All The Aces

So have you scratched after all this?

Walker only paid up with four to make the field (one further on the ballot) and it appears most of the noms have got a start. I would have assumed NZTR would have spoken with Mark re this race. Your early rant was therefore unwarranted. I would gather an apology will be forthcoming. BTW. There are plenty of 1200m maiden races about.

The maiden 1200m has a starting limit of 12 and I note that Mark Walker has 8 horses listed in the top twelve ranked entries (9 counting back to 14). By the way I can't see any horse outside of the top 12 that has won two trials.

http://i1.cmail20.com/ei/r/91/07B/7DD/155729/csfinal/NZTR-banner-9900000000079e3c.jpg Dear Valued Owner, Firstly, I apologise to all the owners who were impacted by the abandonment on Saturday at Rotorua, likewise to all other participants, Trainers, Jockeys, Starters, Commentator, clerk of the scales, judge, raceday staff and punters. We can no longer tolerate sub-par performance when it comes to our tracks given the cost to the industry. We will all agree that weather will get the better of us at times, that is something we can never change. What we can change however is our ability to recognise when the surface we are expecting our horses and jockeys to perform on is not up to standard. Following the Trentham abandonment last year policies were put in place with the aim of avoiding incidents such as Saturday’s abandonment. In recent weeks we have ensured that, when we were made aware of a potential track issue, that the track was inspected independently. This has allowed meetings to be transferred or abandoned in advance of their race days. The situation that occurred at Rotorua on Saturday is unacceptable. NZTR has received an initial report from the club and requested further information. We will keep participants advised regarding the outcome however, the Rotorua Racing Club will now be subject to our Return to Racing Policy which require certain steps to be followed before the track will be able to host racing again. So, what will NZTR be doing to avoid similar situations in the future? · From 1 August we will introduce a Regional Track model which will provide more eyes on tracks, and more support for track managers. · We will work more closely with the Racing Integrity Board (RIB) to ensure that, when situations require and resources allow, we will have people pre-inspect tracks with club personnel and, if possible, gallop a horse ridden by an experienced rider. I feel that with some in our industry there is a disconnect between what is expected in 2022 given heightened Health and Safety regulations, Animal Welfare considerations, and what may have been acceptable in the past. If we are to move forward as an industry we must accept and embrace the environment we are in and make the necessary adjustments, these are across the board and not just related to track conditions. Otherwise, we will continue to sabotage any progress we are seeking to make. Yours in racing, http://i2.cmail20.com/ei/r/91/07B/7DD/155729/csfinal/Bruce-Sharrock-9906db0a2801453c.jpg Bruce Sharrock Chief Executive New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing

I have seen video footage of the area of the track that caused today's abandonment at Rotorua. A track inspection yesterday and early this morning would have revealed it would be a problem and that racing couldn't proceed but no they wait until the jockeys arrive and see the problem themselves, raise concerns and after conferment the meeting is abandoned shortly before the first. The area was past the winning post and near where the horses cross over from the 1560m start and there was a discussion about whether to delete the two 1560m races and the 2000m race and race the remaining five races being the three 1215m races and two 1400m races but it was still considered unsafe even pulling up and the meeting abandoned entirely. Some serious questions need to be asked about this.

Randwick abandoned after R1 😁

Fine day and Rotorua abandoned late due to the state of the track with horses and people already on course WTF!! Why wasn't the decison made earlier???

10 races 5 leaders won Deploy, Mistress Minx, Smart Rocks, Golden Hue & Tightlign. Kerikeri led then trailed and got up to beat the horse that did lead. Masetto went up at the 1000m to sit second outside the leader and wore him down to win narrowly. Cakebytheocean sat second on the outer and came away to win. So 8 of the 10 races were won by the leader or the horse in second position. That left On Fifth Avenue who settled a handy fifth and Diamond Girl who settled back but came around quickly turning in as the only two winners who were not in the first two in the running. It is a continuing trend at Ruakaka.

