TAB For Ever

That must have been over 20 years ago.....this is now !

Sadly Chief you seem to be promoting constant negativity' and knocking cos this type of nonsense seems to be increasing . Maybe check the 'basic rules' of BGP , they promote respecting others and not dissing people off ! Yet you seem to lock and chase away Thomass who I find quite 'amusing' ...at times !

Get with the program Chief !

Seriously are you jealous of the group or is it sheer envy. You continue to slag them off yet have little understanding about their history ,culture and basic rules /expected behaviours. The latter would exclude you from membership !!! Ted is just one of the 'selectors' and regular tipsters and a while back it was noted that he was cutting back his involvement. His longevity would suggest he's been quite good. In addition he is shareholder in one of the big winners..El Dorado ...so I'm sure a bit of criticism from your direction will hardly worry him. Happy people don't tear others down..... BGP weekly emails and tipping sheets are generally very good.....up to 10 tipsters who cover the whole of NZ in both codes. eg Matt M , big in Harness in South Island ,often on TV and in key publications , Scanman a Buller legend in Cricket and Harness administrator in his spare time and Fitzi who works in Harness and works hard in syndication at low cost etc etc Once in a while ...a few times a year they have a 'punters club which thousands of Ma and Pas want to be part of ...from memory average ticket was $3o ,meaning some 10,000 pls this year. In 2024 they did a huge promotional push to get the pool to $1 mill which was amazingly achieved at an average of over $50. But you focus on a couple of losses.....not knowing how it even operates...and bang on about it. You try to dim their light...Darkness speaks about the critic ,not the the criticised !

Will the 'powers that be' in NZ be happy to have a training partner of a NZ stable full-time in Aussie ? Aussie bosses definitely discourage this type of arrangement. The news of this 'change' from Te Akau will be interesting as Mark Walker is a highly respected horseman among owners , many believing he is the 'ACE ' in the whole operation !

Well galah ,I'm impressed you have a sense of humour. I imagined you like a tomato......very green and taking some time to ripen ! Watch you don't ripen too quick and begin to rot !

OOPs , pipped on the post by Blackie while I was typing ! Should not have taken the food scraps out to the bin ...they now get collected separately !

Well Gamma, Back from the Karaka Thoroughbred Sales this arvo , I ripped into answering this tricky question with a lot of clues before looking too closely at those Clues. Actually spoke to a few Harness folk out there including Robert Dunn and Mrs B Purdon . The photo supplied saw me recognise the white 'padded' helmet and goggles which belonged to Peter Jones , Dad of Mark and son of Derek ! The black and white jacket told me it was R.Rennie [ Special Ops ] or Cran Dalgety [ Desperate Comment]. A little known winner suggested Vics Vance who had quite a short career and Barry Purdon thought it had enormous potential.....one of his regrets in racing ! So it was Vics Vance [Barry Purdon], DC , MM and Ginger Man 4th [driver Mark Purdon]. Only VV off the front limit as you say. The Hunter Cup was very difficult to win off a Handicap ,and as a result a lot of Favourites got beat.

Over a week gone by Gamma.....no further interest ,so I'd better give you the final two you after. Stunnin Cullen , an entire by CC of course. Mister DG.....named after a great man with initials DG....horse out of Blossom Lady. Did well in adapting to Aussie conditions cos faced very serious competition in NZ ...Jack Cade ,Young Rufus , Just N Excuse and Elsu to name a few. Good luck for the big races coming up !

