the galah

Didn't craig cross take over when belinda mccarthy was disqualified for 1 year in 2016/2017. Then didn't she take back over this year because cross was struggling with a leg injury. More to it than you say although i don't really follow australia much. Vicki rasmussen. Didn't she get disqualified as the result of her 2nd positive in 7 months in 2015 for having arsenic in the horses system,but then like several trainers there and here,including dixon, got the arsenic charges squashed as they decided there was a possibility they had got it from eating fence posts or wood chips. Seemed at the time all the good trainers horses ate fence posts,but the less successful didn't. Tim butt was left lamenting the eating fence post defence not flying in 2012.

Interesting the way you describe the reason for the change of trainers at the mccarthy stables.At one point did they not transfer their horses to others when they ran out of family members who had not had positives,or was that just my imagination? Is that what you call a sabitical? Lets be honest. The reason their was a negative perception from some as relates to purdon/rasmussen run all star stable,was because many thought they had an unfair advantage over everyone,and weren't competing on a level playing field. Thats it,thats the reason. lets be honest about it. Depends which side of the fence you see it from,but peoples opinions won't change. People on both sides of the fence admire their skills and abilities,but that doesn't change the former. History shows authorities have not shown they were doing anything illegal,but opinions are opinions. As i have said. I am of the opinion that if you have a mindset that thinks it ok to give humans performance enhancers,why would you consider it wrong to give horses them. Your arguing that horses are more sacrosanct in the mind of a supplier than humans. Is that the mindset you use to rationalise your argument.

I liked that we had several 2600m races to watch. I always think they are more interesting and exciting than the 1980m races.

That last race at auckland where they had a hot favorite sit at the back quite content to let the stablemate dictate a walking race,and sprint home in a 26.6 last quarter is not competitive racing. They can't expect punters to bet on 5 horse races with the hot favorite not trying. Didn't effect my pocket,but that race was not a good look.

Must have forgotten what he had planned. Having said that you had to wonder what todd mitchell was thinking as well. Instead of getting the perfect trail he decided to engage in a speed duel knowing his chances of winning would be extinguished by doing so. Does make for interesting viewing.

willangus lad was poor,but thats the 3rd time its run at addington and its been poor every time. So i think its as much it doesn't travel or something like that. Nathan williamson horses southland form seems to hold up when he comes to addington.

I think Krug should have no trouble winning the derby. The draw shouldn't make much difference,and i can see him going forward at the start then taking the lead once those inside him who want to trail him have sorted out their positions. The only way he gets beaten in my view is if he goes back and settles at the back . On form got u covered ,b.d.joe and american dealer look to be the ones fighting out the placings,but each one needs a reasonanble run to do so. The cullen trained horses i don't think will be that much of a factor. Maybe one of them may place but they have don't have the x factor this year,and will need more than team driving to win. Its all about faith is an interesting runner. Will be interesting to see whether he beats many home,as on his last couple of runs you would think he would struggle.

The Auckland Trotting Clubs financial position is something that has been discussed on here previously, although more so probably 12 to 18 months ago. If you google the club, the latest annual report that comes up is for 2019. No doubt 2020 report must be somewhere,not sure how to access it and why its harder to find. 2019 stated its financial position as this. "the club started the year with an asset base of $193 million. With issues encountered on the development this has reduced to $126 million after recognising impairment on inventory under construction." I'm not an expert, buti did post more reported detail on this when there was a topic about it last year.They were paying some ridiculous amount in interest to just get the complex's finished. In 2019 it said they had borrowed $195 million,and at the end of that they projected a $55 million net loss from the project. Thats why it was reported not long after they were selling many assets.It was also reported that they were facing legal challenges. It was interesting to see who had made the decisions that lead to the financial disaster,and their expertise,or lack of as relates to what they undertook. What i personally found disturbing was the misleading statements from the likes of mick guerin around the time. For example when promoting purchasing at the yearling sales he had often quoted the future expected stake increases by the ATC. All that while anyone close to the action must have known how everything was actually unfolding. He was later to claim he was ignorant of how bad it was. Now here we are,2021,and we have had no recent press coverage. Why is that. And what does that say about those who should be reporting,and what does it say about the transparency from the club. People are interested in how things are progressing, so why doesn't someone report on it or the club give a press release.

Well it had 20m start last night,so that may well turn out to have been its best opportunity. Races like the nz cup are ffa's,so they will be much harder to win than last night.

Well are you there to try,or there to give it a quiet run? It was a group 1 after all. Dunns drive was more negative than williamson. When Tim Williams moved up on Spankem,you could see he waited for dunn to move out on henry hubert. Why did he do that,well obviously because thats what williams would have done had he been driving henry hubert. Williams clearly had not expected Dunn to be so negative. Still we can analyse any race i suppose,just this one easier with its small numbers and good drivers having a pre race mindset which resulted in their negative tactical decisions.

