the galah

well it looks like the souther surge has turned out to be a successful promotion. over double the number of horses racing at the meeting this week in southland, than what raced at the same time last year. What surprises me is that the amount of horses racing ,who have already been racing most of the year. One thing i've noticed over the years is horses who have previously raced most of the year,then keep racing over winter,well theres a pattern ,which is their form will drop off once it warms up,if they keep racing. Which seems predicatble as racing and training in winter is harder on a horse. But the southern surge has brought all the southland horses out of the woodwork. The next question will be,how will that impact the numbers running later in the year. They aren't machines. Also, How come the likes of michael house and mark jones are now recorded as training from invercargill. They have obviously found a way of getting aroung the only horses south of the waitaki clause. the clauses said-the horses had to either be based with a trainer domilciled south of the waitaki as at 1 july or trained by a trainer located south of the waitaki. So obviously looking at the horses house and jones have entered ,they were not based with a trainer as at 1 july as they were racing in canterbury. so that means HRNZ have changed it to show that house and jones are now located in invercargil. In other words it appears whereas previously they always said they were located in canterbury,but the horses under the care of a southland trainer,they are now saying house and jones are actually located in invercargill.. Has the souther surge resulted in a change in how HRNZ now record where trainers are located. Like if i any trainer was to go on holiday in invercargill for a month,and take their horses ,does that mean they can get their training base changed to show invercargill and thus qualify for any area limiting southland series. I guess so.. another strange thing that seems to be occurring at hrnz. One of many.

i agree its obviously easier watching on tv. i don't agree theres always penty of hard luck stories behind you if you win one. I'm happy to debate what i think are the most important qualities needed to be a successful driver.. 1)assessing the current form and abilities of the horse your driving and how that compares with those in the same race. In other words driving the faster horses in any particular race gives you more tactical options than if driving a horse of lesser abilities. 2)being able to judge pace is a very important skill for any driver-obviously knowing when to make a move based on tempo in a race and having the ability to drive a horse at a consistent speed is important. Horses are like cars,if you drive them stop /go they will run out of gas earlier than if you driver them at a consistent speed within their comfort zone. 3)confidence-drivers need self confidence in their own abilities as well as their horses abilities. 4)Making split second decisions is something the drivers who are out there a lot,have a natural instinct of getting right. But to blame any poor decision making on having to make spilt second decisions at points of the race where the horses have run in the same posiotons for some time,well thats just a poor excuse in my opinion.In every race every driver would be constantly assessing whats going on around them ,how their horse is travelling and what they anticpate will be their next move and the next move of those around them. They will be thinking what plan b and c are if plan a isn't able to eventuate because of where they are positioned in the run. 5) important is whether horses run for you. Some horses will run for anyone,some not,but most are in between. Horses think like people. For example,drivers may be assessing the horse as they stand beside them before they get into the cart,when they warm up and when they run the race,but it works both ways. The horse will be assesssing the driver,especially in the warm up.Some horses can be just as complicated as people in how they think. The horses also feed off the confidence and expectations of the driver.I'm certain,that horses,especially those who have raced a bit,know when they're in with a chance and will try ever so hard,but they also realise when they aren't in with a chance and will look after themselves. I'm sure a good genuine horse wants to win as much as the driver and they are the easier ones to drive,but there are others who can bludge a bit if they have a negative driver or a driver with no confidence.The bludgers tend to get that way because of a(vconsistent negative driving or b)they aren't good enough and don't want to overstrain themselves. A good horse will get just as pissed off with interfernce as a driver may. I remember we once had a horse who 3 weeks in a row,copped interference and bad checks through no fault of his. He was a kind,gentle horse,but i remember the 3rd time in a row he came back in and was so pissed off .he was biting and kicking out,totally out of character,just pissed off with the interference he had got at the start. 6)finally,obviously very important for the driver,is how the trainer presents his horse on the night. Again,how the horse views its trainers is a factor. A horse who wants to plase those that train it is a far easier horse to drive than one who doesn't get appreciated and feels undervalued by it trainer.And if a trianer has switched said horse on by giving it the right type of work,then its easier for the driver. but of course at the end of the day,everything can be a positive,but if the horse isn't fast enough it still won't win.

