Gammalite

hahaha yeah went up to Ruakaka 40 years ago with Marky Boy in the back of the 9 horse transporter , when he won his first ever race on 'Dark and Dusty'. He got a second win with that one too at Auckland in a junior drivers race. don't think I beat Mark in about 5 attempts lol. Once a gun . nice to see someone actually beat him lol. well done. Think he had a few tricks at one stage Chief and I'd be 'No hope' of getting him going. Full credit to Dunns. Had /have him trotting as 'Fast as the Pacers' . quite a phenominal training effort... Never drove a trotter in a race either. weren't in Qld till very late 90's. When a heap of old Nz trotters were imported to get it going. still do that now !! Hey this very week , one has actually made the Grand Final of the Interdominion ! Old Cambridge horse MAJESTIC HARRY is in the final for the gorgeous Britney Graham from sky channel who part owns and drives . He's won $80k for her this year too. Best of Luck to her to get some of it next Saturday !!!

Mate , I see what you are saying but in even the great stable you can't expect them to Win every race every time. Vinke B and lets say Chambray (battled on for 6 th in Oaks) as well , aren't the greatest horses going around ?. Chambray was rank outsider and has 2 wins from 10. so is only slightly above average. Queen of Diamonds for example, is doing the exact 'Opposite' of what you claim . winning in the country lead-ups and then flopping lately in the 2 Group 1's she competed in. Mark driving it too . not Cox or other. All 3 of those horses will Win somewhere again. Think you are being quite harsh saying what you do as who places their horses better than Allstars ? Just Emma Stewart that I know of. .....everyone else hammering away week to week trying to earn a crust lol 😉. anyway what a good days racing it was . Muscle Mountain was awesome. BD Joe just 'murdered' the Allstars too. That was a great performance against your Nz FFA winner running 2nd. Big day improvement ? lol....

You can win plenty of races if you want to have large Stable numbers. This year (season 2022) Ben Yole has broken the Australian record for number of wins with 367. But has had 4,500 starters. and only won 2 metro class races . Emma Stewart has 272 wins so is second in the nation this year. Plenty of feature wins from 671 starters with over 100 metro wins . Thats better than what Allstars do and quite a staggering achievement. But shows if you race 'numbers' (as opposed to quality ) you can still get something for your owners. BEN YOLE TAS 4,452 367 wins 382 - 419 $2,808,361 2 metro 365 $2,710,761 8.24% EMMA STEWART VIC 671 272 wins 93 - 70 $4,998,122 111 $4,092,718 161 $905,404 40.54%

Some great questions. But don't undersell some of the opponents. Chief answered above for you. It's just a 'heritage' thing as well. Even RoyP had Millionaire owners , like Max Harvey for example who bought Comedy Lad from the South Island to win the Auckland Cup with. so they did. And some Trainers are or have made up the' light years.' Look at BD Joe sailing past the 2 Allstars runners in the last race the other day (and was held up in the NZ FFA when could have won that with luck in running) Allstars won the trotting FFA last year with OscarB. But look at MUSCLE MOUNTAIN this year . way too good. So Hope stable have sailed past Allstars in the 'trotting ' ranks, to join Sundee and Bolt as Gun 'trotting gait' trainers and drivers. (Mark still winning with younger trotters Sunday though) Ray Green has taken COPY THAT past the Allstars as well , and Dalgety's did well with Krug for a while (2 Derbies) and now Republican Party . Blair Orange should take up training, would probably go ok ?? The answer is WEIGHT OF NUMBERS. Just give ALL those Stables twice as many runners. Telfer is prospering because of this. Darling Me had stablemates help lately, and has blossomed. Telfer's often with more than one runner in a race. Grant Dixon here has 80 in work, so gets wins and won Vic Derby with LEAP TO FAME beating the incredible Emma Stewart barn (The Allstars Aussie equivalent) who have FIVE in the Interdominion Final this week.

