nod

Is there not another course just down the road at Hawera -no public allowed so no problems

No lotto ? how about Art Union, Golden Kiwi, Tatts ?

Do the complaining people also protest about the humans being kicked and punched in what some term sport?

I have known Mark a long time and I would never have given him a horse to train if I had any doubts about his treatment of animals. I wish I could post a video of how he cared for a blind horse for many years. ./

How about Foglia D'oro ?in the NZ cup --out by over a furlong going down the back. Even the commentator was fooled . Mind she had a proper rider aboard/

If that was truly the case then why do the stioes penalize the rider of the leader for slowing the pace? Ex jocks like Williamson and Robinson seem to differ with your view

I dont think he trained back then, he had a riding licence till they cancelled it

Norm was never a stipe -at times he was Riding Master and then jockeys Liason Officer The horse was merely useful, the Brynderwyn boy Dessie Wyatt won a nice race on it -no group races in those days

Norm a stipe? in your dreams Norm was a mate of mine for 50+ years after he gave me advice re a first starter he rode. "SHOOT THIS THING NOW AND SAVE THE FLOAT TRIP HOME"

Haydens brother 'Sonny ' was a capable hurdle rider and an all round good bloke. One day at Ellerslie his favourite horse 'Twister' fell at the last fence and lay on the track obviously dead -Sonny held the horses head in his arms and tears fell. The crowd was silenced , then the horse got up and galloped off.

Norm Holland would have been a good stipe. Oatham at least has a racing pedigree with his father being an excellent trainer. But you don;t need to be an ex jockey.

weather around the world has changed, we will expect the unexpected

Paul and trouble have never been strangers

Norway banned whip use 40 years ago NZ is slow in following suit

Picnic racing used to be an integral part of NZ racing In the north there was Helensville, Kerepehi , Pirongia, Waiuku etc Round the lake at Waiuku -I still recall Shorty Hansen [World champion wrestler] putting the entire field into the lake--bye bye apprenticeship Boxing day at Pirongia would attract huge crowds -more than Ellrslie I won the cup several times, once with a young lass riding and her parents from the UK there to watch. A great day Crowd control was said to be the death knell--these days it would be grand to have a crowd

Rather obvious, you suggested that Richards would Fly Ellis up to buy horses You need JC permit to race in HK and they are not easily obtained with many waiting years

You need to obtain a permit to race a horse in Hongkong

He has done well here with a team of 185 very expensive animals --not many NZ trainers have that platform to work with. In Hongkong he will be lucky to have an average team to work I wish them well

I put a [later champion] rider on and told if she was 3 wide she would be fired. Came ii with a huge smile and said she obeyed instructions -She had been 4 wide throughout [and won]

Because the horse had broken down and was likely to fall --he wisely hopped off

I remember the big badges the woman pinned on their chests "all the way with LBJ" but Lyndon was no Trump and it referred to the upcoming election

LBJ --I first saw LBj at Avondale when he came north for the Guineas In one of the most disgraceful episodes in NZ racing the stipes refused to let Poblette ride , saying he was too inexperienced to ride against the Northern jockeys They replaced him with [I think] David Peake, the horse was ridden 'upside down' and failed badly

Argentina -I do not know if its still the case but they used to run 20 races with the jockeys allowed to ride in either the odd or even numbered races

The World has not changed ? Get real Do you still get caned at school ? Are caged chooks around or do Maccas go for free range Does the Govt pay its workers a tobacco al;lowance If a padded whip does not hurt why use it ?

The Govt is changing the law -it will be O K to smack your kid twice before 5 pm and no more than 5 strickes after 5 pm but at intervals of 1/2 an hour. Opposition arguments that it is either o k to hit a kid or not o k have been ignored. Seems one can be half pregnant NZTR face a similar dilemma concerning the whipping of horses -they may realize that the World has changed and figure that their industry may soon face charges of animal abuse/ After all, anyone taking a whip to a dog or cat would be charged. Arguments that the whip does not hurt the horse would be met by the question "then why bother?" There is a very simple solution-ban the use of whips, it would be much better for public perception and a likely improver of the NZ breeding industry