Brodie

Not sure of your point you are trying to get at Marky? Am well aware of the no. Of races in Oz! The point is that a less than average grass tracker in NZ has won 2 races from 2 in Victoria and the second was in a final. It cleaned up like a topliner over there, that is my point, what is yours MarkyMark?

Geez Ozzie horses must be very weak! Just watched Daggy Lamb win its second race from 2 starts at Cranbourne tonight. It drew one and lead all the way despite being had on early on, and it bolted in! Seriously, Daggy Lamb in NZ won its only race at its last start at Oamaru beating a very average horse in Art Collector. Daggy Lamb was probably considered a better grass tracker than all weather track horse! This just reinforces the fact that almost any reasonable NZ horse could go to Oz and win plenty of races, if Daggy Lamb can win over there like a very good horse!!!!

To be fair it was a great run by Le Pole Dancer to come back and win despite it having a fractured leg. I personally believe that it did hinder Bettor Be Sharp sufficiently as it was running all around obviously due to being sore as it was going rough for most of the race! It was half pie galloping on the home bend ran off the inside and then chopped back in again and stopped the momentum of Bettor Be Sharp! The reality is that the Stipes are really not needed, all they seem to do is state the obvious that anyone with half a brain can see!

Does anyone know what the job of the NZ Stipes and Judiciary is nowadays? They seem reluctant to have enquiries as it involves work by the look of it? The rules in place are just ridiculous and need changing! When they do have an enquiring so often the decisions are wrong!!!!! Harness racing has certainly gone backwards in many ways and yet so many are on big money and yet they just do not perform at a standard that warrants their remuneration!!! Harness racing in NZ is not progressing and in fact has deteriorated unfortunately. Things have to change or the industry is DOOMED!

Good questions Walt. What I would say is that it is not difficult to make money on harness! It is all about doing your homework!

At the end of the day something needs to be done in regards to Alexandra Park racing, as it can not continue the way it is! Financially it has to be a total flop and going forward there is no new participants coming thru! With the population in Auckland you would think that it would be flourishing however it is the total opposite and is a drain on the coffers! How do we get new owners coming thru in Auckland? Without the horse no.s increasing racing in Auckland is doomed as the punters just do not bother

8 races at Alexandra Park Friday night competing against Addington once again! of the 8 races, 4 currently have less than 8 starters so only 2 tote place dividends so not that attractive to punters? It is going to be a major battle for this Club to attract sufficient horses to make a good meeting and hard to see $200 being sufficient to attract more?

Cant see it having much chance racing against the boys, as it has been racing against horses not in the same class as what she will meet here! She is a very good mare but if she goes 3 back the fence then she cant win at Cambridge! As for a race to punt on, I will take the non winners races!

Gamma, alto Orlando and Stylish Memphis are pretty much Kiwi horses, but it is not uncommon for you to claim NZ stuff as Ozzie, except for the crims that are brought up in Oz and you send them to us!!!!!!!!

Fair enough now I know it is over 2200m rather than the mile. Hard to see Stylish Memphis competing well against the boys over that distance

Was not aware that it is over 2200 metres!! Thought it mustve been over the mile seem they were going on about the importance of drawing inside!! Seriously it didnt really give the 3 year olds or mares much of an advantage if it is over 2200metres! The older males will win it now that it is over 2200 metres which is a far better idea than mile racing!

Is there a lot of interest in this “The Race by Grins”? Is anyone really excited that this is what is needed to bring new participants into harness racing? Yes it garners a wee bit of interest with the corporate owners choosing who is going to represent them on the track. As for the race itself, it is a mile race around Cambridge, and yes they will go fast and the stake money will be transferred to each other!

The problem is the fact that there are not enough horses in work clearly in the Auckland area. Obviously not enough people wanting to race horses at Alexandra Park even though the stake money is generally better than the south Island! The racing at Alexandra Park is normally very mundane and so the people going oncourse to punt would be normally pretty small and not attracting new owners, so the pool is being whittled away! You would need to be of well above average means to be owning a horse up there and there are easier ways to make a dollar! It is probably not going to get any better up there, with the cost of living increasing due to the stupid decisions being made by the most incompetent Government we have ever had!!!

