Special Agent

It doesn't seem like a real decision has been made, it's more like a discussion paper. The older I get the less balls people around me seem to have. Who knows how half of these people get on anything resembling a racing board and what credentials they supposedly have. Then the bastards all hide behind an expensive consultancy exercise. It is not good practice to look back as we must be moving forward with ideas and innovation but, for goodness sake only halfwits do not learn from their mistakes. If time and effort had gone into past appointments maybe funds might not have been pis

A few tall poppies maybe.

I interpret this differently to some on here. If I had a kick from a horse sufficient to break my leg and couldn't sleep because of the pain the fact that voltaren had not been prescribed for me would not stop me taking some pills out of someone elses bottle. I think it is irrelevant whether it was prescribed or not. If the drugs are in the system they have been administered.

As the Racing Minister has the final word on this does anyone know if he has any thoughts of his own, or is it just an influenced rubber stamp?

I would like my colours on either of them.

Have you noticed that nobody anywhere (not just racing) can put out a schedule or programme first bang without errors? People of today cannot spell, have bad grammar and cannot proof read any detail. It used to drive me nuts. After a while you start to relent and slip into the comfort of "who cares" about a few mistakes. Gone are the days of a sharp blow over the knuckles for not listening or concentrating.

I am so over the flashy shit we have been subjected to over the past 5-10 years. I can't stand the flourishing of the whip at the line to the extent of the jockey nearly falling off (such a bugger for the owner to be landed with a photo of that for a life time), the bullshit jockey interviews and the crying. All young jockeys could take a leaf out of this down to earth bloke's book. Some owners might only win the one race with their horse so that race becomes their Melbourne Cup and should be treated with the respect it deserves.

Absolutely!! There is enough to sort out in racing without dabbling in the fluffy stuff. This doubling up of jobs is a doubling up of egos. Racing would continue without media and marketing. I'm not saying it would be the best in the world but it would continue. To think it matters who is presenting the races and what post race programmes are running is important is madness. How about not letting jockeys ride until they are competent, getting the track surfaces and horse facilities right and making sure there are enough horses in the first place to compete. It seems to me the ca

More than 30% of RIB investigations relate to licence holder behaviour .... I'm not sure how to react to this. If you think about what RIB investigates, how much is investigated outside of what licence holders say and do? I can only think of ownership discrepancies and patrons oncourse on a race day but, I may need enlightening. NZTR and the RIB have the power to not relicence. If the Code of Conduct regulations is going to aid in non relicensing I wonder what numbers will look like moving forward. Racing is fast paced and sometimes volatile.

Does form analysis fit into what NZTR should be doing? I thought NZTR was the national horse racing administration, not a betting agency. The articles and videos seem odd to me too for an organisation which should primarily be for licence holder information. I believe these guys are sons of Donna Logan and Steve Davis respectively.

As you have pointed out it is not always about the sometimes small amount of sponsorship money. It is how you are treated, being made feel a little bit special and included, and the word of mouth advertising you are going to provide on behalf of that club and the whole racing industry. That brings us to "culture" which has been created by you and people like you. Move over Tharsha, Honestjohn already has credentials I'm guessing will outstrip any you have on paper.

Tharsha Adamstein - Head of People & Culture & Infrastructure What an earth does this role entail? Is Tharsha in charge of all people in the racing industry, or just those in the NZTR office? What culture? As New Zealand's racing community is a multi-racial place is Tharsha adept in origami, can she efficiently handle a taiaha, does she know the words of the Indian National Anthem, and because the latest census will show the increase in nationalities here is she proficient in Mandarin? What absolute nonsense!! Infrastructure of what exactly? If Tharsha has a h

As an industry we should expect nothing less. I know we can't go back but for goodness sake how the hell the track got to the stage it got to, a stage where the races couldn't run on the club's "money" day, is beyond belief. As for thinking it's all about throwing money at the problem, there are a lot of heads that need to be read. Now there's a little bit of pressure off, those at fault are strutting about like peacocks.

If you have ever braved a full game of the Phoenix Women you'd wonder why they get paid at all, let alone pay equity with the men. The NZ women's football team are going to be an embarrassment at the World Cup to be co-hosted here.

I wonder if the likes would be permitted to ride today. Their licences would be subject to some pussy regulations and checks by someome with a title and letters after their name. They would be labelled as being bipolar or having ADHT or aspergers. Their ability to handle a horse wouldn't even come into it and a certificate for the wall would not be issued.