The Centaur

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.

The ones that won't put up with it are the teens thinking about taking up an apprenticeship. If there is never going to be gold at the end of the rainbow why bother. That also translates to trackwork. No local jockeys means an owner trainer has to pay top dollar to get a good trackwork rider. So there are repercussions all the way down the chain.

I wonder how much trainers pay their regular jockeys for trackwork?? When a fully qualified (& experienced) and leading rider attaches to a stable he turns up for that stable at trackwork, trials etc which means he or she can't offer the same commitment to other stables. Therefore loses all round when the big races come about.

So the NZ racing hierarchy is patting themselves on the back seeing a number of overseas jockeys riding here. Then when the really big races come along a further influx. All very nice. Short term but not long term. Just how do some local jockeys feel having the few jockey managers ditch them in order to "market" a more accomplished jockey from overseas. How do overseas jurisdictions feel about jockeys say from South Africa departing? Jurisdictions should be cooperating not poaching. I applaud jockeys such as Wiremu Pinn seemingly having the guts to tell Te Akau "Why expect me helping educate your horses then pass me over for the big ones with overseas riders" If a NZ football club wanted say Harry Kane for their club they just couldn't organize a visa and house. No....they would have to pay millions for the transfer. Same with horses. Clubs provide the infrastructure to prepare horses. So why shouldn't they demand some sort of levy when educated horses are sold overseas.

I think the conclusion of the round of yearling sales has something to do with the timing.

As a participant you should be in a state of shock. The fantasy ride NZ racing has been in recently is over before it has really started. The sums just don't make sense. The NZ Herald article is one of the worst cases of journalism breach of professional ethics. There is no mention in the article or the short bio of Guerin that he is heavily involved in the pay of Entain/NZTAB thus producing a massive conflict of interest. Notice how there is no denial that this has been a forced sacking.

The financial penalties faced by trainers when either they fall foul of racing or civil laws is way out of proportion. Totally unreasonable to get rid of all horses within a handfull of days. Also the Darren Weir case has been a huge miscarriage of justice and some inquiry has to be set to see how the racing judiciary acted. Now read the piece below. Logically the animal rights group assume Weir has offended again. That is bullsh**. They have delayed charges for use of the jiggers for several years whilst he served time for having them. That is against all legal principles. All charges should have been brought at the same time or at the quickest.

If Oaksdeel wins on Wednesday for CW it could book it a place in the Oaks. Now I notice Tony Pike won last week with a filly for L Molloy which could also start in the Oaks. Could be interesting race. Might need a referee in the ring.

I've noticed some of the imported riders are deliberately careless with the whip flaying around the head up the straight. OK they are not doing it on purpose but still its not a good look. And whilst at it if you were a horse would you mind more being smacked on the bum or having a steel or equivalent object being yanked through your mouth. If a horse comes back with a cut mouth questions should be asked. Another bad look is the parade ring were the minders yank the bit in the mouth. This is an oldtime myth that the horse needs to be "distracted". All it does is distract first time onlookers.

I make the time 2nd fastest in last 30 years. Fastest was Beech Sky back in February 2000. Beech Sky won at least 15 races and on the day track was very firm so times generally much faster that day.

H'mm well I hope they don't go to Trentham via ferry. Didn't Powley meet it's demise on it?

Wow!!! that was brilliant. Must be worth well into 7 figures. Congrats Colin with Pivotal Ten.

No didn't listen. Initial reaction to the article is the alleged linkage of racing to money laundering. Quite frankley all the controls TAB try to put on customers is not necessary as long as there is linkage of phone to punter. All the checks are already there so the so called "compliance" is a double up of costs.

Money laundering is a problem only with casinos. Trying to brush horse racing with that accusation is false and without reason. There are enough controls or fall backs in racing so putting more controls will be a turnoff. AS always our administrators will be gutless and not speak out. I'm not a fan of any bookmaking outfit as I don't think racing needs them. But this article seems a crude way to try and smear racing.

A big problem is evident in the photo. Te Rapa premier day with group races. Not the horse .... the backgound