Walt

If it's the same guy Rangatira he sounds like he's aged in his 90's and a chap we say a little prayer about hoping he never calls any actual tote race. I don't want to be mean but he's very average. Defies logic they let a guy go like Davy Mac.

Fun and games in our neighbourhood today. My wife was at our local beach on Auckland's North Shore enjoying her daily beach walk. She called me and asked that I get to her quick smart. She'd seen a lady being chased on the beach 50 metres away by a guy with a large knife. She wasn't sure what was happening until the lady ran toward her in full panic mode. She offered support to the lady and discovered another lady had been stabbed nearby so offered her assistance while an elderly Korean couple in their 80's sat quietly on the park bench nearby. It wasn't until several minutes later the husband asked my wife to look at his wife's back. She did and there was a stab wound. They had been sitting quietly enjoying the sea view on this calm beautiful day. In that context a nut job with a 20 cm blade knife came up behind them and stabbed the elderly lady in the back. The offender departed the scene and then stabbed a guy on crutches but that commotion attracted people at a building site. They got involved and beat the crap out of the offender with the crutches inflicting head injuries. Had that not occurred I believe there would likely have been many more victims. I believe the offender suffered the worst injuries but I'm sure the victims will likely suffer long-term effects. My wife interviewed at the scene by Police and again later at our home. Offender is a mental health patient released into the community and lives in the area with his dad. Not sure what triggered him today but his dad said he's just gone for a walk. Never a dull moment.

I'm ok with clubs putting an amateur race on but they shouldn't be tote races. People work for their money so the races they can wager on should also only involve professionals. Nobody forces them to wager but these races are often the first leg of a treble. The other aspect of them I disapprove of is starting a meeting off with a cowboy / cowgirl meeting. Surely you should start off a meeting the way you mean to carry on? I must admit I don't like them starting a meeting with a low grade trot. These races often end up with a lot of breakers. I can think of a better way to welcome patrons on course than having their charge 300 metres behind the leader. .

Devon back on board today after Arabian Blue's commanding last start victory for Tim. https://harness.hrnz.co.nz/gws/ws/r/infohorsews/wsd06x?Arg=hrnzg-Ptype&Arg=RaceVideo&Arg=hrnzg-RacehdrID&Arg=CF846539-CA0D-498D-8F3C-9CF1226B4B7F&Arg=hrnzg-rSite&Arg=TRUE

"They turn for home and "run for the money" "Bla bla "get's the chocolates" Somebody should give him the heads up. No money or chocolates at the trials. haha

Housing has been an ongoing serious issue for some time. It's a mess and neither Government seems able to resolve issues. Perhaps that's mainly due to them refusing to confront what's actually been unfolding. I felt the doco Bryan Bruce put together 6 years ago was very telling. Dated but still as relevant as ever. Well worth a watch if you haven't seen it.

The Auckland mayoral race is "interesting". Haha. One candidate especially. If he didn't agree with a court ruling he could just ignore and override it or if anyone said something he didn't agree with he could just send an ex boxer around to your home to do a standover on you.

about two years before I got involved Ludwig.....but some of the horses they raced against were big winners and went on to be good sires. https://harness.hrnz.co.nz/gws/ws/r/infohorsews/wsd06x?Arg=hrnzg-Ptype&Arg=HorseDetails&Arg=hrnzg-DoSearch&Arg=TRUE&Arg=hrnzg-HorseId&Arg=D8FC4F98-CBCB-47C0-9DF5-C71C452D1556&Arg=hrnzg-rSite&Arg=TRUE https://harness.hrnz.co.nz/gws/ws/r/infohorsews/wsd06x?Arg=hrnzg-Ptype&Arg=HorseSearch&Arg=hrnzg-DoSearch&Arg=TRUE&Arg=hrnzg-rSite&Arg=TRUE&Arg=hrnzg-SearchType&Arg=Horse&Arg=hrnzg-HorseName&Arg=Chequer+Board

