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Bit Of A Yarn

Gammalite

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Everything posted by Gammalite

  1. Wow , it's hard to believe that beautiful horses Don't Stop Dreaming 2nd again. He has a great lot of 2nds past year. Had a One length start on Republican Party for the Sprint up the home straight just now at Cambridge too. Republican Party looked Magnificent , stretching right out to beat the best in the land. And is now himself probably the Best in the Land ? well done young Carter Dalgety. With Oscar winning by 5 lengths he looks a special February 1st at Melton. But have to throw in Republican Party now on that fine effort. So Chiefy mate get the 10er out and plonk the Great Southern Star with Oscar 5-1 into Republican Party 11-1 in the Hunter Cup Feb1 and pick yourself up a great chance of over 5 Hundy . 💰💰 Go the kiwi's !!
  2. Gold Coast Track Tested this morning and Passed with flying colours !! Here's a few horses thundering over it no problem at all. Well done those track attendants they flew in. Bloody miracle Job.!! Hope they catch the arse-wipe that did that and pour some of his chemicals down his throat to give home the shits for a few days , 🤣. like he did to the racing Magic Millions folk.
  3. Not sure why they can't program the Good meeting tonight for a Saturday Night ?. (a lot of Punters only active on Saturdays you would think) and would of been way better than a meaningless Thursday. BUT it is what they do , and Mark will be Winning with his Fabulous horse OSCAR Bonavena tonight at Cambridge in the Group trot R6. nothing to beat at all tonight. And he will be the Star of the Southern Hemisphere come February 1st , when he wins 'The Great Southern Star' at Melton for Mark to show his SuperSTAR quality. Mark also in the bike for 'Don't Stop Dreaming' tonight in the Flying stakes. Favourite as well. Against the Super Auckland Cup winner 'Republican Party.' Does anyone hope Local lass Arna Donnelly can Upset these big guns with ''Kango''' and'' Little Spike'' doing a bit of Team stuff to knock em' off ? 🤣😂 wouldn't it be great. DSD and RP getting set for Hunter Cup February 1st as well. racing against the BASH Brother's of 'Swayzee' and 'Leap To Fame' at Melton. They'll ALL get rolled too, by the NEW Kid on the block. The Eureka and current Interdominion Winner Champion DON HUGO. go you good thing. there you go Chief , Get on the early double for Feb 1st. Oscar B at 5-1 into Don Hugo 4-1 = 20-1 . happy punting !!💰😁🏆
  4. A great move then. A lot of criticism was made about the May date of the Auckland Pacing Cup . A lot of the top horses are at the end of a long campaign by then. ( that starts in October for them leading up to Cup Week in Nov) so to change the date to NYEve a brilliant move as the horses have residule fitness from November and a great stepping stone to all the Aussie feature races in late summer like the Hunter Cup and Miracle Mile , and will be a Force in them accordingly. Auckland Cup Placegetter's Republican Party, Merlin and Sooner The Better all sure to go well with this good programming. HRNZ doing a great Job. (and holiday crowds can enjoy the amazing action too) too bloody cold in May to be out at night lol.
