the galah

This fella really is the most obvious example of a driver doing what he can to assist his stablemate. He delivers every time. I guess he gets a share of the trainers %. Race 5 at alexandra park tonight yet another team drive to add to his long list. I know,might have only run 4th at best had he pulled out at the appropriate time,but he makes it look so obvious its a bit silly really. Sits in the 1/1,the horse in front of him ,a roughie,begins to weaken with 300m to run,he looks across to see where his stablemate is,its coming 3 wide around him,so instead of pulling his horse out to give it a clear run,he waits until the stablemate has gone passed as he didn't want to force it over more ground.

Thats an interesting idea. A region like southland having say 3 or 4 slot races on one particular summers day each worth $35,000 which would mean in effect the actual horse owners would be running for a stake similar to $17,500 after the slot owners have taken half the prizemoney.It would be 12 horse fields. Sponsors in southland throughout the year could be given first preference in participating on the day by buying a slot for say $1500 and then having the horses drawn 1 hour pre race. They could have like business sponsors ,e.g. pubs and licensing trusts in one race,building industry in another,farming related industries etc The club and hrnz could each contribute say $8000 to the races. They would be best run on a grass track. I never know why clubs who have grass tracks don't run a mixture of grass and all weather track races on the same day. This could be one of those days. They could make it into a big sponsors day with rides in the mobile and tandem sulky races. The focus would be it being a family day with free pony rides,pony clubs racing up the straight,an undie run up the straight by sports clubs both men and women,trick horse riders invited to show there skills. It most likely would have to be run on a sunday and given southland weather in summer. Maybe thats all wishful thinking but it could happen in a place like southland as the community down there would come together for one of those days out. Just a thought building on your idea.

Is it creating much interest in the media? How was the million dollars harness racing australia put into the prizemoney and the extra money they have spent promoting the race, gone down with the grass roots level participants in australia?

Its been more noticeable recently in my opinion,thus i think there may have been some change recently,either in method or amounts. But if we assume you are correct and you may well be,then its just another reason why punters are turning their backs on betting on the tote on nz harness racing. Personally i don't believe the overseas bets part of your possible explanation because the amounts invested overseas would not be high and would not effect all 5 favorites in the example i gave. But lets assume your correct about the tab bookies laying off bets held on fixed odds is a possible cause. Why should a punter place a bet when he is doing so knowing that the TAB bookies, by laying off fixed odds bets,can manipulate the tote dividends in the last minute so substantially, that the punter in reality has placed a bet on a horse at a dividend that can change 25% in the last few seconds.A punter who bases his returns on receiving for example a 12% profit overall per $ invested,is now having to factor in a variable of 20% which in all reality may make his betting unprofitable. You have 3 choices currently if you want to place a bet on nz harness. 1) on fixed odds knowing the bookies are running the book based on offering returns which % wise heavily favour them,in other words horses at odds shorter than they should be. Also knowing that if you are one of their customers who has an account they have identified as being able to regularly make a profit,that they are reducing the odds of any horse bet on in that account through their algorithms or notifications their bookies get, of placed bets,even for example that a $20 place bet can cause the tab to reduce the ff win dividend of a horse bet on. 2)you can spread your bet on the tote and fixed odds,knowing there is a pattern that for reasons discussed earlier,which can see dividends change so drastically at the end on the tote portion. 3)There is the option of betting solely on the tote. But just think about how small tote pools are at say a thursday meeting in southland,or say one of those poor turnover,hot favorite dominated races at a higher class meeting at addington. Work it out. If there's say a $4000 total place pool and you,in the last minute put $200 a place on a horse paying $3.If you do the maths your $200 place bet will reduce the tote odds from $3 to $2. Or if you only put $100 a place,your causing the dividend to drop from $3 a place to $2.40. In other words nz harness racing provides punters with many races where its foolish to bet any reasonable amount on the tote,because the pools are that small that any reasonable amount invested is having too great an impact on reducing the returns. Thats why looking to the future,turnovers will not improve. The tab,through there bookies,is operating in a way that is improving the $ return for them,but at the same time driving down the total amount being wagered. Now some may argue that the bookies have every right to do this,as there job is to maximise returns. Anyone who argues that is not seeing the big picture. As i have explained above,the big picture is hastening a cycle in reduction of wagering on nz harness. If people don't believe me,just ask any punter who used to make a reasonable profit out of betting on nz harness. They will tell you 2 things,1)its much harder now than say 2 or 3 years ago to turn a profit and very importantly 2) their total wagering on the tote has dropped significantly. People may say,well thats not me,who cares. Well if you don't care about turnover on harness racing in nz,then in reality you haven't thought about having a sustainable harness industry going forward,whether you realise it or not.

