Freda

Sorry, no..although I remember it being done. Used to have jumping races there, too, back in the day.

Well, I backed her. Not because I am a clever punter, or anything remotely approaching that. But, because I know, like and respect her trainers, they do a great job,and the mare has some real ability. She has won at Ashburton before coming from miles back, so didn't consider that an impossible task. But, horses are horses, not bicycles. This is, clearly, a horse, and a girl one at that, and as bitchy, independant and contrary as it chooses to be. Yesterday, she surprised her connections and her rider, by deciding to fly the gates and gallop with enthusiasm. Have we forgotten that Chautauqua had his own input into his retirement?

That's true enough. But, the Couplands Mile replaces the Churchill Stakes ....a limited handicap of - wait for it - a mile. On the other side of the coin, we do have a Canterbury Belle Stakes.

And, I am getting a tad off topic here...but I was, along with many, in favour of 'rationalising ' the 3 year old Classics to a more suitable time of the year for immature horses. So Guineas went to the spring, Derby to summer, and St Leger to autumn. But I later read a discourse about the classics being the benchmark of quality in the 3 year old crop. It went on to argue that, rather than being appropriate to ease the competition up over distance for the young horses, in actual fact the real benchmark of a class horse was its ability to perform outside its comfort zone. Good article I thought.

Oh, absolutely. I recall the 2 year old parade that used to be run at National time, a scamper up the straight for the babies. Two divisions in that, too, often. And, the interesting thing, the leading 2 year old frequently came from that early parade....as did the best 3 year olds perform well in the NZ Derby and Oaks run at Riccarton, Cup time.

Won by some bloody good horses too. Pretty sure Princess Mellay was one.

I didn't recall it either, although I guess we aren't really to know, there are a large number of jockeys in Australia, a pretty big fishpond. Unless you had local knowledge, hard to ascertain. One thing though, at the time of the various 'lockdowns' we [ in NZ ] seemed to enjoy pointing the finger over the Tasman and crowing over how well we had done containing the earlier variants, and comparing the spiralling number of cases compared to us. It may well be that exposure to those earlier variants have produced a degree of herd immunity that we don't have. Yet. Just saying.....and, while I am 'just saying', what is the point of isolating folk who are not unwell and who are perfectly capable of doing their job?

I did indeed. Good bloke, although he could be a handful! Mouse used to ride Short Stops. Country Manners came south as a 30- something start maiden, and went on to do very well.

Great post. My dad used to say, if I got critical or dined out upon someone's supposed inadequacy ' the man who never made a mistake never made anything '.

I remember all those horses, such great days, used to stay at Bill Kennedys when campaigning on the Coast. Bill and the O'Malleys shared a horse truck, which got a lot of use, based as both trainers were, at Ikamatua. The old flatdeck Bedford would get backed under the horsebox, which was bolted on to the deck. I recall going with Bill one day, following the truck driven by one of the O'Malley team, when Bill said, that bloody box isn't bolted down. Sure enough, you could see the box lifting as the truck cornered. Luckily nothing untoward transpired and the horses arrived safely! Thoreau will always have a special place for me, he was the sire of my first winner as a trainer in my own right, a tough little gelding called Hooray Henry owned by Penny Hargreaves.

You live in a monastery?

I'm not in favour of completely banning whips. There will always be the odd smarty pants who has worked out that they can cruise home untouched, without so much as a flick to say, wake up!

I think we got our indication. But good on them for having a go.

Yes, it will certainly be interesting. That's what WFA is all about, and I think I can recall a 2 yr old also, years ago, competing under those conditions. Might it have been Wood Court Inn, ridden by Noel Eastwood?

And...given this info, and more, recently, besides - for how long are we going to be encouraged to 'scan in and save lives ' when contract tracing is a waste of time, healthy people with at worst, a sniffle cannot go to work, industries and workplaces are running so low on staff that some will have to close down [ for now, if not for good ] ..? And, as well, this was a racing site [ although this category was added to specifically discuss covid ] ...so, what happens when most jockeys on any given day return a positive R.A.T. ? I await that possibiity with some interest.

I don't think the best horse won the race. But all credit to the winner.

Very interesting indeed...albeit nearly a decade on ? unless I have misread the credits. My father was an avowed Anglophile, he always maintained America was a nation of clowns [ didn't mince words, the old man ] and referred, in particular to their very underwhelming record in overseas conflicts. I guess we have grown up thinking - or being told - that the might of America will keep us 'safe', it is fascinating to be made aware just how the shifting power blocks come to play out. The 'benign hegemony' seems to have shot itself in the foot.

No, he didn't. And he does have the resources for a fight, unlike many who just have to suck it up.

Col does like a cause to get behind. He won't take that lying down!

This is all a revelation to me. To say I'm staggered is an understatement.

I'm not into trying to compare different horses, or those from years ago to now - pointless IMO - and every great horse is a privilege to witness. But how many would have shown the class she has over such a wide array of distances?

A commentator on TV news last night was at pains to stress that the judgement didn't apply to any other portion of society. What qualification or backing he had to announce that I have no idea.. but that seems to be the party line at the moment.

Have to have a 'bob each way ' here, I agree in principle with both Reefton and Chimbu. Some very average 'officials' at time go well beyond their level of competence in enforcing utterly ridiculous instructions....and equally, professionals should not behave in the above described fashion. I understand Jim's annoyance and frustration, if [ as Reefton stated ] the horse concerned had not been prevented from working the matter may not have escalated in this fashion. The horse may have been racing or trialling in a matter of days, to work would have been critical. Faults on both sides. During my time in racing, in which I have been all my adult working life, I have heard some appalling abuse from supposed professionals, particularly to subordinates,with little done to rein them in. Different if an official is lambasted, though. The hapless stable hand or apprentice has to cop it, often in the birdcage and in front of an audience.

Absolutely. I read $55 bn - and counting...? How many ICU extra nurses might some of that have covered, not to mention an upgrade in facilities and equipment? but no, a separate Maori health system. is in the wings...ffs

Ice packs, Chief. Bandage them on. Keep up. Used to do it with my show ponies.