Gammalite

Do you think Ranga means triangles? lol Think last time Krug didn't get lead, 'Hot and Treacherous' beat him after Krug sat 1-1. could be interesting. There are No fillies in the Pacing Derby this year. but there are 3 in the $100k Trotters Derby. Maybe Mark Purdon can get Wanna Play with Me in for a win for the girls?

Mighty Me (Robert Cameron ) winning Derby for the 82-83 season. congrats to connections. I'm scarred by that big Crash in the 83-84 season with 9 horses splattered and Naval Officer winning. A northerner with my good friend strapping was third PALEFACE TRYAX , managed to survive the carnage. Even Third in a DERBY with your opponents on the deck is a thrill of a lifetime for some.

Did go Fiordland once ! what a beautiful place that is Freda. No was at South Auckland and Takanini training track always like a beautiful green lush carpet for training . ( now all houses of course sadly) Wishing you rain soon ! Port MacQuarie and Taree NSW here, submerged virtually, a couple of weeks ago . very sad for peoples houses and business. just stopped in Qld a day ago. so about to mow 6 inch grass !! a rarity indeed.

Robert Cameron won a few Derby's in the 70's . Game Adios I remember. also Noodlum. Where are you Noodlum ??? with your Derby trifecta ??? What a great race !! unless it is 1983 !!!

Feel sorry for that bloke at Riccarton, doing track. He was squirming very uncomfortably. what can you do without rain? seems unusual to have rain problems in NZ to me as when there as a kid it rained every second day! so lush and green , unlike dry old QLD with the near dirt tracks. Actually rained heaps here through March with our Feb-March wet season so is lush and green everywhere for a change !! dry and brown rest of year. Eagle Farm still has problem' s anyway . good luck with the track in Christchurch , just sending some rain over the ditch soon all going well!!

Hey you're a Southerner up with the latest Good Oil ? should be a chance of nailing the trifecta?. Hope you are not running scared of American Dealer and a BDJoe quinella for the North Island?

Must be part of the recovery of the Aussie summer campaign for Majestic Man to miss a home race worth $100,000. A real Shame!. as deprives the locals of seeing one of the best kiwi trotters, and would of been a live chance too.

Righto Karrots , 4 horses into three spots, (hope you get extra Brownie Points if get the First 4 ? lol....) Nat to win with Shan Noble , from Mark with Faith, Yorokobi (joy and delight in Japanese) and KRUG wildcard lol , might sneak a place if lucky. lol......

Look out for champion driver Nat to give these guys a 'Driving Masterclass' and take Shan Noble to victory !! SHAN Noble to win from ITS ALL ABOUT FAITH , with YOROKOBI stomping home late into 3rd.

Oats and chaff for the 4 legged ones, good hot cuppa and hot cross buns for the 2 legged ones. and will to Win.

Easter Cup = perfect demonstration why not , Auckland Cup = you know what happens, NZ Cup = might as well put the Allstars on it now. won 6 of last 7 and beaten head in the other with Smolda who galloped and gave Arden Rooney 50m start.

Possibly, I just said that for Pembrook Playboy to visit Aus, as Mach Shard picked up a GROUP 1 $100k race in Australia this year too , and wouldn't of got one there in NZ in all likelihood. (against Cullens) Yes Nathen W 'Had No One To HELP' is dead right. I agree and would love some of those features to have the 3 Cullens, BUT also 3 of Dunns, and 3 x Williamsons and maybe 3 x Telfers or so to even things up a bit tactically. would be a bit more cracking then.

Hey about a year ago AG's WhiteSocks beat Mark (Self Assured) and Nat(Chase Akld) into 2nd and 3rd in GROUP 1 Ballarat Cup by leading and not handing up so fully agree , well worth a go last week by Ricky. AG seems out of sorts this time in. The Galah was saying Pembrook handed up a bit easy , which seems right. Could of been more 'DARING" But what do you do ? He finished on very stylishly for 4th, and is a lovely horse. and not flattened like AG either. and it turned into 'Tame' race as he said , while were Cullens controlling lead and outside leader. Handicaps should be 'harder' to win off, but small field was just 'too easy' for classy operators like Mark and Nat. Tonight , one of their former horses OUR PRINCESS TIFFANY ,who has won 5 of her last 6 starts , tried to win Tasmanian Easter Cup , as the favourite , off the Backmark of 30m , but in a big field and out 3-wide the last lap faded to 5th. Leader won. Poor Pembrook at Addington didn't have the big field like that to get advantage of the 'Head start" on Cullens, unfortunately.

Pembrook Playboy went so well !, closing in 2 lengths on the current NZ Cup champion Self Assured up the straight.Beaten a length and certainly deserved more than 4th. $4.5k seems so poor alas. Nathan Williamson Might have to do what family Brad and Phil W did with Majestic Man and find some features In Australia to win , which they did with Great results recently. 150k profits and (getting away from Sundee Son) while you have such Horsepower as Pembrook Playboy. Too hard chasing Cullens all the time.

