the galah

I think way too many use the ride for luck,or drive for luck approach,and if you don't get any there is always next time. In my opinion you can be aggressive and not knock your horse around. Its all about finding the line and not having them a spent force with 200m to go. It should not matter whether you have sat wide all the way,as long as you are travelling with enough up your sleeve to finish it off.. The ones who don't back up are the ones who are all out with 200m to go,irrespective of their run in transit ,yet the driver or jockey keep at them and they then end up overdoing it and their form starts to taper off. Or the ones who have not had a suitable preparation. A horse will race far better ,more consistently,and have a more competitive approach if they are rated properly,and given the chance to improve when the pace is slower, and then you just let the horses natural competitiveness carry it through the last part of the race without overdoing the whip thing. Taking off too late is just as counter productive as taking off too early. Having said all that,i think only the good drivers use the tactics I believe in. The best by far at the moment is blair orange. John dunn is another. Look at the sectionals they drive,they are all about consistency of speed.

Agree it wasn't a great drive but there were many other drives where the obvious wrong tactics were adopted.Where do you start and stop? For example stay aboard getting boxed in with 500m to go or kilowatt kidd going for an inside run for some reason. Punters who backed those favourites must have been scratching their heads . Every driver puts in some some perplexing drives sometimes. It can be a frustrating thing being a punter . I think the area where we should give most criticism is when they appear to be not trying..

His mistake was to take on the highest rated horse in the field who never was going to give him the lead. Took its toll on both in the end,set it up for the leader to get beaten. Shame as I backed that one. personally I think your being too harsh on him as at least he had a go.

I see they did not blame blair orange for knocking over foreigner. I didn't see it that way at all.. Makes no difference now I suppose if you backed it.

Imagine them in the same race,may have to put meeting back by one race

Did what it has done many times.Would not line up. Looked like it would be late scratched,,but then they started race anyway. Same old same old with that horse from stand. Its like lightworkofit. They delay the start and upset a few.( Normally the one your on).

That's not peter lambs fault. That horse should have been stood down from stands long ago. Is the most unruly horse in a stand for a long time.

I think its a bit one paced,although it did run a fast quarter at the ashburton trials a couple of weeks ago off the front. I think he was rather negative early today,but really if you watch some of the other driving in recent months,Mr Hunt would be one of the few drivers who consistently gives his horse a chance each time. Its not his fault if another driver knocks him over as happened today. One thing im sure of is horses like running handy,and try harder if they are driven that way. It switches them on far more mentally,so I have no problem with mr hunt. Of course your driver needs to be able to rate speed as well.

Yep,the video shows he was taken out,probably had already lost any advantage he had with his good early manners by sitting back on the slow early pace anyway. I like diana harbor in race 4.,although it is one of those horses that has been driven very negative for a while now and the horse probably has learnt to just run up the straight. I thought motu greatsenstaion and heavenly love would be the quinella,so I think that is half the field that has been tipped in that race on this thread

What happened there happy? Looked like the horse in the trail decided not to take passing lane,instead coming out and hitting foreigners legs,wiping out any chance.

I think they may have got a $1.60. I think it was a reasonable bet before they ran the first 800m of the mile in 59.7 seconds.After that they must have known they had only a slim chance. The bet just turned out to be a misjudgment of the competitiveness of a 5 horse race. It wasn't much of a contest,but they did back the horse who could have made it one..

Gee you have to be fast to win a non win race these days,then again I suppose you don't see them run that fast in any grade too often. I also found interesting the run of the horse that seemed to choke and fall in race 8. You could see that coming long before it actually happened. Restraining horses like that just seems a waste of an awful lot of energy. Just let them go and hang on I think.

Actually the horses in the trail and 3 back went right back to last after the interference,so the race was turned on its head . . Its not the first time this has happened,i have seen it several times, and I never seen a driver have so little regard for others safety. Rituer did it at forbury ,it lost ground and the driver waited until it was safe to re enter and wasn't disqualified. it being a lot safer with trotters too. In other instances the driver has always waited until others have passed and it is safe. Just basic common sense really. This has set a very dangerous precedent,however I don't think other drivers would ever contemplate driving like Herlihy did..

Not a clown brodie,does a good job normally,just the matter you criticize him for last night seems warranted. The question I think is whether the inaction was because it involved a high profile person and whether he operates under different standards to most.

yes, I see it didn't even go to the jac. Rock n shard was my bet of the night and it was badly inconvenienced ,losing its position badly,and effectively any chance it had. of winning. I am amazed that Herlihy got away with his driving. Bringing a horse back onto the correct side of markers that are only 20m apart requires a very significant shift in direction and doing that at high speed into a field runs a high risk of carnage.I would have thought it an obvious extremely dangerous maneuver, so it proved with multiple drivers having to take evasive action. They were just lucky the horses in that field were higher quality athletes with experience, and with top drivers. I know it was a spur of the moment thing from Herlihy,howver he did it so should have to deal with the consequences. If that had been a lesser known driver I would have thought he would have got a long suspension. Sometimes you do wonder

Before we all get carried away I think we may need to read the stipes report and jca decision. Its the jca decision who makes these decisions based on the evidence presented. It is they who may well be incompetent here. As an aside. Was that not one of the most dangerous pieces of driving seen for a long time,showing a total lack of regard for the safety of other drivers and horses. If such driving is not punished then it sets a shocking precedent. Will have to wait and see the stipes report.

