Gammalite

too good . got it easy. left in front a bit from the line when Front Page stopped. but Opie had the fast lane and just went on with it easily anyway. Great Win to Nz racing . Walker and Opie (and the great mare) 🏆

Hey ! you're in the 2nd at Riccarton soon . neato. I've had a couple each way to say you know what you're doing 😂😂. As for the big Darley Champions race at Flemington today . you've got me convinced. First4 for the Flying Mares then . Imperatriz 1, Espiona 2, Bella Nipotina 3, In Secret 4.

As Curious mentioned Imperatriz has won three Group 1s over 1,400 and 1,600, plus a Group 2. So best not to consider her a 1,000m and 1,200m specialist. Loved the way Imperatriz was able to 'go forward' at her last start. Hope they (Opie and the mare) get to use the FAST LANE that Najem Suhail used today to great effect . It drew barrier 9 today which is about the lane Imperatriz has drawn >>>> so hope Opie was watching very closely today . MUMBAI MUSE used that same 'lane' to great effect as well to gather in Saltaire today in the 7th race. is quite important in those straight sixes as finishes are often decided narrowly. She has the Alley and LANE to win . Just gotta keep up there early .

The straight Six at Flemington is a strange beast Chief. Flemington straight 6 Is Very Well suited to 1400m specialists , that finish hard late on. (compared to a standard 1200m race at any other track) Espiona eats up 1400m , as do In Secret and Bella Nip (both race well Flemington 12's already ) I think Imperatriz is big risk here. (would of loved a straight six with some of my pacers Chief 😄 I would of been do'in the NAJEM SUHAIL lol . can't wait for race 5 Flemington today to see if he does it again like Saturday 😂 )

Mightened even win it ? . Imperatriz has solid opposition this time Think the Big Flemington straight Sprint will suit the other Flying Mares too. Espiona (the Everest runner) to win , In Secret (the Newmarket H'cap winner... RIP Dean Holland from that as well) for 2nd , Bella Nipotina (who beat the Everest winner Think It Over last week ) will be in for 3rd. looks an easy trifecta 😆💰👍...😉

To get in the spirit of the fun Cup week , what Sort of BOAY challenge should we have ? Here's some previous results over the past Year >>>>> previous comps = BOAY Cambridge Challenge Final points on Grins race day April .....was Teams of drivers and trainers selected. won by Blackie 60 points, Gamma 50 points, NoworNever 44 points, Miracle Mile night we had a Team of runners each ( We had a different horse each across the 8 races ) congratulations The Galah Final Points tonight . The Galah 26 pts, TrotsFan 24, Gammalite 22, Davis 20, Brodie 18, On Derby Day and Oaks day last December we had lucky Barrier draws (you get the same horse number every race) and the winner was >>>>> Winner 🍾 = Trotsfan with 28 pts, congratulations winning from the Number 2 alley. last Show Day had some drivers supported and old mate Davis took the win Final standings : ----- Davis (and Team Junior drivers) 38pts, and Nz Cup Day last year we all Picked 2 horses each per race with $10 EW on them (Rangatira had a $50 -1 shot of John Dunn's win) Cup Day Final Totals (the Break even was $520 across the 13 races run ) Pick 2 Per Race Comp Rangatira $1009.00 💰💰 near doubled his money and takes the Win !! Gammalite $732.00 KickintheKods $518.00 The Galah $497.00 MikeyNz $ 475.00 Aquaman $437.00 Blackie $410.00 Chief Stipe $371.00 Davis $244.00 Michael $257.00 Brodie $178.00 HunterthePunter $126.00 we Also had a 'pick the driver to support on the day' on Cup day, where the result was >>>>>>>>> Congratulations to The Galah 🏆 . correctly picking Blair Orange as the driver of the Day !!! FINAL TOTAL : The Galah 38 points, Gammalite 36, Davis 24, Ranga 24, Blackie 24 , Hunter 18, Brodie 18, Chief Stipe 8 pts. What method should we Go with next Tuesday ? ??? post any ideas here please.

lol... Hi... 'My name is Jeff' (back running 1.50 last night) . But we BetterZippit about 'Betterzippit' picking up 1/2 million in one race in the hard to win west Australia and not winning since, and also winning the last 2 prestigious Interdominion Pacing finals (with 2 old boys that never won a race a since either and have been 'moved on' ) and might be trying to get a plodder to 'Sway ' past the very best in NZ in 'Akuta' next week . Wonder if he can do it.? nearly 'Majesticly Cruised' in last year's Nz Cup, but 'Copy That' held on. Be prepared NZ lol.

