the galah

My take is the opposite of you. In this case the RIU recognized they did not have the resources to undertake such an inquiry. The police have much greater powers and ways of gathering information. The proof is in the ultimate outcome and that should be where the focus is. The decision by the RIU to pass on the case to the police has ultimately been for the betterment of the industry,.

The discovery of drug use and supply surely is a major problem. The fact so many high profile players are involved in that is surely of great concern. Who cares what led to its discovery. There should not be drivers driving in races where they may have recently used drugs. Also , what does that say about their attitudes towards drug use on either human or horse. Yes the race fixing may get murky as you describe,however if it does involve races like the johnny white case then the waters wiil be very clear. How did Jason teaz describe that drive on trackside-I think his words were unbelievable.If there is a cash trail for that race then very easily confirmed on the video.. Im assuming the eamon maguire drive at forbury in 2016 was not part of this probe,but was it not the reason for the article in the Christchurch press which first raised the possibility of race fixing. The fact that there will be many races now being questioned when in fact there was nothing untoward is to be expected.

is a similar analogy for your thinking to use the example of the police having knowledge of someone having possession of stolen car parts,when they are aware of a recent spate of car thefts. Your way of thinking would have those in possession of the stolen property arrested and dealt with,whereas the polices way of dealing with it would be to build evidence to find out everyone involved, from the stealing of cars to those organizing and receiving the proceeds from the car theft ring. and with any bit players caught up along the way. Criticising the police,on this occasion, seems very unwarranted.

whats important in life-well honesty is a good starting point to help you stay on the right track.. As to the drug testing-maybe they need to change to saliva testing if they don't already do so. Its a good thing we don't have only high profile drivers driving at the better meetings as some like mick Guerin advocate for.

One of the big questions will be what information the police have relating to horses being given performance enhancers. It now seems to have been suggested this is part of the investigation. High profile players have been charged with drug offences. Reference has been made to the use of a performance enhancer on a nz derby runner. Who knows what will come out.For so long media and high profile stable supporters have suggested high profile players are squeaky clean. They have called anyone who asks questions about performances every name under the sun. Sadly their blind loyalty,or some would say collusion, appears to have been misplaced.

What is obvious is the police deserve full credit for investigating these matters in such a professional, unbiased manner. I also believe hrnz and the riu deserve credit for allowing the police,with all their resources, to carry out the said investigation. It appears they have allowed the appropriate authorities to do their work without any attempt to undermine said investigation. Well done to those concerned ,

personally I have reviewed tapes of every harness race in Nz this year.Just trying to make a dollar. My view of Blair orange is that I have never doubted he was always trying to win. Obviously the dexter Dunn drive on Eamon McGuire at fotbuty was questionable, however he too in my opinion tries each time. Will be interesting to see what transpires . One assumes the investigation involves some type of kick backs or money invested on behalf of, both illegal activity. I must say i initially thought this inquiry may relate to horses being given something to improve performances.but obviously not this time. Also in my opinion the hardest place to predict drivers tactics is at manawatu where many,many times I have wondered about driving tactics of several families. That just my opinion.

The report just released is a wake up call.It concludes what many do not want to hear,but those with a business like minds know is inevitable for harness racing to prosper in the future. This report should be used by industry leaders as a way of leveraging parochial regional interest groups into coming on board to make necessary changes. The most important thing is harness racing leadership create a plan/vision for the future. One that makes the hard decisions. Once that plan has been formulated then it is vital they sell the need for change to all interested groups. Too often those running the industry seem to lack the power/backing for forward planning. Industry leaders need to back their own judgment and abilities and need to make change. I agree with happy sunrise in that one of the industries priorities is the need to purchase and set up training facilities which allow future participants, whether they be young or old,to rent at affordable rates,ensuring future participation.The running of said facilities must be overseen hrnz. Facilities for Farriers, vets, feed merchants, saddlery,etc should be included at these training facilities thereby making it cheaper for all concerned and also generating industry income from rents for said businesses maybe run on a profit share business model with hrnz. Hrnz need to foster an all inclusive,we are in it together approach. There are all sorts of possibilities. Hopefully this report is the catalyst for change. When I listen or read what mr rennell or mr spicer have to say I get the impression they have a lot of the answers. Its time for change.Just get on with it and do it.Trying to placate and appease certain interest groups is no longer an option.

There has been talk around for years now of the need for track closures, yet despite that, many of the tracks mentioned are still run the same parochial way they have always been. Many seem to have stuck their heads in the sand and continued practices which are detrimental to their bottom line. The time and effort put in by those that run these clubs is to be admired however often they do not utilize centralized agencies and industry knowledge for their maximum benefits. Also many of these clubs give priority to their land being used by farming interests in the know with those deciding on their use.

The fish cichlid makes that claim. An aggressive fish. The claim is they originally signed a statement outlining certain practices. Therefore if they signed a statement, then that is not anonymous. A dark side of the greyhound industry that authorities failed to control. The wounds only start healing with justice,if its not served the wound will always be there. Hence the post I guess. It wont be sorted on bit of a yarn.

the same post was put on the greyhound section a couple of weeks back.. Appears to say the poutamas raised concerns about live baiting by cole kennel (along with others),riu did nothing,then the poutamas backed away from their claims. appears to question their integrity,or failure to follow through with their concerns.. I think its just a window into how that sport can silence their critics and how some participants feel the riu failed them,at least that's my take on the post. a greyhound issue.

