Joe Kidd

I have a million names swirling around in my noodle that got my attention with their name and then their deeds. Some we had a small financial interest in or knew those that did. Others left their mark in other ways. Lord Module, Canis Minor, Nimble Yankee, Smokey Lopez, Basil Dean, Lopez Macfaber, Wing Commander, Westburn Vue, Forto Prontezza, Bolton Byrd, Bad Luck, Montini Bromac, Stormy Morn, Right Bower, Trusty Scot, David Moss, Crow Bar, Nigel Craig, Gina Marie and her daughter Gina Rosa, Best Bet, Diogenes, Up Tempo, Dollars To Donuts, Bionic Chance, Bionic Adios, Bachelor Singer, McShane, Norton, About Now, Tyron Scottie, a big fav was Glide Time and a million more.

The guy walking the 7 dog has obviously found a place to transport his large new fridge / freezer around. What an impressive sight. Looks like the only walking he's done in his life .....apart from his five sessions at Valentines every day walking repeatedly back to the counters refilling his plate. As for the "security". WTF is that about? As bad as that guy looks, there's one even worse that looks like he's eaten his Austin Maxi. It appears the plan for him to stop villains escaping is that he just stands there and prevents them from getting past him by blocking both sides of the road.

I watched that race last night and felt it was cringe at the upper end of the scale. I was going to put up a thread about it but got side tracked so it was uncanny to see this thread. I've got no issue with a caller getting a bit excited when appropriate but I felt his raising of the volume was totally contrived. He was waiting for what he deemed the right moment to unleash what he'd been practicing. As F U rightly said, it was Tony Lee..... at his worst. The fact he went the early crow was good for a giggle but the end result was the universe telling him to calm the fark down. I would also have expected someone with experience at Manawatu to realize the Mike Berger runner had almost certainly got up. The margin was half a head. Will give him a free pass on that but felt he was more hoping Khal Drogo had hung on so he either didn't look even more foolish for his call or he was calling via his wallet. Either way it was average at best. Can you imagine Justin Evans calling Niatross at The Meadowlands? He would have had a myocardial infarction. I've heard a few of his calls and he's improving but last night was several steps in the wrong direction. I hope it's not a sign of things to come. We need a replacement harness caller in the North. Many are so over the Nick Name Man with his obsequious antics of trying to train punters into calling Todd Mitchell, The Wizard, Tony H the Ice Man, Maurie Mac the Magic Man and the worst one of the lot, David Butcher, The Chief. WTF is that about anyway? Why not call him Elvis Presley or Vladimir Putin during the call? It has about as much relevance as The Chief

Do you set out to be deliberately obtuse and passive / aggressive or is that just part of your nature? You did refer to the "anti AS mob" so at least own your bullshit. The only things I obsess about are protecting my loved ones and winning money. I certainly don't obsess about the All Stars. I have a perspective on it that I express motivated by my long term concern for the industry. I'm pleased for Globe that he is not concerned by the All Stars dominance. Perspective however is always important when searching for balance. He's passionate about the trotters which is an area largely spared from the AS dominance. He,as part of a large group own a hair on the tail of trotters. He didn't outlay a huge amount to be involved and I suspect he gets a lot of pleasure from the hairs he owns. Good on him. I wish him well. It's safe to assume however that his monthly syndicate account would be less than I spend on Auckland car parking each month. Please leave your patronizing advice to "be like Globe" in the latrine where it belongs. Same goes for your pathetic statements about showing some fight and if I'm worried about the All Stars dominance go to the sales next week and do something about it. What a bloody stupid thing to say. Did you even read the part in my previous message about more and more people having an increasing reluctance to spend big money on buying yearlings as they recognize futility when they see it? I along with my family have owned numerous standardbreds since 1970 with modest success. We own none at this time and are less likely to spend money on a yearling now than at any time in the last 49 years. I do however maintain strong friendships with several trainers that have remained family friends. Brodie is on the money when he speaks of people within the industry who are not connected to the AS being very concerned for the future of the game and their own involvement due to the AS complete dominance. It's ironic that the AS have several horses that have "Dream" in their name. For an increasingly large group, they have become the dream killers. I once respected Mick Guerin. He was a pallbearer at the funeral of a mutual friend from the Balkans who took his own life. I always saw Mick as a man who would speak up about the greater good of the game but he is now so entrenched with his tongue up Mark Purdon's arse that vested interest prevents him from expressing concern. Far more likely that he would say something pointless such as "other trainers will need to lift their game" Mick has a line straight to MP . If he speaks up, he then misses out on all the information from his good mate and everyone connected to MP. That would hurt Micks job and negatively impact on the many tens of thousands of dollars he collects on the punt via horses mouth information. Apart from that, Mick has now made an art form of pouting to the camera. Turns my stomach. As a result, I can no longer watch The Box Seat. Who else in a similar position will speak out? Greg O'connor? haha. More chance of me winning lotto four weeks in a row...and I don't buy lotto tickets.

