the galah

I never thought I would feel sorry for the all stars team......................................................................................….and I was right

One over da sky in at Timaru tomorrow. The only certainty tomorrow is this horse galloping. Even blair orange driving cant work miracles. Amazingly the bookies have it only paying $5. What drongo's.

We all see things different,which I think is a good thing. I don't mind debating race tactic's because its a subject that I find interesting. I would point out that when ohoka matty won its race it was used up a lot in front yet kept going to win. You say he should not have put the accelerator down with 500m to go,after attacking earlier in the race,i fully agree there. Just a bit of poor judgment,given he was already on the front end,however that's all that was. The fact that the horse responded and was able to go 2 1/2 lengths clear of the field with the dunn driven horse turning for home,simply confirmed my view that Dunn would have got the perfect sit had he elected to trail ohoka matty earlier in the race. Given Ohoka mattys performance of sticking on until the 250m after doing a lot of work ,in my view confirmed my rating of his chances pre race,in that particular field. I agree with your dislike of team driving,its just I don't believe it ever entered the mind of mr Alford.

If you accept that he had a dig for the lead,as you say, then had he been successful in his intent of getting the lead, he would then have placed the stablemate further back on the fence and in a worse position. Dunns tactics of keeping the lead,despite being almost crossed, is what also played into the hands of the eventual winner. Made for an exciting race whichever way you view it.

I actually had Change as good down as a clear top pick,and had ohoka matty rated as 4th selection. I believe the tactics used on ohoka matty were not intended to help anyone except ohoka matty. Unfortunately Mr alford put all his eggs in one basket and he came unstuck when he could not get the lead. I think had he just sat outside the leader he was a good place hope. I had no issues with his intent,even if it did cost the horse I had backed the win. Personally I think John dunn made an error in not giving the lead away given the speed at which Ohoka matty came mid race,and given he all but crossed him. Every driver of a horse that all but crosses the horse to his inside always presses on for a bit because they think they can get the lead . Personally I think the fact that mr alford has the confidence to give such tactics a go is a positive for his future driving.

From your experience win movers are obviously a factor in predicting correctly the eventual outcome. I accept they are a factor,as obviously you have observed that. Personally I only bet on nz harness,and win movers or betting plunges with the bookies or on the tote have no relevance to me. I prefer to see my selections drift in their odds,simply because it means I get more back if I get a collect. I trust my judgment. I get what you say about in form stables on the day, and I sometimes do factor that into the amount I wager. There are a couple of high profile drivers that I will reduce the amount I bet ,however it is only very rarely I think they were not trying. I simply believe some drivers just make poor decisions consistently because they can't judge pace or form that well. You mentioned one of the drivers in another thread. Horses run for them but tactically they are a bit average. On the other hand some drivers always seem to do the right thing in every race.

From that I take it you want punters/observers to only say good things about everyone. If you think anyone who bet on Pauls Verdict and Bugalugs or horses like that,needs help then that would be nearly every punter. Is that a true reflection on how you value their contribution to the sport? You state on the other thread you won't even watch the races concerned,yet comment anyway. Everyone knows its just a race,and drivers make mistakes,but before they move on to the next race whats wrong with making comment about something that you have just seen. One thing punters hardly ever do,and I know I never do,is complain about drivers who put their horses in the race and give them their chance. 95% of what you may view as negative comments relate to drives where the drivers simply sat back on slow paces,or stayed on the fence,or never pulled out when the gap was there. Its the phyche of a punter to do that. So bobby bec, I think posters should be able to blow off a bit of steam and make comments without being told they have a problem.. Its just the process they go through before moving on to the next race meeting. You should know that.

There's that many One overs breaking nearly every time that it is confusing. One over da stars is the one who the stipes give the most preferential treatment of the Hope trained horses. I went back 10 starts and the stipes have done the warning, then no warning 4 different times in 8 of the 10 starts.. Other trainers must surely look at that, and the similar treatment given to the Ben Waldron One over horse,and must ask themselves why those stables get such preferential treatment?.

I see they both got a warning. Whoop de doo. I don't know who the stipes are kidding, but the pattern for One over the skye is breaks-no warning, next start breaks-warning,next start breaks-no warning,next start breaks-warning.

Is it true that the tab bookmakers have offered to pay all training fees,to ensure these horses remain in training? Will the bookmakers have betting on whether any of these horses will manage to trot a race without galloping. The wife reckons I need commited after backing one of those today,she's probably right.

Do you think those that got the big collect had some connection with the stable?. Looking at the video it just looks like the horse in front galloped for no reason, and the way it went afterwards indicated it would have won but for the gallop. Past dishonest happenings do undermine punters confidence if they see a race involving some of those concerned, maybe its justified, maybe its not?

