nomates

I'm not sure the betting reaction would be that bad , punters would just have to adjust the form looking for horses that are more geniune and not requiring whipping . I am of the school of thought that moderating how the whip is used is the best way forward , limit the number of strikes in a race , say no more than 6 , with a limit of 2 at any one time in any given furlong , with only 2 allowed behind the saddle , the rest on the shoulder . Not perfect for any one but workable , it's not going to work for the bludgers , and as if CS says it's reactionary then even the above will be more than required for the geniune ones . And if people think that disqualification is too much for overuse then substantially greater fines , as in greater than the stake won , will get them thinking twice or ten times before " cheating ".

So jockey's should just carry a whip and wave it so it simulates a strike , win , win for all sides then . What about horses wearing blinkers , they can't see the action .

Never looked at it that scientifically . So if they don't feel it why use it , what's the point .

You were obviously a good boy at school , i got the cane acros my arse on more than 1 occasion and it left welts on my arse and upper legs , i can assure they did constitute the pain experienced and a strong reminder as they tickled ( were sore ) for a couple of days after . There was usually more than myself in trouble so the welts were worn as a badge of honour amongst those that were on the recieving end . I wonder why caning has been stopped .

Lisa Allpress saying Trentham patchy and not up to standard for Oaks day , she was trying to be diplomatic , sounded frustrated.

Hopefully this is a statement of fact and not journalistic liscence . Also if they are going to cover racing , to what extent . Can't see it being the blanket coverage that was on radio trackside , but at least this is a positive move . Going to be too late getting some lost punters back i fear .

Seems Danny Frye pulled the right rein with Gelato , leads all the way today at Ashburton to win easily , was as long as 16's backed into 11's . I backed it at 1st start and followed when scr last week , took 14's yesterday thinking it was overs , hope everybody else did . Trainer 1 , Stipes 0 .

Training racehorses is a whole heap of guesses , some more educated than others .

The way it's going we will be importing those girls from Finland that run around with hobby horses for our races .

And it continues , Montre Moi under offer to Hong Kong , this is exactly why our bigger G1's are lacking any depth , our quality 3yo's just keep getting plucked . How many of the better 3yo's out of the Derby will still be here next year . They have to find a solution , otherwise our best races will be full of R65's . Doing nothing is not a solution .

I don't mind that he thinks OB is a cheat or that he has expressed it but continually using it in every post just gets boring , we get it he thinks he's a cheat , ok now move on . As ever tho Thomass doesn't like giving up his bone , we can only hope he gets it wedged somewhere painful that will give us a break .

No Tommy , continually having to read your rants are what are putting us into a deep depressive state . Your attitude is pretty much how our management is running the industry , DON'T WORRY , BE HAPPY . It's worked so far eh .

Your right Tommy , carry on . As ever .

Actually have just noticed Tinker McFee in R5 also , also with Waller . All 3 sold around the same time .

So i see two of fillies that were sold out of NZ after gaining black type in the spring are running today in Sydney , Matchmaker running in R5 and Only Words in R7 , both with Waller , be an interesting watch .

This particular carnival is getting poorer year on year , yea there is the odd good race but this meeting just feels flat , look at Saturday , is it getting your juices fizzing , meh from me , just another raceday , maybe it's just me . I think it certainly has impacted on continuity within the industry calender and along with the KM meeting their impact on the rest of the calender is now being shown to be detrimental in some regards . Will things change , i don't think so , i don't believe there is the vision or heart to change it up , can pretty much see the status quo , re , stakes and calender , staying pretty much as we see them . The industry needs to start taking a holistic view of what needs to be done to start improving things , stop this big boys v little boys attitude and understand that every one has a part to play . We've all said for along time that racing was starting to get top heavy , perhaps the tipping point has arrived , the rest of this year will be defining i think , especially regards any or no changes come the start of the new season .

Thomass , can i please ask you to refrain from using the word cheat , it infers a permenant inherent character trait in OB . He broke the rules and gained a result , but to continually call him a cheat is unfair and insulting . Call him the rule breaker if you must or something else . I've met cheats , he does resemble any of them .

Well it's an improvement , but for 200k and G1 status it's still not a great look , hope they all run and not just nom'd to help the look .

