Gammalite

With Kane Williamson leading the BlackCaps to the inaugural WORLD TEST cricket Championship overnight , with a crunching win over India. The Wonderful Williamson harness drivers ,have gathered a 'HAT-TRICK' of their own each,, to celebrate at Forbury Park harness on Thursday. Matthew and Nathan Williamson , 2 of the best in the land , celebrating the Huge cricket win in style with 6 winners between them !!! what a Day !. Brad missed a winner but joined his brothers in nailing the $100 trifecta in race 5. at Forbury. so had some fun too. Congrats to the worthy cricket team and of course All the Wonderful Winning Williamsons !!!

Some very good points . the horses have to be fairly tractable to be in junior races, with the inexperience factor. I wish you guys could of seen them from the 80's. Tony used to win the 'probationary' races mostly, Mark P on dad Roy's horses would go close , the rest of us would scrap it out for the remaining 12 drives so was very much like a random draw in the end , as to who a trainer (or owner) wanted to 'Give a go' on any given week. Usually C1 or C2 class horses , but wow , there are demolition derbies on occasion, because field size, too BIG !!! Was way more opportunity getting to Australia. (races 5 days a week (some 6) in most states you can attend and drive. In Brisbane these days , the reins are given to the youngsters mainly EVERY race. John McMullen, only in his 50's like a few of us but hasn't driven for 10 years, says its a young persons game .(Race Driving) His 4 kids win 10 races every week between them Grant Dixon probably the oldest at 50 years old that goes round regularly. Juniors are in Every race. They drive for to old an age in NZ .lol.. Average driver age would be twice that of an Australian race. Mango seen the light lately? lol give the youngsters a go.

Excellent idea. even have 2 races like this per racenight , once a week. limited starters per race of say 8 (increases safety and owners chances of winning) and extra $2000 for winner above the normal they would race for. use C1 horses (at least one win so have been around a while and/or capable of winning a race. ) random draw as Jones suggested to get new winners each week !! RESULT : 2 winning horses , 2 slightly richer happy owners, 2 very chuffed junior drivers at the weekly meeting. What could go wrong ?

stabilize all the current Clubs still in action. they all 'deserve' something in the HRNZ handout of prize-money. Bring in an award winning accountant to work it out (the distribution hand-out) ? Clubs responsible for the on-course maintenance and race day facilities, but most importantly , have Benefactors , who love the harness racing , to support the Clubs financially, near where they live and want to race their horses. In Auckland, Max Harvey (of Harvey Furnishings) used to have Inter-island challenge stakes, Akld Cup sponsorship etc, be club 'Patron' etc, . these days you need Millionaires who love harness racing to donate to the clubs prize-money pool for races to make it viable. Kevin Seymour and Chris Garrard (horse and hound millionaire) have done it for years in Brisbane , whereas without them, Albion may of folded years ago. Why not try John Green at Auckland ? Get the 'Hugh Green Foundation' to run the show??? Multi millionaire dollar organisation , and John loves harness racing, (raced The Agent Orange) and he's former trainer too!! . even had wedding at Alex park (as I was lucky enough to attend with the bride Trish's family.) so they love the place. It is IMPERATIVE to get millionaire breeders ,example : like John Green (or Seymour in Brisbane ) on All the trotting club committees to keep clubs afloat. and keep harness racing alive. You need STRONG (i.e rich, lol.....) club board members, who want to race their horses.

Childish stuff ??? a competition for drivers to compete doing something they love and live for ?? happening next month whether you like it or not. obviously 'Not' in your case . A great chance to advance their careers , experience's, making contacts, and begin establishing an identity in harness racing. everyone should be wishing them well. obviously 'Not' in your case.

Brisbane Albion Park has been blessed with great BENEFACTORS over the years. Kevin Seymour (past chairman , multi millionaire property developer, and massive horse owner) has fought tooth and nail with RQ (racing Queensland) to keep the track running for years. Current deputy chairman Mitchel, races heaps horses with Dixon too. (keeps it going) The greyhounds move out 2022 to 40mill complex being built at Yamanto 40km from CBD . fantastic for them !!!! Ultimately the track will be resumed for the Olympic village and broadcast centre , when Brisbane wins the Olympic bid for the 2032 Olympic games. The beautiful gold coast harness track ,opened 1990, was resumed 2010 for the 2018 Brisbane Commonwealth games , and the Gold Coast club folded (very very sad), and the athletes village built on the site. (sure to be used again for Olympics too)

Well sorry about that. No offence intended. I thought this thread was about achieving more Junior drivers and competition between the Islands. The more the merrier ???? especially home grown products from the greatest harness families. With the young Herlihy, and wolfendens boys, now dexter and Trainor all doing so well overseas , thought you would love the next gen of the famous families , to actually be RACING IN NZ. I'm very disappointed Andy and Todd McCarthy went off to the states, as were near the very best in Aus. leaves a BIG hole locally.

