Freda

Nothing new for him. Unnecessary, although that has never stopped him. And here was I thinking that despite everything, he would make a damn fine mayor. The fact remains that the investigation - whatever the outcome - came too late for the mare in question. And that statement does NOT make any point that Harris is, or is not to blame.

Some may have targeted the second day, I know one at least that left today for Monday. They'll be delighted....not. Monday/Tuesday used to be the norm for Riverton anyway.

Great drive around the coast road back from Tuatapere too. Those early Waka sailors, arriving at the southernmost shores, wow, what a scary business that must have been.

Too late for the full to Aegon, River Falls.

Great meeting, excellent track. Hope they have good figures to give the middle finger to the industry.

The silliest point of all - the small country/provincial tracks are worth peanuts, compared to their city cousins. Those are the ones that need 'rationalisation', aren't they?

That's how I read it too, Huey...notwithstanding the acknowledgement about Ellerslie, etc. And what the hell is wrong with grazing sheep [ income, after all ] on country tracks ? There won't be any sheep grazing in the infield at Trentham or Riccarton.

I don't see any indication that he thinks the 'white elephant big tracks' need to be sold, apart from an acknowledgement that billions of dollars is sitting in property not producing. He's right, and realistically Ellerslie is the prize [ maybe Riccarton too? ] but there isn't a snowballs chance in hell that either will be sold. As for 'training and recruitment' the apprentice system as it stands is a bloody shambles.

They could have been..but many trainers - me included - wanted grass trials specifically. There was a call for an alternative [ Ashburton ] after the penultimate set of AWT trials, but they were rained off and therefore held on the AWT. The consensus, I believe, was to alternate grass/AWT trials whenever feasible. As previously alluded to, the decision to scrap Rangiora as a very close and tidy venue for trials has meant that Ashburton gets hammered with both trials/racedays. Not ideal.

WTF ? Kimberley has taken on a 30 start maiden and in two runs, produced him for a third and a win. Whether she is getting advice or not - and with father Roger in the ownership, probably she is - she's doing a bloody good job.

Ex Parsons horse now owned/trained by Kimberley Hampton. Wouldn't be short of expert advice if she needed it, would she? Dad Roger developed Bart's Best into a champion hurdler, sister Maria was a successful jockey, Kevin Doolan and Bill Kennedy used to train just up the road, and the O'Malley's and Ron ' Mouse' McCann are still in the district close by.

Representation from the Armed Forces now disallowed on one of our most important days. Reason? Covid-19. Really? What about the general public, who are now allowed to attend outside gatherings in unlimited numbers....are our Service personnel somehow more vulnerable than the man in the street? They were at the frontline of infection while manning the stuttering quarantine facilities, ffs...what an insult to those who gave their lives - and their families. I'd lay odds it has nowt to do with Covid-19 and everything to do with dismantling the fabric of our society- as we know it. No Last Post ? Doesn't bear contemplation.

Four or five [ maybe more? ] years ago, there was a meeting held at the CJC to discuss support for an AWT. There were representatives from many clubs as well as trainers, and generally interested parties. Chair Tim Mills was very pro-active in encouraging support, his stance being that to do nothing was not going to improve racing's profile and that to implement an AWT was one way of 'joining the 21st century' with a modern facility. But, a point strongly made, was that for an AWT to succeed, it must be used for racing as well as training, and that meetings would be shifted there to justify the expense. That didn't sit well with representatives from other districts, as you can imagine. But, as Kevin Hughes wryly said later, it doesn't matter what he wants, there isn't the money so it will never happen. This was all before the Messara report. The much-maligned Greg Purcell had been on record as saying, on more than one occasion ' we do not support forced track closures but will work with clubs to assist a voluntary move or merger'. Obviously, that stance was not continued by his successor...and Winston stuck his oar in with the taxpayer bail-out so the die was cast for the AWT's. Not sure what the plan is around the C.D / Taranaki - the opinion of a senior trainer is that it will stuff C.D racing - but the closure of Timaru and Oamaru were part of the grand design. Waimate and Motukarara were already gone, as is Blenheim and Hokitika, with the rest of the Coast hanging on - for now. Rangiora has been off the scene for years, apart from trials [ but not any more ] and now that there has been a call for some grass trials instead of all AWT trials, Ashburton has been co-opted into fulfilling that need. As they are now the only alternative to Riccarton that does pose problems when Ashburton has a racemeeting upcoming. The last trials scheduled there were switched to the AWT because of heavy rain...the decision to no longer use Rangiora for trials might be seen as yet another own goal. A tidy, very handy facility [saving owners/trainers both money and travelling time] and one that is not going to have any issues with an upcoming racemeeting, would be very useful about now.

Kelvin is taking a small team to Qld for the winter. I assume the lesser lights will remain to prop up some local meetings....but nine hour float trips were one reason he's off for a period.

It's already been nailed and eliminated.

I think that is the idea, yes.

I just knew you'd argue about that. Regardless, he hasn't yelped since.

I can't answer that in detail; however, the three good horses you mentioned have all had significant issues. Catalyst had ongoing joint issues, Aegon bled, Noverre broke down. The lack of depth [ numbers] however, means that there aren't too many that can step up and fill the gaps.

As well as this contretemps, there is the not so minor matter of the proposed demerger of Tabcorp's combined operations. Interesting times.

Waverly Friday

Or are we...and at what cost?

Fair comment and, with your experience, quite justified. It is possible that a more skilled rider may, just may, be able to galvanize the mare without offending her. But for now, her current rider does the best she can. You will know that old saying ' ask a filly, tell a gelding, and negotiate with a stallion'.

I liked much of Thomass' input, too.

More to the point, it will be interesting to se what the mare chooses to do.

Agree completely. Will make no difference whatsoever for the once-a-year party goer, and it might be possible to get a more co-ordinated and balanced flow of races throughout the season.