the galah

The horse "Pandaia" put in another very quick time today, qualifying almost 9 seconds under the required time for 2000m at rangiora. Its times are all over the place. In the last month its been asked to run hard all the way against a workout field,suprisingly being asked to run the opposition into the ground in 2.31. The next week it tried to qualify,but simply went too slow in front,running 2.37.7, almost 2 seconds outside qualifying time. Then this week it had another attempt at qualifying,winning easily,running a super fast time, 2.27.7 to qualify.

Actually when you think about it,thats the type of thing that could be given a push to get a bit of mainstream media coverage. "aussie driver shows you can chew gum and drive harness winners at the same time". All they would need to show was the 20 second montage of the differing stages of the race that trackside showed after the race,while telling viewers to take particular note of the driver in the purple blowing bubbles with her chewing gum while in a duel for the lead,they could stop it at the point she pops it on her face,then the 5 second bit of the end of the race as a wrap. They would have a footnote that the aussie driver was spoken to advisedly about the possible health and safety implications of chewing gum by stewards. Isn't it the type of thing that may get some coverage. People like to be amused and it would be a good bit of publicity for the sport.

The funny thing about the s o'sullivan drive on ardens delight was she was spoken to "advisedly about chewing gum,and warned of the health and safety implications". If you watched the trackside close up as they came down the straight with a round to go,you can actually see her blowing a bubble with the chewing gum,when carter dalgety is taking the lead off her. Quite funny i thought.

I have just looked at the southern harness racing interview. Captured the moment very well. I wasn't actually aware southern harness had anything like that,and not being a user of facebook had assumed it wasn't available to view to non facebook users. I know how to see your content,but had thought being able to view yours was not the norm for facebook stuff. Theres some people doing great work out there to promote the sport,its just a matter of getting it on the hrnz website so that people can see it.

Nice to see that HRNZ had a link to one of your segments. it was in a part that seemed a bit obscure,For those who aren't familiar with the unhinged content,it was at the end of the story on hrnz website about boarding call. The segment was about stephs boy's win and referenced the person who connections wore the black arm band for. There are often many very interesting and colourful characters shown,both equine and human. Ideally it would be nice to have a spot on the hrnz website like they do each week for the whales selections. I think it would get a lot of people viewing it. But it was progress and good to see.

It looked like chilcott just maintaining a straight course,as she was entitled to do. As you say,he had just driven well to win the previous 2. You would think he would have been very happy.Directing chilcott towards the fence after the finish ,simply because he didn't get a run, was a bit of poor sportsmanship. I think he probably regrets it now. The hughes are good trainers and their horses always consistent and well prepared.

Seems some drivers get as unhappy as the punters if they don't get a clear run. It looked liked mangos was never really in the clear until after the finish when driving treacherous reign in race 7. Then when he got into the clear after the finish he seemed to lose his compass and ran the horse outside him off the track for no apparent reason. You don't see that very often. Funny in some ways,not so in other ways.I wonder what mr mangos will be thinking when he watches the video of his drive after the finish.

I have one of those biscuit tins in my garage with cardigan bay on the lid. Mum passed it on to me. The above article appears to indicate that the fella from the auckland trotting club seems to be trying to punish the hall of fame people for daring to previously disagree with his views.At least thats my take. The hall of fame people just seem to be trying to do what they believe is the right thing. They seem to have taken an understandable position. maybe i'm missing something,but shouldn't HRNZ leadership be having a word in the ear of the ATC and saying get your act together and take steps to unite everyone up there,instead of dividing.Just another one of those things that seems rather silly. But i guess its the ATC.

A missed opportunity by the bookies. Had they priced them at realistic odds they may have had punters investing and the tab could have made profits from those losing investments. The tote prices were ridiculously short as well.Judith gwenda and beautiful noise both should have been paying at least $10,even with the dewe factor. Yet they were both only paying around $5 on the tote.Like i have said numerous times,the tote odds always seem to reflect the ff odds,and many punters who bet on the tote just take the bookies assessment as being accurate,when we know its not always the case.

I thought it looked like her horse just came to the end of its run in the last 20m. Is still quite inexperienced and has never looked a horse than you would want to see driven too strongly with the whip in a finish.Just doesn't look foolproof under under real pressure yet in my opinion.So i didn't see anything wrong with the drive. Actually i thought she made the right moves and recieved a good run. The whale tipped it,so while hes a good judge,he has an uncanny ability to stop them,in my opinion.

