Doomed

It's surprising it was never mentioned anywhere. Or it may have been and I missed it. I was busy on Saturday and only got to see 5 or 6 races with very little buildup or "aftermath". I was surprised at the time that I didn't see any jockeys interviewed on horseback after the big races.

I think Curious's point was that most trainers in Canty have grass track horses. AWT trials are purely an option of last resort.

And betting closed about an hour before the race, so all the bets could be transferred to the course tote.

The good old days. We all loved our doubles. I became a quinella punter. I can't remember when they started. I have an idea trifectas might have started early 80s. I had some good trebles collects, haven't taken one of them for many years.

I don't have time to go into any depth, but a really quick glance tells me that the likes of Legarto, Campionessa, Provence, Acquarello, La Crique, Orchestral and others may have gone around twice if the F/M mile and bonecrusher were split. Wolfgang might have raced in the Cup if it was a week after the bonecrusher. Some 3yos might have gone around twice as well, but I don't have the time or inclination to consider that in any depth. It would be a brave man who confidently stated that not a single horse would have liked to race in two of the races if they were split a week apart.

Seriously? You can't think of a single horse that might have raced twice if the races were split?

Don't be silly. That doesn't count any more. Get with the times.

I suppose the only way we will know if the cost is worth it will be if a big crowd turns up for the next Ellerslie meeting about a month after this one.

How long have you got Chief. If the various races had been configured differently and spread over a couple of weekends as they do for Cup Week in Chch and Melbourne there are all sorts of different permutations. A decent 3yo could have contested the Bonecrusher on day one and moved onto the Derby. A 3yo filly could have moved from its race onto the Derby. A slot horse could have moved to the Derby. A 1,600m f/m could have moved from the mile to the bonecrusher if they were in that order. An Auckland Cup horse could have used the Bonecrusher as a lead up. There are numerous possibilities if they had gone with the traditional carnival approach. I know they have tried the carnival approach in the past with the Cup on the middle day without great success, but that was more down to public apathy rather than horse problems. What I am saying is that numerous horses have had to decide which group race they will contest when in an ideal world they might have liked to contest two of the races if they had been on separate days. That dilutes the quality of each of the races.

Lots of Derby and Oaks winners don't really "get" 2,400m.

A treasured opinion Freda. In my opinion this Saturday is a total disaster, jamming so many feature races onto one day and forcing horses to pick and choose which race to start in, thereby weakening the quality of all of the races. Might be a few black type races on warnings after this weekend. But as I say, that is just my opinion. I know heaps of people think it's the best thing that has ever happened to NZ Racing.

Old habits. I have never been able to stand 1. I know 3 is basically a Stuff propaganda channel these days, but I just glance at it and take everything with a grain of salt. They have often had a bit of racing coverage over the years, but the current coverage does indicate they are being paid to mention the "big day" on Sat. I don't know if you are seeing similar on 1.

I think Savaglee is obviously a good type. Group 1 winner here, placed at WFA in a group 1 here, which our 3yos seldom do, and runner up in a major Australia Group 1. That CD filly is obviously very good, admittedly not beating much. And the northern sprinting filly is obviously good, just beaten in the Railway. Who knows how good the southern filly might be. This weekend will tell the story. We probably do need a dominant Derby winner to help the claims of the staying males. The novelty races obviously make it hard to assess the quality of the crop.

They certainly can't say people don't know about it. There must have been a massive promotional spend. And it has been popping up on 3 news most nights.

Ellerslie is largely down to the small pool of decent quality horses having to decide which of several races they want to go around it. There has never been a race-meeting in NZ where several horses have to decide between 5 or 6 or 7 suitable races.

They want a race that is the richest of its type. Not much promotional mileage in a race that is worth almost 20% as much as the Everest.

The latest contender had only just snuck into the consolation, now it finds itself in the big dance.

Its a worry when a $1.5m race generates $755,000 in turnover. Assuming 10% commission on turnover that means the race generated about $75,000 towards the stake. I think the industry tosses in a magnanimous $800,000 odd towards that race. I suppose some people think its a good investment.

Bloody hell! It sounds like Waverly has been left in the trench with a box of ammunition to cover the retreat while everyone else slinks off.

She would get just as much money for winning the Oaks and its a Group 1.

You can't do that in a slot. It's your obligation to find a horse for your slot.

Do you think it will be a good or bad thing going forward if the Aussies dominate the race?

I might be around that way on Saturday. Does the Sefton pub have a TAB?

I think any public interest in the race revolves totally around the three Aussies and the southerner. Without them it would have taken an incredible PR create effort to create any excitement around the race, other than by harping on about the stake. And everyone seems to conveniently forget that the owners of the slot winner will most likely go away with less money than the owners of the Derby winner. Unless the slot holder owns the horse outright, then they might do slightly better than the Derby winner, minus the Group status. An awful lot of the total stake is paid out to the also rans, back to $100,000 for last.

She flies up today, Monday.