the galah

Semms gavin smith had a secret weapon when getting dashing major home first in the feature race today at methven. A hat thats bobs up and down. I don't think its likely his head shrunk ,so perhaps the hat was new. i thought i quite funny anyway and it looked like mr smith was seeing the amusing side of it during the running as he appeared to smile a couple of times. Maybe heknew he was going to be a winner. they say winners are grinners.

Seems you have listened to what others think,but haven't taken it on board.Up to you. I do think if your connected to the tab then it would help for you to at least have some empathy for how many punters feel.Just a suggestion. As to your reference to chosen customers getting invites to free food and drinks. I have never heard any punter complain about missing out on that type of thing.My guess the reason for that would be because they realise theres a difference between free drinks/food and refunding $25,000 or more. And your reference to elite customers. You should at least be comparing like to like if your going to make that argument. When you made the point about perks elite customers get,instead of telling half the story tell the whole story. All entain customers are eligible to become an elite customer if the turnover on their accounts reach certain levels. Brodie ,some elite customers can easily be winning customers . In fact i would think to reach the highest levels of the elite status,it would pay at least to be getting close to being a winning customer otherwise you wouldn't be able to maintain the turnovers required. I suppose your differentiating between customers who bet on the tote and those who bet mainly on ff. I'm sure your correct when you say that if you were an elite customer,you would be heavily restricted on the ff if you won consistently and given that wouldn't turnover the levels required to be an elite customer, or you would be someone who lost regularly on ff.

For someone who seems to think they are in touch with how the average punter thinks,i'm pretty disappointed you have such a low opinion of so many. You know,when you make multiple references to the haters and the jealous,i really do think it underlines the weakness of your arguments in addressing the reasons given for the lack of wisdom in the gift to the boys get paid,that allowed a total refund. Name calling is a classic sign of a weak argument and frustration.In your case i would say mainly the former as relates to this issue. What youv'e done with your response is divert attention to the positives of boys get paid,which sure,does have some relevance.But i would point out,No One on here has ever said they didn't recognise and agree with those points so hopefully you grudgingly accept that. How about this. I'm interested in how you can rationally come to the conclusion that there are many haters,jealous,gloating people when it comes to the boys get paid. Can you explain what it is that makes you think that. Have you had some type of experiences which make you categorise with a broad brush so many.I'm genuinelly interested in how you justify such sweeping statement. hey,i'm not denying that for some they may look at the boys get paid and think hey i can select better than them,or glad i didn't put my money in that syndicate because i prefer my own picksm or even i hope they lose.People are people,i get that. But you've taken it further with the words you've used. Personally i've been called all of the above words you have used on here over different things and not once have i thought the person calling me those names has any understanding of how i think or what i am. I think if they had,then they wouldn't be calling me names,but i've learnt now that they still would because thats all they have to counter something i have written about.Can't address the reasoning,so name call to divert. Finally i can honestly say,good luck when you invest with the boys get paid,i hope they do take the bookies to the cleaners,as i like seeing any punter win,as long as they are working under the same rules as everyone else.Whether you believe thats genuine,i can't change that,nor want to,i just want to understand how you think to get to that point.

just read the stipes report and I see a post race vet examination was requested by the dalgety stable and they found forever dream was sore in a front leg,not a hind leg like i guessed. Funny thing was i said to my wife during the running, the dalgety horse looks sore in behind,but my wife said,no its sore in front,not behind. anyway,pretty good effort from forever dream under the circumstances to still run second.

He tried the tactics you suggested in the fillies race for a win. That one a 1/2 sister to merlin.The dalgety runner had an unusual action,not sure whether thats normal or was a touch sore in behind. Williamson has a few horses in his stable from families that are doing very well recently. That 2 year old fillies race that n williamson won was worth $70,000,but only had 5 runners.Entain and hrnz focus on promoting 2 year old races by giving them big stakes and bonuses certainly hasn't helped numbers wise. Never seemed to be a strategy that made much sense if increasing number of starters was the aim in the higher stake races.. The same good 2 year olds were always still going to win the same races.Maybe later in the season in the non win races it may help.. Also of note i thought today was seeing pinseeker having to start off 20 in the cup. Hes only had 6 starts for 4 wins,yet started on the same mark as Got you covered whos had 12 wins and 27 2nd and 3rds for over $200,000 .That doesn't seem to be fair on a horse with pinseekers limited experience.

