Gammalite

Here's the drivers .

The world driving championship is being done in a slot race format of a kind later this month with the sponsors 'Buying a driver for the night to drive for them . The race card is at Albion Park Brisbane very soon. TEN of the world’s top harness drivers will battle it out across 20 races, spread over two exhilarating feature nights at The Creek, Albion Park February 21 – 22, 2025. The twist? Slot holders, not just drivers, play a crucial role! The unique series will see slot holders pick both the drivers and horses to compete in the slots across the 20 races. They select both the drivers and horses to compete in their respective slots, with over $250,000 in prize money on offer.

Sounds great. your assessment is harsh but fair . Moran obviously did something wrong so is good you punish him instead of the horse Captain hammerhead. Cam Hart I would of disqualified both New Zealand Cups on Swayzee , (because of nice collects on 2nd Placegetter's Akuta and Don't Stop Dreaming that went MIA that I would of got ) .I feel he was wearing the wrong boots. The Vic Stewards you would take out to lunch ?. well you do have to eat in-between races/meetings I spose so you are a generous man. 👍 Pete and Dexter might be an issue. I'll do another thread to see some pictures.

for opinion sake. And the sake of Fair racing . What was the penalty you would like then ? if you were in charge ? A/ For David Moran on Captain Hammerhead ? B/ for Cam Hart on his seating position.? (mainly his foot 😉) C/ For Pete McMullen and Dexter Dunn who are both in the World Drivers Championship Slot race shortly at Albion Park. A huge event. And as the 2 favourites in betting , but drive with their Bodies outside the confines of the cart ? (This is more likely to defeat opponents than anything Cam Hart does with his foot lol) And helps them win races. D / The stewards for not enforcing the rules that you are seeing broken in your opinion. ?

No whip ? therefore must be Brodster 🤣 where's Ranga? out the back already in the score-up ? Gamma seen here in action , ( can't find the track lol , but pull the whip anyway 😁)

Nearly the greatest of them All did exactly that for you Doomed. I think of her as the Best NZer ever , with the 2 Cox Plate Wins , a Hong Kong Mile and much more. SUNLINE was a 4 time NZ horse of the year , but only Won a total of 10 races in New Zealand tracks. very surprising small number of NZ starts . (won all 10 as well ) In fact today is her Anniversary of her Group 1 NZ Win . The Waikato Sprint Feb 9th 2002. 23 years ago today. What a Ripper she was 🏇 , and like you say , was Fantastic her 9 trips to Australia netting another 21 wins and $14,000,000 in prizemoney. Was still a great of NZ racing (like Imperatriz) conquering the Aussies for fun. (Perhaps Verry Elleegant a close 2nd as best kiwi ? with an MC 🏆 and that)

That's right. Every case is different. But yet you seek your ' consistency' and expect all penalties to be the same . No matter what the circumstance , or where the jurisdiction. In fact the Tasmanian horse wasn't DQed , but in fact was relegated to 14th in the Tasmanian Cup 3 years ago. There you go . a different penalty. twas A different case. yet you expected Moran to produce evidence , by supplying NZ video of drivers with dropped feet to get himself off on appeal from the Shepperton Cup Case? Couldn't possibly happen. He did a Major offence against the rules , and the stewards applied a rather harsh Penalty. as they saw fit on the night. Stops others doing it. (Nigel McGrath Penalty (very harsh) sure stopped the 'Milkshakes' in NZ,) Be good if the Law courts were efficient at dishing up some more harsh penalties like the racing does. To help put a stop to the Increasing crime. Oz recently introduced Legislation to trial some youths as adults , as crime was that bad by youth, they were virtually killing people (on the road and that) and getting off as a minor. after stealing a car and killing people. was almost becoming a monthly event. Has tapered off now as the New Penalties will deter it a little. BTW did you see we finally got Ben Yole (and brother ) outed in Tasmania for a string of offences? . (some quite horrific) Only got 3 years though , back-dated to last July. footnote: Chief and other harness forums do a great job on discussing current racing topics. good or bad. The Tabloid bloke is more of a Woke activist on a Crusade to destroy the sport. Couldn't possibly support that in any shape or form. He's ripped into Robert Dunn (Nz's Leading trainer) that horrificly at times , it's a wonder they're not in court. 😪.

