Gammalite

Here are the final nominations. No sign of Blair and Tim? over-rated? Well the Jewels Day did exhibit some great driving by ALL the participants/ drivers , and many 'having a crack' when usually would be just 'dealt to/with by Allstars stable. @ANDREW FITZGERALD didn't respond to PM request to be the guest Champion judge to name the winner unfortunately. So in true NZ BOAY Democratic fashion a 3-2-1 points. for 1st,2nd and 3rd. Today by anyone to vote from that great list of drives , POST today and the winner can be named end of the day. from most points. votes from myself ............. Barclay 3, Herlihy 2, Nat Rasmussen 1 point.

Spankem went very good tonight. looped field and ran on for win. ONLY $1.30 here so couldn't back it. (was a less than FFA class field) very average lot. Did get on LL COOL J , what a great horse he is !! Suzanne and Tony Herlihy sold him last winter after winning some races last July in Auckland , and he was last in the running, at the 1/4 mile pole, and STILL won tonight !!! a great sprint by him but only $2.90 divvie though, but easy money. which is nice. LL COOL J now 6 wins and 3 placings (including a Group 3 placing to one of McCarthy's ) in 9 Australia starts.

Must admit i've been a critic/ and/or fan of the Telfer 'Team driving ' since Christmas , with many wins. Anything that increases your horses chance of victory is Fine in my books. Don't forget ,'Team Driving' usually Increases the chances of all the 'Team' runners and dramatically reduces the chances of the 'Main rival Opponent' . that is the goal. (ALLstars with the best demonstration of it ever seen, in the last running of the Auckland Cup on Dec 31st) Nearly came unstuck with BD JOE in the 3 yearolds jewels for Telfer though ?, as surely, you would think pushing KRUG 3 back along the fence by letting ALTA WISEGUY take the lead from BD JOE, would of Increased their chances dramatically???. As it turned out , they did the right thing and Ben Butcher drove a Fair Honest winning race and took the chocolates.!! surprise to me. but good on him! Honesty paid off and , even though they gave KRUG all the favours by Not 'team driving' , they won!. amazing.

Well we have witnessed a hundred posts this season, of posters nominating the poorer drives such as Newmarket, Forbury (with a Sunday bit of Ben Hope love comeback) ,one bloke spotting Amazing Dream being beaten by Beyond Words lol.... , but to have an Eye for the Best harness racing drive of the season , deserves to be made by a current NZ champion.? How about BOAY ask ANDREW FITZGERALD (recent winner of NZ Amateur Driving championship) and occasional BOAY poster to select the winner.??? a race driver would know best.?

Well if John is getting a nom, then his brother DEXTER DUNN (world driving champion 2015) should be there to beat him. (and everybody else.) Dexter leaning that far back out of the gig here, thought his helmet was gunna hit the ground at one stage. !! lol...... funny as.... Exactly at the time, while the jewels was on DEXTER DUNN was powering to victory with Captain Barbossa in photo here at the Meadowlands . one of many wins for the day as usual. last season Dexter took 114 votes for driver of the year , 2nd placegetter had just 13 votes. best in world is DD.!!!!

Nominating Mr Tony Herlihy , what a great drive on the 2 yearold DOUBLE DELIGHT to win from the outside barrier draw. Trailed the good trotter Mystic Max for just the right amount of time, (who had every chance from a Blair Orange great steer) and then Double Delight powered on past coming up to the line. Outstanding drive Tony.!! Check out the Iceman Tony on one of the Best NZ Cup winning drives of all time . Luxury Liner 1988 , for his father-in-law Roy . "Luxury Liner" zoomed around the field to get lead at bell in a bold move, then rated to perfection thereafter, headed off by a length by the late VINNY KNIGHT one of the greatest Aussie drivers ever with the Aussie "Our Maestro" (who had won the Interdominion that year) but Tony kicked back with LUXURY LINER to take the win and the NZ Cup. . fantastic drive.

Think you are right in your 'generally' statement. But you have to support North Island trotting too. (if you are HRNZ) Afterall , they still won some Jewels with the Two Herlihy trotters, BD JOE, and SouthCoastArden. and everyone is complaining about the drop-off in the North of horse numbers , so support there is Ultra Important for the industry.

Thanks for that Brodster ! loved it. Just finished watching 'Nigel 'do all those interviews down the stables with a lot of great horsepeople. He had a great old laugh with Gary Hall Snr the West aussie too. was excellent work by 'Nigel.' wonder if he is' he a media Man? or horseman? gee that young Michael Purdon has been in a good paddock . Big lad, can see why not driving now lol......

