the galah

haven't you just used words to imply they mean the same,when they may not. In other words ,"trying" or not,is often not the same as "didn't give horse best chance of winning". you can be trying and at the same time get suspended for not giving the horse the best chance to win.That has happened quite a few times when the stipes have deemed drivers have overdone the speed or tactics used. but when was the last time you heard of a driver getting suspended when they drove in a negative way.That type of driving is not policed the same. i haven't suggested either driver at cambridge should have been suspended,but if i was a stipe on the night i would have asked the question of k coppins as you have to let drivers know that theres an expectation that they give the impression they are trying to drive their horse on its merits.As i have said before,complacency by the stiipes leads to the things that start the likes of operation inca.Stipes in the north isalnd give the impression they treat some paticipants like they are mates or family.

so i expressed an opnion that claude and rough and ready were driven in a manner that indicated they weren't trying to win,even though one was favorite and the other the major win mover. welll lets see how they get driven this week in a race where they can get a penalty free win. In other words,the connections knew if they won last week they would either become ineligible or get worse draws or both,for the race they want to win this week. coincidence or not? Do people think like that.i think they do.

Is pointing out a reality being harsh? I don't think so. One of the biggest perception problems with punters for harness racing, is races with multiple runners from the same stable. I thought it a no brainer that this is defintely a bad thing for harness racing.No one can argue its a good thing. in queensland wouldn't everyone who watches harness racing think the dixons often team drive in the big races.and the turpin horses as well ,although p mcmullen just not as good as the dixons at team driving as the race progresses..Or the e stewart runners do the same in victoria or the mates of each other in nsw do the same thing. Just the way it is. team driving is nothing new,its happened for donkey years,but these days the high profile stables dominate numbers wise more. No one says that about the gallops or the dogs . and races dominated by big stables is something other trainers and owners look at and say,hey even if i'm as good as them i won't beat them because of the team aspect.So why bother. Thats a real perception as well. I can tell you,everyone used to say that. again just reality.

oh and while i'm at it. in 2021 hrnz did a survey. they published the results. 95.93 % of the 500 who replied said they checked the hrnz website and 79% said they did that daily. now i would say,if you doing a survey via the hrnz website,the numbers will obviouly be skewed significantly that way anyway,but still they are noteworthy. yet the hrnz website is just average in my opinion,because it often breaks down, .Just this week it did it again when the races were on and you couldn't access details of the hoses.The uploading of the results and videos is pathetically slow. The gallopers love racing have theirs on within 5 minutes,but with the harness its often hours later.And they fail to have the unhinged content on there. When asked how often do you look at the hrnz facebook page,50% said never.And 83% didn't know hrnz has 2 facebook pages. 87% said they never look at the hrnz twitter account. 38% said hrnz does not communicate well. now thats obviously an indication that hrnz target audience is older.

