the galah

But what i stated is fact in relation to the chinese banning domestic travel from the virus epicentre ,while allowing international travel from the epicentre. It happened. By the way i don't buy into the Trump miss management at all. It certainly is what the Trump hating media,including nz media want to potray,and they pounced on a couple of his stupid off the cuff comments. The reality is Trump is not viewed by americans as the media portrays him. The next election there will again prove that.. Some of his media conferences about the virus may have not been his best work,but his new press secretary certainly is impressive so far and looks like she will sell the trump administrations virus response very effectively. As to the china bashing. I'm with Winston in that by putting all your eggs in one basket you set yourself up to be manipulated . Thats not china's fault. They have been masters at working there way to the top of the world with the usa.. That's also what Trump says. Whether you agree with the way they do things in China or not,you can't help but admire china. But you don't have to think that our countries voice on whats right or wrong should be silenced simply because it may impact on us economically.

Instead of thinking of the majority as sheep, you should just accept that the majority believed the government mostly made the right decisions based on all the data they had. Sure you can point to australia as being just as effective with less disruption to the economy,although the economic experts say not that much difference. And yes you can point to the figures of infections to death rates and the strain being different in some countries to others. But given the impact it has had in so many countries our government was always going to err on the side of caution. Have you followed some of the devastating reports coming out of so many countries.The likes of russia,,brazil,etc . The list is so long. What about the latest figures to come out of italy that said they had ,excluding the virus,something like 11,000 more deaths in the same 5 week period compared to the previous 5 year average. In other words way more deaths related to the virus than reported. So many countries under reporting. I know we have better health care,but why would any government take the risks you suggested we should have. So people aren't sheep,they just view the health of others as important enough to agree and trust the governments actions. Instead of directing your frustration at the nz government, shouldn't the real frustration be directed at the chinese government who stopped all domestic travel in and out of Wuhan and Hubei province to stop the spread of the virus, yet for about 10 days thereafter let international travel from that area continue.

What i do think a joke is how you could infer that.. I've read some strange things on here but your comment ranks up there.

I hope you or the Brodster weren't watching the Al Jazeera channel 5 minutes ago. You would have been reaching for the blood pressure pills as Ardern popped on there for a minute or so. CNN,BBC even on FOX i have seen small segments on ardern and nz recently. Can't get away from it. One of those was a funny one on fox where they had some medical expert in america saying New Zealand was made up of 60 islands, ardern at least made some sense in the clip in that segment. Best you keep away from those channels.

the colmar brunton poll on 8 april said 88% of new zealanders supported the governments response to the covid 19 outbreak. Obviously you and the brodster in the 12%. Having said that i was looking at a poll last week and it showed most leaders in developed countries showed their approval rating had gone up. Even donalds was up 3% at 49%,and that in a country where 47% support the democrats and are unlikely ever to approve anything he does. Scott Morrisons had gone up the most. Ardern i think was 2nd . No doubt labour support will fade a little as the economic pain kicks in and people judge their decisions based more on their own circumstances that that of the nation as a whole.

No. The 2 purdon brothers obviously good but had keast had the same horses,facilities and backing as the purdons he would have achieved similar results. Who do you think was the best? Winx, black caviar obviously great but some of the races Bonecrusher won were spine tingling and won as much on guts as well as great ability.

Believe in polls or not,but the one that came out last week said labours approval rating was 55% and nationals 29%. Arderns personal approval rating was 65%. 78% of those polled said nz was heading in the right direction,those doing the polling said it was the highest figure they had recorded since 1991. Gullible is a bit harsh. They just have different opinions to yours.The poll figures reflect that If you were to wind back the clock 2 months and told people they could achieve the virus figures at this present time if we were to implement what the government has done,the vast majority would have said ok lets do it and now are saying job well done.

On hrnz website they have been having question and answer for high profile participants. Thought why can't we do same from a punters perspective? so here's some questions with my answers. What yours. 1.Best collect: The first horse I owned that won. Trainer said it only had to pace round first bend to win. It did,was still last of 14 at the 400m but in front at the150m and won easy. 2)Unluckiest or hardest defeat on punt to swallow. Should have got one of those early $50,000 guaranteed pick 6's. Had the only ticket on a horse called coloured fella running in the last leg. It was worth about two and a half years wages. Got stuck 3 wide early,driver R Mitchell tried for 200m to push horse inside it onto fence.But broke his own horse up,settled 10 lengths last in field of 13.,weaved its way all over the place in straight only to be just beaten by a neck Certainty beaten.. Driver got suspended and horse went on to win 3 of next 4. 3)If you could have any driver in history driving for you in the most important race of your punting life-Blair orange 4)Most exciting horse ever seen in flesh: Scoth tar. 5)best trainer seen- j. keast 6)favourite track -addington 7)best horse seen on tv-bonecrusher 8)what are you most looking forward to when harness racing resumes- seeing my bank balance go up.

