Freda

I remember a horse called Alwick ordered retired, many years ago. I can't tell you how many 'uncompetitive' runs it had had, but eventually, enough WAS enough. Do the stipes think that this level of performance is attracting bettors...? or racing fans..?

A great funeral for Mrs B..marking the respect in which she was held, her style and graciousness. She was fondly termed ' Mrs Google ' and I remember Terry asking her one morning if she knew anything about ' the Hood' - the battleship that was, with the Prince of Wales, ordered to intercept the Bismarck. Oh, she said, I went to a cocktail party on the Hood the night before she sailed.

Chris Munce's cellmate

Slightly off topic, but I recently read a book by a well known Australian horseman, where he stated that it has taken him forty years to learn lessons that a horse can pick up in five minutes.

True that.

Hmmph. Gosh, it must be easy. 9 lessons, eh? Think the poor girl from McKees had about half a dozen lessons, obviously 3 short.

Perhaps he is just a poor judge ..?..we're not all omniscient.

I've been mulling this over all morning actually - safety for riding personnel is a very topical matter at the moment. Remembering the work I used to do with my own apprentices, one thing that struck me was how hard the girls found it to adopt a suitable position, and also how they struggled early on to develop a suitable whip style - much more so than the guys. The best female rider I was fortunate to work with had been a NZ champion gymnast before starting, and had much more strength in her legs / quads...but it still took her ages to be able to keep her hips low when riding out a finish. Other girls, lacking this strength, found it near impossible to maintain a possie with shoulders higher than the hips. It was just so hard keeping the knees bent for so long. They would tend to ride with their backsides in the air - watch any race now and you will see some of the newer apprentices doing just that, any interruption such as a check, or clipped heels, and there is only one place those girls will head; nose first onto the deck.

Good topic. Can we look at the differences between the average male jockey, and the average female one ? bearing in mind that there are ALWAYS exceptions to any rule. For starters, the women tend to be finer-boned and with lesser tendon/ligament strength , and also a different shape. The body configuration has to have some bearing upon the way it hits the ground after a fall, and bone density must also have a bearing on overall fragility or otherwise. The ability to 'roll' after a fall was discussed at the track only recently, where the vests came in for some criticism. They have improved since first introduced, but have been held up by some people as a big cause of neck/head injuries because the wearer is unable to roll up as before, but is hurled directly onto the ground - like a spear dive. I do seem to recall, that before vests were introduced, one of the more common results of a fall [ among males ] was a broken collarbone, where the girls seemed to hit the ground head-first. Not sure if that was ever statistically indicated, but it certainly appeared to be the case.

Wow.

Hmmm...sadly so. The insult is that still we have the 700 - odd employed without any attempt at 'trimming' . I realise that there will be contracts to run , and also, 'business as usual ' has to take place - which would preclude a massive clearing out just yet, but some indication that cost trimming will take place would be nice.

Centenarian Barbara Blackie lost her battle with cancer yesterday, and passed away late yesterday afternoon. She was so proud to have received the messages from the Queen, and Jacinda Ardern. Rest well, Mrs. B.

Oh, that's awful...so easy to become casual around them, hoping he pulls through

? ? ?

Clearly he's not waiting for the doubling of stakes which is JUST around the corner.?

Still around locally I gather...I saw him at the Motukarara races last year.

Hell yeah...but my bank balance doesn't attest to me being a brilliant judge.

The one whom everyone loved to hate - a certain C. Wightman - had a long-running criticism of the bloodstock industry, with all the fraudulent goings-on, ripoffs and kickbacks....but he was largely ignored. I always thought he had very valid concerns .

Maybe..? However, it is very easy to make pronouncements about other people's horses - and other people's children - to end up with egg on one's face.

Ah well...money talks ..and given the state of the local industry ( as was pointed out) why not have a look over the ditch. A love for NZ doesn't pay the bills unfortunately.

A year or so back Emily had a bad fall, from one of the Browne horses if I remember correctly - I think her parents had even come out to watch - and she took a long time to recover. Head injuries are hard to recover fully from, many people suffer headaches, memory loss and some motor skills deficiencies in certain cases. A few of us have wondered if maybe her balance has been affected? I know she is annoyed with herself for falling off, so she is clearly aware she has a problem.

Hell no, would be well worth a try.

Unfortunately, the improvement hasn't been sustained. Roaring Lion euthanised after a recurrence of colic last night. Shocking luck for Cambridge Stud, as well as for his connnections - and not the least, for the poor horse himself.

Dont disagree with what you both say, but I dont feel that it is the 'club' system that is ti blame, rather the personnel in that system. Any model can work if the people are keen and give a damn - if the operators dont give a shite then no system will work.

Good management. And unless I am misinformed, that didn't include the arbitrary closing of tracks.