.com. “He’ll probably have a couple of runs, maybe second-up in the Prix Kergorlay (Gr.3, 3000m), before traveling to Australia.” Torcedor was purchased by Te Akau principal David Ellis for 70,000 Euro at the 2013 Deauville Yearling Sales in France. View the full article

Lemmy Douglas. Jumps jockey Lemmy Douglas was injured when his mount The Bieber fell at the third hurdle in the Open Phar Lap Raceway Hurdles (3000m) at Timaru on Friday. Douglas took a heavy fall on the $2.60 favourite and has shoulder and collarbone injuries. The 25-year-old Englishman will not be riding at Awapuni on Saturday. $22 chance Additup won the event, while Delacroix was an impressive winner over the bigger fences when taking out the Equine Veterinary Services Steeples (4280m). View the full article

The Hawke’s Bay foal walk will take place on June 30. The Hawke’s Bay/Poverty Bay Thoroughbred Breeders’ annual foal walk around several properties in Hawke’s Bay will be held on Sunday, June 30. The walk will start at Guy and Brigid Lowry’s property at 305 Kawera Rd, Okawa, at 10am sharp. At the completion of the foal walk a luncheon has been arranged at Off The Track Restaurant in Havelock Rd. For luncheon bookings RSVP Sharyn Craig at mike.sharyn@xtra.co.nz View the full article

Wet track specialist Rosewood could add a tenth win to her record on Saturday. Wet track specialist Rosewood will get her favoured heavy 11 surface on Saturday when she lines-up in the Redstag Open Handicap (1500m) at Awapuni, and trainer Marilyn Paewai is hoping she can go one better than last start. The daughter of Redwood was luckless when runner-up to Dolcetto in the Listed Ag Challenge Stakes (1600m) after a gap closed on her down the straight and she had to regather her momentum to make a late inside dash. Paewai was philosophical about the run and said her five-year-old mare has pulled up well after that run. “It’s just one of those things, I don’t think Lisa (Allpress, jockey) could see too well,” Paewai said. “She was on her second pair of goggles and it was just a split second decision to go (for the gap). She saw the gap and thought it was there and it closed, but that’s just the way it is. “The horse has come through it very well. In those sort of situations I always think that you are lucky to come through it unscathed.” Rosewood thrives on wet tracks, having won eight of her nine starts on a heavy track, and Paewai believes she can add a tenth victory to her record on Saturday. “She galloped really well the other morning. She just loves the conditions at this time of year,” she said. “If you have got a horse like that, it is easy for her in a way, because she can just go through it (heavy track), while most of the other horses are struggling.” Rosewood was set to carry 60kg, however, Paewai has elected to utilise apprentice jockey Hazel Schofer’s four kilo claim. “We had to get the weight relief,” Paewai said. “We knew that we were going to get 60kg and Lisa (Allpress) said she can’t carry that, so we have to do something about it, so that is why we have decided to put Hazel on. She will do her own thing, the barrier (six) doesn’t really matter with her because she jumps out with them and then she goes back, and that is what she is going to do.” TAB Bookmakers have installed Rosewood as a short-priced $1.80 favourite, ahead of Dez at $5.50, however Paewai is not overly pleased with the favourite label. “I hate that, I would rather go out the underdog,” she said. “I don’t like going out favourite, it just adds to the pressure a little bit. “I’m never overconfident. I think she will go a good race, I expect her to, and she will handle the track, but I never know until they are past the post.” While Paewai expects a strong performance from her mare, she admits her future racing plans are up in the air at the moment for the medium-sized mare. “That’s a little bit up in the air and will all depend on what she does tomorrow,” she said. “If she does win she is going to get more weight, so then I suppose we would have to look at weight-for-age. She can only carry so much weight.” View the full article

Heslop you got your nose out of joint because I wouldn't kowtow to your demands. You wanted to be in charge and moderate in much the same way as the site you first left does. You're two faced and before you pull the personal abuse card it's a fact. Your hypocrisy knows no bounds much the same as the Government you support.

Hesi your name has been published here many times. YOU are the hypocrite. Why don't you share your personal messages? Or do you just work behind the scenes?

Alan Heslop's alternative site. Apparently I run a crap site. But I'm sticking with free speech.

