the galah

Whether that is true or not is up to each person to decide. Personally i'm sure its a sign that less people are participating in the sport and by thinking its a good thing, is ignoring that its part of the reason why harness racing is in decline. one thing i've seen following harness racing over the years is the more you get smaller fields with only the same drivers competing in each time,the less exciting harness racing has become. Take southland or auckland for example.The same 9 or 10 drivers drive in nearly every race.They all know each other,often work in the same stable,are related or travel to the races together.. Its only natural that they often try and look after there mates with tactical decisions they make during the running. Also when it comes to oversight by the stipes in these regions it appears the relationships between drivers has an influence on the evidence they may give or penalties they may get. For example read the stipes report from the last race at invercargill yesterday.It says "ramblin rover lay in rounding the final bend and raced in restricted room close to the sulky of Step it up a notch." In reality thats just a clever way of saying b barclay,the driver,took a tight gap and as a consequence got too close to the sulky of the horse in front of him,made conatct with its sulky and as a consequence hindered his own horse which went rough and then knocked over the horse on its inside.Anyone can slow the video down to the point where you can see the contact. Both b barclays horse and the one to its inside checked because of a misjudgement be a driver. The horse checked suffered bad interference . Yet the horse got the blame and a warning for doing something that it clearly didn't do. And why did that happen. I would say its a case of the drivers concerned and the stipes concerned knowing each other and not wanting to be too harsh on them because of that. The point is, i believe the reduction in numbers of drivers or trainers is a bad thing,irrespective of whether they naturally don't have the same skills as the best drivers.Its just a sign that field sizes are down and with that the betting product not as appealing.

$1.90 again for the win price tonight. Seemed higher than you would have thought given he won so easy the 1st night and started off the front again. You have to give credit to the house team. They look after their horses very well and place them where they can earn the most $. Thats what its all about for trainers. W house driving with confidence and making the right moves.

Its a bit like the junior driver concessions that they brought in this year. At the time they were introduced you had the media,commentators,hrnz..everyone saying that it was a way of helping the lesser known juniors get greater opportunities.That it was a great scheme and that it would be a great success. I suggested at the time that it would not achieve that and in reality all it would do was allow a handful of stables to gain reduced rating points for their horses,by putting on juniors that they were giving opportunities to anyway. I suggested if they really were serious about juniors earning more $ in the industry there were better and more effective ways of doing that. Well given we are virtually 11 months through the current year what do the stats show. In 2022 there were 36 juniors who drove. In 2023 there were 45,but of course the number increased mostly because they changed the criteria to allow people already driving as non junior,s to be reclassified as juniors. so dar in 2023(11 months) those 45 juniors have had an average of 105 drives each compared to the 2022 figure of 132. The total number of drives by the 36 2022 juniors currently just exceeds the total number by the 45 2023 juniors. The bottom 21 juniors in 2023 have driben 15 winners while in 2022 the bottom 21 drove 61 winners. So looking at those figures i think its fair to say that ,as i predicted,the change has done little to help the juniors it was targeted to help the most. Sure there have been a handful ot two who have beneffited ,but its clearly done nothing for those at the bottomof the table and less experienced juniors. Giving half points to the horses driven by the juniors that met the criteria has just further,in a small way, created a loophole for the clever to take advantage of an already unfair rating system. Good luck to them,but it does seem unfair overall.

yes hes been a very good to his connections and obviously been well looked after and very well placed. So he won yesterday,but his low rating stays as is,it was a penalty free race if driven by a junior driver.,which he was. If he wins again tomorrow,he will only get a half penalty because of the junior driver thing. So after tomorrow he could end up a 13 win,last 3 in a row,and still be rated less than the likes of one his rivals ,kiss my pixel who has has 1 win and 1 3rd from 9 starts. In reality the 1 win horses should have had a 20m start to be any chance and even then they most likely would struggle. They could have programmed the race like that,but those who programme races simply don't seem factor that in. As a betting product,its just another race where they dish up a red hot favorite. Races programmed are not factoring in money won recently and the emphasis put on junior driver concessions has cmade the system even more inequitable for many. i honestly don't understand why some horses are continued to be trained. They will never get away from running in races that they have no chance. If the systems goal is to race like against like then it is failing.