Whips are a great aid mate. Been used for working horses since time began. Even working dogs like sled ones etc. I used long line whip every horse ever broke in . you could drive them up tail gates of trucks and all over the place while long-reining the youngsters and mouthing them , and generally just getting them to obey your commands. They need PROMPTING mate . a horse isn't going to go and get on the truck itself , or into a barrier stall , or drive around the ring in the shows , or even go for joy rides round the streets of Vienna . even the most educated ones still need a PROMPT to produce the TASK that you have set it . In thoroughbred racing a whip has always been a great PROMPT device to let the horse know when it's time to PUT IN the HARD yards. It's called a race . A horse doesn't want to generally head the other ones off if it had the choice. It would probably stop running and eat some of the nice green turf. That's wasn't the task it was set. The horses are looked after Way Better than people look after themselves mate. They're worth a few dollars in most cases and people are worthless lol. Whips make a BIT of NOISE mainly and don't hurt the horse . Damien Oliver screaming like a BANSHEE to scare the horses into winning like he often does, is probably more harmful to their ears and brain 😂😆 I see ZERO horses coming back to scale after a race looking like they are remotely concerned about these perceived 'barbaric whip strikes' they endured . they are usually just trying to catch their breath a bit , and looking for the water bucket and/or a nice cooldown shower . and then 'where's my tucker' a bit later is more of a concern for them. I have Never had to treat a 'Whip injury' in 20 years of working with horses.

good tip mate. Wag Star won really well . through from the second row to take a good win for the Smokin Bandar team. seems a good trainer that Ferguson bloke alright 👍💰. Mantra Blue was fantastic as well in her race . Coming from last in race 8 to make it 4 from 4 for Zachary Butcher. Maybe he'll start training more horses getting results like that ? she is gunna win a stack more races. very impressive Sweet Lou filly. a real Winner.

Dylan Ferguson was in Victoria last Sunday with LOVEMETO trying to win the Victoria Trotters Derby but was a bit of an impatient drive unfortunately. He had won the heat by 10 lengths the previous week and went for it a bit early in the final. LoveMeTo had won the great Northern Trotting Derby back in May at his last Nz start , but was driven by Blair Orange on that occasion and won very easily. A Queensland 3 yearold trotter won it (blue riband trotters Victoria Derby) and paid $50.00 odd. they're starting to get a little better up this way with trotters now. excellent. Was very impressed with the 2 year old trot at Addington tonight Mr Galah ? Thankfully they got race 5 run before the rain came .. the Group 3 trotting stakes for the youngsters . Only 2 horses broke in the running !!!! out of 13 starters. crazy good !!!...Champion trotter trainer Paul Nairn winning with Head Em Up very easy , but most went great guns in that. I think there will be a lot of race winners come from that race in the future , and were a credit to that field of great 'trotting horse ' nz trainers.

What a terrific trotter. Looks absolutely beautiful trotting along with his ears twitching back and forth the whole time , and having a blast. His 7th win at Addington tonight of his 11 wins to date. Rowe Cup winner Bolt for Brilliance (was off hard handicap) but was a small field and BOLT got no-where near the Big Grey trotter . A true Credit to his Trainer from way down south somewhere Craig Ferguson . Looks like the champion Greyhound getting along , from days gone by.

Well they can Rate whatever they like . who cares. It's WINS on the board that count !! Black Caviar won a string of races . that's the inportant thing . who knows who she beat or what she rated. it doesn't really matter. she got the wins and the money. Imperatriz has won a string of races. that's the Important thing . the rating or other runners are just 'also rans' . wins and money 💰 Nature Strip has won a string of races . His rating ? never knew It . he didn't care...lol 😆 Any chance Imperatriz can get the Crown of Crowns in front of the King at Royal Ascot next year ? (Like Black Caviar and Nature Strip did) >>>> to become the Best on the Planet for a moment in time !!!! wouldn't that be something Special ?.

