the galah

So your quoting an unnamed harnesslink writer, who wrote an article about mr phillips. Harnesslink have always been so far up certain stables backsides that i view most of what they write as propaganda.

That's life .People think and judge everyday on all aspects of their lives. Its not as if harness racing lives in some bubble where this doesn't exist. I think its inaccurate to say harness racing in nz is any different,or as you put it extreme. You make the point about the knockers brigade. But the mistake you and many others make is lumping everyone into the same group,who does not share your opinion. Most I believe who comment on the blood spinning issue have reservations in relation to' level playing field and animal welfare'. I personally think blood spinning is just one of those issues which magnifies how things have progressed to the point where access to the latest scientific advances have meant those with the most financial resources have considerable advantages over those who do not. Personally I think this historically has been one of the major factors in decreased participation. People with views like you fail to acknowledge this point,and because of that you ignore ,and do not look for solutions, and all the while harness racing declines.

I see the stipes report says the horse had swelling in its left fore leg in the vicinity of the suspensory ligament. Given the horse was lame before the race, how could this problem not be noticed. Did they not just take the boot off and have a look. Also,if the horse was lame at addington then surely some swelling would have been there pre race. I had thought this horse had to have a problem which was not obvious,however it seems it may have just been ignored. The stipes have opened an inquiry into it.

no video up 3 hours after race run, Hrnz are way behind the gallops and greyhound codes in the service they provide in that respect. Maybe the video man is still in confessional at church? I actually think peter lamb is starting the races much better in the last 12 months. As far as the horse Crusher Collins goes, I left it out because its manners are so poor when starting from a stand,when it has to stop and stand even for 5 seconds prior to the start. Down south it nearly always plays up bad, then it seems because of that, they give it a running start, which I think is unfair to the others.I know that may sound like i'm being a bit smart after the race,but that's the way I see it..

That just seemed rather cruel to run a horse as lame as that today. Watch its video at addington 2 days ago and you had to think it was a very lame horse. Amazingly it was passed fit to race by the vet again today. Just as amazingly its driver didn't have any sense at all,and allowed it to run. To me it looks like it has either a fracture ,or a bad foot bruise. Maybe they need to get someone with at least one good eye to check it out pre race next time.

Your on the money there brodie. 5 races run ,and only one driver has moved before the 800m , despite every race being run with a slow 2nd 400m. Having said that ,harness racing in Auckland often involves negative driving no matter how far the distance.

Johnny cox is a driver who's tactics often frustrate me,and he seems to have a knack of raising my blood pressure. I also find Robbie holmes hard to follow. What you normally get with Robbie holmes is he goes way too hard early,and you know you are gone after 300m because of using up far too much petrol early. My pet dislike is being on drivers,and it happens a lot,who just sit there in the last 400m of a race and never pull out when going ok,and then end up getting held up. I'm convinced if they just pulled out and gave their horse a clear run instead of waiting,that 4 out of 5 would get better results. Its a simple matter of playing the percentages properly. My favorite drivers are the ones who can rate pace and pull out and run at constant speeds instead of stop go tactics, blair orange ,john dunn being the best at that.

I think there is significant support for the accused,and believe many are trying to cover for them. I believe part of the reason for that is many of those giving support to the accused see little wrong with the alleged behavior,and many of those vocally supporting the accused are fully aware of historical instances of multiple similar behavior from participants other than the accused, in previous decades. Because it has been a police investigation clearly police will give significant portion of the evidence. Other witnesses,such as riu employees will no doubt feel under pressure to give accurate and honest evidence, but at the end of the day have little choice but to tell the truth as they see it, and be guided by their own levels of integrity. Whatever the outcome,,personally I will judge people on my interpretation of their level of truth they display. If they want to be trusted in the future,be honest. Those involved are better to have an honest enemy than a friend who assists the perpetuation of false truths.

I stick to my own picks, but do think mr O'Connor knows the form very well, and always gives an honest assessment of what he thinks are the best chances.

This horse seems to grow a leg when backing up within 2 or 3 days. That's the 3rd time he's done that and I think is the sign of a horse who will make it to the top class at some stage.

The reality is some amateur's are better than others,and you invested on a horse driven by a driver who appears not to have paid a dividend for 14 years. Despite that he was the favorite. He was always a good thing to be driven in a manner that would frustrate punters,however given the horse was clearly in the top 2 on ability, his time for the driver getting a long overdue placing may just be around the corner,maybe.

