Freda

Yeah...there was a fair bit of controversy over his appointment as starter. ' Jobs for the boys ' has been mentioned.....apparently barrier lads called out 'wait, wait..' as Jason wasn't ready either. But the warning wasn't heard.

It seems that the current Racing Act 2020 is a lemon. But, far worse, IMO, was the 2003 Act, that changed, irrevocably, the existing model to the corporate one we then inherited, along with the subsequent run-down of the operation with succeeding inadequate management.

Saw Tito more recently, he appeared at the track one morning a couple of years ago. His son has [ had? ] a restaurant in town, and he was visiting to catch up with family. Saw me looking at him curiously, and came over and said 'you remember me? ' I said yes, you look very familiar, but...a long time ? he laughed, and introduced himself. Mentioned that he had been to the recent Riccarton races, shook his head, and said, I'd love to go to the apprentice school and try to help some of these young riders. We both agreed that it would be a challenge, no-one would have heard of him, and probably none of the kids would put their cellphones down long enough to listen. Helen Preston, trainer of Magellan, among others, ridding by Tito on occasions, showed me a video of him, leading up the straight at Riccarton, swapping the stick over alternate strides. Balance superb.

Don't know how(why) because she couldn't flick a fly off the sugar bowl with the bloody thing.

From Argentina.

I note England is now removing all Govt mandates.

Yes, he has. Used to ride as I recall, should know how the operation works. And his old man, Dick, was a very canny trainer.

Bugger that, we need her here. The cartel can get their own.

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.