Gammalite

Nah . Twas excellent. NZ needs a meeting like that every month (less the blasted rain would be good) . As they have in Aus a feature race day each month somewhere to keep everyone 'motivated' .

What a beauty Orchestral is. won that easy peasy. Didn't BOYS-get-PAID have a big win on her last Cracker day ? this time they put $50,000 on something else in that race ??? bunch of mugs lol 😁😋

100%. rather than get hemmed in 3 back the fence , was off and rounded up John Dunn driving the favourite, before he knew what was happening. and then rated the filly Vincent Reactress so well , that John couldn't grab him in the run home. That was even better than his (Wilson's) win in the Juniors race a little earlier. Very impressive by young House. He's going places alright , as you suggested with this thread. getting better and better. 👍🏆

Drove Shard De Arch with confidence and precision at Addington tonight. Punters well on board too. against the junior Drivers Wilson was way too good. doing almost as well as Carter lately. 👍

Wondered where Hollie Doyle and Tom Marquand were getting their Black Ice cream from. Black listed for Whippy infringements probably.? 😅 I like a choc Dip with flake . Are you still selling those Chief Whippy in NZ?

yes the 2012 one . by half a head in an upset. also in Hunter Cup there that year for NZ were , HighView Tommy (Nat Ras 5th) Gold Ace (P Ferguson 6th) and Pembrook Benny ( BarryP 13th)

Yep. That's him in photo TABman. the B/ answer . yeah won a few down your way in the deep South at Invercargill and Winton and that and a couple of cracks at the NZ Cup . (both won by the Terror To Love including that fantastic win by the Terror when he galloped at the start and gave them 40m start and a beating ) . He was the 5th and final Tim Butt trained pacer to win the Hunter Cup.

Horses in the movies are absolutely amazing. Just love them . from Zorro to the Lone Ranger. Warhorse is a great Spielberg film if you can catch it. fantastic movie. The charge of the Light Brigade , just stunning photography , as is Ben Hur. These horses just gorgeous and give it everything 😁. can't beat a good harness horse. The Roman dude got a HUGE Whip fine after this race in video 😉 , plus a 6 week suspension for 'tightening another runner' once he got out of hospital 😋. (this reminds me of my driving days when ya really 'Had a Go !!!' 🤣)

Blossom Lady one of the true great NZ Mares to go with Delightful Lady, Armalight and Adore Me. no Aussie Mares have gone close to their records, but 2 recently retired Emma Stewart trained millionaire Mares Ladies In Red (28 wins from 35 starts ) and Encipher ( 18 wins from 30 starts including Defeating the champ LEAP TO FAME in the Eureka Slot race 😳 , the richest race in Australia ) were very quick and Very Good. Here's Anthony Butt with brother Tim Butt . After yet another Hunter Cup win .🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆. Anthony winning driving 2 for his grand-dad Derek Jones with Blossom Lady , and 5 with Tim ! amazing stuff. A/ name any of the 5 massive Tim Butt trained AG Hunter Cup winners ?. B/ here's one , for extra Brownie points can you pick the horse with a one eyed Blind ? , Ranga might be needed for his eye to detail ? (or the Galah eagle eye 🦅 😉) TABman leading Blackie so far and Goldilocks in the points today too

A good example then Chief. Harness racing has modified to stop horses getting a flogging /bashing THIS CENTURY altogeather. So was just thinking of ways At the Gallops could do the same. nothing sinister . And it comes down to training? , as they do for Movie horses as mentioned or any sort of working horse or dog for that matter? . It just makes me sad to see this STOTT bloke , even Oppie at times , and many others are doing this stuff , like Mark Zahra here for example , but it still continues and Upsets a Lot of people. . like Thomass and many others. Perhaps a modification or change could be made to Prevent this? . aren't we advanced enough to try New things ? just getting Same old News , same old problem all the time like this one, which was broadcast on National television . Why is that happening to the great sport ? Caulfield Cup winning jockey Mark Zahra cops massive fine and ban for whip breach The champion jockey was found guilty of a serious rule breach in the stunning vi blah blah etc.....

