The Centaur

THe way I understood it Nelson probably beat them all for length of straight.

What's that got to do with the question I asked?

Ashburton used to have the longest home straight in NZ. Could someone please refresh me why it was shortened and is there any possibility of re-extending it??

Disturbing program on radio this morning how the disabled are being forgotten during the pandemic. From personal experience I know there is a severe cut down in health services. Yet the Government thinks the only disadvantaged are Maori which to many overseas observers they are the most privileged on earth. Millions spent on consultants etc to set up another duplicated bureaucratic entity yet little at the coal face.

Don't know. There is a lot of connection between the two. If the Aussie pro punter can see value in NZ form and odds they will have a go. Some of those Aussie punters a pretty sophisticated with their info systems.

Did I hear right? Saundry saying NZ Racing has made agreements with 20 bookie outfits in Australia for them to have betting rights and also TV rights. Seems to me that doesn't bode well for Australian racing. Far too many corporate bookies each with own admin overheads. After all they are all parasites.

Cutting out the TAB agencies should have been accompanied by keeping radio. Even if radio was going to run at a loss it would have complemented the loss of remaining agencies. Another example of short sighted thinking by the TAB. Right now NZTR should get way from Petone where they are chummy with TAB on a personal basis and set up on Ellerslie racecourse. With that, racing (gallops/harness/dogs) should form a media company. Racing chiefs must get it into their heads that racing does not need the NZ TAB.

Yes there are numerous options. Having two TV channels obviously means one channel has to be muted inside the TAB. Therefore the muted channel should have had text captions or graphics describing what's going on. When it comes to entertainment a racing organisation should be responsible getting entertainment into bars with emphasis on silent TV complemented by livestreaming and internet data. Getting the package right would allow shopping malls, bars, restaurants, various travel lounges to expose racing to the masses. The racing organisation responsible for the advertising shown. Combining Lotto and TAB retailing worth considering.

Its time to do away with TAB agencies in the format they currently operate. I am guessing they are being maintained because suddenly the high salaried managers would have less of an empire if they went. TAB's are not attractive to younger people. Staff at most have little or no connection with racing. The rents/overheads not to mention wages must surely make it uneconomic. Getting rid of of them will give greater incentive for innovative thinking to emerge although its not going to come out of the existing TAB regime.

Like to hear you again. Do you do any of the harness trials? I've been listening to racecalls in NZ and OZ for sixty years. Personally my wish would be for less screaming more the Peter Kelly flowing style particularly from say Justin Evans. One factor to bear in mind is that George Simon is only keeping the spot warm for Tom Wood. Big mystery is how Pat Commerford got the Singapore job. Can't say he is excelling there.

This morning Louis Herman a no show on SENZ. No explanation. So where is George Simon also no explanation.

All the signs are there. The yearling sales could well be affected. Property prices cannot hold up. Borrowers are going to need all available spare cash to feed interest rates. COVID is raging. Businesses folding. Climate change needs addressing. Supply chains are being disrupted by protesters all round the world. The idiots running this world more focussed on war, war threats and economic sanctions etc. Numerous countries at starving point due to US sanctions. Oil prices going up. Here in New Zealand the government more interested on some dubious interpretation of the Waitangi Treaty. They term creating a racist health system as separatism. Misfits running for Mayor and other positions. Man!!!.... the worlds going mad.

With Foxton trials due Tuesday perhaps outside the box thinking could see 3 or 4 tote races being run there with offcourse betting only. With limited oncourse crowd allowed plus most other infrastructure e.g. starting stalls, ambulance, jockeys etc being available the cost would be reasonable. Worth investigation.

I thought the main reason for the AWT was being able to transfer meetings at a moments notice. Having a trial at 7.00 am in the morning using best available riders would still give time to transfer to Cambridge with decision at 7.30am.

Some of the technicalities could be applicable to NZ racing. What I am saying volunteers can fit into a commercial environment.

The PGA in America very much relys on volunteers but is also heavily commercial. I note at every tournament the organizers acknowledge the volunteers.

"maximising profits for the long-term benefit of racing in New Zealand," "to maximise returns to New Zealand sporting organisations, and to support our communities" Racing gets profits whilst sports get returns??? Meaning.... sport always get their money .... racing only gets cut of the profits. i.e. sport will be after a larger % cut than at present. Only the crumbs for racing

As yourself my first encounter with Trentham was as a 14 yr old 1963 when Great Sensation won its third. Arrived with horse in tow for yearling sales just before the race. At the time I believed the crowd reacted that way for every race. The big trick for Wellington Cups was finding an unobstructed viewing spot.