You often try to support Profit but then suggest it's tabloid. darn right. the guy is looking for Anything to discredit anyone in the sport. The amount of good people he continues to discredit is sickening. Don't buy into his crap mate. Chief knows. he's a budding journalist and has discouraged you many times from that BS from the guy that had to leave your country to try and continue his crusade against racing. sad as sad can be. Anyway lots of drivers , feet leave the footrests , as stated for balance at the start of a race , people see this all the time , To Engage the Deafeners ( you know what I mean . to pull them out they do with foot) we used to do by hand. yes the bit about the whip driving. Brodster noticed. It's true a driver could be very vigorous and drop a foot. But has to put it back up. The critical factor is = Moran (and the Tassie guy Nicholson) MADE CONTACT with the horse legs that was proven, so that meant those horses were disqualified from the race. Cam Harts Foot sitting on a wheel stay ? no where near the horses legs. Who cares ?? The wheel stay is right beside the Footrest. who's to say some part of his boot is not touching the footrest in that photo ? . The wheel stay might be part of the footrests on these carts? . What could you possibly Charge him with ? having a bad sulky' design ?? lol . ( BTW in IMO I think their design sucks lol 😁 ) here's one

It's almost like the stock market now Doomed. Many horses have many owners as the Bloodstock companies like OTI and many others sell micro shares. hundreds are sometimes involved in just a few horses. It's just like having shares in a company on the stock market. (but the company has too much dud stock lol , as well as the good ones. One dud can cost 100's of 1000's dollars sometimes lol) the problem is this .> Only 15% of horses that get to the races ultimately return a profit, after all the fees and lifetime expenses. and a darn lot of them don't even run fast enough to get to the races either. lol. My guess is this Ladbrokes Australia racing Club had Too Many Duds. Only approx one in 10 horses are earning enough to pay their way about the place . 9 out of 10 is a LOT of LOSERS)

this one finished first 100 times ?

One of the elite drivers going , and now you're onto him ? lol . He (Cam Hart) is on a par with Greg Sugars and Luke McCarthy. The Carts only have a ONE WIRE strand these days to accommodate the drivers boot . Rather than the Dog Muzzle like set-up they used to have. It is Hard to keep your foot up there . I'm NOT surprised at the amount of dropped feet actually. It must be Very Uncomfortable. Cam Hart , being an Extremely Fair and Good driver does Not deserve Discredit . Is No surprise the Low Harness racing Hating PProfit would find something to Slander. Don't Buy into anything that idiot says Mr Galah. Cam Hart has his foot hooked into the wheel stay , (as seen in this Hunter Cup Photo) and his foot is Therefore even further from the horses legs than what the footrests bar is. .He drives like this nearly all the time. He is a champion driver and bloke . don't hint at cheating as is not fair comment.

That is a great question . Often causes great angst among drivers , because on the state highways (if they are 100kph) as mostly are around Oz, the passing lanes that come up every 10-20 kms or so are filled with people flooring it to use the lane and get past the grey nomad caravans (that are everywhere) and get some 'Clear Air'. and they're going 120 kph + to do it and get past em' .. Is it allowed ? Seems they allow it ok. does get tight at times as the passing lane draws to an end lol 😁. I am a very safe driver and often have had to speed up in those sort of situations to get past large trucks and that. Have never seen police radar at passing lanes . I think they would rather the overtaking happens there , than in the open sections where idiots pull out to .brave' the on-coming traffic at 120kph lol. 😉 Rightly so too. There's been 1000's of races , and must say I can't remember another one quite like what Harrison did to Blair in this race. Not on in my opinion. and I think the general driving standard is Excellent throughout NZ and Oz and much better (and safer with marker line pegs) which helps drivers No end , in avoiding incidents like this Amberley Race 10 one.

wrong . not the case. the horses are pretty knackered at the end of 2400 to 2700m races. A mile is a Easy distance for them to get there timing right. Most Gallopers in a free flowing natural action are racing 1200m to 1400m . very few go 2400m plus . it's very taxing on them. even in their natural movement. Pacers and trotters expend a tremendous amount of energy trying to hold down 30 second quarter miles in a row. It's almost cruel the Nz Cup and Rowe Cups (and Melbourne Cups galloping) over 2 miles, as knocks the horses around terribly. Only the Very best can do it. A bit like a human athletes can goes ok and can back up (even later that day) after a 100m or 200m dash , but put him over a mile and recovery is much slower and he'd be still feeling it the next day. or even later that week.

