Reefton

Been a couple of starters assistants in front of the gates when they were let go as well. Ellerslie hasn't been immune. Golfers strolling across in front of the Great Northern field, a bloody great hole suddenly appearing in the back straight and interference not being able to be investigated because they didn't have a camera angle I'm a Club President though so don't want to be too critical - those who live in glass houses have to be very careful about throwing stones.

the horse might have bolted(or perhaps blundered) by then Pam?

Just read the judicial report for yesterday at Riccarton and this 'blundering' problem seems to have been predominantly at the 1400m mark. One race there was about five of them who supposedly blundered. Wouldn't you think the stipes would hop in a car and go round to inspect the starting point given it happened to so many? Hardly instills punting confidence to see the same thing happening so many times at the same place(not that I am much of a punter any more)

What happened was because our gates had to cater for courses in both directions we had to have magnetic numbers on them. They had not been changed and they loaded them inside out. Easy mistake to make but I backed the winner who I was sure had drawn one and was surprised to hear the Commentator say jumped well from the outside. I think that was that extraordinary day wasn't it? Miscounted rounds and horses coming from 25 lengths last at the 400 to get up and win. Wonderful entertainment but not a great look for NZ racing

True enough. My understanding with the old manual gates was the sharp blokes were watching the little lever the rope was attached to. When it moved react quick

Just wonder Pam if it is not the starter's actions contributing to this. That yelling 'Clear' before he pushes the button might well startle horses and make them stumble as they leave. Of course the others shout 'watch your gates'. I'm no expert but in the old days Ray Burgess and those guys just advised(obviously loudly) they had the all clear then pushed the button or pulled the string as the case may have been. Don't want to be critical but perhaps try another warning technique? Or do the jockeys prefer it the way it is? Maybe there aren't mics that close in Aussie Singapore or Hong Kong but does not seem to be that yell there. As for late loaders there ought to be a limit on the number of times you can load last. Te Akau are master at making sure they load last and Kawi was another that always got favourable treatment. They should load strictly in order inside to out possibly half and half(one to six and seven to twelve in a twelve horse field) at the same time. It is very rare to see horses standing as long in Aus as they so often do here

Minor point here but that is assuming that the revamped Ellerslie is the best track. Given the recent history of renovations with NZ racecourses it is a fair bet that there will be significant issues before it is anywhere near the best track in NZ. It is important that this renovation does work but there have been plenty of examples where renovation does not

Goodness! Lifestyles of the rich and famous eh?

give you a bloody good boot in the arse when you don't realise it is there

Yes tax cuts for the 'rich' has not historically proven anywhere near as disastrous for the country as that little money printing episode(that went on and on). The chickens are coming home to roost on that And (among other industries) that is not good news for the racing game

We are from a much different generation to the major voting bloc Pam. They are all green as grass and woke as as well where we are pale and stale(and some of us male) It's like the silly bitch 'influencer'(who I have never heard of I might add) reckoning she got offered money to go to the Melbourne Cup. The do gooders will be lapping the story up(and no doubt they will be at the gate of Riccarton Saturday week as well) I had an Uncle - a bit of a racing man - Kevin Doolan. When once presented with some new theory being paraded as fact he was heard to comment 'You don't seriously believe that f#*%^*g bullshit do you?'

They'll employ some more Aussie's with glowing CV's no doubt. Never underestimate the power of bullshit when it comes to a CV

I really reckon the turning point was when they started calling Stipes by their first name. Morty, Mouse and those guys might have not liked Muirhead but I know he was always addressed as Sir. Ditto Samson the Racecourse D. I mentioned it to Murray Humphries(ex Stipe, decent bloke and certainly not a frightening character) at Cromwell last year - he said at the end of his time there was only one jockey still calling him Mr Humphries.

To be fair JB I am not trying to criticize Jockeys(when it comes down to it I always say I would be flat riding one around the birdcage so who am I to judge?). But Bosson and Walker(I'm not 100% sure it was him). Two top liners who caused grief on big days. Oxford Aunt(Pam's horse) actually fell when I look at the records. Due to a horse looping the field to lead then dramatically slowing the pace. I've had it happen to horse I had a share in - Vinnie Colgan carved it up in a G1 and how it stayed on its feet... But because his horse had come from behind it it wasn't even worth a protest. Would only have got second anyway because we ended up third.

