Reefton

All four of those were outstanding gallopers really in a time when NZ had a bunch of outstanding gallopers thanks for the info re riders - Acka Cowan and Spider Fox a couple I was not aware of

indeed good point!

Rode them in the best of their wins. The Chalmers for Miles Better and (I think) the Avondale Cup with Mr Ay Bee. Mellseur was another top liner he rode, Blue Sage, John Peel and The Twinkle(on occasion). Top rider, natural lightweight and a good bloke but I think fair to say lacked a little motivation The semaphore board is still there just not used any more (does anyone use a semaphore board now?)

looks rather like Victoria Park

I had a great great Uncle Maurice Doolan who was the judge at the Totara Flat (between Greymouth and Reefton) races in the late 1800's. Some bloke(presumably pissed) objected to the order he placed the runners in one event. Maurice Doolan promptly took to him and gave him a decent hiding. For his efforts he got two weeks on Cobden gaol with hard labour. Upon being released the bloke had another crack at him in the Ahaura Pub and got another hiding. Wonderful entertainment that papers past website

As usual the best presented venue around. Whilst 1936 was 27 years before my birth it is notable that the Reefton Jockey Club would still in 2021 lap em when it comes to venue presentation

yes well it isn't helping much with my search for info re jockeys originating from the West Coast

f... I didn't know you descended from the Grahams at Kokatahi! That means you would be a relation of Stan's? Better show you a bit more respect in future(take note Tom arse - this bloke's relation didn't bugger about when someone annoyed him)

they had picnic meetings all over the place. Kevin Lalor used to tell me about the Hari Hari Sports - he used to ride there. There was another at Slatey Creek(near Pike River) and the Craigburn sports day was held at Bill Kennedy's at Atarau/Ikamatua

at least they were clearly using the fence - no bias in evidence on the best prepared track in NZ that day looks rather like PS Richards aboard a Coulbeck runner. Extremely unusual to see a little moisture on the (no doubt) superbly prepared Reefton course

Canterbury. Michael was the son Graeme the father and there was another brother Philip who roade a winner or two and another brother Paul who was a journo for a long time. Michael Mein - what a wasted talent he was

You do have to have a little sympathy for them(and for others with major events). This cockup is not the ARC's or NZTR's fault but I can't see them running at Ellerslie if it doesn't resolve itself very quickly And I imagine the Hastings crowd will be light given the lack of publicity. Thought Trentham might have been a better and more logical option provided they could dish up a decent fair track

I have had a guy ring me this morning seeking info about West Coast Racing identities and in particular Jockeys who hailed from the Coast. Now there are some obvious ones(the Skeltons, the McCanns, Maria Hampton, Ashlee Mundy for instance) but can BOAYers let me know any others they can think of who originated from the Coast. I know of a few who were lesser lights who have come form here in my time but I think we are looking for more notable riders. Artie Stokes and Ned Thistoll were mentioned as well. Anyone help???

That's what I thought. They mentioned Te Aroha and somewhere else but Hawkes Bay got the nod IF Ellerslie is ruled out

Hastings is the go to alternative according to this afternoon's NZTR circular Dependent on Jacinda's call on Firday

Is that why the track has been(over the years) regularly a disgrace? He must be a 'highly rated turf expert' - is he the same one who never realised there was a whopping great hole down the back straight? Or the one who failed to get a camera angle on part of the track? Or the one who failed to alert those golfers that there were likely to be horses in the way of their Saturday stroll? You claim to be an expert on all things racing but we can tell from the standard of your posts that you are a simpleton - maybe the same applies to your expert friend at Ellerslie?

