TAB For Ever

Fair comment , after a promising start most trainers have decided to just educate their 2 yr olds and get to the trials stage before spelling them and taking the next step to racing them. Mark Jones commented that in general Trainers were reluctant to race them at 2 and risk their value so early on.So he pointed at the trainers . At this time of year , most of the races are around the minimum stakes with the sires stakes series which many target starting later in August and run to end of year ! Today Auckland had about at 8 trials/workouts ,4 at least looked up to race speed rating 2.02 MR for 2050 m. Tomorrow there are at least 10 pacers at Chch trials/workouts. The aim for trainers at this stage seems to be to get into big Age group races or showing enough potential to get a big offer ! And some of the bigger stables have enough 2 yr olds to sort out their abilities at home and in trials to press on with the best and spell the rest . The 2 yr old Bonus for first win etc is still in its infant stage and is talked about and targeted , but this balanced with desire not to jeopardise its future and saleability ! They going faster and faster at 2 and many not mature enough at 2 to compete.

And for a bonus , some well known Owners US.....includes Kennards [ Lazarus too with TCasey ] ....and Creightons from Otago who have had some good horses with Allstars and now with Dalgety incl Republican Party . The Fixer....includes Kennards and John Magness ...also both in Market Place CB.....[ Aussie owners ] Ashley ....Van Beeks who usually have a useful horse with All Stars Chase A.....owned by big Alabar Stud synd .....I was told before he raced to take a share , but no !

Missing info... Ultimate sniper..Natalie [ A ] The Fixer ...B Orange Cruz B...Mark P Ashley.... John Dunn Chase A.....Tim Williams

Have only skimmed the recent chat on this thread which began as the Riccarton Turf Club ......the club which exists cos of?????????? ,for ??????? and really is a working sub committee of Riccarton Park [ CJC ]. And sorry to interfere the chit-chat of the 'Tight Five' who seem to be getting tired of playing with themselves. Does familiarity breed contempt ? There is always contempt and cynicism thrown at big breeders....to me breeding racehorses commercially is a tough gig. Certainly not easy to make money in......one needs to own a good chunk of land with good facilities to house both horse and staff , staff who are skilled and OK with working all hours . To be commercial they need to have quite expensive stallions and mares plus a touch of luck. Not easy to make a buck. Probably explains why the modern stud principal has made money before they actually got into Breeding , knowing how hard it would be. The three breeding folk chosen to assess the local scene all made money from businesses well away from racing. Velas started fishing from the rocks before investing in a small dinghy while they lived under a bridge. BL started making coat hangers in his garage before buying his plastics business which became a world recognised brand , his racing interests developed from a few 50cent bets at the local TAB . Harness breeder KBreckon had little interest in racing but was swept into it by his late brother who purchased a costly filly and needed a partner to help fund it ! When the bro sadly passed away when young ,Ken continued on and bouyed by his filly's success also found he enjoyed giving the TAB a decent crack , especially when his Irrigation/plumbing business took off in tandem with his success as an owner when he owned NZ's champion Trotter for a couple of years. Mainly because of their success in business were these 3 x able to invest in their studs....starting with a large fortune to earn a small one ! In the case of BLindsay ,I doubt whether any other Kiwi would have had the means to keep Cambridge Stud in NZ-ownership. All 3 x have considerable racing Stock to pay for each week and all 3 contribute hugely in Race and Industry sponsorship. And at least 2 x of them hardly miss a weekly race meeting and take friends and family along too ! True Racing enthusiasts and I salute them !

New Kid on block....... Winterfell , owned by Trevor Casey. 5 x Allstars Ultimate Sniper The Fixer Cruz Bromac Ashley Locaz Chase Auckland I was there that night...we had a placed runner ! Cheers, Lock it in.....more to follow !!

Up to date info Gamma.... Robert Dunn is NOT an HRNZ Board member now , but is a member of the Board of Auckland [ ATC ]. By speaking out ,I mean being critical of .... Both RD and DS are not only glass half full types , the glass is overflowing. And with the emphasis on Governance these days , individual Board members rarely speak out , more likely to stick to protocol.

I'd forgotten that the 'winning salute' was in such a big race !

Who died and made you Chief ? No digs , just pointing out the irony of the situation ! MHouse ...and I have had shares in his horses and known him for many years ,has been poking the Borax at HRNZ for some years....possibly skating on thin ice at times . I'm not sure what the current rules are re licensed people speaking out publicly about the Industry that they earn a living from ......but both common sense and past experience in employment situation IMO makes it a big no-no. In words you may understand.......its like a dog biting the hand that feeds it !

