Gammalite

With 5 x Group 1's features up for grabs tonight , is the changing of the guard with NO Allstars win's from their 9 runners. Ever since SWAYZEE reduced the mighty Allstars barn to 2nd place in the last 2 New Zealand Cups (Akuta and Don't Stop Dreaming) the once great team is racing for 2nd place more than for the Win , for near the past 2 years now. NINE stable runners tonight on a Feature Race card and NO wins achieved. Congrats to ALL their fantastic main rivals Trainers for all the Big wins . Dalgety's (Messenger) Cullens (Oaks) Dunns ( Anzac trotting Cup) Barry and Scott (Trotters Derby) and Regan Todd for the extraordinary win by budding champ MARKETPLACE (in the GN Derby by 7 lengths.) those 5 x terrific training teams All continuing their fantastic run of success over past 2 years . for the record ALLstars were tonight (2nd in both 2 year old young gun races + 2 unplaced runners as well ) 5th in Oaks, balloted right out of trotting Derby, 2nd in pacing Derby, 7th in Messenger and old stable warrior OscarB just a battling 6th in the Anzac Trot. might need to get back to Rolleston ?

Well Craig Ferguson has retained the drives after some rather average drive results lately, with both the star runners in Two of the Biggest races on the Annual harness calender tomorrow night Anzac day . Marketplace in the GN Derby , and Don't Stop Dreaming in the Messenger . 2 big Group 1's His only 2 drives for the night?. And it's on 2 of the very best horses in the country ? that he manages to get beat quite well (like at their last starts and all through this thread too lol ) Can he step up to the Pressure ?? Think he (CraigF) gets a bit 'lost' driving Alexandra Park the wrong way round too at times. so is a shame really, that the trainers didn't use a Top local driver that knows the tricky track well ( like Matty White or something) Chris Alford has some catch drives while in town. Would of been a great option with his experience too. Best of luck to Chris in the Anzac Cup with the 'Queen' strutting her stuff for her kiwi owners.

Yes some good thoughts there mate. John Dunn certainly has the chance to win this GN Derby now drawn well , and the horse going well too. I was picking the Handsome Colt 'Choc's' to win a Derby right after his big runs from bad draws in the Sires stakes and that late last year just behind Marketplace. Go the Choc's !!! 🏆 Marketplace has been beaten by him several times, and Rubira. What happened to him ? Rubira not in Derby ? and great to see some credit for Ben Hope for a change too for his last win with MM. a great observation by you Mr Galah. Forums have given him an absolute 'Bashing and Mashing ' over the years , even when he was a junior, but he still Won a Heap of Group 1's with Muscle Mountain , and had to take on one of the greatest trotters ever to do it too. (in 'Sundee's Son' ) so good luck to Ben and his family in the Anzac Trot , He will have to drive well again to win , as is a handy field off 10m . Whoever gets around the front markers first will win it IMO. get going early and get around em' will Win the day. there's A Vic and QLDer having a crack at it too . will be a great race. Go the Anzac's !!

well that did appear to help yesterday. they had that little bit more room to swing into a row , and mostly the races got away on an even line. even the junior drivers were reasonably 'lined up' but 3 runners galloped still. So think better if they were just put behind mobile barrier. Whoops , 😂I'm combining some great harness families there. Yes of course young Sam Thornley , as you say, winning the trot . the race named in his honour too. and drove the winner a treat to boot. only seems like the other day that Sarah was a junior and in these type of races fighting out the finish. Hope she is mending ok this year from her accident.

Was just having a look how the junior drivers got on in race 7 , a mid class trot. actually that race wa named the 'Sam O'Reilly junior Trot' and he Won the race. !! Royal Del trotting beautifully out in front for Sam. had his name written all over it lol 😂. But looking at the start the juniors didn't seem to mind if their horse was walking, trotting or skipping, cantering as they had to be 'Moving Forwards' as the starter let the tape go. There was NO standing around , that's for sure. These stands are just so silly these days. So you sure right that it's more of a 'can you gain advantage with a quick thrust forward in any gait' for those first few metres. It just seems the starters are doing these rolling starts to avoid anyone swinging sideways at tape release ?? watching the junior trot that seemed to work I spose. Is this a good thing in the end then (to do it this way) ?

hahaha , that was a criminal act. he was a bit scared he would get assasinated at the time. but did 6 months jail in the end , and of course was banned for life from race-courses for the most famous Ring-In ever in Australia ( and probably the world ) money man Robbie Waterhouse only got 8 months 'detention' . Hayden died in 2017 aged 72.

