Gammalite

No , different Andre. You are probably looking for this fella

Yes , I'm just watching Wodonga gallops on tele right now, and not many of these horses are Never Ever going to return a profit for the owners. The owners are sure to get a thrill 'having a go' though. Hope you get to have another crack with a horse ownership someday ( if you missed the first time ), you must be BIG chance of lucky second time round !! law of averages. Training and shoeing and feed etc, all 3 times the cost of what I paid in the 80's and 90's racing them , so haven't been tempted to make a comeback ownership as yet, lol.........win bet on Probabeel does me for thrill these days lol.

Some people enjoy racing horses Brodie. They do get a thrill just seeing them go around.!!! That's the trainers objective !! and you'd be surprised just how many horses don't even get to the races. When owners buy or breed a racehorse, they commit with friends often, and rely on the Trainer for progress. Can't just 'throw the toys' on poor form, IF the trainer gives it hope. (see next sentence) NZ horsemen are notorious for giving horses 'TIME' to develop or improve. You are used to BIG bets to give you thrills that win. Most folk just happy with little bets , and horses that race , that DON"T WIN that often as are having FUN with it !!! (p.s I grant you SpitfireA is bit short of thrills ...lol.......)

Is the big problem really for NZ, not enough races to have a lot of Open Class races. When they do come up , even on the provincial circuits /courses they are from a STAND. so horses can be handicapped. Standing starts are to be honest , a POOR betting medium. NZ cup even getting risky. The handicapping system in Oz regions caters for all the local horses to be able to get a Race start Every Week. This is Excellent for the horse owners, (so horses pay their way), but the fields End Up Being ordinary and uninspiring anyway (no stand -outs so hard to pick as all graded to be similar) . and then become a Poor betting medium unfortunately. The short course racing also really caters for 'Good Barrier Draw s' too, so it is almost silly backing number 5 and wider on the mobile barrier arm, as chances Way slimmer , right from the get-go. The bigger fields in NZ harness racing, do mean bigger divi's on the tote, but it's harder to pick the winner too. (weight of numbers against you) and another Good Thing is like that WInton 'mile and a half ' racing yesterday, it gives them a chance from the back of field too.! That was quite good racing as All runners are a Chance.....

Good points , that '20 something' demographic does unfortunately have more underlining issues though. As well as the 'PERILS of Gambling' drummed into the young folk these days, (my 2 don't bet) they have a HUGE chunk of the 'Animal Activists Issues' thrown in their face as well. So they still turn up (to drink and socialise certain racedays, or as you say they might put a band on or something as some sort of promotion, to get them in) but ask the younger ones who Melody Belle is ?? and you get a blank look on a lot of the faces. Better off with BoysGetPaid who have a bet, know the horses, and hopefully even Love Horses and racing, like the keen racing folk like myself on BOAY (except the 'Doubting Thomas' who doesn't seem keen)

Why would you NOT market towards a group That SUPPORTS your sport. ??? good on them..... The BARMY ARMY has a pretty poor name as well (more mad name than sexist?) but will be welcomed to support the English cricketers where they go (chants and all) You don't like the name of the group? get over it....... It's called having Fun mate, and supporting your sport and passion. The photo is brilliant at the start of your thread here.!!! some blokes getting togeather, having fun , SUPPORTING the industry with a bet , And Actually turning up at the track on raceday. !! (sales of refreshments and lunches good) I Can't find a problem. The girls that know them, would wish them well !! like sending guys on a footy trip ! RACING Benefits from their participation !!!! (not kids like mine in their 20's who go along certain racedays for drinks and to dress-up' show-off, don't bet, don't even look at the horses at all) now there is something the clubs and NZTR should be worried about.

when you mention Addington stands I think of this Amazing Photo. !! The one and only CARDIGAN BAY leading up the NZ FFA field with the stand burning down.!!! Never see that again with Health and Safety ...lol... http://www.harnessbred.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Cardigan-Bay-leading-field-lap-from-home-1961-NZFFA.jpg

Our Princess Tiffany is with Dean Braun as trainer, (Bloke who trained Cruz Bromac before it joined Allstars) Not Ants with her unfortunately. Anthony did get 4th In the Hunter Cup with WOLF STRIDE as well last night, so picked up 25k for that ! very nice ! just half a length behind King Of Swing , so the Wolf might be a force to be reckoned with this year.

Well tonight ALTA ORLANDO did NZ proud for your National Day!!! with 2nd in the $ 1/2 Million Hunter Cup. He Finally beats stablemate KING OF SWING (3rd) home , But couldn't catch the flying Lochinvar Art sadly. congrats to owners John and Robert Dunn and the 2 other owners on the great result though !!!!

Fantastic Dunedin !! after 3rd and 5th in the Group 1 last week Anthony has Stepped up with the 4 yearolds tonight and WON the GROUP 1 100k Bonanza as Trainer with partner Sonya Smith !! wahoo! great for NZ national Day . Ants drove the 4th placegetter in that , and drove the GROUP 3 winner early in night. HUNTER CUP worth 1/2 million about to go. ...... 4 former kiwis are in ....

Fight or Flight response is common . Humans or animals. Racehorses are a combo of both (we hope anyway)

Just a small correction Galah , with Majestic Man actually grabbing second late, in the heat in a 1.53.1 mile rate. That's is motoring. ! Great drive by Kate Gath in the BIG final to rest her horse TORNADO VALLEY behind the pace in the trail after that 'Gutbuster' early in night, when holding out MMan in that fast Heat. That Gave Tornado Valley enough reserves of energy, to Sprint-lane , and win well. The win took his amazing record to 30 wins from 44 starts in Oz. My Aussie hope, the little filly PINK GALAHS not quite up to the 'big boys' yet , but still 2 x good 4ths. She'll be winning again soon and hopefully be a Galah favourite in the future.