Fair enough then, if you think that. If I was HRNZ ,I'd be desparate to keep Auckland going. Especially since of the feature racing they host. For the good of the sport. As Galah said if NorthIsland eventually closes down and SouthIsland still going with harness racing, how long before they start closing tracks down there. Forbury already I think you guys were saying???? I used to love racing at Ruakaka or Taranaki (New Plymouth) and is hard to believe someone didn't have funding to keep them going. I realise a lot of people are unhappy with Auckland trotting Club performance for some reason. EXAMPLE : I'm unhappy with the Wallabies too ,and rarely watch these days. BUT wouldn't for a second wish them out of existance , because of poor performance and/or management. Still hope they win , and still fully EXPECT Rugby Australia to throw money at them , to achieve better days. HRNZ should have funding /management to 'Prop' these clubs up !! not let them all die? , like is happening. AND for the Junior drivers are MENTORING and SCHOOL program , like they have apprentice school here in QLD , young people coming through every year. It's Time to look after /educate /mentor the young drivers too !!

If there's a problem Brodster , you need to throw more money at it , to improve things . not less. (as in any business) to attract investors and participants. and it's nothing about 'deserving' , if you want the industry to survive. They have many feature races there , that the southerners have raided since I was kid in Auckland. Locarno took the Messenger my first night and Sapling the Auckland Cup a month later. Don't you enjoy that sort of thing ? Recently (even the last Alex park meeting) had southerners plundering spoils) was great racing , no matter what you think about it. didn't you see Cheezel and co? excellent stuff. example is Brisbane racing for much much less then Syd , Melbourne and Perth but Kevin Seymour and Chris Garrard (millionaire breeders) have thrown 100,000's at it over decades to keep it going for their horses. (and the other trainers here in Bris. ) Garrards sponser NZ as well , to SUPPORT the industry all-over. maybe someone like RonRobertson and Max Harvey (raced Comedy Lad) who used to throw some money around at Auckland need to be found. and throw more money at it to build it up again even bigger. Shame about the Junior's !!!!!! I finally worked out what went wrong in the North today . The new generation didn't come through as I discussed earlier. you're right ! that has caused desparate times now. (shortage) TIM BUTT's kid just started driving (Rylie) but unfortunately for you , is in Victoria instead of Canterbury

I imagine you jest with this Brodster. ? surely stakemoney is an even distribution via sponsers and interested parties and HRNZ, and anyone racing in industry is worthy and 'deserving' of their share, whether Ruakaka or Winton. don't see why drivers, trainers or horse numbers in training are anything to do with it. You want to win, you turn up. Auckland just won the super rugby final on TV the other day against South Island Highlanders. was on tele here in Brissy even and good game. Perhaps we should Pay the NI Auckland teams more ? and base the rugby in Auckland , (as that is where the greater numbers are who participate) and reduce the stakes (pay) to Canterbury, Otago and that as don't deserve much. (The Brodster theory?) Tongue in cheek by me mate, all good. ..... the Auckland/Cambridge racing has been excellent lately . give em more I say ? just need some new drivers, as you and Jones suggested. Hey you could Get the motorcycle gangs to do Letter box 'flyer' drops all through Auckland suburbs !!!, a free dinner voucher per person at the course , all that sort of thing. My dog would love to go 'right-off' at a Harley Davison pulling up at our mail-box too !!!

OMG It's actually happened ! the racing is callapsing because the next generation didn't come through to replace the 'Old' boys ?? McKendry, Mangos, Mark +Barry + Owen Purdon, Stormont , Cooney, Wolfies 2 boys ross and glenn, Herlihy , Mitchell, Blanchard ,Smith, Hunter, Cole . (Langdon, Harris and Brosnan all pissed off to Australia) ALL of these some of NZ 's BEST NORTH ISLANDERs ever involved in harness racing, and filled the race-book just 30 years ago. 30 years on. and NONE of their kids of these top line drivers, are driving in the races !!!!!!!!!!!! some are still going around themselves. Butcher and Ferguson (if son of Peter) only 2 'next gen I can spot !! and Bernie Hackett has young daughter just started !! Well done Bernie , and congrats to Crystal Hackett with a couple of wins already.!!!! P.S where is Tony Cameron ??? isn't he a junior at Herlihy's ??