Neither can I . will be great and some fast miles all going well (with weather) Just had a quick check of the last 5 years of Harness jewels results. So with 9 Jewels per year . is total 45 races. The ALLStars stable won 25 of them ! How Amazing is that.?? with about 20 different horses too (including a few trotters). (and Without a Self Assured, Amazing Dream or Spankem in sight on winners list either). brilliance on display. quite astonishing that level of success really. Feature race Days are truly the pinnacle of success. Enjoy some NEW winners this year too! with Allstars out.

Unfortunately No betting on Addington in Qld on TAB or Sportsbet whatsoever , so have no idea of odds for anything. 15 gallops meetings are on. The $1.5 million TANCRED stakes on at Rosehill. A great kiwi trainers race this year !! (current and former) Spend $1 on this kiwi First 4 for a Great chance. Melody Belle - Sound - Mirage Dancer - The Chosen One.

Happy Easter to you Karrots!! and is that hubby dressing as the Bunny Boy for you ? hahaha Team Nat tactics will quietly and effortlessly result in a 1-2-3 for the A -Team . despite the handicaps. 2 miles. nice !! Remember the NZ Cup trifecta? to easy.

Short and Spectacular career for Shut Up N Dance. sad to be over so quickly. she very promising and quick. Noticed the second horse to her on the 5th March FIVE STAR GENERAL (J Dunn driving for Peter Bagrie with Blue headgear) after working hard to lead the race ran a Clear 2nd. is ALSO sporting One of those fancy Nasal Patches. Crikey! they make a Difference !!! the rest of field struggling well behind these 2. Of course there are lots of Allstar Cullens wearing them too .Amazing Dream, Spankem and Self Assured gave the leader AGWhitesox a 'Real' workover last Friday while Sporting their nasal strips . Whitesox looking plain as the 3 nasals 'swept on by' up the straight, wondering why he couldn't have one too??. Good to see some opponents like R.Todd, and P.Bagrie using things like this to keep up with Cullens ! FIVE STAR GENERAL (looking a certainty for his next start) after this Great 2nd in photo below to Shut Up N Dance BUT was run down again, on 19th March, into 2nd by 'Rock Legend and M.Purdon without a Nasal strip'. lol.......

That is so funny Chief. can't believe that happens myself. often jockeys have been tested and caught with urine samples as smoke weed, etc as a way of battling hunger issues. Wouldn't you think drivers would have more sense???? Back in the day all motor vehicle drivers were breath tested on the road out of Albion Paceway. making it safer for road users if they pull someone out. pretty random but catch some. If you think it helps, yeah why not, Temperature check ALL drivers /jockeys for covid as they check in at drivers room raceday, and blow in a breathaliser too !! sounds a good idea. everyone being Professional then. ready for a good Safe days racing !!

All drivers are paid a driving fee (regardless if part owner or not), with percentages based on the finish position. so don't know what driver Chief is talking about that wouldn't get paid for his Professional service. to himself or other. most races pay 1st to 5th stakemoney in a declining ratio obviously.

Well that Sucks !!! surely they're nearly all stable staff and getting Paid. Yeah the stewards would DEMAND the handler would have to be competent and registered . can't have just anyone handling the horses raceday. would be chaos !

The rules of racing Apply to everyone Chief. as far as raceday presentation , race rules , etc. All drivers are paid the same , based on finishing position. and stake of the race. You are possibly right and there are some amateur situations going on at home in the stables. But Raceday . you know the rules. and a Professional display expected by one and all (stewards, clubs, punters , even your rivals !!!)

My argument was about on raceday mainly Chief. I would be sure in NZ even all the strappers have to be licensed? therefore you would think Paid ? (if not, why not?) and performing a professional duty. they would have to have some 'knowledge of horse' to be licensed and performing their professional duty , you would hope lol....... You may be arguing away from the raceday track ? I really do think the times of your owners 'turning up ' at the weekend for a drive of their horse, or that sort of thing are gone. (Insurance purposes, etc, should be licensed persons handling the horses at home these days, Stewards have Property Checks in OZ to check all of these sort of things , (Probably looking for DQ people which have been found out on many occasion too) Better to follow the Professional rules and enjoy the Sport !!!

Don't have to make a living out it to be professional. People do other stuff apart from their sport sometimes. work, sponser stuff ,etc. Doesn't mean they can rock up and Not Be Professional (Paid to Perform) on raceday. An Amateur licensed person is still PAID to perform by the owner. ? And in a race an owner and a Punter are RELYING on the trainers and drivers to Perform art a PROFESSIONAL LEVEL financially. (Blair !! lol.......) So is way more important than you are saying For All the Participants to Perform at a Professional level . amateur license included. follow the rules. and then there's safety too.! (yes all sports have volunteers) but doubt they could get a run in the Public eye during a meeting or event at the forefront.

That's not true Chief . any sport where you are 'Paid to Perform' is a professional sport. You have Usually completed (sometimes years) of preparing , qualifying and licensing to get to that level. (of being paid to do your sport) All the drivers , Every race ,are PAID . It's a professional service they are offering . (to the clubs, owners, trainers, etc) Trainers are paid by owners. Club officials, race day staff all paid. A VERY professional Industry if you ask me. The Non-professional ones you talk of, are the owners and Punters. They do it for the love of it.