Gammalite

Great picking with the quinella there Brodie !!! $7 for 1 and 2 that you selected. How did you miss that Trifecta 300? Had your name all over it.

Mostly Australian harness racing is on large tracks these days Brodie. We have moved on from the tight turning Harold Park, Hobart showgrounds and Moonie Valley years ago. Menangle (NSW) is huge maybe 1400m?, The 2 main Tassie tracks are fantastic. Melton(VIC) is fabulous. Albion (QLD) is super fast too. Bendigo, Newcastle and Bathurst (where they run feature races ) are all 1000m + around so are definitely not saucers. Only Gloucester Park Perth (WA) is the only feature Racetrack to be 'Small' at 804m around. Mark Purdon still won the Interdom twice there recently with Lazarus and Smolda anyway. Isn't he Good ? what a champion..... Smolda was 10-1 too Brodie , so you could get a bet on fine !!!!!

haha good for you patriotic man! hehe You do realise the standards will slip without Allstars ? hehe couple more Quinellas tonight I see, they perform at a very high Standard?. You'll have to fight VERY HARD to keep them in business to maintain these high standards of racing? , like you guys did to remove the starter in the South Island to improve your 'Standards of Racing" !! good work. Hey did you know Mr Pyers drove for quite a while in QLD back in the day? sending him home after failing here, may of improved our standards in Oz ? lol Stewards there have addressed the issue to keep your standards up high.

Someone still has to win the races Forbs. Marks horse SHAN NOBLE only has 2 x 1.58 MR wins, the winner AMERICAN DEALER won recently in 1.53.3 in October at Ashburton beating a subsequent G1 winner in ITS ALL ABOUT FAITH (driven expertly by Mark as usual) and KRUG. That Made American Dealer a special in this race wouldn't you think ? Mark did well to get within 4m , instead of beaten 40m lol

Brodie , You have changed from your original statement . this statement is about the fine quality of horse NZ produces. Here is the original declaration YOU made. If as many of your home bred champions are racing in Australia , than obviously this Statement is INCORRECT. The standard of racing and the quality of Horse must be better here. Yes? You see it week in week out as you say? Tonight a $450 ,000 pace goes around in Perth , 7 of the 12 starters are very nice kiwi bred horses ! good luck .and good racing Just now at Albion the 'Poxy" slow ones are racing today. The better ones race Tomorrow night. there were 5 kiwi breds and they went 1.54.1 race in 5!!! It is bloody hard to win races mate. No Easy races as you say . Do they have EASY races in NZ? Our very best Oz bred is LOCHINVAR ART at the current time. Twice beat your current very best SELF ASSURED into second in his last 2 Aus starts last summer around the 'saucer' at Melton in 1.48.6 . Fair dinkum hiking ? and The Chariots of Fire at Menangle in 1.50.1 .... Maybe Aus has the better standard of racing ?

A very 'general' statement Brodie, just after you finished grizzling about all the stand failures, Allstars winning everything, etc in NZ these days ..... lol What standard is it you Speak of ? Doesn't it mean that the aussies are the better horsemen/women by improving your stock ? esp to race at top level ? Recent years saw Kerryn Manning knock off Allstars with Arden Rooney and McCarthy with Tiger Tara nearly do the same in NZ CUP with ex-pats nzers that were going average there. Tiger Tara, Tornado Valley , I'm the mighty Quinn , all winning Interdominions amongst a host of Aussies . pretty high standard.!! Lets have a quick look at the decades. 1960's HALWES and FIRST LEE cleaned up in Auckland Interdom. CARDIGAN BAY best in world though . points to NZ 1970's YOUNG QUINN wins allsorts including miracle mile. PURE STEEL , KOALA KING , PALEFACE A win 50 each . points shared. 1980's Lightning BLUE wins Chch Interdom and NZ cup. SAN SIMEON, MOARI"S IDOL , 2 of the best ever . POPULAR ALM(goat) STEEL JAW takes NZ cup as well, GAMMALITE takes Auck Cup and Inter x 2 (what a LEGEND !!!!!!) points to OZ. 1990's Vin Knight wins everything, then dies. GOLDEN REIGN wins Chch , OUR SIR VANCELOT wins three interdom , points to OZ. 2000's I'm the Mighty Quinn , Blacks a FAKE that many Interdom's I have lost count .....LOL points to Oz. 2010-2020 The era of the ALLSTARS >>> LAZARUS (goat), SMOLDA etc and a thousand others! points to NZ. So the last decade NZ has zoomed to the top !! and you didn't stop grizzling about it ! (tongue in cheek) lol. About to end???? so the 6 Decade Brodie 'Far higher Standard' Score is Oz 3 1/2 to NZ 2 1/2 ! well done to All .