if i was being honest,i don't think your queensland product is anywhere near as good as our canterbury product and that is why there is not much interest in harness racing there and i think several of the other states have the same public perception issues.I think you seem to agree. i see no reason why it would improve over there and it just makes sense it will get worse as the filelds are often dominated by multiple runners from the high profile stables. your horses are as good,but i've watched enough of your queensland product to realise i just don't think everyone is trying each time and theres too much team driving,so i wouldn't bet on your product again for that reason. And i say that as having been someone who starting during covid, watched and did the form on every race run in queensland for about 8 months and for the last 5 months of those spent about an average of $100 on 2 different accounts($200 total) per race,on every harness race run in queensland.whether it be marburg or redcliffe or albion park i gave up for 2 reasons,1)i didn't trust the drivers to try each time and was often left feeling i was taken for a ride and as you know,i don't like that. and 2)because the nz tab promised they would invite me into the elite punters rewards thing if i met turnover criteria of around $100,000 per annum on any account. I was at that time an elite customer on one account already and they promised to make me the same on the other account when i met that turnover threshold. Well i met the turnover threshlod. But when i rung our tab and asked when am i going to get the email saying i was entitlied to rewards,they told me,tough luck,yes i met the turnover threshold but i wasn't going to be getting into the elite rewards club. No reason given,just tough luck ,don't ring us again type thing. so i was already frustrated with some of the queenland harness drivers,remember i started threads on here about the likes of one of the barnes brothers,so i took my $2000 a day spend on the nz tab on queensland harness racing at the time and stopped all together. thats how the nz tab worked at the time. Just idiots running it. anyway,so i think i have an informed opinion as far as queensland harness racing goes. as to nz.In the last 20 years the intergenerational transfer of interest in the harness racing sport has slowly evaporated. 20 years ago,most people over 45 gambled,whether it be regularly or occasionally on harness racing. But their children haven't . When i worked at the big factory where 25% would have been punters or my other job where 85% were, one of the biggest things that struck me was just how many people over 50 followed the sport. And what also struck me was just how little following the sport got from people in their 20's at that time.if you drew a graph you could see the decline on a steady downwards trend based on age. Most of the under 25 year olds talked about gaming,more smoked weed than didn't and there was some who watched a lot of porn. Actually one bloke, who i ate lunch with each day,he was a bit of a character. Every day i would say to him,what did you do last night. Every day he would say,went home,smoked a bit of week,had a w... while i watched porn and played on line poker and did a bit of gaming. Now occasionally he would add,f... the misses,shes after something ,i guess i'll find out. Actually i'm drifting off topic again,but the point is those blokes will be in their 40's now and i know they won't be betting on racing like the previous genreation did. i've always said ,hrnz and all racing adminsitrators have not put enough resources into promoting the particpation of over 50 year old people. Decade after decade,i call them the dumb administrators,have foccussed resources on getting young people into the game when they would have been far more successful directing those promtional resources into the over 50 year olds and not only getting more over 50 year olds involved,but working on a plan to use those over 50 year olds to expose the younger members of their families and friends to the sport and get that intergenreration transfer of interest.. Like,how many decades have we heard the dumb people say ,we need more young people,yet the bright sparks that say that have never have come up with a strategy that works to get them involved. Its such flawed and dumb as thinking. The current HRNZ people seem some of the dumbest yet in that respect.But ou can't just blame the current administrators as those that have gone before them have had the same mindset. tabforever said earlier,his marketing expert says target existing or past customers to builfd your base back up. I said i fully agreed and said not only that,harness racfing need to also target the same demograophic of the current current or past customers. it actually surprises me that people don't see just how much harness racing is declining in canterbury.They will see in 5-10 years. sadly a lot of is issues are outside the control of any adminstrator or smart thinking person.

those were the days and they still existed just 15-20 years ago. That was when if you went to some of those summer racemeeting,especially the country ones,you had to bob and weave your way through the crowds near the tote as there was that many people standing around. The xmas at the races meetings would have full carparks and i remember the crowd being 4-5 deep the whole length of the straight at some of those christmas at the races meetings. you have a look at the oamaru car park tomorrow. You will be able to count the cars you see beyond the 100m on one hand. It was only 20 years ago they had a racemeeting there, where the entire car park was full. I know as i was there. 20 years ago i had 2 jobs. One had 35 people work there and 29 were regular weekly punters and most focussed on harness racing. Then the other job was a factory type job but 25% of the work force would have been punters. Trackside always playing in the background. Back then,if you had a bet you could listen to it on the radio on the racing channel that was dedicated solely to racing.You had free to air trackside tv. (they stopped that not long after-tv since reintstated recently)You had haness racing with win pools that averaged between $40,000-50,000. Thats just the win pools. I look back on old videos of races 20 years ago and marvel at that.You had no commingling, so punters foccussed on the local product as the australian products pools were too small to matter.20 years ago you had a generation of people aged between 50-70 who had been brought up in an era where racing,particularly harness racing in the south island,was very relevant. Back then you didn't have the tab saturating the customers with thousands of races to bet on like you do now,the focus was on local.You had clubs actively promoting on course attendance. change,well change is definetly not always for the better. Even today,administrators continue to look for new change when the reality is they would be better going back to what worked in the past and building from there. so winning a harness race used to be not only about the excitement of the on course experience but the recognition of a sense of achievement you got from extended family,friends,workmates and the public. as to bernie hackett. for years he drives the same.I really don't think anyone knows whether he is trying or not. I don't even think he knows i think the best way to sum him up is hes a top trainer,but his driving lacks desire and he tends to drive horses who hes just trying to work out how to shoe better. Thats the impression i get from him. actually i put $5 a place on the n chilcott horse in that. And i got a drive that i was saying to myself afterwards,what a waste of $5. Sitting in the 1/1 turning for home,then simply never pulled out and got boxed in with 250m to run.Had she pulled out i'm pretty sure it runs 3rd .it battled on in behind them to be beaten a head for 3rd,but really trotters don't go running up hard on other horses back and it was a no brainer to pull out and give it an opportunity of a clear run. Very basic driving. i think she would have gone for a holiday for 2 months if in the n the south island. Up there the stipes probablycouldn't cope with 2 dodgy drives in the one race. Afterall it was the last race and the stipes up there like to have sleep as much as they can,so wanted to head home.