Rule Number(s): 534 - Authority to Scratch HorsesPrior to the running of Race 3 Stipendiary Steward Mr Balcombe filed Information A11610 seeking a ruling as to whether Trainer Mr G Vile's 3 remaining runners at the meeting could be scratched.View the full article

Rule Number(s): 534At an earlier hearing today Mr Vile had sought permission to late scratch his horse from Race 3 and his 2 horses from Race 7 due to testing nature of the track. That request was declined by the Judicial Committee in terms of Rule 534. Subsequent to that hearing Mr Vile advised the Stewards that he had ...View the full article

Rule Number(s): 638(3)(b)(ii)Following the running of Race 6, the “Whangaehu O’Learys Maiden 1200”, Information A11611 was filed by Stipendiary Steward Mr D Balcombe under Rule 638(3)(b)(ii). The Information stated "J Baillie used his whip excessively prior to the 100m without the necessary respite”. Mr Baillie signed the Information ...View the full article

Sampson will contest the Listed Ipswich Cup (2150m) on Saturday. Howie Mathews has Sampson in first-class order for Saturday’s Listed Ipswich Cup (2150m) but the Otaki trainer has his eye on an even bigger prize seven days later. Mathews, whose current Queensland adventure could lead to a more permanent move to the sunshine state, is using the Ipswich Cup as a springboard to Saturday week’s Gr.3 Tattersall’s Cup (3000m) at Eagle Farm. “If we get a bit of rain between now and then, that’s when he’s got a really big chance – up over 3000m and back to Eagle Farm,” Mathews said. “He’s going to measure up. He’s getting better and better physically as well as in his overall well-being in this weather.” Mathews has the Group Two winner based at Eagle Farm with trainer Desleigh Forster, the Dubai Destination nine-year-old having run fourth at Flemington and seventh in the Listed Warrnambool Cup (2350m) before a luckless first-up Brisbane run in the PJ O’Shea Stakes (2200m) at Doomben. “He went a huge race at Flemington. He hadn’t had a run for five weeks and needed it,” Mathews said. “So we backed him up seven days later in the Warrnambool Cup and it was a terrific run. To finish two lengths from the winner, we were very pleased with that. That gave us the encouragement to put him on a truck and come north. “Things didn’t quite go our way in the PJ O’Shea Stakes but he has done very well since.” Bred by Warren Pegg, who enjoyed Gr.2 Queensland Guineas (1600m) success as the co-breeder of Kolding at Eagle Farm last week, and raced by Mathews’ wife Lorraine and her friend Janice Street, Sampson has drawn the outside barrier of 11 for the Ipswich Cup for rider Mark Du Plessis. “I’m glad he’s drawn where he has. I’ve just told Mark to let him roll along and run his own race,” Mathews said. “His work this week has been fantastic. The Ipswich track is quite a tight, turning track but if he can roll along and relax, he can run a really big race.” Mathews revealed he has fielded offers for work in Queensland and has plans for he and Lorraine to make the shift a permanent one. “This is my semi-retirement. I’ve wound things down in Otaki and I’d love to stay on here. That’s my dream,” he said. TAB bookmakers have Sampson at $16 for the Ipswich Cup and the Tony Pike-trained Terra Sancta at $7.50 in a market headed by Fighting Teo at $3.50. View the full article