Now I know drivers make tactical errors. It happens. And that's what happened when Ian camerron came off the back of jerry Garcia with 600m to go at addington in race 2 last night. But his excuse to stipes I thought made for a bit of comedy. Firstly he felt the horse outside jerry Garcia was travelling better,ok that's fair enough even if everyone watching knew jerry Garcia never stops. But then it adds mr Cameron said his horse was battling in the conditions on the inside of the track,. What a load of rubbish,then to top it off he states his horse had only battled from the 400m. That is despite stridemaster showing his horse ran the fastest last 400m of any horse in that race. My question is why didn't he just say he made a poor tactical decision.

She has had the 9th highest number of drives for the season so far and has actually driven an impressive 44 winners. Personally I tend to avoid investing on anything she drives that is drawn to get back in the field,but do rate her a handy driver if her drives have the starting speed to stay handy early. .

I know someone who hasn't been restricted.. They normally are only talking in the hundreds ,not thousands, except for multi's. Last week I know they put on a 8 horse multi for a $20,000 return and the tab accepted that. Unfortunately only 6 came in and got $0. This is someone who is a platinum tier punter who spends the bulk of that on harness. They obviously view some punters as being more of a threat than others.

Obviously having a wife for a vet must be a plus. I think his team has improved partly because of her. The other obvious factor is he uses good drivers,like blair orange who just has the knack of getting the best out of any horse for any stable.. if you look at the horses that won over the weekend. Warloch finally got a race run to suit,in a field where it was amongst the top 3 on ability. Rake had gone some ok races prior to seeming to lose interest,then joined the house stable. where its form improved a bit. Delightful major has plenty of ability so its win was to be expected. And narelle franco has always looked an out and out sprinter,although the ease of its win was a bit of a surprise. Its actually one of those horses that has always pulled its head off,yet for months was driven under a stranglehold and if you had backed it you were left wondering about its drivers at manawatu. John Morrison just lets it go instead of fighting it. Horses never perform when drivers fight them. I think another factor is some Canterbury stables have been underperforming in the last 12 months on previous years.

Bunty hughes has Hughie junior in race 3 tonight at 2.70 on ff place . Can't see it not running in first 3. Looks a good multi choice.Mind you,i thought sweeny todd was a good thing last week,hopefully i'm using the shovel to fill in the hole instead of digging a bigger one.

I don't see it as unusual whatsoever. Lets just assume someone ,on reflection, believes they have made an error in judgment . Why wouldn't they have an association with someone who expects his drivers to maintain integrity,given the person who made some previous poor choices wants to have those standards himself. And the person he works for trusts him to live up to those standards. All hypothetical of course.,but a simple explanation for you.

I accept what you say,and guess I knew that to be the case. As you say the riu(and police) would have been worried that their investigation would have been compromised had they informed hrnz. And from what you say,their concerns were predictably justified. That of course would create further resentment towards the riu, no matter how unfair that may be.

I thought the official line,and you appear to confirm,, is hrnz have been kept out of the loop yet you say they have made a judgment call to support those charged. I find that most unlikely.If it was true it would be hypocrisy at its worst. They must remain impartial ,if they are to maintain credibility. If anyone is saying that privately then it just confirms why the riu has kept hrnz out of the loop. . As to the awarding of costs. This is a criminal case,not a civil one . If they lose do they pay the millions of dollars spent by the crown to bring the case to court. No.

I saw one race from Launceston, and it certainly was a heck of a lot worse than when they abandoned the races at addington. The problem will be the precedent they set with the abandonment at addington. This year there hasn't been as much fog as normal around, but its a safe bet the foggy conditions that existed when they abandoned the meeting, will repeat themselves many times to come. You would expect there to be a couple of abandonments a year, possibly even more at addington..

That one went very good

The old bit of yarn kiss of death again for me. I should have known Zulu Courage was the better chance. But seriously a huge flop. Just one of those horses that I've backed on and off and never get anything. When it used to go average I forgave it because it looked a bit sore,today it ran like it had caught the flu from ben hope then had gone out on the town the night before. On to the next

I too think sweeny todd is the good thing for the day. $2.70 ff ok.

I see the stipes report notes this horse 'weakened final bend'. This J sheenan trained/driven horse was 3rd at the end of the back straight and still 3rd with 150m to go,and finished 2.3 lengths from 3rd. What a strange thing to note.

You may be happy that the 2 hot favorites were driven in a way so as to have no chance to win,but I think punters were just hoping they may have got a run for their money . Punters like that,some even expect that.. I don't know if anyone inferred there was team driving, although I think the green stable is the worst offender at that in the north island. That wasn't an obvious case of it though. Who knows?