Actually markymark I think they don't buy at all. You refer to hope. The hope of getting a top horse capable of winning pacing group races is really non existent, except if you have them trained by the allstars.. Realistically you have to either be in a syndicate or very rich,and even then they still have to accept you as a client. I believe if you buy or bred a trotter you still have hope of getting a top horse one day,just not a pacer. I think that is the common view. Some trainers say they can get good money by selling a promising horse to the all stars. That's true. But of course any trainer who wants to train a top horse and thinks he will be competitive would retain the very same horse he sells if they thought they could get similar results.. To me that's just another way of saying"im a realist,ill never beat them,i better take the money now before hes devalued if I continue to train him'. Increasing stakes for the so called open class ranks ,which is really a false description of these races given who has to make up the numbers( before they get sold overseas),will not get any more starters in my opinion.

My prediction for the horse that won those races would be it runs the odd good race this year,the rare good race as a 5yo,has health issues then is retired.. No doubt a top 3yo,did a great job to succeed at that level,but guts run out of it already in my opinion. The shame is everything is focused around young horses these days and as a result you have horses like 4 race winner mickey maguire and 5 race winner baileys knight having to make up the numbers in 6 horse open class fields. Buster brady another case in point,a very good horse but seemed counter productive running in those big 3yo races,so it proved as he had his will to win run out of him.

Your industry has already lost many of those who used to follow it, myself for one. No point having a bet on a dog race when you don't want to see a certain kennel winning because of their alleged practices and they have half the field sometimes and dominate.

Brodie giving a pre race tip,a bit out of character, but right on the money

Mr O'reilly team raced very well today. One thing that I have noticed is how hard they try, always giving their best whether they run in the money or not. Obviously mr o'reillys horses want to do their best for him, and any success he has is achieved not only on their combined abilities, but also with guts and determination. Nice to see his stable getting some well deserved results.

No doubt he would have been better keeping a position where he could have improved unimpeded, Just an error in judgment but one you see in a lot of races. The stipes are quite right to ask the question but don't think it will be taken any further. Watch this horses previous run, it was driven in almost identical style about the same point of the race by a different driver.

agree happy,has always shown it can run a bit, its problem has been going rough under pressure, and throwing away its winning chances many times with a gallop. The stipes report noted the driver advised the addition of toe weights had helped its balance, also reporting it had still been a little rough in patches. That stable are always to be respected and J keast a very good driver. Long owner, my take is you have highlighted that gallops are too soft, and the harness side have got it right.

i see he got a fine as you predicted happy. I had timed the last 150m of that score up just to confirm what I had said earlier about the mobile going much faster and it was just under a couple of seconds faster than the other 2 races I timed. That is quite a difference in 150m. Next time mr munro should just lift his hands in a more exaggerated way if that happens in d dunn style and he may avoid a fine.

He struck a race where the mobile appeared to be driven at a much faster speed tin the final 150m of the score up in comparison with the other 2000m mobile races held today, giving him not much chance of catching up. Have a look and compare them happy.

If you don't get a disqualification for 3 times in 2 months then when would you?. These people on the jca have no idea of how their bend over backwards approach is perceived by so many. Reading their excuse for the penalty just highlights their ineptitude.

A pathetic sentence and just confirms what so many say. One rule for some and another for others. No wonder the small timers dont bother anymore.

In my opinion the disappointing thing about the story published was that it painted a false picture of the reality of what actually happens out on the racetrack. Portraying this incident with the inference that it reflects what happens regularly is misleading at best,and appears just another one of those articles written and published to push the message of the pc brigade. That is paint a picture of what is wrong with our society. Journalists pushing this line seize on any story, no matter how factual, to push a message indoctrinated in them . These are the people who take great offence on the victims behalf,even though the actual victim often does not have any issue with the events that occurred . The response of mr rennell was good, it showed that HRNZ is aware of the need to have processes in place to be seen to be doing the right thing, irrespective of whether there is an actual problem. Mr munro is the author of his own problem here, but the spotlight being put on this story is way over the top. However,It is the world we live in and should be taken as a learning experience by all within the industry. Finally,it is my opinion based on what I have observed, this is most unusual behavior and the reason for that is that those who drive in races,especially those at the top end,do not practice or condone such behavior,and when they are unhappy with a rivals tactics they do not resort to personal abuse. They lead by example. The person writing this article of course was not interested in the tuth,simply interested in publishing a story that will get a lot of clicks.

An interesting story. I think it best we put to one side the individuals involved in this incident and instead do some analysis on how to help deal with and counter abuse should female drivers receive it in the future. here are some suggestions for the ladies. 1.calmly explain to the abusive driver how using negative labels to define her, is an ineffective means of communication. 2.Calmly suggest to the offending driver that he should next time use a non confrontational approach to resolve the difference of opinion on tactics ,perhaps pointing out more effective strategies for resolving future conflict. 3.if the first 2 do not resolve the issue I would suggest the female driver refuse to engage with her male counterpart. I'm sure most female drivers have effectively used the silent treatment on males before. we've heard of the Blair glare,why not have mr mcnamararara refer to the sheree stare during his commentaries. Finally to be fair to what is often the misunderstood male driver ,may I suggest ,should he be unhappy with a female driver,that he develop a more strategic non verbal form of abuse in the future. One that is harder to spot and will not land him in hot water with officialdom.

Basil,you criticize the use of taxpayer money. Would you rather this government continue to fund large scale private irrigation schemes to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars like the previous National government? Mr Peters is a friend of the racing industry and obviously sees value in the announced investments.