Yes he has run some amazing times and got some big race wins with his Dominions and Rowes. I would quietly argue against the 'handful of day's' thing . Mark and Nat quite capable of winning a race anytime of year and can't find many that back up the arguement of just winning when the money is on? . Millwood Nike been winning all year , well not much point going through them as Everyone knows how good they are e.g True Fantasy, Spankem ,Self Assured ,Amazing Dream and now AKUTA (could be the best yet) are and can win anytime anywhere. The Race, The Auckland Cup, any amount of Spring or Autumn Oaks and Derbies. The last 8 Sires Stakes (all 8 horses with good form throughout the year after) Vincent in Oz , Smolda and Lazarus both won the Interdominion in Perth ,I would say they're on winners every month of the year (bar mid winter maybe) in feature races for a decade now. One horse like SHAN NOBLE for example stops winning and everyone is on their case for Not winning outside feature days (But he's just not that good is the REAL reason lol....😆) Nah....... Dunns 'Fastest' horse in 'Open class' is Heisenberg . It won recently at 50-1 after not winning for 2 years. Is he really their best these days? only a handful of days (or less) when Dunns are getting open class pacer win these days. Steel the Show disappointing too.

yes thanks for that. Of course I have noticed you post fairly and with thought on any incident you see fit. Big stable or little . which is great and what a forum is all about. and nearly always with some interesting point too. I recall watching some of those standing start handicaps at Cambridge you mentioned , they were incredibly far back at times? That was a funny one.

I do believe all horses racing should have veterinary assistance of some kind to help them feel great, look great and go great. The right body treatments of horses is vital to keep them in racing knick. I tube drenched all my runners the day after a race to help them bounce back and recover for next weeks assignment. Chris Wallers horses don't win millions $$ on love and oats alone. There is a fantastic modern treatment regime in place. He would almost have full time vet I would think. Mark Purdon has been the only one I see criticised all the time on this site (and all the forums) . Dunn horses often have those nasal strips on as well (marking them urgen)t , where's the blood work on those ones? spinning around and around I spose. Sundee trotting pretty quick past year or 2? There you go !! that's how easy it is to be disrespectful (like I was to Sundee and Dunns just then) HELPS No-one.

Mate , there are a lot of comments on the very next thread that are very disrespectful ...Purdons tonight. so don't think I'm totally wrong as has been a common theme over the years. Forbury and others have said some 'harsh' stuff at times , even called criminal. I have posted 50-100 times retaliating over a long stretch. I'm glad you have missed All that then? !! it made me feel ill when knowing how good a training and driving Family he comes from. Winning races ? no surprise to me . Always did like big brother Barry and dad Roy. Nothing but respect for them from me anyway. and hey I did have some elonggated arguement with you once as well,? over Beyond Words/ Amazing Dream race at Auckland . you may have forgotten . but you wanted him charged at the time lol.

You are quite right in a lot of that. Brodie has been suggesting it for years. Too expensive / can't beat Allstars/ hard to win a race/ less horses racing/ Why risk breeding / why risk racing/ why spend 10k ./ too many drugs cheats. People in charge are all corrupt, stipes no good , starter no good. Did I get everyone? Even the American dudes who bought Amazing Dream and others said they're Not coming back again. Industry is shot to pieces there for the future .( and the past shot to pieces too😩 , with packing up the museum(s) sadly ) I certainly wouldn't race a horse in Nz chasing those quick ones around yesterday. You are quite right in 'Why compete with that?' they're just too good. shift to Aus like Lilley, the Butt brothers Ants and Tim, or Brosnan, Dickie and others easier way to do it, if you want to keep racing them. I'm lucky I did it early and got winners here. Never beat Mark there , even in the 80's lol. He's Always been good that young man. And his family is just so nice too. I find it hard to fathom the hate and DISRESPECT on all the forums ...........but they all saying the same thing .Harness racing finished in Nz soon. and yet I still wonder why it had to come to that.

Don't worry mate , I think they're primed for the year.(and beyond) Is unbelievable the races Allstars wins. as you have seen. As a kid I watched Roy and Barry Purdon win All sorts of races like that . Owen was a great driver too . Mark had the bloodlines to be a champ . Natalie Rasmussen did all the hard yards here in QLD and developed the BEST horse the State and InterDominion has ever seen ever ever. Impressive beyond belief. No blood problem with any of those guys? some folk are actually just good at racing , training and driving Harness horses !!!!! Lap it up , instead of shoot it down . I worked with Vinnie Knight for a while. An Incredible 'Will To Win' and dedication to the task and won plenty to go with the effort. Bloods were good too !!! And people enjoyed it . Don't miss out .