Narrow lives? 0/10

Greg, I'm not part of any mob fella and I'm not "anti All Stars so save your precious and condescending generalizations for elsewhere. I've spent my adult life fronting as an individual and don't appreciate your patronizing choice of words. Attempting to portray anyone who is not cheer leading the All Stars as being negative or envious of their success is a gross misrepresentation of the way I see things myself and the other input I read here about the subject. It is however exactly the sort of "in club" crap that is intended to shut down discussion and ridicule anyone that doesn't have their adoring nose wedged firmly up the All Stars arse. That leads me to believe the misrepresentation of the concerns raised is very deliberate and often motivated by vested interest. The total dominance the A.S have achieved in the last few seasons is unprecedented in NZ Harness Racing. At first, I was hugely impressed with everything about their achievements. Then I started to see the complete dominance at virtually every feature meeting. There is only so much of the cream to go around. That cream and the hope of it is what keeps many in the game. As a result, when you see one stable with the usual names in the ownership, taking almost all the cream at almost every feature meeting, it is no longer a positive for NZ Harness Racing. It starts to become a negative and that process is well under way. The long term ramifications are potentially devastating. If we stay on this track, I sincerely believe we will have no harness racing left in NZ within 20 years, at least not in it's present form. NZ is just too small a pool to have a long term total domination of elite races from one stable. The A.S have the 2 and 3 year old features done and dusted before the races have even been run. You could virtually dispense with the formality of running the races and just send the prize money straight to the A.S and their owners. Obviously this is a significant issue especially as 2 and 3 year olds are the future. If people give up the futile chase, the writing is on the wall and I feel that process is now under way. Mark Purdon is a magnificent conditioner of a race horse and has a great eye for buying yearlings. He's also an under rated driver. I've always seen him as a world class driver. My respect of his skills started in the early 90's with Pride Of Petite who I followed from day one. It was a master class. I was also a big fan of her dam the great Petite Evander. Add the skills of Natalie and owners with deep pockets and you have the perfect recipe for success. Unfortunately, when they have multiple runners in feature races, they choose to turn the race into a farcical choreographed pantomime. I wouldn't call it team driving. Mark does not do what Barry did in the 80's when he used stable runners with the purpose of being the sacrificial lamb.. They were there to burn out Dillon Dean, Franco Ice and The Bru Czar etc and set the victory up for another stable runner. Mark does not resort to that. He just uses his numerical advantage to control / manipulate the outcome of the race. Rivals are squeezed out. If it just happened for one or two seasons for some of the races it wouldn't be an issue. It is however happening in most feature races, especially the high value 2 and 3 year old events and it's season after season after season. The trotters seem to be spared but there are only a few elite trotting races for older horses each season. If they dominated those also, the end for many would in my opinion, be hastened. My genuine concern is about the future of NZ harness racing and the "anti AS" you see from others is motivated only by that exact same genuine concern.

