hesi

Say that again The air flow controller went on my Nissan a few years ago, I didn't even know I had one You'll be right, sort off, in a nuclear explosion, no electronics for the electromagnetic pulse to knock out

Not a car nut Rees, but know enough about cars to get by. My old man said if I averaged 80% in School Certificate(remember that), he would but me a car. I did and he did, a 1938 Austin 10 which cost him $20. I went out and bought a 1936 A10 for $15 abd we spent the next couple of years putting one decent car together. We got most things right, the old man was an electrical engineer so knew his stuff, except, as it turns out, we didn't hone the cylinder walls so the rings could bed in. You would drive a few miles and oil would get pushed from the sump through the crank case into the gear box bell housing and drip out onto the ground. We never figured out what the problem was for quite a while, so every couple of weeks had to pull the gearbox out, take out the clutch plate and clean the oil off it to stop it slipping. Learnt the technique of double declutching in that car. Good on you though, I presume you do all the work yourself. Have to smile as you drive around Auckland, wall to wall 4X4's, mostly driven by the fairer sex. I reckon 99.9% of them could not change a wheel if they got a puncture

Use No1, most obvious

I see Mrs Chief Stipe logging on to tell us what really happened

Nah, writing a book, 101 uses for a dead mouse

My Mrs has got so many mouse traps around the house, she forgets where they all are, until the smell of a week old mouse corpse starts to pervade the house. Unfortunately it is me who has to retrieve and dump the maggot infested remains. Apologies if I spoiilt anyone's dinner

Prince Charles, the great gormless twit that he is. I loved the gracious way he looked after Meghan Markle's mother, must have been daunting for her.

You're just envious Shad, that 1.9 billion people wouldn't watch your wedding

2 billion global audience I'd go along if there was hot dogs and chips

Are you at Pimlico with a camera?. I recall your old buddy Molloy was there last year.....foot soldiering

Any thoughts, missed watching any races today I notice from 3 weeks ago Blind Squirrel Posted April 29 Te Rapa Platinum Rapper - Race 3. Got well back and made up many lengths in the last 200m. Finished off well first up at Rotorua so I think can win a race at short notice

Well it sounded good for a minute or 2

Wow that is quite a giant leap, any detail on where they will be, and how does it affect the drainage work at Ellerslie.

James McDonald has six chances to restart career on a high 16 May, 2018 5:00am By: Michael Guerin Champion Kiwi jockey James McDonald makes his much-anticipated comeback to racing today and punters are backing him to make a winning return early in the day. The Australian TAB has a special 'Mac's back' market and the star jockey is rated a $2.50 chance to ride two or more winners at Warwick Farm in Sydney. "That's not bad considering he's got rides in six races," Glenn Munsie from the Australian TAB told the Daily Telegraph. McDonald's a $10 chance to ride three or more winners and if he's to make it a very good return and ride four or more winners, that will pay $51. McDonald, who served an 18-month suspension for illegally placing $1000 on a horse he was riding in a race, is primed to start off on a winning note in the first event, with the Chris Waller-trained Cormac a $1.75 fixed odds chance with the TAB. All five of his other rides are set to start in single figure odds, with Press Box in the second race being his next best chance at $2.60 fixed. Tinkermosa is at $6, last start winner Stryke Rock is at $10, Monasterio is a $9.50 hope and Kitteau is battling it out for favouritism in the last as a $6.50 chance. "Don't be surprised if his runners start even shorter," Munsie said. "It's important for him to start off well. He wants to get his name back out there as quickly as he can. "The rank and file punters will want to be on him. They know he'll be desperate to ride winners. It's no good coming back and punching out 50/1 horses. He needs to ride winners straight away. "It's a tip in itself, some of the horses he's riding. He's not coming back to ride average horses. He's had a number of weeks to make sure he kicks off with a bang." The 26-year-old, who has already won the Sydney jockeys' premiership twice in 2013-14 and 2015-16, has teamed up with Sydney's most powerful trainer Waller to ride four of his horses. He also rides John Sargent's Tinkermosa, who is having her lead-up run to the Queensland Oaks, and Sargent is keen for McDonald to get a win on her so he follows her up north. "With Hughie not here and racing in Japan, Chris Waller has used him as his go-to man straight off, so the Kiwis are sticking together," Munsie said. "He's got rides on horses that are going to be very hard to beat. "Most trainers would have the attitude that he's young and deserves a second chance." McDonald's comeback will be welcomed on both sides of the Tasman, not only by punters but also within the industry, as the young jockey was immensely popular before his shock suspension. While he took unsuccessful legal action to appeal the suspension, he has never publicly complained about the sentence and has stated he would rather look forward now he is back in the the saddle than concentrate on the past. "While it was unfortunate circumstances, I have learned my lesson and the time away has been good for me mentally and physically, with my weight having really stabilised," says McDonald. "So I am looking forward, rather than worrying about the past."

An old hobby horse of mine I still believe it is the dysfunctional model under which racing is operated, that prevents many skilled leaders in the industry from making headway. Sure there have been some hapless cases, Andrew Brown and his 5 year plan Racing Ahead was fantasy stuff. But there also have been many who have achieved much in the business world, who also had a passion for the thoroughbred. Hopefully apart from costs, which seems to be at the top of everyone's hit list, Messara will put forward a new model. And another hobby horse of mine. Peters(or someone) alludes to a time when it was just Racing and Golden Kiwi. Well as the other avenues for wagering and entertainment came along, Racing did not compete, because it was not set up to compete. Lots of clubs, many smaller, bound loosely by a body that does not even have a marketing budget. I've likened this in the past to each Lotto outlet doing it's own marketing, with it's own format and budget. Of course it doesn't and we have seem some pretty major feelgood marketing over the years, that now sees what is just another form of gambling with the associated negatives, accepted into every living room in the country.

Fury's Order Won almost everything back in the mid 70's, liked it heavy, quite a fave of mine Just reading up about him, he was struck by lightning and died instantly.

Maybe, but still carried it off pretty well, I suppose he is a politician

Pike and Baker have been within the industry for a while as leading advocates in their field. They both appear very vocal, about poor performance over many years, and rightly so, but I'm just wondering what they did as main players in their field to bring about change. Did they lobby previous ministers, leaders of the RB and NZTR to do something?

Peters comes across as plausible as he could be, interesting times ahead.

I have to admit winter racing is ingrained in my punting soul. Rather than relying on memory, probably a good idea to make notes about the actual state of the track, rainfall leading up to raceday, rain on raceday etc etc, and what ran well, and any notable failures. Tauranga is always very tricky on a very heavy track Also heavy track sires are worth following, remember Head Hunter and a few more

3 songs for you Scoobs

As a nice touch by Ellerslie, it looks like the flower bouquets are changed and kept fresh on a regular basis