Chief Stipe

Well done Reefton with winning the Grp 3 Taranaki Cup. You and I are now in the same esteemed company of owner a winner of the Taranaki Cup. Although when the horse I had a 10% share in (Madame Shinko) won it it was 2000m in distance and the field was very much stronger in 2006. We pulled off an incredible betting coup that day and the bookies must have hurt for weeks. We all backed her in from 20's to 5's. I know this is a little silly of me but one of the reasons I'm publically congratulating you is that someone who shall be nameless has labelled me a "niller, who has done nothing in racing" and has lied about having a Grp winner. She was my first horse and I went to all 52 starts including two in Brisbane. She was not unlike Consensus - a tough filly and mare who loved the top of the ground. When she won that day the track was rated an F1. As nearly all the field lined across the track about 150m out Darin Tyequin the commentator said - "....and they'll all lined up like Custers last stand"... I was the only one of the 17 strong syndicate on course and had the pleasure of leading her in, accepting the cup and giving a speech.

Yes it is a shame Newmarket. I didn't mean to offend Hesi. However call me a pig headed fool if you wish but I wanted to stand firm on a certain point. I asked Thomass if he would be OK in taking a holiday. I didn't have the time nor the energy to manage what seem a shyte fight on multi fronts. I also wanted to see the impact of Thomass not being around and to run the poll which I only did with Thomass's approval. In saying that nothing startling transpired and it seemed to be "onwards and upwards" business as usual.

Actually I've pulled back a little on this.....I was testing the waters to find out how certain people would behave. Been an interesting experiment.

I had a discussion with someone with good contacts to the inner sanctum. I know what I'm about to say isn't some great revelation Reefton but it is worth pondering. The plan is "draft" so it isn't a fait accompli that x and y racecourse will go and z will stay. What is a given is that there will be a push for rationalisation. Now I think it we all agree that there should be some form of rationalisation at some level. So NZTR is hoping that clubs on a regional basis can get together and formulate a plan for their area. Now anyone who is a West Coaster knows that Kumara is a hopeless case when compared to the other courses and for a number of strong reasons shouldn't stay. NZTR is greatly concerned about workplace safety and whether rightly or wrongly believes that most if not all of our courses need capital expenditure to reach a satisfactory legal requirement. That is the the biggest pressure and they consider that there must be some capital expenditure efficiencies through centralisation. So Reefton - is it possible to talk to the other clubs and formulate a regional plan?

You're kidding me? Westport?!

No there were other replies. Hesi is free to do whatever he wants to. Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't believe that I have contributed to the toxicity. Certainly I've only PM'd one person and been PM'd by two others. I've seen this all happen before on RC and I guess that given BOAY arose out of dissent then it is susceptible to its own. Live by the sword die by the sword. At the end of the day I'm not too worried - don't sweat the small stuff - there is some good stuff coming and I'm focussing on that. Cheers.

Yes I'm aware of the issue. Someone forwarded one to me. Can't say the content impressed me but I'm looking into it.

Some posters have been drawing comparisons between the concept of Free Speech on BOAY and other Forums. I'd like to point out the following differences: Freda posted on her knowledge of the use of cattle prods in horse training. She was publicly abused for making those comments. Note she didn't name anyone and the information wasn't hearsay that is she had seen it first hand; Another poster made the comment "I was asked by a trainer to use one once when riding their horse." That person didn't name names and spoke from experience. The response from the moderator was - "Prove it or retract it." That is ridiculous. So there are two examples of the differences in how forums are moderated.

I'd like to make it public that I placed HESI in the Post Approval Queue for the last few days. This is where the member is free to post however their post must be approved by the moderator before being seen public. As far as I'm aware this only affected one post. I do NOT see this as being hypocritical in terms of the principles of BOAY or for that matter being "disloyal." Loyalty seems to be a concept being loosely thrown around at the moment! I did it because I found Hesi was being openly destructive towards BOAY and I personally did not have the time to challenge those comments either on their validity or accuracy. I will also add that Thomass graciously accepted to have a complete holiday for last week.

Easy....just joking! I hear what you are saying however bear in mind that it is BOAY that has to manage the complaint process when events like this happen. Such is the price of running a forum no the edge.

