Joe Bloggs

The great man Roy Higgins once told me ''I didn't like to hit them if they were in front'' he added, ''they were in front for a reason, they were giving their best''. Roy was in my humble opinion the best of all time, the benchmark for generations of saddle sitters to come........he loved the animal and it showed, Mick Dittman known as the enforcer for a reason, left welt marks that took hours to go down, the old days, bad old days when we used to leave our whips [leather thongs] in a bucket of water overnight to harden the leather, looking for an edge I suppose, just plain fucking stupid and cruel when I reflect.!.....Sadly.

half thought it was off, half didn't, Mick Dee thought it was off, I'll pass on your comment, he'll take note and adjust I'm sure. As for Walker, I agree, he can have several tongue bolts during a program, in this case he just might be right. It was the worst field ever assembled for a Gr 1 tho, as the 100-1 shot running 2nd attests.

Ouch.

Bogged down on the fence, Michael Walker just told it all, even the winner of the last cut the corner as they were all 4 off the fence, then he headed to the centre of the track, The Valley is rooted it appears.

According to a few senior riders, ''the fence is off'' 3 deep the way home......

Well we had Zedative at the time, the weight scale in VIC now is a disgrace, but in theory the boss was/is right, he used to say we should have WFA or set weight maidens too, 10 years before they eventuated, very clever man AAA, died almost a billionaire, loved a punt, lived for it, loved nothing more than to see a bookmaker cry.......did that often.

My old boss told me, don't run from outside gates, and if you get weight =claim........simple really, he did win 10 premierships with that mantra. Don Scott the absolute benchmark for punters swore weight stops trains, his theories were adopted by a generation of punters, many made their living by adapting their selections to Don's weight table, penalties and allowances...

Might I add, waiting expectantly and excitedly for the Friday Flash, Sporting Globe, Sportsman on Thur night to read the trackwork/gallops from all the main centres, and not so main centres........all those respected clockers, getting up at 3-30am for their cuppa and drive to the track in all weather to clock some brilliant gallopers from brilliant stables.....there you go TFE......real memories of days gone by, .....BUT never forgotten.....

Riddle me this, a simple question if I may?........why do we need trials at all? We didn't have them back in the 70's/80's? We did have Matinee meetings in NZ, but not many, and they were mainly for 2yo, to provide them with a raceday experience, and in some cases to give burgeoning apprentices an opportunity to show the stipes they could sit on and hence get their licence. In Oz, we had jump outs at Flemington, every second Tue morn after trackwork......they used to put the gates out at the half mile on the course proper on the straight six, you turned up, told the starter your horses name and if you needed a barrier cert. That was it, now and again they'd run them from the 2000m start down the back, so, when I look at all the trialling nowadays it makes me wonder. Is it because of the gambling houses need to have disclosed form? ability?.......go figure, you see countless trials with horses under a stranglehold, for the life of me I can't see why..... Is it because the track riders are effen useless, and trainers need to get a line on their charges and therefore need jockeys up?.......is it the lack of horsemanship in our industry? Whatever happened to the old 4am gallop where you'd run your promising maiden with your open handicapper 20m out on the b grass with only you and the jocks knowing what went on?....the slipping of a lead bag under the saddle and not telling your work rider?....checking the clock and sly grinning when you saw running 5f in 1-00 home in 33 and change?....... Oh glory be,......when we say the good old days, that's what they were, something these young buggers will never know, or enjoy, but in the wash up it's not their fault, it's the fault of the pale stale males at Petone and their blood brothers at Parnell, or some other rock up north....... That's how it is, sadly.....

You're very lucky then, I lived in a room 3m x 3m with him for 3 and half years, 5 words, ''turn the television off now.'' MRC, still riding work on the Gold Coast, and driving floats?.......go figure.

Most successful business people surround themselves with quality, talented, committed individuals that not only compliment their business but grow it, they are assets. Unfortunately over the past decades, we have seen the opposite at Petone and now with ENTAIN, Petone was never run as a business, if it was there would have been mayhem and regulatory bodies would have swooped. The insolvency issues and charade aside, surely ENTAIN did their due diligence and forensic super sleuthing before deciding to buy the Titanic and raise it? The seperate issues of ENTAIN not ensuring their product is/was protected by implementing the safety and viability of tracks as a prerequisite, in tandem of course with correct and strategic programming is mind boggling. Root and branch reform was mooted ages back, but the dinosaur Petone is we will need more than a rogue meteor to take this dinosaur out.......sadly it wont happen in my lifetime, the culture is so entrenched .......sadly, sadly.

Billy C and T4E are fuckwit gold medalists, fuckwitsm is the growth dynamic of this century, those two are over achievers.

There's a fucking huge difference between being a miserable bastard and a complete realist. For a decade or more there has been a collective of certain breeders creaming it, living high on the hog, and giving sweet fuck all back to the industry. No export tax, no capital gains tax, nada, zilch, what, just income tax? that is disypoprutunate when trusts, etc come into the equation. I used to think you had a clue or two, I was wrong, way off, if you did you would have been pro-active but it seems to have passed you by, you're no better than that narcissistic flea on the other place, you can't see the forest for the trees. Just because there is a strong yearling sale that generates millions for a select few doesn't mean things are cosy, you know that, there should NOT be an industry funded closed race day for millions and you all stand by and do Sweet Fuck All, all the back slapping at Karaka is sickening, the sucking up, the sycophant behaviour that Petone will be sitting back watching and thriving on, therefore the only winners are the breeders, the same mob that don't care about your domestic racing as much as they say they do...... The industry needs funding, it has to come from within, the gambling dollar can't stretch far enough, and the answer is staring you in the face, tax the exported horses, tax the buyer and the seller, it will ultimately assist the grass roots stalwarts that prop up the industry... I can add no more...I'm done, thanks to all of you that thought enough of my input over the years to like a few of my posts, I hope you breed/own/train or ride heaps of winners and live til you're all 100. Thanks. Joe

And no export tax, we don't have to pay your GST......how the hell does the average NZ racing person derive any advantage from this sale?........The Cartel just get richer and the rest do their best. The lessor light studs I feel really sorry for, they are trying their arse off, and the end is nigh. Maybe that's a good thing as their misery will end sooner, rather than later.

