Brodie

Watched some of the sales in ChCh this afternoon of the trotters. Havent seen the average or median stats yet, but seemed like a bit of a struggle like in Auckland However I am sure a rosey picture will be posted. The pacers come up for auction tomorrow being Wednesday. Seems like a strong catalogue of pacers and is going to be very interesting to see if there are enough buyers willing to put their hands up and pay big money that most vendors are needing to cover their costs. There will be some happy vendors and some very disappointed ones, and hopefully most are happy for the good of our industry. Never have I ever seen a sale catalogue so dominated by 2 stallions, Bettors Delight and Art Major and between the 2 of them they have produced well over 50% of the catalogue! With Bettors Delight service fee being close to 30k most will need to bring 50k minimum to cover costs I would’ve thought, but no doubt someone will tell me that I am wrong!!

JJ Flash, if you think it was a great sale then that is fine, but bear in mind that you were not a vendor as far as I know! Have spoken to a couple of people who were at the sales and they said it was a very good sale! For the buyers! You need to put things into perspective when it comes to profit for the vendors, not just sale prices! Anyway can’t be bothered arguing over something like this as no point, and there are going to be winners and losers! Just know that there are far easier ways to make good money without the risk!!!!

Flash, I am pleased that you think the sales went great, doesn’t affect me one iota! Hope ChCh sales goes great as well! Think you need to look at it with more open eyes though as to whether it is profitable to be breeding nowadays for sale! Of course some of the bigger vendors have done ok and I am pleased for them! Some vendors have lost quite a lot of money and others have still got their horses as they didn’t achieve the reserve. Cant be bothered discussing something with you when you are totally blinded!

You are “The Riddler” Brodie tells it the way it is, Riddler, I mean Ranga! They are hardly going to come out and say it was a crap sale and Pynes would have done it far better are they? Look, I hope it was a very successful sale, we need that and other things to go our way! Looking at the sales, it doesn’t really appear that way, although you will always have a different opinion! 100 sales is not a large no. for Karaka, in fact very small no. Many years ago didn’t Karaka have 2 days and well over 250 sales? Yes the big spenders are taking home the pick of the yearlings and paid sizeable amounts for them as they always do! The Rest that were sold and not passed in, hardly sets the world on fire and many will breed again this year, despite not making a profit. There were some Bettors Delights that didn’t bring the service fee!!!!! Anyway, proof will be over the next couple of years sales won’t it Ranga? Hope the sale at Addington is a success!

The median was $34,000 for the 100 sold. There were 36 Bettors Delights and that service fee is$30k approx. That tends to paint a different picture doesn’t it? I would love people to be able to breed horses and be able to put them in the yearling sales and make a profit, as we certainly need people to be breeding horses to enable our harness industry to thrive. Must admit that thebreeders are certainly breeding from far better mares than what they used to. The poorly bred or non black print mares just aren’t at the sales like they used to be, so we would expect averages and medians to be increasing and bearing in mind that many weren’t sold.

As I said previously of course they are going to say that they were pleased with the sale, as it is their first one and they want positivity. There were quite a few passed in and only 100 sold! BEar in mind that a lot of them were Bettors Delight that stands at 30k approx. many were struggling to get much more than service fee and many vendors would have lost money on the exercise. Yes there were some 100k plus sales for the top lots which obviously raises the average price when there are only 100 sold! There were not very many active buyers there either, just the regular ones which will syndicate the horses. Doubt there were very many individuals buying to race going by the results! You can put any spin on the sales results and if the vendors are happy then good on them. If you go thru the results carefully you will notice that there are some reasonably big sales but the mid range sales are pretty mediocre bearing in mind that the no. sold at Karaka is down on previous years. From these results I am sure that many vendors will not bother breeding this coming year if they have little chance of making money especially when you need to shell out 30k for a service fee. Personally far easier ways to make money than breeding standardbred horses! Take away the Woodlands Stud and Breckon Farms horses and there were probably only 50 or so horses sold without working it out accurately,

XBearing in mind that Bettors Delight stands at about 30k with gst there is nothing in it breeding to sell nowadays, Racing wise unless you are in the top stables then you are on a loser racing wise but some still do it for the fun! Not many there and next to no one close to the end if the day! Im sure that NZ Bloodstock will paint a rosey picture but really with the amount of money meant to be in Auckland and the stake money on offer up there, you wouldn’t say it was that buoyant ! Without Breckon Farm and Woodlands stud providing over 40% of the catalogue, the sale would possibly not take place, so hopefully they are happy with the result. Hope ChCh sale does well!

I meant that hopefully our sales in ChCh is better! But going by Karaka doesn’t bode well unfortunately! Very strong catalogue though so hopefully!

Been watching the Standardbred Sales and it does appear that they are struggling quite a bit! Not a lot of people in the seating and same ones buying by the look of it! Yes he is there with his merry men! Bettors Delight who stands at 25k plus gst so effectively 30k have some struggling to make the service fee and they are from pretty good families. The odd one is going for reasonable money but there would not be a helluva lot of profit in it breeding them by the time you pay the service fee, rearing costs for 18months or so and sales fees etc. Hopefully this doesn’t bode well for the Christchurch sale over the next couple of days. The average may well hold up but you need to factor in the high service fees being paid by the vendors for the ones that dominate the numbers at the sales. There are going to be many vendors who are going to have to reconsider the value of breeding in the future!