  5. Ladbrokes (a Entain sub-branch) teamed up with Kevin Seymour to have a Huge chunk of the Queensland sponsorship ( I would say Dean a major player in doing this) and running of harness racing to keep it going . (along with the amazing Chris Garrard and horse and hound mob) we were in financial trouble otherwise. Australia runs like 8 different countries (the States and territories) day to day in nearly every regard (except Pensions and defence mainly) so not quite sure how Entain helps in those. think they chose NZ instead ? Must be a million years old now ? he was at his best in the 70's . Drove against his son Todd Wanless a fair bit in the 80's and 90's at Rocklea and that, who is about my age at 60 odd. He was a Fabulous harness driver , butit was too tame for him 🤣 so with an adrenaline rush he went andand jumped in the Sprint cars and was 1996 Australian Championship winner. was still winning with the midgets and Sprintcars 2011 for this photo. . A great bloke was/is Todd. Really great with a harness horse as well as lots of Horsepower in his cars too 🏆
  6. This guy is saving the day. Never has a more learned bloke on wagering, and that LOVES Harness racing imposed himself on the scene in NZ. He should be woo-ed and pampered. (we miss him in QLD now . we are on the slippery dip in harness racing ) You are right , that a lot of the things being implemented that will benefit him accordingly , for being a Very active participant at the yearlings sales , and on the racing scene with Merlin and that. But I reckon he has stabilized the NZ slippery slope to oblivion of harness racing past 2 years, with all the new stuff. ( Brodie disagrees but whatever 🙄) This guys knowledge on wagering companies and harness breeding , etc is near best in Australasia if not the World. He can really help after leaving the breeding scene behind at QLD Montana lodge ,(Seymour of LEAP TO FAME Fame now runs the roost here , otherwise QLD harness would of collapsed for sure and certain. YOU NEED these BENEFACTORS. He should buy Alexandra Park and rebrand it ENTAIN PARK . wouldn't that solve a Lot of the current problems ?? get him to do it. the venue can be used for weddings and all sorts of ENTAIN things. and take harness well into the future. here's his tracks record. I'll have to take a photo as it won't cut and paste unfortunately 🙄.
  7. Think you're reading it wrong mate. The Tab man has mentioned about 20 issues that are to do with the racing and bonus schemes and CEO's and that , just the same as you. I found his posts on this thread to be more informative than Brodie being Just Not Happy with Entain for the millionth time because he is always interested in the betting angle of things rather than the participants of the sport , and you suggest HRNZ aren't keeping you up with the play well enough, so Tabman has suggested that a lot of the things /schemes/ projects / CEO and et Al have only been in place for a SHORT time. that seems pretty accurate ?? so a report on the ISSUES probably Not ready yet as results are still Coming In. Some things work better than others and some PEOPLE don't agree with Most of it as are ADVERSE TO CHANGE . well times have changed . you have to adjust. Don't know why you're bashing each other , when harness works (hopefully for improvement) are in progress. Things like slot races, Golden Gaits , 2 yearold bonus schemes even Cambridge racing midweek , Auckland Cup date changing again, TABs disappearing or been taken over or something by bigger entities, have met serious criticism from the OLD BRIGADE , so nothing new there. The ATC debt needs addressing. and as Tabman and I were discussing above in this thread the declining Number of foals (therefore horses racing) needs Addressing urgently, important issues not being deflected at All . the guy was discussing them. It's Not his fault these things are happening, he just has a better grip on it than most so cops the flak I spose 🤣😂 tough times lol. one thought of mine to help NZ harness : (even though love the Aussies visiting as have done it myself) I think the slot races should be for Kiwi Trainers only . Just a waste sending it to Oz with example Keyang Zahara. (she had the Oaks and Derby anyway) the money should stay in NZ. supporting the owners there. At least the locals have held out the Aussies in the 'Race by Grins' slot at Cambridge so far for the million. But Just Believe won the Slot-trot so that was un-necessary IMO for the benefit of Nz harness racing NOTE : The Euraka $2,000,000 here at Menangle is Not open for NZ trainers. That's just one thing they could tinket with as an example with the Ascent and Velocity. there you go , a positive suggestion to help out .😁 What's next on the forum agenda you need sorted out ? 😉 I have no idea what ENtain are doing though . give Dean Shannon a bell. he loves harness racing and might be able to answer some of yours and Brodies queries?