And reality has come to Karaka now the Oz and Asians hove done the bolt, some lovely horses, looking for homes, got nowhere near their reserves, if the Petone brain donors are watching, I think it's going though to the keeper. Next year Book 1 will still be a good one, I doubt if there will be a book 2 and in 2025 definitely not.......

And therein lays the problem with good ship NZ racing........losing you? How many more?........do people like Oatham and co want a scorched earth policy?......because that's what's happening you stupid bastards.....

If that's the case who's pulling the strings then?....who is this Mr Big these bastards are hiding?

Oatham or McCann?.......it's a no-brainer Ida thought, and it's certainly not Oatham, the fellow must have tickets on himself, this is the very thing that has to be eradicated and hopefully Mr Reefton's actions will bring this about. For NZTR to survive they have to start listening, it appears on the surface anyway, they are........we stand by.

I must say, I do put the boot into Petone, and there are several reasons for that, however, there must be some good, decent conscionable people at that edifice that actually care about our industry and it must be difficult to rise from their beds each morn and head off to face another day where someone within the industry suffers terribly due to decisions made by those above them. By God there are some toothless tigers amongst management, it appears to most that the RIB are loose cannons with little or no direction. NZTR lost it's way many years gone so the question of how to right the ship is indeed a source of worry and concern. I for one applaud the few websites dedicated to our industry and for allowing at least a platform where venting of frustration and fury at times can be expelled, here in Australia we have had quite a few great outlets where opinions and views were expunged however two in particular are now behind paywalls which is in my view disgusting. In a free market economy it was inevitable, however so many contributors voted with their feet and these once great vehicles of free speech are now chugging along firing on 2-3 cylinders at best. One that has survived is doing nicely thanks to great moderators, and it's great to read the content, the opines and suggestions etc regarding the many issues we face daily. Would the likes of John Messara and Peter V'Landys read these sites, I think not, but I do think their advisors do, and I have the same feeling about NZ and NZTR/RIB. The fact that Bruce Sharrock replies to Freda's mail shows some responsibility and conscience, however I do think Bruce is the last chance coral for this sunset industry, it would be a remarkable opportunity for Bruce to become the saviour and shining light as the buck does well and truly stop with him. If everyone emailed and called Bruce and I mean everyone, and voiced their concerns, the Trainers assoc from the South Island in particular as that demographic is in danger of complete collapse, then at least the snowball could become an avalanche. If the will has gone and in reality I can't blame any of you, Reefton is a particular person who can't afford to be lost to the industry then in my opinion we are witnessing racing in its death throes. Many of us on here lived through the great times, the 60's and early 70's for me, and for you lot onto the 80's and 90's....we cant recapture those heady days, but wouldn't it be lovely, before we kick the bucket, to see a resurgence of racing and the only way to do that is as I've said countless times, root and branch reform, and as Chief Stipe has so eloquently advised, reform as per the RIB hasn't worked, so who really is pulling the strings?.....love to learn that, it might just be the catalyst after all.......Just Saying. Joe.

Well that drags integrity and transparency to the the table, and we all know NZ and the aforementioned is an oxymoron.....

It appears there is a ''Puppet Master'' at work here, a George Soros type, working behind the scenes and until said ''Puppet Master'' is outed and something done to reform both RIB and NZTR nothing will change. The performance of Bayliss and Purcell then Saundry suggests something is inherently wrong at HQ, openly only a few questioned them/it as it's no secret that accountability obviously does not exist within the hallowed walls of the Petone Taj Mahal. The future of domestic racing in NZ is dependent on conscience and will, the behaviour of the stipe involved in the Reefton fiasco apparently has neither, his motives need to be questioned, and there should be ramifications, if only for transparency.

Beaudesert is an hour away on a good day, early mornings, bugger of a road at that hour, wild life everywhere, freeway to Ballina hour and a half, same to E/Farm Doomben, Beaudesert is part of the GCTC alliance with huge AQUIS sponsorship so no probs with permission........

Nice house, not nice horse!.....hic, sorry.....

If you think I'm bitter, it's just the lemon in my tequila!

If you follow my gist Chief, I have no argument with TA buying astutely, he's had great success with the lesser lights price wise, he's a disaster when you start getting into the stupid money only fuckwits pay...... Racing is unforgiving, I trained a full brother to a Golden Slipper winner, he was a K800,000 yearling, he won about 35,000 if memory serves me right, that was back when the fuckwits were emerging, when a fuckwit pays more money for a horse than what would buy a nice horse, then they're fuckwits........there;s an old saying Chief, ''when you walk onto a racecourse your head turns into a pumpkin'' it's an old Oz colloquial saying, but gee it's true.......it also relates to to an auction house.