Gammalite

Hey in that big 74' NZ Cup Hi Foyle and Quinny fought out 3rd behind the amazing free legged pacer ROBALAN. and Hi Foyle 2nd in the Grand Final of QUINNY"S big Interdominion win at Auckland the following year !! great memories for some readers!!

We have ruined it for you Mikey in Australia sadly (and USA) by buying for the rich and syndicates anything that wins there in the south with ability and leaving just the average or not for sale behind. esp Perth WA (riddled with last start winner in NZ horses through all the grades. as Bond and Hall and Warwick for years have plundered your best stock. Racing is Triving There. I remember when Brian Notman sold Village Kid , after winning at Hutt park. we all said" thats a shame" , he could be something Big......lol

they need motivators like you Mikey!! Those holiday grass track racing days look fun , (as long as you aren't trying to win on the punt. ) very tricky with those big fields. BUT a nice day out , and people in the industry can earn prizemoney. With Forbury , you would need innovation. combine something with it. (Albion had a disco that kicked in upstairs after the last for a few years ) that was great. Dunedin a big city, cold to go out at night I guess , but what if say the Good Rugby team were there for photos one week? for photos , fun etc, or a good local Band invited to play and get tickets to their followers to attend . (PLay tunes between races or something) I don't know . just something extra.

For these places to survive you need punting /punters. yes.. pokies came and then sports betting so the clubs are all slowly closing. I wouldn't bet at Forbury (unless good form horses raced there) as a pro punter these days instead of FUN punter, I Only bet on horses that show ability, win regularly , and always a chance. So in NZ , I nearly always Allstars, here I wouldn't touch Tassie, SA , trotters or Qld races unless a Group race like COLT THIRTY ONE ,( always gives his best.) There is hope though! horses like AMERICAN DEALER always give their best so would draw a punter and a crowd away from Allstars if they attend some smaller meetings.

Sreel Jaw killed it in that NZ cup hunter just after KIWI won the Melbourne Cup too I think. Spoils shared ?

Yeah pacers like Hands Down would go to Forbury , very good quality, Hutt park wellington Cup was something to look forward too. shame as gives others than Allstars a good race.

era of YOUNG QUINN (4th 'goat ' behind Gammalite, Cardy and Lazarus? lol) Interdom at Auck, Miracle mile in SYD, but only the 2 x 3rds in the NZ CUP for Quinny. yeah it was good tough racing in the mid 70's for sure .... hard to win then , hard to win now

Just doing my form for the weekend , and have to chuck this one in for you Galah , as is a kiwi and very courageous performer over a long period of time like just your boy Jerry Garcia. OUR OVERANOVA NZ. !! champion. Foaled at exactly same time in NZ as Jerry was OVERANOVA , now 11 , and racing in our QLD trotters Christmas Cup this Sat (off the backmark 30m as usual) I'll be cheering for him All The Way !! He was raced 8 times in NZ in 2013 by Jeff Wheeler in the South Island there. Jeff trains trotters exclusively. He won a race and sold him to QLD where he is just a Marvel !!! season after season!!!!! (so had to mention him) Won 25 of first 30 starts here in QLD, before Handicaps started to beat him, with champion trainer Grant Dixon. Had a stint at McCarthy's but just 2 wins from 8 starts. Stanley in Victoria won none from 18 starts. So back to QLD with Grant , where the old 11 yearold legs will go around for the 191st time Sat , he made it to 1/2 million $$$$ last week. !! but just the 8 wins from 36 starts this season , as old age catches up. career is 190 starts , 63 wins (60 with Grant) 37 seconds, so 100 times in the Quinella !!! amazing !!!! lol........

WRACKLER you say . that had me scrambling for my Flying Sulkies NZ Cup book, to check it out. What a performer!! I think that displaces Jerry Garcia somewhat ,and even Maori's Idol (who often trotted against the top pacers as far too good for the trotters. ) Wrackler won both Derbies in NZ at 3 as well, then NZ Cup 1930, third in 1931 then changed gate to win the Dominion off 60 yards behind as a trotter, in 1932. (trotted 2 miles off 120 yards behind in time of 4.23 as well, outrageous fast in those times) That must get WRACKLER a nomination for TOP 10 horses of the century?. What a ripper !! (his dam won the NZ Cup too! 100 years ago)

Jerry Garcia ,with 9 wins as a Pacer and now 5 as a trotter MIGHT actually be the Last Horse to achieve such an amazing accomplishment in Harness racing. A truly unique Feat indeed.