It's unfortunate The Don gave so much material to work with to the Dems and Dem media via daft statements. That aside, I actually supported the man who was never once given the credit he deserved by anyone other than FOX. Had Covid not arrived he may well have gone in the history books as one of the best ever POTUS. I watched and shared a youtube clip from 2019. It was the despicable Nancy Pelosi talking with Trump. She spouted off about the Sharemarket performing poorly under Trump and the poor old American people losing their dosh. I call BS on that as the markets went really well under Trump. They are now in freefall under Sleepy Joe with people losing their funds at rocket speed. Not a word from Pelosi. This Russian invasion of Ukraine would not have unfolded under Trump. He's an apex leader regardless if you like him or not. Biden can't walk 20 steps without tripping over. His stage managers have a full time job cleaning up after his stupid and dangerous statements. They must shudder when they see steps in front of Biden. As for his VP. the cackling Harris is the worst ever VP and a complete embarrassment.

FACEMASKS, Anyone had issues associated with them? Declaring my hand. I'm fully vaccinated and believe in vaccination. I've encouraged friends who have reservations about vaccination to take the leap. I don't enjoy wearing facemasks but respect why we have them. That respect has been waning in recent times. I had cancer surgery on my face recently. Some minor lesions were blasted off but surgery was needed for two other areas. Both left 4 cm wounds. I no longer wear a face mask for obvious reasons. I now wear a cap every time I leave the house. I also have sunscreen on my face even on an overcast day which makes wearing a mask totally impractical. I haven't applied for an exemption as I assumed common sense would apply. I also read that you don't have to prove you have an exemption. Just saying you have one was enough which did seem a tad dubious. Whenever I've noticed a staff member anywhere giving me a second look I'd go over and explain I'm not being belligerent etc, It's just not practical to wear a mask. The response is the same. Don't worry about it bro, don't give it a second thought. So I go into a automotive type outlet. One of dozens of outlets the business have in Auckland. I know exactly what I wanted so went straight to the area. No other customers in the store. A staff member behind the counter yelled out "have you got a mask"..I replied no, it's not practical for me to wear one. He replied it's not practical for us to serve you, please leave the store. WTAF. I haven't copped that before so I walked over toward him to show him my wounds and the fact I'm fully vaccinated. He quickly walked back about 15 feet almost jumping backwards. His reaction was far king ridiculous and I told him it belonged on Days of our Lives. Had I been symptomatic and coughing I could better understand his OTT stance. I appreciate it's not just about his comfort level, he needs to be mindful of any other customers that may come in but he was a total eggplant about things. It's the nearest I've come in years to knocking someone over. I spoke to mates about what unfolded and they confirmed he's a well known Wayne Kerr and is despised by most who know him. Must be said I'm seeing more people around not wearing masks.