Probably a cost saving measure! Nlthing personal however, The stewards are not really required as what they do is pretty useless, with so many poor decisions in recent years! They tell us what horses gallop, dont get a run and a driver doesnt use the whip correctly. Buggerall enquiries nowadays just because they dont want the hassle!!! To be fair, many people could do just as well from their armchair!!!!

Unfortunately there are huge headwinds for harness in NZ! You can not under estimate the damage that is currently happening to NZ from both the over reaction to the Covid BS and stupid government policy! The cost of living going forward is going to restrict both punting dollar and owners spending money racing horses for a likely loss! The discretionary dollar for many is going to be reduced significantly due to higher housing cost, food, letrol and everything else! The fact is that the government over reaction and the blatant wasting of the citizens money has put the country back decades and someone has to pay for this! The racing industry needs to get their heads out of the sand and support the current participants as there is little chance of attracting new ones into the industry. Transparency needs to come from the NZ TAB but I doubt this will happen as there has not been a y happening over previous years! Encouraging wagering is the only way the industry can stay relevant!

Gamma, South Island maidens arent racing for $5k bow! More around the $8k plus! Somehow Palmerston North today raced for a minimum of $12k fkr maidens etc. up to $20k and still had small fields. Without Michael House campaigning large no.s then The course is finished surely?

Probably best Jason! He wouldnt want to be catching the deadly Covid, so probably best that he did it under lock and key away from people ! We appreciate that you would love some meetings but it is their loss that you arent getting the gigs!

Yes there is a need for racing in the Central Districts at Palmerston North but it is only still going due to Michael House campaigning horses there! Once he decides to stop, you would think it would be all over Rover! Yesterday showed just how weak the class of most of the horses that race there! Taliesin, a horse unplaced in over 30 starts in the South Island bolted in at its first start for Michael House, winning like a champion, untouched! Robbie Holmes had it for plenty of starts, think Trent Yesberg and then Matthew Williamson trained it for no dividend bearing places! Went poor at its last start fir Williamson although they went hard in front with it! A short time later it bolts in untouched at Palmerston North yesterday! Either Michael House is a genius trainer or the standard of horse is so low! I suggest the later!

Personally doesnt worry me if the commentator is on course or not, as long as the call is clear and accurate. It is very clear from tote pools that punters are just not betting into the tote like they used to and we do not know how much is being bet on FIXED ODDS per race. Why doesnt the TAB advise us a s to the amount wagered on fixed each race? They bring out early the fixed odds for the bigger stakes races when they really are not worth having a go on! We are lucky they do bring out Fixed Odds the day before the meeting! To encourage punters to offload earlier and increase turnover They would be better to start with more attractive odds and adjust from there! The way they currently do it seems odd and they lengthen out far too late for most!

Yeah you certainly couldnt have backed it on previous performance. Grass Track mustve been the difference! Tough on the punter!

Totally agree Cosmic! A driver with a UDR of .0431 was good enough to get the hkrse away from a so called standing start and controlled it without it galloping! To be fair the biggest problem with it was getting it to actuslly want to trot away! The big difference today was that the starter allowed to actually start trotting before the tapes were released, which was the difference! If Silver Linings was made to stand then that would have probably made a huge difference. At the end of the day Burrows won with it and the TAB paid out! The fact remains so many standing starts are just an absolute lottery.

Gamma, the horse got a trot up start! How am I wrong? Because I thought the horse wouldnt trot the whole way? Off course the world hasnt ended, it has changed though due to Silver Linings winning from a trot up start! Didnt invest in that race, did get 2 good collects from 2 on the day though, so pretty profitable!

Gamma we have discussed this many many times and get the same answer! Is it a standing start for all? Is it a stand for most but for some they are allowed to be moving up? Or is a standing start a mix of standing, walking or charging? The truth of the matter is today Silver Linings gained a huge advantage over all of the others and the fact that it was in a trot already was the reason the horse began as it did! The fact it won today still doesnt alter the fact that it is a PIG from a STANDING START rather than a trot up start!

Lol. Was it standing as it was a Standing Start!!!!! Well done to Burrows he got the horse away which other professionals couldnt!!! The truth of the matter is that he got away with it a d you are right the standing starts are just a damn lottery!! Had the starter made Silver Linings start from a stand, it probably would have galloped, but it is what it is, and he got the win! If the starter asked whether Silver Linings gained an advantage at the start, he would have to say YES as he was NOT STANDING!

Gsmma, it was in a bloody trot, not a walk at all!!!!!