curious

They were hopeless. Now worse than that day by day.

http://www.theoptimist.site/

I'd call it stupidity. A bit more than an anomaly. Because of that we contemplated bringing mine back up here after cup week for a couple of months where there was a reasonable range of opportunities for him. For various reasons we decided against it, instead traipsing all round the SI to run in 12k races. It makes no sense if they want to set programming so they have consistent competitive wagering that attracts wagering interest and builds revenue. Nor, if they want to make the game more financially feasible for owners and trainers.

The above says she's been in racing for 4 years. CWJ for 40+ in which time he has ridden close on 2500 winners. However, the judiciary have to enforce the rules and this is quite an important one and Chris admitted he breached the rule and he is not stupid. Without the benefit of the head on, it's hard to tell and I may be biased in this case but as far as I can see he has only struck the horse once with his hands off the reins. Slaps on the shoulder hands on reins do not count as strikes for the consecutive strikes rule as per the Rules. Just have to wait to see the evidence I suggest though not that much can be done about it now anyway.

Too sensible.

Totally agree.

Unfortunately, there is no head on in the replay of that race to see where the infractions occurred and especially with left-handers like CWJ it's pretty hard to tell much from the side ons. To make matters worse it seems to take them weeks to get the stewards vision up which is presumably the video the stewards review prior to making those charges - e.g., still none from the 21/12 meeting at Ashburton which is a fat lot of good now, even though the note there says usually 3-4 days and I don't see why it should need to take that long with today's technology. From what I can see in this case it appears that CWJ only applied one back-hander with his hands off the reins a stride or two before the post, though he admitted the charge so presumably must have infringed.

Why? Surely if we are going to have tiered racing there should be opportunities for horses racing in the feature+ tier most weeks?

Yeahh spotted that later! Was working on hearsay when I first reported.

Jmo JB but he relaxed beautifully. There was no pace and he had to go when he did. That's what good judges of pace do. There was nowhere else but 3 wide and he was a nostril short of good enough to do it that way. And the winning rider had to cop a charge of overuse of the stick to beat him even then. Top ride in my book.

Amazing what trainers can do when they have the cattle. Of course, getting them is part of the job but as L.A. O'Sullivan said in an interview a while back, anyone can train a good one.

Dead5 this morning and irrigating. 3.36pm Dead4. Must be hot over there or irrigating meant that Reefton went out and peed on the track.

Condescending is the word that comes to mind and it is not just folk down there that feel offended by that.

If I go, they won't have much chance. And I'll still get a little pie and and a free beer!

Well I've had nothing from NZTR either as an owner, trainer or punter. Only that from the NZTA. And, I won't be wasting my time rocking up sorry. Been there done that.

The meeting will be attended by Bruce Sharrock, James Dunne, Tim Aldridge, Neil Jennings and Tyler Tane. Note Amy Johnson will be attending the Wingatui and Riccarton meetings also. Monday, 17 January – Wingatui and Riccarton Thursday, 20 January – Awapuni Thursday, 27 January – Auckland (venue TBC), Cambridge Those interested in attending can email Mary.Burgess@nztr.co.nz by Monday 3 January This appears to only have gone to members of the NZTA.

That would be a good start to clarify in the first instance. Presumably it would be to improve TR wagering revenue but it seems there may be some other agenda here. First clarify that. Produce some sort of paper that provides the data, analysis, recommendations/proposals and some sort of projections as to how any changes in the two noted areas might effect that. THEN have some meetings to discuss. That would be standard business practice wouldn't it?

Exactly Chimbu. And imo a bit more than aside. That made my stomach churn. How any organisation could put out documents with that kind of gender biased language included in this day and age is atrocious. Another mark of the unprofessional level of performance that we are getting from Petone, aside from the disorganised, seemingly rushed and ill thought out documents presented on the licensing matters.