  8. yes These are an Important issue. You need stock to race . and race regularly. and encouragement for the breeder to actually keep sending their mares to quality stallions. A few of the QLD locals have received a bonus as the Q-bred scheme pays a nice Bonus now upon any horses First Win. One bloke told me that was his aim , and the reason they put the mare back in foal (after skipping a year) The costs to race a horse are now out-weighing the collects for a huge chunk of the runners. QLD horses need about 4 wins per year Just to Break even lol. Must be very close to same in New Zealand. Our numbers are dropping just like the North Island. A 1500 horse base with 500 racing per week just 2 years ago, is getting down closer to 400 racing per week nowadays, and Albion Park Metro Saturday night runners are really declined . we're down to 9 horse Metro class field size on average ( to rival Redcliffe country meetings that go twice per week ) and there was only 7 races last Saturday night , with ONLY 2 Full fields. Harness racing is really struggling everywhere. Many galloping punters won't punt on it at all either. they prefer the 'better value' they can make off the Less consistent thoroughbred horses.
  9. Looking at the race , you had bright sunshine, a near straight run with a 'Fast lane' like Flemington. Some very fast handy horses , winner GRAILSEEKER balanced nicely and sliced through the field without losing momentum coming from the back, There was some 'Keen' jockeys who went hard early like you might expect in a Group 1 sprint. ( compare Bella Nipotina 1.08.7 in the Everest at Randwick (that has a rise) on a soft 5.?) and possible Wind assistance too for GrailSeeker?. It seems they head slightly downhill All the way Trentham too? It's a wonder they didn't break the 1.07 really ? 😂 🤣🏇 loved the winner. very nice horse. Levante did when she won 2022 . 1.06 .6 speaking of which , where did that jockey go that won on that one ? Ryan Elliot. ? only followed NZ racing past 2 years and can't remember seeing him anywhere?
  10. Probably a possibility Chief. A lot of Queensland tracks get 'patchy' because of our weather. In that photo you can see how patchy the inside of the rail is , and some staff were probably trying to get the main tracks to look nothing like that. Looks too neat a job for vandalism ?? and nobody would do that even if they hated racing , surely?
  11. They are hardy folk down there TABman. living closest to the Antarctic circle than anyone on the planet? I thought Tasmania was bad for the cold, until we got some Southland horses sent up to Auckland one time. What a sight they were. The coat on them so thick , must of been 6 inches long. the clippers just gave up lol. Here's a snapshot of one someone tried to send us. near the Southern Alps somewhere ? They Said there was some 'Young Quinn' and 'Sapling' in the blood-lines and we would do very well with it. I knocked back that offer in the end. 😁
  12. I'd go if you could get in a nice stand out of the weather. Well have only been to Ellerslie actually , a few times as was nice day out . The best horses racing I remember as a kid in Takanini were Uncle Remus, McGinty and on the radio La Mer and Grey Way. any of them win the Telegraph?
  13. we're all BOT's mate. in some form or another. 😎 The 'search' has showed Brodie as a Bedazzling Ostentatious Tactician .😁 Gamma came up as a Bloody Outstanding Theorist.😉 The Galah showed up as a Bright Observant Thinker.🤔 TABman is the Brilliant Optimistic Trailblazer😆 and of course dear old Chief the Beguiling Overawed Thrasher 😋 🤣🤣
  14. Don't worry about TABman , after his bounce about in the castle , he'll be up with the Jet-Set for a few wines in the members ok lol 😋. did he tip us anything? That building with the Half circle entrance . (you can see just above the jumping castles) Looks like a good spot for an apartment building complex ?? like at Alexandra Park . 😂🤣😁🏆
  15. not quite Royal Ascot or Royal Randwick on a feature raceday is it lol. 🤣 Hangovers might have some bearing. Why aren't you there Chief ? What's that building in centre of picture on the course grounds ?
  16. These Aussie jocks are incredible. the top 20 or so. They have 'Valets' who prepare All their gear every week . they had a segment on TV with this bloke who does 3 of the jockeys equipment , getting to the races to lay it all out and hour before the first, with all the I's dotted and t's slashed. has everything calculated to the 'nth' degree for every race, including details on every aspect and covering every senario possible , including spares and replacements. wet and dry weather , was mind boggling how good they are. The Jockey barely has to think. when he has staff this good. He can just go straight into race strategy mode . Craig Williams near the best strategy rider on the planet too. will be winning on CBL . A great jockey choice for anyone anywhere they can get him. Willow is supreme athlete. (to go with that supreme horse) a winning combo.
