Gammalite

looks like no-one got the First 4 and Trifecta paid near 40k. in that Group 1 race.

Race 9 - HARAS des TROTTEURS DOMINION TROT (STANDING START) (Gr1), $300,025, R40 TO R130 FFA, 3200m For all trotters. Weather: Fine Track: Fast (Addington Raceway) Stewards ReportSHOW STIPES Participants for Race 9: HARAS des TROTTEURS DOMINION TROT (STANDING START) (Gr1) Place Book Horse Barrier Hcap Stakes Fav Time Margin Driver Trainer 1 3 Amaretto Sun 3 fr 155,880.00 12/12 4-04.7 S J Tomlinson (J) Ken Ford 2 7 The Foot Tapper 7 fr 41,175.00 6/6 4-04.9 1.20 R J Butt Paul Nairn 3 14 Monty Python 14 fr 20,590.00 9/9 4-05.0 1.80 M J Williamson Phil Williamson 4 13 Bordeaux 13 fr 13,235.00 2/2 4-05.0 1.90 D J Dunn Philip Iggo 5 8 Destiny Jones 8 fr 10,295.00 5/5 4-05.0 2.10 R T May Kevin Townley 6 9 Doctor Bones 9 fr 5,885.00 8/7 4-05.2 3.20 B N Orange Barry Ford 7 2 Harriet Of Mot 2 fr 5,885.00 4/4 4-05.3 3.30 John R Dunn Craig & Aimee Edmonds 8 5 Hey Yo 5 fr 5,885.00 11/11 4-05.3 3.40 R D Holmes Jack Harrington 9 4 Daryl Boko 4 fr 5,885.00 10/10 4-05.3 3.50 A M Butt Tim Butt 10 10 Arya 10 fr 5,885.00 13/14 4-05.5 4.90 S J Ottley Regan Todd 11 6 Great Things Happen 6 fr 5,885.00 1/1 4-06.1 8.00 G D Smith Gavin Smith 12 12 One Over Da Moon 12 fr 5,885.00 15/15 4-06.1 8.20 S R McNally Paul Nairn 13 15 Dark Horse U1 fr 5,885.00 3/3 4-06.5 10.10 N P Williamson Nathan Williamson 14 1 Wilma's Mate 1 fr 5,885.00 7/8 4-07.5 16.00 D J Butt Paul Nairn Pup 11 Belles Son 11 fr 5,885.00 14/13 T M Williams Kevin Chapman Total Stakes: $300,025.00 Dividends $91.20. $12.00. $3.90. $6.20. Quinella $1123.40. Trifecta $39487.90. TAB Treble[races-7,8,9]:(4,11,3) $4925.60. First4 -Not Struck. Margins 1 1/4 lengths, 1/2 length, 1/2 head Times Mile Rate: 2-03.0 Last 800m: 59.1 Last 400m: 29.7

Just have a 8 race card Brodster. Can the maidens. only 8 nominated anyway you say .... just send them to cambridge/waikato where they used to go. Auckland should be running age group races anyway and anything better than maidens. being a metro class track.

What a great win 🏆. thats a Good one Goldilcks . Sheree just 19 years old winning the Group 1 $300,000 Dominion Handicap in just her second season of driving. Ameretto Sun 2017. I think Sheree the only female (and possibly only Junior ) to win that Very Hard to Win race.

Yes ..that doesn't sound good at all. is a very tricky one to deal with in that case. He does have 2 Prominent daughters. maybe they can take up the helm ?? very good horsepeople with better reputation/record then it would seem lol 😋😁 Lady Trainers doing very well in Oz like Gai and Anabel Neasham going great guns, and Ex-pat kiwi Natalie Young has been phenominal in recent times too , with big racing Group 1 wins and performances. The best 2 in Oz harness in Belinda McCarthy and Emma Stewart ... also Chantal up here, Julie Douglas and Jess Tubbs in Victoria .