I suppose it's only for a short distance in a race that a whip is actually used. So perhaps the modification could be made to gallop without it ? 🤔. When you see old cowboy and Indian and cavalry movies the horses are trained to charge in full flight with urgings of the rider , and they (the magnificent horses) seem to enjoy stretching right out at a full gallop like they would in the wild if they were mustangs or brumbies , and not a whip in sight. Some interesting thoughts on training are common. You don't see too many under the whip in training gallops or even barrier trials for that matter. And working dogs (albeit , they are slightly more intelligent animal) are all trained without ever coming under a whipping or beating,( unless some snow sled drongo in Greenland gets a bit excited with his huskies) Horses that are struck hard with the whip are likely to experience pain and fear. Even if there is no contact, a horse’s previous experience may mean that simply waving the whip is enough to induce fear. Intentionally causing pain and fear in animals can never be ethically acceptable. A fearful horse is also likely to be more reactive, and this may reduce both horse and rider safety. 2) Does the horse understand? It’s vital that the rider/handler understands how horses learn, knows the difference between negative reinforcement (removing pressure when a horse does what is being asked) and positive punishment (punishing a horse for an unwanted behaviour – a strategy that is often unhelpful and always ethically questionable), and understands the crucial importance of correct timing. Operant conditioning is widely used in the successful training of many species, including dogs and zoo animals. Training of horses is typically based on negative reinforcement and, increasingly, positive reinforcement. Negative punishment is less common. Positive punishment is ethically questionable and often unhelpful. For use of the whip to be acceptable (either with or without prior use of the leg), the horse must have been taught how they should respond to the rider’s cues (aids). The rider/trainer should also understand that horses do not think like humans and are not capable of making complex connections between events. For instance, some people feel that it is acceptable to punish a horse because ‘he knows what I want him to do – he’s just being stubborn’. This attitude shows that the handler is overestimating the horse’s intellectual abilities – such ‘punishment’ is abuse. If the horse does not understand why the whip is being used then, for them, being whipped is just some random (and often unpleasant) act on the part of their handler or rider. This is unlikely to build the trusting relationship that we should all be striving to establish with our horses.

Only 2 weeks to the 2025 Hunter Cup. What a race it will be with a few Kiwi Top-liners coming over to try and Win the Australian version of the NZ Cup. can't wait as is gunna be amazing. Current 'AG Hunter Cup' Title holder LEAP TO FAME was awesome last night completely monstering a weak field at Albion Park , but just the way he does it is 'Lazarus' like . He's like a V8 revving up against 6 cylinder rivals . Todays Photo captures a Brilliant NZ double Hunter Cup winner . ( have a go at any of these quiz questions and have a great Sunday ! 🌞 ) A/ Can you pick who she is ? B/ Who has she defeated in the photo ? C/ She had 3 live foals and One of them Amazingly also Won the Hunter Cup in Victoria . He was ...?

Just something they use here to correspond with the handicapping. which is done in metres. Always think of 3m as equals One length , and you can't go wrong. If a horse wins by 5 lengths , that's 15 m so pretty easy to convert. Says when it says that 'Better Reaction' was beaten 10m so that is just over 3 lengths ,( and is therefore more precise in the actual measurement )

A Harold Park specialist , with 40 wins there , in the same era as Delightful Lady who had about the same ability winning 40 odd at Alexandra Park. Koala King not well known in NZ , so not surprised his photo hard to pick. A 'Bit of a Yarn' on him, is way back 1978 he had his one trip to NZ for the Auckland Cup , but after leading and running 7th on the first night of the meeting in the lead -up race , the bloody Aucklanders Balloted him out !!😳 . so he won the Consolation easily in the same race time as Sole Command ran, winning the Cup for Roy and BarryP. A bit still to go all that way , and then ballot him out lol. Shame they didn't try that with Swayzee at Addington 😂. Here's the Koala King moment of All time anyway . Powering past fabulous Nz horse Locarno (Robin Butt 2nd) to win the Interdominion Final at his home track at Harold Park 1980.

Those 2 horses had something in common . Both won only 3 races each in NZ.😎 When I was a kid in NZ and going on trips around the North Island , Brian Notman had taken Village Kid to Wellington for his maiden and when on the circuit, we all punted it Big time first up . and it run no-where 😂🤣. He returned to Auckland soon after and won 3 straight 😅, the bugger , before finding C3 class a little bit harder. Notman sold him off for 40k and he became the first 2 Million dollar Australasia horse for Bill Horn ( a butcher lol) Westburn Grant Won the Triple crown bonus with 3 out of 3 at Addington including the Derby . whatta champ. One of the best I ever saw. A Bit of a Yarn story= went with some friends on the Picnic Bus from Hobart to Launceston one year when on holiday there, And When Westburn Grant was visiting Tassie for the Australian Pacing Championship. Quite a big crowd and a daytime event, and the Big race came up , and there was cheering and that going on , and We were picnicking down the front by the rail , and trying to get close to the winning post. Westburn Grant went sailing past on his own in full stride , and being the finish of the race thought must of been a crash or something 😳 , but he was just that far in front , we were straining out over the rail looking for some of the better horses in the race , but they were scattered like Brown's Cows All the way down the straight 😁 . He was that awesome he had completely smashed them by huge margins. Best since Popular Alm . probably only Leap To Fame (and Lazarus) better than WG?