You a funny man Chief , i assumed you had some marketing/promotion nous in your Business qualification. They have been going some 7 or 8 years at least , cracks arent showing they are Fault lines as in an Earthquake. Very noticeable and opened a gulf of interest ! The best thing for racing since sliced bread , with in a couple of years it had won a number of Awards in NZ racing for best this and best that. Wind back the clock and remember that it was run by a small bunch of guys who had fulltime jobs as Accountants ,Bankers , Lawyers , small business owners and one oldie who ran tip sheets and into racing admin etc. First I heard of it I was amazed that at a time of utter complacency in NZ Racing here was an outfit that young people could easily join and meet and mix and importantly have great fun with around big racedays and Cup week etc.I saw it first at Cup week where people proudly wore their badges and talked about the fun and benefits. Very few old gray stale males ! Sitting in the BGP room at the first few Karaka Days I met people ,couples so plenty of females from all around NZ .......most having their best day ever at the races , watching many of NZ's best horses,trainers and jockeys including James Mac , plus several top Aussies. All in comfortable surroundings incl a seat...And all within 30m of the horses parade ring and race viewing. Well organised too...the selectors of picks were under a lot of pressure to get the bets sorted and placed with the TAB. IMO BGP got too big to be run part-time ...administration of collecting membershp fees sending out shirts and gears , organising buses ,Accommodation options trips away ,stable vists , horse purchases as well as the weekly blogs , emails ,newsletters ,interviews etc.Daily tipping service ! BGP 's dream of building the brand was met well and truly it became a highlighted sideshow to the Karaka day ,made TV 1 news and the fairy tale result of having a big payout from TAB was the pie in sky dream. But we know the TAB is forever......but even after BGP had reduced their overall activity they had still collected a massive pool to bet with and SMASH the previous records for a racemeeting betting in NZ. Ive skipped a few steps but of course the TAB want to open more accounts and get folk betting digitally thru TAB app etc..........all that now happening and BGP released from their admin burden. I do get sick of explaining this to the negaholics who make all sorts of false claims even tho they never experienced it...this contributes to their personal misery ,people even comment about them on line after admitting they dont know shit about it. Some negaholics resent the better odds the BGP get....havent they heard of Bulk buying ,don't they understand that elite VIP punters get special deals from TAB. Surprised at you Chief as you so ecstatic that Ruakaka got 2 busloads from poorest towns in NZ to Ruakaka for some punters comp ,when you snigger that BGP got over 800 folk into 1 x room for a 6 race card..folk from all over NZ. Gave them a great day .....more people in one room and a greater spend on the day thru food+ bev and tote than several meetings over the Xmas /New Year .Then add the $350k bet and lost on nationwide pool which over 10,000 ma and pas bet into. Pray remind me of any better TAB promotion to be involved in ? Funny how the people I spoke to joined in the fun and loved the day ,yet your feedback group only got involved to get a good spot to stand....hahaha , YEAH RIGHT ! Pessimism is for lightweights !

Who said they are heading to South Island.....I assume there are still Owners , Trainers and Breeders left in the South . Breeders in particular like to upgrade their mares etc and the ones purchased look helpful on that front...for starters some are Fillies which helps ! And I caught a glimpse of Southerners who not yet forked out. There will be horses for all budgets Back in the day ,at the time of the South Islands golden years ,many purchased at these National Sales. The mighty Show Gates grandam and that also of NZ Cup winner Middy were both purchased.....from the Eulogy family and the two fillies were the foundation of dozens of winners for Gordon T. So add the Southerners purchases this week ,to that of Te Akau , KRae , S Marsh , Go Racing etc along with the boss of Entain ...he's been busy already and along with any homebreds and the Southerners can go to the prorammers and say we have 20 plus 2 x yr olds ready to go and get the Southern 2 yr old racing back. Create , don't cry....the programmers will put the races on if the horses are there . Maybe time for a bit of collaborative initiative from the South !

Some good photos posted from Karaka day but NOT this one.....did the drone get caught up a big tree. Looks as if it was taken from outside the course in the Hospital carpark. And I can't spot the 5 x differences .......too hard !

Not quite on the topic , but sort of.....it was nice to see Winx's 'principal' owner bringing her horse to race at Ellerslie on Karaka day !

The breeders of many of the Proisir an Santono Aladdin yearlings will be pleased with their results off a much less than $20k Stud fee a few moons back ! And good to see the South island purchasing a few in the $200k bracket

No sorry if I've missed all your good or great ideas....only been reading this site for little over a year ! My life experiences tell me that influential decision makers are not going to take too much notice of us keyboard warriors ,even if they read entire posts. The above one would put many to sleep ! And the latest one about feet from sulky seems much ado about nothing and an attempt to compare an Aussie apple with a Kiwi tomato !

Three Big screens.....perfect !

He probably member of Social Racing Syndicate who have had a great run in recent seaons with horses like Bonny Lass who was in Railway today. More recently they had a good run with Provence .

Exactly !

