mikeynz

I think the old C1 and C6 systems they had were much simpler and open class was 10 wins but I do agree that horse need relief if they struggle in a certain class

Does Harness Racing reach such heights these days?

Then Luner Chance from Gore followed by Sapling Gore,Trusty Scot,Wyndham,Trevira,Winton,they just kept coming,now even the tracks are dissapearing,strange but true.

This is why I think harness was better in the 70s,top pacers started in August and slowly built up with big races at Addington,Forbury,Ashburton Oamaru and Kaikoura then cup week,after that it was on to Auckland Cup,late December,then after new year consistent racing back in the mainland,one season Forbury raced the open class pacers 7 times,problem today is there ain't no depth,harness racing needs a good hard look at itself.

That's always been the problem for Southland,these days there is nought much coming out of Southland that's reaching great heights,hardly any turnup on cup day now,as I said looking back I think those days were better.

About the same time as Young Quinn was another tough Southland horse,Hi Foyle,driven by Henry Skinner,there wasn't a big race that H W S didn't have a go at,one of the best

Henry Skinner is a prime example of less is best,he had a heap less meetings in his day but a heap of better quality horses,now you got the same old same old week after week,sometimes day after day.

But isnt that what I've been saying about some of the changes,Forbury are now only a shadow of what they were once,I dont think that is entirely their fault,go back to the 70s and 80s and compare and ask,how did he slip away like it has,one answer,administration,Dunedin still has good rugby,can it get back good harness racing,probably not but the decision makers of the day ain't helping.

Moral of the story,change is always gunna happen but I dont think harness racing has really improved,but our society as a whole seems to be two steps forward 3 back.

Look at Forbury last night,pretty average yet I personally like watching Forbury,they are at the crossroads,yes they have 10 meetings but the club wants more to make the venue more viable,that's a tough one,as in what's best for the club

There were less meetings but a higher quality,probably one thing that has improved is the length of the season in Southland,I reckon there are a lot of meetings today that could easily be dropped,sometimes less is more.

I'm sure any race is hard to win ,a maiden at Westport or the Interdom final,just looking back though it seemed better,Hutt Park and Forbury were strong,ran top races,ut seemed there were more races run for the top pacers and trotters,the trotters use to race at Greymouth and Manawatu,I know things change not sure if they have changed for the better.

Was just checking out the horses records of some of the better ones in mid 70s and looking at the results it seemed to me how better the depth overall was and probably a better structured calandar regarding the open class Pacers,with the ratings system today seems they are all over the place,just a observation.

Maybe one of the drivers has bad flatulence so others keen not to trail guilty party.

After Dennis the menace getting 300 hundred races from Alexy,I think Spitfire is being a bit optimistic looking for a early retirement.

Maybe he would do better in a very small field,a field of 1.🤓

Why a trial?

Strange how some of those midweek harness meetings,(southland) are getting very average turnover yet weekend grass meetings going well,I bet the gallop figures probably run a parallel,maybe no radio has an impact midweek. TV is fine but it's a bit awkward lugging it around with me and my sky decoder all day,and yes we have our smartphones but you burn up data quick on video and it's not always reliable.radios a bit easier,simulcast on rova app is a miss mash,even a proper radio programme on busy days is a start,on times when nought much is doing then simulcast suffices. Maybe the reason radio failed was of the long transmission hours with a lot of dross,gee you only need a few hours to accommodate the listeners,I dont believe too many will be tuning in at 11 PM to hear a dog race.

Be even bigger when he gets to 400😀

300 coming up,that is some achievement.

Westport cup is a rating 55,a day after Westport day 2 Motukarara have a xmas cup rating 55,is that good scheduling, in between Nelson and Blenhiem in January there is a midweek meeting at Ashburton,is that good scheduling, are trainers gunna travel?Forbury fields tomorrow are very small,following 3 days straight in Canterbury and week after week in Southland of same old same old with Winton following on Saturday,is that a good calandar,not hard to see why Forbury lose out. In the north CD area lots of gallops meetings through summer time where dual meetings would probably be perfect,New Plymouth,December,then there is Hastings,Wanganui in Jan,gee a couple of years ago some of these gallop meetings over xmas had hardly any horses,at a time when people do go to the races,be interesting to see how numbers stack up this time round. Am I correct that the reason I heard why no trots last year at Wairarapa at new year was because it would have affected Cambridge numbers?

I think in recent years Westports main races have been small,probably due to the large numbers of races in Canterbury,country cups in the north,I see they are running a wellington cup at one of the 2 days at new year,why dont those harness clubs run a summer circuit with mini meetings in the cd at the gallop meetings like at new year,if it can happen then then why not more of it?

Put simply just drop off some of the meaningless crap during our time in the limelight.

If we want to promote nz racing I think it needs a nz first type mentality,I watched a wee bit of trackside on saturday,gee invers races were a bit rushed,I've noticed that ozzie have been showing races with what appears to be less cameras since the virus and our lot have followed but there is no need to cut nz coverage short for some of the rubbish they are screening.

I didn't see the race,but I did see he was a bit behind the others,such is life.