Yes it has been good today , as Nigel said too it suits Kaikoura (and small fields ) with the flashes of drone it is putting in the coverage. Seems to be working well.

Could be A Hill Too Many for Mr Orange to beat Brodie by the look of it . the drive on 'A Hill Too Menny' in race 3 was just terrible. Instead of popping off the fence when open by John Dunn to do so a lap and a bit out ,stayed there???. went to the Winning post jogging , can't get a run at em , after sitting needlessly 3 back on the pole line around a tight track ?? with a trotter ?? what was he doing ...

Running against Blair Orange? think we'll be just on Blair today. The Brodster ain't what he used to be post covid and elections and World Cups. Actually as the 2nd race hits the Line , Blair pretty weak on the ALLstars EyeLiner. beaten a head but only 4th !!🥵 think I might go the Brodster afterall.

Yes indeed . the horse gave her a great 'forewarning' with a marked shift out at the beginning of this amazing vision. Sort of bounced off the horse in white colours. She straightened it , still looking a big winning chance , then gave it a couple of big whacks again and paid the penalty. horse obviously resenting the whip ( as wasn't shying away from anything else) shame she ignored the forewarning .... (didn't the rail track staff get there quick ??😁 on the scene of the 'exploding rail' before the horses got to the finish line even 😆. kiwi efficiency 👍)

Com'on Holy Rav . have a crack at it . What ya got ?? it's piece of cake 😂 Imperatriz 1, I Am Me (Jmac)2, Uncommon James 3, Buenos Noches4, Jigsaw5, The Inferno6, I am War 7th and last 👍💰 bookies have paid out already.

The 'Alligator' (former Queenslander 🏆😄) to lead them all the way !! with Militarize with no weight on him and Mr Brightside with his Gun barrier draw at 2, are the placers !!!

Maybe they were looking for the Best Angle you to see how wide Aardie's Express was in Race 10 for the first 1000m .👍 Quiet trip out there 4 wide before cruising to the lead for Tim before the last quarter , and slipping away by 7 lengths in Armalight like fashion....... Could be the next big thing ? (well not beating AKUTA anyway ), did you see him go yesterday ? circling the Open class field from last , sit outside them , and power on to victory in Gammalite like fashion. (Cold Chisel as well yesterday !!) great run by him. Some great horses and racing at Ashburton yesterday . Absolutely breath-taking performances. oh .... yeah the drone coverage? . good for showing in replays after the race maybe ??