Indians love the cricket Brodster. not real keen on horses at all. Are there any Maori horse trainers ? we had a good one once in Queensland here. Here's an old snap shot of Hayden Haitana practising his painting of horses getting ready for his Fine Cotton training efforts of days gone by 😂😎🤣 rts

maybe they saw that the GALAH requested more room for the horses behind the tapes ? to get away cleanly ? Well done Mr Galah 🏆 you helped them see the light. The Galah said they were packing them a little tight in a post recently , which was a top observation. (happens a lot in the NZ Cup even) 'Beach Ball' got away ok yesterday , as did all the field ( bar one runner from the pole) in the 'fast class' standing start at Addington Easter Saturday. I was terrified my Bet of the Day 'Harrison John' would miss away , but the starter did a great job getting them lined up, and on the journey. BUT please use the mobile MET club. it is waaay way better, and easier on the punter and driver lol. 😆

Probably safer that they run the Derby at night these days . Here's a Liquid Lightning Easter special from a while back . Richard Brosnan looks like he got out of it ok Harrison John who got 3rd in the last NZ Derby in December, looks an absolute Special today Addington in race 8. (Probably gallop away from the stand start now I said that lol 😂 )

One of the great Easter Cups of years gone by. Reckon Ranga would of been all over this Trifecta ? not a hard one to pick .

Mrs Negus had a lot of comment once here when tackling hard for the lead , with a horse completely off the bit early, and she got 3 months suspension or something. A race Fitzgerald was in and leading I think. But anyway , the point is these drivers will NEVER be any better . They just don't get enough drives to improve .Not just tactically but 'Style' wise as well. Getting the best out of a horse in a close finish. ( and for a lot of these races even knowing what their horse is capable of early in the race too ) as demonstrated at Addington and Waikato tonight. I still say give them more drives to have fun. But just between races. Like we do all our qualifying trials here. Plenty of time between TAB races for them to get out there and have one or even 2 drives. (between Tote Races) A leading trainer here in Bris (with 4 very good driving children ) told me they have to go round 4 times (races) a meeting to get any better at Race Driving. or they just Won't Improve. He took a nephew Nathan Dawson from being useless to near being the QLD states best by doing this , and giving him a lot of drives to learn heaps, while a junior. You are seeing the same with Wilson House currently ( and some of the Thornleys too )

You should of seen the Waikato one tonight then 🙄. Race 2 . just a debacle really. 😉 Horses were tailed off from being driven incompetently. Even the winner driver 'nearly' miss -judged it sitting quiet as can be then realizing the post was coming up soon lol 😆😂. very lucky not to get egg on the face. Give these blokes 2 drives I say !! . BUT make them run In-between the TAB tote races. let em' have a run for $1000 bucks or something . but seriously DON't LEt People BET on that stuff. THEY have to be Non tote affairs Surely ??? Is very embarrassing to the great sport .

The big field of Pacers at the Mt Hutt Cup race 10 at Methven just left from the stand. 15 runners. Wasn't too bad 🤔. Kourtney Kardash was seemingly gunna play up rearing and that, as not greatly experienced with this sort of start, so the starter made them all walk another circle , and excellent horseman Bob Butt got her away well in the end. and the whole field was standing well at the tape release too. Just the one galloper at the start (Light Me Up) . the 40m backmarker RENEGADE is the best horse , but come un-stuck with the handicap , in a show of what used to happen (with Handicaps working) to give All the runners a winning chance. Here's Herbie working to the lead for CJ off the front Mark , and then holding them all out at 14-1. well done CJ !!