Perhaps you missed my point or I didn't make it clearly enough. I applaud the success House had yesterday. I also applauded Kenny Browne when he would take a team of jumpers all over NZ and the Myers stable etc when they do the same with their stable runners. It's not the numbers of wins that the All Stars have that I'm convinced is sucking the life and hope out of the industry , it's their complete dominance in virtually every big money feature race, especially for 2 and 3 year old horses. It's also the way they do it. Picking up the trifecta is the usual scenario. Nothing at all left for all the other owners and trainers. Their owners have the resources to knock everyone else out of the game and the race tactics adopted via numerical advantage ensure the result is a foregone conclusion. Having the best three horses in so many feature races is one thing. Having drivers of said runners all working together to gain dominant and controlling race position with the minimum of expended energy obliterates any alleged level playing field. Even on the rare occasion when things don't go their way in a race, they still seem to have so much in the tank they could race parked and still run away for yet another dominant win. The All Stars are slowly but surely removing hope for most others. When that happens it's inevitable that resentment will grow. Owners will stop investing and punters will not want to support total inequity. I'm incredulous at the comparison of Houses achievements at Manawatu harness with what the All Stars machine is doing month in month out. I don't envy success at all, even dominant success. The first time All Stars completely dominated NZ Cup day, I was among the first to sing their praises. Magnificent achievement. I didn't feel sorry for Olga Korbut's rivals at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich when she won three Gold medals and dominated. Same applied with Mark Spitz when he won seven Golds in the pool at the same Olympics. I tip my hat to success but what the All Stars are doing and the way it's being done is no longer a positive in my view. For the record. My two most favourite race days of the year were NZ Cup day and The Jewels. I love big money races but I no longer look forward to those meetings as they have become just another day completely dominated by the All Stars machine. A machine far too big for NZ harness racing.....in my opinion.

I can't speak for others, but my resentment toward the All Stars is the fact they take virtually all the cream from the harness cake and leave the scraps for the rest. The meeting today was crumbs. When most folk look at buying a horse, they hope they will snap up a horse that goes on to be a top liner. The sad reality is, even if they happened to fluke a Franco Ice or The Bru Czar, they would still miss out on the cream as the All Stars would have multiple runners in the G1's and use their numerical advantage etc to squeeze you out and make sure the only owners smiling every week are All Stars owners. Anyone who thinks that's good for the game has got rocks in their head. I see they ran first second and third in last weeks 2 year old event at Addington. We can look forward to yet another snorefest of the All Stars trifectering virtually every elite 2 and 3 year old feature race this season. You'd have to be nuts to invest in a young horse if it was not in the All Star stable.

I can quote verbatim what the deranged one would say F U. "Yahooooooooooo go boy. Marky boy and the mighty all stars are as pure as the driven snow. Can't wait. Won't be able to sleep and will likely piss my pants again. I've written to the pope and asked he give Marky baby a sainthood. Go the mighty all stars...bla bla bla. Go boy!!!!!!!!!!! I have to give it a tug every time I see the all stars lining up. Off to take more medication. Yahoooo!!!!!! Cheers, Iraklis.