Honest john was no doubt referring to a 5 week rest break being good for the many of those who were a bit run down health wise. Many will be re energised . What can you achieve if your very run down? Not much. Maybe Honest john a glass 1/2 full type of guy.

Nothing much else to do so was looking at last years end of season figures( 2019). Compared with previous year some figures of interest. Average field size similar. Average starts per horse +2.8% . Number of individual horses that started -3% Races with hot favorites -5%. Fixed odds turnover +1.6% although fixed odds yield -18%. off course turnover -13%. On course -5%? Domestic turnover overall -8%. Overseas turnover on nz harness -21%. Stakes total + 1.76%. average per race +2.85. So turnovers have gone down yet stakes went up slightly. Is that a good business model? As far as auckland trotting club went. 2018 they had assets worth $193 million but they dropped big time to $126 million in 2019. The below shows why. The value of the sale of units from there development was below the costs to build them. I guess on top of that they have also lost the high land value that they no longer have. The development project shown on books to be $66 million less than 2018. also income from investment properties -1.625 million from 2018.The amount they had borrowed went from $130 million in 2018 to $195 million . Racing revenue -280,000 and revenue from the tab they have also down. Given the expected drop in property values this year with many of their apartments still to be sold they must take another hit you would think. They are also budgeting for expected income from rental space in their new buildings but you would have to wonder about how much that will be impacted by the virus. They are also like all clubs who will take a hit from other areas. e.g sponsorship .

Had a look at profit loss on the books of forbury club in recent years. 2016 lost $279,00, 2017 profit $18,000 2018 loss $250,000 could not find figure for 2019 was, reports said it was not good. So what that clearly shows is the club obviously spends more than it gets in. 2018 reported the hospitality side of things to be a bit of a disaster. But it seems their attempts at greater income are unlikely to keep up with expenditure anyway. Part of the problem is they run meetings that have limited race numbers and often smaller fields due to getting many poor dates. So logic says if they were to close then what clubs south of Dunedin would be stupid enough to run meetings that would be very unprofitable and drag on their resources. Would southern trainers be able to make a reasonable living with racing on in only 8-9 months a year if forbury went? So part of the answer seems to be to change the model used to make payouts to clubs like forbury to take into account the negative impact poor racing dates have and factor in the greater good having forbury continue. If forbury were to receive no industry help then the continued viability of those who race there must be impacted.

No longer known as "The Postman". Now known as "Chopper"

Now that has disappeared ???......

It certainly is in the winter,but maybe thats because its the southern most track in the winter. and they race at night.. Its one of the few which has stabling and public facilites very close to the action which is a major plus. They tell me the restaurant /food is not like it used to be and that stand with the tape round it seems to have been like that for years. Its has a good population base.Not sure on the number of horses in training in the area. If you included north otago there must a reasonable number. You would think on the face of it, it makes more sense harness funds to be invested in forbury than any of the other otago tracks. Mind you it would need quite a bit of investment and change.. Also it has the greyhounds there as well and you would think they may take the southland dog dates as most of the dogs that race in invercargill drive through dunedin to get there. That must be an unwanted expense to the greyhound owners Does forbury own its own land and facilities?

This article actually appears on the nz herald website.They must believe its true..Hard to take anything he says seriously but got to give him credit for getting a big nz media outlet to generate publicity for him at no cost to him. He must be laughing. No doubt his invitation to the police will be warmly received. As we know from his ramblings on the other site he knows many well enough to call them by their nicknames. Funny thing is he thinks his police mates nicknames are either 4 letter words or words that start with f,c,b and so on. Also the original post on this topic says edited by Noodlum. I wonder how that works as it wasn't started by them.

the 15 minute hbo segment on real sports about jake the snake is worth a watch. no greyhounds there though.

How someone in greyhound racing got the name Jake the snake intrigues me? Was it because he loved wrestlling, did he love snakes, or is it because he's into yoga or has he come back from near death due to addiction?. What's the story?

I'm guessing not,and that would be an example of unintended consequences you refer to. I have been referring to consequences from a harness racing side of things.

