the galah

I have watched this several times,slowed it down many times,and have come to the conclusion that anyone who backed Call me trouble really have been robbed by an incompetent decision. I understand the rule is you can't gallop anymore than 150m. Well by my estimation,by counting the markers,its galloped between 115-120 metres. So how it got disqualified is a total mystery. Its on the video,it gallops for 110m, trots for 30m while hanging,gallops 10m then trots. How can punters have any confidence when decisions like that are made? It wasn't even a hard decision,yet they still got it wrong.

We had as big as was legal,with the extensions on,we put him as far forward in the cart as we could,had every bit of gear remade,he had hopples that were 74 inches long and they still looked too tight. I couldn't even get shoes to fit and struggled to get someone to make them that big, with the right steel. And of course when your dealing with one like that you have your trials and tribulations along the way that can be a bit demoralising. I think he would go well in those standardbred a.m.p shows they have,as anyone who sees him says he looks outstanding. Oh,and my advice to anyone who may be starting off ,is if you have a horse that bolts on the training track,and you can't restrain it,just go with it and keep it on the track and keep going round until it gets a bit tired. Use your energy to restrain it at the right time,and try to do it gradually.Also,don't do that at the point just before where it normally comes off the track,as you don't want it to be veering off on you, as that could be a little bit dangerous.

Bolting horses is an interesting topic,as i think one of the first things any trainer should tell a new,inexperienced employee is how to deal with such a horse.Its very important if you are to avoid future injury to person and horse. In my view,their are several causes,but i agree with the chief that the breaking in process is very important for future manners. I have found that the trainers who take their time,and have a good reputation, are the best ones to use.Same if doing it yourself,its surprising how good they turn out if you take your time.. I also found that those who do it cheaper always seemed to get it done quicker,and always the horse had poorer future manners. So that is a factor,but obviously the horses nature/breeding itself is important as some obviously are more highly strung. Then the gear issue i referred to earlier. Just as pinching gear can cause a horse to buck,horses that are geared up incorrectly or are simply too big,can hit the sulky with their back feet,which of course leads them to panic and their natural inclination is to try and get away which means they can bolt. Thats why in years gone past drivers used to drop a leg turning for home when in the sulky and make contact with the back feet to make the horses run faster. Something no longer allowed. Everyone will come across horses that bolt if you work in a stable. I have had a couple i trained. The first one i had i worked out early if i just let him go and he would bolt half a round, then i just took hold of him and he became as relaxed as. I used to have to get him lead on to the track for a start,but he soon got out of the bolting habit. Although one day i had him driven by another good driver in training,who i told to let him just go if he wanted to bolt for 400m,but that driver,even though he was very experienced tryed to restrain him and ended up bolting 5 rounds. The other horse i had that used to bolt simply was too big,and would hit the footrests at high speed which used to cause him to panic and either bolt or gallop. In the end he just wouldn't run at top speed as i'm sure he was worried about hitting the cart.He was as big and powerful a standardbed as i have ever seen,and i thought as fast as anything i had ever had,but he never raced.

For what its worth in my opinion the best thing to do is give them a bit of clear air and let them run. No point fighting them. Thats what most drivers do. The ones that restrain them hard often choke and fall. Normally they are the ones in the field without an option to let them run.So many examples of that.(e.g.megarock last week) Occasionally you will see a driver in the open do the same. I remember watching a horse MIss waikiwi restrained so hard one day at winton the woman driver actually was strong enough to get it to fall.(16/12/18). So there are examples of horses that may want to bolt,you just don't see them intentionally put into positions in the field that could be dangerous. Horses that hit the sulky with their back legs develop a fear factor and that can effect them all their career. Its rare,but some horses stride is simply too big for the sulky length allowed. If thats what your saying happened to mr pyers, well i can believe that, as it looked like he really wasn't in control. I can't have been nice for him. I personally think when driving a horse like that you just have to be aware that you can't end up boxed in on the fence where you have no options.Of course thats not always easy.

