the galah

At the hairdressers?

Personally i think they don't have the run forever,come back having broken a record without raising a sweat look anymore.Somethings missing in my opinion but they still look like they are just as well prepared and well driven as they used to be.

I'm not a fan of the way zac butcher drives sometimes,and have said so in the past. I don't deny his ability,just don't like the way he drives sometimes. On this occasion i think the stipes are quite right to ask the question over his drive on liason. They would be negligent if they didn't. I do however think that the video shows the horse is giving its best,and while Butcher is not showing much vigour,i think its because he knows its trying its best. The optics of the drive are why there is an inquiry into it. But in my opinion he should be judged on whether he gave the horse every opportunity to win and whether he was was getting the best out of it. And personally i think he was. Gammalite i don't think the Ben hope drive on easy pickings is an exact comparison as easy pickings wasn't trotting that squarely earlier in the straight and tends to break if pressured when trotting like that. I think it got more balanced as it got closer to the post. I backed it and understood why hope drove it like he did.

You know i once had a fella train a horse for me, a very ,very good trainer. He no longer trains. This would be 2O years ago. One of the things he said to me i remember. He said if you knew you were competing against others who were giving stuff that gave them an advantage over yours,then what would you do. Would you want to get left behind...or words to that effect. Then about 10 years ago when travelling with another trainer i knew, he was telling me about a conversation he had with another leading trainer that week who was complaining about another high profile trainer having something that was giving their horses an edge. The fella i was talking to said he told the trainer your only unhappy because what you use to help performance isn't as good,to which he said the trainer replied well yeah. Both trainers had positives not long after,but not because the ineffective riu at the time actually wanted to catch them. I also had another conversation about the same time where we discussed a recent RIU press release that said they were aware a small group of stables were using a drug which they were going to start testing for and told trainers not to continue using it. That was at a time when the RIU used to sweep everything under the carpet because they didn't want the bad publicity. The trainer i was talking too joked as to what stables would lose form and who the vet was who had put the trainers on to the performance enhancer. He also joked how long it would be before they got back into form. Sure enough the stables he named all lost a leg for a month,but then miraculously all came back into form. Then there was the time about 20 years ago when an owner i knew was telling me how the really nice horse he had trained in the north island had just up and dropped dead,and that the said trainer had 3 die that week in similar circumstances,which he thought very suspicious. He changed trainers after that. But the most telling thing is what you see with your own eyes. As i have said,i think things are currently as honest as they have for some time.But that is only because we have a pro active RIU. In the past the RIU have been complicit by overlooking and pre warning trainers. You can't just change overnight attitudes learnt over long periods of time. However you have to start somewhere,and thats what we are currently living. The key is for the RIU to continue what they have started and help make permanent changes to peoples attitudes and behaviors.

He was a wee champ. I once visited where he used to train and he had a good set up. Thats the thing about harness racing,if your younger there is so much money needed to buy the ground and then set up a training facility,and its a shame that some properties that used to be occupied by trainers, have facilities that are sitting there unused. I've always thought there should be some sort of registry that hrnz could operate whereby private facilities that are available can be listed so as to provide a link for those looking to train. And that hrnz should be pro active in liaising and trying to retain facilities that are there when someone retires or sells,as the person taking over the property may be happy to receive some form of income from renting out their facilities,and would be more likely to do so if they knew the organisation that ran harness racing maintained some type of oversight should the unlikely event of a dispute occur. It could also help income for some trainers who do not have the numbers any more. Just one of those things that is missing,but seems overlooked. The brian i was actually referring to was brian o'meara. I remember as a kid being at the races at addington and he had a hot favorite that was late getting there,only turning up in the birdcage a couple of minutes before race start time,and was scratched by stewards. Apparently he had stopped at the pub on the way to addington,and lost track of time and only realised when someone told him shouldn't your horse be at the races.

Is that you brian? Do you still gear them up in the float?

They could introduce minimum penalties for breaches of certain rules if previous breaches of the same rule has occurred. Perhaps a 3 strike rule could be introduced for the type of offence being discussed. That would help give the impression they were getting tough,but personally i think in reality it wouldn't change or help much,and some industry participants would most likely not support its introduction.

I thought it was good to see Cullen finally have his own racing colours. One of the strengths of that stable has always been their drivers ability to rate them and run at consistent speeds,and i think the drives yesterday made them look a bit more surperior to the likes of the hill horse who lead and worked early,than there actually is in ability. The disappointment of the race for me was the dalgety horse casino action. Ran 3rd in a group 1 the start prior,but just battled yesterday. Its form has been very inconsistent so far.

