Gammalite

After working with many types of horses in many stables for many years in many locations , I can safely say it is usually the horse that does the kicking lol......... There is NO widespread practice of the item you describe. People today get confused with UFC cage fighting I think , a very popular world wide sport where humans abuse other humans. Some pathetic scenes that just encourage violence in the young and susceptible.

A sad day today when reading this whole thread , with the horrid moment of time with Sir Mark Todd coming under fire for some moments of horse handling , best left undiscussed, amongst a huge CV,full of some of the best moments ever achieved in equine handling in NZ of all time. I truly hope JoeB and Nomates return as the forums benefit from their exempelary in-put and knowledge ,and opinion that help us all appreciate the great equine sports and persons. No individual 'incident' was attributed to either of you , so don't take offence to any comment . Just a general comment about anyone handling horses has moments in time that are not filmable. I twitched horses every Sunday to tube drench them after a Saturday night run for example?. Horse is ok and generally behaves to get it's saline ,etc, but you wouldn't want it filmed as such , and usually do /did it not in front of owners even, for their comfort. Sometimes shoeing young ones you have a bit of a tussle , learning to swim in the dams, breaking in etc etc lots of moments with some horses you wouldn't want filmed. But they are there as horses fight back hard sometimes. Who's in charge is critical. (for H and S)

Having a look how Magic Four managed to beat the Allstars Juggernaut last night , i have to say Classy Operator was the important factor. Classy Operator has had a hard career. Dylan driving him very hard once again out of the gate last night, and then pulling out into the death seat to cart the winner up driven by his father at the bell. Classy Operator had zero chance after that early burn , and then pulling out without cover a lap out. (ran 100 lengths last) Seven starts back Dylan Ferguson got 3 weeks suspension on this horse aiding and abetting a stablemate MeetmeinSorrento to win. Last night he said the Horse is going for a spell again as the excuse ???. Just 2 runs in this time up? . Questioned when beaten favourite first up last start at Auckland. No problem was found. (Attacked the leader flat out under the whip 600m out ?? faded badly in the straight.... I can tell them the problem. The horse has 'shattered confidence' from being driven like a BenHur chariot horse all the time. very sad.

Yes , in your video just above here , I'm Off and Gone absolutely walked out of the mobile , slowest first 200m you would ever see in a Group 1 after drawing 3 i imagine. she was crazy slow out. Tonight only a 6 horse field and was driven aggressively for 400m before finally taking over in 28 second 1/4. Home in 27.5 to waltz away from them at the end though. Old mate 'KRUG' about to go for Dalgety's. drawn 1 at Menangle so hard to beat.

I'm Off and Gone went a great race last week Chief , via 'the cape of Good Hope" in Spellbounds race last week . Wasn't missed by the punters either . Tonight, Had to work for 400m to get the lead but waltzed away by 4 lengths at the end at just $1.20 . at Melton in Victoria Getting up at Menangle for big wins kiwi owned mares STYLISH MEMPHIS and THE HONEY QUEEN. Stylish Memphis was great odds paying $4 too . was a bit better than tonights field. A big $200k mares race LADYSHIP mile coming up soon at Menangle. (Stylish Memphis is defending champion) Gunna be a great clash of all the NZ mares ??? Hope Spellbound and I'm Off and Gone have a crack. can't wait. !!!

Can you put improvement down to the weather ? A Lucky break for the horses connections.

Am I seeing things at Auckland. ? A $200k Age group final and Allstars haven't won it .... what is going on? It's been a crook day , but seeing ALLStars team 2nd , 3rd and 4th is a bit too much to believe. 😧 Winner MAGIC FOUR only $60 on Sportsbet . Nobody took it I imagine , unless by mistake lol.....

I didn't know that it was only $7k for second. He is just $333 short. Well Scotty was 2nd with Silver medal in the halfpipe, just as Sundees Son was only 2nd tonight as well to Bolt for Brilliance. Am sure we will see Sundee back in the winner's circle soon. ..... Another Aucklander just won at Menangle NSW a minute ago. John and Trish Greens nice mare,THE HONEY QUEEN. first up for McCarthy has won easily at just $1.75 odds. (BE MY ROSE of Katrina and Barry Purdons ran 4th) Soon won't be enough horses left there for a race field at Auckland ? seem like small ones tonight at Alex Park.