Well before he gets a quick break from the race driving because of the Junior's actions, I'll let him plead 'Guilty' to winning me a treble tonight .😉💰🍻 I've power-played for $10 at 48-1 = The Better Deal (race 2 special) and Treacherous Baby (could sneak that feature Breeders Stakes in Race 5 being over 2600m ) from Marky's team , into KAWHI race 1 . Kawhi at $7 here ? and won 2 of it's last 3 , where-as nothing else in the field with any real form? . Why can't it win again with Blair driving ? it's a Mobile start too. AND No Junior misfits trying to push him down out of the running line either 😁👍. bring em' home Blair O o o

Is hard to believe that is the rule.? Every race meeting has Some races with a train of the last few in single file trying to keep in the running line. Drop to the fence and you're virtually out of it . (in a short distance race) If caught 3 wide after an early burn after the start , and you didn't restrain out of the gate , you just have to drop back to last in the running line , then proceed up the inner if you feel like it. Not Barge in like R. Harrison tried to in race 10 , and skittled Blairs horse. and caused havoc in general . He (Mr Orange) probably pleaded guilty so the lass could get another drive as, driving like that ( that lack of respect for drivers in the running line already) , she sure won't get that many.

Good to see that the NZ Metropolitan TC are running all 3 of the trots races as mobile starts this afternoon. That seems a very progressive move to stop all the shambles at the starts. And Auckland are running 2 mobiles and just the one stand in the last race with just 6 in it. The 2 yearold race has just 6 starters as well and Lincoln Farms have 5 of them !!. wow-wee they might have a good 2 year old year if can get that many going early on in season. Telfers with the other runner.

Here's a funny one I remember once. Took the blame for a junior that was out wide on a severely hanging in horse during the last quarter sprint up . I was trying to leave the fence from 3 back , and the horse in-between me and the hanging 3 wide horse ended up galloping ( with the driver giving us a great run-down on our breeding 😂, as he quickly dropped away ) Anyway . It was definitely the hanging horses fault ( or the driver not steering it properly) Stewards decided I shouldn't be leaving the fence ( in the days of running rails, no passing lanes) so you Always pushed out at the quarter or around that point if possible. I say what ? stewards say you're knocking other runners over . well I wasn't the one hanging all over them , but anyway felt sorry for the junior. so got em' off. Stewards say Gamma you want a week suspended or 200 fine? I say what again 🙄 lol. You gotta be joking, who has a spare 200 bucks while doing these horses. Stewards say righto see you in 2 weeks time then when you're back on track .

hahaha you should never admit anything to stewards Blackie. Ya Just the blame the horse everytime, no matter what. Although in this case Harrison was deliberately steering her horse inwards and it wasn't the horses fault that happened. Fancy sticking your wheel under Blairs legs in a race 😳🙄. He drives in a Lot of races and he'll remember you/her/it in the future . He'll light Them Up lol 😁 will be no favours given.

Here's One for The Galah and/or amateur forum Stewards. How the hell did the Countries LEADING DRIVER get suspended for the incident in this race.? The junior driver lass was caught wide and trying to push in after the start and put her wheel under his horses legs 😳. The horse Blair was driving Light Me Up (the 2nd Fav) hits the wheel and is put out of the race. Blair gets Blamed ? how ? the horse he was trailing (No2 Evidently) at the post dropped to the inside soon after too, so he was very unlucky that didn't happen a fraction earlier 😆. I would of been suspending the Junior Driver Harrison for sure if they had me ruling it lol 👍😂. Here's what the blind stewards had to say . ..bit of BS lol 😋 LIGHT ME UP - broke racing into the first bend when racing to the inside of DON JUAN which shifted ground inwards with trailing runners being checked losing all chance and was retired from the race. Stewards questioned drivers B Orange (LIGHT ME UP) and R Harrison (DON JUAN) assisted by J Morrison, regarding LIGHT ME UP breaking and after considering their evidence Mr Orange was issued a charge under Rule 869(3)(b) alleging he drove carelessly when failing to concede his position. Mr Orange admitted the charge and after viewing the replays and hearing submissions on penalty the Adjudicative Committee suspended Mr Orange's driver's licence from the conclusion of racing on 9 February up to and including 16 February 2025 (4 days).