  17. I apologize for that reference to the Lobster. Westview has already told me off lol 😉. and concede some of these project horses are a 'good challenge' for the leading stables , as much as being with a hobby trainer. I guess even the best of them are prone for a gallop at times. Muscle mountain used to gallop from a stand now and then. OscarB even galloped out of the mobile starts last night. As far as the Dunn stable is concerned , they ironed out the Great 'Sundee's Son' who also did a couple of can-can tricks time to time, as did 'Sunny's Sister' , but they (Diamonds stable) got her to take a super impressive Oaks-Derby double recent years, and 'Bounce and Beyond' won very well last week for the Diamonds stable too , in a golden gait (50k to winner ) race. So have got that horse running ok too these days after a few Spring Gallops . Our leading trainer in QLD (Pete McMullen) wins 2 metro Races every week . Has a couple of Aadies Express siblings too for Mikke Tanev. He has a few trotters too, and even took one to the recent Interdominion. The bugger of a thing can trot blazing sectionals too, but old 'GUS' flies to pieces all the time , as he did at the Inter yet again . just sort of damages both their 'reputations' in a way. I'd give even him (Gus) to a hobby trainer. My general view is these unruly types take up so much of your time and effort , when you could have 'better' grade winning horses because you are a leading stable as a trainer. You have to draw the Line somewhere with what's in your barn. Emma Stewarts and Allstars do it perfectly over many many years..
  18. It sort of seems wider when you're looking at a map lol. 🤣. Bit different to Queensland then lol. 😂 Once you go past Dalby heading west you can go in a near straight line for 700km and then you're still only Half-way to the Northern Territory Border . and on the way have only passed a few roo's , an emu or 2 , and some kiwi tourists that had run out of petrol going for a 'quick wee drive' between towns. 😋
  19. What a great bit of sculpting . the lady did a wonderful job that did it. What's that in the Background ? Southern Alps?. I thought Timaru was on the East Coast though 🤔 .
  20. incorrect old sport. there is No registered horse named 'EASY' listed on HRNZ. there is about 100 x 'Easy-somethings' registered over the last 100 years though. including 'Easy Beat' 😂. and there's one called EASYPEZYLEMONSQUEEZY. (I kid you not) Good Grief 😅 That is a commentators nightmare for sure. How could you possibly call your horse that ? 🙄 (It had 10 starts for 2 wins at Auckland about 15 years ago.) Happy New Year Blackie 🎉
  21. would of been safer than Mexico if he did . fancy going all that way nearly 100 years ago. what could go wrong.
  22. Well wishing him all the best to recover from his ailment in that case. nothing worse than chronic illness. and a Big congratulations after tomorrow for being the leading trainer (along with Jenna) with most wins in NZ. here's a throw-back to Robert on his champ , the Beauty MASTER MUSICIAN. superstar. Bet you can't name the race , and the 2nd Placegetter and driver on the inside TABman ?? 😁 if you can't get it Rangatira will have you on toast . he's brilliant at my quizzes.
  23. Just asking the question . I'm far more likely to knock Yole and Grimson than anything in NZ.😅 In fact i've been a lone advocate on supporting North Island trotting' and many NZ stables for a long time at this site, and about the place, that gets relentlessly bagged by many . even after the amazing results last week. Many congrats on Bounce and Beyond winning one of those good prizes. I was thrilled it won . and wished you well before that race even. I wish for Dunn's to be at the top as much as anyone else. I supported their 2 horses at Invercargill on a thread here , and even had some money on them. Republican Party far too good though unfortunately. The Absolute Top stables are SELECTIVE in who they produce at the races. The Grimson, The Halls, Luke McCarthy, The Emma Stewart Barn for years, Allstars for many years. Now Barry Purdon/Scott Phelan who are in the Stratisphere in recent times with Allstars (Mark and Nat semi retired) with Merlin , DuchessMegxit , Meant To Be, Better knuckle Up, even old Mach Shard won 2 Group 1's this year. Near the best stable On The Planet. And people people Still bag the North lol. A horse like Always B Miki is on the market to Australia, as they train up even better prospects . even though his form is above average. Sorry you take offence with the Rock Lobster, but I don't think she helps the leading stable reputation. She is like a lot of the Dunn horses, and is more of a Hobby Trainer prospect you would think. she is quite Shakey at the moment but hope she comes good for you. Dunn's race quite a few that should be with Hobby trainers and make room for a Big owner with Big dollars like Pete McMullen, Grimson, Allstars, Big Barry , Emma Stewart and other trainer s do All the time, Every year. so they are getting the Big Race success All the time. unlike Dunn's. I really hope Dalton Shard can win the Auckland Cup , and prove me wrong . NZ's Leading stable should have more Group Race success . I don't think many of their stable returned a profit for the year , just racing in all those little races all the time. a thought based on their years earnings.