thanks fr that mate . and here's another Barry Lichter article too .... from 2 years ago to tell what ultimately happened. It's very sad to me . (that trotting ruined by Property developement dreams in the great city of Auckland ) Ironically , Kevin Seymour , a QLD property developer fought Hard , to have our track at ALBION PARK , Brisbane 'Not developed' and still trading as a trotting course , bless him. Here's the article . It's a bit long . But so is the tragedy of it All !!!!!!! 🥲 Who got what in the ATC v Canam building dispute finally revealed 11 December 2021 in International, New Zealand 0 The Auckland Trotting Club will continue legal action to try to recover some of the $100 million lost in the building of its apartment complex. But when the harness racing club finally reveals details of its long-running dispute with construction company Canam at next Wednesday’s annual general meeting, president Rod Croon will be assuring members it will not be pouring millions more into the bid. The club’s accounts show more than $6 million has been spent on legal fees since it dismissed Canam in July, 2018, after a slew of problems, with many believing the cost has been even higher. <span style=text decoration underline><strong>Auckland Trotting Club Apartment complex<strong><span> And even though Canam is now in liquidation, the club has indicated it plans to pursue the company’s directors personally, along with quantity surveyors, project managers, engineers and even its solicitors. The final wash-up cost the ATC incurred as a result of the Canam debacle has just been certified by the club’s contract engineer and while the exact figure cannot be revealed before it is lodged with the arbitrator and the High Court it runs into tens upon tens of millions. In August, three years after Canam sued the ATC, the arbitrator made a first interim award but it did not favour Canam as that company’s liquidator misleadingly quoted in its first report using information provided solely by directors Loukas Petrou and Stephen Jones. Canam was awarded $933,283 mainly in relation to extensions of time and contract variations but it failed in 15 of the 18 clauses and a far bigger sum, $2,496,108, was awarded to the trotting club, with rights being reserved for future determination of the full amount after the final costs were known. Canam told the liquidator while it was awarded “a large sum” it could not collect until a counter claim by the club was heard and it could not justify spending money it did not have with the result uncertain. The ATC tells a far different story. Canam had failed to give the club a parent company guarantee from Canam Group Ltd. as required in the contract and when ordered to by the arbitrator in a second award it immediately wound up the company, hiding under the corporate veil. The club claims its Christchurch lawyers Lane Neave should have picked up the key omission and that’s why it is included on its list of targets, proceedings having already been filed in the High Court. The ATC will promise members it will not be spending another $6 million on the case but will approach it on a contingency basis. While there will be some basic costs, substantive fees will only be payable if there is a successful result. The ATC denies it offered Canam money to drop its case against the club, as claimed in the liquidator’s report. “We offered to settle both before and part way through the arbitration. We said let’s walk away, everybody bears their own costs,” an ATC source said. “The club had its back against the wall. If it didn’t defend, Canam would have got judgement and taken all its assets.” Fears expressed at original meeting Members at next week’s meeting are sure to remind the ATC board of the fears expressed about the numerous pitfalls of property development at the original special general meeting in November, 2014 when it was announced the club would run the project itself, rather than take a smaller guaranteed profit by paying someone else to build the apartments. But the then president Kerry Hoggard, on whose property expertise the board was relying, died in October, 2015, less than two months after the first sod was turned. From the outset Canam encountered problems with the foundations. Unstable volcanic rock forced the club’s engineers Engenium to fill cavernous holes with concrete and to use piles instead of concrete bases under each column of steel, at an extra cost of more than $5 million, putting the build a year behind schedule. Meanwhile the Australian company Ganellen, hired to construct two more apartment buildings, had even worse problems with its foundations. In April, 2018, the Auckland City Council ordered a halt to all work on both projects, citing issues with the steel, bought from China, and breaches of the building consent through lack of inspections. It took three months to resolve the issue. While the parties bickered about who was responsible, questions arose on why the club had engaged Engenium, whose engineer Alan Reay designed the Christchurch CTV building that collapsed during the February, 2011 earthquake, killing 115 people. Reay escaped charges but was later criticised by a Royal Commission. The trotting club’s steel was supplied by Reay’s long-time associate property developer Bert Govan’s Challenge Steel which later went into liquidation owing $10 million. Unhappy with Canam’s progress on the job, the ATC terminated Canam’s contract in July, 2018, and appointed another Auckland company, CMP Construction, spending many millions correcting Canam’s mess. Another major disruption that cost millions and months to fix came when the wrong cladding was put up on the buildings and had to be pulled down and replaced. Ganellen also took a case against the ATC, believed to be for more than $13 million for lost time and variations to its contract. Despite repeated assurances from its legal advisors that the club would win, the judgements came back in favour of Ganellen and the club ended up paying out an undisclosed amount in a mediated settlement. Insiders believe much of the legal fee haemhorraging could have been avoided had the club sat down and discussed the issues with its contractors, rather than pointed guns at each other. ATC directors served with legal papers Unknown to its members, Ganellen served every director on the board with legal papers, saying they could be personally liable for acting unreasonably in not trying to work out a solution. But, according to one inside source, perhaps the most costly decision the board made in its naievity over property development, was not taking the chance to mitigate its losses when various sunset clauses were activated after the project fell years behind schedule. With all the delays and with costs of labour and materials rising, most savvy property developers would have revised the price of the apartments to more like market level. The units had already risen in value by 20 to 30% over the years so investors would not have suffered. President Bruce Carter, however, was determined to honour the club’s word to buyers, passing on the chance to recoup tens of millions of dollars, the suggestion also that he feared people might choose to walk away and a glut of apartments would come up for resale. Ultimately, it appears the turnaround on a project initially projected to earn the club $48 million, came down to a lack of construction expertise on the board, though many sitting round the table were reportedly often never privy to dispute details, handled by a dominant president and CEO. The project was developed and managed by CEO Dominique Dowding, who had no experience in property development when she came to the club in 2012 after seven years as the sales, marketing, events and entertainment manager at the Christchurch Town Hall. Dowding, who was also responsible for the investment, funding and all legal and financial reporting, won the Auckland Property Council’s inaugural Women in Property Award in 2016 for her ongoing leadership on the significant urban village. A citation at the time said: “As chief executive, Ms Dowding has led the board’s strategic turn-around of the 126-year-old iconic Auckland Trotting Club to put it on a more commercial footing, ensuring its long-term financial sustainability and the survival of harness racing in the northern region. Dowding left the club in March, 2019. The 246 apartment development, which realised $295 million in sales, was finally finished this year, four years after its scheduled completion. By Barry Lichter

