Brodie

Harness needs to get people back on course to enjoy the racing to entice them to wager on harness! Without new people being attracted to harness racing it will certainly disappear. Without the wagering there will not be any money to pay stake money and therefore there will be no owners as existing owners move on to greener pastures. Reality is that harness administrators and the NZ TAB are just going through their paces at the moment and hoping things will improve. Unfortunately I can not see things improving while so many have their heads in the sand and collect their remuneration for doing very little!

Harness racing is in a dire situation in most parts NEW ZEALAND! It is due to many decisions being made by HRNZ and the NZ TAB! However, I do not believe we have seen anything yet as the true cost to the economy shows up in 2023 from the shocking performance from the current Communist Labour Party that over 50% of the population surprisingly voted for! Many People that currently own horses will just not be able to afford to to race the horses , due to the cost of living increases that havent hit us fully yet. Auckland will continue to provide small numbers of horses and some meetings will be abandoned. Training costs are just far too high to justify racing horses if you want any reasonable return on your investment!! Auckland continues to be a drain on the coffers and just can not continue the way it is currently going!

You what? He turned up what???

The drive was very poor, no thought went into it, as the lead was never going to be there for Hurrell, with Nathan Williamson in front with a hot favourite! MArk Hurrell can drive, but that drive was very poorly thought out. They went a 1.58 mile rate on a slushy track and you deliberately put your maiden 2 year old filly parked as being in its best interests???

Lol, quite the opposite ! No point bothering when they dont let you on for worthwhile amounts.

Kane, how on earth can you say it was a GREAT drive? Sat 3 back on the fence and didnt have to do anything?

Didnt back Melody Arden but still maintain he shouldnt be hooking out and sitting parked when he had no show of getting the front over a lap out on a wet track. Pretty average field so a sprint from the 400m wouldve been more productive for the horse, but always poor drives in most races.

The wet track is a great leveller, and you can often throw the form book ouT the window! Didnt have a go today, and not bothering at the moment, until the NZ TAB Bookies pull their heads in and allow punters to net 2k on any fixed odds bet rather than win bets! They also need to allow punters to offload oncourse and agencies on the Power Plays. Thought it was a less than average drive by Mark Hurrell on that Melody Arden! Why would you hook out from having cover on the outside to go around and sit parked on a wet track, when it had no show of getting the front????

Mr Cockhead, If I chucked a plug into the Avon River, can you guarantee that you will jump in with it?

Yes it is a choice Galah whether they wear a mask still or not! That does not alter the fact that they are Dickheads if they are still wearing them! Sorry but how could any respect someone who continues to wear a mask when it has no benefit whatsoever and quite the opposite. If you are worried about catching stuff still you are always going to always wear one, as viruses are always going to be with us! They are doing more damage to their lungs than catching a mild virus that has been grossly over done.

if anyone at HRNZ are still wearing masks then they deserve the “Don’t come Monday” Only total Dickheads wear masks now and if their thought process is that masks protect them from catching the “Deadly Covid” then they have nothing between the ears! It is now a know fact that being jabbed is bad fir your health and Pfizer has admitted it never stopped transmission, that is the repugnant thing about the BS we have had for well over 2 years!! You are either disqualified or you arent and the stupid decisions are continuing to made!

Lol Blackie , they would bet on flies racing! It is the challenge I enjoy, sorting out my own rather than others! The NZ TAB are a monopoly that just do not play fair😩

I think you will find the turnover is also hugely boosted by the TAB giving back heaps in Bonus Bets like nothing else on earth. Do I believe that TAB turnover is increasing by more punters betting, then no I dont! Most meetings around NZ have buggerall people on course to watch the racing unless you are an owner trainer or employee, or there for the hospitality! As a punter, there ks absolutely no reason for me to go on course now, when you can bot get reasonable amounts on and this Anti Money Laundering BS!

Lol it aint going to get any better if you look at the new ones coming thru😩

Yes Needs to be promoted Eljay. However there is next to no one training in the area and no young trainer is going to set up in the area as too gar away from the Metro tracks! Once Michael House gets the stitch, racing in Central NZ will not be happening. Just reality unfortunately. You will note that even the Nelson and Blenheim trainers have basically stopped trekking across the strait now!

