Freda

Given my innate courtesy, that'll do. You don't have a 'Miss Jools' over here, however, so thought I'd dip my toe into the grammar/spelling correcting stuff.

FFS...can we not just accept that T.A have developed into an impressive conglomerate that is very, very good at what they do.? But they are not the only way to go....there are many other successful operations that fly a bit lower under the radar...that doesn't make them inferior, just different. No outfit however has a mortgage on top horses and T.A has its share of horses that are moderate, average, or just plain awful. As we all do. Chatting to a stable representative, locally, a few years ago about the stock he was handling at that time, he said, these are the shitters, we have more of them than the highflyers- but they are part and parcel of keeping the whole thing going. Go Racing has a different modus operandi, but many people have a great experience with them.

' Viscous - a thick and sticky substance '

Years ago we had a two week school here at Riccarton, residential, and Max Skelton as riding master, when he had his riding school, used some of his retired racehorses for the riding tuition. It was great, but I presume either cost or dropping participation led to its cessation.

I think Daniel's one has shifted to Cambridge. But NZTR has its own rather complicated system, with apprentice 'mentors' and regular apprentice school linked to NZQA standards. I don't think they would be responsive to an academy type of operation- and the costs would be significant.

Damian is now mentoring apprentices on the Sunshine Coast, so both he and wife Kim very much still involved.

Yes. Jamie Bullard is training locally. Jamie Bates rode in Australia, and his son - Logan Bates - has started riding in Victoria. Kim Lange went to Aus with her partner Damian Browne who had a stellar career, rode briefly and the couple have two children. Andre Gillett, not now although rode for Gai Waterhouse briefly.

Can we use your bank account? Mine won't manage it.

Daniel Nakhle is to be congratulated for his riding academy, the shame is that it is his private initiative and not an industry one.

Afraid you are right. Discipline in homes seems non-existent, so it is very hard to get the level of commitment needed to succeed . Hard night out? Don't turn up to work. Stiff and sore because new muscles are being used for, in some cases, the first time.? Have to have a week off. Cold wet day? Can't possibly go out and get soaked. Different ball game now. So we get back to the imports, who for the most part are respectful and hard working, and grateful for the opportunity. And often get treated badly as a result, makes me very ashamed of our culture sometimes.

Yes, that's quite true. Flatting and modern city life is also a very different environment to the older private stables with, as you say, accommodation. Rented/ leased stables at tracks are now the norm and the early mornings and long hours along with the temptations that naturally arise do make it difficult to attract young people to the lifestyle. Rule changes also made things harder for employers. Things weren't perfect years ago and things did have to change, but for a long time, not for the better. IMO. One well-known trainer commented ' they've taken control away from the employers, but replaced it with nothing ' and I feel he was right. A lad down here on loan, 4 claimer Donovan Cooper, seems to ride well, sits nicely, balanced and whip use tidy. Trained where? South Africa.

My apprentices were a bit earlier than that. The size of my team dropped and I didn't feel I could justify and support a young rider.

She'll have plenty of help in that respect going forward.

Yeah....mine were certainly very useful in that respect! Good kids and a privilege to be instrumental in their development.

Danika has left Christchurch and gone back home to Timaru. Denby has transferred locally and is marking time while details are sorted out.

A psychopathic elephant.

I didn't post that race as an issue, so no point whatsoever calling me out over that. The discussion is whip use generally. And isn't this a site for opinion? Every opinion shows a bias in one way or another. Without that there is no opinion. However, playing the man is not a constructive means with which to make a point.

Thanks, Curious. A look at the last race of the champion Equinox might be edifying to some here.

Can you put those up, C?

I think we might have had worse grp 1's here...!

That comment is beneath even you. I could make the same observation about you. Ryan Moore, Tom Marquand, Hollie Doyle et al ride superbly, and effectively, following just those directives, clearly you have no idea.

I still think, allow a limited number of strikes - say 5, or 7, for the whole race and leave it up to the rider to decide when best to use. Then suspend if he/ she can't count.

Interesting topic, opposite opinions, but each as merit IMO. The compressed scale we deal with now, both here and in Aus, makes real handicapping a thing of the past. Curious will have stats, no doubt, but it is plain that now, topweights win frequently, far more often than they should under an accurate handicapping regime. In those former days weight definitely played a big part - affecting some more than others, obviously - but now, the differential is so slight as to be of very little significance to most. IMO. In the same era as Zeditave - quoted by J.B - I had two smallish geldings in work. One won four in his first racing season, and looked to be more than useful. The other won a couple over the next couple of years, but struggled in the old C 3 classification under top weights. In frustration I tossed him into Open class, in on the minimum and he immediately found form. He placed in the Hazlett Stakes - then 1400m - and then ran 3rd in the 2000m Easter Classic, and won the 2400m Great Autumn. He could cope with the classier animals just fine, but clearly, struggled with weight. The other bloke, small as he was, ran successfully in highweights, handled the impost despite his small frame, but couldn't cop the step up in class.

Spot on. I agree with Thommo on many things, but not this. I heard the speech Peters made, and didn't for one minute think he was denigrating survivors of the holocaust, or their descendants - or making light of the awful scenario. The racial prioritisation was Winston's point, and I remain astounded that so many people just don't 'get' what he was meaning. And I'm not a Winston acolyte either, he's a slippery, self-motivated old codger and is, with his speech sounding garbled and at times slurred, is either pissed or has Biden syndrome. The Maori DNA thing was a shocker. There can be no place for that in our country. We saw ' denouncements' over vaccination during Covid - a friend of mine actually said - ' those who are unvaccinated should be locked up ' and unvaxed person who called in to my stable got 'potted' to the CEO. Nazi stuff again. Oh, so easy to turn a comfortable and placid society into one of rabid bigots.

Locally, the T.A certainly did attempt to get grass trials put on. At the recent Roadshow, an attendee spoke very passionately about the need for horses - especially young horses - to have grass surfaces to learn their craft on. The request was made for management to look into maybe Rangiora and/or Motukarara - 20/30 mins up the road - both of which have been mothballed for racing/trialing purposes, although still operating as viable harness racing venues. An email received by trainers as a result contained no mention of either of the above two tracks. Timaru and Ashburton were the only ones available, Timaru has undertaken renovation so is NOT usable, and if Ashburton was to be used permission would need to be obtained to run outside cones. That wasn't forthcoming.