the galah

I'm pretty sure your on the money,as always. HRNZ,yes they don't say much about many things that they should be open and upfront about. The reason so many negative comments are made about some of their decisions,is simple. People don't have a positive view of many things they are doing. And your right about entain and sports betting. If you download Entains 2023 annual general report,the very first thing it says on the very first page is 6 "Strategic and operational highlights" the second of those "Further expansion into regulated markets with leading market positions;expansion into Poland with aquisition of STS holdings and partnership with TAB NZ PROVIDING UNIQUE ACCESS TO NZ SPORTS BETTING MARKET". Little old new zealand sports betting is considered a highlight for such a huge global company. thats for a company with earnings before taxs,interest,depreciation of 1,007.9 million pounds IN 2023 Entain turnover on online sports betting was 13.7 Billion Pounds and 4.3 billion on sports in their retail stores. as to nz,entains chief global excutive,its sports betting that gets the attention. "Entains australia partnership with tab nz also provides a differentiated experience for sports betting customers in NZ as well as australia and we look forward to customers in nz enjoying an enhanced experience as our offer migrates to entain australia technology platform in 2024." Also,again,this time on the first page of entains chief financial officers review,nz gets a mention. Their auditor said Entain has complex contingent consideration arrangements and the variable contingent considration is sensitive to changes in key assumptions. (i suppose thats talking about the governments likely decisions around the tab getting exclusive nz sports and racing gambling). Anyway,brodie,clearly your right about entain being primarily interested in getting access to nz punters sports betting. I suppose,what it will come down to for racing,is how the turnover will be distributed and whether racing can benefit from that. I suppose having winston there may help racing,but it will harness benefit or will galloping get a better deal. I suppose its a bit like the distribution of overseas turnover thatgalloping are always trying to get a bigger share of. Greyhounds used to have similar positionto harness on that,now they aren't going to be there will the gallops push for more. in the future. Whether HRNZ is up to those possible future challenges is debateable,well thats a bit of a worry presently. i

Lets hope HRNZ has a better year this year as far as communication with industry stakeholders, around significant topics which directly will effect everyone involved in harness racing in the not too distant future. For example. 1)What is HRNZ's future strategy to assist the auckland club.Are we going to see the continued HRNZ policy of trying to resurrect interest in auckland racing through things like preferential stake funding,based on the fact they think the area with the highest population should have more people interested than actually are. What is HRNZ"s thinking around what they will contribute to the proposed new training facility in auckland ,given the auckland club don't have enough money to build it. Do HRNZ even have a strategy. 2)The government last month releasing a detailed statement on the proposed possible changes for online gambling. Seemingly the preferred government option, being that the tab's monopoly is extended to cover all online betting by new zealanders ,thus excluding betting with overseas agencies.While it obviously would be a complicated thing to enforce,the clock is ticking. In 2028,Entains guaranteed minimum return to the tab nz,of $150 million a year,runs out and theresfter return to the tab,then to the racing industry, would be based on actual turnover which is most likely to fall short of the $150 a year minimum. Its also important to have the ban on betting with overseas providers set up and being enforced by 2028,as entain pay another $100 million to the TAB,plus another undisclosed figure which would also see an uplift in entains guaranteed monthly from 2028. Can HRNZ inform us about that? 3)Then you have the greyhound issue. How is the harness industry going to be effected(benefit from),due to the redistribution of funds that the unfortunate greyhound industy will no longer be there to receive in a couple of years. HRNZ doesn't seem very forthcoming in disclosing information about things that could possibly lead to any negative dissection . The above are subjects which obviously are huge as far as the industry goes. Sure some ofwhat i've raised are recent and ever evolving. But isn't it reasonable to expect better communicatio from HRNZ than they give. I do see the latest press release from HRNZ seemed a typical one from them. Its the one from matthew peden. Its like you have to read between the lines as to what they don't say,and then just left to guess. Heres an example ,he says"given the enormous uptake we saw in the entain bonus in 2024". whats that mean,afterall the bonus only started in 2024 and they gacve it to every 2 year old getting its first win then changed it to make others eligible if they placed. Then he says"larger number of 2 year old pacers and trotters lining up to race in 2024.. Well if he wanted credibilty he would have given the figures. He didn't,i would suspect because they aren't what he infers.what are they and what was the average field size compared to previous years.I can't remember so many 5 or 6 horse 2 year old races being run in previous years. Besieds they only changed the birthdate from august to december a couple of years ago. And mr peden refers to a draft 2 year old rAacing date schedule. he specifically said in the press release"we expect to see a continuation of trends we saw in 2024,with a larger number of 2 year old pacers and trotters lining up to race". Is he expecting that increase to aplly to only the north island ,as the number of scheduled races for 2 year olds in the south island is down 1. He must think the growth area for 2 year old racing is to be in the north island ,as they go from 21 in 2024 to 26 in 2025.

