TAB For Ever

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 !

The House is on Fire ! Horses run well for Wilson..... Meanwhile Dad moans and groans but he works the system and gets a lot of his horses into winnable races !

Well folks.....I'm all set for the big night...should be a cracker. Good fields , some good value there with wide draws etc and I do think Orchestral not in best form ...time will tell. Craig Williams ,Blake Shinn and a few Aussie Horses should add to the puzzle. The Admission fee seems steep but ....worth it ...yes ! Its a Grand Tour Event so there will be a band and music etc and decent afterparty.I heard it will be The Eagles ! In the shortened time frame the food options will be adequate.....contrary to some gossip the Hot Chips @ $7 are good value ! Tomato sauce free. As is the Shoeshine ! And any rowdy youngsters are locked away in their own party room , while BGP with 850 attending are upstairs in public stand. BGP pool is building and 500 participants will get Bonus bet from TAB. By far and away the best days racing in NZ , should be great ! See you there !

Yes , I thought all Cowans were Aka !! I have no race records at all , but I remember Show Gates brother well....Show Keeper a gelding. There were a couple others who showed promise as Colts but went amiss. Going Some and Troilus ! Show Keeper won once at 3 and with bad form started fresh at 4 over 2000m at Gore , possibly ridden by Steven Crutchley and it won paying $45 ! The next season he looked really good and was working the house down ...Gordon used the stop watch on all fast work and declared tho he was resuming in the 2200m Ashburton Cup he really should be in the Open 1200m such was his times ! He duly led all the way and won by 5 lengths fresh up at 2200m ! Gordon always looked out for good young jockeys and he nailed Brent Thompson for the 1975 NZ Cup but he got stuck on the rails for an unlucky 5th , the Cup being won by Heidseck. Maybe you remember Show Keeper.

Looked similar to 2005 Kelt Capital when Xcellent swept up wide and got knocked inside from a horse right on the point of the turn . Check it out on youtube !

Aaaaahhhhhh the memories Doomed... Having lived next door to Show Gate for several years I have kept a few of the 'articles' to remind me of her uniqueness ! And pottering around with Gatekeeper too quite 'fun' for a very young chap.Fortunately he was a quiet stallion with good nature [and a dip in his back] Unsure if he even raced ,may had had a couple but I know the Champ sire down the road at Andertons ,Mellay was unraced ! Mellay [mum of The Pixie] was NZ leading sire in 1976-77,2nd the previous year and two years following including 1978-79 when Gatekeeper was Champion NZ sire. Show Gate won the Timaru Cup in 1976 ridden by Nick Harnett the day after winning Dunedin Gold Cup [2400m] ridden by Chris Ramage who could not make the Timaru weight. Nick Harnett worked at Andertons but often went to Gordon Thomsons later in morning to ride work ! Andertons often used Gordon's 1600m track [the old Wingatui/Mosgiel racetack] to exercise horses in the afternoon. This was kinda a contra deal ! 1977 Timaru Cup won by Greek Magic [Ray Harris]..Grey Way 3rd as 7 yr old. 1978 Timaru Cup won by Catastrophe part-owned by Dunedin mayor and fish-baron Cliff Skeggs ,from Polly Porter a very good Gatekeeper mare trained by Prue Wright[Winton] 1979 Timaru Cup won by Grey Way[Aka Cowan] a 9 yr old. From Tuis Lass , a Gatekeeper mare who won the NZ St Leger [2800m] at Trentham ,trained by Jim McKay who was the local Horse Transporter !.Third was Napiat..... sire Taipan spelt backwards. Gatekeeper did a great job as a sire , Gordon must have served 10-15 of his own mares annually then took limited outside mares. Dandyman was another good Wingatui horse.[ Cec Wallis/ JD Pankhurst ]. Many of his best were mares...Artifice ,Annenic etc Gatekeeper was related to Rain Lover [ Melbourne Cup in 1968 and 1969 ] Gatekeeper was by Alcide from Hortentia [by Precipitation] Rain Lover was by a sire Latin Lover who was by Ribot from Hortentia. Gordon Thomson studied the Stud Books. For a time he was the only chicken-sexer in the South Island . Great memories !

Dunno why you resent One Change winning a race....his first for close on two years ! He's been carted all around the South Island boosting up the starters to ensure races go ahead and often starting off prohibitive marks. 30 metres and more !