It's a huge story really. I can see what you're saying as 'Addiction' in some shape or form affects nearly every person in some form or another and overlaps onto the people around them. there's been much said about alcohol , Pokies , cig's, gamblng destroying lives, families and creating community chaos as well as the deaths. Darren Weir was such a huge force in racing . even his main rival ex-pat Waller is putting horses with him ........ snippet >>>>>>>> Waller has up to eight to 10 horses – including 2023 Melbourne Cup runner-up Soulcombe – in pre-training with Weir and he was glowing in his description of how his horses came back to him. I don't think you can be addicted to using a jigger ? so am sure Weir can come back and make a good job of training race-horses. I agree with Chief in there should be a chance for redemption, rehabilitation and those sort of things as most do something they regret at some stage or another (in racing and life in general) but can make a change ... after serving the Nominated Penalty for their original Infringement. some trainers are addicts and get disqualified over and over and finally removed . Webberley, Hunter and Donahue i know here. all seemed normal horse trainers . with very fine wins. but keep over-stepping the 'treatments. and getting DQed. No good bringing up things from 20 years ago , like the Blue Magic thing and that... was just a phase like milkshakes for example... but people move on and generally will TRY and stay 'With-in ' the Limits. as best they can. When you have the results of ALLstars and Emma Stewart stables over many years . they do a great job at 'managing the limits' and with the bucketloads of Group 1 winners they get , I fail to criticise that , but rather applaud it . (Like Chief does with Te Akau ) and defend the small failings that creep in (like the Dunn, or Te Akau or even Chris Waller himself ) who all had horses Disqualified from races for positives in recent times for 'Various' reasons. I've been very Sceptical of Grimson here, but as time goes by, and he continues to Win , like with Swayzee NZ Cup , i'm gunna have to change my tune and be in 'Awe' instead ..if that stable continues to show no 'exceeding the limits' at the Lab or in training method. (like Weir did)

Recent Australasian Junior Driver Championship Winner this month JOSH GALLAGHER defeated some of NZ best juniors recently in Brisbane, including Sarah O'Reilly. Josh won the ultra Prestigious Group 1 'Interdominion Pacing Grand Final' 2 years ago, with a Grimson runner, at the age of 21. probably the only Junior Driver to win the Interdominion.

Absolutely Chief . That's the way it is . and they can reduce fines on appeal (whether the trainer is Small-time or Big -time like Dunns and Emma Stewart. Grimson got off his Disqualification and was just fined on Appeal.... for his 'fighting in the clubhouse 😅' up here in Winter .😂 John and Robert saved a few 1000 appealing the fines for the Nelson thing. Very fortunate IMO. was a very serious offence . (unlike this trifling Stewart one lol ) here's a snippet >>>>>> Harness racing trainer Robert Dunn and his son John have successfully appealed their $14,000 fine given to them for presenting horses to race with a prohibited substance in their system. On the 4th July 2017 the New Zealand Racing Laboratory issued Analytical Reports indicating the presence of caffeine in four swabs taken from horses racing at Nelson on the 9th and 11th of June 2017. This started a lengthy investigation into why and how this stimulant (caffeine) came to be in the system of the winning horses and ended with a $7000 fine for both Robert and John handed down by the JCA in March 2018. The appeal which was held last Friday resulted in reducing the fine from $7,000 each down to $3,900 for both Robert and John Dunn.

No the sport won't be killed off by testing. You used to give Milkshakes iddeally one hour before post time at one stage. Sure. Why wouldn't/ shouldn't we rely on testing to catch the horses exceeding the limits ? Thats what they're there for and they know what to look for . (unless it's Alford 😂) Sure. people have been giving things on race day since racing ever began mate. On horse floats , In the wash bay when they arrive , but usually at home before they go, all sorts of places. It just seems you are being Very Pedantic about the 'Time of administration ' down to the nearest minute ? I couldn't be bothered with that if I was a steward. especially the day before 😁 Just Swab em and Bust em that way, is my preferred . This sneaking around stable Spying and that, is a 'Bit Much' 🙄 I reckon. Seems invasion of privacy IMO. people on their own properties should have privacy same as everyone else that doesn't have horses. (IMO) It Sure Is ..every day people are tested and caught drink driving for example. they're Not playing by the rules , nor trying to Win Stakemoney for a living either. It's amazing what some do when a quid is involved in racing 😆💰😋..

