Freda

Absolutely.

Poor guy...wonder if his ears are burning......

Yes, I dont profess to be an expert, but in my experience an afflicted horse never improves, the only change is for the worse.

Oh dear.

I'm not trying to be smart here...but I thought it was a well-known fact?

Yet we in lil ol' NZ can warrant three....hmm.

Agree, great spot and always good atmosphere with happy crowds. However, I think both clubs are facing personnel problems, i.e. the difficulty in attracting keen, young committee people. An ageing management is making it near impossible to plan ahead or undertake necessary works.

You're damn right there. But they still have a collective intelligence I should think. Shame they, and their predecessors, haven't used it.

Will be very interesting, K. Look after your source! One thing strikes me, here and elsewhere...this almost manic attack-mode on the hapless John Allen. I'm in full agreement about his competency, but he shouldn't be the only one to be vilified. CEO's carry out the policies of their Boards - don't they? Those behind him, and his predecessor, should be hanging their heads in shame. Neither Bayliss or J.A could have carried out the destruction on their own without the processes being ticked off.

Looks prerry well informed. But is unlikely to get any traction where it matters.

Certainly couldn't hurt.

Yeah. Utterly stupid practice.

Go and have a look at some horrific pictures of ' pleasure horses ' standing in paddocks with no tucker, shit up to their fetlocks, starving...others miserably behind white tape, synthetic rugs on in hot summer weather, no attention for weeks at a time...you think those horses are happy to be born? Fact is they dont consider ethical matters, they just are. I have euthanized horses I dont think are suitable for young riders, I place my retirees very carefully but I still can't track them for years to come. I just have to hope that they remain in kind hands. Plenty of humans might face dismal futures too, fact is none of us have a choice in the beginning.

While I'm in the frame....the practice, common in the UK jumps scene, of easing a horse out if it can't figure in the finish, or comes to the end of its stage of fitness, is not so common here. How often do you see a horse drifting out of contention, clearly tired, and under the bat? Terrible look.

Yes, well-meaning no doubt, but misinformed. But what will our industries do to combat this mindset? Putting out fluffy media reports on the NZTR website will do nothing, and, sadly, even though Marty Burns [ NZTR animal welfare officer] is a decent and approachable bloke, he can't single-handedly produce stables and properties across the country to re-school and re-home retired racehorses. Set ups like that require both funding and effort, both of which seem to be lacking. Compare our operations with V'Landy's immediate response to the sensationalist TV doco. about the horse abbatoir. Even the much maligned greyhound code has kennels dedicated to rehoming retired dogs. I have one myself from such a setup, and the girls involved do a great job checking out the dog's potential home, and following up the progress. I don't think harness is organised, but there are well -intentioned people who do try to rehome as well. No such system with T.B's although there are people in the Waikato who handle Hong Kong returnees. [ Gina Schick ?] Despite all the grand talk emanating, I have never been contacted by anyone from NZTR about any horse removed from my stable return list. That needs to be addressed and smartly, if public perception is to be altered in any way. And, although I am a lover of the jumper, the sight of an exhausted horse floundering over the last fence is not one I like. One way, possibly, would be to remove the last fence where that fence is close to the finish. Allow a decent run-in so that horses battle out the finish on the flat. Less chance for injury and much less horrifying for the general public.

I have been scratching my head about that comment....then it occurred to me you mean the raceday float park. Not sure if that, or the associated duckpond, would cope with the volume..but as i said, I'm no expert in that field.

Ha....no, they are awesome people, and are very supportive of me. They have never had any involvement though ( I'm a late-comer to the clan) and dont like the concept, although they all love animals generally. Once I start winding them up about Cinderella horses dont get a mention!

Oh, yeah...! So they can...but an evolving situation makes more sense to me!

Some of my own family thinks racing is both corrupt and cruel.

Can't say I gave cattle much thought...but given the close proximity of both species on many properties it isn't too big a stretch to consider that transmission may occur, even if previously thought impossible. Evolution is ongoing, it hasn't stopped just because we think we're at the top if the heap . Certainly horse ticks have been here for ages.

I'm no expert on construction matters....but I would think resource consents and drainage issues, esp with a new housing development right over the fence, might require more than 6 mill.

Yes...and given that MPI don't seem to be overly pro-active in many cases, this may be quite an on-going saga.

I'm not a vet, or an epidemiologist, so I'm hoping someone can provide advice here. The mare in question, imported from France early last year, had ( as I understand from the release from Cambridge Stud ) provided three negative tests prior to importation. Now, a year later, shows two positive tests. The inference has to be, following on, that she became infected here. Is there any other possible scenario?

Many have expressed the opinion that NZTR are doing a good job given the circumstances. I don't share that. They may not waste as much money, but all failings, big or small, become cumulative. Handicapping, dates, programming, stakes distribution are all NZTR - driven, with some input from RB wrt dates. Much has been said, advised, pleaded, and pro-bono work done on behalf of, for no tangible change. The mass extinction of tracks is another, driven by Rita at present, but on the to-do list for years with no quantitative analysis that I have seen to support that. Inequitable and unsustainable stakes distribution is code business, not RB, same as subsiding some clubs at the expense of others. Expenses for trialling, name changes, complicated and messy paperwork when HRNZ can achieve the same both simply and at less cost. It is a no brainer what code to support for a group of newbie owners with no particular allegiance either way. I recently received four accounts for the same horse - the first , an emailed one, pertaining to trials fees, arrived on May 4th and was dated April 30th. As I am not the manager for this horse I forwarded it to the right person, who paid it, and notified them to please send future accounts to her as indicated on the ownership papers. Soon after I received two hardcopy invoices, in the same envelope and for the same account. A week or so later I got a very terse ' pay-or-else ' missive by email with Saundry's scrawl at the bottom. This arrived on the 18th of May. Efficient.

Great post.