Freda

I understood that ' the upgrading of selected tracks ' was conditional upon the sales of other tracks.... there isn't any money from anywhere else. Of course, if the NZTR plan of closing tracks continues on without being able to steal community assets, the state of those 'selected tracks ' which will be forced to hold extra racedays without any upgrade, will be interesting. The recent Gore situation - down for closure eventually - running its third racemeeting in a month on Thursday. . Winton, not allowed to run at its own track, sent to Ascot Park - hang on, unusable, what a wonderful choice for a track to retain - has to run at Gore. Masterstroke, guys. It would have been understandable if Gore had given the industry the middle finger, but, to their credit, chose to look after the hapless stakeholders.

Sorry about the three - peat....technology....

Where have I supported anything in this ridiculous discussion...?

Where have I supported anything in this ridiculous discussion...?

Where have I supported anything in this ridiculous discussion...?

Can you fellas not have such a long - running willy - waving contest?

The Sunday Market is held at Riccarton, but you would hardly expect races again the day after, surely? But plenty of other venues to utilise.....maybe a shortage of product?

Disagree. He is clearly fragile, they know he has soundness issues to a degree, they are looking after him, and good on them. After all, he is a gelding, it is in all their interests to keep him going and sound for as long as possible, he doesn't have a stud career to rush off to. Te Akau is very fortunate to have the skills of team Richards to rely on.

Please excuse the lines....I have no idea how they got there, and when I tried to edit out, it didn't work.

That's the way I'd interpret, too, Jess. From a racing/training perspective, I used to vaccinate 3 monthly, the immunity conferred is very short-lived, so my veterinary advice indicated. But I have to admit that in recent years, I haven't been as religious, every horse will have antibodies to EHV [ unlike back in the seventies, when it appeared in a largely naive population - again, as I was told ]. It seems that there is little concern from a practical point of view about EHV infections in racing horses. If there is, I haven't been informed. WRT the strain affecting breeders, I have little experience with that - viruses are of course a very different animal from the bacterial infections, i.e. strangles - but it astounds me that many trainers, when faced with a possible case of that, close ranks, swear everyone to secrecy and keep it all quiet. So, so stupid - and thoughtless, when transport operators and the point of origin of the affected horse should be notified so they can take appropriate measures themselves.

Bollocks to you too. Hell, I'm a style - free zone, Emm has it in spades ; i still think green shoes would have picked up the clutch purse and jewellery nicely and tied it all together. But, she looks lovely regardless.

World have tied in better with shoes the same shade of green....?

Very good post. It is most definitely unfair to place all the blame on to the racing industry when so many of the horses concerned are hacks or ponies, non-T.B. I did state earlier that there are sporthorse people [ mostly girls for some reason ] who take and re-home off-track horses. However, there are also many, who, lacking real skill, take these horses, lunge them over a couple of fences and then advertise as being ' promising novice, ready to go on '. It's not uncommon to see these horses turned over in a very short time, when anyone should realise the time necessary to school and educate for the new job just doesn't happen in a matter of days. The cycle of a confused and poorly-educated horse that turns out to be quite unsuitable being passed on...and on....just adds to the mess. But it is a very poor indictment on the practices generally at many abbatoirs, and also with trucking firms, where cattle and sheep are stuffed into spaces where they may end up underneath a press of bodies, suffocated or injured in some way. Seeing cattle and sheep herded off trucks with no ramps, or parked away from the loading bank so many of them break limbs as they crash to the ground..a huge issue and I don't know if there is even a controlling body for livestock transport companies, or a code of best practice. I did ring Marty Burns [ G.M and Horse Welfare NZTR ] and, in the conversation, suggested that an approach to MPI about welfare concerns over abbatoirs could be a starting point, he thought it was a good idea.

Yep, that was her. I thought she was great.

I'm not getting into your blinkers argument. But the observation about ' horses not run in mobs ' definitely makes sense to me. Some possibly are still in big groups, at least until sale prep. time...but a lot are kept carefully on their own in case they get kicked or hurt in someway. Factor in an owner/ breeder who.may only have one or two mares, perhaps a pony for company once weaned, and then add in the track rules at some public tracks which forbid more than two working upsides . Field shy? The poor buggers shit themselves.

I always liked Jayne, and she's improved with the exposure. I also loved the Sydney lass ( whose name escapes me ) who knelt down by the fence to talk to three lovely little girls who were there to enthusiastically support Samadoubt. It was a great touch, they do it so well, and we just....don't.

Exactly . She's a grand mare and I'm sure any one of us would be proud to have had the opportunity to race her.

Ive tried to be positive but it is near impossible when you take into account the obduracy and lack of vision in the collective mindset. The best opinions I have heard were uttered by Luke Radich. What a shame he isn't driving the bus.

Hmm...local knowledge should gave told trajners that the H10 rating wasnt going to be anywhere near as testing as the same rating at , say, Dunedin or even Riccarton. Soil is very different. No help to punters of course.

Gore has been closed for a while now - but there is another outfit in Timaru, which when I saw it, was worse.

We have several good girls in Canterbury who will reschool and rehome horses, but that is by way of a 'commercial' operation, in on-selling those horses. Again, there is no help or sponsorship given in any official capacity.

We'll see how much of it happens. I have heard of Gina Schick's operation - good on her - but i dont think it is NZTR funded.

No, you're right..no doubt the timing of the release was carefully scripted..but nevertheless, an awful indictment.

My fave of now is Battle Time. He stayed at my stables when contesting the 2000 Guineas...he is the coolest horse. Of yesteryear - probably No Hero.

Horrific. I recall a good post, quite a few years ago, from Berri on Channel X. It didn't get much traction - many readers preferred to bring up Race-O and failed sectional timing as a reason to rubbish the content [ typical of many who can't separate the person from the concept ] but it was very well thought out IMO. He made the point that re-homing is not always possible, euthanasia - death - was the inevitable end for some horses [ as well as other stock ] so accept the fact, and do the job bloody properly. Cleanly, and with humanity and dignity. I can't see our leaders doing a goddamn thing. Even the beleaguered greyhound industry has a sponsored rehoming programme - GAP - which seems to work well. I had an ex-racing dog recently join my canine family, and was quite impressed with the job the girls do, and the feedback and processes undertaken. I fully understand that horses are considerably more expensive to have as pleasure animals, and the costs involved in managing rehoming properties would be considerable....but, in a recent conversation with the amiable and very approachable Marty Burns, he said there is much he would like to see done, but - no money. Another sad indictment on the priorities of this industry, and how out of touch it is with modern concepts.