Good Luck with some winners if you get to the track tonight Karrots !!! Crikey, where have all the horses gone ? no full fields. Must be sold to USA and Oz ? Barry Purdon is still going and getting younger brother Mark to drive in the Silver and blue spots in Race 7 . just like the old Days! . neat. Therefore Is there an upset ON THE CARDS?

Frank and wife Karen have small team of trotting gait horses still, and go around in the midweeks mainly. still drives them himself. Another kiwi trainer of trotters Richard Brosnan (won the Interdominion with NO RESPONSE 79) still going around with trotters in country Victoria. His son Emmett drives them but only average results these days.

Yes , we are spoilt rotten with some fantastic drivers over the years. Chris Alford did win the Interdominion at Christchurch one year so seem to handle the NZ conditions ok. Grant doesn't do many 'catch' drives at all , as has a runner in most races , so you are probably right and that might take him out of the equation. (Don't tell Brodie heheh) He did win the National Driver's title in Tasmania one year recently, on Poxy slow ones!, so he can jump on 'unknowns' and do ok as well though. lol Pete Mcmullen, Chris Alford, and Greg Sugars can all get 'Slow" ones to lift the last bit, and get the money still in low class races. something that has made Blair Orange and Dexter D part of the elite as well. Mark P and Nat and AGH there , and with McCarthy (NSW) and Hall Jnr (WA) and your old ex-pat mate A Butt over in Oz, they all seem to read races very well , but have the Stock Drives To Do It ? Plenty of wins between both these lots ! amazing results.

Love your Patriotism there !! that is excellent you are supporting your home product , and Dexter is doing amazing. I'm more open minded than you in seeing what horseman are capable of. (Herlihy and Owen Purdon were my favs in younger days ! outstanding young drivers) SURE! Blair and Dexter can jump on horses "unfamiliar to themselves' and get it to perform well. (main criteria for top driver) But what makes you say Pete McMullen with 260 wins last season and Grant Dixon with 230 wins can't do that ?? They drive A LOT of races mate, so I'm not kidding when I say they could mix it with your blokes fine ? What do they do so different, that makes them another League ?. Natalie Rasmussen was here in Queensland many years and performed admirably (she drove many many horses, not just Black's A Fake) , when married to Grant. Now she is near best in the world . seemed to cope with Blair and Dexter ok ???

QLD has some excellent drivers here Dougie!!, Grant Dixon , Shane Graham and Pete McMullen could mix it with Blair O and Dunn quite easily. Nat Ras did all her 'Learning to Drive" here in QLD and with Blacks A Fake (4 x Interdominions and a close second) and then went to Allstars and is near World's Best?? Pete McMullen ,has three sisters who drive with great Aplomb as well (Danielle, Narissa, and Taleah)and would go around in 20-30 races each, each week. Redcliffe race twice a week for about 5k per race and Albion 3 times per week for much higher prizemoney of 6k + weekdays and 12k+ Saturday nights. ALL horse in training can get a start somewhere , and the ratings done on current form , so horses that won races last year and all the years before that, don't have to take on Free-for-allers each week. Brilliant !!! everyone gets a chance. and a race !! One thing I DON'T like is that many Trainers in OZ put the training Licence in their wifes/Partners? associates name so they can get FREE-LANCE drives when they Feel like it . Pete McMullen has a great team of horses , BUT they all are in his wife Chantel Turpins Name as Trainer!!!. lol....... so is often driving against horses he trains with his wife effectively. ???? that is sort of cheating I have to agree. happens in Sydney too Luke Mc using the Cross kiwi blokes name, and Robbie Morris too. And Shane Graham uses his partner Vicki Rasmussen's name as trainer, so he can drive others. So I agree that does make them a 'cheat on seat' to a degree. He actually has just came back from 2 years disqualification so at least the stewards are acting. (Grant Dixon's wife did one year recently DQ)