Michael House wins the NZ Amateur drivers championship held over the weekend ,held at Addington over 2x days and Cambridge. In addition he also had several of the horses he trains racing at Addington. It's a bit ironic cos MHouse has been an outspoken critic of NZ Harness Administration these past couple of years . I hope he appreciates them a little more for organising the event and I assume organising the Winner to travel overseas to represent NZ in the World Champs ! He won the event on countback after finishing first equal on points...maybe the same 'refereeing' that the Crusaders often benefit from at home next door. !!!!! He edged out an Aucklander on countback but maybe very lucky that another threat Frank Phelan didn't have a drive in final race ,instead was gifted 2 x points ! Those with a memory may remember MHouse as a professional driver a while back. He had a trotter Castletons Mission who won some 15 races ,many of them when driven by MHouse . The pair contested Group 1 races at a tough time. They ran second in two of them ,at least once behind Take A Moment and once behind Lyell Creek [ Dominion Hcp] MHouse , an Amateur now but once a Warrior ! Bet On Red indeed !

I see Jason Teaz had a busy and successful weekend ,starting on Thursday night at Cambridge when one of his trotters won. On Friday night he headed up to Auckland with two horses in his sole care and the one racing Kaipaki Jack was successful against a useful field. Then back home and the boots are on Saturday for a regular game of Rugby ! Then on Sunday he trained a winner at the Gallops ! In addition he does the picks each week in the ATC racebook and he considered very good at that too !

Lightning indeed ! And Paul Moroney purchased the runnerup in Stradbroke for A$20k for Sears Racing .

I'm sure a one-eyed Cantabrian will leap in and correct any errors in my recollection of the Riccarton Turf Club. The name Viv Jack was mentioned ,he was the long serving President of the club for over 20 years as it passed along its journey. In the late 70's the Riccarton Turf Club was introduced with others around NZ to cater for the excess horses about by running On-course only meetings ie Equalisator meetings. The Club was drawn up with the Rules being it would run these along with trials . At some stage the equalisator idea wore off and the club was just running trials. The rules were changed around 2000 and the general purpose was widened to promote and conduct gallops meeting. At some stage it must have struggled getting recognised as the company records state that only Motukarara would allow them to run their trials [ 4 x times a year !] Pressure must have been applied for the Club to just merge with the CJC , and their bank account of $66k was given to the CJC as a loan and all their members joined CJC. Currently the Riccarton Turf Club still has a sizeable committee , as do other former clubs like Amberly and maybe Hororata ...someone will check and these are known as Wards ,and the Chairperson of the Wards are on the Board of CJC. It certainly gives the CJC a lot of committee people to help out around the Club .

Money well spent.....for June [ winter ] after a lot of rain that track on Saturday was OUTSTANDING ! Not just IMO but a view endorsed by Owners , trainers , punters , jockey managers , media folk , the Clerks of Course , employees and the shoe-shine man ! Not by George Simon .....live anyway.....he owned a repeat winner but was seen live at Belmont Stakes [USA] with Wheels , FRitchie and other Kiwis !

Good post Gamma....gotta admit I never been to Tassie. They got a team in Australia NBL league now and breed the odd good horse and cricketer . Actually played against them at cricket once !

Obviously this current years /two years calendars are have been pencilled in for a while and after the scratchy start to the new tack they erred on side of caution PLUS other tracks who are in OK shape [ eg your fav Ruakaka ] regularly have meetings at this time of year. Plus all tracks are planned to have a 'rest period' of at least 6 x weeks ....surely you know all this ? And Avondale race surface obviously OK again and the tie-ups for trial still OK for trials....and trails even !😀 Q...when was last time you attended Avondale trials or races ? Some of their committee still attend AGM's etc and they do run their main races at ATR.

You a funny man Trojan.....pleased I squeezed your 274 th post from you. Chief will be pleased someone other than the 'tight five' plus cave boy from the deep south is bothering to post !

Who wants this ? Name em ?

