Nowornever

Yeh I agree. Should be 6 months

Why not pull out when the run is available at the 400m? Why continue to sit behind a horse who had sat parked all the way and was under pressure and going backwards? There may be circumstances in which a driver’s manner of driving may amount to merely a permissible error of tactics but, when that error of tactics amounts to bad judgement, that results in a disadvantage to her horse, then such manner of driving falls within the terms of the Rule. When you sit in the best position in the race and don't take advantage of that run when it presents then you have not given the horse every opportunity and have opened yourself up to the type of accusation that NZ harness racing is trying to rid itself of.

Were you watching the same race? She never pulled the plugs until the 100m and was blocked at that stage. Shifted ground at least three times trying to get a run that never came and only 2.7L from the winner. That is about as unlucky as you get.

It was virtually identical to the Ross Cameron drive where he got a 3 months suspension Any breach of this Rule puts into question the integrity of Harness Racing. Races are run on the premise that that all horses are given every opportunity by their drivers to do the best they can do. It is not unreasonable to believe that a person watching the race – whether they had invested on Charlies Ace or not – would have been left wondering why Gemma Thornley did not shift out when she could but rather drive her horse into a position where she was clearly not going to have an uninterrupted run to the finish line.

She broke the same rule as Ross Cameron : a breach of Rule 868 (2) in that she failed to take all reasonable and permissible measures to ensure that her horse was given full opportunity to win the race or to obtain the best possible position and/or finishing place by displaying a serious lack of judgment in deciding not to shift out from behind the parked horse at the top of the straight when she had ample time and opportunity to do so.

Gemma Thornley must get three months for the terrible drive on Charlies Ace today at Motukarara. It was identical to the Ross Cameron drive on Saginaw maybe worse. Lets see if the stipes are consistent on this one.

Did you not have a bet Cup Day Brodie? Bookies were giving out gifts all day. It's All About Faith opening at 12.00. I almost got speeding tickets on the way to the TAB trying to get some on that. Christmas came early.

I think they were scared of spending it after the dismal display in the first few races. At least not spending it the punters got a return. Like I said those two couldn't pick their nose but at least they did get one winner the 1.35 favourite Franco Indie 🤣🤣🤣

No leave me out of that one. Mick Guerin could stop a train with his selections and Greg O'Connor not much better. Brodie a little bit better but you will only get one or two in the money out of his five or six place bets paying $5.00, so need to put too much on to make any serious money unless they all roll home. Unlikely! Best advice pick them yourself.

I like it. You can say the horse showed natural improvement now and the stipes lap it up. Great thinking S Boyd. Attention all drivers I think we are on to a winner here. Just use this one if you are stuck for an excuse. Very hard to prove otherwise. Brilliant!

Each to their own. I quite like that mile meeting it is something different and still has big fields on grass so no complaints from me! Wouldn't run it all the time but once every now and then is good I think

Miss Tomlinson said that her horse required a solid even pace throughout and was still travelling comfortably until being checked out of the race Is she just taking the piss out of the stipes! Every man and his dog could see the horse was rooted at that stage and was going to run last by a wide margin.

Just as I thought ZERO consistency!

Hang on Sheree has come up with a Collen Negus of a drive giving her horse Black Ops no chance at all. Lets see the consistency stipes!

It is almost as incompetent as some of the questions they ask when the horse wins with average from. I see this a lot in the reports a 50/50 stand start horse will win after finally going away from a stand and the question will be asked why the improved run? FFS if you can not see the horse has been breaking at the start and losing its chance and then has finally managed to get away for a change and win then you are in the wrong job!

Cup day and show will be worth watching but I much prefer Ashburton on the Thursday for punting. Cup day and show day are good for the punt for getting more on Brodie! With more liquidity in the pools you can usually get a few thousand on fixed close to start time even on the $10 shots without the TAB batting an eyelid.

You have completely missed the point here which is the stipes can be fed any old story and they swallow it hook line and sinker. Dexter said in the inquiry he didn't want the horse to do any work midrace in the early stage of its career, but 10 days previously he made the horse do exactly that in much faster time. Good drivers use the uselessness of the stipes to their advantage and good luck to them. In this case Dexter not only pulled the stipes pants down, he gave them one right up the back passage as well.

No! Purdon and Rasmussen don't have one in there.

Last year the second placed in Methven Cup Self Assured won the NZ Cup. Traditionally a few of the better horses in the rankings usually turn up!

Weakest Methven Cup field I have seen for several years, but great undercard.

Yeh I think that's where you went wrong mate! In her mind you gave her half a chance to think she had the front so she had to keep pushing for it then!

Perfect summation right there!

I agree with all your points here. The Robbie Holmes drive on Miss Markle was like they didn't want to win or that horse only has a 50 metre sprint. The day it firms in on the betting market instead of drifting like it had already lost, that is the day they put it in the race. The questions stipes put to the drivers and the excuses given are ridiculous sometimes. As to the stipes being taken for a ride by drivers, one of the funniest ones I ever saw was Dexter getting beaten on Master Moonlight paying $1.20 to win on fixed odds in 2017. MASTER MOONLITE - held up final bend. Driver D Dunn was questioned regarding the tactics he adopted passing the 1100 metres when electing not to improve his position outwards. Mr Dunn explained that he was reluctant to improve three wide without cover as he felt at this stage of the horse's career it was not best suited to racing wide and without cover over such a considerable distance. After considering his explanation, Stewards were satisfied the tactics adopted were not unreasonable and no further action was deemed necessary. Now this might seem like a logical excuse until you see how the horse won on it's previous start. I kid you not. The previous start the horse was improved three wide without cover and parked from the 1000m winning easily in a much faster mile rate on a slower track. I emailed the stipes at the time asking for answers about Dexters explanation and his tactics on the horses previous race but never received a reply. It looked pretty black and white to me. Check out the two races in question and see for yourselves.

FUUUUUCCKKKK! And that is putting it mildly!