TAB For Ever

Great days racing at Ellerslie today.....fantastic to have a decent track back in action. Augurs well for the big days ahead throughout the season ! Well worth the effort to go today ...rarely see 2 x maiden races at Ellersile on a Saturday but the good sized fields and some good riders made up for that small blemish !

You probably refer to a Nielsen Research project about 2010 on the 6 main sports in NZ and what Kiwis impression of them was ! Each of the 6 x sports including racing were marked by Kiwis on 13 x attributes , on things such as honesty ,integrity ,drug use etc....racing finished bottom rated in 11 of the 13. But worst of all was the fact that only 16 % of Kiwi respondents had a positive overall impression of racing and wagering. That result sped up the introduction of the RIU [ Racing Integrity Unit ]

Haha , I ain't been on any payroll for nearly 20 years . Born with little ,I soon worked out god gave us two ends , one to sit on and one to think with . If you do the form ,follow trials and race films and bet on trainers and jockeys/drivers ,not horses its EASY to make a good tax free living . And Ive always bet on NZTAB [forever] and always on the tote and don't worry about the gimmicks ! Aussie racing is great too ! Success depends on which end you use most ,Heads you win , tails you lose ! Racing never been better , so much info ,so many choices and more big meetings for a great day out ! So Exciting ! 😀😀

A lot of old favourites have gone into decline. Workingmens Clubs ...only 3 x left in South Island now ,and bowls clubs started folding too before they saw they needed things to change ! Horse racing is so bloody boring , always was but little else to follow and it was all you old dogs could bet on ,a half decent double could get you a deposit on a house ! Rare today ,and the young ones much prefer to dabble on Sports. And participants love to blame the admin folk but it wasn't them who behaved badly and got the industry such a bad rating among the general public !

He's had a long couple of weeks doing special projects for at least a month ! Still clocked attendance at a few meetings even tho the Air NZ flights caused him travel issues and then tonight struck more problems with motorway issues. Despite all these challenges still managed to post a few interesting pieces of gold ,. What more can the man/person do ?? I was led to believe he considered a pariah on here !

NZ is a small country...we do punch above our weight in many things ! For a time I worked in Winstones Head Office at top of Symonds St /Khyber Pass .I had a desk where there were just temporary like barriers between rooms and Arthur was right next door. After having to go abroad for employment ,Winstones gave him a job in PR as an Ambassador and I sat and listened to him advising and discussing tactics with Athletes. ! Often chatted do him in the lunch room where he often played indoor bowls. ! Then about 2017 in Auckland the World Masters Sports event was on with over 20,000 people competing...I believe mikeyNZ from down south was involved in the oyster shukking , I was involved with Basketball and Table Tennis and Sir Peter Snell and his wife played in the Table Tennis . I always considered him NZ's greatest ever Sportsman so it was great to chat away with him ! NZ is a very small place ! Those runs that Arthur put his Athletes on were very hilly...I was driving out that way recently and my modern but small car had trouble !

Gamma ,I see the ladies did not get near podium in Pole Vault., Like our NZ horses we have so many potential World Champions in our midst if they get the right conditioning and training/coaching. I've seen it so often over the years ,where young athletes get noticed and put on the path to become a top performer on the big stage. Its often a mixture of dedicated Coaches motivating the kids to be their best and their inherent talent with attitude ! Dunno too much about HKerr but he was from Palmy North and Auckland Grammar School and competed on World stage like the World Uni Games and kept it up thru his mid-20's. Beamish boarded at School in Whanganui and then went to USA for Uni Scholarship.There are hundreds of NZ kids in USA on Sports Scholarships. Without this most junior sports are User pays to represent on big stage , and many can't afford it. Look at Steven Adams.I remember when he a Wellington U17 rep ,I would watch him and the other parents would scoff...he not much good ,just BIG ! Well his mentor and coach put and kept him on the road to greatness. An individual in a team sport. There are over 50 young NZ Basketballers on USA scholarships ! I think over 30 volleyballers and many other Athletes.My neighbour went as a runner and ran in 2 x Olympics.Tasman had a volunteer Athletics coach [Greg L] whose athletes held the 4 x1500m relay under 16 world record. They all went overseas ! Those polevaulters are mostly from the same club North Harbour who specialise in Pole Vaulting ,next to NZ Sport High performance ! Not many clubs /schools even have Pole Vaulting ! Talent spotting sometimes gets into the smaller regions.League legend Simon Mannering was spotted drifting around in Nelson College rugby and hustled into Auckland Rugby League. Our shotputters ,at least one anyway was noticed in the back blocks of South Island. Australia has long had a very well financed Sports institute....set up after Montreal 1976 when Australia bombed out ...haha....from memory ! Back to the horses....Hong Kong and overseas buyers will be in stand looking for next Champion in fast approaching Ready to Run and Yearling sales ...and there will be some there !

Quite right Gamma , a fantastic effort ! And we got the High Jump too. Kiwis Can Fly !

Methinks you making this moan up.....just to feel good ! Claude probably a false win favourite and both these horses had outside draws so bound to go back in small field... To win from there they needed a real fast pace. The race started fast , then everyone took a break....an early move not on as corners come up fast and you lose a lot ground out wide on the bends. Check the final bend and both were wide on the track and in a 28 last quarter they ran on very well and closed well at end. Very good runs from both and no boring than the usual horse race . Rough and Ready has won some 20 races so probably not getting any better ,especially from an outside gate !

No , I just comment on what I see and hear ! Trials are run fairly slickly ,except for one-off things like injuries etc , but there is little to do . Similar to raceday ...too boring except for those closely involved ! That Ellerslie track is really getting superb !

The Ellerslie track hosted a great trials day today. Originally 356 entries wanted to run ,hence Avondale trials on Thursday catering for half ! Will provide a different surface , todays was top shelf. One negative today was the injury to Michael MacNab who suffered a nasty kick to leg....hope he OK. Trialists I liked included the Maidens Confesara and Aliandra who competed in same heat , King of the North[ stayer by Jon Snow] and Oppenheimer [65] One group watching were estimating that 50% of horses running to day will be For Sale.

Back in the day Pick 6 @ Harness was my favourite and most successful bet. But overall the interest fell away. Pools were small took an age to ramp up and we at the TAB found it tied up too many punters betting money. We like more races , quickfire and wall to wall ...sprint races use less time etc Free bets etc Quaddies much preferred. Some people remember doubles fondly but a relic of a past era !

What is her best distance....what will it be as an older horse ? She performed very well in some of her Group placings in Aussie ...including winning .....so is a very versatile mare who handles most track conditions !

Have you rung him and discussed your displeasure. Surely they come up with these 'ideas' and promotions by gathering facts...such as , lessons learned from elsewhere , feedback from many and a wide range of breeders etc. But I hear what you saying...often existing people are overlooked in promotions. A recent gym/pool/leisure Centre close by recently advertised 'half price' memberships for new folk to join. I heard a few long-term members kicking up saying what about us ? And a mare breeding incentive last year offered deals for newcomers....a breeding friend of mine asked ,what about us regulars ? He breeds at least 4 x mares a year and races a lot of them by himself and family ! Hard to please all the people all the time.... My marketing teacher told me it easier to get more spend from existing or lapsed customers than get new customers. But I'd ring MPeden ...he young and enthusiastic so I expect he like to hear from you in person. Take your wife too !

Not too many controversies there this year ! Well done to all the winners and those nominated !