Happy Sunrise

Seems harsh but her bad ones do tend to be very public. She has still got some horses home at good odds over the years. She seemed to get on with Clasina Maria pretty well.

It is very encouraging to see Danni Alfield and Shannon Armour get their first wins in the last week. Great to see a new breed of trainer coming through. Natalie Rasmussen, Kirstin Barclay, Sam Ottley, Michelle Wallis, Amber Hoffman and Nicky Chilchott all are highly competent individuals and there are plenty more. I note only 3 out of the 12 drivers in the recent junior drivers Championship were female which surprises me a little. I would like to see more as I enjoy the colour variety females bring to the races. My favourite is Kaite Cox. Great colours(!) and competent horses. I think she has potential ? Who is your favourite female favourite in harness racing?

Can anyone in the know tell me what pressure the harness industry is putting on Peters? What is harness racing asking for?

He was clearly finding it very difficult to keep his mind on things with the loss of his mate today. I couldn't imagine how hard it is to commentate with something else on your mind so I thought he did extremely well considering the situation and kept up his very good standard.

Nice. Forbury is always fun.

Flag on Fire! Did you back it to win? You are winning in a couple of countries around the world...maybe you should start studying Chinese so you can get the local oil in Hong Kong and Singapore! A true international gambler?

It is a graveyard tonight!???

Why do you say that Basil? Gallops seem to be in the crapper and need all the help they can get from what one reads. Clubs still have to fund some of it so where will that money come from?

“In 2012, total NSW prizemoney was $118.9 million. Following today’s announcement, I’m delighted to advise that annual prizemoney in NSW will be more than $204 million, an increase of $85 million over that time.’’ “These increases are entirely sustainable and are fully-funded from the proceeds of the sale of digital media rights, racefields legislation fees and (wagering taxation) parity.’’ So can something be done here which is similar? Why is harness racing not doing the same in NSW?

These shorties are a godsend for the TAB. Talk about betting on the reputation of the trainer.

and if I were, it would be in NZ!

After Sunday's winning tip, HTP is on a roll.....ask him!?

The TAB simply have limited foresight. Open the Driver's without him, have the DD and BO combined win bet going as they do and also have DD number of wins. 3 that might entice punters in.

My well is dry. I like nothing, and tomorrow, The Golden Boy will be about the 2nd favourite after the Trotech write up. Good luck with those shorties. Why don't you have a bet on the drivers challenge? Haha!

Sorry, Basil. Didn't see your post was up way before mine. Hadn't refreshed the computer for awhile.

From September 1, Racing NSW will pour an additional $24 million to boost prizemoney levels with each Sydney Saturday race to be worth $125,000, an increase of $25,000, city midweek meetings has minimum race prizemoney of $50,000 (up from $40,000), and public holiday race days has a stakes surge from $50,000 to $60,000 per race. An all-weather racing track is set to be built in the South Island, Racing Minister Winston Peters told the southern racing industry in Invercargill last night. Could these two things have an impact on harness racing? It seems it will be a great incentive to buy a galloper in Oz now rather than a harness horse with those stakes so what will that mean for harness there in the future? Will galloping finally sort itself out now with 3 all-weather tracks and have a resurgence? Will this affect the viability of the Alexandra Park plans in the north? Having a harness horse is a luxury as one has to keep chucking money into a black hole with little prospect of making decent money let alone a small fortune with the stakes available. The rah rah crew refuses to believe it but the All Stars winning everything means harness is especially unattractive at the moment. Too many people are not getting a return or even a chance. Winston says.. ''I believe racing is terminal unless something dramatic happens now. If we don't get this thing fixed up, then this thing will drastically decline. Racing is situation critical. It is possibly terminal in the provinces in this country. Peters pledged the racing industry would be better off once he was able to implement the recommendations of the John Messara report on the industry. The report, which is due to be finished in the coming weeks, will be specifically focused on the thoroughbred industry. But Peters said all three racing codes would be better off under his direction. ''I guarantee every code will be better off. It is not going to be difficult to do that.'' Peters said the racing industry only had itself to blame for being in decline. ''The truth is that there has been a failure across the industry to face the raw bitter hard facts.'' Good to hear it won't be 'difficult to fix' considering the situation is 'critical' and possibly terminal in the provinces' If I ever have to go to the hospital in the future I hope my doctor is as good as Winston. Can't wait to see the easy revival. I also await Winston's upcoming impersonation of the Saviour himself. Bit of a rant but where does one start!

Yes, I should have. Still, it would take a long time to get back to anywhere competitive, wouldn't it.

New trainer and Nicky Anew at 2.50FF Even though she has shown a glimmer who would have thought it possible.

For his record where he was always placing his 7,8 or 9 starts have yielded nothing. Still 110? It's a tough world.

I would like to say that is not surprising given the time of the year but it runs into the middle of August. Any thoughts on the concept of horses coming back from long-term injuries get relief in the ratings? At 110, he has little chance given his injuries and time away. Could he be re-rated to say 90 to make him competitive again? If he were to win he could be bumped up pretty quickly again. This wouldn't affect many horses, just the very good ones who are persevered with. I don't see any harm in it until someone points out the flaws?

I admire his perseverance as it has been on there for years and the originality of it. I think it is cool he has a photo of a foal all those years ago to kick it off. Brilliant.

The Punters Club can have you!

Seems an age ago. Not often the domination is broken these days.

51. Flagship backed it 52. Brodie couldn't get a bet on so will try next time (just kidding, couldn't help myself, sorry you two ?)

Since we are showing fields, I used to love these horses. The way O'Meara presented his horses gave the impression they were from a different planet. Best thing was these horses all had their day and it was such a contest. Excitement plus the days of good crowds. They all battled it out for age group races too. Name me a bunny in that field!