I have been looking at the fixed odd prices lately and they do seem to be keeping all the favorites a lot shorter than they should be. For example i noticed in that last race at rangiora on trackside the top 5 favorites were all paying a couple of $ less to win on fixed odds, than on the tote as they came up behind the mobile.Thats quite a difference to see every one of the top 5 well under the tote price. It has become a more noticeable pattern and i think the bookies may be working on the theory that keep the horses with any winning chance much shorter than they should be and blow the others out with not much winning chance and who don't get support ,in the last 2 or 3 minutes.

Do you think the australian trots seem to serve up a betting product where it seems the punter is outside the loop. I watch australian harness occasionally and my interpretation of it never seems to change. You obviously would know a lot more than me,but my impressions are these. In nsw at menangle its like theres a group of 3 or 4 trainers and drivers who know which horse is primed to go and they all drive accordingly to suit the one that the money has come for. Then you go to the country tracks and the lower grade horses and less stakes and it seems almost every one is trying. Queensland its like a theres a handful of drivers and trainers that have looked at where they have drawn and decided,not today,just drive it quiet and wait for next week. Its like they have got someone to back their horse to lose on betfair and even if a race is run to suit,they don't take the gaps and prefer to stay on the fence. In victoria nearly everyone seems to be trying,except in the races where you have an emma stewart trained runner and its like they know it will win and have given up beforehand.Often those races have more than 1 stewart trained runner and they just team drive. Tasmania,well with all the ben yole runners and all the terrible publicity,i don't know how that state continues to run harness racing. All 4 of the above makes punters not trust harness racing and must negatively. impact betting. In south australia,everyone gives the impression they always try,yet they have the smallest stakes. same in western australia. they seem to at least be trying all the time. Maybe i'm wrong about some of the above,but only south australia and western australia are the places i would place a bet if i was having one. Compare that to nz. I think everyone is going out there with the intent to achieve the best possible result. Its very rare for a punter to question a nz drivers intent. The santanna mach drive that this thread was about, i think was not a lack of intent to achieve the best result,as it makes no sense to not try when your horse is a very good winning chance.I think that was just a case of a very poor tactical drive.

The betting figures in nz harness show turnovers are nearly always greater on the sunday low key meetings, than the high class meetings at the likes of addington,where you see many all star horses compete. Thats what the turnover figures show . For example a couple of weeks ago the ashburton sunday meeting turned over more for their 8 races than addington did for 9 races ,where you had 3 all star runners start hot favorite. The Nz cup meeting is the exception to the rule,but thats partly because the betting fields then are more even.

i see he went 1.47 .8 and 1.47.6 at 3 and 4.The US aged male pacer of his year as a 3 and 4 year old. dexter dunn used to drive him. His oldest progeny are 2 in the usa. Those sire stake races can be a bit misleading as far as numbers go. In new jersey in 2022 there were only 13 pacers and 5 trotters stand in the state. Having said that they had their sires stakes finals for new jersey 3 weeks ago and bettors wish sired the winner of the colts which ran 1.50.4 and the fillies which ran 1.52.2.

emma stewart not a great example if you look at her partner clayton tonkins history. I do think you have mentioned the reason that will most discourage wagering on harness racing in parts of australia. That is races where short priced favorites dominate the betting. Emma stewart stable certainly does that in victoria.Who bets on those races with three or 4 emma stewart trained runners in with one paying $1.30.

I have been saying everyone is saying that in australia. I've never really focused on him much other than to note what others say. Gammalite is the expert on the australian harness on this forum and he seems to agree with what others are saying over there.. I have never once suggested feeding a horse the best or using the best trainers and drivers or facilities is unfair. My focus has always been on performance enhancing treatments horses receive which manipulate things like oxygen levels and red blood cells or the use of pain killers that allow horses to run pain free.Things that can also lead to impacting a horses health. e.g. Anabolic steroids or epo. They were legal at one point .Using your argument that type of thing is ok to do as long as it remains legal or can't be tested for. I don't subscribe to that view. I have never said anything about te akau myself and just mentioned what ron dufficy said about the current form of the waterhouse/bott trained horses.I'm no expert on australian racing. as far as the all stars go,yes i've expressed opinions about their horses uplift in performance on the big race days and how i believe it falls into the category i discussed in the earlier part of my reply.No point getting into that again now as i don't think it applies at the moment.