Can't do it . It's how you rate the horses , you can't 'handicap' a stable. Tony Herlihy wins group 1 races at Auckland . You can't exclude him. Nor Ray Green. Roy and Barry Purdon won group 1 's for decades . You would never say " Don't Turn Up" .. you would just admire them as they beat you and win yet again. They had wealthy owners and the best stock , that's all there is to it. Canterbury has the Dunn stable chasing Mark pretty hard . and getting wins with Sundee's Son . I say you handicap the horse like has always been done. 'Sundees Son' and 'Copy That' should of been off 10m in the Cup and Dominion this year. Just near impossible for the minor stables to win those races with no handicap penalty for the nations best. Maybe other stables could follow the BEN YOLE model from Tassie , and just load races with as many runners as they can get in them?? he near has whole field quite often these days. and Yole is the 'Best' in Australia apparently and is now applying that 'load the race' model in Victoria (and has 50 wins there too , so that is something I didn't expect) so is gaining more respect. Mr House has a little success too with that model. And Bernie and Michelle at Auckland . And Telfers on occasion.

You can't exclude trainers. that would cause real division. You're trying to create an A League and B league of people by doing that. People would become vert touchy lol. It has to be the horses. Solution very easy IMO . Just run races for horses that have not won a race in last 6 starts or 10 starts or whatever/ OR haven't earned over say something like $5000 in last 6 starts , etc etc .... Allstars and Telfer horses almost certain to be excluded from those sort of races . And they can run for the normal prizemoney .

I'm trying to get the keg prize there for you mate . but the dinghy is bloody sinking so i'm just gunna have to drink myself out of trouble lol 😂 Hope you backed a winner or enjoyed the great Group racing action. 🏆

The big day in Nz concludes with BD Joe proving what he could of done at the Interdominion. Aussies are lucky he didn't Turn Up. After a punishing day beating up on Argentina and the West Indies time for a Beer !!! Bad luck Blackie 😩 ... 2nd again mate . Mark refusing to get you over the line. Marky Boy helping todays BOAY Barrier challenge Winner TROTSFAN take victory with Millwood Nike from the 2 gate instead. 🥇 Winner 🍾 = Trotsfan with 28 pts, congratulations winning from the 2 alley. second = Blackie 24 pts , a great second yet again from crap alleys lol. then followed Michael 22 pts, Gamma 22 pts, Hunter 20 pts , Davis 20 pts MikeyNZ 18 pts, Brodie 16 , Rangatira 10, FlyBaby 6, The Galah 6 points

Krug the only Big race I remember in the Great Northern Derby last year. 'Bolted' out of control clear of the field on Tony Herlihy, but still won. Ususally the casual rule is "The harder they pull, the faster they Stop" . I never won a race on anything pulling like that ever. They often give up in a stride or 2 if overdoing it for 2 laps like that horse just did in Oaks.

The three bigger better best barns to the fore in the Oaks with the Allstars, Telfers and Dunns all in First 4. Olivia hangs on (for dear life in the running) and takes the points for Rangatira. and the Oaks victory too lol. Gamma's OBSESSION with great harness racing sees 6 points for the 'sub' running 2nd. one to go . After Race 9 : Trots Fan 28 pts, Michael 22 pts, Gamma 22 pts, Hunter 20 pts , Blackie 18 pts , MikeyNZ 14 Brodie 14 pts , Davis 12, Rangatira 10, FlyBaby 6, The Galah 6 points.

No Matter What that was quite an amazing Oaks win. young Olivia couldn't hang on to it , but it still won lol.