Well it is part of the equation. A drip is part of the hydration process used very commonly , to keep blood volume up and blood circulation at a premium level. used in a gazzilion medical /surgical procedures with people and pets everyday....So are you calling the horses breakfast and water trough a treatment too. ? maybe you should. there can be 'plenty' of stuff in the tucker. ask the Dunn's when they go to Nelson. I think the whole thing is so trivial it makes me laugh. Just Take blood samples and Urine samples . Now you have 'Therapeutic Evidence ' of whats in the horses . Anything above limits and banned substances ? then apply the full Penalty and stick to it. If stewards want to jump out of trees with binoculars (syringes and urine sample pots) and take the samples One Day out from a horses race that week , then so Be it . Easier just to do it at the races like normal though. Cheats will get caught. as they should test at RANDOM any race participant , to keep them honest. (i.e Not just the race winners)

And lose he did . Thought the 'Beach Ball 'would be too strong today (finished 3rd) , but the old Boy 'Self Assured' had him well covered . But along came American Me and Sarah O'Reilly with one of the most pro-active drives ever seen in a Nz feature against Marky Boy . and she beat him by a nose !!! wow . that was a great drive !! 🏆💰 congrats to Sarah on that amazing win and the connections of American Me .

Can't see why a regional track Shouldn't have great stake money for it's Feature Cup race of the year?. Good on ya Invercargill !!! it's only Once a Year. am sure the Invercargill locals would love to see a former Nz Cup winner in Self Assured . should be handicapped more though as his rating is twice that of some off the front . maybe 40m ?? to give them all a little hope. Regional Cups in Australia are worth a fair bit . example : Ballarat Cup had many visitors from Nz recent years . like lets have a look at winners Smolda , then Smolda , then Heaven Rocks, then The Fixer, then A Gs White Socks , then ..... also just years earlier won by Mah Sish, Stunin Cullen, Highview Tommy for Nz. Regional Cups are GREAT for the second Tier runners to have a chance of a big Cup Win and earn a quid. 🏆👍💰 fantastic . Put more money on for Cups !! 🏆.. it's a good thing . mediocre gallopers race for 100k all the time .. why shouldn't some good Pacers get a shot at it ?

Just looking at the Mare's side breeding . Leap To Fame (2023 Interdominion winner) and Swayzee (2023 Nz Cup winner) both out of LettuceReason , a handy Art Major racemare who won 17 races from 50 starts , she competed in 6 Group 1's and finished 2nd in the 2 yearold Breeder's Crown in the best of them runs. She had 4 Full Sisters to race who won 4 career races each only. and are leaving moderate winners between them. All out of mare 'Left For Me'. AND the 'LettuceReason' Full Brother is FOR A REASON . He couldn't crack the Nz Cup for McCarthy stable (finished 3rd to Adore Me you might remember ? ) nor the Interdominion (3rd on 2 occasions to double Winner BEAUTIDE at Menangle) but he was an excellent colt (now standing at stud) Won over a $1,000,000 career and a Victoria Cup as well . Leap to Fame nailed very late in that race himself recently (Victoria Cup which is the Oz equal of Nz Cup) this year by ACT NOW but he will be back down there Winning it 2024. Go 'Larry' !!!!!'🏆

Maybe the BeachBall has his measure Brodster ? 'Bounced him' last time , and was a great placing in the NZ Cup too .. so is getting the standing start thing going a little better these days. The 10m start on Marks FFA champ might help too.