I've been caught out by this. I had $300 worth of trebles all live but a nil balance so was prevented from watching my "investments". Incredibly short sighted by the decision makers at the NZ TAB. More likely they didn't think of it at all and don't care. Even if they did care, they wouldn't know how to fix this small but significant issue. Last week, I had a balance of 3 cents but no live bets at all. I was able to watch races to my hearts content. This needs to be addressed. The anomaly fits in perfectly with the TAB's mantra expressed via Trackside. "We have your money, now you can fuck yourself" Another issue I find perplexing is the complete lack of bet amount limit you can set. The new site makes it easier than ever to put on a $100 trifecta for example in error when you only wanted a $1 trifecta. On the old site, you could set a limit so you'd get an alert prior to making the final click if the intended bet exceeded your previously nominated limit amount. That no longer exists. Ridiculous. The new site is about ten seconds behind the live action which encourages punters to rush their bet if wagering late. The only limit you can have input into is the size of the deposits into your account. If you need to set limits in that area, you should find another hobby. It's nothing more than a perfunctory PC setting. The countdown clock to next race to go is utterly useless and totally unreliable. You're being told often there is 4 minutes to go for example until the next race and then ten seconds later, the race starts. I've spoken to the TAB about this significant issue. They are aware of it, frustrated by it, but have no idea how to fix the issue and no real plan to fix it. I've had numerous issues with bet slips on the new site. Boxes I've ticked not being highlighted is not rare. There are improvements with the new site but a shitload of serious issues. It's been poorly thought out and the way these issues have been managed / addressed by the TAB is woeful. Heads should roll but won't. There is an arrogance from the TAB toward their customer base that is alarming. The ignorance and arrogance starts on at the top with John Allen best known for pissing down your back and then trying to tell you it's raining. His ethos is : "and they lived happily ever after". Fantastic. Give this monkey another toffee pop and a pay rise.

Hey Galah, Cheers for that. We all have our good and hard luck yarns. My good luck happened at the Mairangi Bay TAB / Video shop some years ago. I stopped in on the way home and took a 50c boxed trifecta with four horses in six consecutive races at Flemington. I got home and started looking at my tickets just prior to the first bet starting. I was having a woeful run at the time. I noticed an error in the first ticket. It should have read race 3 but read race 4. Then I realized I'd put all my bets on the race after the one I had intended. If any one of the 24 horse numbers I'd put in had been scratched, I would have been alerted to my error when putting the bets on. None were scratched.I couldn't be arsed going back to the TAB to change my bets when I noticed the error. All of my intended trifectas bombed but three of the bets I took in error, won. The first paid $300. The second paid $700 and the fourth paid $10,100. Ironically, the fourth horse I had in the 10k trifecta ran fourth. I collected 5550. My best picks in years. How ironic. The guy at the TAB I picked up my winnings from thought I was a genius. I didn't tell him what had occurred My worst luck was in a $100 sports multi I took to win 60k. All bets were in the 2006 Football World Cup. The last match in my multi was a draw between Australia and Italy. The bet included some fantastic results and some good luck. The final 15 minutes of the match was painfully slow as my excitement and tension increased. Then in the last moments, nek minute. Was grumpy for several days. It took me till last year to smile again at football world cup. I had a small fortune on France. Getting back to Brad Williamson's drive. I concede I'm bias and the amount I wagered had me driving the horse from my chair. I don't believe it was all about one split second call. Winning races is about dozens of split second calls. I'm convinced the right course for the horse to take was out wide. No luck required. Horse has a lot of ability and looked ready to get involved. Driver hesitated when it mattered several times and we saw the end result. Left needing a shit load of luck with little hope of getting it. I've seen a million explanations for drives given to the Stewards over the years. They are almost all accepted as correct. How can you prove them wrong when the driver says the horse "felt" this or that? What I saw was a certainty beaten. A horse that was bolting in the home straight but the poor and slow decisions made earlier by the driver turned a victory into a loss. Today's another day so I move on. It's called gambling for a reason. We all make mistakes but I feel it's important to own them. The last guy who lived his life without making an error ended up being nailed to a cross. Happy to acknowledge Brad is very good with the trotters. Cheers.

