Freda

Kinda par for the course I guess....lack of vision and so on...

Yes, moves are afoot to prevent that particular practice...which may not have been the case in this incident of course. You would assume that RIU would know if that WAS the case, but....

Yep....I am

The hell it isn't....death to the infidel

Whatever is decided it needs to be enforced and consistently. What makes you think punters would care? Very quickly those free- running and genuine sorts would come to the fore and the reluctant attendees would be phased out. Harness racing in some Scandinavian countries has banned whips and seems to operate just fine. A look at the recent Cheltenham races shows how ( in some cases, not all..! ) energy and upper-body strength can drive a horse on without needing to cut it in half.

sadly..so right. Fear begets fear...and, nutter though this guy - and his allies - are/is, anti-Moslem sentiment is building throughout the world as a result of atrocities carried out by radical Moslem minorities. It is abhorrent in the extreme to think of innocent people targeted in this way, but no surprise that reprisals have and will continue to be carried out. No one wins, unfortunately. Brodie is right, I can't comprehend how his meaning is not clear to some.

A mate went down to the pub last evening to have a flutter on the Gold Cup.....was stunned to find no markets for anything at Cheltenham apart from the Triumph Hurdle...Fontainbleu [ sp ], on the other hand, was covered for all events. FFs....

Arguably....I shouldn't comment because I don't [ can't ] use it ...but as I am locked out - again - after being 'allowed' to participate briefly, I would have to give it a D also.

I can't get on to the effing TAB site.....so what channel is it likely to be on tonight?

so....I went to record the races as I did for day 1.....but no indication on either channel. Scrolled through several times, got up during the night to check, still nothing.....dogzone, Hk ......then put TV on this morning to find Band of Outlaws romping home....grrr...

Don't think it is up to Messara...he provided the blueprint, we are supposed to be actioning it. And the reason for the track closures, for his report, was to garner funds to upgrade a few tracks to present a slick, modern, professional product that overseas punters might just possibly want to bet on....given that NZ racing is effectively insolvent. When the reaction of the country clubs made it quite obvious that there were no funds forthcoming, the reason for closures became null and void. The wailing about allweather tracks looks to have all been in vain....things have gone ominously quiet there too....not that there would have been any punters left to bet on the blasted things.

Nope. And it won't. This is the mantra that Alan Jackson has been pushing for a fair while, with no quantitative evaluation or other evidence to back it up....and as for the 'quality experience ' no one goes to Riccarton apart from on Cup Day - and National Day , but that will stop quickly enough; with the best jumping venues on the 'closed' list , the National is a dead duck.

I don't know anything about the alleged practice...but nothing surprises me. Nothing at all.

Very short-sighted of them...which is, I suppose, typical of things.

Exactly..why can't we just enjoy watching class thoroughbreds? I have watched with joy, and awe, the likes of Show Gate, Bonecrusher, Sunline, Black Caviar - from a distance Frankel - and now Winx...The Autumn Sun looks a super racehorse in the making - but why does any one of them have to be 'the best'..? what is the point ?

Well....reading between the lines...it would seem so...if it suits whoever is making the rules on the day.

Gear is NOT allowed to be added around at the barrier. We used to tie tongue ties to the bridle for barrier staff to add - it is not a comfortable piece of attire, and most trainers liked the option of leaving it as late as possible to put on. Now, all gear has to be put on in the saddling area to be checked off by the steward. The explanation above is a crock. Further to that, a sometime barrier attendant said to me this morning that they had all had a directive to not touch or interfere with any gear - with the exception of assisting with a slipped saddle, for example, or replacing a bridle that has broken. Recently a horse appeared at the gates with it's tongue tie chewed and slipping off- and all the staff were allowed to do was take it off. So it appears the feds don't even know their own rules.....but they can change them at will, of course. At the last Riccarton meeting, a runner which customarily is loaded last, was refused permission to do so. Why? asked the bemused trainer...because he's eight years old, was the reply.

Damn right, Jenny...but the bigger picture is the poor programming that allows overlaps of some grades/ distances which produce what you have indicated. Equally, there are horses languishing in other grades unable to get a run. Basic stuff, but instead of addressing it, hey, let's spend money charging around telling people that their tracks are going to be closed and how grateful they must all be.

Ah...I see . Well then....grand idea.

What hope might you have that even claimers could be handicapped suitably?

Will be a great sight...but I had to cringe at those heavy bodies clattering around on that very firm ground....wherever it was. Thankfully they weren't going very far, or fast!

Early seventies for me...I do remember discussions as to whether they might be a good idea...but never had them as far as I am aware.

What makes you think Ms Jonker wouldn't just say what she was told? She is the stable rider after all. It can't be 'proven' that the object was 'dodgy' - in other words, anything but a tongue tie. It may well have been. But it didn't look good, many comments have been received from over the ditch wanting to know wtf was going on, and one of the protagonists has form as long as your arm.

It has washed.....

No, we sure don't. However, that is [ by the look of it ] American-style dirt, which isn't what was on our agenda. Things seem to have gone a shade quiet over the Cambridge allweather...what a surprise. Shane Jones run out of lollies?