Winning anywhere used to be a big deal for those involved,like it meant something significant..That still seems to be the case in the south island and at auckland. But when i look at the way they drive and the body language of some of those involved,its like winning or losing is no big deal. Like its just another day at the office, where you go to make a living,but that you would probably be trying harder or having more fun, playing cards with the boys on a weeknight.. cambridge seems mundane to me and punters pick up on that.i often channel surf and see a bit of harness racing in south australia ,where they have meetings with stakes between $3000 and $4500,they seem much more competitive. anyway,i guess the answer for me maybe to watch the 500lb sisters or the 90 day fiance on the reality channel. Just had a look at whats currently on the reality channel. At the moment it is about a massager called dr colon(actual name). What a shit name to have. Anyway it says this week dr colon is treating a woman with cmt(some sort of nerve disorder), who hopes to stand at her daughters wedding and a big breasted woman with extreme neck pain.i once knew a woman who had bad back pain from that. She had whoppers.all natural,had to get them reduced... actually i might record that and watch it next thursday night.

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probably partly right. k coppins,the driver of rough and ready,seems a driver who horses will go ok for,but the race was run hard early,so her decision after 600m to try and place her horse 4 or 5 back the inside was strange,then she seemed to realise that wasn't a good move but thereafter remained indecisive as to what was the best thing to do. Eventually doing nothing then puliing out 6 lengths off the leader with 200m to run,but was able to make up 3 lengths or more on everything in the last 150m. you could say i'm being harsh criticising someone who is a junior driver.Probably partly correct,but i have accurately described what people would have seen had they bet on that horse.She does average 3 drives a week.People who bet,whether big or small,like to get a run for their money ,otherwise they just switch over to the reality channel with the 500lb sisters or the 90 day fiance. So the point is you see a lot of that. K coppins came out and drove the winner of the next race which unfolded with her getting the ideal run from the 1 draw and taking the passing lane to win. like i said,horses run ok for her. What i would find interestingto know is, what are the people who are mentoring some of these drivers saying. Are they saying nice job,we dropped another couple of points in the ratings,or are they saying,don't worry babe we'll get them next week with a similar drive when we strike a 5 horse field. I don't know.But it doesn't seem to be much of a big deal whether they win or lose.

Im advocating for current leadership that implement policies that are able to fund racing at cambridge at a level that sees particpation numbers maintained in the future. i'm pro racing at cambridge,just not in the form it currently is. the reason punters moan about cambridge is because its not a good look fo the sport. the race i just watched for an interest,you had the out the gate blokes bet on yet another horse that sat at the back and made no attempt to get into a winning position. That was claude.Probably wouldn't have won had it made a move earlier anyway,but it would have been nice to have thought it may have been wanting to win,but thats not the impression you got, watching the race. Then the horse following it,the major win mover,rough and ready,well its driver showed no interest whatsoever in trying to even place.Really strange drive. I'm not sure whether that was deliberate or just an indication of her lack of tactical thinking.But thats what cambridge dishes up each week.No one ever moves up mid race. boring.

isn't the point,when they run out of money to prop up areas that are struggling to limit the losses their meetings incur,then they will be the areas targeted most significantly and impacted by the inevitable future cuts so,most of us are arguing hrnz shouild be being fiscally responsible now. In other words,it is the policies you advocate for when it comes to the likes of auckland and cambridge,which will lead to the inevitable shrinking of the harness racing footprint in the areas like auckland and southland. it is the very policies you want that will unltimately be self inflicvted wounds for auckland. And ,most of us can see, the people the industry is losing the most, are the enthusiasts who aren't so much focused on having big stakes for 2 year olds and open class races.The very ones that would have still particpated beyond crunch times had they been valued more in current times. Every future year hrnz continue to overspend as they currently are,is a wound to the future of the level of participation in the sport in 5-10 years time. anyone who wants the sport to be relevant in the future should be wantinghrnz to be fiscally responsible and have sustainable policies. there are still positives,harness racing will get their share of funds from the entain geo blocking thing,the sports betting increase thiing ,the greyhound share of turnover thing. what most of us want to see is a vision that we can believe in that will give enough confidence for people currently particpating in the sport to continue. Thas not currently happening.