KIWISAVER, I've watched closely what's been happening in the NZ and overseas Sharemarkets over the last few months and been shocked. Just when you think things can't get any worse they take another huge nose dive. Are you concerned about your retirement fund / house deposit / investment? The cost of living is hurting a lot of people. High inflation, increased food and fuel costs and the diabolical numbers we were already paying, interest rates increasing meaning bigger mortgage or rent payments etc etc. That's about today but your Kiwisaver is about tomorrow so many are copping a double whammy. Stats show many first home buyers have their house deposit in Kiwisaver. If you live in Auckland the average house price is around 1.2 million dollars. Far king ridiculous. Every house on our street is valued at almost 2 million and we are light years away from being an exclusive area. The banks are asking for a 20% deposit so on an average house here that amounts to around 240k. Very few first home buyers can afford that so they either move out of Auckland or into a less desirable subdivision. Bottom line is many first home buyers who haven't already secured a home would say the biggest reason for that is they can't save a big enough deposit. If they left their Kiwisaver in the Growth fund they would have been hurt badly in recent times. We have multiple Kiwisaver accounts in our home. We put our biggest into the Cash fund in January and have lost nothing. We kept another in the Growth fund. That has lost approximately 25% of it's value in the last five months. If that was to be used as a first home deposit we would have been blasted out of the park. First home buyers have had a very tough ride in recent years and many have become so disillusioned they are forming another exodus of young kiwi's heading offshore. The NZ demographic has already been obliterated in recent years without adding to that. Then we have retirees. Fund managers advise people to ride out uncertain times. Don't change funds and lock in your losses. I don't agree with that one size fit's all directive. If you see a storm coming you should protect yourself from it and mitigate that damage. I've read about retirement funds in the United States being in free fall. A 30% loss is very concerning. If you had 200k, you now only have 140k and the clock is ticking and a recession is looming. Add uncertainty over Russia and China to that picture and you see further cause for concern. Do you share that concern? I don't normally watch TVNZ news for a list of reasons but we do watch and enjoy The Chase. Last night we were slow changing channels after The Chase and copped the lead story of their bulletin. The carnage on the Sharemarkets. They did make it appear as if this was just a new thing over the last two days rather than the last five months but it was the people on the street they interviewed that left me scratching my head. No older folk to share concern about their retirement fund. One young lady who said she wasn't concerned as she'd moved her fund to the Conservative fund. Not sure how meaningful that was as I've read pieces where people were expressing concern about actually losing more in the Conservative fund than the Growth fund due to what's invested in. Not sure if that was an anomaly. Another guy in his 20's said he wasn't concerned. Markets have gone up in the past and now they are going down. No big deal. ....but context is important surely? We haven't seen this sort of carnage since Black Tuesday 1987. Our Sharemarket suffered a short term hit when Covid arrived here in 2020 but nothing like what's been happening in the first half of this year.

I remember Hi Foyle well. He was a beauty in the early to mid 1970's. Henry Skinner would usually drive him Raced against horses like Robalan, Speedy Guest and Young Quinn etc. Trevira was another beauty a couple of years later racing against other top liners like Hands Down and Bonnie's Chance. I also remember the big nights at Forbury Park. Not sure where and why it all went wrong but maybe horses like Trevira tell a story. He like so many of our decent horses was sold to the United States as a 9 year old. The money on offer was too good to compare with what he'd earn in NZ and maybe the connections knew he'd would likely not often beat Hands Down and co. I have no idea what Trevira did over there but he was a horse you can remember from 40 years ago taken off your radar. I think it's a big mistake to stop racing at provincial venues in favour of the bigger city tracks. I always enjoyed harness racing at Victoria Park on the West Coast for example but now that's in the history books. If you take away easy access to harness racing for people eventually they will find other things to do with their time. I got involved in horse ownership for my love of the game after attending many race meetings and wanting to be part of that excitement. I think we also have more demands on our time these days. Race meetings usually last 5 hours. The average race takes around 3 minutes. That's 30 minutes entertainment and 4 and a half hours waiting around. Not sure what the answer is but it does feel like we've been heading in the wrong direction for a while.

If politics were ok we could run a sweep on who was the most useless Government Minister. Megan Woods on housing. Wouldn't know if her arse was on fire when our country was experiencing it's worst ever housing crisis. She did however manage to eat everything on the buffet table for 600 days in a row which is some achievement. Poto Williams. We have the worst ever gang warfare on our streets but she was M.I.A every day and wasn't even aware critical reports on the situation had been read by almost everyone else in Parliament. Ardern said Williams had "lost her focus". HTF is that even possible during a crisis? Isn't it comforting that Ardern still has confidence in her? haha. Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta was so busy trying to push through the debacle of Three Waters for Maori that she was M.I.A while the Chinese were bribing their way into setting up Military bases in the Pacific ready to launch attacks on any Nato affiliated country down under that has the audacity to stand tall when China invades Taiwan. Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi is the quintessential chocolate teapot. Signs off changing the demographic of NZ with one stroke of his pen. How nice for the 165,000 so far and their families mostly from China and India. Auckland is already unrecognizable from the city I moved to in 1982. Yesterday Faafoi was described as a Minister that could have been dead at his desk for a month and nobody would notice. What a report card this. How could anyone pick the winner or biggest loser? They are all as useless as each other. At this farcical time in history of the gender fluidity circus, we have a Government that cares so much about the beautiful new letterbox that they can't see the house burning down in the background.

