Doomed

There's a gap with no racing this Thurs, you do wonder how many horses they might have got if they gave Timaru a proper race-meeting instead. One thurs meeting in NZ over a five week period. Seems strange to me. Like the days when the TAB used to close on Thursdays.

I keep getting dragged into these debates. People always pick on the quiet ones.

It's a bit ironic when you consider the likes of Gisborne and Waimate where largely scrapped because they were too hard to service. That leads you to assume tracks like Otaki are easy and inexpensive to service. Doesn't look good when the favoured tracks in the brave new world have problems like this.

I admire your confidence.

I clicked on that link and apparently I'm now a member of the club. I take it all back. I can feel the excitement rising.

Yes, $1m for the Oaks and all it does is keep a promising horse in NZ for a couple of starts. I suppose the Derby is worth well over $1m. Who is more valuable to NZ racing, the Oaks and Derby favs or Mr Intelligence? I would suggest Mr Intelligence has generated more interest and turnover for NZ Racing than those 3yos will long term.

So you can just sign up and become a part owner and it doesn't cost you anything and you get a share of the winnings? I am so out of touch. It really is a whole new world out there.

I've been thinking about this idea of keeping the best horses racing in NZ. What's the point and can we afford it? We can still watch them racing in Aussie and hopefully beating better fields than they would meet here. How much did it cost to encourage Legarto to have a few races in NZ last year? $2m? How much are we spending to encourage Orchestral to have a few races in NZ this year, after she proved not up to Aussie class earlier in the season. $1m for an incredibly ordinary race on sweepstake day. Heaps more in bonuses. The owners of these so called elite horses must be laughing all the way to the bank.

The last Riccarton meeting I went to there was one race with only one NZ born jockey in it.

Just out of interest, can anyone explain to me how the NZ Racing Club works? I don't follow that sort of thing.

Who do you think would be most embarrassed? CJC for going with a horse who appears to have little chance, or ARC and NZTR for having a horse with little chance in the race when potentially a genuine contender might miss out.

Probably. Didn't work out well though. It does tend to show they don't see themselves representing SI racing, otherwise they would have waited a while and gone for Pivotal.

Well put by George I though. I'm sure it echoes the thoughts of many of us on here. Very brave of him not to toe the party line. I wonder if his trip to the West Coast gave him a feeling for racing at the grass roots level and an appreciation of how some of the elite clubs are viewed by many. He probably realised Reefton had no chance when even Matamata is wiped out.

The Legarto bonus (this year to be called the Orchestral bonus I suppose) doesn't seem to have worked, so probably should be viewed as a waste of massive amounts of money. Perhaps we just have to accept that horses are bought and sold. That has always been the nature of the game and always will be. Any owner that is considering turning down a good offer for a horse only has to look at the Kinane example to help them make their decision.

What have I got to do with it? I hadn't expressed any opinion. The Australian black type system is just as bad as NZ's. I'm not sure if anyone has noticed.

Yes, obviously at Riccarton. Sounds like that short lived Galaxy series. A few WFA races around the south, but never got big fields so only lasted 2 or 3 years from memory. As SA says, it may well have been the day of the false start when some of them went around again later in the day.

Classic example this week. Those were bloody tough races to win at Riccarton on Saturday, as you know Pam. This Thursday no NZ galloping meeting, which seems bizarre to me. There really should be an $18,500 Canty galloping meeting this Thurs, obviously at Timaru or Ashburton, because there is nowhere else. Horses have to be given the opportunity to race at a level where they can be competitive. Or else why should connections bother. I know some people would argue those horses should probably be retired, but I don't agree with that attitude. In Australia they often start out with country racing and build up to the big city racing. At the same time we had that rubbish meeting at Wanganui last weekend for big stakes and 5 of the 8 races had only two dividends. It is blatantly obvious to anyone who cares to look that our programming is not fit for purpose.,

That was my first day at Trentham Muz, and I backed The Twinkle. I remember it well.

Yes, I notice I have six days to use it.

Bloody hell Newmarket. I just looked under promotions and discovered the $100 offer. I would never have known it was there. I have never had any texts or emails about it and there was nothing indicating it on my account. I suppose I am a bit silly for not spotting it. I have never looked under promotions before. I think you can use bonus cash just like normal money when betting can't you? No need to use it all at once. But I think you can only use it on fixed odds, is that correct?

There is no way in the world they will abandon Ellerslie. If a jockey falls off they will fine them for falling off.

She is thrown in at the weights. She has won almost $2.2m. Two others have won $280,000 and $230,000, the rest well below $200,000. There are rating 63s and 67s in the race. She really should be $1.80. I'm not saying she will win, she has done nothing this season to indicate she is back to her best, but she will never get an easier opportunity at big money.

I don't believe NZTR have any idea either. I imagine they are totally in the pocket of Entain and have just become yes men. I could be totally wrong. I don't know any of the people involved. Its just the impression I get.

Last I looked Aussies are allowed to buy horses at Karaka. Isn't there a third tier 2yo in this year?

Grey Way was ridden by Snooky Cowan TAB4E. Aka was his dad. Here's another question for you TAB4E while on this subject Showgate's Timaru Cup may have been the first time it was run as a 1,600m WFA race. The previous year as a stayers handicap I think it was won by a Gatekeeper horse. It had a name something like Gateman or something similar. Can you remember that one? As others often say, I wouldn't have the faintest idea who won last years Auckland or Wellington Cups, but I can tell you most of the big race winners from the late 70s until the early 90s.