You say j grays horse wasn't going good enough at the time he switched off its back, to get boxed in to its inside. Well if you stop the video at the 300m point when b wilmmot switched to the inside,which i have,j garys horse was only a head behind the horse to its inside.Thats why it seemed such an obvious no brainer decision to pull to his outside and take the clear run. I mean it was pull out and your in the clear,or pull in and hope j grays horse stops. then, 100m later the reason why wilmott switched into a gap between horses,that quiclky closed as maynnard let his horse drift in,was because the j grays horse was still boxing him in. Shortly after that,it got to the point where the 2nd gap to the outside came ,but wilmott was already commited to talking an inside run amongst horses. but as you say,we all see things differently sometimes.

its very odd isn't it. In theory ,the conditions of sundays race could have seen a 1 win, 100 start trotter, who hadn't won for 5 years and was also driven by a concession junior,having to give last start winner,origin, a 20m start in that race. Or the 1 win 100 start trotter,could have been driven by a driver who hadn't driven a winner in 10 years,but wasn't a junior. And had that horse won,it would have got double the penalty rating points origin would have got for winning.

heres the simplest way to put it for you taku. what they did was they implemented a rule which allowed for "the handicapping process to change form its original state to one regarded as debased from sportmanship." the exact definition of corruption and thats based on what you said. (not me)i.e. taku are you now withdrawing that comment. Maybe your now saying they shouldn't be specifying any such allowable programming change in any race programming,as people should know how it works. lf thats the case,then how did that go for them,going by this thread and all the negative comments. And back to mark jones point,how is it fair or sportsmanlike to have a race like they had where other 1 win horses never had a chance of a let up ,even if they had been driven by the very person who drove origin on sunday. And why should a horse who wins a $16,000 race be treated better than one who's won a $10,000 race a few days prior. here i was,starting off by saying i thought that race was an example of a positive change in the new handicapping system,as it allowed horses who struggle in the 1 win grade to drop back to non win races,thus retaining their participation,when all along it wasn't.lol.

How many times do i have to state the definition of the word corruption. Why are you ignoring the defintion. Its not me who makes up the defintion of words. "the process by which a word or process is changed from its original state to one regarded as erronous or debased." i don't know,perhaps your unsure of the definition of the word debased. It means.. reduced in quality or valued. and gives the example..the debased traditions of sportsmanship. If your confused as to defintions of words i've used,just google them. You've lost me to be honest. I started out saying that you would think the original wording in the programming allowed such a change,then you came on and said no. I quoted what you said above to highlight that. so i said,well ok maybe your right and what they have done falls within the definition of the word corruption. Anyway i suggest you go look up google or a dictionary. i do get what your saying .i.e.they don't need to state any such clause in any race programming.

can you name one similar example to what happened on sunday, or any other race where junior drivers have replaced other declared drivers to gain let ups as a reseult of changes to pre published race conditions.

Well its you who is saying they changed the conditons of the race after the horse won.. You said there was no such condition originally.( I've referenced what you said below) To change means alter/modify,so using your words,there was never a provision for a let up So why are you now saying its ok to change the race conditions after the fields come out? where's that in the rule youv'e quoted? And i quoted the definition of corruption "the process by which a word or process is changed from its original state to one regarded as erroneous or debased.". so thats why i said it falls within the definition of the word corruption,based on what your saying. And this whole non win/1 win isn't the crux of the argument. As if we go by what your saying,then whats to stop them altering any race conditions after the race when the fields are out. For example what to stop some horse in a mobile 1 win race winning,then them changing the conditions of another 1 win race that its accepted in 2 days later to allow the junior driver concession penalty. ,and so on. really,lets cut to the chase,your seem to be implying that its within the rules to have many future examples of preferential treatment happening, irrespective of what type a race is being run. so why do they have a rule that can be manipultaed by someone,i.e. the handicapper,to give preferential treatment. And its very obviously preferential treatment. As pointed out by you,not me,they specifically altered the conditions of sundays race to exclude the other 1 win horses from getting a let up if driven by a concession driver.