The lobster certainly went good at motukarara. She looks like one of those horses that needs an uninterupted first 100m and the horse in front of her at motukarara wasjust not going fast enough early. Those type of horses prefer to start on the outside of the ur and often don't like horses off marks starting behind them either,so not sure whether she will go away tomorrow,but her current $16 price seems a bit generous,but then maybe not after 100m.Not telling westview anything he doesn't already know i guess. She has interesting breeding which expains her temperament. Her father,majestic son,certainly has left some good trotters,but many of them can be moody or excitable.Then through in the mothers side,theres been some outstanding trotters there as well, but in recent times those horses with "one "in their names seem to like to gallop a lot. Haven't seen too many ones lately,not sure whether they aren't being bred or maybe the breeders are superstitious and are hoping a name change will change their manners. If you go back 3 or 4 generations on the mothers side, you see the mother of one over kenny,in frances jaybee whose was by a colonial sire in pointer hanover,who george shand trained for the Woods and i think he stood at stud near timaru. frances jaybee was originally trained for its first win by bruce wallace,a then farrier in oamaru who still trains the odd trotter in southland. The oamaru connection obviously was there as p williamson also won with her and a half brother to frances jaybee was raymauwarren sun,who warren barlett (now deceased)trained for most of his career from the oamaru racecourse.He won plenty with him,including i think as a 13 year old. Bartlett used to be one of those oamaru trainers who campaigned a lot of his horses at tracks like forbury.

I knew he was on the ATC board,never said he wasn't,what i did say was..."he was the auckland representative on the hrnz board,i don't know whether he still is".. to which westview replied no he wasn't. So i guess tabforever, thats your definition of me being confused... by the way,have you got your head around that press release from brad steele. I didn't miss quote it,like you had inferred ,did i. Dunn replaced shaun brooks.I see brooks is back working for HRNZ.You probably know a bit about him i suppose tab for ever? Did he really say ATC is back (please send horses north),or was that bit your add on tabforever? kinda ironic ,whoever said that,given the auckland club,hrnz and the media have been telling us how positively the field sizes have been impacted by the recent $100,000 racenight. interestingly,given that, for supposedly the clubs biggest night of their year, 3 races have just 7 starters and 4 races have 8 starters. Given,at your suggestion, i've turned over a new leaf and only focus on the postives now,i'm sure punters like the small fields with short prices, as find doing the pre race study wouldn't take long. Tabforever,you have actually confused me with those comments. You'd been trying to convert me into thinking those $100,000 race nights at auckland were a great thing,as they were encouraging greater number of starters,more income for industry participants,helping the auckland clubs bank earn more interest from the ATC loans,all raced over 1 mile...oh and other things that will come to light at some stage. But ,then your take on the canterbury west coast racing,which organically sees the big numbers of horses running,big crowds,big turnovers,the places where the industry earns the money to subsidies the stakes at the premier clubs and you speak about them in a negative way. Tabforever,of course you entitled to prefer auckland racing,but don't you think its a bit hypocritical for youon one hand, say the west caost/canterbury circuit can sometimes be a borefest with slow horses,then on the other criticise people like myself for expressing opinions that you view as negative. Finally ,i read a quote the other day that said, "and the ability of its leadership to navigate complex challenges.It will serve as a sobering case study in the delicate balance of power,the risks of executive overreach and the resilience to uphold democratic principles.". I stumbled upon those words of wisdom after reading something about the auckland trotting club,about 3 weeks ago. Who said it,In-Bum Chun,a highly respected south korean military expert.Nah,he was talking about the martial law crisis in south korea,but it could well have been about the auckland club. Good name though aye.

