Joe Kidd

The whole Ardern is bad but National is good is not only incredibly boring. It's total horseshit. This part of the forum is about horses so perhaps your contribution is appropriate. Some couldn't be more ignorant and naive about the benefits of medicinal cannabis if they tried. The dark ages bullshit and scaremongering from the anti brigade is well under way as we head into the 2020 referendum and we can look forward to much more of the same. Still peddling the same shit that cannabis leads to schizophrenia and weed is a stepping stone to heroin bla bla bla despite that nonsense being comprehensively disproved decades ago . Safe bet that many spouting this baloney were strong advocates for lowering the drinking age. They say fuck all about the carnage we see from alcohol on every level (road deaths, health issues, violence both domestic and general, crime etc etc etc) yet have a loud voice scaremongering about cannabis. How dare anyone have the audacity to show there is another side to the debate. To anyone who wants to see an "educated" side to this debate should watch this doco below. It should be compulsive viewing for every politician.

Blenheim Trots today. Chance for me to atone for my Burlington tip that went South. Two runners I'm really keen on are both from the same stable. First is in race 7. It's the Margo and Pete trained mare Madeleine Stowe. I tipped her out at Nelson on the second day after a solid first day run. A trotting mare in form invariably hard to beat. She was poorly drawn and no hope with the finish dominated by the runners near the top. Madeleine Stowe ran home well without ever looking a winning hope. If she's any nearer to the top turning in today I believe she is a royal chance of saluting the judge. Stablemate Givemewhatineed starts in the last and I'm picking a hollow victory. There is nothing in that field that worries me. Worked hard at Addington so is very fit. Easily the most progressive horse in this field. A stable in form always hard to roll. I confidently suggest you anchor him in all bet types. The last time I confidently tipped him out he had a formline of 0090P....won by five + lengths. Same again today. Both horses will likely back up again on Sunday. You can expect repeat performances. Both horses are quaddie legs today. First and last legs so we need to find the winners of the legs in-between. Second leg looks open. Cheezel looks ready to step up and the draw helps. Scotlynn Harry also helped by the draw and stable in form. Mordecai very solid at Nelson and a winning hope. Pauls Verdict has won here before and not out of this. Stablemate of Scotlynn Harry is That Alexander Guy who is poorly drawn but is in this race up to his ears. Paddyproudfoot and Storm Prince look a deadset quinella but Doitson has performed well here before and with John Dunn a shots eye to win the following race he is best included here. Sociable been knocking. I can see Storm Prince with a fornline in upcoming weeks that looks like a picket fence. My quaddie. 1st leg. Madeleine Stowe. 2nd leg. Cheezel...possible anchor if funds running low. Scotlynn Harry. Mordecai, Pauls Verdict and Alexander Guy. (there is scope for an upset here so if you have extra dosh you may want to take an extra quaddie with F in the box. 3rd leg. Paddyproudfoot, Storm Prince.....probably all you need but throw in Doitson and Sociable as cover. 4th leg. Givemewhatineed........look no further. Final three legs of the quaddie are treble legs. Looks a straightforward treble to harvest some $$. Good luck punting amigos.

Great horse but like Vinny with Popular Alm, they wouldn't get away with the thrashings their champions copped along the way if they did that now.

I make no mention of Greg O'Connor as a presenter. If I did on say Cup Day for example, I would be very positive about him. The team they assemble help make Cup day viewing the pleasure that it is. My comment is the way he steers the box seat. There are many issues that need addressing in the game that are the elephants in the room. The moment anyone even goes near it, Greg trots out his "moving right along". Shows like Fair Go etc had appeal because they are confronting. They put people on the spot including insurance companies etc and are not put off by the barking and snaring bull mastiff. Horse racing needs a similar approach rather than the Pollyanna bullshit we've always had. The box seat is the perfect vehicle to address controversies in the industry but O'Connor is the perfect man to push the TAB's ethos that everything in racing is 100% pure. They are ostriches as they have considerable vested interest but don't expect me to be one hence my disliking of being treated as such. As to who JJ is online. He's a leading All Star cheerleader who will still be spouting off that the absolute blue dominance in elite NZ harness racing is great for the sport when that stable is the only one left and the sport has become a novelty here. Anyone who has the audacity to express a different perspective is just envious and is subjected to his usual passive aggressive fluff throwing. As for the voice we have here. I appreciate it but I'm not naive enough to believe what we express here carries much weight. Nobody gives a flying fark what is said here or on that other stinking cesspit run by that idiot cartoon dog. We are just yarning.

