the galah

So you accept you make it about personalities. Is that not an admission that your argument is not strong?And you go beyond that and also make it about the personalities making the comments. There may be grey areas as far as the enforcement of some rules go,but that excuse should only be argued in cases of inconsistent application of the rules.This case does not involve that. You seem to have missed the point of the topic.Cameron is the current focus because of how he drove,not because of who he is.

Well done for supporting prostate cancer,but to have so many drivers in the same race in the same colours is dumb and confusing. Some even have the same colour hats.I don't need a commentator to recognise the colours,drivers and horses,but i am finding i have to constantly stop,pause,rewind and replay the videos of races i am reviewing. When the races are run in real time,and you take multiple combinations and therefore don't always focus on a particular horse, it becomes a real headache. Also at the start of say a 16 horse stand you can't be sure which one your watching until they settle into their positions. Imagine if your a casual racegoer ,you would be even more confused.

"If i get my way". Whatever. You do talk a load of rubbish a lot. What i have to do with making,breaking or enforcing the rules is unknown to me. This is a typical chief stipe reply. When you have no merit in what you say,you make it about personalities.You do it a lot.

Who knows what you are getting at.Hes a trainer/driver i have had a bit of success investing on. Always have had confidence in his driving ability. That doesn't mean i'm like you and can't recognise when he gets it wrong. Islas joy at motukarara paying about $50 a couple of years ago is one that springs to mind.

You've got the theories thing going today. I just thought he had confidence in the horse and drove it the way he felt it was travelling. You don't actually see many making the move he did from the position he was in,but it was the winning of the race. I never invested on it,but hopefully those who have recently stuck with the ship knowing that his winning drive was more in keeping with camerons driving ability.

Cameron back in form with a top tactical drive to win the last. Can't keep a good man down.

I personally thought it could win,but really punters were ignoring its previous record.It had broken or gone very rough,or had a bad check in 2/3 of its previous 7 or 8 starts.O.k that may have been last season,but only the one handy run since this season.. Hindsight yes,but tonights run hardly surprising. It can only get better and has the abilty to improve,and no doubt will.

Yes,but that horse used to have a bad habit of breaking in the running last season.Then it got a bad knock on cup day,so it still lacks confidence like i suggested last week.

Yes,seemed to want to make sure orange got a run. Maybe appreciated him giving the lead to him early,and paid back the favor. On that driver,Kiwi x factor is one to follow. Maybe a junior driver race,or maybe with a change of driver next time could help.

There was plenty of media coverage. I'm not going to go on about it as i think she is operating as an honest,play by the rules trainer. Thats how i perceive her.I think she has learnt from her mistakes. Giving opinions is what we do on here. Thats mine

You don't let up do you back at you. I was referring to her trying to import ittp from the ukraine that never arrived. That turned out to be a waste of over $1000 for her. And the tb500 given to her by one of her owners. She claimed it was not going to be used on raceday,but in training.Only people like you would believe that. Her lawyer exposed the failings of hrnz rules which meant it was not illegal to possess such substances. As i said earlier,that was then,and i'm guessing not how she thinks now. Your the one who can't see the wood for the trees,because you never have your eyes open.

I don't know. Personally i think chilcott has a nice team and her horses always race consistently. She had 3 favored runners in last night,all seemed to be paying a little less than they should have,but they all went ok. Shes had 15 wins so far in the last 12 months,so thats pretty good. She had that case in 2013,but now days her horses run like she doesn't break any rules.And it looks like she enjoys the success she has.

Well you can't watch the trackside coverage in australia.tI may not happen as much now but many times they would take an australian race running late and transfer it onto their 2nd,less watched racing channel. So i can't see them not doing the same to nz races. Have you not thought running races on time would be viewed as of importance to those overseas as being relevant as to how much product they would take?

Well thats why they changed the handicapping system. So yes they can do a lot about it. Stupid thing was how they let things slide so much before they took any action.And field size the same thing. It was the ridiculous penalty free wins which allowed 8 win horses like border control start in 1 win races that saw fields with nominations close to 30 ending up with fields of 6 or 7.It was the previous Handicapping system which favored the elite at the expense of the average which helped drive overall participation down.

