the galah

its amazing that so many people just accept the direction they are pointed in by the government and media. People just go with the one size fits all mentality and just don't seem to consider individuals have their own unique state of health. There's so much information out there,and in my opinion its apparent from listening to overseas doctors who have been dealing with covid for almost 2 years,that recognising the symptoms and being aware of what stage your infection is at is very important and that receiving the right treatment/medication at the right time for the differing stages of your illness makes all the difference.Flccc.net is a website created by a big group of doctors in the usa which seems as good as any in explaining that.But the question you have to ask,why the current lack of education from the government around that.All you get is vaccine,vaccine and the virus is going to get you and be scared of the unvaccinated. Its such a depressing message and based on fear.Thats their main strategy.Why not promote some of the obvious positives that are becoming more apparent as each week goes by. And you really have to question the ability to form their own thoughts of those people who are scared of catching the virus from someone unvaccinated more than they are of catching it from someone who is vaccinated.Yet there is so many that think that way,apparently convinced by the government and media.I mean you had that model that came out a couple of weeks ago in nz that speculated omicron may possibly infect 50% of nz in the next 9 or so months.So going by that even if every unvaccinated person in nz caught it,you would still have 4 times more vaccinated people with the same viral load spreading the virus,yet the half wits that run the government and the likes of the TAB still through their segregation policies promote the message that the unvaccinated are to be feared more when it comes to the virus spreading.

If you get a mosquito bite do you just blame the bite for all your agitation when it was the mosquito that did it to you. Shouldn't you consider the cause instead of blaming it on angry pills or firewater as you have?

Well the World health organisation recently came out and endorsed research results which have found 2 doses of the pfizer vaccine was only 30% effective in stopping you getting infected.Then they said it goes up to 70% with the booster but that also wanes over time.So its no wonder so many vaccinated have caught it. And what about the recent study in california of 52,000 omicron patients which found that omicron patients had half the chance of delta patients of ending up in hospital,and ZERO omicron patients had ended up on a ventilator. One patient of the 52,000 who had omicron had died,but no doubt it would have been a patient with significant other underlying conditions. And aren't the researchers suggesting omicron will be end up similar to the seasonal flu in respect of death %. Now more people will obviously catch omicron because it is highly infectous and you will get more off work,and more in hospitals and those who have significant health conditions may need some protection,and delta is still out there,but you have to ask why are they scaring everyone about omicron to the extent they have.Whats it doing to so many peoples mental health? Its just crazy and our media and politicians continue to have fear drive their argument.

While i don't agree with some of your post ,i do agree that the likes of adern have preached caring and inclusiveness, yet their actions and words have delivered the opposite. I too can no longer have any respect for their like.I fully understand why aquaman feels so strongly. As to racing choosing to exclude non vaccinated people. I too greatly resent that action. And for what?When the last ashburton galloping meeting was held i drove past the public entrances of the racecourse. I saw people stationed at each entranceway just before race 6,and then noted there were 4 cars in the public carpark.Did anyone take note of the last midweek harness meeting at ashburton. From the pictures on trackside, they had 5 to 8 cars in the public carpark all day. I noted the grandstand had not one person in it prior to a couple of races. As to the tab banning the unvaccinated. That too is a joke.Compare that to say central christchurch or the shopping malls where 90% of businesses don't require vaccine passports. One thing is clear to me. And that is there is a lack of understanding by too many as to the resentment caused by dividing society on the basis of vaccination status.

If you look back it was on 29 november 2014 that barry lichter wrote a story titled "Auckland trots out costly gamble to rescue racing". Lichter it seems is one of the few real racing journalists in the north with any credibility on this matter.At the auckland clubmeeting in which only 100 of its 600 members bothered to turn up, a vote was held on the property development that was to save the auckland club from what appeared to be a dire future. ATC board chairman,kerry hoggard and his board gained almost unanimous support from members,and described the vote on the board recommended decision as a real vote of confidence. Only 6 members voted against it,with one,a gavin logan saying property development was the most dangerous game they could play and predicted the decision to proceed would eventually lead to the end of trotting at the clubs headquarters. So,there you have it. It seems everyone at that club knew if the property development went bad,then they knew that would be the end. Yet here we are today,and they still blindly plough on,apparantly ignoring the inevitable.