We would like to be nominating but can't risk going North lest we (1) catch some awful disease and (2) meet someone like you while we are up there

Common sense but common sense is not something you see used in the NZ Racing hierarchy terribly often. There was a circular ex NZTR today re the Derby but I didn't read it just concocted a piss take BOAY post. To be fair to everyone it is a bit unfortunate for the ARC and everyone else. Not the sort of thing you like to see and would feel a bit hollow if your horse was good enough to win the thing

Now Bernard I see another of your prized venues looks like it has major issues with its ability to conduct racedays (to be fair this one not because of mismanagement but because of mismanagement of another sort) Just letting you know Reefton is available to run the Derby next week and as usual we guarantee a superbly prepared track with no bias inside or out(I don't know whether you have noticed but that is pretty rare with your premo tracks these days) It might be a couple of laps and a bit but you can be sure the track has been prepared under the supervision of people who actually know what they are doing. I shall await your advice shall I?

Yes and we all know it was rooted from day one For years the crossing in particular was throwing up clods You have no idea who was consulted? Well I bet it wasn't Canterbury farmers The worst thing is it will have cost millions and the industry will have paid for it under the old amenities fund regime(like they paid for all the major NZ racetrack do ups and facilities) Hard for NZTR to justify paying to fix it now they are just spending multi millions on a CJC AWT(even if neither the CJC or NZTR are paying for it)

My 'investment with Pitty' is a pittance but I am sick of being told that horses were in the worst of the ground and accordingly never had a hope. And I am not particularly anti irrigation - I am anti inconsistent irrigation too close to raceday which clearly happened at Matamata if only one part of the track was affected and has been consistently happening at Riccarton for the last few meetings. This issue does not occur when it rains in Christchurch save for the old issue of them all wanting to be on the outside where the vehicles travel and which got very little irrigation at all. If Matamata had been irrigated consistently then all things being equal the entire track should have been in this dangerous state. Or did it just rain on one portion of the Matamata track? If they don't want to be careful when they irrigate to make sure it is consistent across the entire track don't do it And not irrigating across the entire track at Riccarton now leads to the situation where trainers don't want to gallop horses on the rock hard outside of the course proper - there apparently being no other real option with the AWT being laid - and getting abused by track staff for complaining. The Riccarton 'soil structure' might be stuffed but that is the result of 'experts' in soil structure who laid it in the first place. And a combination of it being stuffed and clearly being inconsistently irrigated(whether down to the wind or to irrigation gear that doesn't work properly) makes for a lottery especially when the fields are big. In the two year old race there two weeks ago they all came down the centre - hardly a great look on one of NZ's premier tracks. The CJC has form in the area of not having consistent tracks - do I have to mention Rangiora?

Surely not! According to NZTR they plastered water all over the track in the days leading up to the races Don't tell me that the watering was inconsistent therefore creating some patches that were wetter than others?? Or is the soil structure stuffed? Oh woe is me - I don't know what to think

Some people cannot see past Te Akau. A lot more likely Big Dave threatened to scratch the lot if Opie wasn't allowed to ride. If Johnson(CW that is) carried on like this they would throw the book at him I don't think the Jockeys now would have anywhere near the levels of deprivation that they had in the seventies/eighties/nineties and earlier with lasix and the various other weight loss techniques AND the lower weights applicable in those times. Just ask Morty what it was like But all this shows clearly why Opie(admittedly one of our greats) is not keen on the Aussie option - he would not be allowed to consistently flout the rules over there and neither would one stable be allowed to dictate the way racing is run(notwithstanding the Freedman/Makybe Diva incident) Another thing about the seventies in NZ - the stipes made calls and were respected and the cream(Show Gate Grey Way Battle Heights La Mer et al) rose to the top on merit not because their trainers arranged to have water slopped all over the show. No wonder so many people pine for the good old days in NZ racing

He didn't live in Oamaru ya dickhead! St Kevins is a boarding school FFS! He was brought up somewhere in Northern Southland or South Otago I believe . Farming family

That's an interesting one Pam As a long term tenant of their facility I wonder what they would do if - say - you complained about(for instance) the state of the training tracks and 'insisted' on them being rectified and brought up to an impeccable standard? Seems there is one rule for Big Dave(I wonder if he pays rent for all the time those horses spend down here) and another rule for everybody else at the CJC