Like you say brodie,Truthful comments can be both negative or positive. Why do some people only want to hear the positive truths? Tabforever is actually focusing on the negative himself,instead of acknowledging there regularly have been ideas expressed on how to improve the sport or drive turnover or participation.. People like tabforever dismiss comments he thinks are negative as being given by keyboard warriors. we all know comments made on social media are a reflection of whats going on inpeoples lives,whether it be in racing or in their lives outside racing,.All that can have a ripple effect sometimes on what people post.But racing is a big part of many lives,especially for many of those who comment on public forums about it. But,i think tabforever makes assumptions. Its what we all do.Whether hes right or not,or what he thinks i should or shouldn't do,i take no notice of. What i can say is,i help someone train a couple of horses each day. We use the money from that to pay for the care of our horses,which we see every day and which we enjoy interacting with.We see our horses as good for the mind and the soul,but of course there is a financial burden that comes with that. Will we ever breed again from our mares,probably not. In the back of your mind you want to,you say one day,but you realise that your not being realistic. Whether it be finacial,age,health are some factors. But how you perceive your type are being treated or valued by the industry,of course is a significant factor. When you talk to others ,you generally find they are saying and thinking the same thing. No ones looking for sympathy,its just the way things are. Its sad that industry leadership do more to encourage some sectors than others. Why can't they all be treated the same.But thats life. I also feel i have knowledge of the gambling side of the imdustry. Many of the things i comment on are things that have impacted us personally during our participation in the sport, or as relates to the gambling side of things. But ,its almost christmas day and the wifes not happy i'm still typing on bit of a yarn. I've told her,honey, i'm trying to give it up.She says try harder. .

Tabforever,you say you don't think i should comment, saying i don't understand things,then you go on to criticise what i have said. This,after me not long prior saying i would not comment anymore. So you were going to get your wish,no more mr negative galah,but effectively you have knowingly,or at least should have, provoked me into replying. But since you have poked the stick at me,heres what i think about the comments you made about my earlier posts. You call me incorrect.,so have you read the press release? Did you not click and download the information flyer like it says to do in their press release. it says this "There are 3 ways to get involved and be eligible for exclusive next gen bonuses and rewards 1)join a next gen ownership group OR 2)race a horse with a next gen trainer OR 3)race a next gen sired horse." eligible horses must be purchased at the 2025 nz standardbred national yearling sales. Now Einstein, please tell me what the definition of OR is? If that went over your head,then did you not read question 7 in the press release. It also says "7)how does the eligibilty work to get the harness million bonus...You have to meet two of the criteria. 1)you must buy a yearling from the nzb 2025 sales THEN 2)meet one of the criteria either through the next gen ownership group OR by using a non grooup 1 winning trainer OR by purchasing a yearling by next gen sire." Maybe you should do your home work before suggesting i'm stupid. I know why i said earlier i would give up commenting on harness racing. It is because i say what i think,and in my opinion so many negative impacting decisions are being made, what i call stupid decsions being made. And i'm tired of writing negative things ,and that why i said i wouldn't comment anymore.. Obviously that one went throught to the keeper with you. if there was going to be a next time,i would spell it out better for you,,but there won't be.. actually,I've always been happy to reply to your posts or posts from others who don't agree with me,i have no probblem whatsoever in you thinking what you think about my posts,but like i have said and i thought inferred,i have become tired of my own posts having to be negative all the time,so i want to move on from the negativity i see in discussing much of what is going on in harness racing. Here i was thinking the press release from HRNZ back in june ,saying mr steele started on 1 july,(almost 6 months ago),was accurate. had i known he had only been there 5 minutes i would have cut him some slack . Tell me,if you think someone is making stupid decisions,do you just say,hell hes only been there 6 months,he'll improve or do you just give an honest opinion on a forum where opinions are given. Tabforever,you may well think hes doing a good job,personally i think hes not very clever and i say so. As i would if i spoke to him,not that i have. But hey,he may turn things around,i hope he does,butgoing by his many public statements and press releases i can't see it happening myself. I look forward to you coming to vist. I will makes sure our house is nice and warm for you when you arrive. Just tell me what time you will be coming down our chimney,and i will light the fire.

