the galah

There's always been a lot of talk around the quality of the Canterbury starts. in my opinion they are very good these days and the starters are doing a good job. My only negative is I think some drivers haven't adjusted to the better starts and are often deliberately starting too far back when drawn the second line or the unruly. I think there needs to be a change in the negative perception many have of some of the Canterbury starts and that we should be judging on the present and not the past.

Just watched race 1 at Auckland. daisy hill gallops for the 4th week in a row and wipes out a runner who's driver gets hurt and who's horse not much better after falling. Just another example .

Those were the days indeed. His excuse was he 'got cramp " I think from memory.

I thought it was a 50/50 call but guessed it would be relegated. I have worked out how they decide these things. What they do is check my tab account to see what result from the inquiry I need to get a collect, then rule so I don't get one. At least that's what it seems like happens.

The intention of the rule is the right one in my opinion but as you infer how will it be applied. There also seems to also be an assumption that vets all act within the rules and what they sign off on can be trusted. You only have to look at the scratching penalty system which i believe illustrates how vets constantly issue vets certificates at the request of trainers which in my opinion would contain questionable information. So while I think the new rule is well intentioned I believe those who specialize in using such techniques will easily find ways around its enforcement.

Ive just watched Barclays drive on swanp major in race 8 at wyndham.She is defending an excessive whip use charge. Is slapping with the reins deemed excessive now? How is her drive any different than the 2nd and 3rd placed horses? If she had just let the horse ease up would that have been ok? Charging her seems all a bit over the top to me.

Oscar B probably should have got past Bordeaux but he was only having his 13th start and had very little race experience in a field. Marcoola at his best could still have done that time I think. She probably had the intention of making it hard for Oscar bonevena. Personally I think there had to be doubts on marcoola pre race as it went off last year for unknown reasons and it was given such a hard run at ashburton . Maybe they wanted a fast mile time at ashburton,but it could have won without the extra strain there,so I thought running that time in only its 2nd preparation run was a worry. Who knows. I agree about Blair Orange. I believe he is the most talented driver I have seen. What I admire about him is it makes no difference whether he is driving in a group 1 at addington or in a non win race at forbury. While no ones perfect,he is as close you get to it with each race drive. He installs so much confidence for the punter.

I understand where your coming from cross codes.They no longer stand down horses who continuously break time after time. Theres lots of them running round at the moment. As you mentioned the horses with ONE in their name were shockers. Other high profile examples are a g 's whitesocks-has he ever not galloped in a stand. Has Bordeaux trotted all the way in the last couple of years. he certainly got in Oscar b way today.Sundees Son.So many examples. Problem happens when they cause interference. As to matua tana. He hung terrible on the bends at addington 3 days ago,so no surprise he did the same today. looks like he needs a big grass track with no bends,where ever that exists.

Ist that just to give the perception that every thing is on the level. Isnt the reality that the work done to increase the oxygen carrying red blood cells has already been done,so a retention barn is not going to change anything for some.. I guess it depends on the method being used as to whether a retention barn is effective.So the literature says anyway.

maybe the tip is not to back on the amateur driver races. I'm at that point now. That race just run you had 3 of the first 4 favorites give their drives no chance with seemingly no idea you cant come from 10 to 15 lengths off the pace at the 600m on a sprint home. At least the favourite was well driven by woodward.

He dictated the speed very well,and it was just a sprint down the straight in the end. The 1-2 win race went a similar time and the trotters almost as fast overall. Purdon allowed him to do so on cruz bromac. The all stars strength has always been they never get tired, so why did he do that? My guess is because their strength was not in play today. It will be a different story in the cup. As an aside,why has My uncle sam bothered to come here?. .

Well m geurin just rambling on about virgil and how hard it is to get past them. Well the dunn horse gave the whole field a 20m start,looped the field and sat parked and got beaten by a head. That's the same horse who virgil would have beaten the week before had it got a clear run. I do agree that come cup day the all stars are very hard to run past,but that's because on days like that ,they look like they can do another lap.

Well virgil won,but just fell in for mine . Watching that race I still have the same opinion.

