Noodlum

Any bets that we will see some team driving at Alex Park tonight?

Not the first time either. Add to that the other Lamb warnings and he should be hammered. But the RIU and Stewards look after their own don't they? Just harass and nail those trying to make a living.

I see the All Stars UDR is tracking back up. Currently 0.4114, 51 wins - 195 starts, $1.6m in stakes. $600k in front of second place - Robert Dunn - 52 wins out of 335 starts, UDR 0.2448.

I doubt every driver in NZ would have not taken a trail behind an All Stars horse. You would have criticised Natalie for not having a go for the lead! Most drivers would have handed up to one of the best horses in the field. Amazing Dream had every chance - it just wasn't good enough on the night. I don't believe it is racing in its best form. No doubt Mark and Natalie had inside information on that when they worked them earlier in the week. Call a foul if you wish and call it "Team Driving" but how else would you give the best advantage to both of your runners which are the two best runners in the field? FFS it was 4 lengths back to the rest of the field! It has had 16 wins so the other 45% of its runs it won differently! One of the 9 you list was a 3 horse field FFS. Of the 10 Group races I listed above the difference is 50/50. As I said the way it is driven is determined by circumstance and that is dictated largely by the fact Amazing Dream isn't a good starter.

Don't let the facts get in the way of your story. If you look at all of Amazing Dream's wins they are all different. You could hardly say she was a leader and a stayer. WOODLANDS STUD CADUCEUS CLUB 2YO FILLIES CLASSIC - led out, handed up and trailed behind leader, inside run half way down straight - close finish. PGG WRIGHTSON NZ YEARLING SALES 2YO FILLIES FINAL - Drew 5, pushed forward from start to sit parked, pushed forward to lead a lap out when horse attacked on outside. Easy win. PETER BRECKON MEMORIAL CADUCEUS CLUB STAKES - Drew 5, bit slow for early speed, settles 6th with trail, 3 back 1 out at the bell, moves forward to sit parked 700m, hits lead at top of straight, Stylish Memphis flew home. ALABAR SIRES STAKES 3YO FILLIES CHAMPIONSHIP MOBILE PACE - Drew 9, again slow and settles second last, moves forward 3 wide at the bell getting a drag up behind Stylish Memphis, rolls off Stylish Memphis to take lead half way up straight. Northern Oaks - tardy from 3 draw, steadied, then taken to the lead on straightening. Last 800m in 56.2 Northern Derby - again tardy, restrained to back of the field, got a drag into the race 3 wide, finished best. Last 800m 56.2 Neville R Sires Series Heat 5 - Five horse field, takes trail and uses passing lane to just get up. Last 800m 55.2. Neville R Series Final - drew wide, slow away and restrained to back of field, tried to get a drag into it but went forward on its own with 900m to go, sat parked worried the leader down in the straight. Last 800m 55.4. CADUCEUS CLUB NORTHERN BREEDERS STAKES - drew 8, again a bit slow out of the gate, keeps on moving forward steadily to take the lead, Mark slows them right up, sprint home with Beyond Words running the fastest last sectional and flying home. The race that started this discussion: ROSSLANDS STUD QUEEN OF HEARTS - drew 1, again not the fastest starts from the ace, once passed quickly moves off markers to go forward to take lead, again Mark tries to slow them up, Natalie decides to go forward with Beyond Words and Amazing Dream hands up, Natalie increases the speed of the race (this would surely work in Amazing Dream's favour!), Natalie really puts the heat on at the 700m runs the 800 to the 400 in 27, Amazing Dream still under a hold, Natalie goes all out for home and Mark goes for the inside run - Amazing Dream rallies but gets pipped a head. In my opinion it had every chance. A mile rate of 1:55. Last 800m in 55.4. They ran 7 seconds slower the week before when Amazing Dream won with a MR of 2:00! Now after looking at all those races the only conclusion you can draw is that Amazing Dream ran each race not with a preconceived tactic in mind but according to circumstances as they arose. That is one of the disadvantages with a horse that doesn't have gate speed. Yes it can stay but you can't say it "likes" to lead. Ironically it got outstayed in its last start. Other conclusions - Mark drives more conservatively than Natalie - will try and slow a field down if in front or seek cover. Natalie still has that Australian Gammalite aggression in her drives and will go forward without cover and in more circumstances than Mark. Two different styles from two different drives. Beyond Words - this horse is on the up after only 8 starts - definitely getting stronger. Amazing Dream hasn't quite captured its previous form (26 starts).

