Freda

I'm surprised they let the 2 year old race continue with that ethos.

Gold star, Walt. Even a choccy fish. Very well put.

I don't have an issue with expecting English to be spoken at work - wherever possible - it can be hard enough to get instructions adequately interpreted without language difficulties confusing things further. But abuse or ridicule, whether racially motivated or not, is never acceptable. Just because staff of yesteryear were, in some cases ,treated like shit, doesn't make it right or acceptable.

Unfortunately only one that got some action. An Indian trackrider here was told to ' xxxxx ya black c##t '. He responded with 'call me a C if you like, not a black C '. Luckily it went no further, this young bloke didn't stand any crap but it shows the quality of personnel.

No, I don't, but there would be info somewhere. Curious would be the one to ask. I do know that the bigger factories have an awful record.

Why would any of us refer to old timers from 40 years ago, or want outdated ideas and techniques? Quality modern farming is science based and innovative. That's very true.

End of an era, certainly. The older we get the more of our peers drop off the perch, all that collective knowledge lost and gone. I used to work for Peter. Condolences to family/ friends.

Well, I'm not a dog racing fan specifically, but an animal lover - sure. I have a couch potato of my own, the veteran of 3 wins in 96 starts, and who has an amazing ability to get inside parcels of anything edible within reach of the long nose. The noble Thoroughbred does it for me, a more courageous, generous and talented athlete would be hard to find..IMO. But thank God for the likes of Yankiwi, who, with his experience in several jurisdictions, can find specific reasons for the attrition rate - and actually gives a sh#t.

The current starter is based in Dunedin. I doubt that he would see the gates from one raceday to the next.

You don't watch Country Calendar?

Think I might.

How will the mesh inlaid react to 'machinery breaking down the thick layer ..' ?

I'm sure he could learn. It wouldn't take as long as some of the current lot, they're still getting things wrong. And that's an irrelevant comment re. Reefton. It wasn't mismanagement that got the meeting abandoned and you know that well.

CWJ is an unfair comparison. His balance is/was unbelievable. I've seen him, first time ever on water-skis, stay put despite all efforts to tip him off. Incredible. As Curious has pointed out, the head-on will tell us more.

I'm not getting into the Auckland discussion, not my area at all.....but it seems clear that for quite a few years we DEFINITELY have had the wrong [ track] experts advising.

That last sentence is of much concern to me. Modern H&S rules now [ supposedly ] preclude riders and horses being put at risk in unsafe conditions. Yet time and time again we see races being run, horses slipping - or worse - and then the inevitable abandonment . At which point does Workplace Safety become involved? or does racing get a free pass somehow? We have Reefton abandoned without a slip, just a parcel of lies and stakeholders put to great inconvenience and cost. More recently, Trentham and Hastings abandoned. Does nobody actually LOOK and see how things are? Then Ellerslie, with all the hooplah, and slipping reported during the day. Money up of course, visiting jockeys, all that. So does that make the conditions somehow safer? No horses or people injured, I saw in a comment. The picture I saw of Pendragon on the turn clearly slipping badly - lucky to stay on his feet, I should think - begs the question, how could he not be hurt? maybe not seriously, but he had to have pulled muscles at least. And that's acceptable because 'the money is up ' ? That's just bollocks for mine. My understanding of Strathayr, is that it is supposed to provide 'cushion' and never become compacted and very firm, like conventional turf tracks. Also, the superior drainage in the construction makes it able to cope with flooding or heavy rain very effectively. I've never seen Mooney Valley have horses slip...or Shatin. So how did a shower of rain get the blame for all this?

Yes. Good points. I am advised, by someone who knows far more than i do, that maintenance is not up to scratch. I have no idea what level of attention is acceptable, or what qualifications would be necessary. But I do know that previous starter Kevin Ogden used to check them regularly. In any case, it should not be difficult to have the starting mechanism positioned in a way that accidental tripping of the switch just can't happen.

No, he didn't. The starter did!

Thanks Jess!

Don't be silly. The Ellerslie races will be terrific. And Auckland should be applauded for their initiative wrt the Strathayr. But 'the big stables don't bother....' - that's bollocks. The Marsh and Te Akau barns at Riccarton comprise mainly just those sort of horses, that won't 'cut the mustard' against the top horses. And who said anything about unsound horses? No one wants or needs those, although there are some, which with a bit of 'nursing' can still do their bit.

Spot on, Jess. As for the Chief demanding evidence - fair call, from where he sits. However, most reasonable people are NOT going to spout off and denigrate decent folk who have been caught up in some of this, however inadvertently. As for the assertion that some trainers need to 'up their game' and apply some of the professionalism and attention that the bigger players purport to do - also, a fair call. But the costs of so doing are enormous and well beyond most smaller players. Only the larger syndicates with horses aiming at top races can justify such costs. If a horse has to be prepared for an $18,500 - soon to be $17,000 - race, while regularly incurring vet bills into the thousands on the way, then I suggest that most of those owners would simply go and buy a better fishing rod. The wording of a document explaining the aim of some of the new licensing protocols made it plain that the top trainers would not need to compete with the muck at the bottom. I hope the intent of those documents was not as offensive as it appeared at first reading.

How indeed? We got the concession double there once! Castle Hill/Zebak. Grey Way the stumbling block - of course.

So, in my memory, we have had [ here in the south ] Wyndham, Waikouaiti, Winton, Tapanui, Beaumont, Waimate, Amberley, Rangiora, Blenheim, Nelson, Westport, Hokitika, Motukarara tracks all no longer raced upon. Hororata a bit before my time. In all this 'rationalisation' where are the savings? the benefits? In all this 'too many tracks' dogma, I haven't seen any specific figures to convince us that the right decisions have been made. In the last twenty years, NZ racing has been steadily losing ground and revenue has fallen at a faster rate than ever before. At one time, racing actually paid its way - and tax too. It should be absolutely flying with all those burdensome country tracks no longer needing funding.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who hopes your observations aren't retired as well. The small operator is finding it harder and harder, as you say - and as commented upon elsewhere, all the b/s and blather doesn't address the basic issues we all face. Just costs more money.