Freda

Great stuff, thanks. One could wish, perhaps, that their choice of consorts for their girls was a little more adventurous, perhaps? I remember La Baraka, she wasnt the sweetest natured mare.

Yep, you're quite right of course.... Thanks. FTF....La Figlia was the filly bred by the Austins if my memory serves me correctly .

See if you can find any info re. Olgiata...?

What a lovely piece of nostalgia. Friends and occasional clients, the Austin family of Canterbury, later purchased her dam, the aging Olgiata, a gamble, but I think they managed to breed a filly from her. Pretty sure that filly wasn't of much account, but research may show if she had any reasonable descendants. ...and remembering March Legend....in 1975 [ I think ] we had a runner in the Canterbury Gold Cup, Afghanistan gelding Zebak. My then partner Mouse [ RJ ] McCann 'jocked himself off' and put Bob Skelton on the horse. Wednesday morning [ raceday] the owners, Mouse, and I were standing on the viewing stand watching March Legend warm up before galloping. He limped, hobbled and scrambled around for five minutes or so before setting out to work...one of the owners turned to the rest of us and said 'well, that's one we don't have to worry about ' ....in the absence of the great Balmerino, he won anyway. What a good horse he was. Zebak ran the race of his life to finish third.

clearly they don't have doubts.

....and some do it a lot....! How are you, Pitty? You have many well- wishers, that's for sure.

I think Mr Walsh also believes there should be a system change. NZTR should be indenturing these kids, training them properly and only then allowing them to work for selected trainers. . .and not permanently, but on a rotational basis.

Yep, agree wrt Durban academy, many of the Mauritius lads have attended too, and it seems to be a very good system. A mate of mine ( Irish) has given me much background info on the Irish apprentice academy also, that is also IMO a far better operation than we have here. I haven't seen anything from our apprentice schools which look as if there is any use in attending, which - again IMO - is why the trainers are so important in our system for achieving competence.

Lots.

I think it would be fair to say that often, a gifted sportsperson may not, necessarily, be a great tutor. Two very different skills. Imagine CWJ trying to teach anyone...there wouldn't be a lot said! And also, I'm pretty sure they aren't out riding work with the kids, and therefore can only go on what they see at trials and what they are told by trainers. Trainers have to have a lot of responsibility IMO....the two best apps in the south at the moment are Gosen Jagoo and Tina Comignaghi....both with the Parsons.....and the Andertons consistently produce good riders.

Surely, if anyone had been hurt - other than just a mere horse, ffs - Osh and/or Workplace Safety might have had a look? The ACC provisions have removed the right - or need - to litigate for personal injury, but H & S certainly can take action I think.

Yeah..and Jason is a very experienced rider who should know better. As a matter of interest, I see T Comignaghi was 'spoken to for easing the pace ' in that same race. I had a very good filly ruined when the leader 'stacked them up ' sharply, bringing two down. Nothing was said. But in this case, I don't think Tina 'stacked them up' ... she found herself in front by default, her instructions were to tuck in behind, so she did the best she could to settle the horse. But wtf is wrong with the other riders, could not ONE of them go on and make more pace? that was ugly to watch, with horses reefing and rolling all over the place.

Wet bus ticket Hesi.

While I am in the frame of mind to have a whinge..probably should be another thread but ...stipe control? A pet concern of mine. Just two incidents among probably many... Tanya Jonker on that Japanese thing, at it's previous start, settled back, sailed around the outer and bolted in. On Tuesday, it begins reasonably again [ was sent down because it was refusing to jump out ] , gets snagged back to last - and stays there. Was any question asked about the tactics? doubt it. The report merely states ' became unbalanced across the crossing' . Poor Director has tendons in his hind legs severed and is subsequently euthanased. The offending rider, a new apprentice, was out of her depth and struggling to control her horse; could be clearly seen down on the fence pulling its head around - finally, panicked, she hauls it sideways and straight over Director's hind legs. She'll survive, the horse didn't and its connections are filthy. Understandable. She gets a holiday. She could have been hurt herself, or hurt other riders. How about go back to the trials, lassie - or better still, give up? She has been thrown under a bus by her boss - who used to raceride [ and would have been the first to complain about a novice rider getting in his way ] and should have known the horse was too strong for her - and our system who allowed her to ride in the first place. She struggles to hold horses in track gallops ffs. No wonder punters have little faith in the offerings.

Absolutely.

What a stellar performance from the second filly...but Enable, a class act all the way.

That's been one of my points....that the wee clubs have been on the thin end of the wedge wrt preferential funding, and the big clubs have had more dosh...because of their 'strategic importance ' ...well, haven't they done a grand job with that extra funding. As for the CJC staff...yes, it was their cock-up, but no one will have any questions asked. And at the end of the day, the course manager who is the head honcho [ as Thommo said ] of track managers, is working from the same song sheet as the rest....he may not have any choice in the matter. Whoever writes the tunes, however, is certainly one who needs to be shown the door.

With events nationwide, that is, sadly, no endorsement.

There was a mention somewhere about stipes being sent for retraining.. I may be mistaken but i am not aware of any facility for training stipes about soil/turf management or how to ride safely at speed. Perhaps a bit of gardening might help.

Got some of those...!

Well....dont like to repeat myself but.....the bigger clubs have received preferential funding for years at the expense of the small ones....so why would any same person throw more money at them?

Groundbreaker, I believe. Track was open this morning for those affected horses, until 9.a.m. Machinery arrived in the middle of trackwork. That is typical, of course. And my comment about ' being spoken to ' was, I'm afraid, tongue -in -cheek. There were worried looks aplenty, much handwringing, but not much else.

The rebuild twenty years ago was done on flawed specifications. - IMO - although I am certainly no expert. It has been contentious ever since and, as Curious and others have stated, twenty years is about the lifespan of your turf track anyway. As for track men knowing about the hard pam....go figure

So..to harp on about this b/s...which gives me the shits...if Walshy could identify a problem, what about the stipe - sorry RIU member - who walked the track and approved it? Is he blind? Will he be reprimanded? Will the track manager who authorised the mowing/watering be spoken to firmly? Will the CJC fraternity who want other tracks to close and their clubs to race at Riccarton feel, ever so slightly, embarassed? The recommendation in the M report was that many of the 'keep' tracks be reconstructed. Has anyone from NZTR bothered to discuss with the 'close' tracks any likely time frames and perhaps reassure them that they will most definitely be needed while this reconstruction goes on? Oh - hang on, that's right, they all have to be cashed up to get the funds to do the reconstruction. FFS.

Can't comment about urea...but definitely appalling judgement to mow in the manner they did. Yesterday when walking out to the crossing I got very wet shoes and socks...but the ground was hard underneath.