Looking good for a Big finish in the last race. MP sitting on a High-Five🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆💰 could he win the Oaks ? If Nat hands up to him maybe. but not a good year for 'Queens"

Race 8 results The Nz Trotting FFA . a gift for Muscle Mountain drawn in one. so Michael a strong chance of the race to race double with the Oaks up next and Nat drawn well. meanwhile the 6 Points for the Big 2nd by the rank outsider TIME UP THE HILL for TrotsFan has seen him trot off into a big lead with 2 races to go. The 2 Alley proving a dream draw for that horse. After Race 7 : Trots Fan 28 pts, Hunter 20 pts , Blackie 18 pts , Michael 18 pts, Gamma 16 pts, MikeyNZ 14 Brodie 14 pts , Davis 12, Rangatira 10, FlyBaby 6, Galah 4,

The New Zealand Derby . Like a MEGA-Star the commentator said . AKUTA How good a 3 year old is this ?? Beat Self Assured home in the Nz Cup recently 4th with a grand effort. 3 wide then attacking the last lap in this Derby. Newmarket would be sick with depression today. Well done Mark Purdon. Legend of the sport reigns supreme !! Is that about 13 or 14 Derbies he's Won ? MikeyNZ wanted the '8 Alley' for that boy , and Wow ! was he right or what . staggering performance. After Race 7 : Trots Fan 22 pts, Hunter 20 pts , Blackie 18 pts , Gamma 16 pts, MikeyNZ 14 Brodie 14 pts, Michael 10 , Rangatira 8, Davis 8 , FlyBaby 6, Galah 4,

The 2 year old trotting Fillies hit the line and it's the BRODSTER. Always full of HIGH ENERGY , Brodie trots his way right up behind the leaders and is ready to pounce. Trotsfan trots to the lead with The Ivy League 2nd in that race. After Race 6 : Trots Fan 22 pts, Gamma 16 pts , Blackie 16 pts, Hunter 14 pts , Brodie 14 pts, Michael 10 , Rangatira 8, MikeyNZ 6 , FlyBaby 6, Galah 4, Davis 4,

ALLSTARS First 5 home in the 2 year old Colts Jewel Race 5 !! fantastic ! I collect the $1.90 quinella lol. 😂 should of just backed the winner With the 'Grand Master' MARKY Boy on-board DON"T STOP DREAMIN Blackie !!!! Gamma attacking hard 3 wide now is up to pour on the pressure 😁🤣😉 Halfway through the Card. Self Assured waiting in the wings. After Race 4 : Gamma 16 pts (with race to race double) Blackie 16 pts, TrotsFan 16 pts, Hunter 14 pts , Michael 10, Brodster 6 pts, MikeyNZ 6 , Galah 4, Ranga 4 , Davis 4, FlyBaby 4.

Trotsfan takes 4th with the filly running 4th. Brodie up for 2nd in the Trotters Derby.with 'Mystic Max' out of the 7 gate so is On the Board !!! Correction to scoreboard. with Blackie now joined in the lead. After Race 4 : Blackie 16 pts, TrotsFan 16 pts, Hunter 14 pts , Gamma 8pts, Brodster 6 pts, MikeyNZ 6, Michael 4 , Galah 4, FlyBaby 2

Nz Trotters Derby hits the post as a bit of a 'dogs breakfast'. The 4 favoured runners Double Delight, Highgrove, Hot To Trot and Masterly all having all sorts of trouble keeping their gait. with Christmas approaching Jesus of 'NAZARETH' has risen to the challenge for Gammalite to hit the score sheet. Maurice on 'Con Grazia Love' may have gone a bit too quick out in front and left himself no petrol late on. not sure who got 4th yet so add that 2 points in later. After Race 4 : Blackie 16 pts, TrotsFan 14 pts, Hunter 14 pts Davis 10pts, Gamma 8pts, MikeyNZ 6, Michael 4 , Galah 4, FlyBaby 2. no sign of the Brodster yet?

After race 3 TrotsFan has taken full advantage of barrier 2 with the potential champion MILLWOOD NIKE. Could be the next Adore Me and just keep winning and winning. Blackie wanted the cheque , but is gunna need Paul Nairn to pull another MASTERLY training performance from barrier 9 for him to get in the money here in the Trotters Derby coming Up. TrotsFan expecting Maurice to WIn this and take the lead off Blackie and crush the dream ? 😁 After Race 3 : Blackie 16 pts, TrotsFan 14 pts, Hunter 14 pts ( John Dunn 2nd for him in that one) MikeyNZ 6, Michael 4, Davis 4, FlyBaby 2.