I think all of the opposition could of been nobbled and SHEZ ALL ROCK would still of beaten them all and won that Waikato 3 yearold fillies Jewels in 2018 She won by 5 lengths from Dizzy Miss Lizzy in 1.51.8 . holy cow ! that must of been close to track record surely.

A nice Bettor's Delight foal for you Karrots !! This one born early this year is in New Jersey is owned by Ex-pat kiwi Chris Ryder. Chris bought that broodmare, who is the magnificent SHEZ ALL ROCK, when she was three year old in 2018. She won 4 x Group 1 races from just 11 race starts, inc NZ oaks and the Jewels to be the three year old filly of the year in NZ , and the Victoria and NSW oaks to be Australian filly of the year as well !! an incredible honour. unfortunately she had a knee issue and didn't get to race in the US of A. This Colt could be the CHAMPION OF THE WORLD in a couple of years time !! (Gammalite early prediction lol)

Well before you go let's summarize for you. 1. Giving the lead to a stablemate is Not match fixing. 2. Mark drives horses very well (and knows way more than you or I about race driving to WIN) 3. Trailing the leader is a PRIME position to be in a race. (especially when leader is a STRONG horse) 4. NZ racing is quite a HIGH standard as Brodie said. ALLstars operates at a Very high standard so always in the SPOTLIGHT. whether that be the Winners circle Spotlight. or a Grandstand 'Drivers/critics Spotlight. 5. Amazing Dream every chance in the world to win the Group 1. (Marks drive in the NZ FFA was worse... lol) 6. Many more winners to you !! and all the hard working industry participants Out there !! good day.

Very sorry Hunter ! I actually meant I Had had the 2 bottles of wine , so my comments were poor lol.... and of course the mean bugger bit was just me trying to be funny in a good way (but wasn't it seems) yes I tried to leave all the Bogans behind in Tas but being born there probably stuck with Bogan Blood for life !! hahahaha.......

Hey Hunter , you're down voting me after 2 bottles of wine !! WTF hehe you mean bugger ! Com'on fellas, you all know everyone is doing there best to get their runners home !! Haha no I don't disagree with you , I would love the finish order to be how YOU want it Galah !!! I did have a bet with a $20 Quinella with Allstars so all good , but lost 50 bucks on COLT THIRTY ONE here 2nd as couldn't resist the 7-1 odds !! hahah and lost 40 on Spankem-Ashley Locaz Quinella , blah hahaha after 2 bottles hard to type now , so leave you with it, yeah , you CANNOT expect Mark to ignore his stable runners hehe . You are a good Sport Galah , and i'm happy you had a drive or 2 as that does show you know what you are talking about !! good luck for some winners !!!! p.s back Mark , can't go wrong heheheh

and having said that Galah , in both these Group 1 races the plans and tactics resulted in the best possible outcome for the runners we are talking about, That is the name of the game !! Best possible outcome ???? Not quite the finishing order you or I wanted , but ALL right up there !!! and where were the rest ? ?? nowhere

Definitely helped Nat more than leaving her parked out !! heheheh unless you are Gammalite. (the legend) Shane Graham was driving a Vicki Rasmussen / Allstars horse , surely in Cahoots with Luke to a degree?? They knew what they were doing heheh just like Mark and Nat. You don't expect them NOT to Know do you?