Opinions as to whether someone believes a trainer is gaining an unfair advantage over another competitor, are based on ones own knowledge and experiences of previous and current events that occur. Obviously everyone has different levels of experience and knowledge. With racing,what happens on the racetrack is the basis of a significant part of their thinking. You push the idea that anyone who is gaining an unfair advantage,is not guilty of doing so unless they have been caught. Innocent until proven guilty. Seeing things that way will mean you will always be proven to be wrong about someone when they actually are caught by authorities, Wrong with the benefit of hindsight.. Its inevitable that happen when you defend everyone on that basis. Its also just as inevitable that not everyone who is thought to be doing something illegal will be caught and that not everyone suspected of doing something also has actually done anything wrong. So we come back to my original paragraph. And that is why peoples mind set around others opinions should try not to be over sensitive. Thats how i approach things.But you can't change,nor want to change anyones sensitiveness,so obviously some people can get upset sometimes. Having said all that,there is also the grey area of something being legal,but at the same time not neccesarilly being fair to everyone. Things like having access to wealth to enable your horses to have legal treatments to assist performance. Now i don't blame anyone for having those means,but i can understand why even in those circumstances where it is all legal,where it discourages participation when the legal means allows such significant difference in performance. When that happens its inevitable that people with no access to legal perfomance enhancers,will no longer participate. Which is why it is so important that authorities hear the views of those in that position,who express them through sites such as this. Without those opinions being expressed,those who run the sport simply would be out of touch with their ever diminishing base.

Like i said your not me so don't know what i've experienced.You wouldn't be saying that to me if you actually knew some of my life experiences. In fact i'm sure i have a greater understanding of what you refer to than most people. I always think theres an irony when you refer to keyboard warriors ,because you enable the so called keyboard warriors by providing this platform. People only refer to people as keyboard warriors when they say something that they don't like.Thats how it works. Of course there are limits before people react. And everyone is different so react in their own way.

Obviously you are different to me,but i have learnt not to care what others may think.I haven't been called a drug cheat or a peodophile,but have been called lots of things over the years that weren't true,especially by people who don't know me.Why should anyone really worry about what strangers who don't know you think. If you are going to feel some loathing for someone,keep it for someone who knows you and calls you something that they know is not true just to advance an agenda they may have. Thats my motto. when it comes to harness racing,its a big help to have a thick skin. Grimson reacted in a way that was only ever going to penalise himself,so irrespective of what was said to him,his actions were very stupid and he only has himself to blame. people shouldn't make any excuses for him.

My wifes just got this years standardbred stallions book. Looks to be a wide range of choices. Sweet lou seems very reasonably priced at $7500 plus gst. king of swing $6,500 lazarus $7,500 bulldog hanover at $10,000. I see hes by shadow play,i don't know whether that will factor in for breeders but a great racehorse. Bettors delight and captain treacherous still at $25,000. My wife likes the look of lather up at $4,500. Thats closer to my price range if we were to breed one. lochaburn the cheapest at $1000 sky major $2500 The trotters seem a lot cheaper,with 9 $2000 or cheaper. Maybe not the same depth there as the pacers. There doesn't seem any bread and butter type producer in the trotters although majestic son at $5,000 seem one of the better priced. Hes left some good ones but i always think they a bit highly strung. Father patrick still at $7,500 although personally i'm not a fan,but he always seems popular.

I see mynameisjeff was bred by glenis chimel. She must have liked the film 22jump street or maybe channing tatum is her favorite actor. The horse looks to be the next big thing going by its performance the other night. Maybe the big track helped it as it struggled on the bends for its previous trainer in victoria. Will be interesting to see how it performs once grimson is out. Maybe he will get his wife or someone else from the family or maybe the farrier to do the training.Isn't that what they do normally.. I see the write up by adam hamilton on the hrnz website says grimson assaulted someone after provocation. Why did adam hamilton think it necssary to put the provocation comment in his story. Not sure if hes suggesting being called a drug cheat is provocation to punch someone while that name caller is being held by a security guard. I read somewhere that is what supposedly happened but the actual detail of the assault seems to have been given very little coverage,which seems rather strange. Isn't grimsons dominance a bad thing for harness racing in australia. Cleary most think hes cheating and that is what punters will think as well.

I haven't heard him say a horse looked like it would run through a wall before, like he did on saturday.Obviously his opinion for what its worth.