Hey that is really excellent then ! am totally jealous (not of the weather lol, but the great racing) They were all having a crack yesterday. even Mr Ferguson driving Classy Operator in the two year old . wasn't waiting for Akuta to go , launching a 4 wide attack, down the back-straight a long way out. Wasn't that far from 2nd placing as it turned out at the end lol....... (6th) . So many drivers having a big day having to think their way through those races. How good Akuta ? that was amazing. Nat grabbing the prize in race 9 with South Coast Arden (what a well calculated drive that was) in a 1.51.6 mile. Holy cow! not bad in wet track at Cambridge track. fair dinkum hiking.

an amazing price for Bolt ! I finished well down on the punt , but had a good NUDGE in the wallet from attending Oaks day and Derby day at Eagle Farm recently (in beautiful 23 degree sunshine too) so all good. Those kiwi horsemen are Terrific ! given the rain and conditions, they just got on with it without batting an eyelid. although maybe HIGHGROVE hit a softer spot possibly? who knows? Amazing 'Dream' was a bit of a 'nightmare' lol..., but she has had plenty of wins anyway. and Nat made up for it in the last race with South Coast Arden with a great drive. (couldn't back it though, given the quality of that field)

How did he not Win that ? given the beautiful trip by Blair. Some people thought the leader could do it for BenButcher. BD JOE fighting on for the win. was very surprised myself. Race with least pressure on leader perhaps? HIGHGROVE for me, was the flop of the day, having the win with-in sight and just threw it away himself. John was still nursing him along too. Got some rewards though (John Dunn) with 2 great drives/ wins with NeedYouNow and 5WiseMen. so can still have a nice celebration of victory.

Well that is really Heartbreaking. BOAY has seen for 2 months how much you were looking forward to the Big day of racing . That experience for you truly shattering as you deserved a Great day out , based on the early enthuasism. Am very sorry that happened Jonesy. Threads here have the usual downward spiral for Harness comments as puke material, boring , all Labour's fault, etc. In reality , one of the most TACTICAL driving, some of the Best Horses Ever , one of the most BRILLIANT racedays ever broadcast. 2 wins each to the countries 'Top' horsepeople of Mark Purdon, Tony Herlihy, John Dunn and Natalie Rasmussen (who 'destroyed' the nice field of 4 yearolds in the last race to wind it all up with SCArden ) AKUTA could be the next LAZARUS, absolutely smashing it !!!!! stunning !! coming from last 5 wide on corner , and home by 10l , and the commentator got his name wrong up the straight?. oh dear. The drone was TERRIFIC in my opinion , showing the positioning going into the first corner. Amazing shots !! well done broadcast team, that was top notch stuff. couldn't see any trackside interviews in Aus. Gammalite Rating 10/10 for the days racing !

I only ever bet fixed, but there are ALL up tote options. I would say some poor fellow had an ALL-UP (in Qld we can do them for maximum 4 races) and they are on the tote , so really effect the pools there. Could of been a 4 leg all up leading into that race. $500 on the good things 5WiseMen @ $2 , leading to a collect of $1000 onto Akuta @ $1.20 , leading to $1200 collect onto the heavily supported BDJOE at $4.50 , leading to a $5,400 collect and bet on Muscle mountain @ $1.70 to collect $9,180 if he won the 4th leg of All-up. That would blow the odds of all other runners out of water.!!! and dominate the betting win pool of 11k.

NSW TAB paid $21.80 for Bolt for Brilliance for the win!!!. wow..must of been a multi going into MuscleMountain or a huge win bet on him. Can't remember a 2nd favourite at $21 before. especially one of that quality.

Yeah fully agree, the drivers here are mostly inexperienced with stands. The horse that backed away was driven by an 18 yearold too, even though Angus has 200 wins , nearly the whole lot are from mobile. Nz drivers would be much better (experienced ) to avoid that . Interestingly ,The winning driver in that race is vastly experienced and Lola Weidermann has 3000 career wins and driven every show in Qld too , so would have been in a thousand more standing starts than the rest of the field of drivers put togeather. (co-incidently Wins the race !!!) Great driving today by all at Cambridge anyway, Mark was very patient with Akuta, also John Dunn 2 great wins , but must be spitting Chips with HIGHGROVE throwing it away late. Mr Herlihy a worthy winner instead anyway with the trotting filly. the Iceman strikes!

Hey have just been watching the Saturday night Meadowlands racing USA , as racing is on in between the jewels races today with the time Zones. If you Love Dexter Dunn check out the last three races (TAB treble) replays !!!!!!!!!!!! They are hauling Ass !! 1.47 in second last race, and his drive in the very last race on a trotter is MAGNIFICENT . what a driver.!!! best in world. meanwhile , while the best racing/ best horses is on at Cambridge and Meadowlands,,,,....... stupid Brisbane decides to put the good fast class horses away from a STANDING START last night .Why? I don't know. Out-dated methods. Of course SPANKEM the fav, with driver Kylie Rasmussen got tipped out at the start. stupidity wins again .

Anthony Butt and Sonya Smith going great guns with them.