Interesting story on stuff today. It seems nz fire and emergency have got permission to push back the vaccine mandate date by 2 weeks to allow them to prepare contingency plans for reduced staff numbers to respond to emergencies. Seems there are approximately 1830 career fire fighters in nz and currently 300 of those career fire fighters have either said they haven't taken the vaccine or will not disclose whether they have. So thats a large reduction of staff overnight if they stick to their beliefs. If the same rates apply to the 13,000 volunteers,then obviously there will be a serious impact to that agency and its clear that this current government is intent on making those involved lives as miserable as they can to force them into submission,and make everyday new zealanders lives less safe at the same time.For those involved and their families the stress must already have been enormous. There can be no other way to assess the governments stance. So many who have dedicated their lives to jobs that serve the community will be tossed on the scrap heap. This government doesn't care.If ever there has been a time where division and discrimination of others has been actively promoted by a nz government,this is it.

I don't have a problem with them promoting the vaccine,but they could have done so in a way that didn't divide,but they have deliberately chosen to divide. The media is just as bad as our political leaders. I was watching a video clip of bill gates the other day.Hes been one of the biggest promoters of the vaccine worldwide.He said the current vaccines were keeping numbers in hospitals down,but weren't stopping the spread and they needed something better. Hes just saying what all the data indicates,but we are still having the spread placed on the shoulders of only the unvaccinated,and they keep upping the fear factor.And all that does is scare everyone and impact on so many peoples mental health,vaccinated or unvaccinated. How can you respect anyone who thinks that is proper leadership.

Didn't that nz thoroughbred announcement a couple of weeks ago ,that has a thread on the gallops forum, say it was their intention to bar unvaccinated from stepping on a racecourse or being employed in racing. So while adern has preached the message of division and fear, by continually saying the unvaccinated are dangerous and selfish,it the racing leaders who will become the ultimate enemy of many. Thankfully harness leadership have yet to say anything along those lines,but brodie as far as racing goes,you will need to redirect your attention from adern,and instead focus on racings leadership. So while cup week with the public didn't go ahead,nztr have already said you weren't welcome anyway.The worst thing adern and so many others have done is create an environment where so many will and have got serious mental health issues. Its crazy,they are supposed to be leaders,but thats what they have done.

$4 a place for second in the last race. He still gets the best out of his drives.

i have been watching his driving today,and in my opinion hes driving as well as he normally does,which is very good. apart from one drive which he drove perfectly and it showed nothing,the rest have been horses with not much chance no matter what run they got.So hes driven them conservatively.The horse he drives in the last would be his best chance on the day,and although not expected to win could place.

I may be the only one reading this at this time of day,but i kept the faith and robbie close has gone from burnt toast to champagne and caviar in my opinion. How a punters perspective can change with a winner. $5 a nice price.

I see i have the robbie close drive in the next as the clearest winner of the day.To back him,or not to back him. Maybe i should hope for a change in tactics.

Race 4. star casino from $7.50 into $3.80. How was that horse backed into favorite? I must admit i had a small tote investment ,expecting it to be paying $12-$15,but was amazed that so much money came for it on the fixed odds and tote. It had a bad draw,and an out of form driver,yet it plummeted in on the fixed odds and tote. It did go a nice race as expected,but was driven as you would expect.i found its price crazy. And the previous race you had crystal daytom favorite. How could that happen on form. It ran a nice 4th ,but its ff and tote odds seem to hover around the $2.50 to $3.Again crazy money when you look at its form and driven by robbie close who ,while very talented,is very out of form and seemingly always trying to get the 7 back the fence position. Is their a tipster with a big following tipping these horses someone knows of? I can't think of any other reason why?

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.