Happy Sunrise

While we moan about certain harness things it seems it is par for the course. Here is somebody having a whinge to the newspaper on the 5th of June in 1889 about the handicapper! Not much hope of the new handicapping system being right since it has been stuffed for the last 130 years! I would like to also advocate all non All Stars runners at the Cup meeting next year have a 60 second handicap ? Maybe they were true standing starts back in the day too ?

Ghostwriter Race 2. Was 8.50 but now into 7. Worth a good look.

Yes. No. Because the rules do not allow for disqualification as they stand. Natalie played to the edge of the rules. That is within her right. She copped a soft fine and stand down but won the Cup. Fair dues to her.

Tis a valid point. Lets relegate all of them. I hereby declare the winner of the 2018 NZ Trotting Cup to be Raphoe. Settled.

Does a single strike with the whip make the horse go faster?

Thanks. I agree with you. However, I am often wrong. ?

Kids Kartz? Horse rehabilitation? Stipe's salaries? Stipe's coffee fund? May I recommend money goes into a 'Starters Refreshment Course'

But Brodie's point is valid. If this is merely a rule designed to protect the welfare of the horse so they are not hit more than 10 times, then the question has to be asked, does hitting a horse make it run faster at the end of the race? If they are mutually exclusive then the rule is fine but if a horse does indeed run faster (I presume that is why driver's hit their horse at the end of the race) then the penalties must be higher on the driver. It would be infuriating if a horse lost a race because the driver hit a horse 11 times. It would also mean each race's place getters would have to be checked before divvies are paid (imagine that) or else there would protests and uproar from everyone if they got it wrong. I think this is a driver issue and they should be fined a percentage of the stake rated on the number of times they have been found guilty. Natalie R should not be driving Friday and she should be fined 10% of the Cup Stake for being a serial offender and gaining an unfair advantage over other runners.....as an example!

Where does the money go?

What is the purpose of the rule? A mild welfare measure designed to protect horses only, with no material effect on the outcome of races? Aimed at the drivers actions only?

And Natalie Rasmussen who is a serial offender at the top of the pile still gets to drive on Friday. 3 days off from the end of racing on Friday to the 30th so she misses Geraldine, Banks Peninsula and Forbury. Now that is funny. I am actually chuckling to myself. Where is the punishment?

Your loyalty and persistence is admirable, longowner. But the fixer winning is classic considering the overall 'situation' at the moment whether guilty or not. It's ok to have a light hearted moment about a serious situation at times. Can help.

Does hitting a horse with whip mke it go faster? There could be the answer to your question. If yes, then maybe they should be put out as the whip is a performance enhancer. No different to anything else.

It actually brings attention to the issue when otherwise nobody would even bat an eyelid. Luckily no journalist is perceptive or interested enough in writing a story about excessive use of the whip to follow up the Melbourne Cup death. One could even bring up Kerryn Manning's bashing a few years ago. The story would get traction but as I say, no one cares enough.

A few weeks ago he was the best we had! Going through the motions...tends to be the way of it at the moment, especially when one looks at the Cup.

Horses fault. Read stipes report. Teflon Man slips away again.

Chump change to them. Shouldn't be allowed to drive on Friday. Next time, she needs to go for a month or two to show they are serious about animal welfare. Starting to get all a bit hollow otherwise.

Quite agree. Can't phantom that.

There is none. That is why the debate is so divisive and ongoing. Makes it tedious too but the ramifications in the long run could be quite large for the industry as a whole. PS. I believe the AllStars are a standard to be aspired too.

Was mentioned at the time that it would be a funny (!) win due to the circumstances. Seems to have slipped from the memory of everyone though!! Just goes to show that people's memories are very very short and nothing sticks for too long. Needless to say Natalie must be ecstatic with her win today!

The NZ Cup is over as a contest between trainers and drivers. The All-Stars have won four of the last five Cups. Look at the result of the junior free for all and the sires stake final. How many will the All Stars have in the race next year? What odds would you give right now for the winner to come from outside that stable? We could write the script now.

May not be a winning performance but Tiger Tara's guts and talent in the Cup today would take a lot of beating for the best performance by a horse this season.

I will suggest in years to come everyone will on sell their good horses. I will also suggest the NZ Cup will get weaker and weaker in years to come. I can see the field being 10 horses strong in a few years. It would take a lot of digging to find one better.

He didn't realize he was the only driver out there willing to make a move! For Tiger Tara to go round that far out and have to sit parked for the rest of the race just shows how pathetic the rest of the drivers were. They surely can't turn around and say we can't do that....

The All-stars are magnificent. They are just so dam good. Oh, to be part of that set up. The disagreement about the effect of this domination is a very divisive debate and probably not worth going into again. Unlike some, I can see both sides of it. I just hope this domination does not have effects 5 or 10 years down the track when all the big owners in other stables pull the pin because the juggernaut makes it too expensive and tough to continue.