billy connolly

Only walked the last 600 metres. With the exception of a 3 metre strip on the very inside which hasn't had much recent use it looks patchy and feels rough and appears to have taken a hammering, it also seems relatively firm for this time of year. IMO the track requires at least a 3 month break over Spring and a thorough reseeding followed by a heavy rolling, the rye-grass is healthy but there's not enough of it (not dense enough.) Before Laing's fiddled with this track 25 years ago it usually had a very good sole of carpet-like perennial rye-grass through Spring/Summer/Autumn that provided excellent footing with cushion. Not anymore.

Walked Riccarton's all weather recently, don't know anything about the materials used, all I saw were deeply compacted stone chips coated in bitumen separated by concrete foundations inside and out. Positives: - Bends and camber appear satisfactory. Spectators will be closer to action. Negatives: - Track doesn't appear to be wide enough, I paced it at approximately 10 metres in width which would be lucky to accommodate 12 horses. Home straight is short (approx 250 metres) - will need to be in first 4 on the turn, back runners will need to sustain long sweeping runs well before turn and they'll need to be very good to win! Not enough ground has been used, there's an approx 20 metre wide strip between the outside of Synthetic and inside of Course Proper in back straight that could have been utilized and which would've negated the need for the 1200 and 1400 start chutes. The 1200 and 1400 chutes have decimated much of the remainder of the track. For its (small) size this track has used up a large slice of real estate, it will require maintenance but will be a good training/trial facility and maybe an occasional winter race day but it's not a patch on the main turf track.

An ineffective loud mouth of no consequence. Half of the world's human population are starving to death.... that's a Monumental Fucup !

Many do win and many more would've won but for losing their compass in transit. With the compressed handicaps and less quality of horse the weight factor today is certainly not as great as it was yesteryear where some great horses carried phenomenal weights on 45kg minimums. The late Bill Skelton's favourite saying was "an ounce of luck is worth a ton of judgement."

It could be argued that your head's in the sand. I'd have thought that you'd know it's invariably the class horses that injure themselves under pressure, you could line slow bastards up every day of the week without incident! Ask any trainer worth their salt why it is that good horses sustain the most injuries and to a man (or woman) they'll tell you it's because the good ones try harder. These are preposterous measures by Racing Victoria, they (and their half-baked vets) may as well be training the horses.

Molloy has achieved quite a bit in this game and one thing he has never lacked is intelligence!

The best track in the South now but its location means Riverton's days are numbered, another underrated South Island track is Omakau whose days must also be numbered. In halcyon days Riverton's (3 day) Easter and Omakau's (2 day) Christmas meetings fizzed with atmosphere.

Is this guy the progeny of Bevan Laming, can't see any resemblance?

The track has never been the same since Laing's half-arsed attempt at a reconstruction 25 years ago, the topsoil they removed was many hundreds of years in the making courtesy of Canterbury's north west gales and is/was irreplaceable. The CJC Board at the time who sanctioned the work have a lot to answer for.

The old Turf Registers of yesteryear were a good source of jockey/trainer information, they listed every calendar race including horse, jockey and winning trainer each season dating back to the 1940's. Many of those successful jockeys would've hailed from the Coast. Here's a few: - Ned Thistoll, Acka Cowan, Spider Fox. Miles Better, Mr Ay Bee and The Twinkle (all chestnuts) had a turn of foot over any distance and Miles Better could also handle very wet tracks, had a good collect off him one day at Riccarton! Mellseur also a very good galloper.

D.I.L.L.I.G.A.F.

Correct, yet we have pepole like FREDA (who'd have never ridden a horse at speed) espousing ill-informed crap on whip use. Far more harm is caused to a horse by trainers lining up half-fit or tired horses or by racing horses out of their class than is ever caused by a soft whip. The whip (used correctly) is an aid just as blinkers/winkers etc. are.

So the powers-to-be are pressing for fines in lieu of suspensions FFS. Why would a battling jockey prefer a preposterous fine than a suspension Mr. Saundry ??? The underlying problem with the RIU / JCA is they get carried away with their own self importance and lose the common touch. I recall when the likes of Ching (a current JCA member and chair) was a battling mediocre jockey, now this very same prick doesn't hesitate to put the boot into jockeys at every opportunity. Saundry is right with one thing though, the jockeys room of today more resembles a Thai prison !

