The Centaur

You miss the point. The Melbourne Cup is a valuable brand. Most bars owners are not banned from racing and Melbourne Cup is just another major sporting event shown in the bars. If one wants to use the Cup over and above the norm then like any trademarked event I daresay would need permission.

I presume the Victoria Racing Club holds some sort of trademark over the Melbourne Cup. Therefore if a business wants to use it for advertising and promotional purposes it would need to obtain permission. There is no way the holders of the trademark would allow a banned person exploiting the Cup regardless which country. Offcourse this being outside the normal duties of the mega paid legal eagles employed by the TAB or NZTR then obviously over their heads.

Just to add to the topic. The Racing industry bans a person from participating or deriving benefit from it. The TAB on the other hand says stuff you we need to derive max benefit so they join up with the banned person and in a whisker the approx $15,000 fine is eliminated. According to head honcho at the TAB their operations are more important than a Racing Industry ruling. On Melbourne Cup day the TAB betting caravan was located on or next to property leased by Molloy. I don't necessarily agree with the banned requirements but surely any judicial rulings should be applied equally to all. Banned should mean banned. But hey David Walker is hosting the TAB betting caravan at his home. All welcome.

Probably buried thats the way the NZ legal system works when an influential QC is on the job. Now its interesting that all around Australia and to a lesser degree in NZ there are bars and restaurants cashing in on the Melbourne Cup at no cost. Thats not the case when fight promoters in the USA find their fight being illegally shown. e.g. Mingling among the fight fans Saturday will be an army of private investigators and freelance "auditors" armed with smartphones and camcorders who are paid a bounty for finding establishments that show the event without paying the commercial licensing fees. And for those who get caught, a bevy of lawyers stand ready to extract more than a few pounds of flesh.

Amazing how the industry operates. Example David Walker lifelong career destroyed over alleged corrupt bets no more than $1000 similarly Darren Weir over some instances of using jiggers. In Darren Weir's case.... Mr Weir will not be permitted to participate in the racing industry in any way over the four-year period, including, but not limited to his participation in the training of horses, attending race meetings and licensed premises and deriving any benefit from the industry. Now look at Leo Molloy. Advertising for Melbourne Cup day with the iconic Boys Get Paid. $150 per person with heaps of prizes. Not only is the prizes element arguably against the Gambling Act ( you can't say a 2 course lunch is worth $150) its obvious Molloy is "deriving considerable benefit from the industry". Hard to fathom Boys Get Paid already falling foul of gambling laws now associating with Molloy. There are plenty businesses running Melbourne Cup promo's but then again only Molloy thinks he is above the law.

British Standards for AWT  should have a course width of at least 21.9 yards (20 metres) catering for the maximum number of runners permitted. The Safety Figure will usually be 16-18, although this may vary depending upon the start position involved (see 1.4 - Safety Figures). Some flexibility may be possible depending on the Safety Figure intended. Furthermore, in certain circumstances on AWT tracks, a 20% reduction in the width of the course on the bends may be permitted. So it seems its a the very lowest of allowable width.

Thats right Tennesse's rock legend passed away in Nashville. Guess I should have pointed out Tennessee Rock in race one. $32 div too.

Tomorrow Race 6 Timaru. Van Halen - Bluegrass Dixie Strong link there through David Lee Roth. Mind you I was wrong about Leean Rimes last time on here so don't take my word for it.

I would say that Chief has put far more into the game than many of the categories you have mentioned. I note you don't mention journalists. There seems an old school attitude to dismiss online providers yet old school journalists who might just write the odd article per week are revered by the participants. It took years before the "old school" accepted the internet. Firstly they thought of it as an outlet for porn, then a residence for geeks then finally to appease their ego they prided on their kids becoming proficient in its use. The beauty of racing is that there are so many avenues for involvement. However suddenly having a 1/100th syndicate share in a Group 1 winner doesn't make that person an expert overnight.

One shouldn't forget the valuation increases of racing properties around Cambridge. As a source of revenue perhaps NZTR could set up a national real estate division for property sales.

Lisa has broken the drought with a tough win by Sir beets. I'm picking she''ll go close with Vedette Rouge to make it 2 in a row,

Thomas you are on the ball here. I'll ask what the hell is Bernard Saundry doing to neutralize the sports betting crowd taking over the TAB. You are wrong about Rodley however. Racing needs the Rodleys, Popperwells etc

Thomas, you've got the right approach but thereafter way of beam. Ellerslie and Puke are jewels of the crown. Already far too much Ellerslie land has been sold off to pay for the ARC salaries. Acknowledgement has to be made of the huge development north and west of Auckland. The logical thing to do is sell Avondale and invest in a complex between Helensville and Orewa.