my guess is they cut stakes signifciantly across the board in nz ,especially at the top end and high profile, current administrators we currently have,move on to bigger and better jobs overseas about 12-18 months before that happens. That will be the first signal of whats to come..Personally i think they will be able to drag out the continued over spending for more than the remaining 2 1/2 years of the entain thing,maybe 4. Then we all say,well we told you so.

m peden comes across as a nice bloke doing a very difficult job.But being a nice bloke doesn't help when it comes to doing smart things..I just think he and those around him listen too much and want to please too much,special interests groups and fail to hear the voices of those that the industry is losing.i think he is probably the type of bloke that reads this forum. Thats part of why i put my ideas out there. look,i really do think you 100% spot on with what you say about your marketing mans advice.Absolutely... Give him a job at hrnz or you get a job there and push that thinking. i would also say,if they are to target new customers,at least be sensible about it and target the same type of demographic that makes up the current customers.Or develop a strategy whereby you target current or past customers and use them to link any new demograohic. But first,get back to the basics that your marketing man said.

wasn't a southlander. I better not drift off with more comment on that type of thing. southlanders,when i worked there for a few months, i found were the friendliest,most welcoming and hard working of any new zealanders.everyone seemed very honest that i met.The harness racing people all very nice people as well as was the generall population. that was a while ago now,but all the southlanders i've met since still seem the same. I guess its still the same down there.Dairying changed the landuse pretty quickly after i had moved on from there and i have to admit ,old school dairying people the same,but the more recent generations seem over focussed on the $ .Just a bit different to what they used to be. actually we've thought afew times about moving there,but the weather really can be a bit cold and as we discussed previously if you are at a point in life where you are considering the health of your lungs and your heart,invercargill or even the likes of winton or some other areas of southland ,just not the best place to be.I used to follow the air quality readings there for a while when we were thinking about a move.Iit was only a couple of years ago they said invercargill the worst place in nz for deaths from air pollution. Thats a combination of all pollution factors,cars,fires,industrial. i just looked it up again. invercargill has 219 premature deaths from air pollution per 100,000 people,the worst rate in nz. christchurch actually has the highest premature death rate if you were to break it down to car emmisions being the cause. ecan southland chair at the time said" its stunning,quite staggering actually and we need a coalition to get some interventions whcuih can actually improve that.". the only comment i would make about that data from a couple of years ago would be,well,its been like that for a while, so they shouldn't be surprised. actually i've often wondered whether thats a reason why southland can't seem to produce the top horses that race beyond 3. They used to,but not these days. nathan williamson has a lot of good young horses,but given the number of good ones hes had,they don't go on to be competitive in the open class ranks. my theory has always been,and yes i know its just a theory,is that part of the reason is he comes from an area with bad air and its cold. No i actually have no idea where branxholme is ,it appears to be about 10 miles from central invercargill. i guess it depends the hills and gullies and wind and all that to see what impact air poultion has on it. but its certainly not in a good area. and if you think about it,horses are known to be impacted by air temperature.Studies have shown a significant link between lower temperatures and the higher risk of bleeding in horses lungs. And then you throw in this very obvious pollutant factor and reallyit just makes sense. if i was him,which of course i'm not,i would be monitoring air qualirty and temperatures and working my fast work schedules around the times where its warmer and has the better air quality days. i know that seems a bit left field,but i persoanlly think its a very obvious thing. my thoughts have caught on the breeze that has ended up floating above branxholme,all because you made a comment about southlanders driving with a sheep to the local pie cart.you never know where a topic may take you.

i would have given them points for trying,but after hearing all of what m peden said,all it did was reinforce my opinions about those making the decisions. Why do they always discriminate based on age. . can anyone tell me why they give you breeding credits for a 6 year old,but not 7 years or older. These people ,they just don't seem to get it.i think they have no idea what people like me think and i really think they don't wantb people like me involved. These people like peden are discrimatory and to a degree not very nice. every time they give preferential treatment they alienate people andm show they couldn't care less about the people they exclude. That was the first thing i thought when i saw that m peden announce that. Hang on,why is my horse excluded. these people,they are fools who just look after themselves and thier special interest groups. a minute after i saw m peden on tv,r my wife walked into the room i was watching on tv and said,why do they exclude our horse yet include a horse up to 6.Isn't that typical of how they work.