They were a lovely bunch of horses in their day. Lots of wins between them . They tire late nowadays, but how game are they? fabulous. Sabrage went his absolute best of the usual 1.54.4 he can run these days to run 3rd , but the winner sitting parked going 1.53.6 was just Way too good today. Funnily enough he tried that last start , parking outside Sabrage and ran last. Miss McMullen (now married to Ryan Vievers) had him fired up today !!! lol... CHANTRY did run 1.53.3 back in summer , but hasn't gone that quick since. a good buy at $7000 for someone still. Sabrage stable-mate at Butler's, from NZ called THE ROCKNROLL KING just ran a good second in race 9 to McCarthy, and beat the High reputation horse AMERICAN DEALER by 15m.. But he would be worth 50-100k !!

Ray Green giving a couple of his stable a run very soon at Albion in sunny Brisbane, TOMMY LINCOLN and AMERICAN DEALER from the North Island. As luck would have it Team 'McCarthy ' is in town and popped a couple in against these 2 North islanders today. RANGER BOMB from South having raced at Addington last winter performing ok with 4 wins from 11 for the McCarthy super-stable since. looks a sure fire 'quinella' in Race 6 with only 4 locals chasing third money lol......... Race 9 AMERICAN DEALER is equal favourite for Ray and the north , with McCarthy on ILIKEMEBETTER who has drawn well. But could the horse from the Deep South of NZ THE ROCKNROLL KING blow them out drawn the Gun 1 Alley ???? 'sure fire trifecta' possibly?

Bit scattered everywhere through NZ and Aus . was Just having a senior moment thinking would be fun to race one with the folk who are actually "Interested in and support Harness racing". lol . and you would get some great discussion and enjoyment racing one of these fine horses. Hope they all get the chance at some time would be great for them. BUT of course actually seeing your horse race is the fun and value of it all anyway, so we 'Luck Out' at this stage . NZ being a big place too, so is pretty hard to get 'On Location' to enjoy the racing.

Well that's good then, Thanks for you (and The Galah) for clearing that up. Video can be deceiving at times, and I was totally unaware of that method with deafeners. never used em like that. So apologies by me to Mr Newman are in order (and given), for incorrect cheating allegation earlier, and wishing him many more winners !!

He was kicking its tail IMO . there are many ways to tie a tail (gently to the sulky) esp. in wet conditions. did it many times. esp mares who try to 'swish' you away lol..... The young bloke Newman gave it (tail) a bit of a whack with his boot as the 2nd horse was getting closer, and he got the reaction he wanted. I don't like those sort of things. Try it yourself, hold your cat or dog gently by the tail with one hand, while it's mulling around your feet. then give it a little whack with your foot (between your hand and base of tail) and see what happens. Newman looking for that reaction ? pretty sure earplugs are pulled by hand ? many Brisbane horses have deafeners. never seen foot release of them before, but guess it's possible if you wanted to be awkward.

Having seen the movie "Dream Horse' yesterday, starring the amazing Aus actress Toni Collette yesterday , am inspired to race something. Also missed out buying 1.54 horse SAM IS PERFECTION for 7k recently. Sam ran 4th to KING of SWING in the Brisbane FFA last saturday after 3 straight wins. A great winning purchase would be his stablemate SABARGE racing tomorrow Albion, in a claimer for just $9000 . A 1.54.3 capable horse, NZ bred by the late MACH THREE stallion. slightly slower than Sam but pretty honest. SABARGE meaning is 'to open a bottle , usually champagne, with a Sabre !!! fantastic!!. that sounds like us after a win ! lol.... Nine persons at a mere 1000 each for a ninth share, the BOAY syndicate ( or How Bizarre syndicate or DD Smash syndicate) will be winning some back just next week . Gammalite, Galah, ChiefStipe, Davis, Brodie, Jones, Taupiri, Dougie , GospelJudus all readymade winners , ready to go runner. Pop him with Grant Dixon training and win next week ?? Grant and Nat used to race in Claimers all the time , he'd give me 'mates training rates' too lol.... big downside is Gammalite , the only one to get to see him race! lol..... (Brisbane) and he is 8 now too, so in last year or so of racing. so unlikely he would ever get back to NZ racing lol.

100% correct. You guys are all on the money in this thread. If you want to WIN a race, you do everything in your power (that is legal) to have the horse 'Feeling great' and going great for that race. You would fully expect a 'range' of treatments would of been administered for Jewels Day. I see no problem. Some are arguing against the costly excercise of joint injection. fair enough. some argue against whips etc fair enough. Personally I argue against the NASAL STRIPS, so often prodominant (and brutally ugly) on Allstars and Dunns horses that others don't have. They obviously work to a degree , judging by results. So why don't they all have them.????? EXAMPLE : Trainer Cam Jones picked one up (a NASAL strip that marked this horse URGENT) from somewhere and applied it to BENSONS MATE in Race 1 at Addington last Thurs 17th june. Check out that race !!!! horse heavily backed . Leaders nose with a strip to suck in air. ! and 'Cheating' driver Newman actually KICKED the horse ! half way up the home straight , to be sure the plunge was gunna come off. NEWMAN 'panicked' for a second there, and even tried running 2nd placegetter out as well in the straight???? lol. a disgrace to 'honest' racing that race was.