"Have i considered that rather than me not getting your point.....that you may not be making your point very well." Yes i did consider that as a possibilty before i replied. I say that in my reply don't i. My interpretation of your comment about collateral damage i took as an insight into your thinking. Collateral damage is unintended/unexpected. How do you know its been unintended or unexpected.? I don't think that to be the case.. Your comment about "tell us all how does INCA give punters confidence? " Seems you haven't read what i said. Its there for you to read so go re read it. I say"so thats what you think UNdermining punters confidence is" Then your final comment about my saying anyone who disagrees with me doesn't want dishonesty investigated. Another twisting of my words. I state "what inca has shown is how many think dishonesty should not be exposed or even investigated". Thats blatantly obvious in my opinion. . Anyway the word Many does not mean anyone or everyone. There is a difference and i would have said so had i thought that..

I disagree happy. Not understandable at all. All he's done is made himself look stupid and someone who shows poor judgment when he drinks. Like i said he needs to self reflect on how to handle what he is dealing with in a constructive way, that is of long term benefit to him and his family. It all seems a bit self destructive at the moment.. Of course that's easy for an outsider to say. He's living it. Everyone and everything is different. I wonder what its like to have all these people on social media digesting your actions? That can't help.

Sounds like one of those police 10 7 programmes you watch, where you think boy that person is going to feel really stupid in the morning when they watch themselves on tv. Hunter you keep up the them and us attitude and personal attack approach. Hows that going for those you support so far? Keep digging the hole.

Orange's behavior was ridiculous by the sounds of it.. He is better than that,but not on that day obviously.Is that the way someone who is a role model should behave? Orange needs to look at himself in the mirror... Wallis was a well respected stipe pre Inca,yet all that's somehow changed just because he works for an organization that some no longer like. Orange doesn't have to like him if he doesn't want to,,but Orange went too far with his totally disrespectful and juvenile comments..

Your reply just confirms what i have just said. You just don't get the point i am making,or if you do you ignore it or simply don't care. Guilt or not in the Inca case is not the point. What Inca has shown is how many think dishonesty should not be exposed or even investigated. Collateral damage? So that"s what you think undermining punters confidence is.. The United states cases i have referred to clearly shows that many believe that those who lead the sport over there have turned a blind eye,and that ultimately will speed up the demise of the sport they are supposed to protect and administer.. It also proves 100% that performance enhancers were used,and as they put it had been a cancer,eating away at their sport for some time.. Remember the harnesslink stories of 3 or 4 years ago lambasting the meadowlands boss for the treatment he dared give to drug cheats. How dare he it said, when he had no proof. What a plonker he has proved to be.

Well it seems those that contribute to harnesslink in the USA have different views than the man who runs the nz side of things. Best to listen to this weeks edition before the audio is taken off the harnesslink website like they did last week. This time it has an interview with a former president and chairman of directors of the United states trotting association. Here's just a quick summation of what he had to say. Cheating is a cancer that has been eating away at harness racing. He is highly critical of the current leadership of the UTSA saying they are doing everything they can to stop light being shone on the corruption and use of drugs. That those that want the industry cleaned up are facing resistance from within the industry and that is why they need an independent investigative agency outside harness racing. The betting side and owner participation is being impacted because they have realised the industry is not a good industry to be in and is not being managed correctly when it comes to policing corruption. That is one of the reasons the industry faces very difficult times ahead. He refers to yonkers(one of the tracks where cheating was prevalent ) and says the person that runs that track is unlikely to renew harness racings lease when it expires in 3 years time. Now lets be honest. The USA is different from NZ. But there are many similarities in attitudes of industry participants when it comes to corruption. Just look at the hatred,and i do mean hatred so many have expressed against those who investigated INCA. John Curtin from harnesslink being one of the worst. Just look at the other website. Its ridiculous that so many would rather look after their mates and decry an investigation into corruption,rather than criticize dishonesty. Fair enough to have a view of waiting until something is proven,however the personal attacks always get louder when the truth is closer to being revealed.

In my opinion I think racing will not be impacted by the virus as much as many think it will be. I believe the virus will be the fall guy and only a small part of the actual reason for any changes. It will be other pre existing factors that will lead to reductions in stakes. Stakes being paid pre virus were not justified based on a proper business model. People blame the tab,hrnz,rita.... but the reality is racing does not have the turnover or public appeal like it used to. Lots of sports are the same,its just they don't have as many targets to blame like racing does. Stake levels were living on borrowed time anyway based on turmover.. Auckland is an obvious example of the virus not being the real reason for reduced stakes.. Having said that the tab has many outlets in pubs effected by the virus and you do wonder what will happen to many of those businesses and that may impact down the track on the tab. I think the virus is an ideal smoke screen for industry leaders to gain the impetus to implement changes Follow Winston Churchill's advice"Never let a good crisis go to waste". Participants will be more accepting of the pain if it is delivered at the right time.