Freda

Tina Comignaghi has always had a lovely touch with horses, but - four out of four..! What an effort. This would be the first extended period that she hasn't had significant injury issues, broken hand, shoulder, wrists, etc...doing stupid things like schooling novice jumpers on race morning..ffs..and the extra fitness gained through fewer layoffs is certainly showing benefits. With the current furore over whip use, it is also gratifying to see such success from one who doesn't rely on it.

He jests. I dislike that sort of heat....25-ish is about where my comfort zone ends! Our chook has just closed our border completely by the sound of it.

If they are all vaxed - and one would presume they are - surely, there must be some bright governmental spark who thinks, hang on, this isn't working, how about we change our processes here..?

That's so sad, but I see around me the fear and division too...and the utter b/s espoused by formerly rational people, from both sides! Won't be long before our Leader makes a booster compulsory for a vaccine pass.

yep, she sure deserves a goodie.

Ffs...cringeworthy.

She likes the scenery. She, Sam and the dog go all over the magnificent Sth Island.

As did the other Coast meetings. The tracks were presented beautifully and the racing was grand. The weather gods did help, obviously - but, along with Kurow and Cromwell, the holiday racing down south has been very good indeed.

Interesting read, Chief, thanks.

Casey Lunn...? Jeez...

Why do we care ? Isn't the topic ' Kumara' ?

I'm wondering, in the face of all this, where is all the extra money coming from to manage the training and testing of all the licensees? If licensees are to be 'educated' on a regular basis as a condition of said licence, where will the extra people doing the assessing coming from? Who trains them, will they be competent themselves? The structures to educate new riders, where are they? Where are the academies, the facilities to safely introduce young people to racehorse riding? The initiative of the Nakhles at Byerly Park, while welcome, is a private model. To adequately train young riders, there needs to be suitable stabling and horses, which must be looked after, staff must be employed to keep such horses fit and well to cope with the demands of being ridden by novices as well as being suitable to gallop.....I could go on, but I'm sure you get the drift. And who, exactly, of existing licensees of the training side, will be 'educated ' ? Will there be a universal "test' that we all must undergo? ( I'm not averse to education in any shape or form btw) but what exactly will be examined? I have a vision of a questionnaire like that which was required for new trainers licenses at one stage, with questions like ' what goes on first, blinkers or the bridle ' and ' where is the number cloth placed '.... ye gods, surely not. We have the situation now where some will take horses to the races and can't saddle the things. The fault here is with those who granted licences, will those incompents be educated too? As for the incumbents in NZTR who can't/won't answer their phones, acknowledge emails, and certainly cannot go to the letter box and deal with the old-fashioned stuff that arrives in the mail..... educate them too , you clowns.

They wouldn't have gone, much better on the Coast.

The only one I can relate to from either list is Teina Walters, the lad whose infectious delight was so very entertaining when one of his [ Te Akau ] charges saluted the judge. How that 'skill ' can be reproduced from behind a desk, I can't imagine. And what, exactly, does a 'content creator ' do?

I sincerely hope they aren't.

To be fair, most on here are as critical as Brian....and some, better informed. For several years, Brian worshipped at the altar of Winston Peters; and, with his personal friendship with John Messara, was probably instrumental in facilitating the connection between Winston and J.M, and then the Messara report. We had many a discussion about the wisdom ( or lack ) of relying on that slippery old self-server, but he was adamant that Winston was our only hope. I think most on here would agree that the Racing Act 2020 is not the panacea hoped for, any more than the 2003 version was. I have to agree with you however that at least Brian did SOMETHING.

We trained a little horse for him, back in the day. Of no account, unfortunately. That was a while ago! As for Mary, didn't realise she was the former Ms McCarty. No wonder she seemed to know what was going on. Between Mary and Marty Burns, the matter got sorted. I find that Marty can be nearly guaranteed to answer his phone - if not, a quick text and then a call-back. For that reason, the poor guy ends up dealing with stuff that has little to do with him, merely because he is the only one I can contact. But at least he will get off his ass and try and motivate the person concerned.

Yes, that makes good sense. Personally, I don't think we have the horse population or geography to adequately run a tiered structure...but if we must, then there has to be a better way of smoothly getting horses through the grades, instead of the ridiculous logjam in R 65 that exists. Yes, of course you can enter and run out of your class, if you must, to get a start - but why should you? It doesn't seem too complicated - IMO - to have the lower class horses competing on industry days with ample maiden opportunities, and [ say ] R 58 - 62, 63- 68, whatever, and then have the R 70's and up on the better days with better money. With that sort of arrangement, no horse would be forced to wait around for weeks on end to have a run; and if it had good ability, would quickly be through to having a go at slightly better stakes on a feature day.

Is the 'Tim Barton' the same Tim who used to be a journalist, or similar, in Canterbury? As for Mary - I have to give credit where it is due, inasmuch as when I was frustratedly trying to find SOMEONE to answer the bloody phone at NZTR.....anyone ? nobody home? I finally tripped over Mary - by cellphone - and she wasn't even at work, but off with a broken leg. However, she was both pleasant and very helpful. The NZTR positions above are astounding. WTF do they do? I wonder if that same lady would care to be reminded of her blog posting of four and a half years ago?

No.

Yes, that point was brought home to me yesterday, chatting with a training friend. I hadn't thought of it, but - as he said - wouldn't you think that breeders would be kicking up about the implications? Where will their 2nd and 3rd tier horses go, if the smaller trainer is squeezed out and the big shots have picked the eyes out pf the catalogues?

No apology needed, we arrived a bit later in the day and I hadn't been aware of the 'wristband' thingy. Far too hot for alcohol - and I'm not a beer drinker - but was very grateful to be able to have copious amounts of lemonade. Given that the so very popular Gisborne / Wairoa circuit has now been consigned to history, it is, I suspect, largely due to the eloquence and energy of your good self that the Coast still survives as a 'circuit' but they are clearly doing their best to fix that. The absence of a Westland day can only be 'payback' for the actions of the club....and what is the silliest thing of all ; the improvements deemed necessary to bring the track up to standard [ if that was a major factor ] could have been funded by the club itself. Industry money was not needed, or expected. They had the funds to do whatever was required, be that improving the camber, re-aligning a bend, etc...as well as plenty of local voluntary help.

Was a super day - heat notwithstanding. Caught up with so many old friends, among them former very good trainer Helen Preston, along with a happy and enthusiastic crowd. I hear the next year's days for the three Coast clubs are Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Westland again misses out, although I'm told they applied for a day. The prospect of these wonderful days getting transferred to the AWT is alarming.

Yep. But I'm not going to criticise the winningest jockey NZ has ever seen. He sweated buckets on the truck, that in itself may have been enough to cost him a wee bit of lift. But not too many options if the front wasn't happening. Quite happy. Going well and trying hard. Good on the horse, he's had issues and looks very genuine now.

Everyone is entitled to their opinions....and, I am opposed big-time to the vaccine mandate. But, your observation is about where I sit too. If vaccination wasn't being forced upon people, but rather a matter for free and informed choice, there would, IMO, still be nearly as many vaxxed. No division, angst, and far less fear in the community. No businesses facing either huge costs in the form of fines, or compliance - or closure. About the same amount of infections. And, how about reporting - and helping - those who are actually seriously ill? instead of a clusterfuck of testing, isolating, quarantining - and vilifying - people who aren't sick?