Glad we are all on the same page. Helps my headache to know my fellow observers agree. I try to put myself inside the drivers head during a race and understand their actions or lack there of. The horse was obviously going well enough to be put into the race, do a bit of work and still be a strong contender in the finish. Was he trying to drive the horse too pretty? brother Matty was driving the race favourite who was parked out. Brad can see that. Did that influence his decision not to move ? When he did move, he seemed to be stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea. You know what they say about he who hesitates...is forked. He got beaten to the punch by a far more aggressive and on to it driver Mark Hurrell with Sagwitch. Mark took the initiative to go wide and make his own luck and in doing so, shut the door on a hesitant Brad Williamson. If I owned Vintage Cheddar, I would be looking for a different Williamson to drive my house in future or perhaps promising Junior driver, Mark Hurrell who gave Brad a lesson on what to do and what not to do.

I've been punting for about 40 years so have learned to take my losses with my wins over the years. That aside, when I see a driver doing all he can do get rolled, you are left a tad frustrated. (understatement of 2019 so far ) I rate Vintage Cheddar as a horse on it's way to better things. When I saw him lining up in the Gore Cup, I felt confident it was times and margins. Unhappy to own the fact I have punted this horse in NZ and offshore for the last 24 hours and it's the most I've punted on a single horse for the last five years. Horse is going beautifully but some distance from the leader. Brad Williamson sits as quiet as a church mouse and does not move. When he finally decided to move, he can go wide and have a certain clear path as runner up Sagwitch did who came from behind Vintage Cheddar. Brad's got the width of the Gore track to steer the horse but remarkably decides to look for gaps and unnecessarily, totally rely on luck. He steered the horse with a full tank of gas right in to a wall which was most likely outcome given his decision making process. Biggest certainty beaten of the day. Very painful to watch and the perfect recipe if you enjoy experiencing a headache. Will be years before I put a single $ on a Brad Williamson drive again. We all make mistakes but to my eye, that drive deserves a mention in the book called "How to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory". https://harness.hrnz.co.nz/gws/ws/r/infohorsews/wsd06x?Arg=hrnzg-Ptype&Arg=RaceVideo&Arg=hrnzg-RacehdrID&Arg=261184

Yea I know. Shite meeting with very average GG's going around for piss poor stakes but a win dividend of $277.70. That must be a record with the NZ TAB? ' Race 4 - 21:53 - DRIVER OF THE NIGHT LEONARD CAIN MOBILE PACE R1 ONLY (Redcliffe R4) 2040 m Results home Stake: $3,500 Track: GOOD Weather: SHOWERY # Name Jockey/Driver/Trainer Win Place 2 Wild About Town Melissa Kendall (C) 277.70 21.40 8 Nikalong Henry Nathan Dawson 1.10 1 Bertils Delight John Kerr 2.20 Bet Type Runners Dividend Quinella 2, 8 78.30 Trifecta 2:8:1 2787.00 First4 2:8:1:6 8309.80 DBL concession 7/8 9.00 Treble 3/7/2 954.00 Quaddie 3/3/7/2 1733.40 Jackpot: Trifecta Terminated to 0.05 units First4 Carry Forward $525.19 Next First4 Quaddie Carry Forward $771.69 ALSO RAN: 6-Enarmoured-Matt Elkins (C). Note: Numbers shown are the distance from winner in lengths. Owners: M B KendallTrainer: Melissa KendallBreeding: Town Champion USA-Wildlife Princess Scratched: All Start SUB: 8 Nikalong Henry

Anyone know how long the delay is between race close and race start? I thought it was about 10 seconds but was unsure. Hope everyone had a good Waitangi Day and made a hat full at Rangiora especially. The Dunn's had some very impressive winners. Garta never looked like getting rolled. Alta Maestro had the Amberly Cup sewn up with a round to go. Valloria was superb and is an exciting prospect in upcoming months. Expect a picket line fence formline there. The Dunn's also had the biggest certainty beaten of the day in Franco Niven. Would have won by a cricket pitch had it not broke during the running. Got a call at lunchtime today telling me to unload on Articulight in the last. Leads and wins was the oil. Bookies got spanked

It's their theme song. Doggy do do listens to it all day while dreaming about the glory days of the site prior to it being wrecked. It's all very sad. I managed to use my telescopic lens and took this photo of him recently.

