The Centaur

Fate???.... 100 years ago almost to the day the horse Maurice McCarten rated as potentially the best stayer he ever rode broke down in Sydney and was destroyed. In the same Belclare colours that won on Saturday.

Should be easy transferring races to Te Aroha and perhaps knocking of a couple of Te Aroha maiden races to the next raceday. Every raceday in NZ should have plan B.

I'm surprized the Sydney media haven't highlighted the connection of the Belclare colours defeating two great champions i.e. Phar Lap and Gloaming. Belclares owner is a great grand son of Limericks owner who preceded Phar Lap as champion on the Sydney scene. The half brother Ballymena defeated Gloaming and not many horses did that. Limerick won the Manawatu Sires Prod stakes before going to Australia. Belclare is just north of LImerick in Ireland. https://www.downunderpunter.com/limerick

Apparently a meeting held on Monday. Noticed that only members invited. I would have thought the only members there now would be those with vested interests like land agents. Also Avondale due to race next Wednesday. Just what are they doing to draw attention to the day??? Good guess ... nothing. With so many opportunities over the last twenty years to do something positive the committee has done nothing. Anyone with a report on the Monday meeting?

Maybe there is a case for all trainers to be in a partnership. If Weir had been in partnership all that could have happened is he departed the partnership. All clients would have stayed in the stable. Thats what happens when a lawyer in partnership is suspended and barred from practising. Why should there be any difference .....oh thats right lawyers are privileged.

At last the big guns coming out firing. The VRT (Victoria Tribunal) will get their comeuppance. https://www.racing.com/news/2024-10-17/news-stewards-weir-lodges-supreme-court-appeal

Anyone here remember the great Taranaki era between 1956-62. Good reminder here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ufNYIkh0m0

Hey they turn up in jeans so must exploiting the pick and shovel ably helped by Trackside presenter M Guerin also in jeans.

Bringing up UK jump racing proves the opposite point to which Mary B was adamant on. It shows that jumps racing has to be done properly. NZ just can't do it the way UK does it. Therefore if you can't do it properly you shouldn't do it at all. A formula which encourages racehorses to get some proficiency in jumping is still achievable. e,g, exhibition jumping prior to an actual flat race.

Looking at the photos e.g. Imperatriz "connections" I was trying to figure out who the blacksmith, trackwork rider, groom, vet, float driver was.

When one views the live TV from the UK its eye opening the number of people surrounding the parade ring even at the lesser meetings. Here in NZ the the way to attend racing is being hold up in the bar something that can be done anywhere without the hassle of going racing. Seems we are still stuck with the support the breweries way of life.

Certainly changes are required. My guess is that sport will feature prominently as per my posting here last year. Posted October 2, 2023 Obviously the publication relies heavily on TAB or NZTR subsidy. Which would explain each week Entain promo articles as well as NZTR material. Leading studs who also seem to be sponsors have some exposure. But the weekly is hopelessly outdated. Few people bother reading the form on paper as opposed online. OK it's nice having the fields on paper but this could be achieved by an insert printed after publication. Its ridiculous that a glossy magazine should have a shelf life only of a day or two. Instead of printing the form I suggest more review articles and stable tour pieces. Various charts as well could be included for the punter but above all give the publication greater shelf life making it retainable and not disposed after Sunday. Furthermore sport and classified adverts could be added overall dramatically increasing circulation and perhaps reducing price.

Don't know if it would be viable. Even getting Hong Kong horses back seems only a trickle. Malaysian racing should get a boost. Not many discussion racing forums about so it would be nice if someone with direct knowledge was able to contribute.

What is New Zealand doing apart from people like Stephen Gray coming back. There may be assets like IT systems or other useful exclusive projects NZ could do with. Is NZ doing something to showcase NZ racing into Singapore.? There must be ways to strengthen NZ/Singapore links other than just for NZB benefit. What are Te Akau doing? Questions that an answer would be appreciated. Meanwhile in Singapore its all on.... https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/jobs/job-fairs-for-staff-affected-by-singapore-turf-club-closure

This is a miscarriage of justice. Wrecking Weirs new business is vindictive and against legal principles. In fact its just laughable how so called intelligent legal ****wits can be so stupid.

In NZ there would appear far too many employed by the governing and wagering bodies doing bugger all. That includes the judicial. For instance what have the racing admin staff been doing at Ellerslie when there has been no racing. I get the impression NZTR are running scared of employment contract payouts when wishing to terminate employment. There are too many bookies in Australia. Its killed racing in the UK and will do so in Australia. AS for the so called "World Pool" all I can see is its an avenue for bookies to lay off.

50 years ago to the day Avondale raced Saturday with quite a high profile meeting. Cattle King won the main race recording 5th win in a row. March Legend won the 2yo race which would have been the first 2yo race for the season. Shaitan won a maiden. Royal Vega ran second in a race just wondering if that horse was trained by Allen Baker now based in Levin.

I meant HRNZ website.

I haven't done any form research on the NZTR website for over 10 years. Therefore I'm disappointed at how harder it is to make sense of form. For example when getting into the history of a horse we are confronted with this Now why is every detail got a label meaning one has to search between the labels. Its like a phone book labelling every number "Phone Number".

Is this the same outfit overseeing the photo finish operators. The operators never owned the equipment but earned extra income hiring the equipment to sports events. All without the knowledge of the "consortium". I would say these middle "companies" are just a vehicle for hiring the "right" contractors.

Assange, Nice to see your man back in Australia.

A better question is do racing clubs have a check list? e,g, track inspection routine, ambulance, etc.

Rubbish. Its 2024 and he is still out. What he took a holiday? Expensive holiday its cost millions. No evidence was presented that prodders were cruel. They use them on cattle so that straight away puts it in some perspective.

Yes its getting into the Julian Assange category. He has served his time. You just can't keep on adding time after time served.

The local management has to satisfy head office. No wonder the "glowing reports" The truth is the web site is a disaster. Who wants to go thru the pain of waiting minutes for it to load?? So much confusion like multiple clicks not knowing if you have bet twice then only to find out not at all. I know several people who have just given up.