Amazing horse. What a powerhouse performance. Powered away on his own at the quarter. and they were going 1.53 MR . some great horses struggling back in 2nd , 3rd and 4th . (all tried hard though) Better Eclipse, then Swayzee and Spirit Of St Louis nailing down 4th. Grant was so disappointed in September when 'Encipher' got the $1,000,000 for the Eureka when it ran him down late on . He sat 3 wide then parked out that day though . and was 4 lengths clear of 3rd. Tonight was near 4 lengths clear on his own !👍🏆 But this makes up for it with the Honour for all time of being an Interdominion Winner 🏆. Yulestar was amazing 22 years ago ... but this was something Else tonight. Best in the World ....

He is such a fast beginner Turn It Up (mark still owns him and Nat's sister Vicki races him on lease.) He's got a bit old and not quite finishing off his races as well now though. Could be a thorn in the Grimson Grand Final plan though? . or so could Future Assured who could be asked by owner Seymour to 'Go Forward' and 'Squeeze' lol. to help Larry out a bit too . That's what i'd do anyway than you thankyou thank you thankyou. yes yes yes yes . Larry Wins !!! you little ripper. wow . how good is good . yes probably a world record. Helped by 'Turn it Up' getting ahead of 'Nerano' at the start , and 'Future Assured' , getting ahead of 'Swayzee'. Grimson un-done by the LOCAL's Seymour owned Team . A Queensland Winner !!! wahooo ..it's like Blacks A Fake Day's have returned. wow... Leap to Fame is the Interdominion Champion !! yeehaa .. old Nz Cup winner Swayzee back in 3rd spot . another horse who went well in Nz running 2nd . Better Eclipse for Sugars. Spirit of St Louis is 4th best in field and runs 4th accordingly. First4 Divvie at $250 was good too 😁💰 1st 6 LEAP TO FAME GRANT DIXON FT 2.25 1.20 2.00 1.20 2nd 11 BETTER ECLIPSE GREG SUGARS BL 2.20 2.20 3rd 3 SWAYZEE CAMERON HART FT 1.24 1.30 4th 9 SPIRIT OF ST LOUIS JACK CALLAGHAN BL

I'll go for the 2 I saw go round as kid in Nz Chief. Bob Skelton and David Peake . must of gone close to 2000 ? Jim Cassidy and Shane Dye probably a lot more in Aussie than kiwiland.

Some good points Brodie . esp New participants are getting harder to find as the costs associated with running a harness horse are high as you mentioned in the past . The Galah has mentioned the lack of training facilities are a major issue going forward. (When Franklin is sold off at Pukekohe what happens with those trainers ? will be not good. ) and yes the lack of Junior driving racing will Not motivate youngsters to 'Have a Go ' and get that competitive edge/nature/ going. like the old boys do at the golf. Can't agree with your boring racing though, at least thers' a bit of variety there at Auckland compared to all the mile racing here for low class horses week in , week out . 5 days a week . As a great fan of harness racing I even get bored with that and don't watch all of them. you don't know what boring is mate 😁😋 (no actually you do , as have said about constant mile racing previously) And as a punter far more likely to bet on Nz harness still. especially feature racing with the better horses and drivers participating. If you're getting better odds at the gallops one is more likely to bet there though , as in 'trying to make a quid' , instead of a general little flutter for fun , like you might see at your summer grass track racing.

There was a Group 1 tonight Brodster and good race .Queen of Hearts (and backed the winner lol 😋)🍾 the 4 horse field was because there was 4 scratchings in it . just a abnomily mate. There were some small fields at Addington too ?? . a six, 2 seven horse and 2 eight horse fields...About 90 odd runners . and 2 x big fields of worn out trotters made up about a 1/3 rd of the race- card 😉 Auckland still had 74 runners and was some good racing. don't lock the gate yet ??😎 You're just a bit biased being in the South 🤣 and must of been enjoying seeing Rachmaninov and Take after Me going around for the umteenth time (in the 100's lol) getting nothing . I quite enjoyed the Auckland trots and gave Addington the flick . (on this occasion)

Jeremy Young ... wins the Group 1 'Queen of Hearts' a few minutes ago with 'Lady of The Light'. congratulations to Jeremy on the Big Group 1 Win tonight at Alexandra Park and to be on the winning Group 1 trainer list . Lady of the Light placed in Group 1's last year behind True Fantasy , but with Marky Boy not turning up tonight at Auckland , the local good mare gets her Big Win !!!!!