Wins by 3 lengths under a hold with the 1 win horses well beat. I suppose $1.90 seemed money for jam.I'm surprised it paid so much given it looked such a good thing.

If the tall poppy syndrome was the reason,then how come it doesn't get used against trainers like p nairn,g hope,p williamson,etc, etc? In other words i think your describing selective use of the tall poppy syndrome. And given its obviously selective,doesn't that undermine your idea that it is even tall poppy syndrome...Youv'e got me talking in riddles now,so i will end on that note,but the riddle does make sense.

Whats staring me in the face is an industry where the big races are all won by the same under 1% of trainers when it comes to the pacers. Theres nothing for the remaining 99% to relate to. when it comes to winning the big races,there are no hobby trainers or no trainers with the rest of their team just average horses. There are no role models where the 99% can say,i can do that one day if i get the right horse.The 99% don't believe they can and the results confirm they can't. thats a significant reason why the industry is in decline.It seems to be ignored by many,but once again its staring people in the face if they bother to see it. As we have discussed ,there are many reasons the 1% win all the races,but the perception is perfomance enhancers can make the difference between winning and being an also ran.Thats why the perception around this years trotting cup is not a good result for harness racing in nz. It just reinforces in the 99% what they already think and know.

This horse starts in race 2 today at palmerston north. The handicapping system has him ranked the 2nd lowest of the 8 starters and consequently he gets to start off the front,even though a last start winner at kakoura.From his 108 starts he has won 11 times and had 19 second or thirds. He has won more money and more races than the other 5 horses that start from the same mark have combined. Now he looks a good thing to win given his handicap. But it just illustrates how harshly the three 1 win horses in that race are treated. They have to start from the same mark yet everyone who may watch the race realises they have no chance of beating him.

You see chief ,you should look at "those that have been caught" that you have just referred to and ask yourself this. What do they have in common. Well i can tell you a couple of things that stuck out. 1)most were around or under 30.(their ages were similar) 2)they had mostly spent all their working life employed in the industry. So have you ever bothered to ask yourself,why is it that those caught felt they needed to cheat and why did they think they could get away with it. To me the answer is obvious. Its staring you in the face,but you won't see it if you don't bother to look for it.

Also i would say if the RIU have to hide out in some neighbours hedge to keep people honest ,then i am sure most will understand why they do that and while it seems many may chose not to say that in certain company,i'm pretty sure i know what many say and are thinking. Besides if you happen to be a target and are doing nothing wrong,why worry about stuff like that,given you know it helps keep people honest in the industry you participate in.

I can give you a couple of historical examples which illustrate chief that you don't fully understand how the average trainer actually views this subject. Your out of touch if you seriously think people have faith that testing is working. Anyway the examples i have relate to trainers who once trained horses for us. we used 3 trainers over about a decade. the first once said to me,well if you knew others were using things to enhance performance and that testing wasn't picking that up,and you knew that to make a living and to have a chance against certain trainers in the bigger races,would you look to gain the same edge? the second trainer was so convinced that certain trainers were using some type of performance enhancers that he decided his best course of action was to pay someone to come up with his own cocktail. He said to me one time,its what you have to do to if you want to be successful and earn a living. His attempts to come up with his own mix cost him a bit of money but he eventually abandoned the project as he felt uncomfortable with where it may lead to get real results. The third told me almost exactly the same story. He had become convinced that some were using something that wasn't being picked up in testing,so he had a chemist who was an owner work on coming up with a concotion to increase perfromance. Well this fellas chemist actually did and they used it just the once and the horse won,in fact the story went that it worked so well that the driver couldn't pull the horse up after the finish and had to run it into a fence some distance after the finish to get it to stop.But then blue magic hit the headlines and the trainers chemist got spooked and pulled the pin. Now all the examples i use were prior to blue magic but around that time. Everyone of those trainers very good trainers,one as good as anyone,and all very honest people. So the reason i think as i do is because i see the harm that is caused by the use of undected performance enahncers. It influences the thinking of honest hard working people. And the reality is the stuff they use today is more effective than what was used 20 years ago.