yes yes yes Forbury , if you get the lead a easy as Jessica did , Of Course you make anything that wants to get round you work to take over , otherwise you might as well keep the lead. . You give up the lead cheaply as you say, the leader wins cheaply ? didn't they teach you that at driving School ? The winner Art C, was working as hard if not harder than Mark Dunnett to get there. so it really deserved its win.

Well after the shock of seeing the Mark Jones pair beat an Allstars pair on Friday night at Addington. Here is COLT THIRTY ONE winning yet again, at Albion last night, downing the Allstars pair TURN IT UP and ONE CHANGE . What a magnificent horse he is! Allstars were drawn 1 and 2 as well, making it even more meritorious. You can Feel the harness racing 'Guard' changing already without Mark and Nat. ..

Hahaha .... Jessica gets the horse MARK DUNNETT to step brilliantly , trails the winner, every hope in the world of running a place.... Yeah , should be hauled before the Stewards alright !!.... And given the "Give your Horse Every hope" Award for a best losing drive. lol.

Fair comment Mikie, Anderson is well known to anyone involved in harness racing in some way , but not likely to be known outside of that. So imagine Davis could be right with the bad image for harness racing with the Headline. I asked my 10 or so punting acquaintences at the TAB , why do none of the 10, bet on harness racing at All. Their picture of the sport is that 'The same Drivers Go around every race at most tracks in most states, so all know who's doing what in each race'. And They Don't. In contrast ............ At the gallops in any state, a variety of Jockeys go around in each race so less likely to be fixed in anyway. Also runners galloping out the back losing all chance at the harness racing, is a Huge Turnoff for these Punters unfortunately. So that is A bad look for the sport, moreso than what the participants do off track. Once upon a time it was part of the risk, but these days, Who wants to lose their money in that fashion?

One that Mark has a share in, is here in Brisbane . TURN IT UP. He has drawn 2 this week in our first summer G3 feature , with other old Allstars horse ONE CHANGE drawn 1. Quinella??seems likely. They will make their way down to Nathan in Vic after the Brisbane summer carnival no doubt. COLT THIRTY ONE will have to be at his best to beat those 2 draws on Saturday night. Interestingly another kiwi is in against those three as well. ..............after very average NZ form NURBURGRING turned up in August in Brisbane. He's Going like a Train with 6 wins, 3 seconds in 10 Brissy starts.!!! Open class will be bit tougher now though.

Electrician and Cabinet makers are Not high profile public figures, But they do get the same Court treatment. Even this very day, Jarryd Haynes , a very high profile footballer, was in court in Newcastle, for Rape charge today.Apparently a female acquaintance wouldn't have sex with him, while he had a taxi waiting outside , so he became aggressive. Good Grief!!. That Coming after a USA incident he had as well that was 'Settled". Unbelievable...... Rugby League seems to get these type of stories every year. Matt Anderson and Jarryd are well known to the sporting and Gambling public, so of course their vocations will be mentioned.