Interesting observation. Those odds seem just as poor as the one brodie refers to as well,if the horses race day performances are compared to others they run against. Just reinforces what brodie has said in this thread,that the tab bookies often put up prices that no one will bet on . Just shows what we have been saying. The tab doesn't believe in their own ability to set a market,then change the odds based on the money invested on each runner, to factor in a margin that should return a profit for each race.They take the meaning of risk adverse to a whole new level. Of course by doing that they are limiting their profits. Thats why they don't take brodies bets,thats why they reduce ff win dividends when the TAB liability is as little as $10.O0,based on who places the bet on their account.Of note,and quite important,is the TAB doesn't do what bookmakers are supposed to do,they don't push out the price of other runners. Which is why some of us say,it is the tab that is souring many punters from investing,thus costing the industry.

Dewe has 13 wins and 9 placings from just 32 starts,so i guess he is someone who only lines them up if he thinks hes a chance. I agree that the current $2 ff price seems too short on its trial form. I actually think the trainers who focus on the udr are good for the punters,but not so good for the industry going forward. The likes of mark jones,greg hope,michael house,bruce negus still maintain good strike rates. They don't focus on the udr and race a mixture of both good horses and the durable type horses.Owners can have a lot of fun racing the durable horses who go up and down a bit in the handicapping system,and they provide the numbers that make for better betting fields.

I see m purdon got a 7 day suspension,plus $300 fine for his whip use. The result showed purdon made all the right moves,as he so often does. But the slow middle half(60.7 seconds) really helped those at the back.I always think if the leaders have gone hard early then they are better to at least maintain a reasonable speed in front than use the fast,slow,fast tactic. Consistency in tempo is what wins races.

I see the property where Spring Park stud operated from had a sold sign when i drove past earlier this week. It was a stud that Neville Benny,a true gentleman,ran with his family for several decades.I know it hasn't been active just recently,but there still seemed to be some horses grazing there until recently. As i drove past it brought back memories of many trips we made to the property to drop off our mare for service and to be looked after. He always did a great job weaning the foals and handling them as well. Nothing lasts forever i suppose,but still sad to see such places steeped in harness racing history to no longer be involved in the industry. Benny stood horses like Clever Innocence, who made it to the top handful of sires for a while. That was about 30 years ago. That was when Nevele R Stud,10 minutes down the road ,had several of the top stallions.Looking at the sires tables,there were around 100 sires. Those were the days.

Comparing todays on course turnovers with those of the past is relevant in many ways,the most obvious is they are a clear indication of the number of people who attended.Given the decline,there should be some reflection on the impact and contributing factors. I agree with your comment that more people bet on their accounts via phones.But just stating that doesn't even scratch the surface of the negatives that goes with that.I know things have changed,but i think they have gone too far. It reminds me of a conversation i once had with a former pokie addict. He told me the worst thing about gambling on the pokies was that it was just you and the pokie machine. He told me,look around next time you observe the players on the pokie machines,there is very little social interaction,little emotion shown,little empathy,etc ,etc.... One of the most important and appealing things that harness racing has, is providing a venue where people with a shared interest can come together and have meaningful social interaction ,enjoying the spectacle of watching talented human and equine athletes display their skills, athleticism and courage.People don't just come to a racecourse to gamble. Punters are drawn by the whole package. The deliberate push by the TAB to have punters,whether they be serious or recreational, use electronic devices has helped undermine one of the main attractions of the sport.Not only on course,but also at TAB agencies we see the push to dehumanize it all.The racetrack(or tab)also once was a place where you could go and hone your human interaction skills,read body language ,empathy,moods,etc. That no longer applies. So the point i make is it has been a deliberate policy of the TAB to prioritise the use of electronic devices,and the negative consequences of such a policy never seem to be given any consideration. To me it seems the defintion of the health of the industry has focused too much on the $,and as a consequence factors just as important in its health have been ignored. Its like the TAB would rather return a profit from a smaller pool of punters,than return a similar type of profit from a much larger pool of punters. I can't follow the logic in some of the decisions of the likes of the TAB. I also think the HRNZ policy of not incentivising clubs to get larger public numbers on course,and the resulting increased turnovers,is not a good strategy.