If you reference me in your reply,then i will point out you are saying forbury has said someting, that he never did.. Hes never said you can make anything in a home lab. I'm not sure why you say he said that.Its possible i suppose,but forbury never said that anyway. All you have to do for an example of what he has said is look at the blue magic cases here. Trainers can be approached by importers of performance enhancers,like robert asquith or they can ne approached by owners or they can seek them out themselves. Its just obvious. Of course the internet has many products for sale claiming to enhance perfromance that aren't testable. Hell i just googled what your mate archie butterfly had written about one such product,and got several relevant responses on the internet.Of course getting them over the internet isn't the best or preferred way to getting them.History shows that as well.

Actually just viewing some southern harness racing videos from last month and i see the lady from the gore club said gore were subsidising travel of $100 for 1 horse and up to $200 for 2 or more horses waikouaiti north. That seems much fairer and good on the gore club. Thats a bit different from what i read earlier where it referred to filling up a truck for trainers who brought down 4 or 5 horses.Theres a bit of a difference.Lets hope they can do the same for their meetings still to come.

He has sold a few horses for good money,but can you think of any that have gone on? I personally would not be buying the horse that won today. I would think too risky an investment given the run it had tp put in today. i'm not knocking his training or driving skills. Hes tops at both.

i did read once that camels can close their nostrils to keep out the sand if caught in a sandstorm.And that they don't sink in the sand because they have wider feet sort of shaped like a snowshoe. But don't know what to look for in a racing camel.Obviously any camel with j grimson training would be the one i put my money on.

anyone watching today had to be impressed with this horses ability to be about 50m behind the field at start point ,yet still be able to get up and win in a race run in 2.55.38. Now i'm sure the punters were very happy seeing that,given he was a $1.30 favorite. But my question is,how much will it effect this horse long term.You don't see those type of performancers that often,but when you do, you often see in 12-18 months time,a horse with issues.time will tell i suppose.. the point i make is,yes it was a wonderful run by a very talented horse,but was it wise?My guess is no.

Actually,i can tell tell you running 2600m in 3.10 is very fast. Also its because i assess race by race that i notice performance changes. That is my strong suit. My ability to do so accurately is what i base everything i say on. As to your reference to you believing horses not being given the same performance enhancers as camels. Well i don't know what archie butterfly is saying and who his sources are. But i do know there was a proven link in the USA case involving the vet,seth fishman, suppliying many of the jailed horse trainers and also supplying the camel racers. It came out in that case that Fishman,boasted to some trainers that he supplied the likes of sheik mohammed al maktoum.Isn't he the glodolphin man in australia?Fishman even sought permission ,after being indicted ,to go to dubai to treat the camels.He even gained the support of the United Arab Emarati government,dubai equine and dubai camel to try and have products seized returned.Fishman said he should be able to continue because the customers were outside the USA. His case failed. It was also revealed that in 2011 he had used those same connections to call in political favours to have an investigation into him stopped.It should be remembered that his large scale horse /camel doping had gone on for 20 years. So its certainly not a strecth in my opinion ,for anyone to say that the products used on camels are also used on horses. After all,that is what the USA case proved was happening.And after all,previous testing couldn't pick that up.

I accept that cya art is a nice horse and accept the run he got helped,but it was a significant rise in class and my assesment is a signifcant increase in performance.He did after all come clear with the winner,with over 8 lengths back to 3rd.Interesting that the horse who beat him in the video you show,mach quillan and ran that fast time,hasn't won in the 19 months since. grimson would have been here only a matter of days. Telfers would have given him regular vet checks. You would hope the RIU were monitoring him,but i doubt they would have had access to that.Did they do any out of competition testing on cya art,i highly doubt that. like we have discussed previously,i agree with all the experts who have said testing has only very limited success in detecting performance enhancers. The telfers did win the last premiership so they are good trainers.