Licence holders aren't going to tape conversations with stipes where the licenceholder loses his temper. Thats not going to be much help to them. But if they want to tape their any conversations with stipes just in case,well go ahead,whatever good that would do. Besides advocating for something you say should not happen is a contradiction. Why have some referred to INCA? What has harbraken got to do with INCA other than they both involved the RIU Whats muirhead got to do with inca? Muirhead was asked to deal with the matter by HRNZ. Is it their fault as well? If not why differentiate? Do you think the stipe should have just let him run the horse in the workout and then charged him with a more serious offence? To me this is an uncomplicated case. My view is its just another example of criticising the RIU when it is not deserved,and that undermines future criticism of the RIU when it is deserved. Hold your fire until you can make it count.

Do you also have an issue with the JCA who ruled the recording was admissible and relevant. Maybe some need to get in the real world when it comes to taping certain situations. I have had my own personal experience relating to recordings.A couple of years ago i was assaulted by someone very violent, off his head on drugs,and was lucky to get away after a struggle. I rung the police,and when this one older policeman turned up,he told me it was only my word against the attacker and he would not be doing anything about it. It was only after i told the policeman that everything was recorded that he reluctantly realised i had proof of what had occurred and he would have to do something.. So the stipe taped the recording because he thought mr harbraken would do or say something he shouldn't. So what. I have sympathy for the situation mr harbraken found himself in,but he did not admit to the way he behaved. Why did he not just plead guilty and save himself embarrassment and money? Maybe he has his reasons. It appears the sympathy he is getting on here will encourage others to behave in such a stupid manner.

I'm not a fan of mr muirhead,but he was just doing his job. Rubbishing the riu again just seems a bit ridiculous to me.

Its the path where they will get the least criticism. Punters accept that marginally unfair starts happen,and that sometimes horses manners aren't as good as we would want some days. As to those standing starts,the thing that frustrates me is when drivers are happy to start 3/4 length behind the others. Its always a disadvantage. Those were other examples of decisions which were always going to create confusion and generate criticism.Thats what happened. Don't know why they went there in the first place.

As to my view on Mahia. I agree it was hampered,but accept that it should not have been late scratched.I agree the criticism of the inconsistency is deserved,but would argue that the previous Be mine tonight decision was the wrong one. Its always inconsistency in the application of any rule that leads to criticism. Its the same when you penalise a one drive a meeting driver and then ignore a high profile driver doing exactly the same thing. It shouldn't happen.

So i think we all agree that occasionally some horses drift off the mobile a little as its speeds up just prior to the starting point. Everyone knows that,and everyone had been under the impression that it was the starters job to make the call for a false start if he deemed someone was being overly hampered. The starter had to deal with the consequences if he made a poor call. Punters accepted that is just part of racing Stipes only were declaring late scratchings in very obvious cases of horses being hindered prior to the start. Then about 2 months ago the stipes started late scratching any horse they deemed to receive an unfair start. That of course opened up a can of worms as it happens in almost every race to some degree and was a policy change that was always going to be applied in an inconsistent manner and was always going to be criticised.In other words to avoid criticism,they implemented a policy which lead to greater criticism..This thread is an example of that and fair enough too. So having realised that,the stipes have gone back to the way it was,and hopefully from now on they just stick to the obvious late scratchings that no one can disagree with.

Well i just think the merit in your comments on those subjects gets watered down because it's viewed as a relentless attack on the same people.

Your a interesting fella. You actually say what you are thinking. As to the andrew fitzgerald drive,he certainly made a couple of decisions that turned out bad for him. But to be fair thats how the trainer said it would be driven in the story on the hrnz website,and thats the way it has been driven in the past,always waiting for that one last run at them. So its a horse you need to up the blood pressure medication if you are going to back it. And a bit harsh to criticize the jessica young grant drive. 1st out ,trails the winner all the way,then fades in the straight. If your unhappy with that then your going to take some pleasing. Take after me just won that race while i typed this. What a wonderful horse he's been to his connections,and haven't they done a great job with him. Another of my old favorites in jerry garcia ran another honest race without placing.

yes a win is a win,shame it wasn't last time when i had my money on it. Maybe the falt tyre it had that day did slow it up a bit. It got the perfect run,following the favorite and only having to make a short sprint.Still it was a good effort to win out of its grade. Just watched square dealer win.Jesse alford does a good job with his horses,and the horse gets well driven. Its horse that i used to watch down south when in the c barron stable,but it was one of those horses that they kept on the ur for some reason and never seemed to get a decent trip. Just shows you how some horses form can be turned around if they have confidence in the driver.