He could start favourite !!!! lol........ Only 2 of the runners in this race, have EVER run a place in a race anytime. wow!. number 4 Silent Shadow has 2 x 2nds in 40 starts, so like Av Spitfire , has had a lot of chances with that many starts?. so number 11 Santeria with 3 x 3rds is the only other runner to EVER PAY A DIVI in the race. Race 3 The Pick and Shovel Pace at Oamaru !!! someone is going to dig themselves out of the Hole .....lol

I think with the punting as regards to Allstars and the short priced favourites the TAB just pays the same percentages of the hold No Matter who wins anyway, so no big deal to them. Short priced favourites are a Good thing for the TAB (If they Win) as the 'Winning Punters' are bound to return with more Bets. TAB loves it. The blokes punting against Allstars , probably do their cash in (quickly too lol) and then pack the shits and don't bet anymore in those races? seems the feeling I see in threads here. (OMG whats wrong with that 'Forbury' bloke? ) Just not a good idea to try and Punt against ALLSTARS in a feature race , as mostly just wasting your money , so is easy to see what you are saying, and that the Punters (and especially opposition Owners) are glad to have a break from all that, with the change that is approaching at end of year. I tried it once with $200 win bet on 'ex-pat kiwi' Aussie Tiger Tara, who got downed by The Fixer in the NZ Cup 2018, 2 years ago. Swore black and Blue to never punt against them ever again. So yes , your races will be more 'Open" now. and maybe you'll have a punt or enjoy a different result. I actually won't punt in them , as I thought it was great having only a handful of chances (usually the Allstars) and now will be too hard to pick .......lol.

Alas, ALL the five points you have put here seem quite Correct Brodie. Awful though , as when a Champion (S) is off the scene for whatever reason , the quality and Public Interest decreases. I cried for a week when Vinnie shot himself, and the Knight Stable domination ended here, after his amazing accomplishments. (Plus the fact he had young daughters, etc) And I was in an opposition stable lol. Don't think Australian Harness racing was ever the same after that really and bottomed out after that. It has never recovered and is still very low on the radar of the everyday SportsFan. If the All Blacks took time off , rugby wouldn't quite be the same , even though they are so dominant in their field. everyone loves seeing a Champion go round (nearly everyone) Vinnie had distractors too , but then he didn't drive as well as Mark and Nat lol. NZ harness racing won't get Champions like Allstars ever again. A sad day come the 31st December.......

Very lucky to be 4th really . Would of been 5th with Mark getting a little room with Amazing Dream. Hard to understand why Nat and Tim didn't drift their drives outwards another metre or so turning for home?? Sure, John Dunn always going to get first chance up the sprint Lane, BUT Amazing Dream would of come Roaring through inside his stablemates as well , and been in the picture . ?? Where's the TEAM driving when you need it ?? hehehe

Well that was the one the Dunn camp wanted most. A group 1 with Sundees Son. No All stars in it to win another G1. Mark drove the Aussie trained trotter well though. At least we got one horse over there lol..... So , Everyones a winner today.! The All stars fans, The non-Allstars fans getting a G1 win. Great racing New Zealand !! Well Dunn !! er... Done

Westeros can add to that list of not so Flash . And he gets on there twice as well . Had a second chance after causing False start and couldn't/ wouldn't trot.

Good morning New Zealand, What a day to be enthusiastic about our great Sport !!! FFA/ Dominion Day, history of great racing, If you're bored you are half dead already. A lot of the threads show a lot of grizzling and criticism of all things harness, which is surprising as thought there must be some fans still in NZ, that enjoy their Champions of the Track ? Maybe you will fire up today? Well here's a chance for some cash for you as the FFA is a gift . (for the punters) to Reinvest a redback (do you call them that in NZ?) after the $10 straight pick Tri on Self Sssured, Spankem , Ashley Locaz CUP trifecta , netting over $800 (Thank you Mark, you are a legend) Looks like Spankem, Amazing Dream, then Ashley Locaz today ? How easy does it get? BTW 'Beyond Words" has a beautiful draw in the race prior doesn't he? Hope the starter can get him away safely.

Have a crack at it Happy Sunrise !!! You nearly won this race in your last NZ raceday start. Ricky May (red armbands) steering you to 5th in the NZ FFA in the best (closest finish) race I have ever seen. Nearly 6 in a row across the track , and the whole field in the photo. A Purdon horse winning (just like this year ) with AGH on Luxary Liner pipping the Cup winner My Lightning Blue (in the centre there with lugging pole), right on the line unfortunately.