Brodie

Merry Xmas and a Happy and Prosperous 2024 to you Galah and everyone that posts and reads on the Premiere Harness site, Bit Of A Yarn👍 The Stipes in NZ are a law unto themselves and it is often just so hard to understand any decisions they make! Luk Chin is a legend in harness in the North Island and it is Xmas season and the Stipes wanted to get home so they just accepted what Luk said. Luk is not going to get into any trouble on his home track lol

Yeah, I need to go to Spec Savers as I have looked at the replay a few times and it just appears that The horse tries to go up the inside of the other horse! Couldnt see in the video replay of anything like clearing glasses unless they were in his lap and we couldnt see that,

It is just rank that punters are restricted from winning reasonable amounts and yet others are allowed to win significant amounts! Are these punters that get paid out the big amounts, then restricted for life? Probably not because there is not fairness involved and punters are not treated equally! Xmas time, you would think the TAB would show some Xmas spirit but highly doubt it!

Great to see the White’s win a race like this! They are very good trainers and deserve success. Yes very good drive by Sarah O’Reilly and also well deserved. What cost Self Assured was being out in the open for a bit too long, although he is not the horse he once was, far from it! To be fair American Me did go big in the NZ Cup last month and the run it got was the difference.

Just watched the replay! Yeah it was a total shocker and wasnt trying to win !

definitely a certainty beaten if he was driven to win! Clearly a case of not driving the horse of not giving your horse every chance! However might have just been a very poor drive like there is in so many races! He got out so late and flew and was only one stride too late, so i am not sure that they didnt want to win, just poor judgement perhaps? Wouldve won without doubt if Butcher hadve hooked out and gone to the outside anytime.

Change of trainer worked the oracle, Blackie. She should not have been allowed to be racing when every start she was galloping, when Terry Chmiel trained her! Blatantly dangerous and Stipes were useless! Dies show how sone trainers are great at using the current system, and Mark Jones is the best at it!

Reality is that there is a growing no. Of meetings that are losing money! Ludicrous to be running the Invercargill Cup for $100k who is making these decisions nowadays? The Race By Grins is just a benefit for the “BIG BOYS” a totally overrated exercise that really does very little to attract extra interest in harness racing and is another loss making venture! There needs to be another Brain Storming” meeting in the New Year to get things back on track!

The reduced no. Of horses going around in several areas is a sign that things need to change. Current system is great for some horses that go around week in and week out and pick up stake money consistently! However when a horse that has won 15 races and is at a 35 rating racing against other horses that have won only one race from heaos of starts there is an issue. Costs to train are at a stage where it is just not attractive for anyone financially to race a horse so there is always going to be a shortage of horses in the future!

The ratings system currently being used has been in for far too long ! The last race at Cambridge has only 6 starters and the only reason a ratings 50 gorse ks in there is to make up the numbers and nothing about discretion at all! A ratings 50 in an up to 42 class race???? They are just lacking numbers in the North Island and things do not appear to be betting any better ! The first race the trot has the 4 with the lowest ratings that being rating 35, giving much tighter rating horses a 30 metre start????? How the HRNZ can justify maintaining this current system and says that it is working the way it was designed to is hard to fathom!

There are far worse examples of that Michael. Some races with horses that straight out of maidens against winners of over a dozen . system is badly flawed and needs amending urgently.

Looks like it is Self Assured’s race to lose! Not sure how the industry can afford to run the race as it will be costing the industry hugely! There are many meetings now that are surely running at a financial loss so not sure what is going to happen to the future stakes money to racing? It must be the Sports Betting that is making money for the TAB, and they want to stop punters from wagering on racing??

Young Riley Harrison who works out at the Woodend Stables for the Dunn’s, today had 2 drives and both were winners! This young lady has quite an impressive strike rate for someone who I believe is not from a racing family! She has obviously got the Dunn’s confidence in her as she is now getting regular drives! Just another young lady that is performing and it is great to see these ladies competing so well in a previously male dominated sport, and they deserve all the accolades they receive! Riley drove a first up maiden trotter to win from the front and Itsamoneymaker from back on the fence so is quite an achievement for someone that had previously had under 50 drives and her UDR is continuing to improve! Well done to young Riley and I am sure she is going to do very well in the junior driver ranks going forward! ,

Brilliant, next race they decide to have 2 false starts! Get rid of these stands, no wonder Oz have very very few!

Poor effort from the starter for this race! Is it really that difficult to be a starter?? Time we got rid of all standing starts, if this is what HRNZ believes is acceptable! just not a fair start for many and seriously Donnelley needs to review why he let the tape go at that point! They shouldve been turned out and brought back in!

Each to their own Gamma, as they say! Yes I am totally biased towards Canterbury racing compared tonAuckland and I an sure that the betting turnover will show that most people are nowadays! Take After Me has done a great job for the connections over many years. Auckland harness is just plain boring and aint getting any better. The 2 year old race had 6 starters, 4 were Telfers, and one Herliihy and one Purdon! There just arent the new participants coming thru at any level! The punters are leaving, they got no new trainers and next to nonJuniors so no Junior races!

Seriously $15k stake for 4 horse maiden race tonight???????? This is an absolute disgrace when they can only field 4 horses! The racing is boring,the fields are small and they are a drain on the harness industry coffers, and they are racing on the same night as Addington? The writing is on the board surely?

Pretty average performance compared to first night ! Jonny Mac was driven far too conservatively as well considering the class of the horses and the size of the field! Shouldve moved before Bad Medicine did. Cert beaten, and no didnt back it!

All you can do is win, but to be fair it wasnt difficult to win 5 with the horses he drove. He did drive well and with a lot more confidence than he used to! Boyz Invasion, Superstar Legend, Jonny mac, all been multiple winners from the House Stable were pretty much racing less than good horses so shouldve won! The other 2 were made horses by Regan Todd and Bruce Hutton and beat nothing of note! Great to see young House driving so well but needs to be put into perspective, just reasonable horses from the south beating poor horses from Central! Not too sure how on earth the stake money is so good when the betting turnover is so crap?

8 out of the 10 races no. 5 was in the first 4 places! Well done to Wolf for taking no. 5 and it was the last one taken lol. Thanks Gamma as usual for your efforts!

Went a couple of months without any wagering but this is the time that is the easiest to win, when there is so many meetings, so back in! account betting is not worth my effort normally! Tried Top 4 a few times and they let you on to win $20 or $30 and they call themselves BOOKIES? Doesnt appear that this Entain has got the appetite to attract wagering on harness either, but dont think they really care about racing, all about the Sports and other things that they control!

The limits adopted and restrictions are hugely detrimental to harness racing! Wish limits were that you were able to win $2k minimum per bet, but not worth the effort often.

Ridiculous no wonder things are going south!

It is no wonder that harness racing is struggling in NZ, when you are restricted to only being able to win $150 by the NZ TAB!!!!!! What is the point of having any bet when these ludicrously low amounts that certain punters are allowed to win are in place???! They say they want racing to thrive and increase turnover and retain punters, well I have news for the NZ TAB and it is that your policies that you continue to adopt is killing harness racing! There are meetings every week in NZ now that is costing the industry money and by stopping punters from wagering on these meetings is one of the reasons there is buggerall amounts being offloaded. The so called big bets that they announce on harness racing are NOT BIG BETS!!! The TAB should grow some and be prepared to take the punters on!

Put the Brodster down for 6, Gamma. Will be a day for the hotties!