The horses starting prices are relevant as hot favorites suppress betting. The less hot favorites,the more the punter will participate. As to races starting on time. Well thats relevant,especially if the race is being exported to say australia. Their trackside channels transfer races and don't show others imported races if they don't start on time. Late starting races would discourage punter participation. I agree with you on the fixed odds increasing at the expense of the tote pools. This is not a good thing.Its obvious more are betting on fixed odds due to betting larger amounts into small tote pools reduces the returns for the punter. Then of course successful ff punters having bet size limited which leads to less overall punter participation. What about co mingling. If you ring the Tab help line they will tell you some pools aren't co mingled,yet some they tell you aren't do appear to be co mingled.The reality of exporting harness races to say australia is our product,is i believe tarnished by the less attractive,less integrity perceived australian harness product. Therefore you are always going to struggle to get greater punter participation overseas . That unfortunately beyond nz control.

A memory that comes to mind for me is when i was working in a stable down south. The trainer had a big team and there was this one horse that was very highly strung and whenever it did fast work it did an extra round of warm up and then if you were working with it you had to be ready to go as it went past as it wouldn't or couldn't be stopped.Anyway it was the only horse ever to race by a particular homebred sire. After about half a dozen starts where it showed very little it was entered for the local racemeeting. The trainer decided he would do something different so after being worked in the morning he took it out again just before tea and gave it a gallop. So i stayed and watched what he was doing and to my surprise he galloped at a frantic speed for 9 rounds of the track. When he came back in i said do you think that will help to which he replied no it bolted on him for 9 rounds,and he said its lame now,he would probably have to scratch him.He was noticeably favoring one leg. Anyway come the morning the trainer hadn't scratched him and when i asked if he was starting he said he would get him scratched if he was sore warming up and it could be his last race anyway. Well believe it or not,to everyones surprise that horse came out and won paying a big dividend.It then lined up again the following week at the same track and won again paying big money. It only had another couple of starts before he returned it to its owner. I wasn't sure what was to be learnt from that,but its something i have never forgotten. When it comes to racing our own,i have lots of memories but i will keep those for maybe another day.

Yes your definition would be bagging a driver,my definition is highlighting integrity issues. I notice you haven't given a reply to specific races i referred you too.I assume that is because what i have said is accurate. My philosophy is simple. Everyone should be out there always doing their best. I was only just getting warmed up and i know i spent around $75k through different totes on queensland harness in the last 4 weeks into small pools.(not on fixed odds) From now on i will be investing nothing.I have given you the reason.It annoys me to think i may have been investing on something where its already pre determined that i am to lose, unbeknown to me beforehand.There is a possibilty that the drivers ive mentioned simply are very poor,but i can't say that because the stipes over there dont even ask about questionable drives. It is what it is. I will just concentrate on nz where i have confidence everyone is trying. I do like your passion for your racing over there.

I can understand why some don't think drivers should be criticised, and i hardly ever do that. Do i sometimes comment on particular drives,yes i do,and why shouldn't i is my my thinking. Its nothing personal,discussing one off drives is not about the person,but about the drive. Besides,we all look at things from how we would react,and personally i wouldn't worry at all about criticism of a bad drive if it was one i had done. As to the the queensland criticism. I think its justified.Others can form their own opinions. I mistakenly thought yesterday i was backing one of your countries best drivers in nathan dawson,but the stable had 2 in it and put him on the outsider who ran accordingly after drawing alongside. Why put the best driver on the horse with no chance. Doesn't make sense to me,but thats what they did.I've already discussed the way katacha man was driven which i think raises some integrity or competence questions. But can i suggest you watch the fathers drives yesterday.On joey lincoln in race 5,did he give it any chance of winning by not improving between the 400m and 180m.Sure he most likely wouldn't have won anyway,but did he give it a fair oppurtunity to win. And the horse Bondi shake. It was paying $4,yet wasn't his drive just a follow them round drive.Again,did he give the horse a fair chance in how he drove between the 400m and 200m. And what was he doing when he did pull out.And if you are happy with those drives,go watch bondi shake the previous week at redcliffe. He steered it into every dead end he could over the last lap. I've previously highlighted other questionable drives from them.It seems a regular thing. I have gone further than i would for a nz driver as i believe nz drivers are honest. I don't feel the same about all aussie drivers.;So call it bagging a driver if you see it that way. i don't view it like that.