Thats one positive,but there are many negatives. they include 1)seen as preferrential treatment 2)setting a precedent. Now they have given BGP their money back,why wouldn't anyone joining the boys get paid expect to receive the same in the future. If not,why not. If its a valuable gesture today,then the same logic applies each and every time. 3)did anyone who put money into the boys get paid syndicate ,expect to get a refund if money was lost. If they did,why? If they didn't expect a refund,then how is entain losing any goodwill by doing something not expected of them? Don't punters after all accept that sometimes you lose when you gamble.Gambling is by defintion a risk with no guarantee of success. 4)you say the boys get paid will reinvest today. The main meetings today are gallops,not trots. How does giving $25,000 money earned on the harness horses,then spent on gallops,assist harness income. 5)enatin promoting something based on the perception that if the syndicate wins,they win and if the syndicate loses,it loses. In other words, entain have created a degree of distrust with their twist at the end of the nights gambling. I have nothing against the boys get paid whatsoever. They do a great job ,without any entain help,of promoting themselves and promoting racing.The perception problem with bgp getting gifted money is an issue solely derived from entains actions. The only negative i can see with the boys get paid is they seem to let people they call haters,influence in how they enjoy themselves. Maybe thats a a sign that there would be a degree of pressure from gambling with larger amounts of other peoples money. But after all,anybody who puts money into a bgp syndicate must know its gambling,unless of course they have an expectation ,based on the past,of entain gifting money to them when they lose.

Well dreams are free had its chance. Looked like the money was there for the taking when he got an easy lead,but the telfer horses ran past him late. A bit surprising given his previous races,but it happens sometimes. At least johns boy ran his normal top race. He may be no champ,but just seems to be one of those horses that can take gaps early in a race and get a good trailing position.$4.50 a nice place price.

Hopefully he got some $ off the ff bookies.someone did. Pretty sure they opened kaipaki jack on ff at around $15 and close to $4 a place.I remember looking at the price and being surprised it was so big initially. The week before it opened around the same amount then crashed in to start favorite and ran a very good 2nd.

going by the figures on the Boys get paid facebook page. Starting pool $165,489. they put the $50,064 they had left going into the last and got a return of $140,179.20 165,489-140,179.20=$25,309.80. So going by their facebook page entain gifted them $25,309.80. As to goodwill,what about some goodwill to the average punter so they can reinvest. How about entain refund any losses in future for those punters clubs that are run on course ,or punters clubs at pub tabs,etc,etc.

Today looks to be a great days viewing and there are some very good horses going around. Dreams are free in race 3 is paying $1.60. I know you don't have to be a genius to pick him,but $1.60 seems a good price. Then you have wag start in the cup. Hes a very good horse,especially when fresh,so will be interesting to see how he goes.i see hes only paying $3.20 now after opening close to double that. Probably on form deserves to be,but not a real sitter. Then you have fiery banditio in the main trot.Hes off 30m and thats awafully hard even on a big track like winton. $2.10 seems rather short for that reason to me,but maybe he is that good already. Time will tell today. also a couple of roughies on the tote that seem to be paying good odds,but just need a little luck early.Johns boy at $4.50 a place one of those i think.

If that bet they had in the last was as you have suggested,then yes they would have only lost $25,300. I've never taken a power play beforef, so looking at the ticket on their website had thought with don't stop dreaming being the first named on the ticket,it had to win and kango run in top 4,but looking at it again can see what you mean. But that changes nothing in my eyes. Entain still have refunded them over $25,000. They have never refunded me a cent before. My posts may have got the amount wrong,but $25,000 or $150,000 refunded,changes nothing for the way i see it. as far as boys get paid goes,good on them for doing what they do to promote the sport.And to their selectors,whoever they may be,i hope they do take entain to the cleaners each time. But when i say that, i know puntings not like that and that sometimes you have to cop losses, like the rest of us. But no,thats not always the case. BGP have been refunded large amounts on multiple occasions,and i,the average punter have never been refunded a cent. Its clear who entain value more,and its not the punter who turns up and invests at nearly every race meeting run.There is a clear double standard here.