Enjoyed your input very much Gammalite. I remember Lightning Blue winning the NZ Cup in 1987 for Jim beating Luxury Liner and Skipper Dale. Love the picture of Gina Marie. She was a lovely mare. If you ever got to see Gina Rosa you could be forgiven for thinking she was a he across the chest. Very strong looking mare and boy could she run and fight. The three names you quoted in Gina Marie's year were magnificent. Roydon Scott had a huge motor. Locarno could drop on a field late from nowhere so you'd never give up on him. Then there is Lord Module. He was my all time favourite even when he told everyone to far koff. I was there when he won the Alan Matson and his NZ Cup. That level of tingle was never felt on a racetrack before or since. The fact I had large wagers on him both times ensured the smile stayed for some time. There were heart palpitations of course when the whistle blew after his cup victory. His Alan Matson victory was his last race. What a way to go out and what a great field. Stormy Morn won the Dominion earlier on the card. Norton won the 3 year old feature beating Mister Wood Chips and Mel's Boy for Jack. Among the beaten lot was the bonny filly Hilarious Guest.

Isn't it ironic that two ministers people wanted gone for some time allegedly spoke to Ardern about leaving Parliament in 2020. Yea right. The exact same time Labour had a landslide victory. No politician needs to be talked into staying with that dynamic in play. The other one plays jingle bells. Faafoi allegedly wanted to leave his job in 2020 because his youngest son would start school in 2023. Really? Ardern is that determined to sell that to avoid it appearing the opposition calls for resignations had been heeded. I've had six children. I love them very much but would never dump my employment to spend time with one of them starting school soon. Nobody I know would do that. I call BS on this reason / excuse. I see the inept Poto Williams is finally gone. Why? because Luxon got some serious traction on his call to get tough on gangs. William's is so out of her depth she had to go but I regret the real motivation for the PM. Auckland is like the wild west at the moment with gangs and the Government has done approximately zero to stop what's unfolding but now they want to act. Why? Self preservation. Ardern is worried her time as PM will end in 2023. That much is clear. I think our PM has been less than honest today so loses more respect.

Hey Davis, Some big names there. You picked a good family to get linked up with. Pretty sure Kerry was the regular driver of Basil Dean who was a beauty at a time of some very big names. Some you mentioned. He was a favourite of mine. Skipper Dale in the 80's and Tyrone Scottie in the 90's are a couple of well performed O'Reilly horses that come straight to mind. You're right about Roydon Glen. He was almost unbeatable for a while there and the big name horse of his day. Jack Carmichael was another big name in the game. Cup winner Globe Bay and the horse you mentioned Yankee Loch were two of his best but he had many top horses. Yankee Loch won the Interdominion final in 1989 and Rowe Cup the same year. I was there to see the Rowe Cup victory but unfortunately never met Jack. Jack would also be at every Hutt Park meeting and you knew if he'd had made the trip you up should get on. Nigel Craig was an outstanding trotter for the Heron's. If you left him out of the double leg, you wouldn't be getting the double. Carl Middleton was terrific with trotters. He had Fraggle Rock who won some big races. He won the Interdominion trotters final at Alexandra Park in 1991. Very sad to lose Carl. I had a family contact with Cecil Devine as a boy so would usually stop in for a chat at his Templeton home whenever I was in Christchurch. He'd show me his cups and stop and take in his monument to his great False Step. I struck up a friendship with Jack Smolenski in the 1970's and would catch up with him most times he took runners up to my local meeting. I don't know any trainer who could get horses away from a stand better or faster than Jack. He was racing the good mare Gina Marie at the time. She went on to produce the wonderful mare Gina Rosa. The caller at my local meeting was Jack O'Donnell who invited me up to his callers box to watch him call which was a buzz I won't forget. I was stoked he was in the ownership of the superb trotter Take A Moment. Good walk down memory lane. Cheers.