Having given the whole subject some thought,i realised today i've reached the point where i've said what i think and that i'm ready to have a mindset of past caring about things like this anymore.Its all a bit like groundhog day.I think i should be spending our time and money focusing on something different. So this will be my last comment.

As i mentioned earlier,the original press release said you can get around the stallion requirement by meeting the criteria set for the trainers or owners. Its confusing given yearlings sold at the sales by the same sire,will sometimes be eligible for the bonuses and sometimes not. I've read the press release quite a few times and my take is its still going to benefit most the likes of the breckons, the purdons and the dunns most.They are the trainers who buy the most horses from the sales and syndicate them out. All they have to do is include 30% of their syndicate under the age of 40.Now that may be easier said than done,but you would think mr steele would have spoken to the likes of the breckons,as they are who he likes to take care of. That press release really is all about confusing people. I can't imagine they set out to do that,but heres an example of confusion. the press release says"s how can you tell if a horse at the sales is next gen eligible...Those horses will have a special sticker on them and it will be announced when they go through the sales ring." .....But then you have to ask yourself,HRNZ in the same press statement said all horses sold through the sales can be next gen eligible..it really just depends on what happens after the sales as far as who trains, or syndicating to owners of the right age. So in theory,given all horses could potentially be eligible, not sure why are they putting special stickers on some and not others.thats my reading of the press release anyway.

The people i know,that have spent a lifetime breeding,owning or training horses that don't go through the sales,have been sent a very clear message. Brad steele takes your participation for granted.Your not his focus. After all that money you put into the industry ,your not a priority,your seen as a second class citizen. Thats so obvious,when you consider some of the conditions imposed on certain qualifying criterias,even if the horse meets the number 1 criteria of being sold at the sales. 1)Why does his scheme reward syndicates and not reward individuals or say a husband and wife..... 2)why does his scheme specify 30% of ownership has to be under the age of 40 to qualify..... 3)why reward only horses purchased at the sales. 4) why is he giving preferential treatment to the trainers who have not trained a group one winner,thusdiscriminating against trainers who have. 5)why have the sires with 3 or less crops being given preferential treatment. 6)why have they capped the $5000 giveaway for starting just twice as a 2 year old to the first 90 horses that qualify. 7)why are owners,breeders/trainers of these sale horses considered of greater importance than the owners of 3 year olds and above. 8)why are some owners being given preferential treatment because they have not previously owned a horse. why,why.why,i could go on. Like i have said. i believe the scheme is hair brained. I was talking to someone tonight whos bred horses over the years and raced them with her husband. she told me to go read the hrnz press release. Her comment was just read it.I've told you, you should get out of the sport as they don't cater for people like you or i anymore. After reading the press release,i agree.