c wigg given a 4 month suspension for making her own horse fall over and m maynard 1 month for running in up the final straight. They do seem to penalise the amateurs for too long in my opinion. 4 months is a long time . neither does anything to change my opinions expressed earlier in this thread.

well,i'm now consideing there is the possibilty that they put that condition in when the fields came out,that is prior to origin winninng on friday. now i not saying that happened. i don't know.Others on here are saying,defintely not that. But it does seem the only likely available escape route for those who handicapped that race,otherwise it seems corruption and favoritism,if whats alleged is true.. I just find it hard,even with my sometimes lack of confidence in how they run hrnz,,that they couldn't possibly be that dumb as to score an own goal of that magnitude. Could they really be that stupid? Especially when they have people like mark jones already criticising the handicapping system and people. But even on best case scenario for hrnz,the other 1 win horses were still excluded from being able to take advantage of starting off the front, if driven by a concession junior,like origin was Does the owner or trainer of origin have some connection to the handicappers. or maybe someone at hrnz has deliberately sabotaged the handicappers ,so as to look corrupt. corruption-i just goggled its meaning to confirm its the appropriate word"the process by which a word or expression is changed from its original state to one regareded as erroneous or debased" seems thats the right word if what everyone is saying is true. what more can you say.

also,when m jones said origin,a 1 win horse got to start off the front when the other 1 win horses were made to start off 20m,well thats not true They also could have started off the front had they put concession junior drivers on. Unless what taku said is true. Maybe thats why taku has said what he said. Hes interpreted what mark jones has said as meaning that,when mark jones unintentionally left that possible inference open to interpretation,without meaning to. we will just have to wait and see if anyone clarifies it so we know for sure either way.. Also,if mark jones isn't happy with concession drivers getting drop backs ,then i have no problem with that. I don't believe in them either. I think drop backs should be based on a horses form and $ won ,not concession drivers. But i would point out the handicapping of drop backs for concessions drivers has always been around. Its nothing new. the only thing thats new is, they have realised it should aplly to 1 win horses as well,which to me is fair enough. having said all that,i think its good that mark jones is out there debating these things. Hes trying to help. And hearing both sides of the argument allows topics like this be discussed properly. People should always feel free to express their opinions,especially people like m jones.

Just to clarify what your saying .as your making some serious allegations. Correct me if i'm wrong,you've just alleged above,after origin won at addington,they changed the race conditions of todays race,thus giving preferential treatment to the connections of origin. Thats a serious allegation taku as it would mean favoritism and corruptuion on a scale i've never heard of before. if true then why didn't mark jones allege that. He doesn't say that,he just says they allowed davis to change the driver after the driver notification time had elapsed,due to davis realising that since he won on friday,he could get to still start off the front today with a concession junior on. i also doubt p davis would want any part of what you are say taku. Hes very honest and wouldn't want to be seen to be getting preferential treatmant on the scale you have alleged. I can get why he may want to change the driver... so all thats different from what you say taku, so perahps you had better check that out as what you have said seems a tad unbelievable.

yes your right ,some of the amateurs are hard to predict. But we don't criticise average drives. They have to be really poor to get a special specific mention on here,except maybe forbury's posts.

