Jim Green

No idea. I'm very new to following jumping racing Specatacular photo and I'm tipping the one closest to camera won. Jockey appears to be sitting very confident. Are you a professional photographer?

We focus on the negatives on these forums but I'd like to say how exciting I found the jumps/jumping races yesterday. A true Champion in The Cossack lumping 73kgs to a hard fought/impressive win was something that should be celebrated. He is like a Melody Belle of jumping. The Races provided real entertainment. I am a flat racing tragic,bu must admit after watching the jumps I found the flat races.......a little flat. Well done to all participants Riders,trainers,strappers,the people who put up the jumps on the course proper (very interesting to see them taking them down so quickly,trackside could maybe have a segment where they give us an in depth look at the construction of the jumps and maybe a track walk with a jockey explaining what they are seeing out there. Following another horse into a jump must be scary/exciting/thrilling??? amazing.These jockeys don't get the publicity of our heros Opie,McNab,Kennedy etc but must be either mad or great horsemen/women. Portia Matthews leading the premiership surely could be used to try and attract more girls to the sport e.g Jamie Kah in Aus Why are people saying this part of the industry is going to be gone in a few years? I found it the most entertaining part of the day. Would love to see more of it. The Trackside pictures after the races when they were cutting to the commercials of the different angle of the jumps were also brilliant so well done trackside. All I want now is more background on some of the horses/trainers/jockeys so as a punter I can build a connection and follow them through the winter. Alot of mystery and names that aren't regulars in the form guide. All we want as punters is more information. Jumping trials also don't have videos so we are unable to view them? Doesn't help. Great racing and well done to all involved in the jumping. Cant wait to watch the next meeting,when and where ever the may be.

Teofilo Star was fine after the fall,in fact he trialled today. The meeting that was abandoned was 2 weeks later when the track was upgraded from a soft 5. In Victoria all jumping races must be run on Soft 5 or softer for animal welfare reasons. The Grand national was a great race. It's a crying shame the Nz Racing big wigs have let the industry slowly die. Neglected for years ,no wonder it's a shambles now. The flat game doesn't look any better. When Entain bail after 5 years the whole industry will be a mess...........where will the big wigs be then? On the ship on in the life rafts?

It doesnt affect my life in anyway and I wish good luck to all racing participants as I respect the dangerous nature of the job they do but if you were the "Chief Stipe" running the law in my busniess I would be getting an independant investigator. Its a good pub yarn but does it pass the sniff test? Happened twice now with horses not at Wexford Stables the week of the grand final. (prove the cow paddock and agistment farm are "on site" and I will give myself an uppercut and apologise,i am not in the know,just reading between the lines) Fool me once..... Ill leave it at that and look forward to Ellerslie races on Saturday. Plenty of time to do the form tomorrow. Case is closed so I will move on.

It sounds like that 1 beer that makes you blow twice the limit.

It is listed as a pretraining and agistment farm. But I'm sure if your sending your group 1 runners out with the cows before a Grand final then sending them to a pretraining farm would be fairly normal. Is it common to send them away from the stables the week of the race?

They don't seem to have much luck with the horses staying away from the racing stables before racing. Paddock with cows,At the pre training farm........maybe just keep them at the racing stables where you can keep an eye on them and have security footage? Is it common practice to give the horses time away from stables so close to racing?

An interesting breakdown would be who has the most successful recouping the purchase price from prizemoney. Making a profit off these "investments" would be very rare with the high costs involved I'm sure. Kevin Myers,Ross McCarroll,Robbie Patterson are 3 I've noticed who do very well with horses who don't have K1 pedigrees. Te Akau have built an empire. They obviously do something right. The results,the experience etc and the blooding of young people into the brutal industry of racing is great to see. We need the net generation coming through to take over from us old farts

some horses need more time than others and I guess the good ones are naturals from the start How often do we hear that. A good horse and the breakers and trainers say they were natural and easy to deal with from the start,ahead of the others at the gates etc Or breeders say the good one was the fastest to stand up etc In Europe where they breed stayers I'd be guessing time is more of a factor. would be interesting to see data on classic winners at 3 vs starts as 2yo. Surely working,trialling and racing at 2yo must have benefits to bone structure as long as it not over done. I do remember another good one Silent achiever. Roger James always said she was "fragile" and needed time.She trialled at 2 but never raced. The best trainers can obviously see how far they can/should push the young stock. Another great topic. The more the look the more you learn Racing is alot more complex than horses running around a track. There are so many variables. I have great respect for all in the industry .Maybe trackside should do a show on a Monday night showing us different aspects of the industry. Stories from behind the scenes with the stablehands,trackwork riders,trainers,jockeys,breeders,vets,farriers etc would be a fanatastic learning experience for all punters and maybe we would throw the remote at the TV alot less when we realise how hard everyone is working and how hard they are all trying to win.

yes she sure did Just wanted a definition of "big" as avoiding the Big 2yo races in Aus seemed to help those 3. Weren't gutted by tough runs Agree with the Nz trained assesment. Te Akau have had great success with mares Karaka Millioning then training on. Perhaps Nz 2yo races aren't as taxing as the golden slipper/blue diamond etc because they certainly seems to grow another leg as they train on. OR Maybe Australian 2yos are bred for pure speed,get black type as a 2yo and don't worry about 3,4,5yo racing. Legarto was also 1 for 1 as a 2yo. Credit to the NZ industry seeing them training on. I see YONCE was backing winning on saturday after disappearing for a long while. Believe she started off in Cambridge before going to Aus

Define "big" Black Caviar 2 starts as a 2yo Winx 2 starts as a 2yo Makybe Diva Unraced

Its how the legal system works wether we agree with it or not

So its up to the people who believe it's not true to either prove there is no paddock/trough/cows or accept the decision. Evidence not gossip or assumption.

