All The Aces

Were you pissed when you read my post Chief? How did you fathom that I would feel threated by anything. I merely pointed out a sexist award in a non sexiest industry. Men and women compete at every level in this industry as equals with equal opportunity and I applaud that that happens. Therefore I question the need to have National Racing Women Of The Year Award which is based solely on sex. It implys that somehow women are not as good as the men in the industry and they need separate recognition when that is clearly untrue. jamie Kah only said a couple of days ago and I quote "It is not a good female jockey or a good male jockey - its' if they are good jockey and they ride well put them on. There is no sexist people in this industry any more." Perhaps you would point out to us where women can't compete equally in this industry and are therefore inferior hence this condescending Award.

Why is there a category for National Racing Women of the Year? I thought men and women were equals in NZ Racing and compete on equal footing. eg: there is only one Premiership for riders, one for trainers etc so why is there a sexist distinction for one these Entain Awards?

As I mentioned I believe it has been done a few times in NZ which isn't any surprise and of course doesn't even rate a mention here. Just with regard to Morphetville last Saturday I am not surprised that the female riders rode the card either. Just for some perspective 100 horses started with 58 of them ridden by the girls and 42 by the boys. 9 of the 6 winners were favourites. In this day and age why are we even comparing the male and female riders. They compete on equal footing as far as I am concerned and we should treat them equally as jockeys rather than comparing them by sex. Have you noticed there are more and more female riders coming though and the rarity could soon be having the card won by male riders.

Pretty sure it has been done a few times in NZ. Has been done in Australia previously also Toowoomba 23 October 2021.

Hardly an unusual occurrence these days. I note they didn't mention all the races were won by the boys at Flemington the same day.

What about the Waipa meeting on July 29 1972 when the road was jam packed and cars at a standstill with people parking on the side of the road and walking. Jackpot day and 33,000 people oncourse.

I concur with Thomas is saying. The odds of the low barriers being on one table and and high barriers on the other would be huge after supposedly being mixed up.

It will probably because it will be a twilight meeting. Minimum stakes of $25k for twilight meets ie Matamata today.

I think you will find that Craig was 17 when he won on Pasta Post.

One week later and we have another horse exit stage left in the straight. This time Above The Clouds at Tauranga in R8 carving up the field. Ashvin Goindasamy hits Above The Clouds on the right hand side and the horse veers out sharply onto El Nymph hampering her and also Hit The Road Jack. Goindasamy straightens her and pulls the whip through to his left hand which was the correct thing to do and uses it and then for some reason swaps it back to his right hand and hits the mare on the right side and she immediately reacts again by veering out very sharply skittling El Nymph, Cork, Trust In You and Finest Wine. Above The Clouds had given him plenty of warning earlier in the straight when reacting badly to being hit on the right hand side. yet he goes back and does it again.

Gaudray was also lucky not to be charged for going to the front and then slowing right down around the 800m. The carnage that ensued to four horses ie Tears Of Victory, Mary Shan, Firestorm and Molly Bloom had a significant bearing on the race.

It was her own fault that this incident happened. Luberon had warned her at the start of the clip that she wanted to lay out. You will notice that Gaudray had to straighten her and she should have then pulled her whip through to her left hand to contiune to ride the horse out. Instead she keeps her whip in her right hand and hits Luberon on the right hand side who immediately runs out sharply with Gaudray losing the right rein. I think Gaudray is a very promising rider but she stuffed up on Luberon on Saturday but at least both horse and rider have come through relatively unscathed.

Message re Avondale NZTR has tried, without success, to engage meaningfully with the Avondale Jockey Club on track management and track safety issues following the abandonment of the Club's meeting on 6 September 2023. In the circumstances, NZTR advises that no further trial meetings will be held at Avondale, and that it will request TAB NZ to revoke the allocation of race dates to the Avondale Jockey Club for the current season, until such time as it is satisfied regarding the Club's track management regime and the safety of its track for racing and trialling. NZTR is currently working with the Northern Programming Chair and Club's to look at alternate venues for the affected trials and race meetings. These will be advised shortly subject to obtaining TAB NZ's agreement to changes to venues for racemeetings.

It woukld be easy for Owners and trainers to show cause. Because the stewards allowed Pinn to ride witha 3kg claim at his first meeting in Australia then all owners and trainers are then led to believe the 3kg claim is correct and engage him on that basis. He has weighed out and weighed back in under correct weight in all those races according to the clerk of the scales. Surely the blame lays squarely at the feet of the Melbourne stewards.

Track a good 3 tonight with the prospect of showers tonight and tomorrow according to the forecast. I hope this doesn't mean any problems.

But wasn't that for false papers for a jumpers ticket which he got four months and a $5000.00 fine for?

Stable staff error.

What a storm in a teacup. The promotion was for one day only to acknowledge International Women's Day. It was all over the media. What a sad lot moaning and bitching about that. Hang your heads in shame!