You can think what you want about what i say. But just because you condemn those who have transgressed in your current post does not mean "most on here" have posted opinions condemning their actions. We can't be reading the same things on here. The focus for many has clearly been on attacking the RIU and the press. I actually think you expressing the view that the likes of mcgrath and alford should be banned forever is a typical over reaction from someone who is taking things completely out of context,similar to what you have with the press articles. Why on earth should alford,who has no previous history,be banned for life. Why should Mcgrath get a life ban? How could that possibly be fair when you compare what has happened to others in the past,yet you call my opinion garbage. What next. What say someone comes up in court in the future on drugs charges. Will you want them gone forever as well? Your saying harness racing is the victim of sensationalism and unbalanced reporting by the press. Well thats the world we live in. At least i have expressed constructive ways of how industry leaders should be handling that side of things. You just go on about how harness racing is the victim.How does that help change the news cycle?

So all this focus on condemning who writes the stories,and not one reference from all those making the recent posts condemning the actions of those he writes about. Says a lot,and i'm giving up pointing that out.

Wasn't sure where you got the starting 2 hours before the others from. Maybe it was meant to be a joke,i'm not sure.

Makes sense for the riu to want to score some goals,so maybe what you say makes sense.

So your saying alford was doping them 4 hours before they were due to race,as well as the 2 hours that the article says. Does that mean he gave them two lots?

He said "2 hours before they were to take to the track". I will spell out for you what that means...... It means 2 hours before they were due to race(on the racetrack)...

What a pedantic thing to say. You know what he meant,and so does anyone reading it.

You consistently never say anything positive when they catch someone trying to cheat. All you do is criticise those who enforce the rules and those that report it.

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Well the obvious answer to them saying it was a result of artisan hanging in is they should have stood that horse down,but of course they didn't because they never believed it was its fault. You seem to be arguing mangos would not squeeze up his mates. Well you pointed out last month you thought A herlihy should have been dealt with when he came across on krug,checking those inside him. Using the "drivers wouldn't check their mates" as a reason for justifying the decision is a weak argument. Drivers make errors of judgment,whether they be mates driving other horses is only relevant when it comes to giving evidence against mates. Like i said,those making these decisions take everyone who watched that race for being a mug,and that is why ones faith in those involved is undermined.

I agree with what you are saying in this post. The current perception problem,being perpetuated by mainstream media,is that because there have been more recent instances of dishonesty uncovered than in the past, then that must mean the industry has more dishonesty now than previously. But of course that perception is totally wrong if you accept that the reason for the recent uncovering of dishonesty is because we have more pro active enforcement. Thats the message that industry leaders are failing to get mainstream media to deliver. So currently instead of being perceived as a positive, it is being perceived as a negative. Its as simple as that. And so should the messaging around it be.

We are in agreement i think,just i would use different words to express it. Of course what people believe to be the truth,isn't always the truth. And people often believe what they want to be true,not what is actually true. But you can't alter the truth,Its about altering the inferences as to how it should be perceived,by the way you deliver it. And of course if you are constantly getting the same message reinforced as to how you should think on a certain subject,then thats how most people end up thinking.

So the conclusion of the inquiry was the purdon trained horse artisan ran in and locked wheels. Well a half wit would have realised that the reason it ran in was because the horse outside it was boring in badly on it,but somehow this seemed to have slipped past the stipes and those hearing this case. So what we have here is yet another bungled inquiry into driving tactics where the video evidence is ignored and they base their decision on what the drivers say. And the said drivers protect their mates. Do all those invoved in this decision really think those who follow harness racing are that stupid. Well obviously they do. To me its stinks of dishonesty.

The thing about this article is it appears nearly everybody who has commented, have expressed views that the revelations of rule breaking is a bad thing. I just don't get why industry leaders,and well known respected participants can't sell the message that catching rule breakers,those being dishonest is a good thing,and that it shows those who have the job of enforcing the rules are helping clean up the industry to make it fairer and stronger. Its not rocket science. I followed american politics over the last 4 years. And one thing that has become blatantly obvious to me,which applies to any issue,is you can change the way people think by the way you tell the story. Isn't it obvious from all the recent articles written that the tactic of lamenting the uncovering of illegal activity is only perpetuating the negative news cycle. Why can't people see that? About time everyone got on the same page and put a positive spin on things.

I think McCaffery said to whittaker as he snuck past "like the moustache,i was right under your nose all the time"

Well she wasn't the "fella" who was the vet,who was holding the tape at the christmas meeting. May have had a moustache and wore a big hat. Who the vet was at the xmas harness meeting was discussed on the galloping forum regarding a late scratching at the reefton gallops,and a contributor to that topic actually confirmed the vet(man) was the one holding the tape that day by asking them ,then posted it on the galloping topic. They did so,because they were originally sceptical the vet was helping start a harness races. As i have said,it was someone different yesterday, a man with no yellow vest or helmet.