  24. I think JJ just means you would expect more from the Countries leading stable. with all the Big races available All through the year. Paddling around with the 'Lobster' on the grass only gives so much stable reputation points 😂. They of course had 'Sundee's Son' who proved near the greatest of All time in recent years Trotting. but retired more than 2 years now. wonder what happened to Sunny's Sister ?? who won the Oaks-Derby double this time last year. She might of gone on to be the replacement at the Top Level on those runs but didn't show up to races?. 'Mighty Logan' was a good 2nd in the Dominion , seems the Top Dunn trotter now. but has No group race wins and only won 8 of 32 starts for $170k. (60k of which was for 2nd in the Dominion.) so is no star or anything 🤔. (yet) And they don't have a Cup Pacer? 'Charlie Brown' I thought could win the Invercargill Cup (but didn't) the other day. Classie Brigade toiled in many Group races for a lot of years for a few placings, but I couldn't name a race he won. So can't they get a Cup class replacement ? Merlin , Don't Stop Dreaming and the Aussies are dominating. (Dalgety's are getting closer with the Karrots fav in Republican Party . (1st Invercargill and 3rd in both last NZ and Auckland Cups) but Dunn's need to get involved ?. Surely the 'Countries leading Stable' should have more to compete at Top level than 'Charlie' and 'Dalton Shard' ? 'Choc's' looked good for a moment during the year, in the 2 year olds , but suspect that Regan Todds 'Marketplace' will clean him up through the Derbies and Sires stakes of 2025. so think no conspiracy Chief. Just asking are the Leading stable capable of being competitive in the Big feature goes?
  25. Glad you are all set to enjoy another Karaka Day TABman. and have a great day out like last year. I was just saying on another channel that the Boys Get Paid tickets are just $150 , very cheap for all and sundry, for what they get. and are sure to have a Fab day out . and they Really support the racing on the day too. A lot of the Australian race days have Massive Functions , with the youngsters dressing up, music concert stuff is on , and the socializing stuff is on, but they forget the racing is on altogether. As the new Gen aren't into horses like we are/were as the older blokes (and lasses). Indeed my kids and their friends who attended things like 'Showday races' in Brissy races and that said they didn't even see a horse on the day . I guess that is because of the setup on location I spose, keeping them separate on course I imagine. Seems so much better NZ , where the Auckland Racing Club gets the 'visitors in the stand' and enjoying the RACING experience. and seems a great day is had by All (some oldies might of lost a seat in the grandstand or something) But they get to see all the Newbies having a great day out which is so good to see. Hey , get the right Brand of Beer (try and Aussie one) , and also try and WIN the Rugby world Cup mate , and the great days of Rugby Racing and Beer will be Back . don't write off just yet 😁🏆🏇🏇💰. p.s the cricket going well for NZ with Blackcaps smacking the Indians 3 zip in India tests recently. Aussie Baggie Greens are trying to copy , but are struggling a bit to match that supreme kiwi effort at the moment . And with the mighty Lions winning the AFL this year, the song should be, it's AFL,cricket, racing and beer for me .🤣
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