I've just read the latest announcement about a new 2 year old bonus scheme from brad steele,whom it says is the architect behind the scheme. I have to admit,i had to read the press release several times to get my head around it. it seemingly is targeting rewarding people who buy yearlings by certain sires,who have had 3 or less crops so far in nz,then to meet the criteria the pruchasers are to syndicate the horses and have a certain % of owners under age 40 involved. Then you line the horse up twice in 2026 and they will pay the owners $4000 and the trainer $1000. You can get around the stallion criteria ,to earn the $5000 for starting twice as a two year old,by apparently buying any yearling at the sales and giving it to a non winning group 1 trainer and getting them to line up the horse twice as a 2 year old. Theres other bonuses of $50,000 that will be paid to the first horse home in the sales final races,who meets certain criteria. What do i think? well to me its a hair brained scheme thought up by people who i've previously referred to as not very clever. This latest announcement does nothing to change that,in fact it just reinforces how i currently think. I know only a dozen or so owners to speak to,but i can't think of one that would qualify if the scheme was being run this season. Again i ask,what is this obsession HRNZ and brad steele has with 2 year old racing? Why are the owners,trainers,breeders of 2 year olds more important than all the owners,trainers,breeders of 3 year old and older horses in training. i would guess that if you were to say which part of the industry provides the worst returns profit wise,using the formula stakes,bonuses funded v turnover. surely it would be 2 year old racing ,yet thats what HRNZ want to have more of. Are these people stupid or what?

yes congrats to everyione who won the big money on offer. I had to laugh when then yabby farm trotter won.You don't see a horse get that much luck early in a race much,but both horse and driver were good enough to take advantage of that. I didn't mind seeing it win.But spatchcock,if you think they hadn't been struggling prior,apart from the horse that won last night,then your not much of a judge of form. They said they sent 5 horses over in september,yet the horse that won last night has been the only of those to win since arriving.All cashed up had done a good job for a couple of seasons,,but he was not one of the ones they sent this year. they had been earning well in australia the previous 18 months. a breeders crown winner,others all multiple winners before they got here. But hey,lets hope they keep sending more horses to auckland as auckland racing needs them. Obviously victorian harness racing is in a state of decline,with their participants expressing feelings of annoyance and dismay ,at how the industries finances have been handled by their administrators. funny thing is ,victorian racing seems to be the blueprint HRNZ is using. Strange but true. all the victorian stakes have had to be slashed recently,especially the likes of the breeders crown. Maybe i should look at the positives of last nights meeting. Brad steele can go to australia,drum up more owners willing to send their horses here using the bait of the million $ race night as the selling point.And of course the regular $35,000 heat/ finals and the fact that even their average horses can race regularly in low grade 6 horse fields at cambridge. Brad steele can tell them,nz and the auckland club have worked out how to turn the industries decline around.........spend your way out of debt.

imperial command just won by a nose at geelong. $2.50 the win price. Pay the believers

you called it gammalite. charlie brown needed the help early. our mate mounga no luck early. mikey macquire got in the way of pinseeker and mounga at the start. Just a bit frisky at only his 3rd race in 2 years. Got $1750 for running,but was gone a long way from home.He apparently was a $250,000 liabilty for the tab.That means someone must have put close to $1000 on him. maybe some small bets.i think those punters should stick to working for their money. republican party back in his nz cup form.carter dalgety on a roll. sam ottley no wins today. I wonder if she will make it to 100? Muscle mountain good to see win. I just don't think hes as good as he once was and was helped by early gallopers,but to win from 30m still very hard at invercargill and nice to see ben hope basck in form. The hopes always go well over the coast and he may be the man to follow.

nice to see bounce n beyond get home. All a cunning plan that came off.

