the galah

That post takes the cake. I'll say it again. The ones defending the drivers concerned are not helping them, in fact just the opposite. Anyway its a shame Orange or Butt did not front up and comment when approached for comment in the article. No doubt both are embarrassed and i would expect both understand and accept they were at fault in this case. Just a simple comment to that effect was all that was needed. From memory Oranges public comments the first time he transgressed at omakau in 2016 was an example of how to take responsibility for your actions, I can't see why he would not have the same approach this time. Its just you should not make the same mistake twice,but people do, and they have to deal with it.

No doubt there would have been tens of thousands of dollars invested on runners in the belief that they were to be driven by mr Orange,with his driving skills a significant factor in that. Add to that the connections of the horses involved. Doesn't matter whether it be mr orange,butt or chris johnson. It just undermines those who try to promote the sport and betting.

from your comments you should know. By the way. I note you failed to answer my question. If butcher was not responsible then who was??? As i have said before,Z butcher is not a driver i admire much,as he sometimes drives to help others,and on other occasions he drives to hinder if he does not get his own way. Having said that, there is probably no more capable driver in the north island when he just focusses on driving his own horse. Thats my opinion.

While they obviously went too fast up front,and R Holmes can be over do it early sometimes,we all know that is how Silk always get driven and it takes two to tango. Can't see why he should get any sort of reprimand by the stipes.

For a start,I would have realised i was driving in a race in which they were all first starters. I would not have tried to push in twice in the first 300m,i would have gone forward with cover. Then there is no way i would steer a horse inwards and try and improve, which by doing so it would obviously lock wheels. Are you saying you saw nothing wrong with Butchers drive? If he did nothing wrong then do you blame mckendry for all the unnecessary interference that went on???

Not like z butcher.

Have you read the rules?The rule says you can't push out before the 1000m if the horse outside you has forward momentum and its nose is in line with the cart. If you look at the video again clearly the butcher horse Mckendry eased out did not have forward momentum. Butcher tried twice to push mckendry onto the fence prior to that,almost knocking them both over. Then when Mckendry came out he deliberately veered in again almost knocking himself over again. All this on a green 2yo. That is what Z buthcer drives like sometimes. I've pointed out other examples in the past. He is a brilliant driver most of the time,but in my opinion occasionally seems intent on getting in someones way. Why is that?

Trains 3 winners but then puts in a typical z butcher drive where he seems intent on getting in the way of someone with his drive in the 2yo race.Maybe he thought he was at palmerston north again?

I actually had it rated 2nd,but only took it in quinellas and trifectas,and missed the trifecta. I never backed it,instead backing the just as inconsistent favorite cassius bromac,but it looks like it is one of those horses that is unlikely to ever win much,i think due to racing twice as a 2year old in fast run races against the all star horses. Tiger Moths record shows it is just a bit better than the others in that field,and today was a day when he did things right and performed to his capabilities. So i don't think the win came out of the blue and nothing crooked going on there.

That Conventina bay run was a perfect example of how barging into a gap can effect a horses momentum. If you watch that video conventina bay took a good 120 metres to regain its momentum and make any ground,and then over the next and last 120m it gained 2 lengths on everything else. A bumping duel effects forward momentum.

I watched that and thought the same. Why jockeys bump and knock their own horses round to keep someone else in is a mystery to me. Sure,maybe 20% of the time they may keep a horse in that may end up beating them,but the other 80% of the time it costs them. I remember James Mcdonald in a winning after race interview on a horse who had performed poorly the week before after being in a bumping duel,saying people underestimate how much that can effect a horses performance. It also must be a factor in future injuries suffered.

Murray hamilton was training a small team of gallopers,but was put out for 3 months in 2016 after a dispute with those who ran the omakau racecourse. he then got a further suspension when they were trained under a former employees name,then another when he was helping someone else out down the road apparently. I think i read that he was taking those that ran the racecourse to court because he felt unfairly treated. Don't know the merits of his case,but i do know racecourses are often run in a way that serves the best interests of those running them. Rodney King said "can't we all just get along" during the 1992 LA riots. Well the same has applied to some of our racecourses at times.

It was a pretty clear cut case.The winner only galloped for about 20m,lost a little ground in that gallop when immediately restrained,and was not lapped on. I understand the definition of lapped on, is if the nose of the 2nd horse was in line with any part of the galloping horse,excluding the tail. That was not the case so it kept the win.

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No i didn't check the report. The trots stipes reports are much better on their website as they have that information in the results and have it up the same day as the races. So it appears it did bleed,but there was a reasonable explanation. Fair enough. Of course you have to be a bit wary of some explanations sometimes,and you would think the stipes should order some type of vet clearance or follow up. Then of course you had the Catalyst bleeding which they put down to bumping its head pre race. It may be just coincidence that its performances since have left questions over that explanation. Who knows,but i agree te akau must believe there is no problem.

Just have a look at the front cover picture if you don't believe me. Thats what it looked like on trackside at the time. Did the person leading the horse back not have a look?

On the subject of bleeding. My wife tried to tell me she thought Advantage had blood from its nostril when it came back to scale after its last win. Last time she said that was about catalyst,which we read they blamed on a bump to the head,but where has that got to. Anyway back to Advantage. I assume it is the horse on the cover of the latest raceform magazine,with the headline "she's back to defend her crown". Well that photo seems to show it has blood coming from the nostril in the picture.

No,the answer is to factor in the drivers tactical ability when making the bet. And when she makes poor tactical decisions,like she did in that drive,just accept you knew there was a good chance of that happening. Next week she is just as likely to drive a good race. Some people don't like criticism of drivers,but thats just a part of the sport and will never change.

Whatever the language Forbs,r/drv uses,we all know it reflects on him,so i personally just ignore that part of his posts. I know everyone is different,but personally I don't think anyone should take the questionable language seriously and be offended by it. Then again others may see it differently.

Whats the point of the commentator saying over and over again how weak the field is. Why can't he just compare the merits of the runners recent form?

Actually i would also say A harrison is another who i try to avoid.

Your best drivers are about the same as mine. Orange i think the best ever driver. The ones you have as the drivers you never bet on. I bet on any of those you have mentioned,but i do agree E barron,s tomlinson,and i would also say k tomlinson are the 3 that i have the least confidence in,yet all 3 get heaps of drives,so obviously trainers and owners must like them..

Thats what i thought too. If they had decided it did not gallop for 150m,fair enough,but why not state how far it galloped like they have in the past. It only leads to the conclusion that the matter was not clear cut and the reason they didn't was to avoid criticism.

Just watched that race again. No doubts in my mind it was just a very poor drive. Middle quarters in 31.9,then29.3 meant the leaders got a bit of a breather,and the best performed horse by far just sat there and gave them an impossible start. I think the commentator was accurate when he said "the favorites surely could not be in it" at the point thornley still hadn't moved at the 400m.. Thornley said the horse felt lethargic.I think some horses just want to run naturally,and some just wait until they are asked to go and in this case Italian lad expected to be driven,not just have a passenger. Of course the reason for these comments about the drive is because the horses previous form was superior to those in that field.

Thats the question. How does a vet get to help start a harness race,and how come the same vet lets horses start in both codes that other vets probably wouldn't?