I have to be careful when I look back that I don't overplay my hand. I would tell my kids about these great TV shows we had in the 1970's but when I got to see reruns on Jones TV I realized many of the shows I thought were very good were actually crap that nobody would watch if they came out now. The prospect of a horse winning the NZ Cup back then in sub 4 minutes was unthinkable. If you told people a NZ mare called Adore Me would run a mile in 1.47 you would have been carted off for a phycological assessment. The game has evolved for sure. I remember waiting for darkness to arrive so I could tune into 3ZB and listen to the Addington trots and 1ZB for the Auckland trots. Main problem was both stations were near the National program on the radio dial so it was common for the finish of a race to get drowned out by classical music etc. You'd then have to wait through a pile of advertising for 20 minutes until Mark Bennett would cross over to Reg Clapp or 3ZB to Reon Murtha. The fun and games really started if there was a protest. The radio station knew nothing and the TAB knew even less. The ZB networks would broadcast midweek doubles from the gallops if the races were worth 10k plus and 5k plus for the harness. It almost felt like Christmas when Radio Pacific arrived on the scene and we got to listen to virtually every race in NZ. I can't remember the last time I listened to a race on the radio. Now we routinely watch races from all over the globe. Back in the day the betting options were limited to win and place, quinella, doubles and trebles. The prospect of fixed odds was still decades away. As for future progress. I love to see complete transparency with all protests. If cameras can follow every sordid detail of the life of Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, surely we can get a camera in the room and stewards treated the same as everyone else in the game. No doubt if they do get to that point Trackside won't have time to show punters the action in the room. That could result in punters not seeing four greyhound races from Woollomulumbo.

It's sinful to have a caller of Jason's ability on the sideline. It reflects very poorly on those in power making the decisions but once again highlights their agenda. Only have people on board that STFU and follow the vanilla narrative to the letter. Aaron White is a very good caller .....of the gallops but I don't enjoy his harness calls. The ribbon of light, The Iceman, The Chief, The Wizard etc are nauseating terms. Jason should have replaced him several years ago.