So they sold the Franklin Facility , that was used for decades at Pukekohe , and used by 20 local and 20 visiting trainers All the time. And now need to build a faciltiy elsewhere ? Can they just buy Franklin training back again ?? lol 😄. another tragedy in the ATC scheme of things past 10 years. 🙄 There was KUMEU ?? wonder if track still operating ? Only about 25km from city , so way closer to Alex Park than the long Franklin trip these days . most Trainers would love living in Massey ?😂😂

Is 1400m too far for a Sprinter ? some famous Group 1 winners didn't take it on very often ??? Nature Strip never raced out that far . 1200m and less.... (22 wins from 44 race starts) Black Caviar one start at 1400m , 1st in the CF Orr Stakes by 3 lengths . ( 25 from 25 lifetime ) Takeover Target , 7 starts at 1400m for 3 wins . ( 21 wins from 41 starts overall ) Schillaci , maybe he's the best ? Not just winning the Lightning, Oakleigh and the Newmarket but also took out the Futurity at 1400 and the George Ryder 1500m at Rosehill . (1/2 length 2nd in the Straddie too with 58kg retirement race 👍) (16 wins from 36 overall)

wondered what you were referring too here . V'Landys was a bigWig at Harold Park for 15 years before going to the gallops. Organising the Miracle Miles by the Look of it . Fred Kersley is a Rolls Royce lol.. did take a few wins with Northerly at the gallops , including 2 Cox Plates (that time of year again lol) so that is Very 'Rolls Royce' like achievement 😂🏆. quote V'Landys here >>> ''I remember inviting Jack Morris to the 1992 Miracle Mile when he was an unknown to trotting fans outside Western Australia. I rang the owners and said to them, 'We want to invite your horse to the Miracle Mile but it is on the proviso that Fred Kersley drives it rather than the trainer-driver Sean Harney'. They argued a bit and I said to them, 'Why would you use a Mini-Minor when you have a Rolls-Royce in garage?' About half-hour later, a bloke rang and said, 'It's the Mini-Minor here'. Sean was a great bloke and really made the race that year.''

Is that your mate Jack Morris ?? (who's in the gig ?) , who won at AlbionPark as well ? beating Blossom Lady and Christopher Vance I think got the placings . I was there for that one . they were close to winning it after winning heats the 2 Nz champs. Think Blossom Lady won a whole heap of heats over 5 Interdom Finals actually without taking the BIG prize . JACK MORRIS burned them All off here .won all 3 heats ? He was way too good anyway 🏆

yes indeed , that was what i was thinking earlier. The building industry has way too many things that can go wrong. The Alexandra Park 346 apartments have had a whole shitload of them . Yes it is very hard to bet /enjoy Queensland racing. They go round that often the Handicapper has the fields exactly even so there's never a Standout IMO. I only watch it at Constellation Carnival each Winter when the good horses turn up, and the Group races are on for 6 weeks . This year we have the Interdominion however (my favourite Subject ) so will be todelling along to Albion in December to enjoy a bit of that for 3 weeks . will be excellent !!!! Yulestar form there, Won the last one here (Pacers) . and the 2001 Interdom trot went to Take A moment , from Mountain Gold and Special Force A New Zealand Trifecta !!!! I remember getting that one . maybe again this year ? 🏆👍