AWAPUNI RETURNS TO RACING WITH THE LITTLE AVONDALE LOWLAND STAKES ON WEDNESDAY 1 MARCH Racing is set to resume at RACE Awapuni on Wednesday 1 March featuring the transferred Little Avondale Lowland Stakes, following the successful completion of the Return to Racing Plan that had been enacted last December. Following the abandonments in November and December an aggressive renovation schedule was agreed upon by industry and track representatives, and this work took place from late December through to the end of January. It included aerating, groundbreaking and coring, along with undersowing, and gypsum applications. The irrigation system was also reviewed and improved where possible. After local gallops last week, a thorough programme of 14 trials took place on the course proper on Monday 13 February, with relevant industry personnel in attendance. Following the trials the running rail into the back straight was also realigned with a number of horses galloping on the area near the Synthetic Track Crossing on Friday 24 February with senior riders aboard to achieve a final tick of approval. All participants were happy with the rail alignment and track surface

Better question is Was there any atmosphere at Pukekohe? Far, far smaller turnout than what would have turned up if the racing had been Ellerslie.

RaceInfo Meetings Meeting News INDUSTRY UPDATE – ABANDONMENTS MEETING NEWS INDUSTRY UPDATE – ABANDONMENTS INDUSTRY UPDATE – ABANDONMENTS Friday 11 November – Awapuni & NZ CUP Riccarton – Saturday 12 November The NZTR Board have now considered all reports provided on the respective abandonments at Awapuni on Friday 11 November & NZ Cup Meeting held Saturday 12 November. Reports were received and reviewed from Club, RIB, NZSTI, Independent Track Manager and Irrigation specialists. Both RACE & Canterbury JC have been provided with the NZTR Board findings of these reports which also include proposed sanctions with regards to funding. Both Club’s have a right of reply to these findings and further relevant details will be provided to the wider industry by the end of next week. Following on from these abandonments, communication with Clubs will begin earlier leading up to Race week to ensure track preparation is on schedule & identify issues, NZTR and the NZ Jockeys Association have also put in place an application for senior jockeys to provide feedback and ratings regarding Track surfaces immediately post Raceday. This is designed to assist NZTR and further support Track managers identify and address any concerns when it comes to their respective track surfaces but also identify when work being done is having a positive effect. NZTR and the Regional Track managers held the first Regional Field Day at Ellerslie on Thursday 17 November with Turf and Equipment experts present to support the knowledge of the Northern Track Managers. The CD Field Day is being held today and a Southern Field Day will also be held once a suitable date can be identified. This is all aimed at increasing the capability of our Track managers and allowing them to build further networks with their peers for support and advice.

TO EACH TOTALISATOR CLUB Following recent abandonments of both race meeting and trials, I need to make it very clear that I, and the Board consider that each club CEO/GM is accountable and responsible for ensuring that their systems and processes meet the standard required and requested by NZTR in relation to presenting a safe and suitable racing surface. This could mean for some clubs that a thorough review of their people and processes is undertaken immediately and that everybody responsible for presenting a track is clear on the role they play. Should a club not follow the track preparation policies and procedures, and these actions are found to contribute to an abandonment I need to make it clear that this will jeopardise the club funding for the meeting. If any club CEO/GM is unsure of the requirements I encourage you to contact Darin Balcombe to answer any questions. I also want to make clear that we are all in this together, support is available for all clubs, and utilising the resource of the Regional Track Advisors and early engagement of NZTR should there be any concerns leading into a raceday is the only way we are going to be able to mitigate the impact of these issues going forward. As always, I am happy to discuss with any club directly. Bruce Sharrock Chief Executive

That track was a disgrace today with the length of the grass on it. Incompetence at it's finest.

I spoke with a jockey yesterday and they mentioned that the horses were slipping on jumping. Interesting the stipes report uses the term "blunder" instead.

The joint statement from the Starship Foundation and Waikato Studs reads: "The Starship Foundation welcomes donations from gaming societies and the horse racing industry, and has long been the grateful beneficiary of donations of this nature. Donations are the life-blood of the Starship Foundation and every single dollar enables Starship Children's Hospital to deliver world-class healthcare for children. "Mark Chittick's offer to be involved with and become the potential beneficiary of the charity component of the Golden Eagle Race, came in at 3pm and required us to make a rapid decision by close of business the same day. As with any charity, due diligence is an essential part of our responsibility to accept donations. In this instance, considerations around the size and off-shore nature of the donation regrettably could not be resolved within this timeframe. "We are tremendously disappointed that we could not meet the deadline and become the beneficiary of this incredibly generous donation. If we had had more time, the decision may very well have been different. "We have spoken directly to Mark this afternoon and he too is disappointed at the outcome, but acknowledges there were time pressures involved. He would have loved to be involved in the Golden Eagle with the Starship Foundation as the beneficiary and he remains a huge supporter of the incredible work the Hospital does for children and families in need," the statement said. "Both the Starship Foundation and Waikato Stud have a huge amount of respect for each other’s work and industries and intend to work together to build a partnership in the future.” Waikato Stud principal, Mark Chittick. (Source: Supplied)