Mark Purdon had won the Group 1 NZ Trotting FFA, with OSCAR B, and he didn't bother taking on Sundees Son in the Dominion at his next start shortly after. The 'only' time I remember a Group 1 winner , not bothering to take on a rival because it would be too good for him. (Oscar B started off 30m in an intermediate trot instead the same day , and won easily) The Rowe Cup will be a joke this year. Sundees Son drew '1' last year ,(after winning year before as well) so race was all over as soon as he stepped. Should of been off 20m or something ?? IMO. give rivals 'some' hope. 'No Response' and others won off 10m. 'Sundee' could potentially WIN the next 3 Dominions at Addington and Rowe Cups at Auckland (make it 5 on the trot) being off the front mark.. being the best 2 mile trotter in the world.

All your points/ observations full of merit Walt. I thought it was a very proactive race. Ironically the Allstars machine didn't win it last year either with Amazing Dream getting beaten as hot favourite, by a Southerner. A few rivals are getting close now , with COPY THAT stopping the big run of Allstars NZ Cups wins , and South Coast Arden proving to be a handful lately too. (taking the NZ FFA) and probably a big chance in THE RACE (900k ) at Cambridge as he won the Jewels there in blistering time last Winter. Perhaps the run of 6 Auckland Cups by Allstars might end as well this year.? They are a fine training team...... As also are the Dunn team smacking out Rowe Cups and Dominions with 'Sundees Son'. What do you think of those races Not Being Handicaps anymore ? seems a gift to him off the front these days?

He'll do it Chief . He's the best ever trotter nearly. Australia is on edge at the moment (and its not covid) Scotty James is taking on the Olympic Snowboard halfpipe final at this very moment and is leading against world champion Shaun White. Every school, shop, workplace around the country is watching .... Scotty could be the Sundees Son of Snowboard very shortly ................

A NEW WORLD RECORD. (or close to it) I loaded my 6 race pick the card multi into Sportsbet (SundeeSon,Highgrove,TrueFantasy,Merlin,FrancoIndie,SelfAssured) and it said 5-1 . pick 6 winners , get $4 profit. That must be the smallest ever ?? I deleted it (5-1 offer) and just gunna watch races like yourself. 4 of the very best horses in the country listed above going around too .( And Self Assured as you said as well ) It's quite hard to believe you can't get a bet on any race ?. Trifecta's not even worth it....... Don't think I've ever abandoned a whole card before? . sign of the times. beautiful horses though. Might just have 100 on 'Caulfield' tonight at Waikato instead and be done with lol.

What a horse . I would be here all day telling great stories about him . How about this photo !!! what a ripper, Jeff King at the head holding on to the 'plain jane' old marvel about to go out on the town at a spritely 23 years of age !!!! at the late Roy Purdons property at Clevedon , and Roy's 3 sons have all Rushed Up to do a bit of grooming on the old Boy ! talk about Respect !!!!! they didn't even train him , before he returned from America. (that was of course Mr Peter Wolfenden) Barry on the back brush there, looks like cheeky Owen grinning between back legs , Mark at the front hoof. No horse would be getting this treatment from these boys like this unless you are CARDIGAN BAY.

Well that is possibly true , Sundees Son trotting unbelievable times and Spankem 1.48 is miles faster than the greats of last century. But that's not worth that much in rating best horses. Verry Elleegant would smash Winx for example, at most distances IMO ,doesn't mean both aren't great horses. CARDIGAN BAY from the 60's still won by vote Chief in the list of all time greats. and I wasn't even born when he started racing. . just pulled out a jigsaw for fun to honour the great horse lol..... Why he is the top is so many reasons they wrote books on him, And Joes story was great there . Imagine a farwell tour !!! stuff of legends. Nostalgia is great ! and as Ludwig was saying with some posts in this thread , theres a lot of stuff (horses/racing, etc) we all miss. But we still support todays runners as well for sure !! (the few that are left) How good is that !!!! . Hope you got some photos or something as well . fantastic

All I can really remember was the 3 seconds for Vandy .... , to Naturalism in the AJC Derby, the photo above in the Caulfield Cup when he went via the car-park home turn and Mannerism beat him 1/2 head , and the amazing small popular $17 trifecta when Subby beat Vandy decisively in the wet 1992 Melbourne Cup with the Nzer Castletown 3rd well clear of the rest. Veandercross must of had some big wins as well though ? , but more famous for the 2nds it seems ... good old Shane !!