The start was ridiculous for a STANDING start! The Starter was negligent in letting the horses be so far back from the tape! The drivers are obviously aware that the Starter is weak in this regard. The back horses should have been told to come up before letting the tape go, with the back horses In A full blown run up!! Not a standing start as advertised! Fine the Starter and driver as not fair on the punters!!!

The ones at the back deliberately were back so they could get the running start! Starter should’ve made them stand, as the conditions of the race was down as a standing start!!!! This happens too often down there and the drivers should be fined if they are repeated offenders, end of story. Our starters are not that flash nowadays as we know. Yes good that the horses went away but why should they have a running start where the front ones were STANDING?

Ok Ranga, This has definitely gone thru to the keeper! What the hell has Adore Me got to do with the crap standing start at Winton If you want to Adore Me, I can understand that but what are you really on about? Tony Abell will take offence if you are calling him gay, just as I would! Please explain to us all what the relevance is, if there is any???

What is that meant to mean. Are you The Riddler?

Correct Flag! Just seems like total misrepresentation as to the conditions of the race! Not sure what the starter is normally like seriously you could not call it a standing start!,, Nothing will be said in the Stipes report as per usual!

Yes I know it has been brought up before but FFS it is beyond the joke when horses are running at pace towards the starting tape!!! Have not been watching today but came home and watched race 7 at Winton which is down as being a 2400m STAND!!!! Watch the start and tell me that the back horses are not in a full blown run up!!! Wipe the stands totally if this is the crap that starters are allowing!!!! Why should the front line stand and the back ones be able to be in a full pace or trot????? Ridiculous!

The whole legal,system in Nz is pathetic. Is it any damn wonder our courts are overloaded? The people are charged with so-called race fixing and drug charges. Then they have to turn up to Court to hear charges, then they have to turn up again for what I do not know. Then they have to turn up several months later for the court case! Look, if the cops have got evidence of this race fixing, charge them and have the court case. The barristers are the only ones that win out of this, and the rest of it is just a blatant waste of time and money. If the charged are found not guilty, then who covers the legal bills? So many nowadays don’t respect the legal system nowadays, they turn up in socks and Jandals and even slippers. No,I was not at court being charged!!!

No, I have been in tears since I read it! Negativity is in the eye of the beholder! Of course I am not a yes man and I am not a no man either! Brodie just says it as it is, and as you know Globe is always on the money!!!

Globe, that is so hurtful! I am a team player that speaks his mind, if that doesn’t work then tough!

Not the way he has started though! Full blinds need to be taken off and notified!

Don’t believe everything you hear Watson!

Greg, what a simplistic thing to say! Until everyone is on the same playing field, nothing is going to change!

Joe Kidd, you are a very intelligent person, and I couldn’t have said it any better! The only ones in NZ that would think that this juggernaut that plunders all the big stakes in NZ Harness Racing is good for harness racing, are either coneected with the stable or lacking intelligence!

Chestnut, I wouldn’t mind what you are on!! You are entitled to you opinion, but to post that is quite astonishing! Of course it is great to post the positive things in harness racing, however there are also many many things that are going on that is detrimental to the medium term co tinuation of harness racing! Pointless writing to HRNZ pointing out the errors of their ways as they are a law unto theirselves. Not going to book on about the many things that are currently wrong as everyone knows what Brodie thinks. If you are one of those that think that the AllStars are great for harness racing In NZ then you need to get your head out of the sand! I personally know not a single person involved in harness racing outside of the AllStars Stable that would suggest that the domination by the one stable of the major races is good for the industry! Would be great if HRNZ would take on board suggestions from people but they don’t tend to! We post our ideas on this site in the hope that they will at least consider our sjggestions and as you will know Brodie is always on the money! Great to have your contribution however.

Look reality is that The AllStars stables perform unbelievably well! Reality is that all other stables in NZ have very little chance of being able to win the races with the bigger stake money, if their are AllStar horses engaged and Mark and Nat are in the country, we all know that! Reality is that owners and trainers have got the stitch trying to beat the AllStars and that is gospel! Reality is that group racing is not what it used to be and is very boring as a spectacle nowadays and Cup Day is only good for the socialising rather than the racing! Reality is that punters are being turned off punting due to the domination! Reality is that owners outside that stable are dreaming if they think that they can make money racing anything but a very good horse in NZ, that is why they are getting sold Reality is that new owners are not coming into the industry and our Junior ranks would be very thin if it wasn’t for the females that are working in stables! Reality is that I love harness racing, but it is fact that most owners, trainers and punters would prefer that The AllStars stable was not dominating harness in NZ! Reality is that if it continues, harness racing is going to continue to deteriorate! I don’t knock the performance of that stable, just state the reality of fact!!!!

Brilliant, on The Box Seat tonight we are told that Natalie Rasmussen had stated that both of the horses, Elle MAC and Dream About Me had a virus prior to their last start and their red cell,count was out a bit! If this was the case then why wasn’t the punters told this prior to the horses racing and why were they lined up? They have worked at their best this week and should race at their best again!!!!!! Very interesting isn’t it that the horses had this virus while the mainstays are out of the country and then back in The country all is rosey again! Just saying lol!!!!!!