Special Agent

The only phrase that comes to mind is Amateur Hour.

Giving a taste of what is to come. Woo hoo.

No doubt Curious you have checked out the Foxton trial fields. Now isn't it so normal to put a Waikato horse on a float to run in a Central trial on grass.

And the report on all AWT's is ...?

This idea is totally against former preachings with signs on the gate, visitor register, no one including owners who may have foaled and nurtured the horse going anywhere near the animal. We don't want horses trained at country tracks but, let's go and visit a stable set up that trains on such a track. Maybe lay people aren't supposed to see that some horses spend almost 24/7 in a box and don't see a paddock while in work. I find a lot of the ideas that come from NZTR are conflicting and depend on this week's narrative.

It might have finished 4th in an open 3yo but, there were only 6 runners and the horse as a maiden on Saturday raced only okay. It hardly vindicated the rating.

Can anyone explain why Kids Got Gears received 14 points for running 4th of 6 runners? Now sitting with a rating of 60 in the maiden at Trentham.

Rumours are abound regarding Trentham. The halt to the major developing there possibly gave the track a reprieve. I haven't seen a "save our track" campaign yet but, it wouldn't be a surprise. How can the state of the place (track and facilities) be attributed to anything other than bad management? The first mistake was joining RACE. Awapuni have a beautiful new race surface and a new bar. Trentham has little land left to sell, earthquake prone buildings, not enough tie up stalls, box doors that don't safely shut and a patched up course proper. Ask yourself.

Racing lost an enthusiastic racing benefactor with the passing of Kevin Pratt. The starting gates were one of many ventures sporting the Kamada Park logo. I'm sure there will be a North Canterbury equivalent who will save the day.

Can they apply to the Safety fund for starting gates?

Are there a number of thoroughbreds trained there too? Isn't this duplicating an Aussie template?

It looks like supply and demand. Jumpouts are a rule unto themselves in the north. Why can't Rangiora run jumpouts with the distances trainers want? How is Rangiora any different from Waipukurau? Both tracks closed for safety reasons but, one back racing.

Ellerslie and Trentham used to.

Does anyone know who the black arm bands were for early in the programme either Thursday or Friday?

5 of the 6 are central districts tracks. Foxton should have been considered to be back racing before Waipukurau.

Do they go to clubs?

One thing that could really stuff Awapuni's return to racing is rain. I think April is supposed to be fairly settled though.

There were 3 heats I think at Awapuni on Monday, 120 horses at Levin jumpouts on Tuesday, about 80 horses at Waipukurau on Wednesday. There are races at Waverley on Friday and races at Wanganui on Saturday. It seems plenty of horses looking to run on grass, and for now, getting that opportunity. I don't think anyone should have to suck it up and run on synthetic. Trainers are said to be weak. Maybe not so weak in CD. Looks like they've voted with their feet to me.

All a bit pathetic. With all the problems of the world we have children name calling.

Does Denis not train there now?

When you look at how the major clubs have had handout after bailout it is disgraceful how the smaller, much needed facilities are left to their own devices.

That's a lovely story. There is a lot more to people than what you see. Life is harder for some than others, yet you'd never know. Joanne has done a great job with her horse, good on her. Wins are great, wins at Trentham are special. Let's hope we can race on the track for a bit longer yet.

Have we seen this somewhere else? Feelings and actions against the sale of Rosehill Gardens are pretty amped actually. There are some heavy hitters in that group. Voting for the 11,500 members to decide on the racecourse sale has been delayed and there are anomalies galore. The sale price is being questioned, along with the eventual buyer's identity, what portion of the $100million loan will have to be paid back to the state racing body and whether it will be a housing estate or merely rail infrastructure. All is not as it seems. Back in Waller territory a reporter at the Horowhenua Chronicle must be reading these posts regarding Foxton as he/she has the racecourse nearing a return to racing. I haven't seen anything on loveracing yet.

Without seeing it this makes no sense but, I'll take your word for it.

Interesting to see Chris Waller has some reservations about how the money from the sale of Rosehill will be used. Proceed with caution.