Advertising budget? So they lost what,close to $150,000 going by their facebook page. So ,your suggesting entain thinks having the bgp involved is worth $150,000 in advertising. Even if they did think that,which i don't believe makes any sense,then it still ignores how they treat the average punter. I'm going to finish talking about this now,as i don't think i've felt so strongly about anything for a long time. Its how they make me feel about how they value their everyday customers,of which i have been one for decades, that makes me so annoyed. And no,i didn't have a bet tonight. its not about money. These days i find myself asking myself,why should i bother betting on the horses. Yes,i still enjoy gambling on the horses,but i don't feel i get a fair go as a customer anymore.

So you are saying entain had already decided they would give the bgp their money back before they even started losing. So it was just a charade,fake to create publicity.Maybe your right.So much forthe value entain place on trust You know today,i rung up entain,the 0800 102106 number. You see i read on their website that you get $50 in bonus bets if you open an account with them. Well i knew someone who had closed their account a few months ago and i saw that and suggested to them they should open another account and have a bet tonight,instead of betting with an overseas agency. That person said to me,ok,but first how about you check to see if they won't just say,hey,you had an account last year so you won't be entitled to the $50 bonus bets,and you will just have to reopen your old account, not a new one. i thought about it and thought,you know,this is entain so they could be right and they wouldn;'t want to give away $50 when they didn't have to,so i rung the helpline. And sure enough,was told it would take a while before you could reopen a new account,but they wopuld open the old account. And no,no bonus bets.. Apparently the person thought that even in 3-4 years that would still be the case. So the person i was talking to sai,told you,and didn't bother. Now compare that to how entain value that customer to how they value and treat bgp. Entain,tab,whoever,they couldn't care less about the average punter. They only want yourr mone if your jjust an average punter.

and to top it off,the boys get paid facebook page has been arrogant enough to take a swipe at all the mugs who bet with entain and who have never in their lives been given a 100% refund. "haters will say its fake,but they always complain" is what the bgp have said when announing a 100% refund. No bgp,i'm not a hater. Only an idiot would say what you have on your facebook page. bgp,you completely don't get it ,obviously.

You can't have read what i just posted,nowornever. According to boys get paid,entain just gave them 100% of their money back.

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the boys get paid are treated different from you and i newmarket and indeed any other punter in nz.. If you and i lost our money,Entain would rub their hands and couldn't care less. But if the boys get paid lose their money,theyget the extra special preferential treatment and they get given their money back. Yes,.thats what it said on their facebook page,100% money back after losing everything tonight. Seriously,thats another reason why i no longer bet with the nz tab/entain. The average punter who keeps the industry funded get treated with no value whatsoever,even though we have spenty a lifetime betting. Also,i thought that hrnz is always talking about yields and returns to the industry. Thats all a load of bullocks obviously. i say good luck to the bpys get paid,its not there fault that tonight entain underlined with endless!!! which customers they value and who they don't. I'm happy i no longer have an account with entain. If entain think they are creating good publicity with their refunds,they completely have missed how the punters who turn up and have a bet at every harness meeting run in nz feel about their double standards..

Was a good race to watch. The start was interesting and the aussies had each others tactics sussed from the start. All 4 aussie drivers ended up in the perfect positions and dominated the race tactically. Just believe just such a tough horse mentally controlled the speed and deserved the win. Of the new zealanders,midnight dash went ok and i thought muscle mountain,although only 7th was still good but it was obvious with a round to go he wasn't in the right position to expect to win against such good auusies. On to the pacers shortly.

Turned out to be a cunning plan that fell off the rails at the end. In the write up of last weeks win they stated he was intending to start this week at methven to meet the qualifying requirements to start in the $110,000 country cups final. yes he was nominated for Methven,but for whatever reason has now been withdrawn.So he ends up having started in 2 qualifying races,when he needed to have started in 3. Bit of a shame in one way,as he must have been hard to beat and would have started close to favorite..