Yeah know I shouldn't of bought gallopers owners/syndicates into the conversation. didn't mean to offend you about that stuff. the Australian Oaks winner with her 80 owners and All during last season. Anyway what is HARD to FIND is the owner/ and or trainer of Standardbreds, doing All the work with the horse, and then Winning a Big Group 1 race , While Not being a Household name horseperson training more than One horse at that level ever . We used to find a few of those around . Was thinking about it because Interdominion is on . Lorraine Nolan from NewZealand won the last one at Brisbane 22 years ago. YULESTAR Nz Horse of the Year 2000 season... Did she have another Group horse like that ? I think not. That's the sort of person I'm after and trying to give Credit here too ... Can you think of others ?

Looking at those 2 fields for the Grand Finals and you want 200-1 .🏆 (i'm getting 300-1 Sportsbet) 💰 Not without a chance is the SPIRIT of St Louis - QUEEN Elida double.👍 Both horses with quite a Few New Zealand owners. cool. 'Spirit' likely to trail through with cover from the 2nd row , now would seem to be with Trainer Luke McCarthy driving . If Grant Dixon with 'Larry' pours the pressure onto Swayzee he might crack ?. Unbelievable he didn't crack when Akuta was looking at him turning in NZ Cup last month 🙄 , so he might be too good ? if runs like that again . Spirit won't be far away though... Queen Elida the ONLY horse capable of beating 'Just Believe' in the trot. 6 of the runners are over 100-1 and no chance...So pretty good value to have a crack at the upset as 8-1 second favourite.

Exactly right. I think everyone in the media and here on forums has been in awe and very impressed of the wonderful achievements and the Group 1 Wins of those select few Professionals there in Nz. for example the best going Allstars and Dunn's with 2 each , then S+ATelfer and Phil Williamson winning the eight Group 1's on GrandPrix Day . and Barry Purdon (with Phelan Partner) winning 2 as well with multi millionaire QLD owner of Derby Winner Merlin. seemingly the Five Top stables in New Zealand. *****BUT....just seems the 'Dream' is over for 'owner Trainers'. through all the Big races now. Not long after Gammalites day's saw a market gardener in Auckland (Notman) get Village Kid going , and then sold him to an owner trainer Bill Horn , a Butcher .. to take the Mantle of best horse down-under. wouldn't happen nowadays. the PRO's are just Way Too Good and prepared. Armalight had a true amateur trainer Smith (winning Auckland and Nz Cups) , John Tudor in the Auckland Cup there too with the Dodds brothers, Greg Robinson taking on a few for old Max Robinson..plenty of regular folk could send them round and have a chance. there's just something great About the Big Race Winners that Do it with just One horse only ......... The thoroughbreds too... the trainer doing their One horse , is just so Special . Won't be anymore Snowy Lupton with Kiwi Melbourne Cup, (or Takeover Target with his taxi driver owner trainer won at Royal Ascot in the end ) winning the Big Gallop races either. I guess there's lucky 'regular' owners with 'Micro shares ' in ones like Melody Belle and that I spose. But they have no say in the racing, so don't even 'really own them' as in making decisions about anything to do with it's racing. they're even sold off at Broodmare sales at the end of racing as a clause as well. so that is just not the same as having your own horse....