LOL took less than ten minutes to get threats of legal action!!!!

Just be aware BOAY Greyhound folk a complaint has been made to the RIU regarding certain posts. Those concerned will have their privacy respected as per the policy of BOAY.

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On the dirty behind the scenes machinations and dealings of racing social media.

What Scooby was buying horses? I wonder with whose money.

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In the interests of balanced reporting can you post Chris Wallers rap sheet? I think you'll find it is equally impressive.

Rule Number(s): 638(1)(d)Following the running of Race 2 (PROFRUIT 1200m), an information was lodged by Mr D Balcombe alleging a breach of Rule 638(1) (d) in that Troy Harris (VIRTUOSO LAD) allowed his mount to shift inwards over the final stages when not clear. (Feed generated with FetchRSS)View the full article

Interesting the Tavistocks seem to be one hit wonders. Sure some have early on grabbed Grp races but they all seem to not carry on past that ending up with problems that stop them racing.

Yes Weasel some self moderation and restraint would be welcomed. If you want to see a real edgy forum (uses the same software as BOAY) go to http://forums.sailinganarchy.com/ Check out Americas Cup Anarchy and search on your favourite swear word e.g. four letters starting with f. It is a very popular site and as I have an interest in sailing I have found it very very informative.

Well what I will say is that I have been heartened by the the support both publically and privately. BOAY I guess has experienced some growing pains which comes with success. Contrary to some opinions the recent "sagas" haven't affected the overall statistics which is a relief. It shows that the support for the site is real. One of the problems that I have identified which is common with forums is where the community digresses very quickly from the thread topic and it ends up somewhere else. Thomaas is not the ONLY one who does that - in fact there are a large group of posters that do. Quite often someone misconstrues something and bites and then someone joins in and it becomes like the glorious food fight I remember from my Lincoln College days where a massive massive all in food fight started from someone just flicking a pea at someone with their teaspoon. Those scenarios I can't manage and it requires each community member to exhibit some tolerance and constraint. Also posters don't use the Report function much at all. Since BOAY's inception there have been 36 reports. Over half of those from one person. Contrary to what members may think I do not read every single post. I think I would go mad if I did but i don't because I don't have the time to read every post. So I react to reports. Now the alternative to the report system is moderate BEFORE the post goes public. This involves putting people in an approval queue which will rely on me reading each post and approving before publication. Another channel has this in play for quite a few posters. In my opinion it ruins the dialogue MORE than the odd bad post. Finally the Harmful Digital Communications Act is often bandied around and I have had a fair number of people either formally use it or reference it in their correspondence to me. The fact is the Act focuses on the individual that made the comments not the platform they used to make them. So beware when making comments online that you are not necessarily going to bring BOAY down but yourself.

In that respect I can't see how the new odds setting system reduces cost. Presumably they were going to lay off bookie staff but Allen has said that they are still setting the odds for local events. In the past they just copied overseas odds for non local events to start tye book which I guess didn't take much effort. Then managed the book based on the local pool. Now if they are using automated odds all the way through and the algorithm has less weight on the local pool then some serious value bets would arise. That is I know drawing a long bow on my part. I note we haven't seen any weekly turnover information for months. But the gossip is that there has been a big hit. I'm with Freda I can't see where the increased stakes are coming from and surely this Government is not going to give a handout to "the rich bastards who gamble and race horses"! I thought the proposed tax breaks were once again for the breeders.

Rule Number(s): Rule 638(1)(d)This charge followed the running of Race 6, the Team Wealleans 1600m. Mr Jones alleged that Mr D Mansour 'permitted his mount HELENAOFTROY to shift outwards when not sufficiently clear of SO YOU SPARKLE which was crowded and checked approaching the 200 metres.' Mr Mansour was present at the hearing and ... (Feed generated with FetchRSS)View the full article

Rule Number(s): Rule 638(1)(d)This charge followed the running of Race 4, the Tracks Concrete Ltd 2100m. Mr Jones alleged that Mrs Thornton 'permitted her mount SPECTRA to shift outwards inside the final 100m when not sufficiently clear crowding BECAUSE which was forced outwards onto MR LIKEABLE which was checked.' Mrs Thornton was ... (Feed generated with FetchRSS)View the full article