I think its more a case of the all stars aiming their horses at cup day and their lower grade horses can underperform a week out as a result. No doubt their cup horses and the one in the $50,000 race will be primed to go today. It will be interesting to see how virgil goes latter. I think they run like they will run forever on cup day, but not today for some. That's my theory anyway.

Its one of the most field shy horses you would see. I think it must have had a bad experience somewhere along the line which has made it so timid.It was useless in front at Invercargill but when driven in the field seems to always end up following horses that break or come back on top of it. I think it hasn't been driven the best at times. Its main problem today will be how far it gets back in the running but the consistent speed of a mile race should help it. It,Baxter and Mikemaro look the obvious trifecta in that race,although none have drawn that well.. I like happys tip in race 4 of gotta party doll,and I like shezsomethinspecial at $81 ff as an upset chance in the same race although it can be a bit inconsistent.

That's true and I don't think House expects any team driving. Orange doesn't team drive. Doesn't need to. I meant to say in an earlier post that Mitchell showed No regard for his horse when using the tactics he did. . The point is punters will not bother investing on manawatu if they don't see the stipes taking the job seriously at meetings like manawatu. The same standard of driving should apply in every race. Manawatu should not have a lesser standard.

Its manawatu and it seems all sorts of things happen there that go unnoticed. Pretty much as you would expect. I think because they are a lesser class of horse some drivers don't care too much how hard they drive them sometimes. As to the T. Mitchell drive. Yes it was a shocker but personally I think it was just a testosterone thing and he was driving a horse he had regard for. As noworenever says,if they do question a driver they just accept the explanation anyway. For example go have a look at the drive on Burst out laughing in race 6. The driver explained the reason for it running into the middle of the track and losing any chance,then being steered wider when its stablemate came through was because it locked onto the outside rein. Yet if you watch the video it is actually hanging in with 700m to go and runs with its head turned out when,according to its driver, it is supposedly locked on the outside rein.Isn't that the complete opposite of the explanation given. What about on day one. In race 6 the stipes report noted the winner checked outside runners turning for home.. If you watch the video of that the fourth horse would have beaten the winner but for the interference but no thought of an inquiry there. Its manawatu. Its all very mysterious some times.

What did he think of the starter at Auckland the same night with Mr good and evil who was declared a late scratching? That was more obvious. I think both starters got it wrong.

Never said he wasn't a very good starter but I believe his mobile goes at inconsistent speed now and again waiting for slow horses close to a start. . I believe the addington starter is better at mobiles. Just my opinion

Blair Orange just never seems to get stuck on the fence. That race just another example of how well he drives in every race no matter where the meeting is .

We'll just have to agree to disagree. If you watch recent mobile starts at Invercargill you will see the mobile driven at inconsistent speed. The same as at Auckland sometimes.. I believe the main reason horses that are already on the mobile break pre start is because the mobile is going too slow. Starters obviously go slow if a horse is slow to come into formation,but when they go too slow it nearly always results in some breaking or hanging. I think we have an understandable fixation on Lambs starts,and I think his previous obsession with having every horse standing still for a few seconds is what led to some poor starts. I think he has changed recentIy for the better. He does do more stands than other starters and his field size is also greater.

personally I think he has been doing a good job starting in recent times. His mobile s tarts seem driven at the right speed and seem consistently good. I understand what you mean happy when you refer to horses starting so far back from the unruly position. Drivers are consistently warned for being back from a mobile but nothing is said when they deliberately start from 20m or more behind the front line. Its a major handicap when they do that and itseems to be the drivers faults to me.

Well john versteeg drove his horse well today. Will be hard from ur in a bigger field,but he ran a nice 2nd which was nice to see.

Doesn't do John Dunn much good in the pacing ranks. Just comes off second best and finishes further back than he would have. Name the last time an aggressive drive from john dunn resulted in him beating an all stars pacer? Maybe it has happened ,I just can't think of when. Won't win either way is the reality.

Very sad for any horse, and this one compiled a nice record horse for 12 months back here. What is of note is how Australian authorities handle a case like this. They actually investigate why it happened. NZ could learn something from that.