billy connolly

It just goes to show how inept and stupid the R.I.U currently are. If you want a correct opinion on Johnson's talent / flaws / weaknesses give Mr. Bruce Craik a call, he was the head stipendiary steward for the Canterbury region during the 80's, 90's (Johnson's heyday.) I can recall Craik saying he hadn't seen a better rider than Johnson and Craik was also a former jockey. There would've been absolutely no chance of Craik (or any stipe worth their salt) putting the boot into Johnson when on the verge of an all-time winning record.

Live Drama, race 7. Cleared to start by the half-baked officiating (female) Veterinary surgeon after going off in barrier stalls pre race. This is an automatic late scratching anywhere else in the world, how did this woman score the top Vet job at Riccarton ???

Has there been no worse transgressions of the rules of racing than a non licensee (owner) calling a half-baked detective a coont ???

What about the licensed trainers who've perilously abused officials/stewards over the years ? I have vivid memories of the late Ted Winsloe regularly abusing Southland officials, they would never take him on though as there wouldn't have been a race meeting without Winsloe !

The cost/benefit gains are tantamount to paying puppets like Allen for far too long. It's a travesty our half-baked, half-witted administrators have taken this long to action an all-weather surface. Three or four all-weathers could have been installed ten years ago for the cost of one today.

I've read and digested it, thank you Mr. Messara, 82 pages of fact done at NO cost. And so are your dictations, the days of travelling 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 hours to an outback race meeting are gone, Fish.

An aberration and an indictment on the fools who signed off Rangiora's jewels to the CJC - regretfully, some of the same personnel responsible are now/were incumbent CJC committee members. Rangiora's land value has sky-rocketed in recent times.

Many on that forfeit list had valid reasons for being there, ie: non return of stake money after disqualification, minor convictions, preposterous fines etc. Maybe a few former (Jewish piano playing) administrators should be on that list.

Paradoxically speaking, flu related viruses claim approx 600,000 deaths per year, the preposterous notion of locking people up won't make one iota of difference, except maybe reduce road deaths ! Compared to a polluted nation like China, we live in paradise here. Muldoon, Kirk et al will be turning in their graves.

Phenomenal galloper, there's no greater sight on a racecourse than a bold front runner braking the oppositions hearts. Poetry in motion.

The full effects won't be seen here until winter, what LEVEL will we be at then ??? Apart from approx fifty Australians (nearly all over 70 years) and two New Zealanders, how many of the Southern Hemisphere's 800,000,000 (eight hundred million) inhabitants have succumbed thus far please ?

Hard to believe they'd turn you away for the sake of $100 unless you'd had a previous big collect and they were mitigating their losses, but even so a $100 wager should be accepted without question. Even a bet of $70,000 to win $105,000 is odds-on stacked in TAB's favour. A NZ punter wagered $100,000 to win $105,000 on Black Caviar with TAB in a 4 horse at Moonee Valley !

Put another log on the fire. There's enough evidence right there to shut the show down completely, cash up and beam the product in from offshore.

Loading lightning fast here now, thanks.

Gains at every telling, there's no cure for Fuckwititis.

And deranged.

Haven't you been here before ranting and raving like a banshee about George and Co ? Aren't you a whippet trainer from the lower North Island who wears braces and a silly top hat ? Is that you in the photo below standing behind the greyhound Call Me Ralph (pink rug) ??? If these allegations are untrue you are treading shaky ground.

No problem to Pitman and Parsons et al, they have their own properties to facilitate exercise/training etc, they are also regular users of Woodend and Spencer Park beaches and have their own horse transportation. M. Pitman does a lot of walking his team in salt water, one of the ways he gets an edge on his competitors !

Agree with you, half the world are starving to death but we never hear a whisper about that epidemic. Go to the slums of Calcutta or a third world country and see how the other half live. No sanitation, no running water and no fuckin hope but no-one gives a rats arse about these people. The imbeciles have taken over the asylum.

The game is made harder by slow bastards like this that get in the road of up-and-comers with ability. The head poster is correct, a 51 start maiden should NEVER be allowed near a racecourse. Know when to hold, know when to fold, know when to walk away, and know when to run !

Poetic justice.... Hall of Famer W.J. (Bill) Broughton was sacked from 1957 pre post Wellington Cup favourite Cardigan (owned by the reigning Governor General Sir Willoughby Norrie) in favour of top Australian hoop Neville Sellwood, but Broughton had the last laugh receiving a late call to ride Sombrero which got up to beat Cardigan in the last stride.

Lane ended up being a poor choice who would no doubt jump off if offered a better ride in future. When you sack a winning jockey (who knows and has helped make the horse) you deserve to get beat, although it probably wouldn't have gone much better with Harris aboard anyway. The great Vo Rogue was always ridden by a bush jockey who couldn't get a ride at a Metropolitan meeting. Full credit to the connections for sticking with that jockey. Troy Harris is one of our best riders who could've been better than his father if a lighter weight, but the imbeciles here who've bagged him wouldn't know that !

As you sow you reap, Williams.

Been in game close on fifty years. Unassuming and modest but a very good horseman, used to plate/shoe his team in younger days.

Connolly's an old has-been (like Robson) but he's famous!