I notice the 2 unruly horses facing outwards at Albion at the outside fence. Helped them get away well. and plenty of space out there like mentioned. The NZ starters can see that the best way to get them away is make them stand . as others have mentioned on this thread. No good trying to jump the gun . The only horse to gallop out at the start ( and lose it's chance) was sadly the $3 favourite in this race as well from last night. A bit sad for the punters but it's the risk you take if you want to bet on standing starts 🙄. Pete McMullen (our best QLD driver IMO) wins bucketloads of races here , and thought should of won this as well. BUT Forgot to Pull out until they turned for home , and thus got hemmed in after beautiful one-one sit all the way. Pete made a complete meal of it actually lol 😆, so just shows it can happen to the best of them at times. Might of been the driving rain during the race that stuffed him up 😂 APM12042508.mp4

well I spose you are right as the Timaru figures you gave seem supporting of this. The NZ Cup , Rowe Cup and Dominion Trot group 1's are all stands still , and because they are non-handicap anymore , everyone is squeezed up off the front Mark , and getting in each others road. ( and there's reduced space as you say. hence there have been issues with that last few years with the capacity field. ( and these are seasoned animals) Traditionally the Trotters would be spread out across HANDICAPS. If you can see tonight's Trot field at Albion (the last race) in the form guide, the trotters are spread out across the handicaps , hence everyone has plenty of room (space) as you are looking for . and they'll All get away fine. The only reason I can see to run any race from a Stand is to HANDICAP some of them , so they all have a winning chance. Often in NZ they're all Jammed up on the same Mark and problems arise . Especially because as you mentioned the field size is too big as well. ( should be Max 12 IMO ) and Mobile 10 starters. this gives Every Runner a winning chance. Smaller fields are good . as We Walk By Faith and Republican Party demonstrated convincingly at Auckland swooping from the rear in a Group 1 Friday night.

Addington is quite a wide track. Don't think 'space' is the issue. Horses are trained by professional horsepeople who can get their horses to step ok , but you are always going to have the 'Rogue' . All the stands I did were on a 600m track (because a mobile wouldn't fit around it) and they did ok. A difference was they were going a LOT SLOWER. take the NZ Cup for example these days. Newmarket was saying above about the 'running up behind the tape' they try and do. He is right for sure. That's not a standing start at all anyway , with drivers trying to get the jump on rivals. and then they go flat out after. so you miss away you are Out of the race these days. There's no handicap so Run it from the Mobile Barrier ( just makes sense) In the days of Handicaps the Iconic Interdominion was run from a stand up to 1982. But many pacers missed away . In one of the very last stand Championships , one of the fav's LORD Module ran last for Nz behind Koala King and Locarno (of Robin Butts) as he was one of the worst Standing Start horses ever. The Interdominion Council then saw the light and put into play the MOBILE only Championships from then on. Gammalite himself the Victor in the Very first 2 All mobile series at Auckland and SA. Interestingly the trotters series at Auckland was the last Standing start Trotters series , with the Aussie Scotch Notch winning from Jenner , Sir Castleton and About Now. They were the 10m handicapped runners too 😆. Scotch Notch and Sir Castleton (NZ) then easily Quinellaed the next 2 series from the mobile barrier in 84'. and 85' . There's the answer run All races from a mobile barrier , and the BEST on the night will take Victory. as has happened ever since Gammalite 40 years ago at Auckland.

It's just too hard to get those Big fields of horses organized. (from a stand) Last week was great and Addington ran ALL 4 'trots' races from a mobile. I just watched a race tonight (race 9) and 2 very good (and experienced ) drivers are tipped out at the start . Tim Williams and Sam Ottley. that just shows the 'Folly' of these standing starts. Just put em' behind the mobile everytime (like America) and avoid all these problems. More punters watching that race , will leave the game as far as investing is concerned as who wants to see their money lose in that manner ? No one . footnote : (Bob Butt did drive a very nice race on 'Waterloo Station' of Nairns to win well though ) 😁

Why? was trailing the leader (who was the winner) at the half mile , so had every chance 6th. That winning filly UTAH JAZZ is gunna be very good. Owned by Swayzee's owner Mick Boots !!! what a good man he is and puts horses with about 15 different trainers I believe. deserves a medal. Kirstin trailed the leader in the last race of the day as well . and run last. think her horses that she's driving are the main problem. weak as water. didn't seem to be her fault.