Do you reckon s ottley has been watching liam lawson. I don't think wilson house speaks japanese or spanish. i don't think sam ottley did a liam lawson and gave wilson house the one finger salute as she passed. Instead she just smiled as she went past him on her way to the winners circle. talking about sam ottley. I don't think HRNZ or entain are maximising her attempt to be the first ever woman to get 100 winners in a season. I can think of many ways they should be maximising the positive exposure she could bring to the sport. for example,every day HRNZ should have a pendulum arrow type thing,(like my car battery charger),that shows the % chance she is rated at the start,then end of each days racing between now and 31 december. Beside it should be he latest tab odd's with a link to the tab where you can place a bet on the option they have running on her attempt. the tab/entain should be doing the exact same thing with her photo and it should appear as the first segment of those 8 or 9 things that float along the top of the page when you logon to your account.(the bit where they promote bonus bets,Boys get paid boosted odds,etc,) thers lots of other ways as well.Why haven't hrnz got her on mainstream media?

Odd isn't it that some are arguing on the other channel that the million $ racenight is all good,because HRNZ is only contributing $250,000 and the ATC is putting in the other $750,000. The Auckland trotting clubs annual report said "the club technically has a $54.5 million negative working capital position as at july 2024." but it went on to say,"this situation does not impact the clubs ability to finance it immediate operational needs." In the ATC's annual report they were still thinking positive about the chinese sale,now thats fallen through,they still are thinking postive and hoping they can get another buyer to pay $90 million for franklin park. They had said if the chinese sale went through, they would have $9 million as at july left over to build a new training complex once the leaseback of the old training complex runs out.The one HRNZ will need to top up if racing is to continue in auckland,as HRNZ seem committed to do. Sounds like anything less than $90 million means less for the required new training complex and more needed from HRNZ to contribute.. At one point the annual report said the ATC "expects to recognise a gain on disposalble of $67 millions following the final settlement of the purchase price ..."fair valuue less costs to sell" Obviously the costs to the ATC of getting that property ready for sale have been substantial. Sort of makes you think,gee they sure would want to get something somewhere near what the original buyers offered them,wouldn't they. from what i can make out,the book value of the land being sold in 2024 is a tick over $30 million. But of course,as noted in its report..."the book value of assets being sold are significantly less than this debt"(Its quoted at one point in someones report they owe $76 million to the bank as at july,then latter it shows they owe $79m as at july.. The ATC's problem seems to be cashflow. They have significant assets obviously with the likes of alexandra park. The Auckland club employess sure know how to spin and are good sales people ,given the support HRNZ is showing them.you can also see that in thier annual report. at the end of the day,its just so hard for anyone ,with much sense,to look tomorrow nights meeting and not think this will create a financial hole for both the Auckland club and HRNZ. And wouldn't any funds the ATC loses on tomorrow nights meeting mean they will have less money to go around,meaning they will have less to contribute to any new training centre,meaning HRNZ will have to increase the amount they take for their bank to make sure the auckland racing continues,meaning HRNZ will have less money to support racing in other areas of nz. So people minimising hrnz's contribution to tomorrow meeting aren't including the big picture.

your saying theres no difference between, someone who has for years,on this forum,highlighted issues and advocated for change to address those issues...and someone someone who sees the same issues,does not advocate for change,instead advocating for shutting down the industry.. interesting logic

so they put the numbers in the hat and .................... and they drew out 1. just as i predicted. And as predicted that horse has now been added to the scratching penalties for yesterdays stipes report,now showing the 1 day stand down..

He was a bit unlucky in that respect. The leader was getting away from the field,as the horse in the trail appeared to struggle to go fast enough,but when he made his move,the horse in the trail seemed to concentrate better and just did enough to keep him parked.Tactically i thought he drove it ok,sometimes things just don't quite work out in a drivers favour and that was one of them. But i was entertaining to watch. i'm in total agreement with brodie in that its easier for an informed punter to make money on lower grade racing than the racing you see on friday nights where the fields are more even. to me its just logic. when theres a greater difference in abilty between each horse,as you normally get in the lower grades,then its easier to make money. for years now,the races i can make the most money on are the likes of non win trots or non win pacers.