Mark Lewin and Rick Martell were also regulars in NZ. ”High Chief” Peter Maivia also fought around the same time as Lewin and Martell. Maivia is the grandfather of “The Rock”. So many great wrestler used to come out to NZ fought fought at Canterbury Court in probably the 1970’s. Abdullah The Butcher, The Sheihk, Buddy Wolf all 3 guaranteed the red stuff all over the canvas. Yes it was the real deal not like the BS acting we now have on WWE lol

Of course cheating is not right, Blackie! Reality is that there are so many things nowadays that are not right! Chief was just pointing out that people do make wrong decisions when they do not see much future going forwards! Take the youth that are doing the ram raids and burglaries currently, yes a lot of it is just copycat but also so many are becoming financially challenged and it will get worse. I doubt that many would condone the administration of substances illegally on harness horses, however it will continue whether we like it or not! The smaller stables have not got a hope in hell of competing with the larger stables and we will continue to see no increase in numbers of owners, trainers or punters! Personally I am seeing absolutely nothing coming from HRNZ that gives an indication that they have things under control and things are going to be rosey for harness in the future. Seriously though, does anyone see things improving for any of the 3 parties mentioned?????? What I do know is that many of the paid employees do seem to be conspicuous by their absence and poor performance.

Havent bothered again today Ranga. Racing at Addington distances are fine, just the mile there is crackers! Not bothering at the moment Ranga, just can not be bothered working them out and then not getting enough on! I do believe that the TAB business plan is not going to work for harness racing and things are going to have to change or the future is not that exciting unfortunately. Learnt over the past couple of years that there are far more important things than being restricted by the NZ TAB! TAB and harness racing’s loss, not mine!!!!

Just take the word INTEGRITY out of the the RIU!!! Just needs to be Racing Unit! How anyone can have confidence is this bunch is difficult to comprehend! we were told that harness racing was going to be cleaned up and improved, but Brodie has yet to see any of this! Self destructing unfortunately, no wonder people are leaving the industry and losing punters as they lose interest!!

Galah, great that people have differing opinions as that is what makes a great forum.. Air an opinion and see what others think! Chief has opinions and expresses them just like Brodie and several others do. No we wont always agree with everything one says but this is what we need in NEW ZEALAND, there are so many people who have an opinion but never express it. This is one of the major reasons that people and the country are in the biggest mess we have ever been in, because they have followed the most incompetent bunch’s rules and regulations without thinking about things or expressing their opinion. We have been dictated to by Ardern and Robertson who are absolute lightweights but being in power has put the country back decades!!! Either of them or their caucus have any skills to run a country and yet we have let them them control us! What an achievement by Ardern this week in that she has arranged for cheaper LIMES to be imported into NEW ZEALAND so great for those CORONA drinkers! Voters at the last election that voted for Labour should really hang their heads in shame and normally I would think you deserve what you are getting, however it is worse than that!!! Personally dont think the ones that voted for her last election should have the right to vote again, but obviously that will not happen!

Not sure why anyone wants to attack Chief Stipe on here???? He allows people to have their say on most topics whether it be Harness or important issues that affect the citizens of NEW ZEALAND! As you will be well aware several of the intelligent posters were shut down from that other site for having an opinion! I every now and again have a look at what they are on about and yes there are some good topics but generally very boring. If you want to be entertained, learn stuff and have friendly banter then Bit Of A Yarn is the Premier site! If you want to be bored and have to follow rules and be surrounded by people who go off their tree quite often then that might be your better bet. There is no requirement here to have a crack at Chief who runs a very fair site, if you did this on the other less enjoyable site, you would be shut down!

Doubt it will happen Robalan, Kiwis just go with the flow nowadays and accept what is said and done. Do not see any need for an Integrity Unit if this is what Integrity means? Apathy is just so prevalent in society and that is one of the reasons we have the country in turmoil. Wokeism is rife.

The big trot of the night and there is 5k in the win tote pool with 2 minutes to go. The product they are providing tonight is crap, and not going to entice punters to offload. Looked in the stand and just no one there interested in the racing!

This decision does not surprise me on the least! There are just so many incompetents in important roles in many industries in NZ currently! NZ citizens allow it to happen and are in the main apathetic and believe the BS that is fed to them by people who should not be in any decision making roles!