You of course Freda were the victim of some dodgy tactics in the 1000 Guineas a few years back(was it Michael Walker?). Your filly was bloody lucky to stand up. For someone who might have one good enough for a G1 fairly irregularly it must have been gutting. Freda White - another of the characters that made NZ racing so great in the 50's 60's and 70's. Especially in the jumping game but Crooks Hazlett Hillis Cochrane Winsloe Anderton Mavor. And that's in the deep South alone(and I have no doubt left a heap out)

Big comment considering one of them is one of NZ's most successful ever riders, the most successful ever woman rider in NZ and a multiple Premiership winner.

Don't be so bloody precious. Clearly Pam would have a bloody sight more idea than most. This turned into a bit of a reminiscing thread and you have to try to stir up shiite. Take a deep breath and forget about it Besides which the people being referred to on this, given their records, were well and truly proven to be safe operators. Had they not been. they would have got their arses booted(in some cases literally) by stipendary stewards, apprentice masters and senior riders of the time

its all the stakeholders fault

Stupid question. Same jockeys, same stipes, same set of rules. The same thing would happen at Riccarton or Ellerslie. It was well known that there were some extremely talented judicial room operators(Lance O'Sullivan being an obvious example) and some less talented. There is a BOAY poster who was very sharp in the enquiry room in his day. Doubt there was 'bush' justice. There may well have been swift justice. And God knows the entire country could do with some swift justice at times. Besides which I never said the guy got off. I have no recollection whether he did or not but it was clearly a minor incident and an amusing sequel for Diane an outsider and not used to the environment that is. Though of course she had met the likes of Kevin William Morton and heard the tales of shenanigans these jockeys got up to. Fairly harmless stuff and it certainly wasn't a carve up like the race at Hastings on Saturday.

I don't know much about them really but I do note that on the big days they tend to be more 'comprehensive' than on the minor. Perhaps because there are more stipes on duty so more has to be done to justify their existence? Couple of little ditties though - on one of the few times I did the raceday secretarial work myself (most of the time I had one Michael O'Brien to do that job) after each race you had to wait for the stipes to check the placings sheet and sign it off before it became official. That isn't the dividend bearing placings which were usually signed off immediately correct weight was declared and protest time over but the sheet detailing finishing order and distance from the winner. Usually took 15 minutes but after the last race when they had 150 miles to drive home miraculously it only took about 2 minutes. And then there was the time though misunderstanding that we ended up without a typist for the stipes room. I had to call up my wife who was planning a social day. She regaled me with a story of a jockey friend of ours, considered a bit of an angel throughout his career, smirking at her as he attempted to extract himself from a charge with a line of bullshit. She found her day in the stipes room to be rather amusing. And once again becuase they had a long way to travel home the report was short, sweet and signed off very promptly.

Since he was on our committee another thing your ex partner used to do was every Reefton raceday, with the full support of the stipes, he would walk the track with the apprentices and talk to them about how to ride it. I think David Walsh does it now but a bloody good common sense use of experience to(hopefully) prevent accidents. He was also rather handy when that horse ran straight ahead past the post one day. In the ensuing witchhunt to blame the track it was awfully handy to have someone with real expertise to declare 'pilot error'

Bill Kennedy, a bloody good trainer, used to reckon he liked having your former partner on his horses because he could see the trouble coming far ahead and would get out of the road.

I don't think Pam was getting specifically at the girls or imports but at the overall standard. In the seventies when Pam got into the game there were a few more senior riders and very good apprentices. Meins Pankhurst Skelton Morton McCann Walsh Robinson, later Richards, Davison and Colletts plus a bunch of others. Remember they used to run two southern racedays on the same day in those times. The general standard has somewhat declined

The one huge reconstruction I saw was Riccarton and it is the main one that continues to have issues

Dead right Mike. And if there was one place that you would bet on being vulnerable to horses slipping it would be the Coast with its very tight turns Its called management