Spatchcock

Did you seriously mention Meant To Be in the same breath as Just Believe for Horse of the Year? Why shouldn't the most dominant horse on our shores win the top award? Not awarding it that way would make a mockery of the whole thing. Comparing him to those pacers, Gammalite, none of them had the dominance or credentials of Just Believe. Anyway, winning the top award he is purely going head to head with the Pacer of the Year (Merlin). And Merlin was the winner in an even field of pacers who all had good performances but suffered defeats.

This is a very bizzare post. Lets clear a few things up. 1) Victoria is in a massive hole ... their stakes have been slashed across the board - from the top races to the bottom and series like Vicbred and the Breeders Crown. So much so that the big rumour going around is that E Stewart is in fact giving strong consideration to setting up in New Zealand. The irony here is betting and participation at the stakes level has probably plateaued because of her dominance. 2) Moving from Victoria to Tasmania is nothing like Christchurch to Pukekohe. Yes, it will be smaller fields and less racing, but M & N Purdon don't really race on grass anyway. But the stakes are in fact better in Auckland and there are a glut of feature races, especially through Autumn, when all the open class racing is concentrated here. Tasmania has next to no feature racing. 3) Why would they want to stay with "better racing and bigger fields"?? Surely, if you operate a business, you want to go where the best yields are for you and your clients? On a side note, I do agree moving specifically to Pukekohe is a bit weird because that track is up for sale so they are only going to have to move again within a few years.

Congrats to Yabby Dam Farms for having the foresight to send their 'struggling' (quote: The Galah) trotters to Auckland. Last night they won $70,000.

What A Minx, Fearless, Paradise Ali, Bounce N Beyond, Bravehearthighlander, Eyre I Will, Joes Rock and all those Australian trotters with Wallis Hackett were all outside the Island when the scheme was announced. Only one of them had a change of ownership.

Cant agree... that was some poor racing today. Race 1 - the usual standard of driving delivers a 4-month suspension and a driver with broken shoulder and ribs Race 2 - 2.13 mile rate, home in 63.5 and 32.7 Race 3 - a woeful field with no moves and a 2.05 mile rate Race 5 - a 38-start maiden attacks for the lead twice, killing the leader/fav's chances and also taking another favoured runner out when it stops at the 500. Maybe the second half of the card was better

The information came from last night's edition of Harness Xpress.

where did you read that?

Well as it stands if a trainer intentional drugs a horse for gain, its a serious offence under the rules of racing leading to fines, disqualifications and forfeiture of stakes. But you don't also get charged in a court of law. That doesn't make the charge any less serious in my opinion, especially within the context of the racing industry and what kind of financial advantage can be gained from such things.

I am not going to harp on on this, but I have read at least some of the transcripts and it very clearly shows blatant breaches of the rules of racing by a couple of people. As the case is now closed, I won't elaborate on who they are or what those rules were. But rest assured I read this with my own eyes and it's not up for debate. I sympathise with all concerned who had to foot huge legal bills for six years. It became a joke and clearly this was not fit for purpose when it comes to criminal proceedings. but the rules of racing are a different beast, with a lower threshold and unique rules to be applied. Note: what I am talking about does not relate to the race or story at the top of this page.

Don't muddy the waters. The point I make is you KEEP saying this same thing every other week. We get it... it's true and there are no quick or easy fixes. In fact, I would say it's a one way road in to oblivion for the north. But you know this, and yet you keep subjected us to the same narratives week after week.

Stupid, stupid move. But ATC wanted it so badly...be careful what you wish for.

If the RIU were able to use the recordings to file charges under the Rules of Racing, there would have been many charges laid. But a Judge ruled they could not use them and without that evidence, there was not much they could do.

on this occasion, it was neither new or constructive.

How many times are you going to post the same thing?

The issue here is Brodie couldn't find easy ways to make money on the punt, so he's not happy. it was a twilight meeting catering to horses mostly rated R40 or less. Newsflash - most of them are not much good. If you race like with like (as this meeting did), it's harder to find favourites, meaning more attractive prices and hopefully, incentivising people to bet. If the turnover doesn't turn out to be much good (and with the placement of the meeting, it's possible), it still served to put money in the pockets of owners of many valuable horses to the racing pool in the country.