Shad

Yes I do believe it was, a horse called grand boy from memory paid over 300 to win back in the very early years but I know there was a big win div some years later at riccarton, was definitely an oncourse only meeting.

From memory oncourse only meeting had the record for one of biggest win dividends ever posted,.

He was a bit of an icon in those days,sold the art union tickets,then golden kiwi,used to bike everywhere, not sure if he was connected to a local horse called velebit, I think one of the locals from diggers hotel may have had a interest, but was a long time ago, not sure on the mundys, do remember chappie.

From memory one of my friends dad owned parkhouses book shop, his name was Bob Hawes,was a good rugby player,but turned to league,played for Bradford northern,wasn't the done thing changing codes way back then,his wife run another small shop called the buller book club, which was next to the queen Anne store, also called metcalfs was famous for there pies in the day, the secret recipe been handed down, and shop is known as freckles, and use the same recipe, you'd probably remember the local barber tobacco nist at the time, Peter Phibbs, also had an interest in the harness horses,

The craddocks well known trotting family in the buller, Trevor always trained the kdd handy one, remember the days if the DC3 coming to Westport, karamea grow good tamarillos amongst other things, very much warmer climate, Noel Simpson a former resident that arranged the Chiefs trip to America.

Heap of pubs there, a few less these days, pity the old iconic pig n whistle pub not open anymore, I know derby street, buller high school, and the hospital store dairy, Saint Canices school, Karamea the land of milk and honey its known, the oparara arches very popular, Domett Street stable of the famous Durban Chief, bit before my time.

Very true, and didn't bother me as they raced on the Tuesday, only remember the fact as we had a horse racing, somethings just stick in your head.

Not the first time this has happened, 17th July 2017, raced on the Tuesday after canceling the Sunday, duecto hesvyrsin and flooding

Great news, restores the faith in honest people, I to thought they'd turn up, but never a given I guess.

One cant understand just why the haven't turned up, no use to anyone else,have their own identity, and very traceable to anyone that has them, not to mention the cost of replacing them, shame there's a few not so many good people in this country, fingers crossed they do surface, hopefully your not racing of to the races to soon, and they do turn up, good luck.

Won't argue with you on that score, been caught out a few times, well I guess not, as the changing odds, were never achievable, shouldn't happen, many fine memories of the hoki races in the early days, quite a few trainers on the coast, Pope an hurren a couple locals I remember, Jim Keenan was president then, think he had a handy mare called Maundy Money, back then, a couple of horses I used to follow, ernest, a nice looking black, gaucho, the good ole days the manual tote, not quite the same as the tv monitors these days, or the infield jockeys board.

This has been happening for a very long time, I got caught when a fixed odds changed from 32 to 52, no chance to get the better odds, very poor considering today's technology, I'm sure it's just a tease, but very frustrating, gone are the days of the balloon going up, tote closed.

Agree with that, time to let sleeping dogs lie.

Some say bring back buck.

Seems these days ya can't give them away, even on the thoroughbred site, yearlings 2 yrs olds,broodmares in foal, some with foal at foot as well,for similar prices, may not be royalty bred, but nothing wrong with their breeding, and many bargains have been found, just a sign of the times, cost of breeding and racing a horse, the odds of getting winners is firmly stacked against you, the next generation have many other forms of entertainment, just have to look at how popular gaming is.

Thought he was Jack's brother.

Heck, don't tell me the good ole days of the hedges are now gone, at least they used to provide a challenging jump for the competitors, they've always provided a great spectacle.

All the best to him for his recovery, have enjoyed his articles that he writes, keep us updated on his progress.

Every dog has its day, even the Clark barn scored a win with big al.not sure when their last winner was, but good on them both, one for the battlers.

Certainly a race to remember for all the wrong reasons, very bad smash, one of the worst I've seen, the good ole days of trotting, Basil Dean one of my favourites, a golden era of trotters,to which I feel we'll never return to, the days of big crowds an atmosphere, oh the memories, the novelty of the night trots at Victoria Park in greymouth, the only venue on the coast with the lights, now just a barron piece of land, the open class trotting race alway drew a top field, memories never forgotten.

Hope the starting gates in right place

Nice drive today on deceptively, just wondering if she never carries a whip, or maybe my eyes need testing, obviously a kind driver if she doesn't

Tough call, I on the other hand been the benefactor of two of her drives on the coast, with Sinai Sermon, first day drove for luck and got the gaps, reefton put him in the perfect trail, and drove him well today I guess we see what we want to and talk through our pockets, but I think she's drives fine, but each yo their own.

Yeah was some time ago, 80s, may haven been 50, but the few he had over the years were wet trackers, a filly by grey gull, how had ample ability, as a maiden even 3 win horses couldn't get near her at trackwork or trials, unfortunately the race day, was the total opposite, showed hardly an ounce of it, ended with a maiden win with Maurice Campbell aboard a second an a 4th, her half brother which he was tempted to buy, but being a colt, with a filly, not ideal he thought,won 17 races or thereabouts some over the jumps to, two others one by approval, the one by sucaryl, who showed plenty, but went lame, hewy rode him most of his starts, oh the memories and the heartbreak of race horses, thanks for your opinions, a lot of the old arts been lost forever.

You would think judging of pace would be a given, and a major skill of race riding, I know you've trained for many a year now, what in your opinion would you put it down to, lack of teaching, lacked interest, or just the need for speed, also do many trainers still use the stopwatch in trackwork, I remember my old friend had one that never left the pocket, even take it races day, he would send me to to the winning post on track work day, with it as a kid, instructions where the 800m mark was to click it on, his rule was you'd have be able to run a last half in around the 52s give or take to be competitive to go to the races, if they were to slow, he'd quip, well bring the alarm clock next time, watching some horses these days some wouldn't be close to these times on race day, hence why many aren't competitive, admittedly many other factors can come into it on race day, but from what I see sometimes I think, are these horses doing the times to be competitive, or are many going to the races on a whim and a prayer, at a cost to owners and punters. be very interested in your thoughts.