Free speech. Hilarious. Mustn't forget the all important bit on the end. "Free speech is welcome....as long as it isn't a contrary perspective to that of the cartoon dog and the narcissist...and of course is not about a protected species". That site is the epitome of hypocrisy. Had to laugh when I read doggy do do put up a blurb farcically thanking those who stayed aboard the Titanic after it hit an Iceberg. "I have been told that some of the moderation by me in the past has upset a few, and may have been a bit tough. I never meant to offend anyone" He clearly has a very well developed sense of humour. Most with a brain bigger than a sultana know only too well that if it wasn't for BOAY, the cartoon dog would still be behaving like an 18 inch Stalin while threatening long term memberships to his hearts contempt, only pausing for more brown nosing. Good fun and a strong indicator of just how threatened the latrine supervisor feels about the new kid on the block and how many excellent long term members that left that him to dream up ways of perpetuating the myth that sewerage ponds don't stink. When I think of that site now, I think of English Royalty. More to the point, a quote from Plantagenet Monarch, King Edward 1st (Longshanks) . "A man does good business when he rids himself of a turd". What do they have now? The narcissist / king of the world blessing the mere mortals with his great wisdom, farty talking to himself all day and no life Ted The Troll, waging his incessant all day every day misogynistic attacks on Ardern. How riveting It's actually a bit sad to see what has become of what was once an excellent site but an accurate reflection of what arrogance, hypocrisy, power trips and self interest can produce if left unchecked.

Young Quinn

Chur bro 81 yesterday, today and always.

No, not Steven Adams but at the mighty Otaki meeting today...cough cough. Three horses that could and should double up today. Race 3. Majestic One off 80 metres. She toyed with the opposition on Friday. If they want this race, it's theirs for the taking. Place punters could do a lot worse than Shona Mary @ 18 & 3.80. Good third on Friday and Dickson / Butcher combination went well. A trotter in form is invariably worth a $$. Sol Invictus was solid on Friday and looks a strong trifecta hope. I'm sure Abernathy has hopes of securing the trifecta here with his other charge, Caroline Wozniacki. Race 4. Ally Mae was far too good in a lesser grade on Friday. The $7 is very appealing. David Butcher's driving style will be well suited to this mare. I feel she's an excellent bet. Bill Haley is very fit and also a strong winner on Friday. Looks the quinella of the day for me. Race 6. The Night Hawk won easily for Dickson and nothing in this field will worry him. Anchor in all bets. 2.40 is $$ for old rope. Punters prayer for today with it being Sunday. Dear lord, thank you so much for sparing us having to listen to a race caller wanking on about THE CHIEF and THE WIZARD during races today. The relief is palpable and your assistance in this matter is greatly appreciated.

St Rupert and Rusty Boy were two of Harvey Wadham's. Both won their share and from memory, excelled when the rains arrived.

It's sad to see the current state of play at the Paeroa track. I remember driving down from Auckland for just about every meeting there for about ten years. I especially enjoyed the inter island chase. I have some great memories there on the punt and one not so great. My homework said the locally trained Pearls Paul would win. I backed it until I was blue in the face and covered it every which way in exotic bets. Bought a Harley Davidson and a boat with my winnings. Another result was not welcomed about 20 years ago. I was keen on Harvey Wadham horses and the riding of jumps hoop Paul Hillis. They partnered up on Royal Banquet. I unloaded. The horse was bolting in the chase but Paul didn't move. I nearly lost my voice yelling the word "go" from the 1000 metres. Unfortunately, Paul didn't go until the 600. Made up huge ground and finished a very close second and still with a full tank of gas. Cost me plenty. Harvey had another horse at the time that had similar ability and history to Royal Banquet. It's name escapes me. Both very handy ex open winter handicap type horses. My best memory there was with the grey front running stepplechaser Deino's Ruler. The Archers, Judy and Trudy (Collett) were involved with. I took my mum down to watch it and had my biggest bets on a jumping race. Deino's Ruler went straight to the front. Jumped beautifully and won by a street. We stopped and did some shopping on the way home and mum bought a new wardrobe full of clothes. She's in her 80's now but still thanks me and reminds me of that beautiful grey horse Deino's Ruler we drove all the way to Paeroa to watch and win a small fortune off.