I'm living in a time warp too Chief !! Joe Rules !!! I want to add Popular Alm, and Paleface to his Aus list and Locarno, Lord Module , Delightful Lady and Armalight to his Nz list. Still , Chief has 'some' credits for the 'Modern-day warrior' with Sundees Son just unbelievable last Nov. and Amazing Dream keeps turning up and getting the job done, like Verry Elleegant would at the gallops these days. The Hunter Cup was on national TV the other night (Amazing Dream 3rd) but was pretty 'tame' compared to all the horses Joe and I mentioned from those big crowds excitement at Harold Park and Alexandra Park . They are still fast and classy racing today . . King of Swing going for 3rd Miracle Mile straight very soon. they are 'Just not exciting to see in the feature races' like those ones you and I mentioned IMO. Those horses were household names at some stages. Joe knows the good ones Chief !! tis is my verdict lol.......

Correct Hey Chief , Bet you didn't know Gammalite was the first Pacer to break the $1,000,000 barrier in Oz ? Now we're talking great animals lol.... Here's one for you , speaking of Bounding Away being Australian Horse of the Year . Question 1 ) Who is this one in photo (Aus horse of the year) wonder if he got a NZ horse of the year too ? I really think Joe will know who won this race too BTW , lol.. Question 2 ) the jockey in contention ? and why the BIG controversy ??

Wow there was some crazy times.!!! I went to Eden Park on that Springbok tour , and flour Bombs came in !! some of the most extroadinary scenes I ever witnessed. As close to war-fare on home soil as you can get. ?? bombing the players ?? I still shake my head thinking that was peaceful lovely NZ during that Springbok tour . jaw dropping scenes around the nation . p.s NZ won this match in injury time with a late Hewson Penalty.

BOUNDING AWAY is Only Two Year Old ever to WIN the Australian Racing Horse of The Year award ? Now that is an Amazing accomplishment . May never happen again .?

All those Cox Plates was remarkable achievement ? Kingston Town ?

Well that is a fantastic line-up. I loved seeing horses like Schillaci go . A bit like Gammalite the pacer , didn't always win but just gave such an honest account of themselves everytime , they're just a people's Favourite. you could get a bet on now and then for the punter too. Here's the Grey Flash , going now for yet another fine Win . as a treat for Joe !!

A lot are , But many just race them themselves still now . many examples lately , Majestic Man, Be my Rose, Stylish Memphis , Spirit of St Louis, Minstrel , Bad to the Bone etc. kiwis are more clever than you think. A lot of people involved in a sport , Expect it to cost them money , Many don't care about the Cost all the time and use their Disposable income to enjoy a FANTASTIC sport, and Indulge in their passion, and Love of Horses. I did. In the 80's Dave Jessop stood a good stallion at $500 . Suddenly little Vance Hanover's were everywhere !! 100's of em , restocking the depleted horse numbers , and anyone could breed a nice horse cheaply. re-visit a saturation approach would help in both those areas again. get some cheap foals about the place. Most people that race horses , do it for the LOVE of it, and the thrill of the win , and the tradition. Costs are down when you have partners and shares . I would say ALMOST NONE cared about the stakemoney that I dealt with in 15 years. They loved/love seeing their horse race. They love horses. Quite prepared to spend a few dollars to 'Support' their hobby. I raced many in shares and it was a very Affordable option. The people racing horses generally HAVE INCOME from something else. thankfully still plenty of kiwi and oz folk getting a share in a horse , and having a great time!!!!, and pop a few dollars on it if they feel like , without trying to break the tote. (optional extra lol ...)

Well he's pretty good I spose, but going back over 100 years a bit tough. Are you in 3 figure age group Chief? Hey , my boy 'Super Impose' did a pretty remarkable unique feat in his day ? Do you remember what that was ? for a Great moment in racing .

Mick 'the enforcer' Dittman and Jim 'Pumper' Cassidy.? or would they be too lenient on the Whip rules ? lol.

Super boy SUPER IMPOSE ?