You've hit the nail on the head

So hes no longer on the HRNZ board. is he still on the auckland trotting club board,if so then one would assume jamie mckinnon doesn't come up with these ways to spend hrnz moneyfor the benefit of auckland,without input from atc board memebers like dunn. What has robert dunn done to ensurea similar type series that auckland has been getting funded ,are run in canterbury.Didley squatt by the sounds of it,yet most of his owners would be based in the south island. I'm not anti robert dunn,he seems a top bloke,but i do think he has double standards in who's agenda he pushes. At least thats what it appears like form everything i have read. when you say you support this series over the slot races,that doesn't indicate you support auckland racing getting preferential stakes funding treatment over canterbury or southland. South island horses have been sent to auckland for north island racing each and every year in the past.My guess would be if i went back and looked at the results from 2 or 3 years ago,i could name just as many,if not more mid grade south island horses than what you have that raced in auckland in december. Those aussie trotters. They really have struggled. I watch them each week go around,always expecting them to gallop. I know between the 6 of them they have what,won one or two races.. The point is.Is what they funded in stakes been a financially wise decsion. HRNZ have announced not that long ago they were spending a significant portion of their cash reserves to fund meetings like this. Once the money runs out,then what. Is the plan ,with the gallopers,to share the turnover money that the greyhounds will no longer be getting in 2 years to plug the big financial hole they are digging for themselves? like i have said before,HRNZ leaderships motto seems to be..plan to spend today and just hope something turns up tommorrow. also,are we suppose to forget just how much HRNZ will need to put into auckland to keep it going after they their training facilities. Who are HRNZ going to reduce payouts to when they do that?

If your going to dismiss yesterdays racing as "poor racing' ,i hope your not someone who promotes the sport or is an administrator. it was not poor racing,it was lower class racing. Theres a difference and you seem very dismissive of the segment of the industry who competed yesterday,who's numbers are disappearing, many due to administrators making decisions which many of yesterdays participants would percieve as highlighting they are considered of no value,or deserving of fair treatment. as to your comments about certain races. if you value all participants within harness racing,you should be able to look at any tuesday field and come up with ways the interest in which the viewing public and punters can be stimulated,ways which build on the knowledge of those competing and giving those associated with them reason to smile as they enjoy a small,sometimes fleeting moment in the spotlight. i will give an example of what i mean as regards the races you specifically described as poor. these are things that the commentator,trackside presenter,HRNZ racing promoter should be discussing each meeting,pre meeting. Other media should be given talking points as well for publication. race 2.certainly wasn't a field of high grade horses. Buts its was one similar to what you get at cambridge on tuesdays or at the west coast over christmas,just westport get more there. i saw race 2 as an opportunity to put some focus on Hoofn it.Thats who i watched. There you had a Trotter trained by someone called Mr Trotter. Now Mr Trotter,not sure his age,but i don't think hes any spring chicked and he was going for his first ever driving win.He has trained just the 1 winner from 105 starters and he has a horse by ohoka arizona,not known for siring trotters and he was driving an 8 year old.Hoofn it has come into some solid form at these tuesday meetings and everything about this horse and trainer epitomises the very peiopkle the industry is losing. people watching are interested in things like that.With Mr trotter driving,there were lots of easily made puns for the commentator to drop into his commentary and comments. The commentator could easily have talked pre race about likely tactics and added ,you know it makes sense. After he ran second he could have said,another $1200 in the bank,cushty or lovely jubbly and of course there would be places for h who dares wins and this time next year.. He could easily be made into one of the most recognised horses running,even if its subconciously for some, and with it people recognise the role people like trotter play in the industry. race 3 you called it a woeful field.That is such a negative comment. No need for that type of thinking at all. instead of looking at it negatively,it should be approached from a perspective of the race being for horses and connections looking for their first raceday cheques. race 5.you said a 38 start maiden killing the favs /leaders chances by attacking twice. you previously commented how race 2 and 3 had no moves,but you don't seem happy when there is some action. Besides,if you wwatched he race,you should have seen the favorite go rough in its gait as the 38 start maiden was being restrained to trail,so the driver of that horse obviously thought pulling back behind a horse half galloping not a clever move,so pressed on again,only for the favorite to settle down and again be pushed to lead. the amatuer driver who got hurt in race 1 was very unfortunate. surprisngly he was shown on trackside turning around and giving the thumbs up as he got into the ambulance. Also,you describe the standard of racing as poor. New zealands leading male,female,leading 3 juniors all were driving in most races. Their skills are nearlty always on display at the tuesday meetings in canterbury. As i pointed out earlier,race 4 had a particularly good battle between new zealands leading driver and otagos leading driver.

