the galah

Well the stable that trained the most high profile horse for John Curtin in nz harness racing is obviously the trainers of his reportedly $4,000,000 purchase auckland reactor, who Curtin was part owner/syndicate manager. Thats the stable that Curtin wrote several articles about, heavily criticizing anyone who dared say anything bad about the All Star stable.At the time his articles seemed to have a personal touch to them. If its not the same Mr Curtin,then he needs to set the record straight immediately. Do you think he will do that Chief................ Interesting how our TAB take betting on racing from Yonkers in New york.Its obviously previously been as crooked as,with 3 of their top 10 trainers charged.Evidence of drivers pulling horses. You have to remember they only went after the bigger fish.Why would the TAB subject their NZ customers to a product like that.If the nz TAB had any integrity they should have pulled that product long ago.

Interesting that Harnesslink has actually published the client list of the corrupt Vet found guilty this week in new york. Obviously some news media have printed it in the USA. So what does it mean.Should they have published it? Theres a few hundred names on that list,and it redacts the specific address of the corrupt vets clients,but does show what state they come from. It doesn't indicate what they were purchasing and says"while prosecutors say Dr seth fishman was not actively practicing veterinary medicine,he was licenced as a vet and could have provided legitimate,legal treatments to or instead of the illegal products. I guess you would be rather brassed off if your name appeared on the published list. It seems to relate to people within the USA. One interesting name,which may be just coincidence, Is.... A JOHN CURTIN from NZ. Now i could be wrong but i don't know of any state with NZ as its initials in the USA . So given previously harnesslink was used to publish many opinion pieces from a mr John Curtin from NZ, in which he used to vehemently attack anyone who said certain things about the stable he raced horses from in nz,doesn't it all seem a bit strange. I thought mr Curtin was best known as the first person in NZ to get covid,contracted while he was in New York. I repeat the article says the clients on the list may have been provided legitimate, legal treatments from the Vet with the apparently well known reputation for peddling supposed performance enhancers,but what those on the list were supplied with was unknown.Is it just anat an unfortunate coincidence someone who supports a certain stable has a name that appears on that list.Is the John Curtin from nz the one we know??????

I agree that the most notable factors of his drive were the consistency of his speed and the fact the horse was never pushed outside its comfort zone to establish and maintain the break on the field. What resulted was confirmation that the horse did not have the natural staying ability for those tactics to work. You could argue that Cox should have known that beforehand and i don't see anything wrong with the stipes asking the question. But Cox used those tactics with the intention of giving him an advantage over the others. So to penalise any driver for a positive(not excessively positive) drive like we saw last night in my opinion would be ridiculous,and i anticipate the powers to be already know that anyway.

I'm getting a bit cynical as well gammalite. Maybe we feel that way when things don't go right. I've just backed a couple today since i came home. Dramatist and pembrooks destiny,both stopped badly after 1000m and finish about 300m last.I guess better to do that than run an unlucky4th,but it makes you wonder if your better with a dart sometimes..

I think punters just want to see the drivers pull out when they have the opportunity. It did look like american me and new york minute both had the chance to come to the outside for a clear run earlier,and while i think they may have not have placed,we will never know.I think betterzipit looked the most likely for the 2nd day.

I don't whats better to back a loser or to not back a winner.I've been following the horse letsgodancing and its forever been unlucky,often positioned where it had no chance.Well today to me it looked the bet of the day given its price,but unfortunately for me an appointment i had dragged on longer than expected and i got home just after the race finished. $32 seemed unreal to me. Don't you hate it when that happens..

Sport in general seems to be on the decline . Also Southland as a rule always had the old school,integrity is paramount attitude on the racing and personal side of things..Off the track they appeared to frown upon some out of the region trainers who would turn up and engage in extra marital relations. I have no idea what its like these days,but 20 years ago they seemed happy making a reasonable living and doing something they enjoyed. It wasn't all about the money.Young people now days seem driven by different goals and aspirations. I personally don't think the current generation is as happy as previous ones despite having all the up to date technology. As far as those still competing. I see T Larsen hasn't even got a drive tomorrow.Seems to drive ok,but small fields also mean less driving opportunities.