Very disappointing performance given the circumstances. Was driven for luck which tells a story. The drivers efforts in the last half were equivalent to a yawn and a stretch. I believe Brodie is likely correct in his assessment of the horse. Best kept for lesser races in the deep South. Even then based on last nights run, it would need luck to salute. Having said that, they only normally float horses that distance if those involved rate it. Will be watching future runs for a change of tactics / distance etc. I see in the stewards report MW stated the horse is better suited to shorter distances. WTF? Surely he could have worked that out well before now before costing punters a small fortune? How many times do you need to piss on a toilet seat before you lift it up? The winner won like she's a very good mare. Perhaps flattered by the way the race was run and set up for a run like hers. That further highlighted how limp noodle Riteurs run was. Feel a little sorry for the driver of Tonique De Feu. Was driven like it's a decent enough horse which it is. Made to work even harder by a 50-1 shot being given a stern workout when under normal circumstances would have made the lead much easier. Drive looked very ambitious but on closer inspection that assessment may be a tad harsh. Losing third very late did not help the look. For me, the highlight was Great Things Happen. Was very impressive and looks almost unbeatable in upcoming weeks. Must be said the rest of the field were not up to much so perspective is important. All they can do is win and that win was dominant. Disappointing to see Scarlett Banner bled last night and was retired. I thought Nelson was her swansong but they pressed on which seems over the top for an apparent in foal mare. Also interesting to see Majestic One being driven positively at Otaki. Never looked like getting beaten. In complete contrast to the farcical run recently at Te Awamutu when the junior driver fell asleep at the back while the leader did an impersonation of a turtle for 1400 metres.

Race 2 looks wide open. Numerous chances that could win without surprising. I'm not tipping one out but if you backed Riteur last week, you will be lining up to go again. Never got a crack at them last week. Not a big fan of backing unlucky runners as they often seem to find bad luck in their races as invariably they need to be driven with a sit to salute. I prefer to back horses that can make their own luck. Having said that, Riteur did get my attention last week. Check her out here in the Williamson colours. https://harness.hrnz.co.nz/gws/ws/r/infohorsews/wsd06x?Arg=hrnzg-Ptype&Arg=RaceVideo&Arg=hrnzg-RacehdrID&Arg=260241 J B Mauney does look very likely in the first as it took a good one to beat him last week. Having said that, the horse I tipped out first up, Takemybreathaway couldn't have been more impressive from her bad draw at Timaru. I wouldn't be shocked to see her make it 2 from 2. Looks an ideal race to load up on one and save on the other. Throw in Mini Mine Yet for third and you have a deadset trifecta to start the night.

Almost every time someone flying high in the industry is raided etc, it is almost a fait accompli that two words quickly follow. "witch hunt". Certain phrases also come to mind when I hear about someone being investigated to the degree it becomes "news". "where there's smoke, there's fire". I agree that when you consider the number of horses Darren Weir is involved with, the number of offences he's been charged with is not alarmingly high. What is extremely relevant however as that the actions he has been charged with involve unlawful performance enhancing...ie cheating. You can't be a little bit pregnant. You're either pregnant or you're not. Apologies for the cliches but I've always found them reliable and in the absence of evidence at this stage, there is merit in repeating them. On a personal note. I hope these charges come to nothing. I've been astonished at Weir's magnificent record in recent years and to learn he's nothing more than a very successful cheat would destroy much of the confidence I have left in the game.