Brodie

Downtown Orlando was second last at its previous start as it galloped in the straight when running on. It had showed a wee bit of ability in Canterbury and the fact that it had a change of trainer and driver wouldve definitely been advantageous. It was racing down in Southland where the class of opposition is much inferior to Canterbury was also a determining factor in running second. But yes there are form reversals that do not get a Stipes mention but often it is because they can be driven by average drivers that drive averagely.

The driver of the 10 horse Tashs Bad Girl was Natasha Kyle who has now only had 6 drives. She actually drives a helluva lot better than Alistair does, but to be fair that wouldnt be that hard. She has probably got a future in harness down south as a Junior as she seems to have good hands. Anyway from the video she pushed out from the fence when she should not have, under the current law. The Stipes dont really care as they let a lot go without commenting. Watched many standing starts where the unruly horses are 30 metres or more from the front line and they call it FAIR? There seems to be a lot of consistency nowadays from the officialdom, consistently inconsistent and it just does not seem to matter to them. We do not want enquiries cos it holds up the next race being started on time and we just can not have that, can we?

Unfortunately for the TAB and racing they are continue to make poor decisions. They have failed to adapt to the changing decades and now are trying to entice younger generations into punting. Reality is they have missed the boat and is going to be extremely difficult to attract new punters and yet the existing punters they have had for decades, they victimise! There are some things that I believe have been beneficial since Entain took over, but there are many that you have to scratch your head and wonder why? Restrictions to punters doesn't just restrict turnover now, it restricts turnover indefinitely by the flow on affect that it has to everything! Anyway be interesting to see what the years betting figures show bearing in mind it is inflated due to the TAB giving away money with one hand with bonus bets and yet losing turnover with not allowing other punters on for reasonable amounts. Makes total sense, NOT!

Correct Top 4 and Head To Head’s taken off certain punters! Restrictions to such low levels that hardly worth the effort! They think they are clever but then again they need punters more than I need to punt!! They offer these boosted odds and cash back bets and yet they have a maximum bet of amounts such as $20?????? You would think we were in the 1980’s?? $20 You What?????

They have become very restrictive on how much you are allowed to win though! They continue to give this bonus cash away and boosted odds as if they are this generous betting agency? Yet on the other hand they are not prepared to allow punters on for what I consider reasonable amounts! They really havent got an appetite to take the punters on.

Not sure how many NZ staff are still employed.? I do know that there were many staff that were sent packing not long after Entain took over! Petone NZ head office would probably be pretty empty. Most of the work would be getting done by Australians out if Ozzie by now, you would think. The Ozzies have taken over from the CEO of HRNZ, Trackside track interviewer, Dean Shannon as well as other Entain suits! Probably no worse decision makers than what we had over the past decade though? The TAB was sold out by McAnulty to Entain which personally believe was a poor decision medium term.

Betcha seems to be targeting the younger ones with their advertising. Will be separate books, but the odds are clearly set by the same Bookies as the fixed odds are the same! Maybe the young ones bet with Betcha for sports betting? Betcha is probably promoted as being sexier than the old TAB name?

Not sure, but arent they basically one snd the same? Certainly are just as restrictive with certain punters they dont want! They want you to punt with them, until they dont! They are very poor losers, and dont take the bad with the good😢

Why on earth do the camera people always focus on the winning horse after the winning post??? A suggestion for the Trackside camera people, how about panning back from the front to the back as soon as the race is finished. Plain damn right annoying that they hold the camera on the winning horse on harness racing for so long that you can not see how the rest of the field finished off!!!! Surely it just makes sense to be doing this???? Yes we get great harness coverage generally, but focussing on the winning horse after the finishing line and also panning in on breaking horses at times could be changed??

Not sure he was hyped up, more emotional and he deserves every bit of success he gets. He is a passionate harness enthusiast and Diamond Stable supporter, that continues to put his time and effort into promoting and giving interviews with many that HRNZ or Trackside dont do! Labour of love for him when he could be focussing on making money on the punt. His syndication efforts are massive for getting people into his syndicates that couldnt ordinarily afford to race a horse, and all of this is done at no financial recompense. More deserving of a knighthood than many that get them.

Great to see Cool For Cats win for Nigel/ Brenda, unhinged syndicates etc. Passionate and enthusiasts like them is needed in spades to keep the harness industry alive.

