Mardy

I see he hasn't been training for a while,and they are now all trained by his boy. Has his past well publicised indiscretions caught up with him?.

Yea Reon did call the race.

I'll also be heading to Cup Day/Week this year. Was last there around 10 years ago,when i was lucky enough to have a horse racing on the day,so spent most of my time on course in the Owners Bowl,which was a great location.Am hoping too have a horse running on either Cup Day or Show Day,but will be all over the tickets when available in a few weeks.So yea i guess any suggestions on where to hang out for the day would be good.Oh and i'm not keen on getting schmoozy with the young one's who are there just to get pissed.

Also a shame that those big beautiful fences only get used at this time of year,insane.

Still can't believe that the 2nd day is on the AW and that the GN Hurdles has now been moved to the last day. Geez i didn't see anything wrong with it being on the 2nd day,where it's been for years..seems crazy to me,but what do i know?.

Can't really blame him. Looks like he can foot it with them,and im sure he'll get some nice light rides over the carnival. Hope it goes well for him.

It looks like James Stormont has re located to the mainland to be Fred Fletcher's stabledriver?. Only saying that as im pretty sure his only trial drives lately that i've come across has been for Fred,and the same goes for his race drives over the last few weeks. Never thought he'd leave the North and if that's infact the case,then i hope it goes well for him.

Yip pretty sure there aren't any gallopers trained here now,tho Donna Green did have 1 at the races a couple of years ago?? but nothing since.My gallopers that i have shares in are all trained up North,and the pacers are in Canterbury. Yea still a shame that the harness track doesn't get used here anymore,but the grass meeting that's here in January does get a massive crowd.

Much like everyone else,i remember hearing dad listen to the races on the radio when i was just a kid,and of course going to the races with dad when we lived in Christchurch,i never ever got sick of listening to them.Think my first memory is hearing the battles between Starship and Tuapeka Knight,which TK normally won those battles. The first horse i fell inlove with was the great Blossom Lady,i was around 16 when she won the Cup,and i'd slowly start punting by then,thanks to dad putting on my bets for me with my pocket money.And as i've got older my love for the game has continued.Currently own a couple of pacers and also a few gallopers as well,but harness racing is where my heart is,i even spent around 12 months as a stablehand here in Blenheim when i was around 18years old.At times i think i'm the best punter in the world and other times think i'm the worst.But i'll always be involved in the game,well until i lose my mind and i forget what a horse is or how to punt.

I may be a bit behind on this topic,but was just wondering what's going on with their track,as i see all of their meetings lately have been run at Auckland.Is the track undergoing remedial work?.

So i'm guessing if they have GN Hurdles,that will be on GN Steeples day?.

Jerry Garcia,and yes he went well in both gaits.

As im a fan of Jason's i certainly hope that he can come back,but after reading that he is considering taking 2 months away,wouldn't that make it harder to come back?.And as i mentioned earlier,how come Jason made 56.5 kgs a few months or so ago,but isn't able too now?..the warmer weather back then??. Anyway i wish Jason the best and i guess we'll 'watch this space'.

Ah that is a crying shame. A very talented rider,who if it wasn't for the weight issues would be one of the best in the South. Didn't Jason ride at around 56kgs up North not too long ago? hard to believe(tho im a novice) that if that was the case,then he's now struggling with the weight??. I hope we haven't seen the last of Jason,a very gifted rider,but i did notice that he's now not riding at Wingatui on Sunday.

I see that Jason rode a few races ago,but is now gone from his remaining rides??. Hopefully nothings happened,and maybe it's more weight related?.

If your a member of his fan page on Facebook you would have seen that he's been injured for quite some time. Think from memory he fractured his heel down south. Was wearing a moonboot for awhile,then onto crutches,but it looks like he's off them now.Still probably some time before he's back,rehab etc.

Just noticed the Dylan is down to ride tomorrow at Mornington in Oz. How long has he been there for? had no idea he'd gone over.Could ride a bit here,just limited with weight i think. Hope it goes well for him.

Yip can agree with that. I remember when i was around 7 or 8 years old,listening to a race with my old man on Radio Pacific from Addington and i thought it was Reon doing the calling,but was informed after the race that it was Trevor,definitely sounded a lot like Reon,and he didn't miss a beat either. Sad that this disease got the best of him rather quickly. RIP Trev and condolences to his family and friends.

I went to the 2nd day and it was a bumper crowd,with stunning weather,and apparently there was a pretty good crowd for day 1 as well. Their turnover was a success on both days by all reports. It sucks that we lost the winter meetings,but so good to see the 2 days being so well supported by trainers,as well as the public.Hopefully that trend continues over the years.

Just wondering how can a jockey ride at a certain weight mid week,then a few days later have to be taken of their mounts,yet was riding at the same weight a few days ago?. Is it as simple as not wasting enough or something else?. Definitely not having a go at the jock,just a bit uneducated on the subject.

Yip was another good win by him. Looks like Jason Laking seems to click with the horse which is good to see.No idea if he's heading to Kumara,but if so he'd be getting some decent weight you'd think.

Now i'm not one to usually queary what a trainer is doing with their horses,but it boggles my mind that Mark Smolenski is still persevering with her as a trotter. In every start she has had as a trotter she has pretty much broken at the start and that's that.Now she was a handy lower grade pacer who normally performed well,but trying her as a trotter looks like an epic fail,and i still can't believe that she hasn't reverted back to the pacing game by now.

Good to see Nigel's horse win the first today at Cromwell.He was definitely larger than life.

Good to hear that the recovery is going well,slow but well. As much as i love watching the Cuz ride,i do think it's time for him to retire.Has had his fair share of nasty injuries,but this one takes the cake as it almost took his life.

I've been having my own issues with the TAB site for the last few weeks. Whenever i try and watch a race on either my laptop or phone the race goes from normal speed to fast,then back to normal etc. Have emailed them constantly about it and initially they were like it's been resolved,which it hadn't,well not for me anyway. Emailed them again 2 days ago,where they said that yes their is a glitch...no bloody kidding,haven't heard anything since. Have been watching the races online thru Spark Sport,which is great,but the coverage is around 1 min in delay from what is showing on the TAB site.