Heck your right about which barnes it was gammalite. And to think I had named H barnes as dishonest a month ago and said on this site i would never waste money on him again. Yet today i did just that.How stupid is that. I looked him up a month or so ago and saw he had 3 times been suspended for failing to drive to obtain the best possible place,and also saw his brother brendon had been put out at one point for cocaine use. I watched Hayden barnes a couple of weeks ago restrain a horse so hard in the parked position it eventually choked down. Funnily enough that day his brother was following him and appeared to have no idea what his brother was up to. And that was in a sprint race. That took some doing. I've actually been taking particular notice of how The barnes drive,and bizarre is how i would describe hayden and his fathers driving sometimes.

Yes,sticking to the drivers that try seems of greater importance than the horses abilities. That b barnes drive in the last race today. The horse was 2nd favorite. Sitting in the 1/1 going round the first bend with the favorite outside him going forward 3 wide.Whats he do. Restrains it hard to go 4 back the fence following the horse paying $80. He had no intention of ever trying and knew what he was doing.

I've come round to your way of thinking gammalite.After keeping records and analysing every harness race in queensland in the last 3 months,i think its fair to conclude that its not worth the time and effort to follow queensland harness. I spent a lot of money,yet only have come out just ahead. Hardly worthwhile given the time involved. The reason for that is so many of the better chances are driven to simply follow them around if they don't get a top draw.The horses themselves are consistent,but apart from the top 6 or 7 drivers i liked,its extremely hard to tell whether the rest were trying.Maybe they are just waiting to back them themselves. This last week i backed 7. All were well favored,and apart from 1,everyone of them immediately made a direct line for 4,5 and 6 back the fence,where they stayed well held until the finish. How can harness racing prosper in queensland if this is how the races are run.Its fair to say i expected better. As regards the drivers. I know a couple of months ago i questioned the honesty of a couple of the barnes and criticised the other barnes for his tactical sense,but i have concluded that they may only look dishonest,and its possible its just a lack of driving skills that makes them look bad.And yes b barnes was driving the one that i backed today.Maybe i should give him credit for immediately being able to get 6 back the fence from the outside of the second line draw. At least he tried earlier this week on the horse rock fisherman,who paid $3,after 2 very negative previous drives when paying $30,but maybe that was his plan all along.Its very hard to tell. So i won't comment in the future on queensland harness racing or their drivers. I'll turn the page.But i am thankful that nz drivers have a higher degree of competitiveness. I have confidence that when punters spend their money here,win or lose,at least they know the intent of everyone driving is to do as well as they can.

Whether they do a great job is for me defined by the consistency in which they apply the rules and whether they do it in an equal and fair way. It is only in recent years in the south island that this has been the case.Go back a couple of decades and before and the stipes were at times bullies,turning a blind eye to some while they were tormentors of the small players who they took a dislike to. Some of them were not deserving of any respect,and got none from many. Times have changed,new personal have taken over,and the stipes today do a very good job. This is reflected in the matter currently being discussed.Not once has it been suggested on this thread that Cameron has been the subject of greater interest from the stipes previously. It is only the one drive that he has been subject to scrutiny over. What i do take from this thread is again when it comes to harness racing things get taken more personally and people defend others not based on merit, but based on the matter being argued around personalities.Because of that things are magnified to a level they never need to be.And the ones responsible for that are those who make it about personalities. In effect the flaws in the argument of those making it about personalities only highlight the individual to a greater degree than was necessary.

"A second to do so" Again showing your ignorance. Split second decisions are made when your amongst the field with traffic in your way dictating where and when you go. Cameron was sitting in the perfect position to make his move. He had ample time to work out what he was going to do,and when those behind were going to make their moves.Do you really think drivers just sit there ,their minds blank,then when it comes to the final 250 they suddenly switch their brains back on and make split second decisions. It does explain some of your posts though.

You said you picked it,but incredibly didn't notice it. What does that say about your assessment of video replays. Anyone watching the race would have noticed it. I said to the wife that he should get a decent holiday as i watched the replay of the final 200m, straight after the race.And i didn't even back it. Your coming at it from a point of view of someone who obviously misses a lot. I'll take that into account from now on.

The gap never came. Hoped to get a late gap. Horse finished closer than he would have. Good stuff.