billy connolly

Reefton, Moseley caused his own mount to lose its footing by trying to barge out on the point of the home turn but the horse on his outside (light green colours) was going just as well and held its ground so Moseley had to revert back to the inside. No mention in Stewards report but I note that Miss Veronica Algar was the chair of Stewards so not surprised.

Exactly, if the John Wayne on the winner hadn't have tried to force a run on the point of the home turn, they'd have still been racing and if he wasn't charged with careless riding the Stewards are incompetent.

Entirely Moseley's fault IMO and if he wasn't on the mat for careless riding he should've been.

Imperative that the Starter is on rostrum before last horse loads and Stewards should demand so.

Race 1 Riverton is what you get when a half-baked Starter is nowhere near the rostrum whilst field is loaded.

Soich was a law clerk at the time and was in the sack with Mr Big when he was arrested but was eventually acquitted of any involvement.

It's drawing a long bow to envisage a bank blowing the gaff on their clients. There was a long chapter in the book "The Gambling Man" titled "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" whereby one of the four, the head honcho of an Australian Bank who helped himself to 5.3 mil of wealthy clients funds (eventually losing 1.8 mil) to gamble on the ponies. That was in the late 1960's early 70's which would equate to at least 20 mil in today's money. Yes, more than a few Lawyers and the odd Accountant have been partial to the lure of illicit funds, one being the NZ Lawyer who acted for the Mr. Big/Mr. Asia drug cartel of the 1970's.

Correct, and this is where many of racing's participants are largely inadequate, basic grammar and spelling isn't that hard especially when the likes of Google etc. are only a mouse click away. If more of racing's coal face participants could string a sentence and were half proficient with a puter then forums such as these are an excellent venue to voice one's view... and anonymously.

Most interference in races occurs in the first 200/400 metres, the stewards have all the head-on footage of this interference but are too dense/dumb to take it into account with regards dividend bearing placings. Early interference is also more deliberate, whereas home straight interference is mainly attributable to horses moving under pressure.

And the aggrieved connections won't allow their jockeys to carry whips in future which will cause an uproar, half the field with whips and half without. Half-baked rules enforced by half-baked stewards.

Wrong place at wrong time, 500kg of horse against 50kg of jockey. Unlucky.

Correct, and if the horse is well fed, well trained, happy and paying its way Weir was doing more things right than he was wrong in my book. I've seen a lot of horses who were not well fed and certainly not happy but the bunny huggers cared little about their predicament. The legendary Tommy Smith found a competitive (anabolic) edge long before drug testing procedures detected them. Smith somehow got an ordinary horse from New Zealand (Toparoa) to win the 1955 Melbourne Cup and defeat a near champion (Rising Fast) in the process. Toparoa never won another race after returning to his owner in NZ, funny that ! The most you can do in this game is win, losers don't count and at the end of the day the horse is only an animal, a noble animal but still only an animal and to be frank there has been many a slow, non trying, rogue horse who could've only benefitted from a jab or three with a bull prodder.

Both Riccarton's track manager (Chapman) and CEO (Mills) live on the course, they have access to modern technology (both digital and mechanical) and in November they have at least another 6 hours of daylight time before and after their usual work hours in which to present a safe and satisfactory track for their one important race day of the year. If I was in either the track manager's or CEO's shoes I wouldn't have left a stone unturned preparing the track for Cup day regardless of how long I'd been in the job. If my mail is correct there is considerable resentment towards the two individuals in question.

When was the last time a horse slipped galloping in a straight line at Riccarton and when was the last time a race meeting was canned there??? In my view the Riccarton abandonment was the direct result of incompetence by two individuals, the track manager and Mills. The writing was on the wall when horses were blundering (slipping) at the start on day one and two. The Stewards should also have demanded the track be mowed before the meeting commenced and certainly before the last day, no mention of that in report.

Of course they're not. The Trainers had an opportunity to give Mills the two-fingered salute when he transferred last weeks meeting to the Polytrack but didn't have the initiative to do so.

From memory her husband/partner was under the assumption Neal was tutoring her as a trainee Stipendiary Steward when in actual fact he was feeding her an old part of his anatomy... in a Christchurch motel room. Pricks like Neal thought nothing of persecuting license holders to the point of destroying their careers in some instances. No sympathy.

Rigmarole, it's too late having postmortems a month after an event, especially when the evidence of incompetence has been tampered with.

No doubt swept under carpet, similar to a previous episode of leaving road cones on track for the field to hurdle in first (flat) race of the day approx five years ago. A bit late to remedy the course proper now, Millsey, it should've been seen to after the Grand National meeting in August, in fact it should have been seen to many moons ago. Do you (and a few others) still have the Boards backing, Millsey?

As the head poster on this thread alluded, approx 50 horses slipped (and lost their chance) at the start on the first two days and no remedial action was taken by stewards, track manager or Mills. You don't need to be a track/turf expert to see that any recent moisture on a grass surface which lacks density and is too long will cause the grass to collapse and horses won't get traction which is exactly what occurred. Horses shouldn't slip at the start and they should never slip galloping in a straight line at Riccarton in November.

Take the refund and don't go back there whilst Mills is at the wheelhouse, he's used the place to feather his own nest for 25 years or more. Will be interesting to see if the CJC's insurers come to the party when Mills goes cap in hand. If you don't lock your house and someone gets in and helps themselves, your insurers have every right to dissent. Likewise, If you don't produce a safe and satisfactory track to race on, your insurers also have every right to dissent. I've never rated Tim Mills but past and present CJC/Riccarton Park Board's obviously do, although to be fair to Mills his predecessors weren't much chop either.

Preposterous. I've only walked the Riccarton track twice in recent times and as soon as I set foot on that track I knew there was a problem, you Millsey have been at the wheelhouse of the CJC/Riccarton Park for close to 30 years and still wouldn't have a clue. There's not enough rooted grass on your track Millsey, which means that any recent moisture which hasn't had a chance to penetrate will immediately cause problems. The grass is healthy but there's simply not enough of it... not dense/thick enough and if let get too long you're asking for trouble. Riccarton in November should have a dense and cushioned low cropped sole of carpet-like perennial rye-grass. There are further problems with the soil base since the reconstruction approx 25 years ago but the above could and should've been remedied immediately.

Walked Riccarton track today, mowed twice and it's as hard as a city street. Begs belief why it wasn't mowed earlier. Should be a good day tomorrow without the commotion. Will old Millsey let me in in my shorts and jandals?

Yes, and will they reimburse the connections of runners who lost their chance blundering the start on the first two days? With approx 50 horses losing their footing at the start Mills and Co were fortunate that the first two days weren't canned as well. Did old Millsey have a plan B yesterday to entertain the once a year racegoers and if he's still at the wheelhouse next year, will he do the right thing and provide free admission ?

FFS, Riccarton's turned into a skating rink in November, is there enough money in the till to refund the paying customers??? Put another log on the fire.

There maybe an excuse at a once a year bush meeting like Reefton who no doubt rely on volunteers but there is absolutely no excuse at a metropolitan track with a multitude of payed staff. CEO Mills lives on the property at Riccarton Park, a stones throw from the course proper, how many times would've he walked the course before a race meeting? I personally have spent many hours around Riccarton (mostly track-work mornings) and can't ever recall seeing Mills present but have regularly seen him sitting on a bar stool at the Racecourse Pub ! Although I have little respect for Mills, the buck stops with the stewards in charge of the meeting to ensure all is in order regards track issues etc. and ignoring the fact that a multitude of runners have blundered the start through no fault of their own is unacceptable.