the conditions of the golden gait racenight ,virtually meant the south island horses were going to be excluded. Anyone who doesn't believe that,the proof is there if you look at the fields. to be eligible to run in most of the races on friday,a horse has to have started 6 times at auckland. Those who came up with those conditions specifically said auckland would get south island trained horses being sent to race in the north island multiple times through the year, so to become eligible for this racenight. these are the same people who said the 2 year old bonuses would see an increase in 2 year olds starting and more breeders breeding and the same bright sparks who said the $20,000 christian cullen bonus would see more starters and the same people that think having a million $ new zealand cup will create more turnover than a $750,000 nz cup. you get my drift. at least the decision makers are consistent.Wrong all the time.. So you have to ask,why did r dunn help promote the million $ race night. well self interest of course. He saw himself getting a cut of the bigger stakes that hrnz have sent aucklands way ,but primarily of course he was the auckland representative on the hrnz board. I don't know whether the still is,but robert dunn has done a good job from their perspective,but,i would argue, at the same time seems to not comprehend that hes doing it at his canterbury owners expense. Like i said earlier,even robert dunn has only about 3 extras that have island hopped to get enough starts.,2 in the same race.Those 2 may be chances as they have dropped back through the rating system as they struggled to get used to the auckland way around,but are getting better lately.

i watched it tonight and i thought it worth the watch. just the right amount of mick,take the vaccine, guerin. I find him good in small doses. at one point they asked what did viewers think of the golden gait racenight at auckland on friday,then they asked micky g. well,the golden gait racenight is something i started a thread on a month or so ago,so i took notice of what micky g said. well,he specifically referred to eagle hanover and said something like when would he ever get to race in a $100,000 race. well micky g,last week actually was the answer. and given eagle hanover was mentioned,i will use him as an example of just how much better north island horses and connections are treated by the HRNZ funding model,than south island participants. eagle hanover is a rating 39 horse who has had 2 wins and 9 placings from 33 starts this year,for $37,836 . Because of the preferential treatment given by HRNZ,eagle hanover this year will have started in 2x100,000, 1x35,000, 1x$30,000, 1x$25,000, 1x20,000, 1x$18,5000, 4x16,000, 2X$15,000 races. so theres your answer mr Guerin. Had a horse of eagle hanovers class been racing in canterbury,he would have been lucky to get the oppotunity to start in 1 $20,000 race all year. Eagle hanover is proof how HRNZ is screwing over the south island people ,especially those in canterbury who run the meetings that generate the profitable turnovers ,that fund the stakes for the north island. Also,didn't they say when they first announced the golden gait racenight,that it would attract south island horses. well did it-no it didn't.Theres about 4 south island horses there,3 from dunns and another trained by mccaffery.and most likely a couple of those would have raced at auckland anyway,without any golden gait.

today race 5. almight clever. scratched. doesn't even get a mention in the stipes report,why,because its running on friday at invercargill. now i've mentioned it on here, they will probably stick it in their report and go to the special hat,put numbers 1 and 2 in it,then pull one out and then amend todays report to show he got a stand down.Just watch. why,because the alternative is to give almighty clever connections not only the special treatment ,but the special ,special treatment.. note:the horse in question isn't named after the stipes dishing out the scratching penalties.