No longer freeze branding is creating an issue for ex harness horses in the USA, with more now being sold and ending up in auctions where they are more likely to be bought for slaughter or to end up in what they call kill pens. The problem is ex harness horses were previously being identified through their freeze brands and were easily identified and were being bought because of their temperaments and previous handling and were ideal for other uses post racing and also many were being bought by organisations who rehomed them. Problem is now,without the freeze brands,people can't tell anymore. Apparantly you can still get in the pens and if you can get the horses in the pens to stand still long enough for you to find the chip and hold the scanner against it for a few seconds ,then you can tell,but everyone is complaining that isn't really practical or entirely safe sometimes.Also there has been complaints of the scanner occasionally not always reading the chips and multiple scanners having to be used on rare occasions on a horse.. So it was recently proposed the USTA introduce a rule requiring both. Apparantly the extra cost is only $40-$50 per horse,but USTA has upset many by simply saying,no the extra cost is unnecessary and seem to have the approach that where they end up isn't really their problem. Also it seems that is also the attitude of most in harness racing in the USA. For example in 2021 10,000 horses were identified and only 2600 were given both a chip and a freeze brand. Of those 2600,most were owned by the amish. The amish object on religious grounds to micro chips in their cattle and horses as they believe the chips 15 and 16 diget numbers are the mark of the beast warned of in the bible's book of revelation. Also the likes of jeff gural also freeze brands as he believes in rescuing any that he has bred that end up in kill pens. It apparently can be a double edged sword with the amish,as they but a lot of ex harness racehorses,but move them on when thye are no longer useful. Its those Mexicans and Canadians who love to buy them and immediately transport them to their countries to be sl;aughtered and processed, or on sold to the likes of japan for human consumption. Canada not the best place for a ex racehorse given the number of ways they can expolit them for the $. Anyway,it does make you wonder ,wouldn't we be going to have the same sort of problem here and in australia as well given there is no longer freeze branding. Ok,not on the same scale, as they can't be exploited as much as in say canada or the usa,but some are sure to be overlooked going forward,whereas in the past people would have bought or rehomed them knowing their background as harness horses.

Yes,thats what hes done in his last 4 starts,so there was a pattern there. Easy to be clever afterwards ,but just saying. I never had a bet myself as i thought mounga would win but don't bet on races with him in after the coast as prefer something else to win myself.

Audacity is a talented horse,no question there,but he was never going to beat mounga today. Audacity has broken just after the start in his last 4 races,and inexperienced ,nervous starters like him who have horses on a handicap rushing up to them as they try and find their gait early,well it was always a safe bet he would gallop.And so he did. His only problem going forward is,like with any horse, chasing the field can be hard on both body and mind,so lets hope he can race in the right races to get his starting confidence back.

Good old Mounga. Wins the cheviot cup as predicted. Still needs one more start to qualify for the country cups final i see. Probably next week at methven i suppose,then into the final. I see those races over on the coast weren't part of the country cups series,so i guess that was another reason they wouldn't have been on his radar to win. They certainly peaking at the right time i suppose. Obviously the todd stable has had a cunning plan all along. Only hitch was how badly some punters perceived their tactics on the coast.

Thats not the case from my observations. If you had looked at them prior to the trackside changes,i'm almost certain there hasn't been much of a change from then to now. Win pools on the tote on nz harness generally average about double on the win pool to the place pools. I think the low pools are less around 50% and the higher win pools that get around $10,000 or more have over 60%,sometimes 70% of that in the place pools. It just makes sense for them to be like that anyway. Two reasons i can think of. The aussie place pools on harness are lucky to get to 30% of their win pools. It happens virtually every hanress race there. e.g. right at this moment a race from mildura is being run. On the nz tab the commingled win pool is $15751,place pool $4892. So the commingled money coming into our pools from aussie will always be more on the win than place. Secondly the bookies who off load their ff liabilities do so nearly always into the win pools,as that can mitigate their losses on a win pool but were they to do so on the place,given the pools are much smaller,its almost pointless for them to do so. Hey i understand why some are complaining about not seeing the place ff dividens,given they are used to it,but reality is i think people who bet on the place have to open their account to put a bet on anyway,then click on the odds when they select their bet,so they are going to be see the prices whenever they want anyway. I guess what some may be saying is they keep the device they bet on in another room and its not as convienient to go from room to room when assessing what to invest on. If they do have their device they use to bet with them in the same room as the tv,then why not just look at that.

Well,after last week i have to be fair and acknowledge what a clever and well executed drive by mr cox to win the group 2 with on alta meteor tonight. Sometimes even clever drives don't always get the luck they deserve,but tonight there was no stopping mr cox. On his day,mr cox can match it with the best. Well done that man.