Freda

There is a new position advertised for NZTR...Racing Coordinator i think it was turned...yet more Empire building, money down the drain for more unnecessary salaries. And the Hurunui picnic raceday yesterday in North Canterbury went ahead with huge support, great success and not a fkwt from head office in sight.

Yes.

Depends on the amount of use it gets. Mine, and most of those I knew back in the day had brand new gear. Some that had had very little use, such as a particular weight of saddle, might be 'second-hand' in the early stages of a young riders career, but certainly not in poor condition. And they would always upgrade once they became busier. One trainer used to give the boys her credit card to go to Garrards and get what they needed. It was the rule then that trainers provided both gear and accommodation, and all costs when travelling. One of my lads used to take his girlfriend along too, it took me a wee while to click on to just why his accom. costs and/or plane fares were rather excessive!

When I had my apprentices I provided gear and was responsible for the condition of. Not the cleaning etc, but they had brand new stuff and could upgrade any time necessary.

Warren's style may be a bit more extreme than some, but it sure as hell doesn't stop them. Many from Sth A and elsewhere employ the same, or similar, style. Even the great Christophe Soumillon to drop a name.

Whoa, hold on there. The above-mentioned pair have, and have had, more skin in the game than you might care to realise. Their criticisms come from years in the game, years of experience that most have no idea about, and because they care, they see fit to voice their concerns from the perspective that they KNOW how it works when well managed. I can see why they stopped bothering.

Thing is, horses have been headed across the ditch for some years now. But it's not all about stakes, they have never been better thanks to Entain yet nothing has changed wrt programming really, nor has the overall sustainability situation been addressed. Despite the KM and Champions Days horses are still departing. None so blind....as the saying goes.

Great post.

I can't imagine why/how Orchidra would ever be at Riverton either! Might it be a typo meant to be Riccarton?

I recall The Swagger working at Riccarton on one of his trips, the rider [ which twin I'm not sure ] sporting very long boots, up past his knees, and a piece of alkathene for persuasion. And he needed - and got - plenty of it.

At the risk of repeating myself - a lot - I still like the UK rules in principle. Set a limit of whip strikes [ 5, 7, 9 - whatever ] and leave it to the riders to use when they see fit. Not some twat who has never ridden a horse. Easy for the riders to count, and equally easy to police.

Might do indeed. Terry Kennedy has been working with horses from elsewhere for ages. We here at Riccarton are shoo-ed off the track at 10, leaves little opportunity to work with problem types.

This one will be self limiting. The problem horses won't get barrier certificates and will therefore drop out of the system.

Very interesting topic, well covered in an informative publication by Dr W. Robert Cook(e) Called The Airflow Factor. Dated but still relevant.

Fair assessment.

I'm not taking sides...but I am quite able to decide for myself what to read, what to do, what to think. I don't need help.

Ya think?

And yes to that as well.

Yes.

Agree up to a point... but where to draw the line? It affects all the other runners if several need more time spent, as well as running the whole day later and later, and there are serial offenders too. As well as a few sent back there were others that did load, albeit slowly, and didn't get a barrier certificate as a result.

Well, I guess a cockup is feasible, shame, but human error is always a factor in matters involving, well, people.

That's how I understand it also.

Is this about the geo-blocking-that-isnt ?

Christchurch

I can't recall ever seeing anything.