He does seem to drive the horse the same way all the time..Looks to always position itself back on the fence. You know what to expect beforehand. I guess he thinks its best driven that way. Its only win came when it sat parked for the last 1600m.

Close is one of the better drivers around,however the drive on pauls verdict was poor,and not up to his normal standard. It happens. But I don't see anything wrong with newmarkets post, he's only referring to one drive.

If you read the stats,it shows currently about 9.7% of problem gamblers are horse racing related. I posted quite a few stats on here when that add came out on tv last year where 3 blokes were sitting round a table listening to a race commentary,with the commentator saying things like 'there goes last weeks pay',etc,etc. Clearly those making the add had targeted the easy racing target. Why did they,and did they have relationships with other effected industries which influenced the making of the T.V.add. About 50% of problem gambling relates to non casino pokies. The biggest growth in problem gambling has been in on line pokies. Racing % has dropped significantly over the years as other forms of gambling became available. What industries fund problem gambling? Are there some that don't that should? What is the definition of a problem gambler? People with addictive personalities are obviously susceptible. Is it fair to blame the forms of gambling for the problems individuals have. Can there be a constructive addiction.? I once knew a woman who went from addiction to smoking, gave that up but replaced it with the pokies,then gave them up for a sex addiction.

Not sure how you came up with that analysis. You need to watch the race again.. That was truly a very exciting race, especially if you were on bubbled up. From despair to elation thanks to a Tim Williams special.

Nearly every week you read in the stipes report about drivers being warned for not having their horse on the mobile at dispatch. Yet when majestic hurricane ran on Friday the driver got no such warning for deliberately holding his horse several lengths behind the mobile. In fact the stipes noted the horse raced very fiercely in the score up. I know this horse is difficult to drive, however surely if the driver wants to start so far back he should be on unruly and surely the driver should have got a warning when he was deliberately holding his horse back from starting in a position which punters had been led to believe he would start. This horse does seem to be getting preferential treatment, who knows why.

So Auckland will not be running 10 race programmes, even if they have the horse numbers to do so.. I see meetings in May only have 8 races programmed.. So they increase the stakes ,but reduce the race numbers. The smaller other clubs may benefit,but Auckland appears to be saying those with horses who are not competitive in the rating 55 grade will just have to race for whatever stakes the smaller clubs provide. Of course the north island doesn't have that many horses rated over 55 anyway,so does that mean they may reduce even more race numbers anyway to save paying out stakes. I can see some good aspects of it,and some bad. Will it encourage greater overall participation, Extremely doubtful in my opinion. Very much smoke and mirrors.

I emailed aussie TAB and they informed me- they now only provide betting on the first 3 or 4 races for trotting meetings run during the day on Saturdays. They said they normally cover both friday night meetings however last Friday chose to cover only the premier meeting at addington over Auckland. They say it is rare not to cover both friday meetings although this may happen if they are run late afternoon aussie time and clash with aussie gallops. They said they intend to continue to cover all other harness meetings run on other days, and they are shown on either sky1 or sky 2 dependent on how busy the time slot.

,although can ocI fully agree with you joe. And phone betting has gone to the pack as well. Do not believe the automated voice when it says "your bet has been accepted". It often lies. It happened again last night when I had a bet.You need to listen to the balance to work out whether the bet has gone on or not. It generally happens within the last 60 seconds, before the race starts,although can happen at any time. I have rung the TAB help line a couple of times this week to complain,but gave up both times after 20 minutes of no answer.

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It appeared to combine the best features of the merv hughes, burt Reynolds, tom Selleck and peter Plumley- walker mustaches. It was very well manicured. I did notice as he came back to the winners circle that there were many small pieces of grit embedded in the mo gathered during his winning drive. I understand over the next couple of weeks he will slowly remove these pieces of grit,and each time he does a huge smile will light up his face, as he relives his winning drive on Hes fast and furious.

These fellas certainly have had a very poor season by previous standards. Punters still seem to have faith going by tote prices.. I wonder when they will come back into the form to justify punters loyalty? Its interesting to compare boths udr compared with previous seasons.

Ive done that a few times myself. It does make you think about other betting agencies. Well it won and paid $22. Rather costly . That driver had a great mo No,it was on the tote. It was definitely there when i pushed accept,but somehow it only accepted the place bet,and the win bet disappeared.

Another farcical experience. Had a punt on hes fast and furious,entered the win amount,place amount, submitted both bets,hit accept. For some reason the place bet reappears. I check the pending bets,and the place bet seems to be on,yet no record of the win bet. Ive been caught a couple of times before rebacking the same bet because its not showing on the on pending bets,only for it to appear in the transaction search. So I searched again,decided to put half on again only for the website to decide not to load. ITs getting beyond the sad joke it is.

Majestic hurricane-warned previous start for barrier manners,breaks badly again last night (3rd time in a row)-no warning. Hard to follow some times.