Happy Sunrise

....and pay the whip fine after winning the race lol

Both of those bosses are 2 of the most accomplished horse people in the entire history of harness racing so no shame there. What was wrong with his drive on Smooth Deal? I don't know what more he could have done.

If I may say your logic is skewed. Her drive had no influence on Tim W's drive. The drive on Smooth Deal was near enough perfect. Worked softly to lead. Had easy led. The horse wasn't up to it.

Tough marker again. Too tough I feel. 2 wins and a second on All-Stars and there is still something wrong with his driving? Rest of his results were pretty good too. Smooth Deal had it pretty easy and still got beat by a stablemate who looks simply better. Not sure it was the driver.

Whoever gets to the markers pegs will win anyway.

Too true. Goes without saying, G12. ?

You are a tough marker. Which one is ever the best, I think a field with a couple of All-Stars guns AND a highly competitive field is the best thing that one could hope for.

From the ODT. Good stuff. Friday, 3 May 2019 Turn it up! Harness racing system problematic By Jonny Turner Last week harness racing trainers gave a damning report on the country's ratings-based handicapping system in this paper. The comments seemed certain to get industry participants talking, and they did not disappoint. Clearly there needs to be some kind of change to harness racing handicapping. While I certainly back the need for change, I can also see why that is difficult. I believe the current handicapping system is just one part of what is a dark reality for harness racing. And it is likely that it could be the same case for other codes, countries and jurisdictions. The current ratings system actively rewards horses for getting beaten. Run down the track and lose rating points, and a horse can compete at a lesser rating in its next start. It sounds like a terrible idea to most. However, the cold and dark reality of this is that the wider industry actually benefits from this scenario. Harness racing has a shrinking horse population, and needs as many competitive horses in racing as possible. Simply put, the industry simply needs and wants horses starting to provide a betting product. Some will win, some will lose, and the industry will bank its cut of the turnover. I do not like it, but it's part of the demise of a once-thriving industry. The ratings system is simply a reflection of the entire harness racing game. Fewer horses are in work, fewer horses are being bred and the ratings system, which is designed to help the industry deal with that, is the fall guy. Because of that scenario, the ratings system is likely to be here to stay. It needs to provide a platform for any horse to be competitive, regardless of its age, experience or previous record. The current system has revived the careers of many horses who would have been uncompetitive under the previous system. That is a good thing. The message from trainers is that some of the good from that is coming at the expense of other horses. They contend that once a horse is out of the maiden grade, its career prospects are immediately bleak if it is not a future top-liner. They contend that the very system that is designed to extend a horse's career is limiting it. That sounds like a major flaw! The question is: why is this the case? The answer looks simple. Obviously the system has some flaws, and the way it assigns points needs adjusting. One of the most glaring flaws in the transfer of points is the current system not awarding points to placegetters. If it does not penalise placings, the system can not be considered to be a true ratings system. It may still be a rating system by name, but it is a far cry from the properly-designed ratings systems which are used successfully throughout the world. Why the removal of placing points was allowed to happen is baffling. What were the committee that oversee the system thinking? They need to admit defeat on this point and other flaws the system has in the interests of harness racing. And two things should happen. Firstly, officials should not give up on having a ratings system because the current one is a shambles. A properly-designed system should benefit the industry. So, officials, associations and individuals should put all of their past agendas and manoeuvres aside. The industry needs to admit the current system is not working, and work to rebuild a better one. Look overseas - that is where these ratings systems were born, and where they thrive. Let's get rebuilding this thing, and quickly... before any more young horses end up on the scrap heap. Happy trails. https://www.odt.co.nz/sport/racing/turn-it-harness-racing-system-problematic

The way Enhance Your Calm just won, and with Winterfell and King's Landing in the barn ready for big futures, I would suggest the safe haven that was once the All-Stars free trotter's ranks are long gone, but this could make the trotting even more of a spectacle in the open ranks over the next few years. Could be the best racing in ages.

Guerin M5:R1 - 4 Though he had drawn wide, the driver did his best to find the holy grail of racing, a place to be grasped early in the race, he did not want to empty his charge wide on the track like a lowly servant so he moved heaven and earth to find the desired and treasured place to be, the only place where all winners are anointed... the humble marker pegs. This marker peg crap is never-ending. Honestly, I am over it. Worse than all dressed up and nowhere to go.

It is tricky to find the end of the rainbow.

Winterfell is better looking...

Winterfell.

I wish I knew why it happened. I am not making it up. It just freezes and goes weird. HRNZ site will be ok. When it was so good before and you try to improve it, of course, there will be resistance. Lets see in two weeks when people have had a decent look around. Unfortunately, I can't say the TAB website has passed that test for me or the people I know who use it. General dissatisfaction would sum it up.

It just keeps crapping out. My phone is no dud but it is so slow and simply won't work a fifth of the time. "Something went wrong..." seems to be the motto of the site for me.

I want to say the HRNZ site is made for better phone usage as most people will use their phone to look at it I suppose. But that makes no sense at all as the TAB site is shit whatever you are on. Seems like change for change sake to me.

Must be made for old fellas...?

Off to USA according to HRNZ. Probably a good decision as I think his time is up here. Be very interested to see how he goes as I think he is a bit past it ( famous last words)...hope not Julian Savea like. He won enough but is he a great?

Which is?

I haven't seen any races from Manawatu but I must say you are one hell of a committed punter/harness racing follower. Kudos.

They do call the shots, don't they. I see it was scratched. Interesting isn't it. Would they know it was scratched and offer unbelievable odds to entice punters and then they lose their money once the scratching is made official? Surely not.

Bored, so was looking through the odds for Manawatu to see what was happening. Then saw the odds in race 6 for Lincoln Moment at 201FF but it is not live anymore (or if it ever was) Did anybody back it at this price?

Brodie doesn't guess. He is always right. ?

I think he has more than enough to get by. Experience beats the $$ for me.

I doubt it. Seems like his mojo is increasing all the time in the USA. He won't be back for a while if he has any sense. Milk the experience for all it is worth I say.