The premier racing which has small fields dominated by 2 or 3 stables isn't that exciting to watch. Its always good to see a good horse run in the flesh,but when watching them on tv it does little to raise the excitement levels if the races are meekly handed to the better horses. I don't know whether purdon/rasmussen have too much to do the cullen stable. Obviously purdon still does a little. But whatever the reason for Rasmussen cutting back on involvement,she's still their number 1 asset as far as the driving goes. Personally i think they should have more 2600m races,as the 1980 races are too much of the same thing.

Yes,dunn on henry hubert also gave his horse no chance. Electing to sit 4 back the fence,knowing it was turning into a sprint home,meant he too had decided he was just there to make up the numbers.

I agree that the bigger the field the harder it is for those off handicaps. But if you look at the official times,Williamson ran the 800m between the 2800m and 2000m in 1.02.7. That made it easy for those off the handicaps to make up the ground without over exerting themselves. Then,it was his choice to stay 3 back the fence and effectively box himself in,knowing the likely outcome was he would get out too late. I say he did this because he thought the others were better than him,and despite it being a group 1,$90,000 race,he didn't want to over tax his horse. Well his thinking may be fair enough,but that tactical negativity by under driving his horse got the result it deserved and will be noted by his future opponents. As i have said before,i don't think the cullen trained horses currently have the "run forever' factor. They get tired just like any other horse. They are well trained but they are beatable, just like all the rest. As to AG'S whitesocks. The Hopes are very good trainers,but this horse has not won when trained in canterbury for 2 years. He had a form reversal and won when trained by barry purdon at the interdominions and won in australia about 18 months ago,but apart from that has only managed to run 2 placings in races that only had 5 and 6 runners in the last 2 years. One thing you can always bank on with him as well is 90% of the time he breaks in stands. He really needs to race in mobiles and not against the horses he ran against last night to get back to winning form.

The Cullen stable drivers simply out drove the others. The best of the opposition was pembrooks playboy. Nathan williamson ,normally a top driver,seemed to be in awe of the cullen horses and really gave away the advantage he had with the 20m start by showing early in the race he would take a trail,then seemed happy to become boxed in over the last lap. So all in all,a very tame race . As to ricky may having balls the week before. Well he refused to give the lead when it looked likely that self assured when keep the lead due to the others settling back,and effectively May ruined his own chances. So really the drivers of the opposition to the cullen trained horses simply made poor tactical decisions for the second week in a row in my opinion.

Yes,a jumps race with 5 runners took preference for trackside. You can't tell me that aussie race had more nz money bet on it than the addington race. It was an incompetent decision by someone in trackside.

Race 1 they had no lead in whatsoever,crossing over as they lined up? Are those who run trackside aware they have a meeting being run. I've always said some of those employed at trackside couldn't care less whether they cover harness racing. Race 1 just more proof of that.

Fair enough. He can be rather one dimensional when driving pacers though. He drives for luck over the last 600m on 90 % of the Hope trained pacers. Thats why he can be a frustrating driver for punters sometimes. And to me he drives the pacers too much stop/start,whereas he rates the trotters at a more consistent speed,like the good drivers do. No ones perfect,but punters just want the driver of the horse they have their money on, to drive them like blair orange or john dunn would everytime.

I should say i recognise that the horse is a sit/sprinter and thats why he drives it for luck all the time. Ben hope driving doesn't put me off backing a horse,but i do think he drives trotters better,and is a bit too one dimensional with his tactics when driving the pacers. Thats just my opinion.

I think this topic a bit stupid. I've backed homebush Lad about its last 7 or 8 starts.Did so again today because its got relief in the handicap due to its rating dropping, because it seems to be forever getting the wrong run. You've picked the wrong horse to highlight if you go back through its recent races. Well done to ben hope today,he had luck go his way,but you can't be serious to call it a brilliant drive where he ends up 6 back the fence and only gets a run because the others got tired because of the pace of the race.

I agree with your assessment.I think mark purdon was right to think Ricky May would be better off taking a trail and therefore would,and in the end ricky mays tactics worked against both horses. Made for an exciting race given it was a 5 horse field. The Dolan trained Watch me now,who beat amazing dream last time was a major flop,finishing a distant last. The dolan stable has been underperforming in the last few weeks,so that was no real surprise. May need to go back to The ellis/barclay stable if it is to produce the odd exceptional performance again.

It always seems like he is talking through his pocket,and lets that cloud his judgment. Its easy enough to do. I'm not supporting his opinion on this occasion. Just getting inside his head,although thats probably not the best place to be sometimes. He may benefit from a bit of time on the couch occasionally , but unfortunately when he needs it,he can't afford it because he has done his dough because of the all stars. Always the way,not just for forbs.

No team driving in that race,but the problem is,and always will be,is they have team driven many times in the past. So when Have A Go posts something like this,i can understand why he has a pre conceived perception that team driven happens.

I was referring to the port at timaru which is partially blamed for its poor air quality. You can get a wallaby pie in waimate.

You get the summer breezes during the hot summer days. Land heats up quicker than water,over summer the warm air over the land rises,and the cool air from the ocean comes in and replaces the warm rising air. At least thats how i think it works. Besides you hardly get much of a sea breeze at night,and night time is when people heat their houses especially in winter. Port activity can be a factor in air quality,and of course so are industrialised areas.

Love the humour