i get what hes saying. i.e. Its unusual for a 1 win horse to get to start off the front in a non win race. But i disagree with what hes saying about the new handicapping . i just had a look at the conditions of todays race and it states any 1 win horse could have started off the front if driven by a concession driver. Now its obvious why they have done that. They have been trying to give 1 win horses who are struggling to be competitive in the 1 win grade,a chance to run in a race where they may have a chance. In other words,don't retire ,sell or get rid of that horse, because we are going to try and keep the numbers up that are racing, by providing all horses that have enough ability to win a race opportunities to race in races where they aren't outclassed.For example theres 1 win horses around who won non win trots at addington tuesday meetings with winning stakes of $4400. Doesn't mr jones want to see those horses and their connections stay in the game?Its not all about the bigger stables who have owners who pay the bills.. As i've said before,those type of horses are the ones who aren't being catered for in the previous handicapping system. I don't quite get why mr jones can't see that.. possibly they could have placed a condition on the stakemoney won when providing that concession,but why bother when any 1 win horses around who have not won in a long time who deserve an opportunity like todays race . as to the driver,well if a driver has to be declared by 1.00pm on thursday,then that hould be it. Just because a trainer realises he could start a horse off the front after the closing time for declaring drivers,if he puts a concession driver on,well that should be his hard cheese. he should have read the conditions of the race. so if they changed the driver when they shouldn't have well mr jones is right about that,but i don't know whats that got to do with the the handicapping system like mr jones infers.

personally i've watched it a few times and place no blame whatsoever on maynard, for willmitt not getting a run .. Sure maynard came in slightly and m house came out slighty,but why did wilmott not just come to the outside with 400m to go and take the clear run and why did he not come to the outside of maynard with 200m to go and take a run you could driver 3 buses through. B willmott used to be one of the better amateur drivers but when he went professional he drove the same each time,just pull back,look to take the shortest route and never move up and while the horses he was driving were of limited ability,you could tell the horses weren't trying for him.. i made comment to someone about that a year or so ago. To be honest i just thought he had such a negative approach to his driving because he thought he was on horses with limited abilty,but,he hasn't changed even now hes getting some better drives.Its like he lost all his confidence when driving in the professional races.He needs to drive to give is horses a chance to place by positioning them in the best spots, when those spots present themselves. And when you have a choice of pulling out and being 100% certain to get a clear run,you do that instead of taking the option where you have a 25% chance of getting a clear run.its not as if he had to make spilt second decisions that driver s have to often,today he had 10-15 seconds time to think about the 3 decisions he could have made in that race today and made 3 very poor tactical decisions. oh well,i may be analysing him harshly,but i think i'm just being realistic.. really punters should expect better.

I backed don juan as well. i know i had sworn off betting on amateur races,but i've been following don juan waiting for the right race and today i thought it looked a certainyon recent form. all he had to do was take any opportunity to get to the outside. well i hadn;'t factored in the b willmott facotor. Well,b wilmott down the straight had 250m to come off the inside,but no he thought to himself,lets sit here and get boxed in. Then when c wigg tried to push off when there was no room on a horse who's known for often going rough under duress,don juan got a lucky run, as c wiggs horse understandably fell over and took the horse bedside don juan out as well,presenting don juan a gap. so what did b wilmott do,well he pulled out but that incredibly stupidly with 400m to run,made a decision to pocket himself again by going inside behind a wall of horses instead of coming outside where even blind freddy could see there was a clear run. Well again b willmott had some luck, as the horse that looked to have pocketed him in, dropped off 200m later,again allowing a run to the outside,so what did b wilmott do,he again went inside . I'm with you newmarket,that was just shocking driving. It doesn't get much worse. my wife reckons he wasn't trying. She said no ones that bad. But i think in this case,he was trying and it was just incompetence.