Nigel/ Unhinged puts in large amounts of totally financially unpaid time trying to promote and give insight into harness racing! He clearly wants to promote racing, but I agree he is taken for granted by Too many. His wife Brenda also spends many hours as well on admin for syndicate horses and hospitality time at Addington.

Telfers were winning races in the North when they set up their stable under Amanda in Christchurch area. They were on fire as soon as they started racing in the South Island and was big competition for the All Stars and The Dunn’s! For some reason they are still winning races but no where near as dominant as they first were. They also do have a very large experienced staff roster, hate to be paying the wages bill.

Not sure why Akatea is so short? First start in the South with no trials? Yes it has won 3 races but over sprint distances a d then Hawera grass! hasnt done much at Cambridge left handed, so the Bookies obviously know a lot more than the punters, but yes crazy short on the face of it!

When they were training in partnership at the peak of their powers, their horses could do just about anything, and other stable horses couldnt replicate. Often they would have horses sitting parked and under the bat on the corner and they would come again and win! Was in tight class racing as well, that is not happening now!

Great to have a debate on various topics and BOAY does it so much better than other sites. It is fine to have differing opinions on things and that is what makes a debate. All Stars seem to be more in the North Island now with Mark and Nathan up there and Michael still at Rolleston from what I can see? Personally think that it is far better for racing when one or two stables arent dominating the feature races and it is shared around abit as it ks very hard for the smaller stables to now compete at the highest level. Yes All Stars are competing well and have a good UDR but from where I am sitting in front of Trackside, their horses are no where near as good as what they were overall, when they were winning 6 or 7 races on Cup Day. The way the All Stars horses were going when Mark was training in partnership with Nat Rasmussen was far superior to what they are currently. Yes they had big paying owners and they still do, it was just a golden era for the All stars stable of runners, and may never be repeated again in NZ!

On every race? Why dont they just give better odds on all horses then? If they are trying to attract turnover then retain your existing punters and allow them to increase turnover!

Recipe for disaster surely, Chief?

I see that the TAB is offering Odds Surge on every race at Palmerston North trots today? Maximum wager is $100 per race but why is the TAB needing to do this? Maybe it is due to the extremely low tote turnover that is showing, and this will include the wagering from the extra payouts! They are struggling to get many interested in betting on what they are offering and they really do need to be inviting their loyal punters of many decades to punt away rather than restricting them to pathetic amounts, or they are stuffed!

No point arguing with each other as it achieves nothing. we all need to reflect on what is important in life for us and treasure and appreciate people in our lives and do what we enjoy. We all know life can be a shit sandwich at times and we know that things are not always fair, but we soldier on and need to do the best that we can for ourselves and loved ones.

What it comes down to is how much is being waged on the Fixed markets nowadays, as I have been told that tote betting is only about 30% of the wagering! They certainly are not making enough on the tote now so I suppose it depends on how many are winning on the fixed odds? The pools on the tote now are pathetically small now, it is surprising that anyone actually bets into them? Will be interesting to see the years results from the TAB wagering, with all the extra advertising.

Absolute shocking news for family and the harness industry. Everyone says he was a really genuine bloke. Yes there have so many people dieing before their time or getting crook over the past few years! not good unfortunately.😢

Ii is good to have racing for the better class horses, for good stake money. I just find it far easier and preferable to wager on looser class racing and that is where the money is to be made. Reality is that most of the winners of the bigger stakes races continue to come from Canterbury. Would be interesting to see the betting figures for Auckland as I believe fewer punters are bothering betting up there. The turnover figures are inflated due to the bonus cash being given back. From all the extra advertising that the TAB is doing, is it attracting new punters or extra wagering?

Gamma, think the training establishment at Rolleston wouldnt be compatible with all the residential property owners that will be living there! Good to see the spoils being shared around though. Didnt watch many of the races tonight, Addington had more appeal punting wise! Did look at a few tote pools from time to time, they appeared to be very light for the stake money offered, so pretty sure it will be another unprofitable meeting?

Race 8;Auckland Friday night - HR Fisken Anzac Cup Trot for $100k has 13 starters. Interesting fact is that of the. 13 starters in it, only 3 of the trotters are not from the South Island originally. Matty A, Jasinova and the Ozzie seem to be the only non South Island trotters. North Island not producing enough horses now, so the South Island is providing the starters.