Brodie

“The Race by Grins” on the face of it was advertising for this GRINS drinks company that personally had never heard of before! The funding of this race to my mind did not make much sense financially for owners being almost certainly a way to lose money. I could not see how some of those starters were ever going to win against the AllStar horses. Stylish Memphis even though she drew one was always going to struggle as she has not been beating much in Oz, and mares struggle against the boys!

To be fair many of the holidays have very little meaning to us Mikey! This new public holiday that Labour is bringing in matariki or something like that is not needed, especially at the moment with business struggling! No we probably dont need racing every day but was just pointing out the more enterprising the Australians are allowed to be.

Why would I be oncourse? Was out helping a Christchurch hospitality business! Was it worth being oncourse?

very interesting that Mark Purdon got a hefty fine and a pretty long suspension from driving! The whip rule at the moment continues to be totally stupid and unrealistic! Self Assured won due to Purdon giving the horse extra persuasion which broke the current rules and yet the horse gets to keep winning position! Personally do not think Purdons whip action was excessive and why wouldn't you when there is a total stake of $900k it was the same when Rasmussen won the NZ Cup a few years ago! The current whip rule is still stupid and needs amending but we all know that HRNZ wont do anything as they rushed out and changed it when there was no pressure whatsoever to do anything!! They need to grow some and start making the right decisions before it is too late.

Southwind Ardern is not the same horse under Mangos training compared to when AllStars had him last year! The Ozzie horse went phenomenal and is certainly a rising star by the look of it. At least it was put into the race, the ones at the back had no show unfortunately !

Mustve been a helluva lot of very late money? Just before close there was 19k in the win and 11k place but turnover on the tote was poor for all of the hype! Do not think too many were that enthused by “The Race by Grins” as it was basically a shuffle of money between the corporates and the wealthier owners and that is what it is always going to be. At the end of the day if you enjoyed “The Race by Grins” then that is great! For some of the horses entered it seems an easy way to lose $37,500 as they had next to no chance ! What I would say is Southwind Ardern has gone back to the horse it was before the AllStars took over the training before the Cup carnival. Not sure how it could go backwards so much?????

To be fair Forbury it was always going to be the way, with the horses and drivers involved! Keep posting as most people enjoy your “no punches pulled” comments. Yeah, personally think “the race by Grins” hype was totally over the top for what it was, but the Trackside presenters are paid to get everyone excited! Did it work, probably not! Give us a non winners race any day!

“The Race by Grins” all over for year! one more year and we get the second edition! Just watched it and the Trackside employees very enthusiastic for “The Race by Grins”! Won by the $2 favourite, some people are easily excited lol. Good on everyone that enjoyed it. Not a very big crowd oncourse although the supporting races were very poor betting races! Worth a go for harness racing if it engenders interest, but by the amount of tote betting there was very little interest for the average tote punter in NZ with only $30k combined in the win and place pools. Probably Be a lot of fixed betting but most serious punters wouldnt have bothered!!!!!

Seems a bit unfair to my mind! Great to see things being tried to improve harness racing but jury out on whether it does anything apart from shuffling some money around the corporates or wealthy owners! Good publicity for this GRINS outfit as well I suppose! Will it introduce anyone new enthusiasts to racing in NZ? Probably not but it is something different and something to watch on Easter Eve! Wondering why Ozzie have plenty of meetings on Easter Good Friday and we have NO MEETINGS! We must be a lot more Religious!

Of course there are some great Ozzie trainers and hard working and successful. The Ozzie system works far better than NZ due to the no. Of horses and bigger population so easier to place a horse. On average the Kiwi horse is far superior to Oz as the Ozzies breed a lot of crap mares to crap stallions, it is what it is. There have been many champion Ozzie harness horses but you would expect that, however they do run up against a lesser class of horse. At the end of the day we are entitled to our opinion and Ozzie harness will last a lot longer than NZ harness the way things are here currently. Enjoy your postings Gamma!

They said they would get $37,500 back which is the minimum any get back. Good way to lose $37,500 without competing

Gamma, you can have your opinion on whether Oz trainers are better than Kiwi trainers however the fact remains NZ horses are far better. Spellbound is a a case of where racing a lesser horse in Oz, or are you saying that the Dunns are nit up to the same class as the Oz trainers?? Of course there are horses that are exported Oz that have plenty of improvement in them!

Gamma, I am well aware that there are far more opportunities and easier to place horses in Oz than NZ! I do not believe that Ozzies are better trainers than NZ trainers, quite the opposite in fact! NZ horses are just far better on the whole, and the fact is that they show this when they transfer to OZ! We export a lot of horses especially when they have met their mark here and they go over and clean up early on, due to the lower class of horse they are racing against. I would consider myself to be a smart punter Gamma over a long period of time! I may not be your standard orthodox punter, but my method has been very successful for myself!

I am not on here to ague with you MarkyMark when Brodie is on the money! The commentator said it”was a big win”! Cranbourne is not a back paddock venue and it was a $10k race! My heading was “tongue in cheek” and I dont expect it to be a champ, but just pointing out how a below average horse here can go over there and bolt in against the Oz horses, making it now 2 from 2! Too hard for most of our horses to make money for their owners in NZ so that is why they are being sold to Oz!

Yes you are correct I do very well from punting! Could I do a lot better if I was allowed on for what I would like, of course! Yes I am restricted because the NZ TAB dont want to allow me to win and that has been the case for many years! If they allowed me to MarkyMark I would be turning over 7 figures without much trouble. I do not rely on harness racing punting for a living, I have far more lucrative investments. The race at Cranbourne was not a mugs race, go and do your homework!! It was a $10k final with Daggy Lamb going a 1.58 mile rate over 2080m on a track that is smaller than ours over here generally. It won by several lengths and was had on,

Firstly MarkyMark, where did I ever imply that I was a professional punter?????? Avid fan? Not sure about that nowadays due to several reasons! Of course there are heaps of examples of NZ horses going over to Oz and winning and that is the point!!! Daggy Lamb would have struggled to win another race here however it went over and won like a champ. It was at Cranbourne in Victoria and it was a race chock full of form being a final and not a low class race! Anyway MarkyMark, start a topic so I can see what you have got?

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!!!!!!!!