the galah

Show me where i said i took exception to them being scratched.I couldn't care less about whether they scratched or not. The scratching rule is,and always has been a joke and open to manipulation and misinformation. This is just another example. I have posted about that for years now. No doubt you are quite happy to be fed information which is then contradicted within a few days. You only care and comment, along with some others,when you can have a dig at the riu because your upset that they dare enforce the rules against someone you know or like. Give me a break.

Maybe. Maybe you can scratch and then line up the same day,or next day at the trials.So much for a scratching penalty if that is the case. Earlier in this thread i expressed my scepticism about the article relating to the all stars. No one seems to comment on stuff like this. Don't know what they others are afraid of,or who they don't want to upset.

It seems the foot soreness which required a couple of weeks rest was not as bad as they said. Did they re check the x rays? Both spankem and self assured in at the trials 3 days after oamaru. How do the scratching penalties work anyway. I thought the 5 day stand down they got meant a 5 day stand down. Or is it a claytons stand down.

On the contrary. I think harness racing is the most honest it has ever been. You won't find me hiding in the hedges of your trainer. Its too crowded in there.

What about it. I have my own rating system and had marked both those horses down significantly in recent times. Even having done that they were rated the top 2 in what was a field with no form whatsoever. So no surprise they ran the quinella. Where did i ever say they were not going to train their share of future winners? You say wrong again. Just as you are about who i am. Was i wrong when i posted about the d dunn drive at forbury which later became the subject of official scrutiny, Was i wrong when i posted about 3 of the races that subsequently became the subject of operation inca.I have made the occasional post about some horses. The likes of sheriff ,arms of an angel. Horses like that it was so easy to predict their future well before it happened. I posted multiple times about the dalgety horses, pre the cobalt positives, and said i thought that stable had some type of issue due to their erratic ,sometimes distressed performance All that stuff is so easy to predict because its obvious. Call me what you want,but don't call me ignorant.

Thought if anyone was to ask that it would be you. i see hunter has done the same. What do you think i mean? How about we approach it from a different perspective. You tell me why you think every horse from this stable has lost 5 to 10 lengths performance wise since lockdown? Whats your answer? The only exception from that stable is Watch me now who won last friday.However that is a horse who had won untested in its previous starts from a previous campaign and it was hard to gauge how good it was. Next week it may all turn around and be back to normal.But i'm talking about the present. So you tell me why?

Is that what you call it?

Ray a heck of a nice fella,but had driven only the 1 winner in about 140 drives in the last 20 years. Yet it was still the plunge horse apparently.

Who doesn't assume a lot of things. I understand you thought the purdon penalty was harsh, fair enough,but you need to give specifics of other cases with no consequences, where licenceholders have ignored a stipes direction to attend. Only then can we compare like with like. In the past i have highlighted many inconsistencies, where stipes based what action they took on whether the person was high profile or otherwise. There is nothing more i dislike than seeing one rule for some,and another for someone else. Whether you want to admit it or not, the rules are being applied in a far fairer and consistent way than they were 7 or 8 years ago and prior. So when i see criticism of what i believe is a more even handed approach,i comment. I understand why you criticise the riu on this matter. Your criticism is actually more about how you view the riu's handling of other matters,and the purdon case is just another vessel for expressing that dissatisfaction. Have you ever thought that the reason i disagree with your criticism of the riu is the same reason for your criticism. Its just we have different history and backgrounds and because of that we differ on what message we deliver and as to who it should be directed at. Put my name. You choose too, i do not. I understand those,like yourself who put their name on their posts no doubt believe that is what everyone should do. Of course most don't do they. I see it as neither here nor there.

Your example of jack ryan. What has that got to do with purdon seeing the stipes? They questioned the driver of jack ryan as to why he was off the gate prior to the start. Had they asked the trainer to see them, then one would expect he would have. You say i piss you off. So we don't agree on much. Your opinions or criticism don't annoy me. I think you should be more selective in picking the subjects on which to criticise the riu like you do. You wouldn't come across as so ant them if you did.

Noodlum/chief,whoever you may be. You can think what you like about what i post. One thing i have observed is the opinions you express relating to the RIU are always critical of what they do. To me you have an agenda. Thats the way you come across to me. Name calling just shows the opinions i express are annoying you.

So you think the stipes should hold off writing up their reports until a couple of days later in cases where trainers or drivers don't attend as requested on the night? You say no steward was directed to catch up with mr purdon at the qualifying trials the next day. From that can we therefore assume Mr purdon did not approach the stipe on duty that day? Can we also assume that you think it ok information may be relayed 3rd hand to a stipe,via another stipe,when that would not have been necessary had mr purdon attended as requested. Have you ever thought to reflect how this would have been perceived by a lesser known licence holder if they were aware no action was taken against mr purdon, If that were the case they would no doubt have thought the the double standards the stipes displayed a few years back were still in play. This really is not a big deal but you seem to be making excuses for another high profile trainer,yet again.