I like that he mentions the owners of the first 3 placegetters after each race. Maybe on a sunday he has a wee bit more time than normal,but it would be nice if all the commentators gave similar recognition to the owners of all placegetters.It only takes a few seconds.i know marc cookson likes to include the winning owners when doing the studio side of things. Also it would be nice if they could also give the breeders names a mention.Many of the trackside harness audience are interested in that. so i say good on you craig rail.

Thats a good video to put up chief.Obviously mr grimson was aware the horse had real talent and there can be no denying that he is a very good trainer who gets the best from his horses and that swayzee and his driver are also very good. But if you are looking for balance ,just put up the last 3 videos of Cya art,who ran 2nd in the junior free for all on cup day. The run on cup day for grimson was significantly better than the previous 2, when trained by the telfers.The telfers won last years premiership and are very good trainers. Grimson would have only been in nz little more than a week with cya art. So its just an obvious thing to ask,how does he do it. And i think given he does it with so many and is so significant,everyone thinks its got to be with some type of performance enhancement. As i've said theres no doubt hes a very good trainer,but theres no denying the use of legal or undetected performance enhancers can be the difference in winning or being an also ran. i'm just stating the obvious.

Its interesting to look at last years cup day results and see how the winners progressed thereafter. You would think winning on cup day would mean they would go on and win at least a few more. But looking at last years winners,that isn't necessarily so. You have 5, Don't stop dreaming,Majestic Man,Republican Party and Celtic Spirit and mister smartee who have all continued to race well. then you had 2, copy that and true dantasy seemingly now retired.. Then you have 3 who have had 1 win in the last year,snow robyn,heisenberg and heres herbie. Then you have 3 who haven't won in the last year. Franco josiah,royal pride and boss kenny. So from that the pattern seems to be,the good 2 & 3 year old winners seem to progress well thereafter. But if your 4 year old or older and especially if you win a supporting race on cup day then you probably will have a lean following year.At least thats whats occured with last years cup day winners.

I thought the coverage today was excellent. Having mark cookson there with the whale as his sidekick is a good combination. Greg o'conner always tops with his interviews.Watched unhinged as well to top it off when they on other meetings. I thought they got the amount of drone coverage just right for cup and show day. Never had a bet myself today,but thoroughly enjoyed watching and think everything about the racing this week has been great. Personally i didn't think that any nz stable operated with the advantage you sometimes see at the premier meetings. That made watching those who had success more enjoyable as well.

you will have to change your name to nostradamus forbury. Akuta had every chance but maybe tuesdays run took the edge off him. Maybe that fella grimson knew what he was doing not running swayzee and is more clever than we think. Aardies express i thought might have run better,but nodded like it was sore like it always does.Shame its not 100% as shes very good.

Well i hope you got plenty forb's. Lets hope Muscle mountain doesn't have the issue he had today again.The Hopes started on a high and ended on a low. Mr love who won the first race seemed to have quite a runny nose afterwards,but ran great,then muscle mountain looked great ,but had the fibrillation. what a brilliant drive by mark purdon.Just seems to be able to produce those drives so consistently in the big races. And nathan purdon seems to be doing a great job training them. They seem to have a lot of women on their staff. Maybe thats part of the reason for their success.

are you thinking muscle mountain may break at the start forb's? Its hard to see him getting beaten if he goes away with them And as i have said many times,ben hope is one of nz's best drivers of trotters. who do you think may cross akuta.only beach ball or heza sport may try. heza sport went a big race in the cup.If beach ball did cross he would try and lead all way anyway with akuta in trail. Maybe your hoping heza sport leads and then trails beach ball. Then ardies express may win. i haven't had a bet myself today,but the racing and coverage has been great.