The problem i believe happy is a small vocal percentage are resistant to the views of the vast majority when it comes to the matter of enforcing integrity issues. There is no way any of us would be involved as owners/trainers/drivers/punters/administrators if we believed harness racing had a high level of dishonesty. It doesn't. You can however understand why the small vocal minority attack those that openly encourage the enforcement of higher standards. As Basil has said, the public is more aware of,and has greater access to avenues of scrutinizing facets of the industry that in the past had little light shed on them. Some licenceholders have taken the greater scrutiny and tried to portray it as personal attacks, whereas in reality it is an attack on a small part of the actions which some have for generations been deemed acceptable. Its obvious that strategy isn't working for them,just look at the fallout. Its those that they support who have paid a greater price for the resistance. You would hope one day they may wake up and see that. Integrity issues should be a common goal.

Seems always too short on the fixed odds given its form. If they had it at realistic odds in previous starts they could have made a bit of money,but the bookies never seem to want to take any risks. Looks like a grass tracker to me who needs covered up for one run. Actually carried a flat tyre down the straight in its last start,and does look like it can win one shortly,but even though its not an over strong field,i'm with you brodie and wonder why they have rated it so short.

Don't mean to degrade the all stars in any way with that comment,just referring to the inconsistency in Long Owners posts,depending on who he supports.

Is my memory fading, or isn't this straight out of the all star lovers quotes. A

Its previous start on 8 february 2020,it hit the wall at the 200m and failed to respond when given a couple with the whip,dropping out quickly to last. Vet check showed nothing. I think Ormsby was probably as surprised as the viewers how quickly it stopped and it wouldn't have made any difference what he did. Still he should have for appearances sake maybe rode it a bit harder for 50m.

I actually agree that owners need to be realistic. Whether they have a 100% share in a horse, or someone running a syndicate with multiple owners ,they need to realise that harness racing has the same small % of people who lack integrity as does any other sector/occupation. Owners need to show oversight of where their money is being spent,and need to form their own opinions on who is best to deal with,and not be influenced by some with ulterior motives. In this day and age the more progressive trainers can easily give video updates to owners wanting to see the progress in real time of their horses which will fill the void of not seeing them in the flesh. I saw the dalgety/purdon stable was promoting this type of information sharing a while back, and you would think other trainers and owners would have recognised the benefits of doing so. Finally i think there does need to be some type of official oversight which can be called upon by owners who have doubts that they are getting a fair deal. If we are to believe what has been suggested on here has occurred, then there should be some type of official report, and procedures put in place which will lead to the perception of greater integrity by all sides. Bad publicity can easily be turned into good publicity if handled correctly. Also i think in Kerr's case we need to be cautious, as unlike some recent cases, we have not seen with our own eyes the evidence to form our own opinions, nor do we currently have context.

Totally agree happy. So many of those who promote harness racing are hypocrites when it comes to giving followers of the sport news that may shed a negative light on anything or anyone. They know silence only leads to speculation, yet they are silent anyway. Who knows,maybe the riu is keeping the sport honest.That theory is just as good as any.

What is interesting at oamaru today is how the track is not as green as normal. It normally has a big bias for inside runners,but today it looks like they are coming from all parts of the track.

Mr pyers given a 5 month holiday for tonights effort. I don't think i've seen a horse run over so many markers,or climb over a wheel like he did at the 300m ,and yet it still kept pacing. The horse has looked to be rather head strong in all its races so far,so to be fair to mr pyers it does look a rather hard drive. But really he and others were lucky to come back in one piece. I've always thought Mr pyers does a handy job as a trainer with his small team,and his two horses showed enough tonight to expect a marked improvement on form while he is not doing the driving.

I said im racin took the shortcut tonight. Saved plenty of ground after giving them a 150m start.Can't blame him for looking to save some ground after that?

I think it will be interesting to see if the property is retained,or sold in the future. Obviously if it is sold there is no way the likes of mr cullen could afford to set up his own training facilites,unless a rich owner does it for him. Don't know of any trainers out there with a spare million or two sitting in the back pocket. It's a shame that property prices have become out of reach,as in the past the capital gain on properties was how many trainers kept a positive outlook on what is a hard way to make a living.