And therein lies the conundrum , the public , and their lack of understanding that horses are highly inteligent animals , and as such are individuals , so individual that what works for one won't work for the next one hundred . That's where we as supposed experts try all sorts of gear adjustments to try and get the best effort from our horses . We know they are not just dumb animals , whereas a large proportion of society would put them alongside sheep and cattle for brains , and i am sure just see the whip as a means of bashing a dumb animal . My pet hope is that one day i get the oppertunity to get to know one of the supposed " animal rights " activists and get to find out what they get up to in their lives so that i may possibly go " you know what , i don't like that you partake of that something in your life that gives you pleasure , so i am now going to do my utmost to stop you doing it ", Petty i know , but i hate others who think they know better and therefor think they have a right to impose their will .

I get what you are saying , i myself am not against the whip , but there has to be moderation . I myself have 40+ years of hands on with gallopers and i find myself reflecting on how much i might have treated my horses purely as commodities , through financial neccesity for sure but possibly i could have shown more empathy for the horses . I know that wilst i gained financially from the sale of horses to asia i do now feel some angst over the lifestyle and post racing life's they got . Over the last few years i had the pleasure of having a couple of horses with real character and the most beautiful natures which never stopped them being genuine and giving their utmost , and i find on looking back that maybe with more mature eyes i stopped looking at them as a means of possibly making money and started to enjoy them as mates . I know the mare in particular would have needed very little whip persuading to give her utmost and so i find myself more regularly viewing abuse of the whip , or the use when a horse is beaten with a degree of cringe . Maybe i am just going too soft as i approach 60 . I believe that certain level of whip use is required , finding the happy medium is going to be debate . But whilst we may find that happy medium i know the mad hatters will never be happy with whatever solution is found however mild it might appear to the hardened horseman . So we have to find a level that we know can achieve the required lift in effort , whilst knowing not perfect for either end of the argument , there will be a sense of balance that we a least can live with . To do nothing is not a solution , we must move towards a more society friendly image , if we want to bring new owners into the industry from the younger generations .

Maybe who ever took the piss had been chewing a bit of contaminated hay . Seriously tho , the lack of transparency is alarming , the RIU are starting to give a faint impression of acting like the " Stasi Police ".

For me it's the same issue , horses being sold overseas . Aus is ramping it up in the purchase of fillies , where they would fork out mega bucks once the form showed after summer , now how many fillies got sold in the spring after showing some form in mediocre black type races . Stormy sold to HK so there is one that would have been there . And whether we want to accept it or not The Te Akau dominance is a huge factor , not their fault , they are simply working with what is there . I mentioned a few weeks back about a 2yo filly i had a small share in , sold to the Hayes stable , 1 unlucky 4th at it's first trial showing an extremely good turn of foot , but 150k speaks . I wish she had stayed , would have been a live chance in the Matamata Breeders the hopefully the G1's on what she had been showing , but not now , so if they are prepared to start sourcing that type of horse what chance have we got . As for solves i would suggest we don't start racing our 2yo's from mid Nov and stop these stupid 800 races , especially once we are into Feb and March , we have trials for 800's , get the stakes up as an incentive for people to put horses into work , plus get a regular program in place , at present it is higglety pigglety , then have a pathway into Black type races , 1 G1 2yo race , a championship if you will , and stop clubs having to squeeze their race in somewhere just to have , New Plymouth a classic case in point . With these races working toward the championship race . The Karaka race is the fly in the ointment . Does it benefit our " INDUSTRY " or not . Another whole discussion right there This isn't just a 2yo issue , as you say Huey the recent G1's for older horses are just becoming a farce . The whole racing structure needs scrapped and rebuilt from the ground up , our biggest issue is the " DOOR STOPS " we have managing the industry , until we get , and have said this repeatedly , people with real vision and courage we will continue in these ever decreasing circles .

Imagine if both riders stop thrashing thei horses in the last 100 , the same horse would probably still win , for me it was the better strip that gave her the upper hand in the end , a regular occurance on wet tracks . IMO .

I agree , calling them cheats is a bit strong , they didn't overdoit from the mindset of cheating , more a heat of battle thing . But as i've stated it's not a good look for a sport trying to build ownership numbers and get younger generations involved , the younger set are a " Woke " generation , as much as i despise the word and intention of it the reality is we have to work within their parameters and not force our mindset on them . I am sure there is a middle ground . As for armalelinha , well in IMO she is 4/5 lengths ahead of the rest , simply the track levelled the playing field , my real worry is that could have bottomed her , time will tell . As for your last line , well for me it only works if the horse wants to give something , in my experience i have known plenty to throw it away completely if given too much .

It's Tommy boys opinion , he can continue to thrash it if he wishes .