As i was watching the winton meeting yesterday i thought how it had declined participation and competitiveness wise. It got me thinking why is that? It was only 20 years ago that harness racing in southland had enough experienced and talented trainers and drivers to run meetings with full fields,and without the need for any of the drivers to come from canterbury as happens now days. And the most obvious observation in my opinion was how there seems so little participation from the current generation of members of families steeped in tradition and success in the sport. 20 years back on southland racetracks you had people of all ages competing,but they were dominated to some extent by men in the 20-40 age bracket. It was common to see multiple brothers and sometimes sisters from families like the Hunter,Norman,Barron,Shirley,Swain, and Skinners.Then you had the father and sons like the milne,beck,hamilton,baynes,Lee,scobie,Bond,Gray and Buchanan. Then there were the likes of Brown,Adams,Mclellan,Paisley,mclachlan all with good sized teams. Often the daughters of trainers were married to the sons of trainers. And these were hard working folk. I remember i worked for a trainer who thought nothing of overseeing the training of 40 horses then when the horses were finished for the day,it wasn't unusual for him to go and do something like crutching 200 lambs after tea. But it seems,with the odd exception that their sons and daughters have not followed in their parents footsteps as they had. Why is that? What does that say about the future? Its also extremely noticeable if you drive around parts of Southland now,gone are the sheep and the standardbred broodmare or two in the paddocks. Now its all just cows. Is it all too costly to buy land and the returns no longer justify such a career? Just an observation,and while the sport will continue to be a source of entertainment and fun,its obvious we have been lucky to have experienced the best days already.

You put the video up,and like i say it always tells the story.Anyone who watches the video can make up their own mind. I never said it wasn't going to drop out to last,and yes i have done my own stats as to where the winners in those mile races down south draw. There is a definite pattern. But if your opinion is that Play Philly was driven in a manner to obtain the best possible finishing position,then that about sums up why i often disagree with you. So on this occasion the people with the arbitrage and algorithms, as you put it, were mugs in my opinion to bet on a $1.40 shot to win,when that horse was driven by Mr Close.And so it proved. As i have said before,mr close is one of the most naturally talented drivers in nz,but as doomed stated earlier,punters deserve better than to see a $1.40 shot driven like a 50/1 shot.Thats my last comment on that race.

Just wanting it to have a soft run before the bigger races for 3yo fillies that are to come in Southland. Just taking the punters for mugs. But the stipes enable it through their inaction. It is what it is.

That reply makes me smile as well chief. I know i annoy you to a certain degree.

Someone needs to tell them to take the caps off the binoculars when watching the races.

I agree the racing is often very uncompetitive. I just watched my first race there tonight won by franco mac and it was a walking race over 1 mile. It was like robbie close had given the driving instructions to everything in the field.Some of those races aren't competitive. Mind you even southland can't even come up with anywhere near full fields. The racing down there just isn't the same as it used to be. Just watch todays races and especially those miles no one ever bothers to move up.There are some drivers who get 7 and 8 drives a day but i personally just don't bother having a bet if they are on my top selection. People should go and have a look at play philly in race 6 at winton today.It closed paying $1.40 to win.Now who in their right mind would have backed a robbie close drive paying as little as that. But i can tell you anyone who did would be put off betting for some time it was just another non trying drive.The stipes accepted his explanation.I was laughing to be honest because i predicted it,but really its not funny. And your right about those covid numbers brodie. Just 7 days ago it was plastered all over the media that they were predicting 50,000 by waitangi day.Got to keep the fear up. Looks like they are only going to be out by 49,500. I see a USA poll found the vaccinated more scared of getting sick than the unvaccinated. I suppose in some ways that makes sense.

Do you live in a cave chief?

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What is that comment about.If your going to reply to me,don't infer i have said something when i have said the opposite. And i've never commented on the dunn stable. So again,whats that about? Whats clear by this thread is the chief is trying to get someone to take the bait and say something negative about the dunn stable on this forum,so the chief can defend them. But that hasn't happened so it seems to have developed into a strange conversation with me. So in the words of that programme dragons den...I'm out chief.

Not exclusive moral compass,just read the JCA reports on them. Everyone has their own opinion.