Honestly mate, I'm with you in as the race panned out Mark didn't win and Therefore was probably better if he led as maybe would of won then? BUT his decision to take a trail is fine as well. If he won from there would you be grizzling ? probably not , you would say a good winning drive (I hope) EVERY race , a lot of drivers will say what they COULD OF DONE but only one winner. There was a Group 1 in Brisbane last Sat. TURN IT UP (a triple Group 1 winner in NZ , that everyone here knows?) burned out of the barrier to lead easily ..... half way through he gave up the lead to KING OF SWING and race over!!!! my goodness ,I was horrified as you were/are by Amazing Dream giving up the lead) as my thoughts were A Triple G1 winner in the lead ! wow keep going mate !! leave that sucker parked but Noooooooo Shane Graham took a trail , and ran third. If he held lead might of Won? or run last ? but the driver made his decision I think he gave away the chance of winning , just like you think that with Mark and Amazing Dream. BUT it's not match/ race fixing. Just a tactic and/or raceplan

Sort of Taku, .....You could come out of the gate with great determination and cross the front of the field squeezing some up , making some badly disadvantaged but it's not race fixing. just bad driving. Your example is fine , BUT virtually every race, You as a driver, are trying to do something that makes the others Lose >>> whether you tell them or not. And you want them to be at a disadvantage. Match fixing is more Pre-determined and well planned Foul Play. Betting sheets are a giveaway and phone messages for that sort of thing

I think everyone knows you are trying to say he should win the race as was on a 10-1 on shot. Wish it was that easy. The problem for you is though Galah , not being a race driver I take it? is that 1000 or more drivers (including myself) in the past, have taken a sit on the leader when drawn the one alley (NOT always behind such a good horse either like Beyond Words) and won the race or run a head second like Mark did ...... We CANNOT haul them all down to the local Police station on a race fixing charge , explaining to the local constable what went wrong if they were the head second. Mark is probably just as surprised as you he didn't win the race after the perfect trip in the trail .?? Bloody B WORDS charged up the home run too quick Bloody thing !!!

Ok...... that is interesting. On all the Local cards in Brisbane and Redcliffe it always has in the stewards report that they swab ALL winners and take a pre-race blood sample from the selected random runners. I thought those main NSW tracks would be the same. Seems a good idea to swab all winners there to ! judging by the amount of syringes left laying around it seems by what you say .lol...

Driving tactics always under scrutiny I guess, especially in the Group racing so all your readers are seeing Mark and Nat right in the mix so often in those G1 races because they are the BEST there is, everyone has an opinion. Fair enough. Just need to know that Tactics are completely different to Race fixing.... Natalie did nothing to help Amazing Dream in the NZ FFA last month when leading with Spankem (could of drifted out a bit to give it inside room) and wasn't gunna wait for her last Friday either with BEYOND WORDS. Great driving Nat !!!

Can they try for Defamation compensation ? if they were named publicly?

A 'No result' is a 'Good result' Noodlum ! means there is no provable criminal activity happening possibly.? good honest kiwi's . I was frowning upon the term RACE FIXING being used so frequently , because of the true criminal meaning. 'Bad Losing drive'... a much better term to use lol..... something we can use most races ? lol.......

Race Fixing is a Very,Very,very serious charge. Match fixing is a CRIMINAL offence. YOU ARE ARRESTED these days. You can't just watch a video of a race and accuse people of this very serious charge just because they lost. Most competitors lose in every race as you know ? It's a question of whether the driver/rider gives their mount / drive every chance to win. Usually RACE /MATCH fixing involves a financial windfall for the parties involved in the incident. Famously the Gleeson brothers at Harold Park SYD in the 90's fixed races with their horse losing for 12-20k gain. (They got 100 years DQ at the time) and wrecked the image of harness racing forever. In December 2017 in QLD, Vicki Rasmussen, Shane Graham and Leonard Cain (later exonerated) were 'Arrested' for a race FIX incident earlier in Winter that year. Some schmuck has 3k on the winner, Leonard had to give up the lead in the race cheaply to let Shane Lead and win. Gosh they even gave Trainer Vicki a year out for that.... oh dear. very sad. Our best driver in QLD was on the sidelines for more than 2 years. Thankfully Shane is back in action this year. betting and phone records were used as evidence. People watching AMAZING DREAM getting beaten narrowly in a video and calling that RACE FIXING is kinda funny really. Had every chance to win . If you still call that race Fixing (and you have some evidence apart from watching a video and not agreeing with the race plan) CALL the POLICE and have them deal with it.