Brodie

I wasn’t aware that Winx was a harness horse that raced in Nz?..

Syndication is a great way to try and get new people into the harness racing game. I am sure people that have The smallest percentage ownership in a horse gets more enjoyment from winning a race, as do the ones that consistently plunder the stakes of our biggest stakes races! Syndicates pull people oncourse more than anything really and hopefully they bring their friends and families with them! Ownership of horses on your own has become only available to people who have money they can afford to lose, as a money making investment it is not viable!!

Never doubted you for one minute Westview! If you say that there is no differential now, then I believe you! What I do know is that harness clubs do need oncourse attendance as you well know. Great that you like to use your account to bet on by phone. The TAB Bookmakers are hardly encouraging punters to bet with them nowadays!!!! What they are now doing is referring bets and coming back with even more pathetic amounts being able to be won, which makes it pointless to even accept what they have offered!!!! You don’t accept what they have offered you, but slash the odds anyway!!!! How on earth is this what should be happening with racing in NZ???? Racing in NZ is stuffed, with this crap going on!

I thought it was, wouldn’t bet on it though! Need new people oncourse as well for revenue to the clubs from food and beverage! If everyone is not going to bet oncourse and on their phones, then no point having window sellers etc.

Don’t the clubs get a bigger % for money wagered oncourse than what they do offcourse? I would’ve thought that the clubs would prefer wagering with them rather than phones or agencies?

I believe oncourse turnover is important, the point being is that The Jewels is meant to Be a showpiece for harness racing in NZ. There is always a massive buildup for months about The Jewels! To Get new people involved and investing on Harness Racing, we need the new people on course to experience the racing. Doubt whether there would be too many new people going down to the TAB just to invest on the Jewels. The weather certainly didn’t help the cause unfortunately. I appreciate that many do bet on their phones at the races on their accounts, but these are existing enthusiasts and not the new ones that the industry needs. Jewels Day with all of its costs, would lose a significant amount of money, so would be interesting to know how many extra people are being attracted?

Turnover was good because it was held at Addington Raceway over a far better distance than the damn mile. It was also a crappy day weather wise throughout the country, so people were not out and about, therefore watered watching tV. What was the Oncourse turnover like????

We should go back to the old rule, that didn’t have a no.attached to it! Drivers are fined for using the whip more than the 10 times and yet some that use it less than the 10 will be using far more force. The current rule was rushed thru without a consensus or much thought being put into it. HRNZ brought it in, after the Ozzie’s banned the whip over there, which subsequently never came in. If you watch the Ozzie Trots there are so many drivers that give their horses heaps and nothing is said. I certainly don’t condone excessive use of the whip on horses, but the previous rule was working just fine!

Wasn’t Handsome Fellah trained by Greg Kelk?

I was such a good driver, I was surprised that I was not used more by other trainers.

Sunbathing!

What will happen on June 12th? Further hearing dates? Certainly costing the industry, and all the charged ones!!

Run them over 2200m, the mile on that track is awful!

You are just being evasive again Agent54!!! What answer have I been given, certainly not by yourself! Where are these final field prices published when the horse is scratched? Simple question Agent 54! What are you an Agent for, or did you like Get Smart??? P.S. I thought JJ had gone for good?

The Galah, Do you really believe that there are people that are punting on The Jewels that don’t normally offload?? How do we know this? If there are new punters, they will surely be put off by the pathetic win dividends that are paid on most of the Jewels races!!

How did you know I was restricted? I thought I kept it pretty quiet!!

Globe, you are in La La land if you seriously think that the harness industry is in good shape! Can you quote these trainers and drivers that think that the industry is in good heart! Watching racing and then the dividends come up with a win div. of $1.20 is not productive. You May call us naysayers, I call us realists! I can tell you that I have not come across a single owner or trainer that is thinking that harness racing is in good heart, and it is a constant struggle to make ends meet, for most! The Harness Jewels is a loss making venture for Harness Racing and the fact that it is being dominated by the one outfit is just a blatant turnoff. The fact that horses with one start and being unplaced can get a start is certainly showing that it is overrated now. I have always loved harness racing, don’t like Gallops or greyhounds nowadays. It is great that you have an interest in horses that can run a bit, and that is what we need to get more and more people into harness racing! Nigel and Brenda Armstrong founders of Westview Racing are doing more for racing than anyone else in Nz trying to get new people into the industry. The costs to buy into their syndicates is next to nothing and giving a lot of people a lot of enjoyment. We need far more of this invention or the industry is going to die, without doubt!

Of course!

I can dig as many holes as I like, as you haven’t answered the question!,

The reality is that the Jewels was a great idea. However it is now not worth the financial cost to the harness industry. It runs at a huge loss and the gloss has gone out of it, despite people trying to pump it up. We all know that the one stable is going to clean up and plunder all the major stakes! Yes the AllStars Owners Chuck a lot of money into the AllStars stables, but I am over seeing the camera beamed in on the said owners jumping up and down after they have won another big race. Puke material really, as it is so mundane. Yesterday has not done anything to suggest that owners will not continue to sell there horses overseas, as they know while the AllStars juggernaught continues, they are wasting there time.

The reality is that the best 12 horses aren’t the ones starting! There were many horses that were far better, didn’t actually get starts due to the qualification by earnings in the one season. There were many racing during the day that didn’t deserve to be lining up, but that is the system that the Jewels is working with. Auckland race for far larger stakes and so it doesn’t take a lot to qualify if many pull out. Far better racing at Addington over 1980m rather than mile racing anywhere! Not great for attracting new betting money when so many winners paid under $2 to win.

Don’t think the rain will affect the AllStars horses too much, as they just keep going, as they have a lot of worming paste onboard! Addington has such a great racing surface but it is still going to be pretty tiring for most horses. A real shame that weather is so crap for a harness racing big day, but conditions for the punters are going to be a helluva lot better at Addington than Ashburton. For those offloading with their hard earned, hope you have a good Day.

Bad batch of worming paste? I wonder how many other stables have also got this bad batch of worming paste? Classic, wouldn’t think that worms would be living in any of their horses!!!! How do they know it was the worming paste????

Love Addington racing, just not when fields are dominated by form., and shorties!

Yay, Iraklis has been let out for the week! He has to be on the payroll for the AllStars! Maybe he is the mad scientist!