The Centaur

It was the way she responded. Doctor Askar apparently is a doctor at Hamilton that saved her sons life. She asked him if she could name the horse after him and he was a bit taken aback. But agreed even though he thought he'd never struck something like that not really being a racing fan. As I said it was the tone of the interview hilarious but also emotional. All participants in the interview fitted in naturally including Joe Doyle obviously a gifted speaker. Contrast that to some interviews particularly Bevan Sweeney who just put words into the interviewee's mouth and they just agree in order to be polite.

One of the best post race interviews ever with Joanne Moss. Hope the doctor was watching. Actually beating December no mean feat as December narrowly beat First Five which bolted in today.

It's a shocking indictment on NZTR. With NZTR head office being Cambridge it only takes one person to be visiting all the northern tracks giving expert instructions to all track managers. So just what do all NZTR employees do. Sure when they are hired their line of work is probably necessary. However soon after they would appear to just sit there doing nothing. They are based in Cambridge but the trackwork reports for Cambridge appearing on the NZTR website non existent. Its about time everyone realized that if something is done for one club it should be available for all clubs. e.g. Ellerslies industry database and the sponsorship manager. There should be a national sponsorship office located in Auckland giving guidance to all clubs.

Several years ago I walked the track at Avondale a couple days before a meeting or should I say the dog walked me. Half way up the straight he started digging centre track and proudly brought up a golf shaft with the club head missing. The end was very sharp. I took the shaft to the then CEO and he rather abruptly said "put it there" no thankyou no alarm no nothing.

Well Avondale is not gone (yet). I see the program for Apr 9th has been approved. Would be good if Avondale saw fit to let the public know whats going on.

Most annoying. This meeting was exactly 50 years after I won the last there ridden by the champion speedway rider Bill Andrew. So was hoping for a good day with multi all up Tycoon Boss and Croupier. Don't know why this meeting was moved from Easter date. Also wonder if public events such as a country music festival create issues.

The article surely makes a case why TAB should not be disadvantaged by being denied a online casino licence. If they are denied it would mean overseas casinos that offer racing as well will cut into TAB customers. Having a one stop shop makes sense.

Good question hope you get an answer. What I find useless is you want to include a horse to run say 3rd or 4th you can only take it to run in first four.

Not really read the following https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2025/02/27/how-top-us-online-casinos-are-bringing-horse-racing-into-their-platforms/

Plenty depends how you think of it. There are online operators that include horse racing as an option. But also racing enterprises that include online casino entertainment. e.g. https://www.gulfstreampark.com/casino/#gulfstream-app

From a business logistical sense a TAB casino licence is a no brainer. All around the world there are racetracks and bookies getting into casino's. Some of the government ministers have links to the Sky City casino group therefore heavily conflicted. Racing administrators should get behind the proposal and then exploit it to full advantage. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racino

It was so obvious that the Waverley track was far better on the outside up the straight.. So what does G Grylls do he takes Black Sea to the front and inner from the outside draw. The one draw initially leads but jockey realizes need to come wide and outfinishes Grylls. Previously Black Sea had come from the back wide in straight and any reasonable person could have expected the same.You have to wonder!!!

Just an award to the club with best real estate agent. Auckland with Barfoot and Thompson. However might as well give Avondale the award. The committee there virtually married to local agents.

Once again you throw around the "everybody is a racist" slur. As I mentioned in another post the pre race for many is the race. Look at the importance Hong Kong TV presenters devote to appearance of horses in the minutes leading up to the race. In most countries the pre race culture thing is a national anthem. It can be sung whilst still enabling TV viewers to see the horses. "God save the Queen" is not NZ national anthem. Indeed our national anthem can and is sung in Maori so no problems there. I'm sure the haka has a place even on a racecourse although I'd much rather see ladies performing a poi dance routine. The haka is just not suitable in the timeframe before a race.

As far as I'm concerned a race starts from the time the horses enter the parade ring. Odds are a reflection of the form but appearance and demeanour not built into the odds. Therefore if there is an edge then its in seeing the pre race. So why the haka as the pre race on TV. Just whats the point?? Could have occurred at any time during the day but not during the minutes before a race. If a cultural statement needs to be made then a poi dance by ladies far more appropriate at the races.

Having listened to the army of presenters radio/tv/web I get it..... "It's a great day" perhaps they could now relate something usefull.

AS I pointed out previously there is a risk Pivotel Ten could flop in Satuday's race. Its all very well getting carried away with the South Island wins but none of the horses PT has beaten have done much. Only 3 have ever won more than 1 race. In the races PT has won none of the second placed horses have even subsequently placed. There can be no more softer experience for a horse of PT style of racing than running around Gore or even Invercargill. Colin Wightman obviously has seen the risk and gone for the insurance. However its taken away a bit of the underdog emotion for Saturday's race.

Many people will have a lot of memories associated with Mike. The piece on racing,com regards Greg Ghilds notable. Intrigued that Ballymore have a horse Plymouth in the Australian Guineas. I came across him in New Plymouth at the stables of his uncle Charlie Casey when his family was visiting from Matamata. He was probably about 4 or 5 at the time.

Same here. I remember there was a top trainer may have been Bill Sanders that had it as standard practice. When I was going to the track the old timers (i.e. operated in the thirties) were big on long walks e.g 2 hours on the day just before the race.

H'mm... maybe I'm wrong the extra watering may lead to cancellation after the fall.

They ran 1:27.03 for 1400m Mdn after announcer stating pace was keen. They have declared Good4 yet going on previous results they were running 1:27 for Soft6 Clearly a lot of water has been put on the track but I don't think anyone would complain about that. What is worth complaining about is getting an accurate track reading.

To be fair they seem to have throw it at racing and not sports betting as I thought they would. Both leaving is a real mystery. The articles so far haven't even inquired into the circumstances instead focused on promoting them for some further position in racing. I doubt they could earn half as much per year anywhere else. In fact just departing before the Kiwi does nothing to promote the race or concept. Some things done seem stupid. Why pepper the Ellerslie track with ugly TAB signage. After all TAB has a monopoly. Just prevents genuine businesses getting a look in.

The SOFT5 designation is a joke. For a start SOFT suggests getting close to HEAVY which it is not. I've sampled 256 recent 1200m races that have SOFT 5 reading. The times vary from 1:07.3 at Riccarton to 1:14.7 at Taupo. Taupo has varied from 1:12.63 to 1:14.75 (4 races) The general racing public would prefer the term EASY or DEAD. Get rid of SOFT5. Whilst at it we need a very heavy designation suited to NZ racing.

Agree you make a valid point Mr Fish. Back in 1994 I was the first New Zealander to join a racing forum group (Australia's first) run from out of Western Australia. About that time I phoned NZ TAB and tried to get the message across "Hey you guys should look at this internet thing". Reply was "never heard of it but will pass it on". After a week or so managed to get hold of one of the top managers "Who informed me "Our customers will never be interested in anything like that". In early 2000's the racing honchos set up a web portal or racing hub and even endorsed the early Channel X site. However the management of these social media web sites left a lot to be desired. Even to this day some of the owners seem to think they have a right to engage in personal abuse. (Excluding our host here offcourse).

All very well going for the huge money but Colin Wightman could lose $1/2million. Thats the approx value PT could drop by if it bombs out. There is a huge chance of that happening. If I was Wightman I would take a few whiskies before the race.