Incorrect , but great try . Here's WESTBURN GRANT winning One of his 2 Miracle Mile 's for you in another great photo . ( and Vic Frost ) running a place there is Robert Dunn on a New Zealander actually. that number 4 horse . Ranga would get it lol 😅 And our 'Superstar' winning one of his 2 Miracle Miles as well . clear on his own. Like Preux Chevalier he did Win the Hunter Cup , Interdominion , and Miracle Mile so is a Grand Slam Champion. Day 3 Q/ Who is the Superstar ?

The great horse almost completed the Grand slam as Won the Big 3 races in Aussie , and had a sneaky go at the NZ Cup , but only 4th to Borana. Great effort though. Correct ! Pure Steel won 3 Hunter Cups , raced in about 4 Miracle Miles for a win and a placing behind Robin Butt's Locarno in one of the best Miracle Miles ever. but Steelo 2nd, 3rd and 4th in 3 x Interdominion Finals . So Close !!

Yep , but couldn't quite win the Miracle Mile with Vinny Knight and Poppy too good. Great patient drive by Vinnie in this . Think he was thinking of driving like a NZer driver for a change 😁👍

hell yeah !! 😂

you want to win the race ? As Brodster pointed out it helps with more vigorous driving too. They were driving pretty hard in this race. They sit a whole lot stiller in NZ races and try and just time their run at the line with a big finish half the time ? A lot of Auckland races seem like that anyway 🤔. As I mentioned another time (like in the Interdominion recently ) the Aussies give it full gas the second last quarter a lot these days in feature races , in LEAP TO FAME style, and just try to keep momentum up the last bit , and it's Often NOT the fastest quarter these days in the run home. But don't worry Mr Galah. The connections of Kanena Provlima are on Your side , which is nice, and have given the Drive on the horse to DAVID MORAN this week 🤣, In the Big 100k Ballarat Cup Sat night, as must of been feeling for him getting disqualified last week with that incident . 👍🏆 when they got promoted lol. 😁 All they need is some extra boot laces now , and when he jumps in the gig on Saturday just Tie his Boot to the Footrest !!😎 (just in case 😉 ) and All will Be well once again , and he might get the Prize/win and keep it this week?

6 more great horses. 6 of the Very best that attracted huge crowds. With the AG Hunter Cup (Australia's version of the NZ Cup) on in just 2 weeks time , it is fitting to see ALL Six of these great Warriors won that great race. The Hunter Cup had a flat spot for a few years straight after these 6 horses had won and was converted to a general 2400m FFA worth 20k for non-descript winners.😪 LUCKILY in 1993 , they re-invented the race 👍 for a big prize 💰over distance from a stand. and up stepped Master Musician for Robert Dunn and Blossom Lady to win the next 3 editions. NZ with 16 wins v OZ with 16 wins since 1993 so a great race for the kiwi's is the Hunter Cup 🏆 A/ Who are these 6 greats ? B/ and which one would be good enough to take the GRAND SLAM ? of Miracle Mile ( in some of these photos) The Hunter Cup and the Interdominion Pacing Championship crown ?

Cecil a Tasmanian. went over there in his young days to win a few NZ Cups and teach the locals (including the Son in Law Kevin ) how to do the job properly ? 😋

Christian Cullen also a winner of the Biggest race in Australia that year as well . Day 2/ Here's a ripper for today , with another kiwi trained horse who also achieved that Big Double . Slicing through late between Two great Interdominion Grand Final winners to take the Victory. 🏆 a/ The winner is....... ? b/ The Placegetters are...... ? (both NZ bred champions) clue= The horse on the left Won this race a couple of times himself and was the first Standardbred to reach the $2,000,000 in Oz or NZ.

Starting here . Name any of a/ the horse ? ,b/ the race ? , or c/ the 2nd placegetter ? here to get the roll of champions under way !!! Good Luck.

With Plenty of Trans Tasman Champions and great racing over the last few decades , Have done some beautiful photos up to catch these magic moments in Time. Will post them Up here over a few weeks as the BIG races draw near like the Hunter Cup and time honoured Miracle Mile , then an Interdominion in Brisbane. might be able to send some as prizes for quizzes and that if people can pick some of the moments . I'm making an amazing album up. Printed photo's have a Magical way of capturing amazing moments in time. Have a great Mix of NZ and Aus champs and races as they are All fantastic . The greats of 2 countries.