Not entirely......but the Northern region looks well placed with ATR [ Ellerslie ,Pukekohe ] PLUS Ruakaka , Te Rapa , Matamata ,Te Aroha , Tauranga , Rotorua and Taupo PLUS Cambridge Synthetic giving the region and very versatile selection of tracks to suit all types of racing and all preferences. But to really future proof the Industry the JEWEL would be the talked about Waikato Greenfields racing /complex. It not crucial to the plans but if proceeds or part proceeds of Avondale sale went toward the Waikato dream then NZ racing would be in good shape with infrastructure , a big concern at mo. I'm sure Ellerslie [ATR] would approve too and maybe flick some of their $200 mil equity toward the cause. Yes, incredible amazing indeed ! And Huey ,what Area are you in ? Maybe you like me and lived in a few areas where the local community has just let Racing in the region fritter away or worse , just die !

So sorry if you upset that someone else started a thread......but no intention of threatening your dominance ,and especially on track surfaces ,your EXPERT subject ! You will always be Number 1 Champ !!!!

What ?? me contradictory ??? I used to be indecisive , but now I not so sure ! As a Mentor I required to give both sides , and of course I bat for both sides ! A recent poster Harness4 All makes some valid points as well , but still gives Harness 25 years life so lets enjoy it while we can !

Tracks a popular topic on here , so let's give credit where credit is due. The track for the winter raceday on Saturday was IMO opinion , Fantastic ! Yes ,I'm only one voice but I heard it mentioned by dozens of regular participants including trainers and punters alike...100% used superlative words to describe it. On Friday ,both day and night there had been significant rain and it was the 'suit all horses' fairness of it that drew the universal compliments !

Indeed Gamma.....all around the world Horse racing is struggling and inparticular Harness Racing ! To own a horse is particularly expensive.....if you own land to graze and house them decent land is very expensive and needed for the essentials Food and Housing ! To own a horse to race is a very expensive hobby ....chances of getting a good one are slim and the average return has almost double of late but it still less than 50%. As a punter , 95% of those lose ....overall people don't have spare cash to waste and most would rather spend it on boats ,holidays ,booze and wild woman. If desperate for a punt there are thousands of options ,more on-line casinos and sports that most people can easily follow. Not like the 1950's to 1980's when Racing was one of the rare things to have a flutter on and most workplaces had some sort of Weekly Betting Synd with a Xmas pot at the end...kind of compulsory savings ! As to the 'negaholics' with the record stuck , the aversion to talking to the folk they criticise like TAB boss and HRNZ boss they should read the nursery rhyme of the 'Boy Who Cried Wolf'. If there is no library close to their Southern cave I'll recall a brief story of a neighbour of ours ... Our hard working neighbour ,we called him Colonel had a nice little 'takeaway/dairy' on the main highway. He worked long hours to keep his family safe/fed and clothed etc and saved a little with a plan to send his oldest son to the city for Uni Education cos his boy considered very clever. Colonel had signs erected on nearby lamposts , farmers fences and in farmers fields for which he paid a fee ! This advertising made him well known and prompted passing traffic to pull-in for some food. His business went from strength to strength and he had to take on some staff to handle the growing Volume. Business was very good ! The time came when he sent his son at great cost to the City for University......after the first year his son came home and told his dad[ Colonel] He said ,..I major in Economics and Business and I've learned that things are DIRE out there. Inflation is raging,GDP is dropping ,Kiwisaver is losing ground ,the sharemarket is heading for a record low ,Trump [First time] has just got in ......things are very bad and will only get worse as we head into recession. So the Colonel immediately laid off his staff and worked his store alone and took down the signs to save money and shortened his opening hours.........the recession is coming ,and things will be bad ...my son has warned me and the daily News confirms it. After a couple of weeks he looked at his weekly sales and concluded.......Yes his son was right ,things had gotten very bad ,his business had gone down the toilet ! Mentor note....8 June 2025

The record is stuck ! Remove needle ,turn off power and give it a rest ! Reset ......change the way you think about things and the things you think about will change !

Ross Coles , a terrific contributor and outstanding horseman. Can attend the Harness a bit more and follow his interests ! Will be missed ,I'm sure from Ellerslie racedays !

As you say Gamma, Dean has been a positive influence in Harness racing and certainly likes to spend his own dosh on some nice horses. But I'd say he is naturally quite a shy character who in company prefers to sit quietly in the corner. One night at Alex Park his horses won 3 x races and he quietly slipped away and avoided the high fiveing and back-slapping often involved in the Winners room. And he was visibly moved when his horse won a big one on Show Day last November....he wrote 'leadership' columns when Entain got involved in NZTAB and set out some of the intended strategies.Noticeably he left the top NZ Administrators to release statements and get themselves a 'profile'.