So the" number of cases of sore feet to hit the stable" only seem to effect the horses running on sunday,but not the 5 they have in tonight or the 7 they have in at auckland tomorrow,none of whom have been scratched? Thats a mysterious coincidence.

I said your "perhaps everyone else has lifted their game" comment was interesting because it appears to be an acknowledgment of what you had earlier denied. As to the box seat. I think it is great to see this show return. Like brodie,i would like to see more content involving the grass roots of the industry,balanced with the highlighting of the the contribution the likes of the all stars bring to the industry.

"Perhaps everyone else has lifted their game" -Interesting comment.

Ok, If you can't see it,then try opening both eyes. No point in my saying much more.

In my opinion the drop off in the ability to seemingly 'run forever' is much more noticeable this year than at any other time. There is a reason for that. Your right,maybe come cup time it may change,but even if it does,it doesn't erase what we are currently seeing.

Thats the type of reply i expect from you noodlum. Have you not been watching harness racing since it resumed after the lock down,or do you simply not want to address what i am saying. Go stick your head back in the sand.

Actually i would like to hear mick guerin's take on how the all stars team has been performing so far this season. We all have our own opinions on the lengths guerin will go to ridicule anything negative that may be said about the all stars. So how does he think they are going this season? Here's my take. The all stars still set the benchmark for excellence and are our best trainers,but.....anyone can see that in the last 4 months they are not operating at the "Bulletprooof' level that those on the box seat constantly refer too. Can mick guerin please come up with a reasonable explanation? Heres the all stars UDR since they have been purdon/rasmussen. 2014 .4543 2015 .4496 2016 .5063 2017 .4493 2018 .4762 2019 .4828 2020 .4540 this season .3635 Now i know any other trainer would love to have a udr of.3635,but this is a significant drop in performance from our elite stable. What the most interesting feature of how they are performing is that the horses get tired near the finish after a hard run.That is what is so noticeable. Like i said,they are still our no 1 stable,but can Guerin explain why. Of course i know what his answer will be. He will drag out the same old tall poppy,jealous, haters line that he always takes.He will not address what i refer to.

Good points happy. Both K Tomlinson and K Newman over did it early in that race,but both drove with the intention of securing a position most advantageous to their chances. It was not a prolonged speed duel. I see nothing wrong with the stipes asking the question,and think their passing on advice as to tactics reasonable. But i do think both drivers are smart enough to have worked that out for themselves anyway. So it did,but that was because Just Ace failed to respond quickly enough,despite its drivers urgings to maintain the trail. Go have a look at Just ace's previous start at invercargill. It was on and off the bit throughout that race as the pace varied,or it came to a bend,and simply lacks a bit of ringcraft. I agree,this probably should have gotten a mention in the stipes report,but there certainly was no favours given just because the drivers may know each other.

Thanks for the clarification. Thought you may have been inferring something negative about my comments,but good to see that not the case and you are still your cheerful self.

Can you explain the last part of this post.What does 'the way southern racing is due to people like you'.Whats that a reference to?

If you follow southland harness you would have to have noticed everything from this stable has lost about 10 lengths that has run in the last 3 months. I know,some will say i'm knocking the horse. I'm not.He is very good. Can anyone name even 1 horse from this stable that is racing at the same level it was pre covid?

I never said it wasn't a poor drive. What i have said is in my opinion your suggestion that he hand in his licence or that he should get a lenghty suspension is an over reaction. Are you referring to the all stars? One of the most obvious observations that anyone who watches harness racing on a regular basis can see,is that in recent months this stable has lost the" run forever no matter how hard they go " asset they had. It seemed to start pre virus,with some, including myself commenting, to that effect. They still set the benchmark for excellence,but they are now no longer unbeatable. In my opinion we should be asking why that is,what happened,and for how long will it last?

So what your saying is you can mitigate the level of poor driving by K Butt's because she is a skilled driver,But O'connell,who causes no interference,doesn't deserve to be judged in the same as way Butt, because he is not a skilled driver. Thats a double standard your applying. O'connell used the whip,within the rules,to the point when he faded back to 6th. 5th was a stake bearing place so i think his limited use of the whip was not unreasonable. As referred to earlier by crosscodes,the K tomlinson drive on glenthorne could be viewed as a poorly judged drive, more detrimental to that horses chances than the O'connell drive. But that doesn't make her drive deserving of official censure either. If Glenthorne goes best in front,then why should she not attempt to try and lead throughout. Besides it takes two to be in a speed duel,and automatically should not become the fault of just the driver who's horse is paying more on the tote. Drivers can't be expected to go out and drive in races with a mindset that they can not drive their horses to their strengths,because they may face official censure if another driver wants to use the same tactics.