Santanna Mach racing in great heart recently winning 3 of last 4 now. so he's not struggling anyway. A Brilliant 10/10 drive by Sarah O'Reilly too ! !, what a great little driver she is. she covered Santanna up for the first lap to save energy , dragging back to last from the horror outside barrier draw. After one lap the leader pulled field up to a Crawl, So Sarah went round from 4 back outside to sit parked LAST LAP only, and dictated the leader CHUCKLES pace for last 1/2 mile (home in moderate 57.7) to win easily. Easy to understand as yet another impressive NZ driver in action.

It's a McCarthy massacre at Brisbane with KING of SWING in easily by 3 lengths jogging, from fellow ex-pat kiwis 'Turn It Up' and 'Spankem' at $1.10 SPIRIT of ST LOUIS also easily by 3 lengths at $1.10 , increasing the value of Sweet Lou's for Jones !! EXPENSIVE EGO (could still be the best) a real beauty !! home by 3 lengths easily at $1.40. Brisbane locals no hope with the McCarthy slaughter. He left ALTA ORLANDO (owned by Dunn's) at menangle for a Group3 , but he got pipped at the post ?? surprise result for me , by another ex=pat Kiwi named BUNDORAN roared home from last place, turning for home!!, wow wee! , to arrive at the line in 1.52 with a devastating sprint for Amanda Turnbull. he now has 8 wins , 4 x 2nds from 15 runs this year , after near nothing in NZ last year ?. so that can only INCREASE Aus demand for even moderate performing NZ horses. so still a good market Jonsey!!

Oh and forgot to mention Sir Mark Todd was part of that NZ equestrian team getting the Silver Medal riding Welton Greylag at Barcelona Olympics 92. Mark had won GOLD medals at the 2 previous Olympic Games riding Charisma to Individual Gold in Los Angeles 84 and Seoul 88. A champion for decades !! and now placing at Royal Ascot !! fantastic.

Sir Mark Todd, what a legend. best kiwi horseman ever? go close. still actually rides TASMAN BAY himself in training at home and Mark is 65 years old ! Talk about hand's on !!! he is amazing. Imagine Chris Waller riding one in training lol....... One of my best memories ever was the Aus- NZ Quinella at the Barcelona Olympics Equestrian team event. The NZ team were way in front going to cross country , a very tough course and spectacular vision. In the winning team Andrew Hoy for Australia rode a NZ bred horse named KIWI , he named in honour of the great Melbourne Cup winner a few years earlier , that Hoy admired greatly , coming from NZ. KIWI roared around the course with fearless aggression and was Ironic the brilliant performance of that horse, got the points, to take the NZ team back to second place and ultimately the Silver Medal. Was a Fantastic Day in history for Australasian horses and horsepeople on the HUGE world stage.

That was Amazing !!! a 7 length win in a FFA , he was like Lazarus last night Winter Cup. super impressive.!! after his many 2nds last year to Chicago Bull , SHOCK WAVE has stepped up to take the mantel of Best on Track.!!! SHOCKWAVE could be the next King of Swing ? best in Australia . WA has churned out a heap of front running Beauties of all time over the years !!! I have seen many lead and win Interdominions ! SAN SIMEON, JACK MORRIS, BALTIC EAGLE, PREAUX CHEVALIER and VILLAGE KID. and my personal favourite was I"M THEMIGHTYQUINN for WA as because he won 3 Interdominions !! and powered home from back in the field for his wins mainly, (and Quinn knocked off champion Queenslander 'Blacks a Fake' to stop that horse winning 5 Interdominion Finals for Nat lol....)

They have a great System with thoroughbred mares now . absolutely smashing it. The big Syndicates of owners sign up and race the fillies and mares for their 'Racing Days' but as a clause of ownership, the horse must be sold at end of career to the big studs , at the Big Broodmare sale once per year. A windfall for all !! the breeders (studs) pick up most of the best mares around. Arcadia Queen and Melody Belle were 2 examples sold this year's sale recently. Breeders are delighted to put them to their star stallions. And the 'Racing' Syndicate members are 'settled' with a handsome Sale price share, as their final fling , even though some might of liked a foal out of their pride of the track themselves, just too many issues in that area, so are paid out. Possibly a way Standardbred colts and mares could have the syndicates 'dissolved' at end of racing career.? A once a year BIG sale where all the studs turn up to buy the stock for their shareholders and profits. That's If they have many syndicate horses in the future years racing. (prob is we do have a lot of geldings in harness though lol.......)

Gorgeous Kate Gath having a chuckle as has spotted lovely Brittany Grahams's 'overdone' Fake Tan. hehehehe lol.