Actually it would be interesting to know how the tab bookies came to the conclusion yesterday that they should push out his price from $7 to $14 close to start time. Obviously they had no money for him,but how did they know punters would not come for him at the high price. It would be interesting to know how the bookies do that. The pattern in all races seems to be the bookies monitor certain peoples accounts and get notifications of which horses those punters are backing on,then they make adjustments to the prices. maybe there are people out there who actually bet on the house stable and maybe the bookies saw they had invested elsewhere and lengthened the odds because of that.I don't follow the house stable enough myself to know whether there is a pattern to the stables prices. Johhny mac is a horse from the stable who i am thinking will soon completely turn his form around. He has only run 1 3rd place in the last couple of seasons,but has actually being going really good races.He didn't look quite ready to go the other night and may need another start or two,but i think he is one from the stable that they are waiting to let loose now hes dropped so far back in the ratings.

Are you saying ron dufficy doesn't know what he is talking about? I have always thought he is the best judge in the australian racing media. I quoted his words earlier. Clearly he thinks the waterhouse/bott team have grown a leg in the last couple of weeks. He's talking about the present,not last month or earlier in the year.

I'm a harness racing supporter through and through,but i did used to bet on the gallops as well. I don't bet on the gallops much at all now. If i do have a bet on the nz gallops it is when the tracks get firmer. I agree the gallops form is more inconsistent ,although think thats in part due to in the south island the jockeys not being as good as they used to be. A handful are tops,but many seem to lack experience and consistency in how they ride. I still enjoy watching them though,as i do the dogs sometimes. saturday nights theres never anything worth watching on tv either.

I see he had a horse called mynameisjeff run 1.48.9 first up for the stable last night. Apparently operating under a stay of penalty while they hear his appeal. Mynameisjeff bred by glenys chimel maybe. Ran like it could have won by double the winning margin if the driver had wanted. Funny thing was i was watching some Aussie gallops yesterday and was thinking how well the waterhouse/bott stable was going in victoria and nsw. Then i heard ron dufficy coment near the end of the day that some horse they train looked like it would have run through a wall,after it won. Then he said,well they added the tounge tie today but no one can have predicted that much improvement on its last run. Then he said ,mind you, everything from that stable is going like that lately. i've never heard him comment like that before,but it was obvious he was meaning something with those comments.

I don't know about setting them up for a punt myself. personally i think you need to prepare before backing any wilson house driven horse.Make sure you double the heart medication to keep the blood pressure at a safe level,then get a bottle of scotch and some prozac pills ready for after the finish.Also have a direct line to someone at anger management.I know several punters who think that. I agree a key strategy of that stable is to drive them quiet to drop down in grade. They get an awful lot of winners and that santanna mach is only a rated 44 horse,despite winning 3 country cup races this year and winning a couple of starts ago.Compare that to how non win horses are rated,and it i seems a bit crazy,but thats the rating system. Obviously that stable(including its drivers)are great for the sport,just not so great for the punters.

He would be hard to play cards against. He could be dealt the same cards,but play them with differing levels of confidence sometimes.

watched this horse today. It opened at $7 on the ff then just kept drifying close to race start time and it went out to $14 a minute out so i put mu $20 on it at $14 and that dropped it back into $11. Now anyone who has watched this horse knows it lacks a sprint and is best driven in front. Wilson house the driver in fact has said that and has driven it that way in its last 4 starts. Well today it begins fast like it always does,then to i think everyones surprise immediately slows and took a trail behind the complete outsider who's driver seemed surprised he would be given the lead. Then the horse did what it often does,pulling its head off to the extent house was unable to control it at one point crashing into the back of another at the 800m. The drift in the betting may have been some indication,but Houses tactics are very hard to follow.

Maybe your right. Certainly won well tonight. Tonights field his hardest field so far. Personally i think he more a top 10 type trotter,Obviously doing very well to achieve that. I got a kick out of watching ben hope win the big pacing race for the night with mossdale ben. Anything goes went a nice race.Smithys terror just got lost turning in but backed up his good trial form with an eye catching 5th.Allamericanlover a good run and just needs to get off the front to be a winner again. They ran 3.12 so that made for a good contest.

Mystic max won easy in the end.Oh well. John dunn said ardiebythehill would defintely would need the run but actually ran a close 2nd. Midnight dash,ben hope very confident but never really looked likely and ran 5th of 7.I guess the whale tipping it stopped it.Rachmaninov dropped out but beat the 1 that broke.Harold smith a good run after being taken on early.