Was it Mark Twain who coined the phrase Lies , Damned Lies and Statistics ? What's the conclusion from your Data Analysis.....two small clubs who race once a year in the holiday season against two city tracks who hold many of NZ's Group and high stake races. Ellerslie races 20 plus times a year Trentham about 10. Should many of these City meetings be moved to the West Coast. ??......should Reefton be moved to Kumara, the town with 285 residents usually does twice the Turnover of Reefton and Greymouth. ? Kumara oncourse does 3 x oncourse what the other 2 do.....so close in dates,does this mean the other 2 x Coast towns do a lousy job ?? Did your calculations allow for the 'extra' money that goes to Clubs in order for them to run their meetings ? Jockey Tina Comignaghi won 5 x races at Reefton ...probably earned around $2,500 from winning stakes .Had she won 5 x races at Trentham including the 2 x group ones she could have earned up to $36,000. Sometimes life is just not fair . Maybe if there was no Group races ,with decent stakes there would be no horses to race on the Coast cos many of those horses start off in pursuit of Group racing in the North...at Kurow it was 8 of 10 winners and many also rans and I'm confident the Coast was similar. Would racing in NZ today survive if every race had the same stake or would Owners head to Australia ?? Maybe it is as described ....A big Ponzi Scheme .

The Dennis Brothers ...a fantastic Farming family who bred and trained some fantastic horses. I was pottering around stables as a kid when they raced the elderly very white horse The Wanderer around southern tracks often ridden by Brian Anderton . The Twinkle and The Fantasy were both Gatekeeper - The Pixie and often raced each other quinellaing several races at Wingatui and also battling against Mellseur a very good horse of young Hec [ HT ] Anderton. He split them in the Timaru Cup , Another Timaru Cup [ Doomed's fav race ] The Dimple beat The Twinkle ...I think....with my neighbours Sporting Show [ Honey Crepe -Showgate ] third. The Dimple was Noble Bijou - The Pixie . Gatekeeper was stood by Gordon Thomson [ Showgate] and he bred some very good horses including Showgate , Artifice , Tuis Lass , Sporting Show etc.The Twinkle was among the best and raced well at Ellerslie. The Dennis Bros horses often ridden by AK [ Ali ] Robinson who I saw and spoke to at Cup week in November. He started as an apprentice with DG Oneil at same time as AJ Tweedie.

And Choise Achiever beat Auckland Reactor [Mark Purdon] into second in Hunter Cup !

And for a bonus point I'll nominate another little known victor who scored two wins at the recent Blenheim meeting [ on all-weather.], back in the day ! He had his first start in colours of his small breeder/trainer , before Tim Butt took him to Blenheim to win his second start ... And a year later he won the Group 4 yr old pace @ Blenheim ...his 10th win from first 13 starts. Overall he didn't win many more......overall 13 x wins Name...... Choise Achiever .

I'll score an early point with possibly one of the lesser known Tim Butt winners ...Mah Sish . Began his career with a good run of wins out of the Dean Taylor barn. Obviously liked Australia and the longer races , winning nearly $800 k of his career earnings of $950 k in Australia.

I'll go for B , with some bonus points. Runner up was Giovanetto , then Christopher Vance , then The Bru Czar.

BOUNCE...... Wellington Cup Day my favourite EVER race day , usually visited from the South Island and a race targeted by many of my Otago/Southland neighbours. So I revive my 'pretty good' thread from 2024 ,over 2000 views !!! But can't help wondering why a few South Islanders don't give the race a crack....especially after the recentb placings of Blueys Chance and Sulu Sea plus the lack of class opposition. I note a South Island trained and ridden winner today...track specialist too ! Doomed will be ecstatic !!

The Aussies sure knew how to swing the persuader back in the day.....Vin Knight I remember wave to crowd the entire straight ! The close finishes were punishing !

Middle on left ......lock in Preux Chevalier ...black with white hoop on sleeves. NZ bred by Lumber Dream ,the same as Robalan . Middle on right with white bridle ......a guess @ Pure Steel The top right , a wild punt on Westburn Grant . Bottom two are quite small photos ,hard to nail any clues !

A lot of Number 1 horses.... Top left , God with maltese cross is Vin Knight so Popular Alm or Our Maestro . Guessing Gammalite and Pure Steel in there too !

The compact little stallion Master Mood was the result of a chance meeting between Trainer/Driver Kevin Williams ,his Dad and a Dunedin Fruit shop owner ,Mr Wong and his son.They met while buying some carrots and got MM from a mating of Noodlum and a low cost mare Moods [ Lordship] So quite a tie in with previous Cups...Lordship etc and I think Kevins wife Bonnie was daughter of Cups king Cecil Devine .

Runnerup definitely Iraklis...trained by RM Cameron and driven by Ricky May. An interesting twist was that Danny Campbell [ RIP ] had worked for Cameron and for a time was regular driver of Iraklis before Ricky May took over. Then as Cullen emerged May found himself having to make a choice so he chose NZ Cup winner Iraklis over the rising star CC , so Campbell then became the regular of CC. AT Cup time and around that time CC was unstoppable !