On another note, we were invited as follows: NZTR MEETINGS - INVITE TO TRAINERS Licence holders and participants are invited to attend a meeting to discuss: Proposed changes to Training and Licensing Structures - see the following link for details Handicapping and Ratings There are the consultation papers posted above on the licensing changes. I was curious whether there were any papers or proposals on the other matter and advised that there was "nothing that I'm aware of in circulation but will forward if something comes through in the meantime". Why would you bother going to a meeting which we had to RSVP to yesterday when the matters for discussion are not clarified in some detail beforehand?

Yes. It doesn't seem at all well thought out. Presumably, permit (currently Class B) trainers will have to apply for professional licences if they want to continue to take outside horses. That just means that they won't have the six horse limit anymore. If they are intending to revert to applying a rule that training must be your primary source of income in order to hold a professional licence, where would that leave someone like Lance O'Sullivan? He goes to the track 5 mornings a week and spends the rest of his time tending to his other businesses. Dairy farming, wedding venue and tourism. That would be nuts if he couldn't hold a professional licence.

They are certainly hard to find.

That's odd isn't it? And more odd they applied 7mms irrigation the day before the races. No track management recommendations I have seen suggest such a low application is a good idea, let alone the night before a race meeting. All very strange.

Actions following Trentham Abandonment 4 December 2021 Introduction and Summary NZTR is responsible for allocating race dates and for setting industry policies and processes. Racing clubs are responsible for preparing a safe track surface in line with their obligations. On 4 December 2021 the Wellington Racing Club’s Group 1 day at Trentham Racecourse was abandoned due to the track conditions being unsafe after several jockeys reported horses slipping at the barrier, 1000m and 800m marks. Following the abandonment, NZTR: • obtained an independent assessment of the track surface by New Zealand Sports Turf Institute (NZSTI); • requested incident reports from RACE (on behalf of the Club), the Racing Integrity Board, and the NZTR Tracks Advisor; • convened a meeting with representatives from major racing clubs, track managers, trainers, jockeys and the Racing Integrity Board to discuss and review the current track preparation policy and abandonment protocol; and • prepared a report to the NZTR Board incorporating the feedback above, and on which RACE and the RIB had been invited to comment. Actions The NZTR Board has considered a report and recommendations from NZTR Management. One of the major issues identified in the report was the lack of a clear shared understanding between NZTR, the RIB and Clubs about each organisation’s respective responsibilities and accountabilities to prepare a track surface, and the consequences for those entities where non-compliance is identified. This is no longer acceptable and the NZTR Board has agreed to a suite of changes to the track preparation and management process so that it is clear what the obligations are and who is responsible for them. The agreed actions going forward are: • NZTR to review and update the Track Preparation Policy and Abandonment protocols by the end of January 2022; • NZTR to determine, in consultation with Clubs, an investment plan for track equipment and resources for the next three years by the end of March 2022; • NZTR and NZSTI, in consultation with Clubs, fast track the implementation of and compliance with mytrackmanager.nz – an online portal for all clubs to regularly monitor track performance, build data comparisons, provide training tools and real time access to track maintenance planning by the end of June 2022; • NZTR to implement a more robust compliance program for Clubs that do not adhere to track preparation procedures and annual maintenance plans, including consequences for non-compliance with policies and procedures, by February 2022; • NZTR to investigate and arrange a whole-of-industry weather service, with decisions made by March 2022; • NZTR, in consultation with Clubs and RIB, to set a communication process to enhance the sharing of track surface information to all participants by the end of February 2022; • NZTR, in consultation with clubs, to set a plan to ensure that track renovations are aligned with the annual race date allocation process by the end of February 2022; • NZTR, in consultation with RIB and Clubs, to determine a process to manage queries/concerns from participants before and after each race meeting by the end of January 2022; and • NZTR to implement a reporting and action framework for clubs to notify track performance issues during race meetings by the end of January 2022. [ENDS] ACTIONS Trentham Abandonment.pdf

Dead5 this morning. My reference to a device was the hypothetical suction device that I'd referred to earlier. Coming back a point or 2 a day in this weather is quite believable. However the met service reported 21mm on Friday and 14mm on Saturday for Ashburton during which time the track came back from a H11 to a Slow7 by Sunday morning?

Pitty's back in charge down there isn't he? Might as well bet on a Fast1 to a Good2.