If so, penny should have dropped for me sooner. Talk about vested interest. Mick will never say a word against his good mate as the daily supply of inside word would dry up quicker than you could say Jack Robinson...or JJ Flash. What a shame we don't have investigative horse racing journalists in NZ that are not already in the back pocket of the very people they should be investigating. Obviously all codes in NZ Racing are as pure as the driven snow. We are the role model for World Racing. As Mick would say ever so patronizingly...if anyone wants to compete with his good mate they need to work harder and lift their game.....or did he mean lower their game. As for Greg O'Connor. I feel he destroys The Box Seat with his Pollyanna style. Anytime anything remotely controversial is mentioned. O'Conner immediately reaches for his favourite saying..."Moving right along"....he is the Mr Vanilla of NZ Racing.

Excuse my ignorance on this but is Mr Passive / Aggressive head MP cheerleader the offsider of Mick Guerin?

Callers represent an era in our own harness racing journey. They can be as iconic as the horses we remember from yesteryear. Would love to hear a recording of a Lochie Marshall racecall. I can't remember how good a caller or otherwise he was. The one call of his that has stayed with me was when Lord Module raced at Forbury. Lochie felt Ces Devine was pulling up Lord Module in a race and not trying. He said so in his call. The one and only time I've ever heard a caller say this in a call. People often rate Reg Clapp as a superb caller. I felt he was with his neck and neck, stride for stride but unfortunately Reg stayed on too long. He mistook the number of rounds several times and made routine errors so his legacy was somewhat tainted. The caller I'd most like to hear a recording of is Jack O'Donnell. He covered the top of the South Island and West Coast during the 70's and 80's. "Always started his calls with "this time"..or "racing this time". Haven't heard his voice for decades and nothing on Youtube. I know Jack part owned Cup class pacer Happy Asset who won 14 races. Unsure if he was also involved with the awesome Take A Moment.

1) Keith Haub....was shafted and NZ racing was poorer as a result. Considerable distance to ... 2) Peter Kelly. 3) Mark Mac. 4) Reon Murtha 5) Sentimental favourite...Jack O'Donnell 6) Syd Tonks. Screamers such as Tony Lee are automatically disqualified. Callers who routinely describe horses as flying home, storming home, rocketing home when they are only plodding home also automatically disqualified. Sorry Davy Mac. Callers who are only ok but have dominated NZ racing forever automatically disqualified. Sorry George Simon. Callers who were superb but carried on for too long and were routinely farking up toward the end also automatically disqualified. Sorry Reg Clapp. .....Reon Murtha nearly made that category. Worst callers. Mike O'Sullivan. Aaron White. ...total crap at the trots with his obsequious pet name calling but very good at the gallops.