I was talking to someone last week who was at the recent meetings. He told me if you want to have a bet at forbury,you do it at a caravan outside as there is only one window in the public grandstand . Apparently the restaurant food in the public area is not great, in his opinion. Sounded like a very average experience which discourages attendance.

While the fields may not be as strong at Palmerston north,that doresn't matter.. It puts horses with similar ability against each other as they try to do anywhere and the racing is just as competitive as elsewhere.. I too wonder how they can offer such good stakes based on their turnovers,maybe they have good cash reserves. The only thing that is a little disappointing is they only seem to get 8 races and if your a non win trot horse you have to race against multiple race winners. A win at Palmerston north is just as deserving for those who achieve it,as a win anywhere else, and shouldn't be classed as anything less.

If I start off by saying I agree this is only part of the puzzle as to why horses are sold overseas,but it is an important part at the top end. The point I make is the very same horses that the all stars get to run faster,would not be as fast if trained other top trainers. I have given the reasons why I think that on another thread. The problem is they are not only better,it is they are much better. They just run as fast as necessary to win. You must have noticed that when you watch the age group races or races like the nz cup,in fact any race they are in, run in fast time- Just watch the last 400m of any of those races and you will see only all star horses going forward and the others all tired going back. How do you think that effects a horses body and mind to try your guts out and you run a creditable 5th in record time. It buggers them pure and simple. Their racing longevity is shortened,their owners and trainers see it and realise selling is the best option. If they do decide to back up and give them another run in the same week they know they probably have a tired horse while the all stars will still be as fresh as a daisy after their record runs. Its all about the times they run and the long term effects on the horse. Best to sell before your valuable asset is too buggered and devalued. Remember that story before the jewels about brent mangos"s major aussie owner who had 3 in the jewels. He said he was scaling back the horses he had trained here bigtime and having them sent to Australia because,like it or not,the all stars are simply too dominant to justify having his horses trained here.

Many reasons. They are able to tap into many resources which make their horses run faster. No doubt they have the best facilities,tracks,staff,massagers,feeding routines,vets,etc,etc. Then factor in the drivers. They have top drivers who only ever drive against the opposition.not against each other. But those factors are not all that is needed to achieve their dominance.As I have stated before, I believe the stable are ahead of the game when it comes to the use of performance enhancers . I believe that is an integral part of their success. I do not envy them. I am not an all star hater. I have no grudge to bear,i often back them. There is a lot to admire and aspire to in the all stars. I think the current handicapping system actually has helped the perception of the all stars. You don't get people complaining about having to run against the all star 8 win c1 horses like border control anymore,with their 1 win horse. That's what I believe. Take it or leave it.

Bit tough hunter. I think Nathan purdon drives ok.He drives about the same as his father used to at the same stage,and he turned out ok.

I think some trainers do have similar skills to match purdon and rasmussen. I think they are the best, however I think their level of success compared with other top trainers is not an accurate reflection of any difference in ability or knowledge..

I thought the same when I first saw it. To be honest after reviewing the film I think mr hope was a bit lucky not to get some of the blame. Having said that I do like Ben hopes driving. He seems to know the form, drives intelligently and seems a good judge of pace.

Actually completely disagree. The reason the above horses are trained at the all stars is in my opinion pretty obvious. They perform much better from that stable than any other stable in the south island. Plain and simple. Just look at the results. its not hard to work out. Also disagree with a lot of your above statement as well. Look at the fields. Horses in the 75 to 85 rating you quote have to run against the all stars horses. Take cup day. Hail Christian and henry Hubert are rated in the range you quote and who did they run against and get dominated by. The all stars. What happens then. They moan that they cant go back and run in races where they get penalty free wins,and eventually end up sold or sent overseas.. Do you really want to return to a system where a 1 win horse will be penalized for winning a race,while the 6 win,4 win and 3 win 3 year olds in the same race would get no penalty. That's what used to happen. How was that fair. We had a 1 win horse run in races like that. Have the field sizes increased under the new handicapping system?? no system will please everyone,you just have to go with what is best for the industry as a whole. I think its a no brainer in stating the all star domination is a major factor for why some of the better horses are sold. Personally It doesn't effect or worry me.