nomates

I agree , should be a group winner by now . Always gets him into impossible positions . And i am not speaking thru my pocket , have labeled this horse a G1 winner since i first seen him at the jumpouts .

Not ideal for Nature Strip having Eduardo drawn outside him , Classique Legend and Gytrash have draws to get the right run , Waller's late inclusion and Behemoth have got the perfect draws to have a say in the finish . Libertini up against from the outside , Bivouac and Tofane drawing wide not such a barrier as both run back . The sneaky with a nice draw for a quiet sit is Trekking , is a proven performer . I'll stick with Gytrash .

Your not asking much .

Seen them on T Weekly , both impressive , but if he gets a decent draw i can't see Gytrash beaten . Has been getting better and better over last 12 months and has looked the heir apparent over that period , last win was outstanding . The interesting aspect is Nature Strip .

A bit left field , in good current form but 8yo , big ask , needs to find a few lengths for me .

Not many options out there , only really Dirty Work , who whilst impressive on Sat is from all accounts a doubt to get a hard run 1200 . Be interesting .

That is the million dollar question , i have said in the past i wouldn't trust them to run a dairy . The terms " leadership of the racing industry " and " make the correct and wise decisions " , are not terms that have gone hand in hand for many years , and i mean many , many years . Sad i know .

Why does racing need a racing minister ?

Pulled them out and put them in the right slots , thankfully , wonder who noticed , the vet perhaps . Hey it's NZ racing , don't worry , be happy .

i would like to think they were too deep in thoughts of whether they were going to go with plan A,B or C . NAH , giving them too much credit . That one is all on the starters for mine , they are the ones with it written down .

With Eddie Van Halen passing away yesterday might just be the omen .

Just listened to Jamie Richards talking about his horses that ran on Sat at Riccarton , said they all pulled up a bit scratchy and that he would expect that they wouldn't be presenting another track that firm in the future if they were hoping to have form horses for the carnival . Wonder if there may have been a phone call from someone in Te Akau ? . Would they pack up and go home if it does happen again ?

For the same reason most go out without a plan A far less a plan B or C . Go into any jockey room and the majority wouldn't know the colors of horses they should be watching or what the map of the race might be . Ask the what their plan is from gate 11 , jump and hope it opens up for them , very rarely does , then they just sit wide , don't slide forward or go back . Twice in a row the same jockey sat 3 wide in the open on my horse , both times they said the horse could've easily gone up outside leader but they never thought to do it , just sat where they landed . Didn't ride it again . A lot of trainers are happy to leave it up to the jock , now that is ok if it's OP but there is very few in this country that i would allow to do what they thought . Op and Waddell are the only 2 i will have a decent punt on with any confidence , the rest are just a lucky dip . IMHO .

Not disagreeing , the tracks are too stuffed now , they would need to be completely ripped up and replaced but then given enough time to get the roots deep . They go hand in hand , if it's done properly very little artificial watering is required . Never an issue in years gone by , but what did they know .

Part of the reason soil structure is stuffed is because there is no root depth , roots help keep the structure sound . If the roots are allowed to get down deep enough they are able to continue to get enough moisture to feed the plant , except in the worst of droughts of course . Good deep root structure also helps with concussion . Unfortunately our tracks are never allowed long enough to get these deep roots .

Mate , you've kept the scope to cc anything forward a bit narrow , it would have to be sent to every club , i don't know a track in NZ that doesn't have issues with their track . And it would be a wasted exercise , even then . Hence the procurement of 3 A/W's .

They have used cones in the past , not sure if they still do , to keep horses off the outside of the course proper when there are trials there on a wet track to stop everybody scouting wide , thereby saving Mr Haworths , sorry their galloping surface .

Yeah , we wouldn't want the profits to go into increasing stakes . Rather than clubs spending $20mil on A/W's , fix their turf tracks and they wont require A/W's . Not as flash tho .

Same if you have good root depth , constant watering tells the roots to stay closer to the top . Go into a paddock and try pulling up bunch of grass up , roots and all , bloody hard .

Have they just re grassed this area ? , done the same a couple of seasons back for the area both sides of the gap . Most horses have galloped between cones by the time they get to trials , but they are horses .

An A/W track will not solve this issue , although i'm sure there will be reinforcing calls for them to prevent this occurrence . Perfect storm for the A/W agenda .

Interesting that Avondale have put up a G2 track today , lots of scratchings , which i assume are because of the track condition . Will be an interesting watch . Some light showers forecast for the afternoon .

I agree with all of the above , that is why we need a plan for the future , the next 20-50 years . All of the above tracks are past their used by dates , looking to the future we need built for purpose facilities that will future proof us . Will it happen , doubtful , probably a step too large for our esteemed leadership .

I'm not going to get onto the debate about the track and i respect the opinions on both sides , what i will say that i believe Mr Pitman does a great job with his older horses and the longevity of some of these horses careers bear testament to his training regimes . I have no fear backing his horses and you don't often see his horses fail to hold form once they are into their preparations , along with having the his horses being able to race for a decent length of preparation .

Your wasting your time with Greg and his mates , they're all too busy staring at each others navels and telling each other how positive and smart they are to ever consider that the industry is in a malaise that the people at the top aren't capable of getting the industry out of . He'll be waiting for the latest spin to come out from the top before he comments again .