the galah

I don't know whether he's quite as good as he has been previously,but he still looks like he should win if he gets handy early. there looks to be only 3 realistic win chances. Vacation hill is an interesting runner. If they ran it hard you would pick it to run last.

I agree with what you have said. Oscar bon evena does seem to have been gifted that race.Good on the connections for taking advantage of that option as hes not a 2 miler.However you would have to ask questions of those that programmed the race,as clearly they have made it a non event and the handicaps they set appear to be a joke. I would also ask why would some of those in that race bother to line up. Seems extremely poor placement for many of those lesser performed horses that are set to start in a race they have no chance of winning.If form is anything to go on,those off the front have little chance of paying a dividend with the back 3 so well handicapped.

i think so

There was several points of note about yesterdays nz cup which made it a good watch. 1)blair orange is the best in the business,possibly the best ever,and what i like about him most is it doesn't matter whether its a low grade race or the nz cup,he performs every time. Hes a role model as far as honesty and integrity,punters know that every time he goes out to drive,and i think for those reasons alone it was great to see him win. 2)Ray greens training ability. My wife has been telling me for some time that Green would have Copy Fhat primed for another top performance in the nz cup,but i had been telling her you don't see horses perform at their peak all year, then right through the winter and again at cup time. But Green had the horse spot on again,which was a masterly training effort. 3)The start. Donnelly's first nz cup would have come with added pressure,and with several nervy horses on the ur it was always going to be difficult,but everything fell into place and he let them go at the exact time everyone got a fair start.I do get tired of those in the media going on about last years start as its not an easy job,but it was great to see all drivers and the starter were in sync yesterday. 4)another top training performance by the purdon /cullen barn and top drives by their stable drivers gave everyone who followed them a great sight.They may have got beaten,but they helped make the race exciting. 5)Laver/g o'reilly. Laver is a very courageous horse and O'reilly wasn't intimidated by his opposition and drove him to his strengths and added excitement to the race. 6)another top call from matt cross,as usual. all in all,that race reflected well on what makes harness racing such a great spectacle.

I see they are now reporting there are fears the after party for winning melbourne cup connections may become a super spreader event. One of the owners has tested positive and said many of his friends and family who attended were having tests. The event held at a posh restaurant with all the covid protocols and which allows only double vaccinated people to attend,was apparently thought to be a safe place,as was the races. Will Mickey G now call for a ban on the vaccinated from racecourses as well on the box seat next week. Would anyone see it even if he did ?

so does that mean they lost $45000?

No,you just confuse someone pointing out that the all satrs have improved with someone being cranky. There is no relationship between the two from my point of view. And why do you say Krug improved?He was back in class and from a mobile. Thats why he was a very hot favorite. Not sure why you say more mickey mouse. But i think you are just joking again.Maybe you should just accept that the all stars have improved instead of deflecting from that.

Well as i have suggested when i said i backed it,i thought it was the winner of that race on its previous runs,so to me it ran up to its previous form,,but no denying purdon got the best out of it. Storm ran up to its form,finished midfield.. Didn't see what happened to the all star horse. I was on the john dunn horse that ran 4th in that one.I understand him having a crack for the lead as the ottley driven leader has been noted as a horse best driven with cover,so his aggressive tactices made sense to me there,but it wasn't to be.

Why are you suggesting i'm getting upset.I'm very happy and having a good day thanks.Loved that mark purdon drive on I Dream Of jeannie. I don't give storm much chance but we will see

This was my reply to you question.the reply re franco indie was to gammalite who for some reason suggested franco indie underperformed. (not sure what race he watched)

Well Franco indie won after working overtime parked on a near record speed. If you think he lost 5 lengths on his previous run,like you have just said, then you must think he was a world beater on his previous run. Did you not see what time he just ran. Sounds like you are just taking the mickey if the truth be known. They are great drivers. I dream of jeannie i backed that purdon drove. He got the best out of it.

Well obviously the second horse in the race just run. Very average 2 starts ago when a battking 4th in a 1 win race when favorite,then an ok but well beaten 3rd last.Goes down by a nose in near record time today.

Well anyone doing the form can see it.I would say about 5 lengths.Whatever all the reasons are for it,they are great trainers. That race just run. John dunn sacrificed any chance he had of placing by running the race at near record speed in an attempt to beat the all stars.It made for an exciting race,but i thought he would have been trying to help the horse he was driving,not its stablemate.

There is an obvious reason the All Stars have been paying great prices by their normal standards. And that is every horse they have had race so far today has shown significant improvement on their most racent performances.Punters have been assessing the form on the most recent runs. So there is your answer to why the prices have been so good.

Box seat. Who bothers to watch that anymore? Where are you getting the increased stakes up 27%.All sounds a bit of a nice but fake dream. Is that you mickey g?