2007 a synthetic hormone. Reports at the time said he wasn't happy authorities didn't tell him they had developed a new test for it.Bute,every prominent trainer has one of those according to you,cobalt...thats a nothing according to you....In fact going by your logic all the above bears the hallmark of a leading trainer. Sounds like just the fella to train one for you if you want chief.

Brauns record doesn't tell you anything. Well that about sums up your view on the topic. Off the top of my head greg and nina hope, michael house ,tony herlihy,nathan williamson all top 10 trainers who i can't recall having any positives.If they have well they would be like ken barron and phil williamson who may have had a positive but only in circumstances that people understand there was no intention to cheat. No doubt many other top trainers if you wanted to go through the list.

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I know you haven't suggested anything untoward, i guess you have just been drumming up a bit of a talking point which hasn't taken off. I'm not sure off n gone and spellbound have improved lengths after leaving the dunn stable. Maybe they just aren't racing the calibre of opposition they were when racing here. Dean braun had a positive for a synthetic hormone back in 2007,then wasn't he one of those trainers let got a relation to train instead for a few years,then made a comeback and got a cobalt positive. So if your suggesting the CEO of HRNZ still owns off n gone,then don't you have to ask what does that say? I mean brauns record tells you something surely

"Even with all this beach magic bullshit that you read about here and there from harness conspirators and distractors". I might have missed it,but on this forum isn't the chief the only one talking about that? So i don't think thats a subject getting much traction on here. The one thing i would say is when it comes to being accurate about that type of thing,then this forum has been accurate in discussing beforehand,those eventually proved to have breached the rules in recent times,with the obvious exception of the all stars.And that type of talk around that stable has gone quiet recently. I would suggest people have greater confidence in the RIU being pro active and doing their job than what they used to have.I say keep up the good work RIU.

Well it is from what has been reported. For example a Sarah Izhaki plead guilty to offering to distribute a form of EPO as well as offering masking agents. Texts on her phone indicated she had supplied dozens of trainers. She was caught offering to supply investigators who posed as horsemen. Got the drugs from mexico.She apparently sometimes sold it from the back of her car in supermarkets carparks Many of the cases are ongoing,many have negotiated plea deals where they have plead guilty to the major charges if others were dropped,and so on. Its been widely reported that amongst all the evidence is proof of widespread use of products used as blocking agents,masking agents,EPO agents and products similar to clenbuterol and viagra. A part of many of the cases was the resulting evidence of horse cardiac issues,leg fractures and horse deaths. Its been widely reported that these products were "used to manipulate horse racing across the globe". Obviously the prosecutors focus has been on the USA citizens they can punish. So chief i think you will have a hard job convincing anyone that those importing,distributing and using the products over many years,and who based that use on the results they got,were all duped with snake oil.

All this talk of diluting something,or what one specific type of drug does,etc may be accurate specific to that,but it just ignores the totality of what he was doing and what type of drug was used for what. I started another thread about what is happening in new york last year and quoted what the experts employed by racing administrators in the usa had said.For example EPO . They laid out all the additional treatments and blood monitoring that went with its use,and basically said whenever authorities came up with a test to identify its use,the crooks who manufactured it just changed some small part of it and they could no longer detect it anyway. Also those leading the charge for a level playing field were extremely critical of many leading racing administrators openly saying they were corrupt and enablers.That is why they went to federal authorities for assistance,with some key players funding the investigation in secret without the knowledge of racing adminstrators,and is why they gathered the evidence the way they did.That is how they decided was the best way to expose the cheats and make them pay. And pay they certainly have and will. Its clearly ruined the careers of many of the crooks and brought about their financial ruin and the investigation also branched out into other corrupt practices totally unrelated to racing. Thats why it is so fascinating and just goes to prove what has gone on for years undetected.There is no denying it. Just follow the case and its all there.

All good points but i'm also sure the TAB have some type of computer programme or some type of alert system which operates on some tab account holders.For example they know if someone is constantly betting similarly on 2 different accounts,thus when it comes to putting bets on the second account the odds are always reduced within 10 seconds of the bets going on the first account. Thats more than coincidence.