Freda

yes, and you and I had a minor difference of difference of opinion about horses slipping at Riccartpn. I did say that they got away with indifferent preparation because of the wide, sweeping turns, and horses didn't slip. But the incompetence we have seen today defied even that. They got slipping on a relatively straight line. Well done team.

H & S rules make it mandatory to call races off if there is a KNOWN problem. Don't blame the jockeys. Do you think they want to miss out on prestige races and great money? They know, better than most, how much work goes in, ffs many work these same horses daily. How many hopes and dreams just got scuttled? What are you thinking? The buck stops with who served this tripe up on a Grp One day. Unbelievable.

lol...they didn't...most jumped them. Lucky Lee Callaway was in front at the time, he kicked up and most of the rest followed.

Spot on.

Yes, oh dear, and FFS...to all of the above. But to pick on one sector - and I have to be fair and acknowledge that no one, not even the heirarchy, wants to see horses and riders hurt through unsafe tracks - as far as I am aware, track managers undergo a course in, well, track management. So, we therefore assume that all managers have learnt much the same stuff. I don't think it's very long either, a diploma course of six weeks I believe although someone may correct me. Clearly, then, the material that is taught to these fellas is flawed [or else they are as thick as planks and can't learn], or else the course is just not long enough to hammer stuff home. Chief will come in and point out that soil structures are stuffed, through years of under-investment, and he's not wrong IMO. So, how long are these blokes going to carry on, doing the same, before someone either from their ranks, or from the Taj Mahal, says, shit, guys, we're getting this wrong..? How long can ineptitude and utter stupidity not be challenged, and fixed?

Don't recall Reefton having ANY issues, my memory may not serve me well but the glass house is pretty safe I think.

Happened on more than one occasion and with different starters.

Apparently the biggest problem was at the 1400m mark, I haven't walked around there, the track shut early so too much of my own stuff to do. But Ali's comments would make you think so. And he is a very experienced horseman, not just an idle observer.

No idea what they use. I'm only passing on Ali's comments. Well, some of them.

And the 'ex' mentioned earlier in the discussion, was a rider of the colt Clansman earlier in his career. But Dave ( Kerr ) wanted him to come and work him one Sunday before, I think, the John Grigg. But he couldn't be bothered. So Ali rode him from then on.

Yeah, the 2000 Guineas on Clansman I think, for Kerrs, among many other features. Some for the Dennis Brothers too.

Wasn't there. But one gentleman who was, was former trainer/jockey Ali Robinson. Ali and his wife have a new home in the Ryman retirement village, at the top end of the six furlong chute. He often wanders down to see the horses and watch trackwork. I was standing at the crossing watching one work as he hove to, muttering. All that slipping, he said, bloody grass too long. It's so long it lies flat and the mower can't cut it.

Ha...I think ( jmo ) that it is an attempt to look reasonable and considered, rather than an arrogant knowall twat.

Not sure if Don is still with us, the other great Coast supporter and all-round good guy, Frankie Stammers, sadly, isn't. From acting crossing-keeper, farrier, trackwork rider, there was nothing Frankie wouldn't do to help someone. One year, a group of us was at Woodstock [ a little settlement a wee way out of Hokitika ] to listen to the regular Sunday night jam session. Any musician who wanted to have a go could get up and entertain the listeners. Om this occasion, a local dashed into the pub to announce that a car had run off the road and was stuck in a ditch. Off went Frankie in his elderly Escort and duly towed the hapless driver out of the ditch and back on the road. The guy turned out to be an American concert pianist. He had been tikki-touring around back-country NZ, on his own, having some time out. Once suitably refreshed, he sat down at the piano in the bar and enthralled us all. He was awesome.

There was a deputation of officials inspecting the track yesterday morning.

Sounds better.

I agree, on one day recently the TV panned to Aus just after a Riccarton start, my god, the contrast was spectacular, all in, stood, gates opened and all jumped cleanly, hardly any noise at all. One of those watching with me said, wow, that was quiet.

I noticed him at the track this morning, I'll ask him tomorrow if he's there.

Wasn't in stipes report so obviously they don't.

They are the same [ or similar ] to the gates currently in use in Australia. These ones are Australian made. Bad loaders should be put in first [ JMO ] so they don't have the others standing around for ages. Unfortunately the numbers of barrier staff tend to preclude that happening, with 2 or maybe 3 requiring a handler up there aren't enough to manage the rest. The 'blundering' at the start I find interesting. A jockey resident at mine commented on horses slipping, although no mention in stipes report. I have to wonder if the 38ml of irrigation applied after Saturday's very firm track had anything to do with that?

Well - IMO - the 'trend' reflects the dumbing down of NZ racing as a whole, so overall, it would take a complete overhaul of the programmes, handicapping, all things that have been discussed/suggested ad infinitum but which have had no heed taken of them. Locally ? there are a couple of very smart posters who could re-vamp things in the southern arena, one in particular who has some very good ideas but they won't get any traction. Chopping out provincial tracks is one thing that has to stop, market forces [ as has been said before ] will decide which venues stay and which don't, but to have them lost to racing just reduces local interest and accelerates the decline. We know well that there is not the seemingly unlimited supply of money that flows in the wider Australian market, and while we can't 'copy' their operating systems without changing our whole mindset, there are things that could be done while working within a much more stringent budget. I don't have the skillset to kick-start things, however, others do.

Thanks team, yes, good result, could have been better but tried hard and still learning. ( and he's a boy )

Yes, it was a complete re lay, back in 1998.

I presume your comment ' those two classics are history ' means, in their current placement.

Deluded twits.