Nahayan cost itself the 1998 Derby by veering out. Been plenty since. Not sure its the screen but must be something. Several dislodgements as well. What's the story with Nahayan By Mike Dillon Is it pique or pain that causes Nahayan to deny herself the spot she could easily have as New Zealand's champion 3-year-old? The question has to be asked after Nahayan's inglorious display on Saturday. Her zigzag Derby third at least ruled out the contention her erratic running had been caused by Peter Johnson's whip. That leaves only inexperience or pain. After the 1000 Guineas, Avondale Guineas and Derby, inexperience is starting to lengthen in odds. So is it pain? Is the highly talented filly feeling discomfort when the pressure goes on in her races? Co-owner and trainer Trevor McKee admits the filly has been "shouldery" - not entirely comfortable in a shoulder - for much of the last year. But he denies that is the cause of her problems. "After she ran erratically in the Avondale Guineas we had her x-rayed from every conceivable angle and it showed nothing was physically wrong with her." If it is discomfort, it is nothing like the pain Nahayan has caused Trevor and Stephen McKee and co-owner Brian Collins. Watching Trevor McKee as the field crossed the finish line was an experience. Like all long-time horsemen, he took the loss with dignity, but the devastation was obvious, particularly as he thought Nahayan had still probably won. He had to wait for the slow-motion television replay to confirm his agony. It was equal to the greatest disappointment McKee has had in a lifetime in the racing industry. "The only thing that matches it was when I found out Flying Luskin hadn't won the 1990 Auckland Cup when from all angles it looked certain he had." Such crushing disappointment has to have its release. While there were no recriminations, Trevor McKee asked, or suggested, that Nahayan may have run straighter had Johnson held her up for a little longer when she had drawn level with So Casual and El Duce at the 375m. There were no recriminations in return, but it was clear Johnson was upset at the suggestion he had been in any way responsible. "I held her up for as long as I could," he said with feeling. "I could ride that race 100 times and there is nothing more I could have done to get her home. She simply beat herself." Three or four lengths was the conservative margin Johnson said Nahayan would have won by if she had run straight. So Casual's winning rider, champion Melbourne jockey Damien Oliver, had resigned himself to second money when he saw Nahayan draw level and put her head in front in the home straight. "I thought you were going to run past us for sure," Oliver told Johnson afterwards in an attempt to console him. The introduction of a set of blinkers is the McKee stable's next act for Nahayan for the $250,000 NZ Oaks at Trentham next month.

Good to see you are learning chief. Didn't I send out a question last year to the effect which race had the highest number of group winners and you couldn't answer correctly. Same trials.

Before reading the above lead posting I had already complained to the feedback section of TAB help line about the idiotic splitting of Ellerslie and Nelson harness on the Trackside channels. Furthermore it appears there is a policy during the week of suffocating local gallops with greyhounds. She might be a nice person but listening to Pippa's long drawn out greyhound analysis is torture. Quite often greyhounds run deliberately late leaving hardly anytime to view 16 or so local galloping runners. As a result of harness and gallops being on separate channels I couldn't even name one trotter likely to start in a NZ Cup or three year old classic.

In the consultation document there isn't a distinction made between riding your horse or employing a trackrider. Not even a guideline how much a trackrider should be paid for a gallop. What the insurance factors are etc. Instead they focus on the idea everyone is a criminal until certified as not. The whole document is waste of time.

Yes its incredible. I would have thought every effort made to attract hobby trainers. Instead possibly constitutionally illegal restraints placed on them. Many owners potter about with the odd horse then when its financially possible only then off to a pro trainer. I go along with the fact professional trainers employ apprentices and need support. But there are only a few that do that. Can someone tell of one local jockey who started with Te Akau and went through with them. Bosson started with Autridge before Autridge trained for Te Akau. Their record with local apprentice jockeys is woeful to say the least.

Hope your horse went OK. Back in the day when I was owner/trainer it was much simpler not even a licence fee. THe clubs would send an account for fees including jockey. Right before a race I got a tap on the shoulder from the racing detective. "H..mm aah.. about these unpaid accounts" No problem I replied ... minutes later the horse won at 40:1. Phew!!!

No gallop meetings on a statutory holiday i.e Tuesday. Rather odd.