Well this looks a special in the Group 3 Mares Race 7 at Caulfield for Waitangi Day. Two kiwi bred horses are in, with Two kiwi Trainers and one Kiwi jockey. (Damian Lane on one but he goes ok !!!) With PROBABEEL (Jamie .Richards training) and SIERRA SUE (Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young training) and Michael Walker Up on top. Looks a great Waitangi Day NZ Special Quinella. !!!! Happy national Day New Zealand !!

Rangatira = Maori Chief David Butcher = harness racing 'Chief' great connection !!!! iceman, wizardman , magicman, superman, Does that commentator give Blair a name, surely not 'Orangeman'? llol..

Whether you have a whip or not a jockey /harness driver is virtually trying to 'Scare ' the horse into going faster. There is a LOT of noise (vocally) on the ' home bend' at any racetrack in I would say every race!, as the ' human component' tries to coerce his charge to give it all they've got . The whip can make a lot of noise and is useful in this task as well. (You can only yell and scream so much) unless you are Damien Oliver who has endless resource of vocal energy at a great decibel too !!! lol.... The whip can be handy to wave up outside the winkers to 'Threaten' the horse and scare it to give more effort as well. Jockeys do a GREAT job with this technique. NO JOCKEY or DRIVER wants to physically hurt a horse with the whip. They are just trying to win the race. I would be happy to go without a Whip if so requested by Rule Changes and try it out. BUT I can say in the 500 odd races I competed in , a whip helped 'coerce' the horse in some way in 100% of those races. Definitely would of been far fewer Placed results without it. It's very hard keeping them going after a pressure event like a horse race at those speeds.!!

Well gotta say after being around a few decades, been to plenty of Race Meetings (a british term) but never once heard of a 'Trials' meeting. They're just called Barrier Trials.

Great article, tells what happened (tests and suspensions) Driver gives apology which is important (we all make mistakes) Harness officials took action which is important ( for the image of the sport projected) councilling offered to make sure no underlining/ ongoing issues, ( bad party timing really) Mentioned the other racing code fellow CJ, which is important ( so racing and Harness racing are projected in the same light) and hopefully ALL industry participants are fully aware of expectations from both codes. so all good moving forward. wonder if they test greyhound handling folk ??? hahaha......

Well it's not as bad as all that . Afterall NZ rates higher than nearly every country in just about everything. Here's the world rankings and NINE of them are just too Cold !!!! so give me Number 4 anyday !! lol........ Denmark (192.53) Switzerland (190.92) Finland (186.40) Australia (185.03) Netherlands (184.18) Austria (181.68) Iceland (180.74) New Zealand (178.22) Germany (177.25) Estonia (175.99) The table below has each country’s index score for safety, health care, pollution, climate, and the overall quality of life index score.

That would of been a thrill of a lifetime , to drive a 16 time Group 1 winner like him. What a dream that would be!! Bruce Clarke did a great job and drove him to 65 of his 94 wins. (including 2 Interdominion finals and an Auckland Cup. One of Gammalites BIGGEST efforts in NZ (Google 1981 Allan Matson FFA youtube ) and enjoy a treat. !!!! circled to the deathseat attacking Armalight for the last lap. Then potential champion, LORD MODULE ,who was having bad barrier manners in those times, came Roaring Home from near last turning for home, to WIN running away, with the crowd going berserk. amazing moment in harness history. One of the most memorable wins ever seen at Addington !!! Gammalite held 2nd well anyway lol........

It's such a hard one. So often you see a horse win because of the 'extra' jockey effort. Just now in the last Race R8 at Sandown , D MOOR had to get stuck into horse Good and Proper as the 2 favourites in the race came at him up the straight. No way was he using the 5 Whip strike policy on this occasion.!! Held on by 1/2 head, with 1/2 head to third. He would of been only third if he didn't ride it like he did. What to do ? Just run third , I guess?

Hahaha, not many Gammalite named ponies around , but would be hard and tough if they were. As the former GREAT horses (and ex- BOAY stallions) NOODLUM and HAPPY SUNRISE attacked for honour in the BOAY trotting cup , and then disappeared as they carved each other up, so fell by the wayside, A truly great stallion emerged to be a force in Trans Tasman challenge's !!! (seen here winning Auckland 83 Interdominion)

Yes a Snap reaction , like the Auckland one from a quarantine Hotel worker as well. Preparing public for 'bigger' outbreaks probably part of the plan in both places. Flying in folk from South Africa seems a risky dance with the devil. just Like betting against Melody Belle .

The WORST field of trotters (by perfromance standards) ever assembled for a Group 1 in Australia ever ! (not counting the fab Majestic Man) Only the third placegetter named MAJESTUOSO has won 2 at GROUP 1 level. (so credit to that i should say) Majestuoso actually galloped and lost 30m in the home straight , and STILL ran 3rd !!!! lol..... my goodness. how bad was that lot? I'm so embarrassed. Second-rate is a compliment. None of the runners apart from the placegetters could or have , won or placed in a GROUP 3 let alone a Feature Group 1. They're Not even third-rate level horses......... sad day for G1 trotting.

Geez you talk some Shit, ............ 9 shits in 9 lines,,,,, that's a real shitty effort !!