its hard to work out why they haven't tapped into what you produce. Harness racing people very often can't seem to all agree on a lot,yet everyone who's aware of the unhinged material agree it is something that taps into whats great about the industry. Even the regular promotion of the dunn stable,who you are associated with, is viewed as a positive insight into how the leading stable ticks.Its unique in that it shows an enjoyable work environment for the young people employed by that stable.The beach reports paint a picture of hard working,honest ,differing personalities and horses,from differing stables,who have a job they really enjoy. If HRNZ want people to think positive about the industry,expose as many people as they can to the positives.Seems a logical approach to have.

On course turnovers seem to be something that gets little publicity.Don't now where the general public have access to that nowdays. $50,000 may be pretty good these days as you say. But i can remember the boss in my first job letting me finish work early to go along to the local twilight meetings at the local track 40 years ago,and the on course turnovers always being between $120,000 to $150,000. That in a town with a population of about 30,000. A $ back then would go so much further back then than it does now, which just shows you how things have changed. I remember having a horse in just an average race 20 years ago where the win pool alone on the tote was $50,000,and there were only 8 starters. That was at the ashburton christmas meeting that used to have huge crowds all the way up the straight with people from all ages attending.They don't even run that meeting now. How things have changed. I watch your interviews ,and while i have said it before,i still can't work out why its not part of the HRNZ website. Its unique in that it gives recognition to everyone,from owners,sponsors,drivers,trainers,breeders,the public. Its the current thing thats most likely to sell the harness racing product,because people need to have something they can relate to and it does that.Last time it was raised on here,you said you were hoping to get it on hrnz,but its still not there. Have you made any progress.

HRNZ contributed next to nothing?Are you channeling joe biden? I look up your old posts as i eat breakfast and have a good laugh. Thats always a good starting point for me. .

Well it was a good race. An outstanding horse,driver and trainer. The race turned out pretty much as expected and Copy That never looked like getting beaten. Cambridge a track that is so difficult to make ground wide so Self assured and Better eclipse went ok. No matter what went well for such an inexperienced horse,but galloped like it can if pressured. The telfer runner BD joe dropped out badly,for a distant last. It looked like triple eight had broken gear,but was going to be no chance from where it was when that happened anyway. The final tote win pool was $38,000 according to the tab website. Compare that to say the $13,000 that the non win races had at motukarara last sunday. So the punters bet more than a normal race,but the hype over such a long period of time didn't translate into much tote netting. Overall looked a successful night,good to see a crowd having a good time with the weather helping. i suppose the million dollar stake was all about creating a perception(somewhat false),but in reality had it been promoted the same with half the stake then the result would still have been the same crowd wise and betting wise. But credit was due to those from the club who promoted it so well.

i will pick mr herlihy,group 5.

That about sums it up. in recent years the betting agencies/pubs have seen the % they receive from turnover reduced.Its been going on for the last 2 decades. This has been a result of the tab head office decision makers thinking to increase their income from wagering,they simply pay less commission to the sellers of their product. Problem was, as a result of the cuts in income that the agencies received,those who ran the agencies/ pubs, felt undervalued and the returns they received not enough to make it worthwhile to invest in customer service or in promoting the tab side of the business. Then when the TAB head office realised they had created such disharmony and discontent,they had a brain storm. They decided the best strategy to deal with all the customers who used the agencies and pubs,who were unhappy in the decline in service they were receiving and were threatening to no longer invest in their product. ....well the best strategy was to pay lip service to their complaints all the while pushing them in the direction of purchasing their product online. The problem that the TAB didn't forsee was that when customers were telling them they would no longer be customers,well many actually meant it. So the TAB's problem solvers decided they had to have a different approach and they came up with...forget those customers,racing is only a part of our business,lets invest in promoting and expanding the other sources of income. I.e. the likes of sports betting. Now anyone who has given this some thought and who has watched the decline in the customer service provided at the agencies,well they have come to the realisation that many of the recent(last 2 decades) head honcho's/decision makers at the tab really have been a bunch of morons and that income the racing industry receives from them has been very negatively impacted. And that the damage done by the morons is permanent,.

