Freda

A real matter of concern for me. As an older person, I can remember the times when many kids had some - if not lots - of experience on Granddad's farm, or Uncle Jack's ponies...feeding orphan lambs with a bottle was a highlight for me as a young child, same as for many of my schoolmates..but now we are in a predominantly city culture. Most people now are city -bred, many, even those who do have show or sport horses, have absolutely no idea how to manage and/or look after them properly, and bloody hell, all the bling - expensive gear, makeup [ ffs] for show classes..tearing around bareback on scruffy ponies is something they have never done and would never deign to do. I feel for both Steve and the poor lass...but she would never have got on a horse of mine. Good level eventing skills would be the least I would expect.

I can't comprehend balance sheets...if an amount spent ( on a pipe dream) is in the books as an ' intangible asset' ....how does that work? I'd have thought it was a tangible liability.

NZ racing is technically insolvent. All the railing in the world cannot conjure up 'more money' because there is no more left. Without a model change it is anybody's guess how stakes of ANY level can be provided. Even the total implementation of the Messara recommendations will take time to realise what is envisaged...and there is no guarantee - IMO only of course - that those recommendations will work.

Wash your mouth out ....

I think the Matriarch is her aim

Pure poetry.

And from me.....$60.00.

Hell, no....RM....never give up....and there's no chance for complacency with you to keep us thinking....! But seriously, that little story that I had heard, but forgotten about with more recent news to keep me entertained, brings me to another gripe which i had thought was just a NZ matter, but seemingly not. Sales of horses : correct and open procedures and suitable paperwork with reputable people and this b/ s shouldn't happen.

Don't think there is such a scheme...to our shame. Riccarton has an 'owners' day' where free entry is given and a discounted luncheon....better than nothing but a long way from what you describe.

...forward to Petone...

There was a strike mooted here in Canterbury, quite some years ago ; can't remember what the issue was then, I was an obedient stable girl and probably hadn't been told...anyway, it was decided to boycott a set of trials. [ ok, not very radical, but still, a statement ] but in the end, Garth Jackson and Mouse McCann boycotted, with the support of their owners, no one else, the trials went ahead and no statement was made at all. The exact same thing would happen now; some might strike, others would see a chance to get results with depleted fields....ffs

I could think of other reasons, unique to NZ, that lead to random and hard-to-follow results - not just variations in tracks.

Only those who are charging a fee that has a reasonable profit-margin incorporated - i.e a sensible business model - could justify doing that financially. The majority are so screwed down that they would be far better off if they got rid of the lot and went on the dole.

Thats a good point..

Thanks, hesi....but I think I could already work out that unclaimed dividends were unpaid dividends. So where do they go? if put against 'liabilities' they would disappear without trace....

It was a serious question...!

What happens to unclaimed TAB/tote winnings ?

Sorry to cut into your fantasies, fellas...but back to the topic...Scandinavian countries have a very comprehensive health and welfare system too I believe...but I haven't looked into the funding mechanism there at all.

..and we are supposed to have faith in this same failed culture to oversee more renovations and reconstructions - with money stolen from some clubs? God give me strength... how does the 'turf specialist' get out of bed in the morning?

Thanks, hesi, yes a bit of balance for sure. I would still like to know how drug treatments are so much more affordable across the ditch, and by what mechanism are they funded?

Agree with the above posters...the mechanisms for funding, however, obviously differ from country to country, and interest me particularly. Pharmac is the agency , Govt. funded, which is charged with purchasing drugs in the most cost-effective way possible. From the material I have read, do overall a pretty good job - which doesn't negate my suspicions wrt big business generally - and it is also clear, that it is in the interests of drug companies to keep us all as sick as possible. Profit and greed, definitely. So, how does Aus manage the system - and is it a federal mechanism, or operated state-by-state? When Michael Joseph Savage, back in 1935, decreed ' free and available health care for all New Zealanders ' he couldn't have envisaged the plethora of treatments expected now. Elective surgeries aside, we have heart, lung, kidney transplants, cataract surgeries, dialysis treatments, oh, too many to list - and all available. In Savage's day, health care was as much to do with ensuring better sanitation and clean water, dealing with those awful childhood diseases like polio and diphtheria that we don't see anymore, as offering free surgeries. And, yes, Barryb, personal responsibility has a fair bit to do with our struggling health budget [ and please, people, don't think I am casting aspersions on those who have loved ones - or themselves - struggling with cancers etc ] . I have friends who are waiting for joint replacements, people who are comfortably off, several have insurance, one is very wealthy, and all could 'go private' and just get the surgery they need done. No problem. But, no, we'll wait and use the public system...because ' I pay my taxes don't I ? I'm entitled...' I have told them all [ they are probably sick of my opinions ] that if they were in enough pain, they would just do it as quickly as possible and stuff the waiting . An elderly acquaintance has her grandson lodging with her. He is a haemophiliac, and has come back from Aus to live with grandma because he can't get treament over there. Granny pays the St John's ambulance brigade the princely sum of $40 for their service to be available to come and take him to hospital whenever he has a bad bleed. She complained bitterly to me recently that the got a bill from St John's, couldn't understand it, 'because I pay for them' she said. How much? I wanted to know, she told me the sum. Turns out that the $40 she pays is per annum... As she also has had a son deported back here - now in goal, again - I had to bite my tongue to stop giving her a piece of my mind about her 'expectations' of our Govt and society generally.

Only b/s.

Repaired, perhaps...?

A few reputations....

Show Gate, Balmerino, Bonecrusher....Lord Module - and the very brave Scotch Tar. Not to denigrate recent champs Sunline, Black Caviar, Winx..of course.