Very good Walt lol. yeah had a regular bloke owner /trainer and farmer driver . 2 Interdominion Grand Final Wins (one of those at Auckland ) The days when you don't have to be a multi millionaire to Win the Big races . Like the Owner of Nz Derby winner Merlin (Dean Shannon) the other day, Owner of Leap to Fame (seymour) , all of Mark+Nathan Purdons owners and Nz Cup winners Copy That and Swayzee (Boots) in recent times. When's the last time a regular , say factory worker or teacher or man of the land won a Big One.? Boots and Seymour own near 500 horses between them and have 2 horses each (All the 3 favourites) in the 2023 Interdominion Grand Final this Saturday. here's a Boots article today >>>>>>>>>> 'Knockabout' owner can reap more success in Inter Dominion 13 December 2023 | Adam Hamilton (RQ Media) Self-described knockabout Mick Boots is by far the biggest harness owner in this part of the world, but teaming up with fellow NSW Riverina horseman Jason Grimson has unlocked his feature race success. Boots, 61, owns "well over 200" horses with 43 different trainers in Australia and New Zealand and has two runners – Swayzee and Nerano – in Saturday night's Group 1 Inter Dominion pacing final. Both are trained by Grimson. "I've raced horses for 16 years since and really stepped it up the past few years, but ‘Grimmo' (Grimson) won the first really big one for me with Betterzippit in The Nullarbor (in Perth) in April," Boots said. "Since then, he's gone on to win the Blacks A Fake and New Zealand Cup for me with Swayzee and now he's got these two in the Inter Dominion final. It's been some sort of year." It's a match made in heaven for the Riverina lads with Boots born, raised and still living in Leeton, while Grimson is from Young, but now trains at Menangle. Inter Dominion history awaits Grimson, who is trying to become the first trainer to win three successive pacing finals with different horses. He won with Boncel Benjamin on protest at Menangle in 2021 and I Cast No Shadow at Melton last year. Boots, a retired self-made millionaire, first met Grimson in early 2021 at the Melbourne yearling sales, did some homework on him and sent him a horse to train a few months later. "I spoke to Peter Birks, a great old-fashioned horseman from West Wyalong. He's a legend in these parts and he said Grimmo used to hang around as a kid and that he had ‘it'. He could see things in horses most couldn't," Boots said. "I'm sure the great facilities they train from at Menangle help, but Grimmo is a real horseman. I remember early, he said ‘let a horse be a horse, get all that gear of it and start again'." Nerano has gone to another level during the Inter Dominion series. Picture: Dan Costello While Grimson's deeds with Swayzee have been his greatest yet, Boots is in awe of how he's not just resurrected the once promising Nerano, but taken him to a new level. "Nerano was sold to the US, but he did a tendon the next day and I refunded the money as a good bloke would do. The horse had his rehab, went to Grimmo first-up for seven months and bolted in at Menangle. It's all gone from there. "He's really peaked through this series and he's got a terrific turn of speed." Boots' first Inter Dominion runner was Bundoran, who won a heat in 2021 before finishing ninth in the final for trainer-driver Amanda Turnbull. He returned and ran ninth at Melton last year. "The Inter Dominion has so much history behind it, it's a thrill to be part of it again, especially with two runners," Boots said. "I don't get to the races much, I'm just a knockabout block who prefers to lay low around home, but I'll be at Albion Park this week." Swayzee is $2 favourite and Nerano is $5 third elect, so Boots is well poised to win his first final and give Grimson his third on the trot. But Boots said Grimson has perhaps his biggest challenge yet to have the pair primed for a clash with hometown hero Leap To Fame. So, who does Boots lean to? "I don't want to sound negative and I hope I'm wrong, but I think both of mine will find it hard to beat Leap To Fame," he said.

A great horse though, but he missed away in the Sires Produce that Uncle Jasper won . Trident won the Sires Stakes Final in Auckland in May when expertly handled by Wolfie (worth 4 x more than the Produce anyway) so had a great season with 7 wins . Had Broken track records at various tracks around the countryside with Wolfie, Robin Swain, Alan Scobie and John Hay all setting those records . O'Meara having a great old time with him