The big carpark next to motorway has been partly sold...14 Hectares ....to Simplicity Living to develop into 330 x houses in 2 x Towers. Great for the Clubs balance sheet to future proof their finances.

The entire book of entries is on line NZB Karaka Sales 2025 Seems they have a couple entered ... 355 Proisir -The Lustre [Darcy Brahma - The Preacher ] 356 Savabeel - The Solitaire [ O'Reilly - The Dazzler ].....this related to The Grin , tha dam of The Chosen One , the Savabeel horse at Stud !!

Many folk out there still enjoy being part of their group punt......At our table of 6 ,3 had and interest in BGP ...$20 , $40 and $50. Certainly created interest and as usual part of something much bigger....plus the 'excitement' in the laat when there was a huge punt ,over $100k on Alabama Express who did a Sylvia Potts in the final event. Normal day at office ...95% of Punters Lost. TAB Forever if you like. One of our 3 won a bonus bet ,so happy ,the other two had no idea cos they couldn't navigate the TAB App, had to ask a school boy to help ! Over 850 ,from all around NZ bought into the BGP room with many meeting at lunchtime in Kingsland and bussed to the course. Word is they had a great day....and looking forward to next year.

Or introduce some 2 yr old races with some decent bonuses to get Northern peoples excited .......touche ! 'You ideas folk , the true trendsetters of Harness spend too much time and effort propheticating on the ills of Harness ,especially Northern Harness when the real BIG issue is the alarming lack of horses in the North. Come up with a plan to help fix this ...more owners , more foals born , more starts per horse . THe higher stakes have created a lot of interest , less horses were sold /exported last year and the 2 yr old bonuses and Next Gen plans are in place it just gunna take a while to rebuild interest and replenish stocks even if at all possible !

Thanks for the correction re Pauline......I'll blame that on me old mate tasmanman who when asked for the P christian name said Prue for 'a stab in the dark ' Of course he should know and remember this stuff as he stayed at school till he was 21 but I left at 13 ,hence why I still working ! His eyes light up when anyone mentions Show Gate ,Gatekeeper ,Middy ,Sandy etc. Together we spent a lot of time around these horses , the Didhams , Browns and smaller owner/trainer stables ! We never remembered you riding for the Dennis Bros....you a pinch hitter then ? We do remember you riding outstanding Northern mare Orchidra a few times ,once in a 4 x horse field if our memory is correct . What was the story behind that ?

Shad , Looking thru some of those horses ,and knowing a little about their breeding etc , the importance of speed etc ,you wonder how great stallions like Kurdistan , bellborough , Mellay and Gatekeeper would stand up today. You enjoyed Coast racing....back in the day there were obviously a hard core of Coast trainers and horses who added to your interest. Recent Coast meetings have been quite reliant on Northern horses to keep the numbers up to survive...the gallops fortunate to have such a loyal supporter as K Myers. To me the decline in Otago trainers/breeders has been unfathomable. The Andertons and are few others probably saved Wingatui from going the same direction as Forbury Park Harness....ie disappearing. Otago lucky that the track seen key as to that cluster.

Michael Mein a good Canterbury jockey...I see rode 252 winners and ranks 250 th on NZ most-wins list. His father Graham [GW] had a longer career riding 713 winners and 68th on NZ list...which can be googled ! He was a good solid experienced jockey , winning a NZ Derby when it at Riccarton around 1960 and rode Sailing Home early in her career. Ali [AK] Robinson was a top Otago rider during his time . and rode many top horses including The Twinkle and other Dennis Bros horses. And rode many winners for the Andertons incl Princess Mellay and Brown Satin [NZ Oaks] plus a 2000 guineas on Clansman and a Stewards on Grey Way.He rode Grey Way a few times only and Show Gate just once ,unplaced.He rode at a competitive time in the South with Bob Skelton, JR Dowling ,JCollet among others. He was in top 5 NZ jockeys for the 1970's and with 828 wins is # 56 on most-wins list. He rode jumpers as well for a while being top NZ jumps jockey one year ,and 3rd for 70's decade ! He also branched out into training .He had stables on corner of Factory rd and Wingatui rd ,directly opposite to AE Didham, very close to Gordon Thomson and just down the road from the Andertons. In recent times I think he worked for GRogerson and when I spoke to him during Cup week 2024 he said he lived down the end of Riccarton straight !