Robalan

No, although Bray came on certainly within the last 6 months and now he's deputy Chair, God help us. Is John Grainger still on the board?

Cam Bray

If you punch a horse in the head, the horse will feel nothing and you will have a very sore hand

Gammalite, the fact that most weanlings sold at the National weanling sale sold for less than their service fee proves THAT SERVICE FEES ARE TOO EXPENSIVE. The rapid reduction in the total number of mares being bred from also proves that very few individuals or syndicates are breeding horses to race This is because SERVICE FEES ARE WAY TOO EXPENSIVE. Also, racing costs are too high compared to the potential return from rapidly diminishing stakes.

By selling horses for less than their service fee Woodlands and Alabar are giving the finger to all the breeders who paid the full fee before they even got a foal. By doing this they are competing against their own customers. It's no wonder that breeding numbers are falling so rapidly each year. THE SERVICE FEES ARE WAY TOO EXPENSIVE

If Mr. Branch does leave, as rumoured, that would be disastrous for what's left of Harness Racing in the North Island. In the meantime those that are in a position to do anything about it are squabbling over who holds the power at HRNZ. The quality of the HRNZ board leaves much to be desired and the addition of the latest Board Member does nothing to improve its quality

GOSH YOU ARE HARD TO PLEASE BRODIE. THIS IS THE BEST THING TO HAPPEN TO RACING FOR DECADES

What a load of rubbish you guys are talking about. Please show some analytical data supporting your statements. Even a report produced by a medical analyst showing trends that tend to show an increase in heart attacks and strokes in people that have been treated with covid vaccines

I believe the high court judge referred to many cases for comparitive cases which were not relevant to the Wigg case. Wigg deliberately administered a substance to her horses on raceday with an intent to boost their performance level. She lied about doing it. In most comparative cases they were accepted by the RIU as accidental administrations and were admitted to by the defendents. In spite of the recommendations from the High Court I believe the RIU should leave the penalty unchanged

I don't think it would take a lot to improve on John McDermotts training

The detection of EPO is very difficult. There is only a 3 day window, after injection, for the substance to be detected. Therefore when do you swab, some say look at a 4 week period for when a horse is eligible to race in a major race and work back from there to calculate the ideal time to swab a horse

Harness Racing is regareded, by the general public so they might as well dress like a bunch opf gypsys. Take their example from their honarable leader

It was originally intended to do it that way, but was changed to a direct payment to owners once the stud fee has been paid

I was at the Ashburton races yesterday and noticed the Chief Executive of Harness Racing New Zealand in the stables area talking to horse trainers. He was dressed in a pair of tatty old denim shorts and a scuffy T shirt. This man is responsible for setting the standard for the image of Harness racing. Edward Rennell was always dressed in a jacket and tie and presented a very respectable image, John Rowley, Chief Executive for about 30 years was never seen at the races without a suit and tie. Standards are slipping in many areas of Harness Racing, breeding numbers are falling, betting is down, stakes are collapsing and Mr. Woodham is supposed to be the person to lead us out of our dire situation. I don't think so

By the way Brodie, the subsidy is paid to the owners of the mare not the studs

I recently raced a horse with a trainer who shaved her whole mane off. Never once was it questioned by the stipes.

Hunter is not correct. HRNZ have ruled that hair around the jaw and the ears cannot be cut. This was introduced as a welfare issue for the horses

I say well done to Nigel for not dragging this issue out. I am sure his announcement will hurt both financially and emotionally

You will post anything to try and boost contributors to this site Chief

I agree with you to a certain degree Chief, yes there have been worse examples and yes his behaviour was reflected in the penalty he was given

I have no idea what you're implying

One can only hope. If something isn't done shortly. then I am afraid we will see the demise of Harness racing in our lifetime. Surely the Minister for Racing must be aware of what's happening, if not then he must be informed. The whole restructuring of the RIU was done as part of the deal for bailing out the TAB. The then Minister of Racing , Grant Robertson was concerned at the lack of ethics and direction in racing and I am sure his relacement Kieran Mcanulty would be very interested in what's going on

I agree with Brad reid, that Nigel mcGrath is a likeable fella. He is also a liar and a cheat. He was caught in the action of doping a horse. He had also been found guilty of the same thing on previous ocasions. His actions after he was caught on the last occasion were to lie to and seek sympathy from other industry participants. The actions of the Board of HRNZ and in particular its Chief Executive Woodham are both corrupt and bring Harness Racing into disrepute. The granting of a licence to pre train and educate young horses was also extended to a previous offender and woman beater, and this person is now involved in the most recent case of a person caught in the act of doping a horse. The actions of the administrators of HRNZ make a farce of the rules and the actions and existence of the Racing integrity Unit. The next thing we will hear that Mitchell Kerr has been similarly reinstated. If any member of the HRNZ Board was not aware of the actions of thier Chief Executive, they should immediately and publicly call for his resignation as he is guilty of corruption and cronyism. If they are not prepared to do that then they should resign from the board

There's an old saying. "If your trainer is not getting positives, he's not trying hard enough"

I don't often disagree with you Davis but I think your comments about Carter Dalgety. Hr is a very competent young horseman. I think the proof of this is the fact that he has the second highest UDR of all the Junior Drivers for this season and had the highest UDR last season