So the powers-to-be are pressing for fines in lieu of suspensions FFS. Why would a battling jockey prefer a suspension than a preposterous fine Mr. Saundry??? The underlying problem with the RIU / JCA is they get carried away with their own self importance and lose the common touch. I recall when the likes of Ching (a current JCA member and chair) was a battling mediocre jockey, now this very same prick doesn't hesitate to put the boot into jockeys at every opportunity. Saundry is right with one thing though, the jockeys room of today more resembles a Thai prison !

Nonsense, the most proven way to get a horse beat is to stay more than two horse widths from the inside rail without a trail or cover. Even very good horses are beaten this way, this is why barrier draws are so important. Lonhro was also given a good run in transit by Beadman who knew how good Lonhro was and who knew how to ride Flemington. An Australian punter wagered 1 million to win 1.6 million off Lonhro that day. More nonsense, the best way to lose the respect of your fellow jockeys is to let them do and go where they want, when they want, how they want. A bumping duel affects the bumper more than it does the bumpee.

That list is nearly as long as the RIU / JCA empolyment roster. It's a cruel world when half-baked over-paid NZTR employees can decimate the livelihoods of licensees at will.

Those hurdle victories epitomized Johnson as a gifted rider with great balance and hands, few (if any) of our best flat riders in history had that versatility.

Phenomenal achievement for a South Island based jockey, even more phenomenal to do it from Amberley ! In his heyday he had no peer, king of the pigskin ... by far. Is 2542 victories eligible for the Hall of Fame or did Johnson not go to the right school ???

Cromwell Stipendiary Stewards Report - Friday 27th November 2020 Stewards: M. Davidson (Chairman), J. Oatham, R. Haley JCA Committee: P. Knowles (chair) Suspensions: - Race 3.) T. Jonker (Quella Regazza) [Rule 638 (1) (d)] - Shifting ground - Suspended to 8 December (4 days) Race 5.) M. Gestain (Riverfalls) [Rule 638 (1) (d)] - Shifting ground - Suspended to 10 December (5 days) Race 3.) C. Johnson (Hombre) [Rule 638 (1) (d)] - Shifting ground - Suspended to 12 December (6 days) According to below link the sole JCA Committee member Paul Knowles was sacked by the board of Forbury Park Trotting Club and was also a former RIU stipendiary steward ! There is absolutely NO way should one man (Knowles) be at liberty to wipe out the livelihood of licence holders, IMO the old (voluntary) club committee judicial system worked far better than today's model. https://www.odt.co.nz/sport/racing/racing-forbury-park-chief-sacked

That's the irony, an ordinary jockey (Ching) adjudicating against a class jockey (Johnson) ! I know Ching, I've never rated him but he does have experience as a stipendiary steward, J.C.A. member and jockey, he's chaired many J.C.A. hearings.

Another aspect of our judicial system I find disturbing is having former R.I.U. stewards appointed to the J.C.A. Both Ching and McCutcheon are former R.I.U. stipendiary stewards, this is not only manifestly wrong it defeats the sole purpose of having an independent Judicial Control Authority. You don't see former Police prosecutors appointed as District and High Court judges !

Reading the J.C.A. dictation below makes me want to reach for the bucket, although Johnson did plead guilty which he should never have done. If this indictment had have been brought under the old judicial system it would have been thrown out, Oatham and Davidson should be kicked to Kingdom Come. http://www.jca.org.nz/race-days/canterbury-jc-thoroughbred-racing-14-11-2020/canterbury-jc-14-november-2020-r7-chair-mr-r-mckenzie/

These R.I.U / J.C.A imbeciles who are currently putting the boot into Johnson wouldn't be in the same road/street when it comes to life achievements. Barring misfortune he's going to become the greatest winning jockey ever in New Zealand and although he's not as good as he once was, we'll never see the likes of him again.

Fuck me, wasn't even hit behind the saddle ! The J.C.A are imbeciles as well.

What a dead loss this R.I.U outfit is, where can one find a replay of below race please ? Fines: - Race 7.) C. Johnson - Baby Menaka - $1000 [Rule 638 (3) (b) (ii)] Excessive use of whip https://loveracing.nz/SystemTemplates/RaceInfo/StewardsReport.ashx?DayID=49598&FileName=14nov2020canterbury2.pdf