Special Agent

Progressive would be a good descriptive word for the Riccarton Turf Club in their time. Those sort of clubs and people are sorely missed today. The Viv Jack ditty Freda relayed is so apt when applied to racing today, about not knowing what to do with all the bells and whistles. I think we should be more "back to the basics" and "grass roots".

The Riccarton Turf Club was one of those lost gems with the enthusiastic volunteers who knew how to run a good show and raise decent money. The first flexible running rail, would have been aluminium back then I think, at the CJC was courtesy of the Riccarton Turf Club.

Viv Jack would be turning in his grave.

Without knocking the high profile trainers who train large numbers and have all the stress associated with that, it seems the colour pieces on the small time trainers are the ones that capture the imagination of the reader or viewer. Nothing can capture intrigue like the underdog. The backbone of the industry should never be under estimated, nor what the backbone is.

I don't think NZTR could ever put a meeting off again using visibility as an excuse after letting Cambridge go ahead mid-week.

I don't know what the availability of any of their tracks are. I read on here recently how Riccarton horses went to Rangiora for grass gallops. Same goes for Awapuni to Foxton.

I find this little section interesting. Dressage action and speed is quite different to what we are talking about. Variety in training surfaces seems important but, I'm not sure what variety is regularly on offer at Awapuni and Riccarton apart from swimming.

Reads to me like 2-3 runs under a hold on the surface is enough to fit a horse's anatomy for racing on the surface. Are we to read a report as is, or are we supposed to read some other unknowns into the equation?

Without looking the rule up, I'm pretty sure the rules apply to trials, jumpouts and trackwork as well. These can be monitored by the same personnel who regulate rules on a raceday.

Do you think the questions and problems have been addressed?

For starters Curious, do you honestly believe a couple of little canter arounds will condition a horse's legs/bones for a flat out gallop at speeds they may never have experienced before?

Enlightening.

To be fair, not much. But this is utter garbage. If any licence holder is going to swallow this, OMG what are you on?

That's not what I am saying at all. I believe a whip should be carried/used both in training and in a race. But if there are rules to be adhered to in a race, some effort should be made to count the whip strikes, not hit them consecutively, not lift your arm above the shoulder, and not hit the horse on the head or flank. If you are licensed by NZTR there must be recognition of some competency.

I don't understand any trackwork rider who doesn't carry a whip. Maybe exercise riders of today are taught by different methods and different mentors.