The thing with mile racing (or mile and a quarter) that nearly all the races are run over day in and day out in Aus and USA is that it's easier on the horses (and therefore the trainer and driver) Horses recover better and can race again the following week no trouble at all. Brodie rightly is always against it (short course racing) as a Punter. As rightly as he notices , it is TOO Hard to come from the back and win these races. They are hard to bet on. They are harder to win . The barrier draw is really determining your chances greatly. They can be very 'pedestrian' because of this too. and at our local course in Brisbane every race starts to look the same . same old same old. I wouldn't bet on it and love the sport , and the NZ harness racing is way better to watch . and with the 2600m Addington or 2700m Alex Park horses can come from the Back of the field and Win , so much better for the Punter, and exciting to watch too.

Not just Canterbury either Brodster. You should of seen the Hawera meeting last weekend. The Stratford Cup on day 1 ( for supposed experienced horses) was a Dog's Dinner. A false start caused by Dennis Dunuto and at 'Take 2' he was just about sideways as they let them go the second time round. Interfered with others. Also The Abernathy brothers were both tipped out from handicap marks. Handicapped alright !! 🤣 It was ridiculous. 2 races later > in the Stratford Trot for the mid class trotters it was like Ellerslie with more galloping than trotting at /just after the start. The Hawera Cup on the 2nd day was a bit better I spose but still 3 runners lost their chance at the start. They didn't use the run-up technique at all that the Southerners use. They were actually standing. BUT Just use the mobile like the other races on the card is the answer ?. It's right there - ready to use.

I always laugh when that Rotorua couple that had nearly gone broke applied for a $100,000 overdraft from Westpac that time around 15 years ago. Some buffoon put an extra 2 zeroes on when doing the bank transfer lol 🤣😅 so thanking their lucky stars they fled the country with $10,000,000. leaving the struggling Rotorua petrol station behind (complete with stock on selves lol) After a couple of years the NZ lass wanted to return to NZ , as had split with the Chinese guy who was busy blowing tens of thousands in Macau and Hong Kong and China casino's. She had a young daughter is probably why she rang police and came back after two years to face the court. Not sure if they ever caught the bloke or not. Better to give back what is NOT yours. Hope the idiot that has Sheila Laxon's MC percentage money gives it back . Some of it is Mr Symon's as well ? so is he stealing from 2 people for some reason? was Mr Symon's careless where he wanted his payments to go as well.? what about other races percentages leading up to the Melbourne Cup ? where did they go I wonder 🤔

Sounds that way. And someone that Laxon doesn't get on with at all either. Or they would just hand over the money. You can do a bank transfer in minutes these days. What an ass that person is for not co-operating 🙄. Doesn't seem RV at fault . they said they paid the money to nominated accounts. That's all you can do.

Alan pyers ,It's a small world Galah as he was in Queensland for a bit going way back , the horses here were that slow he went home to Nz rather than put up with that ( in the 80's I think) 😆 I must got some drives on some of them after he went rather unfortunately . One horse from Nz Victory Chimes was the most ugly horse i've ever seen lol . pretty sure Alan won some races on it too , but they were going no-where near 2 minutes at that stage and were a lot of battlers rather than fast horses in QLD. times have changed. they're all fast now lol. I wouldn't go asking about driving grass tracks and keeping your foot in the footrests. 😆 driving on the grass is super rough and you're flat out staying on your seat sometimes . let alone keep your feet up . Alan and Wilson would be bouncing around as much as anyone else lol. bloody gallopers leaving hard foot holes in the turf lol 🤣