Yes its very sad. But all the indicators are its going to get much worse. We are in november,yet the fields are so small and dominated by multiple runners from the same stable. You have the auckland club losing an absolute fortune on a housing development in times of unreal growth in the value of housing. My opinion is they need to see the writing on the wall and transfer their resources to another area and help north island racing become a more attractive and sustainable industry.Even blind freddy can see that. And why haven't those in the media been honest and why don't they discuss it?It was just a couple of years ago we had mick guerin peddling misinformation about how stakes were on the up and people should have confidence in investing in harness racing,so go out and but a yearling. People like that have big platforms.He has been shown to peddle a false narrative around this club in the past so why does anyone listen to him is a mystery to me. Can't we have someone in the media be honest about where the club is at. Josh dickie is a symptom of aucklands demise. Can't find a place to train a big team because where hes at is being sold, so he moves to Victoria. More numbers reduced.What happens once Lincoln farms,one of the handful of dominant stables numbers wise,sells its land as has been reported it will do? As i've pointed out for the last few years.The rising value of land/racing properties is a major factor in preventing participation everywhere. So they need to invest in setting up accessible training centres in the districts where future racing is to be held and they need to plan and take action now,or apart from the very big stables no one will have anywhere to train from. Shouldn't they be facing reality now and planning for the future now?

I watched the races tonight and racing at auckland isn't a good watch in my opinion. You have races like the main trot where it has all the runners from the same stable,which each week seems to have a different horse driven to win. You had the debacle of a start in the last race where an uncontrollable horse pre start already starting to veer out when they attempted to line up, yet the starter still let them go,wiping out 3 of the 7 chances. A messy old start was how the trackside people described it,as if they didn't want to say it was just a debacle.Maybe the starter had an appointment at the bar which he had to get to before it closed.Then you have the telfer stable with its dominant numbers in small fields. If aucklands the the show case for north island racing then the downhill slide is very evident. The poor betting pools reflect a lack of interest from punters.

May is still one of our best drivers,yet for unknown reasons has no nz cup drive. If you look at who's driving in the event ,there are 3 or 4 totally out of form drivers who you couldn't back even on a favorite. Yet a 7 time cup winning driver has no drive?

It should have read rangiora supports the vaccine and piss off from our racecourse if you haven't taken the jab and don't ever come back.They obviously can't have many wanting to sponsor races. 6 of the races have no sponsors.

So we accept that being fully vaccinated is the best form of protection from the virus,but then there needs to be a proper definition of fully vaccinated. The most obvious flaw of any government,media or NZTR type organisation who preach the message of division and hate ,is that due to significant waning of protection over time you need to have a third and eventually 4th and so on jab to really be fully vaccinated. So why are they saying having had 2 jabs of the pfizer vaccine in say the month of May makes you fully vaccinated,when the most recent studies show you only have around 50% protection after 6 months. Surely if there is to be any credibility, the definition of fully vaccinated must be going to change in the future,so as to include booster shots. Thats what many so called experts have been arguing for some time. Given the stance of the NZTR, we must expect and demand them to tell us why someone who has not had a booster shot by the recommended date, should be allowed onto a racecourse.Its only a matter of time. They have gone down this rabbit hole,so they must ride it to the end and be held accountable for the fallout and consequences to peoples lives that they will cause.Its not going to go away,it will be ever changing,but what we do know is they seem happy to reduce participation in their product and industry by 10%. You know i had a small business once. 50% of total revenue covered fixed costs. Therefore,if revenue from customers dropped 10%,effectively profit went down by 20%.Thats the direction the NZTR has made the decision to head in.

And i've been thinking ... If the racing leadership truly believe they need to take this stance to ensure anyone associated with racing is vaccinated,then for consistency purposes surely they must ensure that anyone going into an agency and placing a bet should have a vaccine passport.No proof of vaccination,no betting on racing. And why aren't they insisting the TAB only allows betting via the internet by vaccinated,as of course those unvaccinated who bet from home do go out occasionally and circulate with others.Ban them,and that will encourage them to get vaccinated. Of course they won't,because they are just hypocrites. The don't want the ban to apply to the part that helps fund them.

Well i have just read this and the answer is simple. I will never spend another dollar on betting on thoroughbreds. To me this isn't a matter of whether people take the vaccine or not. Its about whether the industry shows respect to everyone.To alienate a portion of those that participate and help keep it going sometimes spend small fortunes on different areas that keep the sport going is idiotic. Why would anyone with any principals want to contribute to an industry that does that. And if harness take the same steps,then it will be the same there. No more breeding,paying trainers,grazers,farriers,no more spending most days on the computer pumping money through the TAB. Everyone should take this stand. Its not about vaccines,as i'm not anti the vaccine. You know,one of the local pubs, who has one of the handful of tabs in the area,recently barred non vaccinated. I used to go there and look at their patrons,some fat,overweight heavy smokers and drinkers.I watched countless people spending their days pumping money through the pokie machines. And now they tell unvaccinated people they can't go there because they care about peoples health and wellbeing. Its all a joke,just as are those who have made this decision to kill future participation by many.

You may have to open an account with the NSW TAB.They took all the races,always seem to have all nz trots apart from later part of a saturday harness meetings.I noticed the sky coverage was the same as other aussie meetings. I saw them switch an aussie race to sky 2 because it was running late and went to the addington pre race. The key for coverage on the main sky channel over there seems to be starting on time.

Well he never tried on yorokobi in the last race.It has gait speed,but only intent on racing 8 back the fence from front line draw. Actually a pretty good drive to get it in such a hopeless position.Obviously just a work out for cup day.I've noticed that stable seem to team drive as much as any other.

What was he to say?I had him rated on top,so he really just ran up to his form. The stipes are just trying to maintain transparency,but sometimes because a horses form doesn't look that good on paper,it just means things haven't gone their way in more recent races ,the strength of fields vary,and some improve a bit after a let up.So in this case Boyds answer was fair enough i thought.