Happens all the time. However there is an art in backing up a horse. I've seen trainers time after time back up with no success where as others not only back up but totally turn the form around leaving punters scratching their heads.

You have to ask how smart buyers are at the yearling sales. This year a full brother to Verry Elleegant also some other open handicappers sold for only $140,000. On TV looked magnificent and bigger than VE. Bob Peters the buyer and going by his success in WA and elsewhere far outsmarts the other so called experts who are quite happy paying $1/2M for nondescript types by stallions with over blown credentials.

If its a Deacon horse I would be shocked. He had a reputation being conservative and patient. The showy chestnut Stylish Pal is one My Pal horse I recall he had.

I'm scratching my head over a horse winning twice on one day at Hawera. Harnees racing yes but for open handicappers to win a 2000 then a 1400 almost impossible. That saying there were some very hardy horses around then e.g. Waitaha trained by Stan Kahui a 16 stoner so you could say carrying big weights on raceday no problem. Its amazing when one mentions injections some people run around saying "you can't accuse someone of that". Injections, supplements etc are not illegal and standard items. However one of the reasons David Hayes has gone off to Hong Kong is that in his own words he was sick and tired of other trainers in Victoria having an unfair advantage.

OK here's another possible explanation for a stable losing form. As we know COBALT has been the headliner these last few years. However over the years trainers have got used to using Vitamin injections in the week leading up to a race. But also there have been instances where trainers injecting vitamin B12 have got positives to cobalt. Therefore trainers now very wary of vitamin injections which in turn has upset their usual training patterns. I'll go sofar to say that backing up a horse within three days is impossible without certain aids. New Zealand's number one back up horse must be Deluxe Edition. I'll also venture to say I know why!!! at the same time just my opinion.

One of the quirks of UK racing is the importance UK media puts on trainers stats. Perhaps it is because they have nothing else to go on e,g we have barrier trials but at the same time there does appear some merit in their rather basic observations. Like this trainer doesn't produce first uppers or that trainer has had only one winner in 50 starts. Nevertheless it does appear that following an inform stable is productive. From a punters perspective the reasons for an out of form stable is seldom disclosed. Like a virus. Last season Neil Ridley a trainer normally with excellent strike rate had a long run of outs. Seems to have turned it around. Similarly last season i noticed Gary Vile horses all very dull and lethargic but this time going much better.

In the terms conditions its says "stake returned" if 2nd, 3rd , 4th etc. Dictionary definition of stake. "a sum of money or something else of value gambled on the outcome of a risky game or venture." Therefore if a bonus bet is put on that is the stake. So I placed a winsurance bet and was given the reduced winsurance odds. If the freebet or bonus bet doesn't apply to wiinsurance why was the bet accepted at the wininsurance odds. Simple to return the stake which happens to be another bonus bet. This TAB is a con.

Lisa Latta a regular top ten trainer in New Zealand. Must be an explanation why no winner for 130 starts. Last winner 6th January. Can't be the location Awapuni as Chrisie Bambry going super. Is access to water walker a factor? e.g. Nigel Tiley but then again even trainers like Tiley can't get all their horses on the walker. TV presenters, reporters should try to report on whether horses training on the walker.

In the old legislation the pool sizes had to be displayed. That included oncourse even prior to computers. With so many more pools these days its imperative the pool sizes are displayed at all times including resulted races.

Couple of new bugs. Quite often I end up with unwanted bets in the betslip. Example if i put say $2 in the win and send it off next time I will end up with No.2 sitting in the betslip. Have already sent off incorrect bets. THis has only started happening in the last 10 days. Secondly I don't get any fluctuations using a low res screen even though there is plenty room. Started happening only when they changed the font.

Now he is constantly on the radio with guys like John Banks, Hosking, Garner, Plunkett all staunch National supporters desperately trying to give National some traction. I agree some of the venomous rants against various people on Channel X would have been distressing to the children and family of the person he targeted.

Its a continual pattern of putting up on Channel X posts without any regard for the consequences. The way I see it if its not the Grace Millane outcome then more than likely someone else. About 13 years ago he accused the then Racing Board CEO of sexual molestation in the workplace. One could go on the list would be a mile long.