i get why the auckland people continue to fight for whats best for auckland. thats the way it should be. But as to mr steele. This is what barry lichter reports he said at that meeting. what you have to do with mr steele is realise what he says and what he does are often 2 different things. so he said, he has no bias but his job was to ensure harness racing flourishes,particularly in the north island. he says nz needs 3 training centres,but his number 1 priority is the north island. so he recognises nz needs 3 training centres.(i believe they need 2,the other in canterbury.I have no idea where he thinks the other training centre should be). But effectively what mr steele has done, is support the direction of funds HRNZ could tap into,to auckland,thus undermining any plans for HRNZ to use funds to purchase land and put training centres in the other 2 parts of nz that he said needs it. so mr steeles actions show he does have a bias and his words are a contradiction. he says population base is why he thinks the north island can flourish. Auckland people have used that as a talking point to rally support to their cause,i have no problem with that. But i really believe only dumb people believe that,as its so blatantly obvious that auckland harness racing has in the last 3 decades shrunk big time while the population has expanded. like, if population was a favourable factor,then wheres the proof. If you use logical thinking,population growth in auckland is part of the problem.I could refer to several negative issues impacting auckland harness racing caused by population growth. Can anyone name one positive? i mean,mr steele should realise just because someone repeats something over and over doesn't it make it true. It may make more people think its true,but it still ain't true. why are they spending 20 million on a piece of ground they don't own. No doubt they will spend millions more in the future maintaining it. if they really do have access to 10's of millions of $ then they should be buying land,especially just out of christchurch . They need to have a plan where they set up 2 training centres which can be transformed into future racetracks in 10-15 years times,so that they cash up aleaxandra park and addington and move ,thus ensuring a future of the sport. What HRNZ have done is support a plan that virtually takes that off the table. I mean,its not only mr steele that has no vision,its the whole board at hrnz. the training centres should be set up in a way where parcels of land,of varying shapes and sizes, within that training centre are available for both leasing and leasing with a right of purchase on the understanding that if someone does purchase land within that area that the land purpose must be for harness racing and that, in the event of any future sale by a purchaser ,hrnz has the right to either buy back or can approve any future buyer. Thus maintaining the control of the purpose of the training centre.In effect using harness racing participants funds to make a training centre more affordable. this investing over 20 million on somethg you don't own is typical hrnz think. again it illustrates they only think 5 years ahead and really don't have the intelligence to ensure the sport of harness racing continues in a viable way. as to mr steele saying "we need to get the north island pumping". i wonder if he really believes tha can happen..Hey ,maybe he really does belive that. nah,i think he knows that won't happen. finally,I think of a trainer in auckland . they are now going to get all those new facilities,get to run in small fields with good stakes,the warmer weather and all the things tabman referred to. It got me thinking.If your a trainer in canterbury or southland ,who's currently getting up on these cold winter mornings and walks out into the paddocks gumboot high of mud,who trains their horses on frosty tracks,who has to maintain their own track and stables,who can see their owners no longer breeding so they will most likely have to send the wife out to work soon,and to be even handed,also send the mother in law out to work for that matter if shes living on the property. Then i think auckland might need to spend an extra 10 million on those new auckland facilities for the influx of trainers As why struggle when life could be so much easier in auckland. Heres a suggestion,that new auckland facilty seems to be an ideal place to put in an olympic size swimming pool where the trainers can lounge around in their swim wear ,watching one of the big screen tv's that the atc have bought for them.Given harness people seemingly are quite a randy lot from all the stories i've heard over the years,with the wife and mother in law away earning,they could have a young female(i had better not say stablehand as thats stereotyping), rub a bit of sunblock on their backs (and tummies for the randy ones).The only issue i can see is,they may doze off on the lazy friday afternoons and there may be a few late sctaching at the ribbon of light.

so mr rubber has ridden off on his white horse into the sunset. but not before he told his supporters(which exist primarily in auckland and nowhere else),that Hrnz can arrange for $20 million to go to the ATC from 6 funds,but hrnz are not providing any funding. oh,and we hope its 20 million,as we still are doing the paperwork for the funding applications. That of course is code for,instead of hrnz applying for the money and passing it on to the atc,lets just have it go directly to the atc,that way the idiots in the rest of nz will be fooled into thinking they're not propping up auckland. that man should run the country,hes that clever.Was he in sri lanka at one stage. nah,just kidding. oh and hes still saying aucklands population is a significant factor in how he views the importance of auckland. as i keep saying,name one positive thing to have happened for auckland ahrness racing from aucklands increasing population over the years. Just one positive trend which has impacted auckland racing in a good way. I keep asking that and no one ever answers it. obviously mr lichter ran out of ink to finish his story. you see,he didn't come to the part where neither the ATC or HRNZ have a plan to run meetings that generate break even results. You see,i would have thought they may have thought about that as any halfwit would realise its very important going forward. anyway,good luck to auckland and harness racing throughout nz . you'll need it. anyway,mr steele has ridden off into the sunset,hi ho moneybags and away.