Yes of course it is plausible. Here's the stables,theres the day paddock that is dual purpose and here's the common supplement B12/cobalt we put in the trough for the cows which the horses obviously drink during the day and it's case closed. That may have been part of the report Godber made public. I assume it was.

So has anyone been able to locate where the cow paddock/trough is in relation to the stables? Very easy to put this to bed if the paddock is on the property where the stables are and the horses went out during the day for a graze which wouldn't be uncommon.

Where are the cow paddocks in relation to the racing stables? Not being familiar with Matamata I don't know If the paddocks are behind the stables and the horses go out during the day it's certainly plausible but I have heard pub talk where people have said they don't have cows anywhere near the stables? like I said pub talk not evidence but a map of the stables layout/paddocks would certainly erase suspicion

As an outsider looking in,thats the impression I got when they used my tax dollars to pay for it. To stop abandonments of trials/races in winter a to give the local trainers a consistent surface to gallop on instead of thrashing them around on the wet sand or grass. I can only assume if your the last of the however many horse gallop on a Saturday morning it would be similar to playing a game of cricket on a 10 day old pitch which would be terrible. Correct me if I'm wrong but watching the races they seem to go wider and wider as the track deteriorates in winter. Do they have that luxury at morning trackwork? They appear to be restricted by road cones to 1 strip? Do they race on the all weather's in the UK in summer? I ask as I have no idea

Because it's summer

Very interesting , I've got 1 up on my source now. Thank you for the education. It would be enlightening to see injury rates from turf tracks wet/dry and the all weather. Has anyone run or walked on 1 themselves? That would be one way to find out If it was hard/soft/shifty etc Frieda's claim about the UK tracks and the Nz being prepared differently is something I would love to look into. Hopefully one-day we get Cambridge trainers honest assessment of the track,which I suppose will be different depending on the trainer and the results they have had. Punting on them seems easier than regular tracks but the horse is the most important part of Racing and if it's a tarmac and hard on horses surely they have got to go? But if they are consistent footing and the horses have less pressure on their legs than running through a well worn turf full of holes in winter they must be a great alternative. I guess time will answer those questions Thankyou all

Thank you Freda very good feedback. I have also heard that the poly tracks are supposed to be watered everyday Is that happening here?

I mean in winter we didn't have so many trial cancellations. Seemed to do alright? My uncle seemed to be in good health then he wasn't. I'd love to hear a local trainers views,i could be swayed either way. I just wonder if Cambridge was doing so well before the all weather why didn't the trainers kick up and stop it from being put in? was it because they weren't given the opportunity or was it because they had no where to gallops their horses in winter and wanted an alternative. I don't know the answer. I'd like to hear more information before writing off the track. I don't think it's the saviour of Nz Racing but I think it could have it's place. They do In the UK for a lesser class of horse and they race every week on them.

It is summer. Surely trials,jumpouts,trackwork and mid-week race meetings during winter make it worth while. Trials use to be cancelled all the time in winter and that doesn't seems to happen so much now Is there enough galloping grass tracks to survive a winter in Cambridge ? Do we have enough tracks to run trials all year round? where do the majority of horses gallops when it's wet at cambridge? surely "the plough" is knee deep mud and unusable. Be interesting to know the local trainers thoughts.

Imperatriz is racing in Australia this weekend The best v The best is what racing is all about. Great field,should attract a good crowd and plenty of turnover. Putting the good horses in the one race is the best thing racing can do

Where are you without it? Trials cancelled,races off,clubs not wanting to run trials because they want to save their course proper for the races etc Where do the Cambridge trainers of which there are many gallop their horses? They tell me they have weekly jumpouts on it. The plough is out all winter as it's more akin to a mud wresting ring leaving only the sand that is terrible on the horses feet or the grass which becomes like Swiss cheese with to much traffic on it. Can't be good for the horses legs. Horse go sore,go out for a spell,horses don't handle a wet track they go out for a spell. So having this synthetic option surely keeps more horses in work over the winter period which has to be a good thing for all. Does it pay for itself as a race day venue? I couldn't tell you. Don't have access to those figures. But looking at the overall picture I think it plays a vital roll.

Its coming into Summer now so trainers will start looking for grass track options (te awamutu next tuesday) for trials and races The Synthetic track has proven it's worth this year. Alot of race and trial meetings run there that would have otherwise been abandoned. It's not the answer to all of racings problems but it's a great facility to have during winter and certainly was a great assist this year. (And this is coming from someone who questioned do we really need a synthetic track when the idea was first mooted.)