What a champion you are. Say diddly when I nail a finish in one yet throw your cheap shot when I get it wrong. Nice. Happy to admit I do get it wrong along the way hence me giving up on being a professional punter. The logic I applied with Burlington was sound. Most impressive winner on day one for me. Horses that have been trying to win for a while but for whatever reason including bad luck have been beaten, invariably win a few in a row once they find their winning form. Brent White had a superb time at Nelson and was 1st and 3rd in the following race with Tokoyo Jo and Ardee Trouble highlighting a stable in excellent form. As I've stated numerous times, a stable in form is invariably very hard to beat. I mentioned four horses in the Nelson Cup. 1st, 2nd,3rd and last. I said you only needed three horses in the last and two ran the quinella. $176 treble was not that hard to find with the in form Brent White horse starting fav and winning the middle leg. Burlington's run was a shocker. Unsure what went wrong but as punters we turn the page. One horse can make you look like a genius...or a mug. Happy to own the mug hat on that one. As for Kings Landing. Something clearly not right with the horse. Established he's not a fan of any rain on the track when only managing third behind Speeding Spur in the G1 but him breaking after having an easy run as a raging hot fav behind Valloria next up highlighted the horse had an issue. Mark Purdon the right man to resolve such issues but his lack of racing since provided no evidence either way. https://harness.hrnz.co.nz/gws/ws/r/infohorsews/wsd06x?Arg=hrnzg-Ptype&Arg=RaceVideo&Arg=hrnzg-RacehdrID&Arg=264162&Arg=hrnzg-rSite&Arg=TRUE No, I didn't back him in the Jewels. I didn't back anything in the Jewels as I was indisposed. If I had have been in NZ and was punting, I wouldn't have backed Kings Landing for three big reasons. The first being the rain on the track. Second being the big question mark over him from his previous start and thirdly the fact Sundees Son was terrific at Auckland and looked one of the best hopes all day of there being a non All Star winner. Kings Landing is a magnificent trotter. I'm certain of this and hopeful he will come back better than ever. I look forward to that happening. Not to prove my point but because I love seeing top trotters going up against each other. Imagine a Dominion Handicap with Sundees Son, Kings Landing, Winterfell, your boy etc and possibly ex pat Tornado Valley. That's worth traveling a long distance to watch. Enhance Your Calm could be anything and Tickle Me Pink looks like she will win plenty. Trotting ranks looking exciting for the next few seasons.

ahhhh. correction. Don't get on. Burlington.......last...Yes.

No problem. I'm happy to take $4 but with Storm Prince, Change Is Good and Spot On all attracting solid money and performing well on the first day, Burlington may get out to 4.50 even 5. Then again, may come in to 3.20 to 3.50. It's the first leg of a treble . In the second leg I was taken with Mandeine Stowe on the first day. (named after a beautiful lady who was in a favourite movie of mine The Last of the Mohicans. In the third leg you only need three. Cullens Bet for Brendon Hill. His team looked good on day 1. Adieu Flirt found the drop back in class after the Jewels appealing on the first day as expected could double up and the only other winning chance is Jay Tee Tyron who was very strong on Friday. Run your trebles around these runners and you'll be smiling come 4.30pm.

Nelson is my old home town. Always love the racing there. First day form at Nelson always huge for the second day. Yes. Stable in form first day. Yes. Horses that have been longing for a win almost always win two or three in a row once they finally win. Yes. Horses that have had a run of bad luck almost always go on and win a few in a row when the luck comes right for them. Yes. Most progressive and Impressive winner of the first day. Yes. Race in question today. The sought after Nelson Cup. Yes. Horses name. BURLINGTON. Yes. Winner. Yes. Thank me later.

The concept of The Jewels is sound but the end result has often been a bit flat with the same old same old. Not helped of course by the same stable dominating every year. Yahoooo...not. People will soon get pissed off with Christmas if all they get each year is to watch the same group of people opening their presents while they get what Paddy shot at....again. I'd like to see it change to a NZ wide event. One year in Nelson. Next year at Auckland, the following year at Invercargill etc. Some venues will obviously need an upgrade but just turning the same audience onto harness racing is doing sweet F.A to increase the appeal of chariot racing. I'm bored with the Jewels but wasn't when it started. I also think the timing is wrong. Difficult enough as it is trying to entice people to the races without deliberately timing the event to be brass monkey time.

haha..inter changeable of course with JJ. Takes all sorts I guess.

Unsure if the trendy naming is just marketing or to distinguish the venue from similar racecourses etc across the ditch. There is a Canterbury in NSW so our Canterbury becomes Riccarton Park. There is a Wellington in NSW near Mount Arthur where they run the time honoured Wellington Boot so our Wellington becomes Trentham Gardens. There is a Hamilton in Victoria but the Kiwi version race at Te Rapa so no need to change. I'm only guessing but assumed this was behind the name changes. If there is no identical name in Australia there will be no change here.