Write photo caption here by replacing this text. For many of the horses racing at Alexandra Park tonight this is as good as it gets. The best stakes in the country, equivalent to the peak of summer, but not having to take on the superstar younger horses because most are in winter hibernation. Winter at The Park is the ideal season for horses who wouldn’t shine at the premier meetings to try to earn a year’s training fees without a Cup horse in sight. That is the story for most racing there tonight and it makes you wonder why more trainers don’t set their lesser horses for the off-season. Maybe some day they will. But among the brave battlers and untapped youngsters tonight there will be a horse with a totally different aim. His name is Perfect Stride and he is trying to win his way to the Breeders Crown. That A$300,000 finale comes up in Victoria in late August and with the news the big name babies from the Jewels aren’t going, Perfect Stride now looms as a serious contender. His trainer Ray Green knows what it takes to win the Breeders Crown juvenile, he did it with King Of Swing a couple of seasons ago, being smart enough to go where New Zealand’s elite weren’t. With big-spending owner Emilio Rosati always keen to chase the glamour races, Green is aiming Perfect Stride at the same Aussie pot of gold. “The owners are keen and I think he is good enough to be very competitive,” says Green. “The series is a bit more challenging this year because the heats and semis are also in Victoria but that also means some other horses from here aren’t going. “So if he races as well in the next few weeks as we expect then he will go.”Perfect Stride is the younger brother of WA superstar Chicago Bull and has the family ability. He had the natural speed to go with the better early season two-year-olds and missing the autumn features wouldn’t have done him any harm. Punters who took the long odds-on about him at Cambridge last week would have felt sick when first a hydraulic malfunction on the mobile meant his race was a moving star (admittedly a good one) and then Perfect Stride had a torrid time being attacked in front. He only just went down and Green says he is trained on well so he should be winning race five, even against southerner Divinia Bellezza, who stunned when second to Elle Mac in the Jewels two weeks ago. Green loves the winter racing stakes are thinks Lindi Lincoln (race two), The Empress (race four) and Man Of Action (race 10) all have good each way chances. But for many harness punters the focus of the night will be Addington’s Uncut Gems meeting, featuring the unbeaten pride of Southland racing U May Cullect. He meets two good horses in Triple Eight and Classic Brigade but he should simply be too fast. Michael Guerin View the full article

American Ideal. Dominant ‘dual hemisphere’ harness racing stallion American Ideal will stand the coming 2019/20 breeding season in Victoria. Woodlands Stud NZ, in conjunction with Dr Kath McIntosh’s Northern Rivers Equine at Kyabram, will stand the brilliant son of Western Ideal in the heart of standardbred country in Victoria’s Goulburn Valley. American Ideal remains one of the 21stCentury’s most influential stallions in both hemispheres. American Ideal’s progeny now has earnings of over $110,000,000 million and his CV runs very deep with thirteen millionaires and 44 in the 1.50 list! American Ideal remains a rich source of winners at all racing levels. Watch American Ideal pace his record of 1:47.4 in 2005 Dr Andrew Grierson, principal of Woodlands Stud, is excited about the move of American Ideal to Victoria. He commented, ‘Australian breeders have supported American Ideal significantly in recent seasons and his race track results combined with outstanding yearling results made the decision to send American Ideal to Victoria an easy one’. ‘We are delighted to work along side one of Victoria’s most progressive vet’s in Dr Kath McIntosh and her staff. ‘In a results driven business, Northern Rivers Equine is a standardbred leader in Victoria. We look forward to a successful and long-term relationship’ said Dr Grierson. A beautiful natured and intelligent stallion, American Ideal will be a significant addition to the Australian standardbred ranks. His progeny continues to deliver as juveniles and at the Grand Circuit level. His is now starting to impact as a broodmare sire also. In Australia, American Ideal has left 173 bred Australian winners from 231 starters and they have amassed $11,000,000 million, an average of a remarkable $47,000 per starter to end of May 2019. The depth of American Ideals progeny in Australia has continued into the 2018/19 season. He is currently the leading dollar average sire in Australia for 2yo’s at $23,000. His daughter Pelosi is comfortably the best 2yo filly in Australia following her dominant Australian Pacing Gold final victory. To watch Pelosi win this race click on this link. For the 2019/20 season American Ideal service fee in Australia will be $11,000 GST INC and in NZ $10,000 + GST. Normal discounts will apply and semen will be available to NZ Breeders. American Ideal already has a significant number of early bookings in Australia for the 2019/20 season. View the full article

Minister for Racing Winston Peters announced today that the Government has invested $389,351 in 17 projects to improve safety at racecourses. The grants are made available through the Racing Safety Development Fund which provides $1 million annually to racecourse safety across two funding rounds. This year’s second funding round has supported a range of infrastructure projects including track maintenance equipment, mobile barrier vehicle upgrades, replacement running rails and a greyhound track LED lighting upgrade. The fund plays an important role in supporting the safety of the racing industry for animals, staff and the wider public. The next funding round opens for applications on 31 July 2019 and closes on 25 September 2019. New Zealand’s racing clubs, and the respective code bodies, are encouraged to apply to the Fund where there are safety improvements that need assistance. View the full article