I'm always interested in hearing what got you started in harness racing and kept you in it for years? When I as about ten, I far king hated horse racing. My dad was a dollar each way and doubles punter and not a very successful one. He'd be walking around with this huge radio on his shoulder listening to race calls all day on Saturday even when we were out and about at sports events etc. I couldn't understand what the race caller was saying but knew I didn't enjoy it. Neither did my siblings. The race call would often end with one word being strongly expressed by my dad. That word started with an "F" To wrap up this enjoyment I'd often be left in the car outside the TAB for hours while my dad "just nipped in for a minute". Then one day he won a nice amount off doubles and bought gifts and treats for the family. Maybe punting wasn't so bad. I'd tag along when he went to the races on course and enjoyed it very much. My dad would give me $2 on Saturdays to take 4 x 50 cent doubles. Winning $300 from a 50 cent double was a great feeling especially when you consider what you could buy with $300 back then. Horses that I followed were Master Dean, Forto Prontezza, Mighty Gay, Palestine, Nimble Yankee, Trusty Scot, Lunar Chance, Stanley Rio, Bolton Bryd, Lord Module, Captain Harcourt, Speedy Guest, Wee Win, Nigel Craig Easton Light, Petite Evander etc etc. I'd read the racing liftout from the Press that the teacher would always save for me. On Friday night I'd be laying on the floor in the lounge with the Friday Flash and Press lift out spread over the floor while my dad and I would study for hours looking at trial results and trackwork etc. Putting my interpretation on form write ups was an interesting challenge. I'd see the race live and know a certain horse was desperately unlucky and climbing over them at the finish. The form write up in the Turf Digest read, "trailed in midfield, battled on fairly". I was winning often and my dad's strike rate lifted. The father and son time was one I look back on with fondness. I became a gun tipster even as a 12 year old boy. I'd go with my dad to his engineering workshop on a Saturday morning. My dad's workmates and football teammates would always ask me for my tips. I'd give them five runners and it was unusual not to nail 4 winners and often 5. Later we got involved with ownership of numerous horses that achieved mostly modest results with a couple of exceptions. That aspect cemented the life long interest in the game. As an adult I'd get VHS video's sent to me every week by a contact at the TAB covering all of the previous weeks racing. They were gold and I'd share them with my punter mates who also found them very helpful. I'd have weekly phone calls with Michael Dore pleading with him to get horse racing on our TV screens. His response was to always say they would like to but it was just too big a gamble. I'd point out to him the irony of it all. The TAB is all about gambling and encouraging their customers to gamble but they themselves are terrified of risk taking. I celebrated the eventual arrival of Action TV. They have got some things right but sadly, their motivations and priorities are diluting and devaluing the very things that make the game so enjoyable. Wall to wall racing coverage is an epic fail. Important features are missed and or obliterated. Quantity rules over quality. One could be forgiven for believing Tracksides target audience are compulsive gamblers. I feel we need three Trackside channels. One for Harness, one for the gallops and one for the greyhounds. The agenda must be quality over quantity. They also need colourful presenters that know their stuff and didn't just leave school the week before. They need to be free to express personal perspectives. It's my sincere hope that the channel Jason Teaz is fronting will be a wake up call to Trackside to lift their game. That's my Sunday morning bla bla bla. My dad did get one thing right. He always said I could talk the ears off a dead donkey

I appreciate you clarifying that. I do love the game and enjoy many of the people within it. Linking up my enjoyment of racing / punting with being an expressive communicator sees me wanting to share perspectives and read those of like minded dinosaurs. Timelines fade but about 20 odd years ago I landed on a racing website run by a couple of people named Dave and Ange. It was often the first website I'd drop into each day. Then they had a couple of ownerships changes and before long the site became toxic and unappealing. Bias was evident to the point contributors could give feedback on certain things in the game while other people were a protected species. It was something entirely different than a site protecting it's self from potential legal challenges. I saw banning threats dished out like confetti and wanted no part of such a site. Trackside TV is sanitized and in that regard also lacks authenticity. We need differing perspectives to take in and which also help examine our own and evolve. Having a set-up that only allows input that agrees with the narrative being pushed is unhealthy, unhelpful and unappealing. Same applies with the presenters you hire and "let go". I very much enjoyed Jim Smith but Jim had a terrible habit of being "real". He was exactly what the game needed then bye bye Jim. I'm very pleased to see Jason Teaz back on the airwaves again. His input is accurate and stimulating. He's also authentic. I'm not a big fan of the main fella that covers every harness race in NZ on Trackside these days. He may be a thoroughly decent guy but he's like 1970's wallpaper and the perfect antidote for insomnia. He steers well away from anything colourful or humourous which are two important factors in presentations I value. This side of the game needs to be lifted. The guy I'm talking about has a place in the game for sure but it should not be in front of a camera especially as the only show in town. Landing on this site was a breath of fresh air. I notice input from contributors I recognize from days gone by so I feel they could relate to my comments about that other once good site. It's fairly typical of me to look ahead a few days at upcoming race-days and plan my day around them. When I looked on Thursday at what was upcoming, I found key ingredients missing and knew I wouldn't be involved. That usually means the lawns will get mowed and other neglected tasks around home would get attention. Perhaps if my wife had put up a post she would have thanked the TAB for having her man back for a few days and asked the TAB for more ordinary race meetings. I should clarify my perspective on low grade meetings. Addington is a superb course but if today's meeting was at Methven for example, I'd be interested in watching them live. I don't wager very often and have no restrictions on my account despite having a high strike rate. Main reason for that I believe is my style of betting. Trifecta's and trebles are my main bet of choice. I do have the occasional win bet but only when I consider it money for old rope. I don't wager big amounts to scare the tiny bollocks of the TAB. If I had restrictions put on my betting I'd tell them to far koff and go elsewhere. I do my homework which is an important part of my strike rate but feel certain there is an even bigger reason. I generally only wager on meaningful race meetings, especially ones not rain affected. The form and ability is exposed and you know every horse there is nailed down and has one mission. Obtain their best possible placing. I couldn't possibly say that about today's meeting but in saying that, I appreciate many good punters are successful at these types of meetings and enjoy them as much as I enjoy the higher quality meetings. Good luck to them. Cheers.