isn't mr steele in auckland tonight trying to sell to aucklanders the best way to spend ten's of millions of hrnz funds on auckland. i mean,he would be loving it up there. the saviour has arrived. this could be his finest hour. he would ride in on his white horse called moneybags,have money bags stomp his feet a few times to get everyones attention. Then he would dismount,start unsaddling money bags by removing large sacks with writing on them like,forbury money,southland money,grass roots canterbury prizemoney.He would then pick them up,it would be a struggle as the bag with forbury money on it is rather heavy. then he would throw them on the table where mr mckinnon sits and mr mckinnon would flash a cheeky grin and stand up and address the crowd and say,i told you this restructuring was going to be a piece of cake. at that point brad,we know him well enough to call him by his first name,would spot tabman in the crowd. They would exchange a bit of banter,like your the man tabmanforever,no your the man brad,no your the man tabman,no your the man brad. after about 5 minutes of that only jamie,yes we know mr mckinnon well enough to be on first name tems as well,will be the only one awake and he will be observed doing starfish motions on the money,(and n,o no sexual pun intended there). so brad will call out to money bags and have him stomp his feet and all the members will awake and mutter yes,just as they are asked to vote, as if they have been dreaming a nightmare that all of a sudden awoken to a happy ending. then brad will whistle,money bags will come over,brad will jump on and let out a cry of,my work is done here, then a few hi ho money bags and away. he will gallop back out the door,do a couple of laps of the field while the blues traini and yell out to them,this is crusaders country now you bunch of losers, then gallop off into the distance. who was that masked man the blues players will say, wthwere will be whispers of ,was that rob penny. but then jamie will come out of the meeting room say and yell,not ron penny boys ,that was brad steele. remember this day,you will tell your granchildren about it.

Its interesting thar your % demograpics differ a bit from that of the average facebook user. You clearly have a significant, across the board, greater % of men,whereas they say on facebook its about a 53% women to 47 % men in nz.Apparently mums check facebook the most so that may skew the figures of the female users a wee bit. In the younger demographics in nz, they are seeing significant increases in the numbers of under 35 year olds using the likes of tik tok. Overall 37% of new zealanders use tik tok. But those younger users aren't your base anyway.But getting exposure on there is relevant going forward for hrnz. anyways,its also noticeable your overall %'s are more significant in the likes of the over 45 age group compared to facebook overall and i guess that would flow on into the over 55 age groups as well. And that makes sense given that is a base of nz harness followers. so given the % of over 55's using facebook in nz drops significantly, compared with other age groups. And given you've shown above your content is viewed in greater numbers by those in those older age groups. Then it just makes sense if you can get exposure to the older demographic through the HRNZ website then you would significantly grow your audience. the whole point of exposure on these things is positive ,relateable exposure. And thats what yours is. Its a no brainer that hrnz should be using your content to attract not only people interested in harness racing,but the casual observer . i guess thats why they don't do it. It makes too much sense.

Gammalite,Its like your thinking with your heart and not your head. And i read what tabman posts,i get the feeling he understands,but is happy ignoring financial realities. He would go well on the hrnz board. You talk about paying peanuts .. well we're saying HRNZ will end up paying the auckland participants peanuts in the fututre ,if they carry on living beyond their means, as they currently are. We are saying we don't want that to happen.I don't know why you ignore that,no matter how many times its said. We're saying its the current overspending that you and tabman forever support ,that will make it happen. So who is actually promoting whats best for auckland harness racing? And all the people you keep mentioning,i understand why you support them,but don't you think they want to have a legacy in a sport that is still relevant in years to come. The sport in auckland will die and with it their legacy. why would anyone support policies that would lead to that? And all the people you mention are rich compared with most in the harness racing industry,yet its the rich who you say should race for the bigger stakes. The generation will be far poorer,yet it is the poorer people who you seem to want to leave to race for peanuts. i understand why you think as you do,but we're saying at least consider the big picture.

