billy connolly

By The Son (Dennis breed) who only sired approx 50 foals all-up. The Son's dam (The Twinkle) was an outstanding racemare but a flop at stud yet her full sister, The Fantasy left the multiple group 1 winners, The Phantom and The Phantom Chance. Then I must have been at the wrong Parish, all I saw was burnt vegetation one side of the altar and a quagmire the other with horses coming down the straight like brown's cows... in January FFS. I've been spoiled though, flying into and landing centre track at Trentham in beautiful Wellington weather, shaking hands with old friends and dignitaries, then witnessing great gallopers fighting out the finish of time honoured races... on good ground... hard up against inside rail... and running track records to boot! Small mercies.

Farcical, this was once the most celebrated race meeting of the year where the best of the best raced on the best track for the best prizes before packed crowds. A mockery of the Trentham of old.

Eloquence personified, TAB - you wouldn't be a cock relation of Molloy by any chance?

L. Molloy was a better than average jockey. From the early to mid 1970's he rode a substantial amount of winners, regularly saluting on multiple occasions and rode a few decent ponies to boot. Molloy was also educated and smart which are rare qualities in a jockey and IMO would have made an excellent captain of racing's sinking ship. Mister Pompous was a very good galloper who also won the 1974 Wellington Stakes and Wellington Derby beating the best three-year-olds of that year. Timaru Cup was reduced to 1600 metres in 1975 with the likes of Show Gate, Catastrophe, Grey Way, The Twinkle, The Dimple, Clansman, Random Chance, Just Tommy and A Gordon For Me winning the event.

Aren't they maintained by the installer, Martin Collins? The last time I frequented Riccarton, Martin Collins were machine leveling the Polytrack. Ironical that Martin Collins also underwrote that abandoned NZ Cup meeting... on turf. Surely the Polytrack is an improvement on that old sand track at Riccarton. In my time there the most used tracks were the sand, the plough and the inside cinder track for warm-ups. The sand (which was a piss-poor track) was open winter/summer and the plough, summer only whereas grass/turf tracks were mainly available for fast work with one open per session. In winter the grass/turf tracks cut up very badly after a single fast work session and had to be rested to recover. As alluded, the drawback with Riccarton's Polytrack would be the fact that it has decimated all the former grass/turf tracks which provided very good footing throughout spring/summer/autumn but in its favour the Polytrack would provide consistency of footing year-round.

Isn't the asphalt and stone chip the water-proofing membrane? There should be ample Polytrack material on top. What are the majority of trainers views of this track? If the CJC were forward thinkers they could've completely rebuilt their main turf track 25 plus years ago and used the big trial grass (which was just inside the course proper) as a temporary track for race meetings etc. The half-arsed attempt they made of rebuilding the last 800/1000 metres has brought about most of Riccarton's current problems. Riccarton is now an on pace, front runners track which is the total opposite to what it was before they fiddled with it.

Fine and firm at the Bullring, will the a3 and a4 claimers need a compass?

But it had 40k on offer for a 65 rated, 1-win pony in the Greymouth Cup. We once used this race as a prelude to the Wellington Cup (with a lot less than 40k on offer) but with a quality horse who'd won a dozen or more races ! Regarding Omakau, they originally raced the first Saturday/Monday of January and clashed with both Kumara and Hokitika, but the writing was on the wall when they lost their second day. A reduced horse pool combined with the travel involved for one raceday has seen Omakau's demise. Omakau was once an excellent 2-day meeting, it had a decent track, atmosphere, weather, hospitality, fishing, shooting (rabbits) etc.

72 runners, 15 trained by M. Pitman, 10 trained by trotting trainers, race 8 only full field, Greymouth Cup - 6 runners, 3 on 65 rating. No K. Meyers. Without Pitman and the trotting guys, would've been game over.

This is what I see here, but I made a point of getting rid of all ads online which would be over your head.

What about this bloke?

Remnants of the great urban sprawl. Racecourse land has now become so valuable that in 25 years horse racing will be a thing of the past here. With this in mind why couldn't the likes of Riccarton's CEO, Mills (who's sat on his arse for 30 years) have borrowed against the rising value of CJC's land to secure cheaper rural land elsewhere?

J. Kah won't be heeding any of your advice, squire. At 3.1k posts you've at a lot to say here, can you list your achievements in the game please?

A preposterous, frivolous attempt to denigrate Kah by half-baked VRC stewards and a total waste of time and money in the process. Don't know Kah's age but she should still have plenty of time on her side and FYI it's not a good idea for a female to paint themselves to the nines whilst fronting a judicial hearing. Class is permanent.

Guerin would be better served patronising a speech therapist than he would a TV camera, the last time I endured him he was calling Frank Ritchie Wank Witchie. He's not unlike the TV1 weather man in that they both think they're good but aren't. Please go back to scribbling about Ben-Hurs Mr. Guerin. With regards the Trentham false start, I'm of the view that the four outside stalls weren't connected to a power source.

George will to anything to hog publicity, he's a glory hunter and social climber par excellence who's had his fingers in the till of NZ racing for far too long.

The only true way for an inexperienced jockey to learn the art of race riding is through opportunity and then making the most of that opportunity by immediately correcting their mistakes and by modelling themselves on a successful modern-day rider. Race riding is actually very easy when you're on the best horse in the race, it's the actions of those around you that make it hard.

A humble and modest man who let his horses do the talking. NZ's leading trainer on three occasions, he and his neighbour, Winsloe were dominant on Southland courses throughout the 70's/80's training 2500 winners between them. RIP.

The link tells me there's a conflict of interest with one of the board members being a cock relation of a current license holder ! Surely Clement can do the job without having to answer to another five big-ticket individuals.

Best sprinter does not equate to best horse, Black Caviar was unbeaten but only in sprints whereas the likes of Kingston Town, Dulcify, Daryl's Joy, Tulloch, Frankel etc. produced a turn of foot over any distance.

FFS, and who investigates the investigators? Next they'll be carrying guns, or as was the case with Ross Neal... a mutton gun ! https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/racing/81747631/under-fire-racing-official-ross-neal-resigns

The all weather Polytrack could (and should) have been placed at Rangiora anyway and at a much lessor initial cost. At 1600m and cambered and with 1200m, 1600m and 2000m starting shutes already in place Rangiora was the ideal setup.

You cannot teach the art of (race) riding from the birdcage or the grandstand which is what the dimwits at NZTR are/were attempting to do by employing ex has-been jockeys and wasting industry funds in the process.

Why don't these so-called stewards direct their attention to the trainers of slow bastards going around week after week, at least the majority of Weir's charges raced with more than a modicum of success. There's not a lot more damage these half-baked pricks can inflict on Weir, this episode has virtually cost him a career and at least 5 million thus far. Cruelty is in the eye of the beholder !

FFS, hasn't Weir et al already been dealt with? Double jeopardy.