Perhaps because others don't see the drive as wrong. What was wrong with it? What were the options? Did the horse have every chance? If the drive was "wrong" who benefited? Geez would have been a mug not to hand up at that stage. The fact is if it was someone other than an All Star the questioning would be different.

Well people are quick to try and bring the successful down by casting unfounded aspersions. Many don’t have a bloody clue about driving a harness horse!

Would we then have INCA-2 and another $10m+ thrown down the big for no result?

All sorts of arrangements happen below the radar. You only have to look at Lloyd Williams "arrangement" at his peak in the gallops arena.

So did you have the quinella in the wrong order?

You haven't offered much of an alternative scenario to the way the race was run. Do you have evidence of a criminal offence?

Then you'd criticise Natalie for not contesting the lead. Did you expect them to cut each other's throats? Amazing Dream had the run of the race and on the night wasn't good enough.....just!

Geez I'm sure the punters were happy!

I heard that the Palmerston North race commentator wasn't even on course but working from a remote studio. Is that correct?

Tell us again Galah what the problem is?

"Buried" who?

What I can't understand is why anyone would defend this dysfunctional RIU. Here we have someone who hasn't crossed any line in 40 years of harness racing involvement but gets hammered. Why? Because some ex-cops want to legislate respect rather than earn it. It is only going to get worse unless something is done about the culture and lack of management at the RIU. What the hell does Godber actually do other than play God by proxy?

Not the job he is doing but HOW he is doing it. Word to all licensed horsemen - don't talk to the Stipes as they are all recording everything you say without your approval! Yep doing your job like that earns respect. Typical ex-cop criminal approach. What'll be next? Undercover cops down at the Golden Mile?

All well and good to take the moral high ground and preach from it. But how can you expect the so called "vocal minority" have any respect when you see the complete lack of integrity in the INCA investigation, week in week out inconsistent stipe rulings and a race starter continuing to blow every bloody start he has a hand in!

He's in boots and all on another channel. Usual BS inferring he knows more than he posts. Openly telling people to PM him because he knows more. States the complaining owners are friends of his. Who knows why. You don't I dont. The rest is speculation. However you consider the personal issues to be a fallacy. On what basis? The fact he handed in his license? I suppose you think there is more to Purdon and Rasmussen "retiring." I tell you there are a shit load of licensed horsemen thinking about throwing in the towel. Who leaked like a sieve during the early stages of INCA? The RIU. Who told the journo that the RIU had referred some of the allegations to the police? Check out the past behaviour of the ex-cops on the RIU. It is the same in each of the codes where so called enthusiasts will pick up on any scrap of scandal and give it a life of its own. Harness is particularly bad at it and been the same for decades. Got much worse when the RIU went down the INCA path. Which so far has spent $10m plus and found nothing that they were seeking to find.

He hasn't been charged with anything. There are only allegations and some scum at the RIU has leaked information to the press. So much for integrity! His father mentioned that Mitchell is under incredible stress. Once again we see the usual suspects in the industry going in for the kill. Great ones for casting the stones first! People like JJ Flash seem to bottom feed off this stuff.

Hang on a minute there. Many of us are sick of the RIU created INCA debacle and their long running vendetta. They got zilch from INCA but their actions then and subsequently have caused considerable collateral damage. When is this so called "journalist" going to turn his sights on the RIU? Or is he too heavily reliant on them as a sneaky source of information?

Nor a man to a man?! I'm not "blaming" INCA for the individuals actions but the pressure that was applied to these people was extreme. We all have a breaking point. I know I've been there. The INCA pressure was well beyond any crime that they were looking for. The crimes that these individuals have been guilty of is not what they were looking for.

Imagine the uproar if we saw a headline "Fletcher's construction worker guilty of assault". Let alone if there had been a four year investigation of construction workers while hiding in hedges.

Also is this "fair"? That's 2 and a half years! I guess the stinking RIU got there in the end but not for the right reasons. Certainly not what the premise of INCA was about. Davis said Anderson’s assault conviction meant he would not be allowed to enter a racecourse for two years unless he was granted permission by the Exemptions Committee.