i understand you have a large following on facebook . i have a basic understanding of how facebook works.I took a look at the data around facebook use in nz and it says as at last month 85% of people over 18 use facebook.. Just how regularly people use it,it doesn't say.So that doesn't help much.It said the figures were made up of more women than men.the 25-34 women demographic being the highest %. So how does that translate into relevancy for the data as to what we are talking about? for example i notice once you get to the 45 and over age group,especially 65 and over, the % using facebook drops away. And of course harness racing is a sport whose customer base is in the age group with the lesser % . Then theres people like me,who aren't on facebook .I only access your content by goggling it and these days you can only access the last 2 clips you have put up by doing that. If the owners association puts it on their website like you say,then they too will be limited by people,who your trying to attract,being unaware it exists. this not having easy access to exposure on the hrnz website is like someone trying to sell the product of the shop owners ,but the shop owner saying only do it out the back of the shop,when they could be pulling in so many more customers if they were allowed in the shop itself. also,hrnz seems to be throwing money here and there,why don't they put some into promoting the obvious. If its to be on the hrnz website it needs to be on the first part that comes up when you click on the hrnz website. Its content is unique and deserves that at least.No point putting it somewhere like the industry information part. somehow they need to get it where a special highlighted clip/segment of clips from each week is automatically sent to users who have clicked on the website previously.I don't know how any of that works though .But others do it. good luck with whatever you try anyway.

Actually i was reading the segment for the 2 new directors positions currently advertised at hrnz. What struck me,about the qualitiies they were looking for in someone to fill that position,was they could easily get people who have no idea wahtsover about the realiites of what makes harness racing tick. Its like they want people to manage the industry who know how to manage other indutries,yet if you follow harness racing you realise harness racing has its own unique issues and patterns. In other words,things that work in the private sector would be the opposite of what you would do in harness racing. i mean if they end up with directors who listen to mr steele or listen to some of the dumb arse comments you get on trackside,from people who ramble on about how strategically important auckland is primarily based on the fact it has a large population,then you will get dumb decisions being made be the new directors as well. Harness racing need people who can think for themselves, not be unduly influenced by the smooth talkers with self interests.

You seem to be saying because we think the small fields dominated by favorites are an unappealing betting product,then somehow that means we find the people and horses who provide that product unappealing. whcih of course is not what we are saying at all. In fact gammalite,what we are saying is we wish there were more of the people and the horses to make the betting product more appealing.. so how your characterising what w'ere saying, isn't a true reflection on what we are saying. your not alone in doing that of course. all auckland supporters do the same. They do it because they can't argue with the fact the betting product is generally quite unappealing,thats obvious. so they try and make it out to be a criticism of the people up there,when its very obviously not. Its actually unfair when people do that,but hey,its all they got to counter the argument. Actually,when you say we pick on auckland,actually i don't know about others ,but i've said several times soutthland is heading in the same direction. And we've all criticised 2 year old races at addington being unappealing.

i was reading the hrnz website news today. And it got me thinking about what i would like to see. well we all know i think the unhinged content should be on there.But that seems to be a no no for hrnz,for unknown reasons. But i was thinking the hrnz website should have something like what unhinged does and what they should do is take a couple of specific horses and just follow them through there life. They should provide 5 minute monthly updates on what is involved in those horses life. Right form a month prior to when they are foaled,right through to when they retire,how they are cared for by the stud,the breeder,why the stallion was chosen,why this why that as they progress through life,the cosr of this and that,the owners,who they are,why they race them,. It could end up a 10 year segment.The people who handle them when grazing and showcase not only winning efforts but workouts,trials races. Like shots of how the horses react to losing ,competing,etc,etc,mheir horse mates in the paddock,how they react to the weather,etc,etc.Even some loyal punters who bet on it ,win or lose,could get a mention harness racing need to be showing what makes harness racing tick,and its not all about winning. i bet it would slowly get get a huge following . maybe the unhuinged man is who they should commission to do that segment for HRNZ. but to me its something thats lacking when you look at the hrnz website.