Otaki-Maori RC 6 May 2022 - R6 (heard at Cambridge 1 June 2022) - Wiremu Pinn - RIB (racingintegrityboard.org.nz)

Out for 5 months from Tuesday I believe.

Well there were only 7 races programmed.

But stewards quickly removed the smile from Rawiller’s face when issuing a two-week suspension and $40,000 fine for the jockey’s excessive whip use. Rawiller pleaded guilty to striking Think It Over eight times prior to the final 100 metres and 20 times in total. Under NSW whip rules, a jockey is allowed to breach the five strikes prior to the final 100m rule provided they don’t hit the horse more than 18 times in total during the race. When handing down the penalty chief steward Marc Van Gestel told Rawiller there were multiple factors for the heavy penalty. “The Queen Elizabeth Stakes is one of our flagship races of the autumn”, Think It Over’s winning margin was “half-a-length” and (taking into account) Rawiller’s past whip record “particularly in feature races”. Rawiller’s suspension starts on Sunday week and he is free to resume riding from Monday, May 2. Think It Over earned $2.3 million for winning the Queen Elizabeth, Rawiller’s five per cent winning riding fee totalled $115,000. The former champion Sydney rider was fined $2000 last week for a whip breach aboard Commando Hunt which finished second in the Country Championships Final. On that occasion, Rawiller struck that galloper eight times prior to the final 100m and 19 times in total. Rawiller’s previous whip use penalty was a $20,000 fine and six meeting suspension he incurred aboard Eduardo in The Everest last year.

The rewards for winning a G1 race are certainly diffrent from winning a maiden race in many aspects including financial reward from the stake money and value of the horse and resultant progeny and this is why the rules state The Rules of both Codes draw the attention of Judicial Committees to the following matters relevant to fixing penalties: • the status of a race; • the stake payable for a race;

Rubbish 2 at Pukekohe on Sunday 2 at Otaki 14/4 2 at Matamata 20/4 1 at Hawera 27/4 plus a hurdle 2 at Rotorua 29/4

What's that got to do with it. She then took a left turn to go down to the fence and ended up in a situation where she was dictated to. She made the call to angle to the fence.

What are you talking about? Allpress drew three from the outside, one outside Billy Pinn and CHOSE to go across to the fence and end up second last whilst Billy Pinn settled outside her. At the 1200m Pinn could see Allpress had horses in front of her so improved forward to sit outside the leader whilst Allpress ends up still last on the fence. At the 600m he drives Posh Porotene to the lead and goes for home knowing if he can get a break on Posh Porotene Allpress would be flat to catch them. Allpress reamians stuck on the fence in last place and was still last turning in before finally getting some room to come between runners over the final 250m and finishes strongly to grab second on the $1.90 favourite some three lengths adrift of Pinn. Game, set and match to Billy Pinn. Six love, six love and six love with no points to Allpress.

Just catching up on the replays from Waverley on Friday. Billy Pinn certainly gave Lisa Allpress a lesson in riding in R7 that's for sure!!

With no relegation under the current rules I would be saying to my jockey re the whip in a big race. If you think you can win go for it and I will pay any fine etc you get.

M Cameron (LICKETY SPLIT) - Admitted a charge of using the whip in three consecutive strides followed by a further four consecutive strides after a pause of one stride on his mount LICKETY SPLIT inside the 100 metres. After considering submissions the Adjudicative Committee suspended M Cameron’s licence to ride in races from the conclusion of racing on Saturday 26 March up to and including racing on Saturday 9 April, 8 national riding days and imposed a fine of $3,500 Margin a nose!

Well Colgan is on the injured list on NZTR website, McNab is still listed for his rides tomorrow. Opie tested positive today.

Well the winner came along the inside in the last. Have to say it was a terrible ride by Colgan in the Derby. (and no I didn't have a bet).

isnt Bernard in Aussie?

The training tracks have re-positioned and the earthworks have commenced from the crossing to the 900m. You need to get out more.

Firm on top and rain made it slippery.