sounds like you think its inevitable that service,patronage and turnover drop off in these type of tabs and thats just the world we live in so everyone just has to accept it. Well i try to have a more optimistic approach.. Tab's who cant even be bothered putting up the fields for nz race meetings,or having at least one tv that focuses on the nz races are just lazy and useless. How long would it take to do that . Maybe 5 minutes? I do accept that the tab's oversight of the quality of the service in some tab's is next to non existant. It has to be. Every time i go to a tab i think why did i waste my time when the service or staff knowledge of the product or information provided is so poor. After my previous 2 trips to a tab prior to today,i had rung up the 0800 helpline and given feedback about what poor service i had received. I didn't bother today as i've realised it never makes any difference. Actually ,having given it some thought,your probably right,may as well see the writing on the wall and accpet the tab want to close them all down and are happy to see customer be so poor.I'll find another hobby.

Well Madrik i suppose got sent to the unruly again today,I say supposed,because viewers of trackside were advised another horse was sent to the unruly, but no mention of madrik. But he certainly started outside the horse drawn on the unruly. He wasn't there when they first tried to get them all to line up,but was at the second attempt. Several horses being rather fidgety pre start didn't help madrik or each other. The unfortunate thing about that race was backers of the favorite jimmy carter thought they were backing a horse drawn the outside of the unruly,which is where jimmy carter prefers. But unfortunately for his supporters madrik ended up starting outside him and galloped at the start,and then checked jimmy carter out of the race. All a bit unfortunate, but predictable enough once there was to be no running start for anyone in that race. Maybe madrik will officially go back to the unruly next time. Who knows.

Went to the tab today. First time in a while. It was one of those pub tab's in a large city that has a separate part for the tab. Last time i was there a year ago the service was good. Once again the lady who served me today seemed friendly once she realised i was waiting to be served. What struck me was they never had any fields up. I thought ,oh well,i will just get the meeting/race/horse numbers from the tv with the nz races on. Nope. No such luck there, as the tv's only were set to show the next race to go and the tvs besides the ones showing that, showed the race that followed the next race to go.Looked like fields for aussie dogs on all the tv 's. So i wandered around the tab and found one set of the fields for winton and addington sitting on the counter next to the tab terminal. Each meeting with race one on top,with the rest stapled underneath.. Luckily i was the only one in the tab,as i looked around and that was all they had. Not sure what happens if more than 1 person wanted to have a bet. I guess you just peer over someones shoulder and hope they are looking at the page with the race your interested in. Made me think though. Its getting harder to find somewhere that seems interested in encouraging punters to put a bet on at a tab. Just the opposite seems to be the case. Addington on tonight only about 5-10 minutes almost straight down the road from the tab,not that they seemed to know or care.

No ones saying they shouldn't run the established races like the interdominions or nz cup type races.Not sure why you think anyone is suggesting that. When you say 'its like you don't want the locals to see any star horses". Well if it was the star horses that attract the patrons,then how come the crowds were so small for meetings at auckland or cambridge who had the star horses racing recently? You say no trainer watches races they don't have horses in . I guess you mean that in queensland. Well in canterbury or southland,or anywhere in nz for that matter, i'm sure you would be wrong. Maybe not everyone,but nearly all the drivers/trainers know the form. Maybe you need to factor in even the province(canterbury) with the most racing and horses,only has 2 meetings a week and theres only a total of 4 or 5 meetings in the whole of nz most weeks. You think the Aussie raiders create more interest. Well they probably do.My interest in them is how much they get beaten by. If either ran in the top 4 it would be a surprise.Personally not sure why they bothered to turn up. Its not like they are trained by the fella from nsw who can get the nz horses to grow a leg and beat our best. The 2 aussie horses may be good horses,but they have come all this way,only to run against 4 or so better horses who now have better draws on a track thatalways favours the front runners. I think they are little chance. seems a waste of time and effort to me. But maybe they like a holiday. As to tote turnover. Well with all the hype you would hope the tote turnover is 10 times what they get on a non win race in canterbury that gets zero hype or media coverage . I will let you know after the race what it was. But i doubt what you think it will be is anywhere near what will happen. The meeting has been well promoted and will be well attended. Just the same as say a once a year grass track meeting at somewhere like gore,oamakau or geraldine is. Its always nice to see a good crowd no matter where it may be,so i agree with that.