the galah, I wasn't expecting a fellow punter to have a crack at my personality type for pointing out my take on this weekends racing matters and how things need to improve if the TAB want to retain their client base. I'm afraid I need a better reason to be interested in tomorrows low grade (crap) meeting at Addington than it being better than last nights Auckland meeting. I live in Auckland and the weather last night made the meeting less reliable and therefore less appealing to me anyway. Yes, I'm guilty of a bit of reminiscing. What sparked my interest in the game as a boy in the 70's is not something I'll forget anytime soon. If I was starting out now I'm not sure I'd be interested for very long. Just saying. I'm pleased you find Addington's low stake Sunday meeting appealing. I wish I was as easily pleased. I prefer higher staked meaningful races that you can be more confident the connections have their charge nailed down for and would be disappointed if they didn't win or at least come close. Experience has taught me not to wager my hard earned on meetings where there is greater chance of seeing runners having "quiet runs". Perhaps that's just me being negative. I will however go to the HRNZ site and watch replays next week as they are invariably useful regardless of what type of meeting it is. That said, I also place value on trial replays. As for my other critique. I find most winter gallops meetings a bit of the same old same old. Meetings like the Eagle Farm meeting today are not in that category. I find that sort of quality racing very appealing. What is a winter highlight for me is jumps racings. Sadly, the very thing that keeps me interested in the winter is on the decline here. It's normal now to see jumps racing replaced with highweights. Not having a single jumps race in NZ this weekend disappoints me but is no surprise. If it's wrong to say that I'll STFU and keep my perspective to myself in future. Good luck on the punt tomorrow. I hope you find a few winners.

Saturday and Sunday are the two days many of us have the most time on our hands. That's likely to be even more so during the winter. One of the features of winter gallops racing are the jumps. I look at both today and tomorrow and not a single jumps race in NZ. No NZ harness racing at all today. It was Saturday grass track harness meetings that got me into the game. As a young fella I'd chase after the double and concession which invariably included a 3200 metre feature race. I look at tomorrow and there is a crappy low grade meeting at Addington that has about as much appeal as flat warm beer. I'll check the results next week in the same manner I do with trials. I miss the provincial harness meetings in NZ, especially around the South Island. If the decision makers in the game are trying to encourage punters to put their cue in the rack and go do something else, they are to be congratulated. They've been successful. I have six adult offspring. None of them or their partners are punters. Apart from the odd exception none of my fairly large social circle are punters. The product being offered will struggle to retain the rapidly aging dinosaur customer base the TAB have now, so where are the future punters going to come from? It's easy to see why so many TAB's have closed down. Perhaps hippo and camel racing will save the industry. Will the last to leave please turn the lights out.