This bloke another driver trained up by Cran and Dexter old Paleface Mate. won about 18 junior races for them a few years back. Then landed in NSW 'Paleface Adios territory' and just a year ago was winning Group races with NZ horses including Group 1's with the very speedy ex-pat kiwi mares , Braeview Kelly and then Aardies Express. They won the last 2 runnings of the Queen Elizabeth Group 1 collecting over 100k each out of that race with Trainor training and driving. alas he has a 18 months 'holiday' 🙄 at the moment, for a NZ mare 'Manhattan' positive. but he'll be back. think he's only about 25 years old (Jack Trainor) and another great product of the Dalgety barn .

Cannot understand it. How do you sell off an asset . THAT IS NEEDED by the Participants of that industry?. and still be in debt anyway. There are around 20 something Trainers that regularly use the Franklin track . well over 200 horses. The Auckland trotting will Cease to exist very quickly with our this facility. Steven Reid already gone Canterbury. What a beautiful complex. should be up-graded into a Full time racing facility. If they sold it for 30-40 $million they're still 60 million in debt. ????? goodness me. how does that fix anything??. Get Kevin Seymour involved? . Very happy with New Zealand after LEAP TO FAME's big win. He's a multi Millionaire property developer and could help the situation no end. He saved Albion Park . get some proper advice and solutions.

I would think Brodster means just should stop investing on that driver/jockey for a while, that they are not happy with?. Not drop everyone altogether. I definitely have a pattern of using particular drivers /jockeys as quite often the horses are quite equal ( except for barrier and weights sometimes) as they need to be 'Steered To Win' no matter who they are. even Leap To Fame. There are several drivers I never take on the ticket , (as just don't want to lose my money on them 😂😉)

The Night of Champions is over for another year. Leap To Fame getting to cross to NZ and take out the 'Race' defending Champion Merlin , and also grind down the current Interdominion Pacing Champion Don Hugo as well to really seal the deal. LTF Now officially an International 'Superstar' 🌟. am still shaking head at that performance. on the BOAY superstar list we had the final race 10 to complete. Sorry But I near fainted after the Betcha R9 , seems like the ultimate top of Everest to me with a QLDer winning in NZ, and am only recovering now at breakfast ☕. Race 10 result : Crazy 🤪 1st, Trifolium 2nd, Patrick Mahomes 3rd, Rewiri hill 4th. well in yet another fitting result for the evening after several already CRAZY did in fact win the last race for our star runners of the night (Ranga and NoworNever) to gather another 8 points each lol 😆 RANGA had gone 'Crazy' before the last anyway with the joy of it all 😂. Mikey rounded out the BOAY trifecta getting 3rd place with Patrick Mahomes. Chief and Brodster picked up 6 points each for the 2nd placing for the Crystal Hackett trotter. Brodster and Gamma finish at the back. Never mind mate . there's always next year and some more great action 😆. we'll just have to go CRAZY and buy💰 a better Slot. FINAL POINT SCORE Ranga 70 points ( has leapt to Fame 🏆 and new BOAY champion) 2nd Mikey 56 pts, 3rd NoworNever 52 pts, the Galah 40, TABman 38, Chief 36, Brodster and Gamma 34.

It's not possible to catch Rangatira in the last race , with Mikey having one runner (no.8) and NoworNever his 2 inside runners, as Ranga has CRAZY No.1 himself. He can now go 'Crazy' as the SLot King of BOAY !!!! Congratulations Ranga ! you are little ripper mate and all the best for a great weekend .

BETCHA Race result points. Mikey (with the Quinella) and Gamma on the winner. The Galah, and Ranga on the runner up of Marky boys who went great in that race . So Ranga with 6 points from his lone runner there still holds the lead over Mikey who collected 16 points for 1st , 2nd and 4th in the BETCHA slot race to move into 2nd spots. BOAY Slot leaderboard after Race 9 Rangatira 62 points , Mikey 52 pts, NoworNever 44 points, Galah 40 pts, TABman 38 points , Gamma 34 pts, Chief 30 pts, Brodie 28 pts ,

Is hard to tally that after the heart flutters lol. Race 9 result . Leap To Fame (the mighty Queenslander ) 1st Blacks a Fake couldn't win in NZ in 3 starts there , so guess Leap To Fame now overtakes him as the Best i've ever seen. Chase A Dream 2nd, Merlin 3rd and Don Hugo (ground into the ground by Larry is 4th)