curious

Time-wise, maybe growing and plowing in a wheat crop say, isn't practical but ... what do they do when they renovate the Ozzie tracks? With modern aeration equipment it maybe doesn't need to happen so often either, but something still does.

Modern farmers? That's what we did 5 or 6 decades ago. The racecourse too

Which is what?

They are supposed to organise gallops on the track 48 hours prior and on race morning and they should be on the rail, on the racing surface. That's standard/required practice.

I take that back. Didn't win every race

I suppose you have to draw your own conclusions from the sectionals but the fastest first 400 didn't win a single race. Did you have a bad day on the punt?

Really? Not a tempo issue?

Unfortunately, the breeder and sales company influence has completely devalued our pattern down here to a point where it is not worth that much.

Oops. Didn't mean to like that. I thought that CS's reply was a decent answer to your decent question.

I think if CW and many others have an agenda it's as above, or perhaps to uncover the cover-up and non-transparent agenda that we see from some clubs and other authorities. I don't think he actually had a particular problem with the track on the 28th other than it was much firmer than advertised. He won a race after-all. He was condemning of the track produced for the jump-outs there 2 days later however, and rightly so imo.

Because it's not about the ratings or times, it's about the surfaces and soil structure which are nowhere near comparable. The Riccarton track has been the subject of such widespread criticism on and off for 30 years. It's not a new phenomenon. Here's a pic of it I took a few weeks ago. Holes everywhere filled with dirt and a bit of grass seed, never put back properly.

Imperatriz has been crowned Australian Sprinter of the Year. Photo: Bruno Cannatelli Imperatriz crowned Australian Sprinter of the Year LOVERACING.NZ News Desk 9 October 2024 New Zealand Horse of the Year Imperatriz had a near perfect season in Australia last term and was duly crowned Champion Sprinter at the Australian Horse of the Year Awards in Adelaide on Tuesday. Trained by Mark Walker, Imperatriz recorded each of her five Group One wins last season in the hands of Te Akau Racing’s stable rider Opie Bosson, who recorded his 98th Group One win when she retained her crown in the Gr.1 William Reid Stakes (1200m) at The Valley in March. “It was a great honour to win Australian Sprinter of the Year and it was thoroughly deserved,” Walker said. “It was an unbelievable season of racing that she had in 2023/24 and everyone involved was so proud of her, which included those that worked with her at Te Akau Stud, the stables at Matamata and Cranbourne, and every part of the Te Akau training operation played its part in her success. “The ownership group were fantastic to deal with and she was a dream horse ever since Dave (Ellis, Te Akau Racing principal) bought her as a yearling at Magic Millions.” Ellis purchased Imperatriz out of Bhima Thoroughbreds’ 2020 Gold Coast Yearling Sale draft for $360,000 and she went on to win 19 of her 27 starts, including 10 Group Ones, and earned more than $7.5 million in prizemoney. Imperatriz was retired earlier this year, and in a full circle moment was offered at Magic Million’s Gold Coast National Broodmare sale where she was purchased by Yulong for A$6.6 million, becoming the highest priced filly or mare ever sold in the southern hemisphere. “Ben (Gleeson, Te Akau Racing Cranbourne assistant trainer) and I visited her last week at Yulong Stud, north of Melbourne, and we were amazed at the facilities there, simply world-class, and we got to give Imperatriz a pat and see what wonderful order she’s in after being served by Pierata (Pierro) the week before,” Walker said. “She’s on to the next stage of her career as a broodmare and mother and we look forward with great interest to seeing her progeny racing."

Maybe, but there's one of those to get one a start in a maiden at Reefton.

But that's it exactly. They can get a start - at a price.

Yes. Agree with that. They definitely affect the Pattern and detract from what were the major pattern races.

Ability of course and their owners decision are the only restrictions. The Karaka Millions are different. The best horses in the world can't run in them because of the sales restriction. Due to that, they will never achieve Group status.

Derby 111.5 BM 113 OK 2000 Gns 109.25 BM 113 ALERT 1000 Gns 105.75 BM 109 WARNING

Last year. 105.25 cf. benchmark for a 2yo G1 of 108. 3yo. 109.25 cf. 3yo G1 benchmark 113.

Yes. Like all G1s, you don't get to run in them if the connections don't enter.

It's not a restricted race like the Karaka Millions. I don't see the problem or the connection as far as Group races are concerned.

Why? It has the performance ratings for a G1.

Looks like they've realised they need to spend some money and regularly maintain the bloody thing! From: Alan Chapman <alan@riccartonpark.co.nz> Date: Wed, 9 Oct 2024, 8:59 am Subject: poly To: TRAINERS - Riccarton Park <riccartontrainers@riccartonpark.co.nz> Matt from Martin Collins will be here this weekend to power harrow and level the poly track Track will have to close at 9am Saturday 12th for him to complete this by Sunday night

Jamie Kah locked in for Melbourne Cup ride By Luke Sheehan 6 hours ago Kah riding Point King to victory at Flemington Image: Getty Star jockey Jamie Kah has been locked in to ride the Anthony and Sam Freedman-trained Point King in the Melbourne Cup. Kah and Point King combined to win the Archer Stakes (2500m) in mid-September, which meant the horse was exempt from the ballot for the Cup. She is two-from-two on the horse, having careered to a dominant win at The Valley on him in August over 2040m. Point King is allotted 50.5kg for the 3200m feature.

Looks like Tim needs to buy a new ruler!

I agree. I'm hopeful that with Russell Warwick at the helm, they might just bring in someone willing to do that and build a team around them to support it.