Sits parked for Tim..... R6TRACKSIDE DINING AT ADDINGTON MOBILE PACE 3YO+ R48-R53 1980m19:07 Stake: $13,000 Track: FAST Weather: OVERCAST # Name Jockey/Driver/Trainer Win Place 11 Arabian Blue Tim Williams 3.00 1.50 3 Mossdale Mac Ben Hope (J) 8.10 2 Evangalist Robbie Close 2.70 Bet Type Runners Dividend Quinella 3,11 99.20 Trifecta 11:3:2 806.70 First4 11:3:2:7 6,615.30 Double Concession 11/3 83.20 Double 11/11+ 29.60 Treble 11/11/11+ 446.80

R1....Winner Art Lincoln was well driven to just hold on. Runner up Shell Shock kept giving after a hard run and a win must come soon. The biggest disappointment of the race was the $2.80 runner Lone Wolf blowing to bits 100+ metres prior to the mobile start. Not a very pleasant way to welcome punters on track. I watched a race from Mohawk Park Canada recently where a horse was 100+ metres away from the field when the mobile arm pulled away and that runner was deemed not to have been given a fair start and were scratched. Why do we have mobile starts? Surely they are for punters as much as horses? Harness racing is good but not so good you can leave punters cold before the race even gets under way. Time for a review? R2...was a fascinating race to my eye. The two runners that got my attention were the winner The Present Maker trained by Anne-Marie and Jack Best and driven by Mark Jones paying $13.80 and the runner up and $4.20 fav Sigrid. I've watched both of these runners at the trials. Sigrid seems to be safe and well gaited and won a trial well enough to be a strong hope here. It was however The Present Maker I was most interested in. The Bests are very good with trotters and the combination with top driver Mark Jones said the horse is worthwhile. I watched him easily hold Sigrid in a trial so I felt there wouldn't be much between them on the tote. I was shocked to see The Present Maker go out paying three times as much. If he could get in front of Sigrid he'd be very hard to beat. I made a rare decision to wager on a crap meeting. The trifecta with second fav It's So Easy running solid for third was a tick under $600. This race again highlighted the importance of watching trials. Under and Over won the trot at Addington on the 20th May after very easily winning a trial leading up. R3....Race run to suit the hot fav First Class and was confidently driven to win easily by Olivia Thornley. The other feature of the race for me was the again disappointing performance of the well fancied Arabian Blue. Had no hope last time driven for luck and shit it's self at the start here. A warning was placed. Tim Williams has driven the horse twice for two wins. Just saying. R4...Fred Fletcher's team are going really well so no surprise to see Sunny Louis win. La Dama ran nicely and looks a next upper. Our Countdown looks ready to win also. R5...Sweet Belle won here putting up a brave effort after a hard last half. R6...was an ordinary race. Arizonawildcat was well driven by John Dunn to win. R7..Fred Fletcher at it again. This time with Mikey Maguire. well driven but to be fair, several other drivers virtually gifted Sam the win. R8...was a lead-trail winner and runner up with Kikorangi Blue and Dancing Desire. Disappointment was No Matter Wat. She goes well but didn't give a yelp here. R9....interesting trot. Kahress was nice after Repeat Pat looked the winner 400 out. Must admit I was a bit disappointed in I Dream of Jennie. I've seen Mark Purdon drive this mare patiently and win with her twice. She was 4 back with a round and a half to go when Jo took her out to sit outside Repeat Pat. She didn't make a play for the top which wouldn't have been there anyway. She gave Kahress a cover ride home. She was beaten at the 400 but battled on well for fifth. If driven quietly she could just about win next up. R10....Nothing race. Ardern's Sweetheart did enough to say she's worth a dollar next up.

Who would that be Chief? I remember the days of Noel Berkett with his famous black and gold colours. I followed the trotter Chesapeake around and the handy mare Lady Eastburn. Those colours are still worn occasionally by his son in law Murray Pash who married Noel's daughter Cheryl. Noel passed away in the early 1980's. Murray could be relied upon at the local Nelson meeting for the wrong reasons. Virtually every one of his runners started at more than 99-1 and ran accordingly year in year out. I remember Murray grabbing a winner in the mud at Westport and wondering what the hell had happened...haha Murray has trained a couple of handy ones since and grabbed his share of winners over the years. I miss the grass track harness meetings at Nelson. One of my fav spots.