A singalong sonata at the bar for a winner.! sounds great. can see Bluff weather (12degrees) but not Bluff race results from overseas unfortunately. Hope you had great day.! sounds like it. (we had Qld Oaks at Eagle Farm) so went along (23degrees thankfully) and the NZ raced filly that ran 2nd in NZ Oak's , CHARMS STAR, went very well !! and ran 2nd again in the QLD Oaks. she should go on to BIG things for NZ racing going forward.

pretty good effort! would love my horse to be with any of them !!. Australian season (from January 1st) has the leaders on about 100 wins each and $1mil stakemoney each...... Ben Yole in Tas from near 1,400 starters (wow), and Grant Dixon in QLD from 800 starters. need that money to buy a home now . $1mil for an average home (in nice suburb) Brisbane auction today . Real estate agents are Door Knocking ??? to get houses for the Melbourne buyers. crazy. i had 2 this week. demand is through the roof because of people wanting out of Victoria (4th covid lockdown) Brisbane house prices going up $1000 per day over the past 2 months !! geeeez,

Each season R DUNN usually starts very close to 600 runners per season and wins around 100 races. Both those totals have been exceded by them this season already. Most wins = leading trainer in my book. Dunn had Most wins last season too, over ALLStars, after very narrow 2nd placing's in the premiership, done on number of winners, the three previous seasons to that. If you get the wins , you get the title!!!. ask Ben Yole in Tas lol......... yeah you're probably right and a starters to win ratio not a bad idea.

Funnily enough if Nat and Mark 'disappeared' like Brodie, PA and others would like, Cullen isn't the leading stable anyway. The Dunn stable has 100 + winners this season and would dominate . already had several horses disqualified over the years, for Detectable 'secret potions' e.g caffiene , elevated CO2 , etc Meanwhile the great team of Mark and Nat have Not, and if all the theorists want to say "It's a cover-up" or stewards and swab anaylists are turning a Blind Eye, I say Bull Crap.! Allstars won race after race, season after season in Aus as well as NZ , and after the smashing performances by Lazarus and Smolda and Spankem etc winning miracle miles , Interdominions in Perth , am sure the Australian SAMPLE SWAB analysis would be dumping them out immeadiately. No chance of getting away with anything. So they have to be Clean ?? can't beat the swabbing mate , no matter who you are. especially since the Australian winners 'Junior's Image' and 'Smoken Up' were both disqualified from Interdominion grand final wins run in NZ for positive swabs. There would be NO hesitation throwing the book at them. BEST drivers with BEST horses = BEST wins Brodster !!! even Vinny Knight proved that .

A job for Ludwig then? Hey don't most big stables have a Non-driving Foreman ? a very important roll it is too. to avoid complication. some are even named as 'Trainer' to free up the actual real Trainers. Craig Cross (the farrier) was named training McCarthy's for several years. That let's the 'real' Trainers like Luke McCarthy drive horses for the opposition, like he did for All-stars for a long time when visiting Oz.

You may be jumping the gun a little Brodster. Perhaps AFTER this very weekend of the Jewels , they'll be off to Aus winter carnivals? would of been silly to go before -hand. Mark does race AKUTA himself ? As for Tim Williams , I fail to see why you and Paleface so worried about that ? 1. He is now driving the opponents of a stable you don't support 2. You like to support him as a driver , so now more chance to do so , in a big race. 3. His driving ability is pretty high so he might now beat some of the Cullen stable runners. (Off and Gone?) something a lot of posters would enjoy ? 4. Owners can put whoever they like on to drive . One friend of mine in Brissy uses a different youngster each week , which is a tremendous thing to do advances them all a little. 5 Who gives a fuck if Mark or Hayden or Nat (or Blair himself walked out) for Jewels day? They'll kiss and make up eventually and I'd even wager now , Williams will once again be driving a Cullen horse NZ CUP in Nov?

Hey good try PA !!!!!, but sadly, that mare hadn't had a win in 10 x New Zealand starts last year. and McCarthy has only won 1 with it in 6 x Australian starts this year. (tonight was junior drivers race too). HOTnGOLD still went ok without cover from the impossible mile start '6' Alley . But we're not that weak in Brissy ....... yet . until McCarthy arrives with his better ones King of Swing and Expensive Ego shortly for the carnival. lol.... then we'll look Very weak.

After the Thrilling win by the 'Kiwi-breds' Chris Waller, Jmac (jockey) and Kukeracha last Saturday , it's all on tomorrow for the Qld Oaks again. Chris Waller has the 5 NZ bred fillies that are in the race !!!! ( and a 100-1 Aus bred outsider lol.....) Only Words (williams), Easifar (dittman), Grace and Harmony (mcDonald), Charms Star (mcEvoy) who ran 2nd in NZ Oaks , and Signora Nera (bosson) What a true Credit to the Nz breeding and racing industry these fine fillies are . Very Strong chance of getting the FIRST 4. I'll be going along to see them first hand ! wahoo ! after a great day out at Eagle Farm the DERBY last week , (and luckily nailing the winner.) I'm getting converted to gallops as the BIG Group 1 day of harness racing is at Cambridge Sunday (The Jewels race-day) and only 1 BOAY poster on the harness thread is real keen on it which is heart-breaking. very sad. So anway, tomorrow in the QLD Oaks you would think Oppie could make it a 'True NZ 'result ??, but in true BOAY fashion , where it's all about words ! lol...... (and love omens and NZ breds) , am going for ONLY WORDS (nz) to win the Queensland Oaks for willow and waller. This race I attended a while back (only time got to see WINX) launched her great career for Waller. !!! fantastic.