exactly. Well it's Not a consistent thing Mr Galah. Every case is different , so therefore gets different penalties. Here's a famous case from The Tasmanian Cup not that long ago . Very famous as the all clear was given , so Punters were paid , before the Foul driving was recognized lol 🤣 It Not only involves the dreaded kicking the horses legs but the dreaded Whip use rules as well.. The horse also shifted out in the home straight causing other drivers to protest. This Just Shows HOW HARD it is Mr Galah, to police the rules with what the drivers are doing in a race. (drivers on the roads are even worse lol 😅) . here's the extract with some interesting bits . Space> Stewards Panel: Ray Murrihy, Steven Shinn (Advisor), Ben Plunkett (Advisor) Name: Rhys Nicholson Track/Race: Elwick - 2021 Ladbrokes Tasmania Cup Final – Race 7 Date: 13th March 2021 Rule no: AHRR 174 (1) Where a driver is found guilty of an offence under a rule contained in part 9 and the offence relates to the way in which the driver has driven or behaved or controlled or failed to control the driver’s horse at the start or during a race, the Stewards in relation to the race in which the offence occurred may give the driver’s horse a lower placing or disqualify it for such period they think fit. (2) A disqualification under sub rule (1) or alteration of placings does not affect settlement of bets or wagers. Inquiry Decision: BULLYS DELIGHT is relegated from its first (1st) placing to fourteenth (14th) placing in the Ladbroke’s Tasmanian Pacing Cup Final conducted at Ladbrokes Park, Elwick on the 13th March 2021. FACTS: On 13th March 2021, the horse BULLYS DELIGHT contested and finished in first placing in the $75,000 Ladbrokes Tasmania Cup Final (the Race) over 2579 metres, conducted at Ladbrokes Park, Elwick, Tasmania. BULLYS DELIGHT was a 6-year-old gelding bred and raced in partnership by Mr Jim Kefalas and Mr Phillip Winder. The horse was trained by Harness Racing Victoria (HRV) licensed trainer Mr John Nicholson and was driven by his son Mr Rhys Nicholson who is also a trainer/driver licensed by HRV. All parties under the Australian Harness Racing Rules (the Rules) and more specifically AHRR 299 are deemed to have knowledge of and are bound by the Rules. Subsequent to the finish of the Race and before the declaration of the all-clear Mr Heath Woods driver of second placed THE SHALLOWS and Mr Conor Crook, driver of third placed LIP READER lodged protests against BULLYS DELIGHT being declared the winner on each of three grounds in the home straight, namely: (1) Interference by BULLYS DELIGHT shifting out, (2) Mr Rhys Nicholson dropping his right foot from the sulky stirrup and contacting the offside hind leg of BULLYS DELIGHT on numerous occasions (a practice known as hocking) and (3) Mr Rhys R Nicholson utilising his whip on a large number of occasions with more than a wrist only flicking motion, generating force from his shoulder and elbow. The Stewards dismissed all protests when they found: • Ground (1) Although BULLYS DELIGHT shifted out some distance in the run to the line the interference was minimal. Taking into account the finishing margins of 4.6m x 6.4m they could not be satisfied that had the interference not occurred the placings would have been affected. Grounds (2) & (3) Whilst finding that Mr Rhys Nicholson had “hocked” BULLYS DELIGHT on numerous occasions and had utilised his whip on numerous occasions outside what is prescribed under the Rules, they could not be comfortably satisfied that had this not occurred the placings would have changed. The all clear was given on the judge’s placings, however all parties were notified that an inquiry would be conducted as to whether AHRR 174(1) should be invoked. Later that night and following the final race on the programme Mr Rhys Nicholson pleaded guilty to two Stewards charges concerning his driving or behaviour in the home straight on the final occasion in the Race namely: • Charge (1): Under AHRR 168(1)(e) of improper driving in that he dropped his right foot from the sulky stirrup and deliberately made contact with the hind leg of BULLYS DELIGHT (hocking) on numerous occasions. • Charge (2): Under AHRR156(2)(a) of utilising his whip with more than a wrist only flicking motion whilst engaging force from the elbow and shoulder as well as failing to maintain a rein in each hand. Penalties: In determining the penalty Stewards took into account that the breaches occurred in a feature race, Mr Rhys Nicholson’s driving record and what they determined as his blatant disregard for the rules in both instances. • Charge (1) $2,000 fine plus drivers licence suspension of 4 race dates. • Charge (2) $1,000 fine plus drivers licence suspension of 8 race dates. No appeals have been lodged and the suspensions were ordered to be served cumulatively.