Freda

Can I send you my flatmates? Now there's a challenge.

yeah, this one can spell and use the English language appropriately.

Good article, thought provoking. An English friend said, just replace Aus with NZ, WA with S.I...! I do think, that we are a more compliant lot ( or complacent, or stupid ) but won't be long before outright rebellion starts showing, in pockets first, then more openly.

How did Balmerino fare? Grp ones here and in Aus, second in the Arc...but not sure what else.

Will be great watching.

Take Cindy.

Yep.

As long as we remain in level 4, no travel at all.

Very interesting indeed. Thanks, Chief.

More to the point, it shows what kind of outfits keep employing the bloke.

Yeah. Stupidity. A large dollop of it. And people were offended by Thomass? He could be Stephen Hawking beside this lot.

I'm stunned.

Tito Poblete rode him quite a bit, saw Tito only a couple of years ago, in ChCh visiting his son who had a restaurant. Very interesting man.

Ha...he was just a little black colt, you couldn't predict he was going to be as good he turned out. I was young and very new to racing, all I knew was that he was quite 'colty' and Peter didn't allow the girls near him. But Peter had a number of entires, he loved them.

I used to work for Peter Jones when I left uni...did a bit of clipping for extra money, back in the day. Do this colt, will ya? said Peter, I was suitably wary - Peter didn't let the girls handle the colts - but, he'll be ok, I'll hold him for you..he did, and he was...a black bloke by Godavari.

Yeah...I wouldn't be showing too many clips of NZ racing, Aus jocks generally leave ours for dead....but I certainly don't condone the carnage exhibited on Saturday.

Geez, you're crotchety this morning, boss....I don't think Reefton has ever claimed his track is ' perfect ' - has he? Working together for a common gain seems to be an alien concept, generally. The Auckland merger may just be a departure....perhaps ...we'll watch with interest.

Little pubs at both places, they might have been delighted at an increase in clientele !

Go back and read properly - said ' my runner ' .....! yes, he was by Quito, very quick little bloke. Colin Coe had nowt to do with him, but John Rehu shared in the ownership. Trained by my then partner R.J ' Mouse' McCann.

Just re read this, I was referring to Australia, in case there was any ambiguity. Not here, enterprise such as mentioned seems not to happen. The Wild Foods festival in Hokitika was held the same weekend ( March) as the races for a few years, I used to think there was potential for both to benefit but the club felt they - and the circuit - were better off all in January and went back to that date. I know former president Gray Eatwell had ideas to incorporate a sort of 'wild west ' experience with the races but nothing flew there. The Gisborne/Wairoa meetings were an experience too, now gone and marked by a nothing day at Hastings. If built into the tourist trail with additional support from the district, things may have been different. Geez, we have become- in the main- an apathetic bunch of sheep. It's been said often, we get what we deserve, and we certainly are.

Can't answer that, with quantitative analysis. But, certainly, anecdotally, many people. Hell, I read a piece [ not sure where now ] which indicated just how much support provincial racing received from local councils/state govt, to 'marry up' the racing experience with the whole tourist industry, with wine trails, vineyards/restaurants, stud tours, orchards, fishing, boating, flower farms, the whole deal wrapped up to showcase the region.

'Dissing Omoto'...? I shared a comment from a local which I thought was humorous. I am well aware that Australia supports provincial/country racing. I have made reference to it, and the difference in attitude, many times. I've also indicated that I think market forces should be the arbiter of who stays and who closes up. As Reefton has stated, also many times, the day trainers/owners/the public don't want to go to Reefton, he'll put up the white flag. Not because some pen-pusher makes an ill-thought out decision.

Are you on drugs? where did I ever imply that I don't support small clubs or provincial racing? For the record, I went down to Omoto with the Kennedy's, helped remove driftwood from the track and dead frogs from the tearooms, and my runner [ Strange Magic ] went very close to the track record in a 1400m race the next day.

I remember Bobby Allen driving in the first at Kumara, back in the day. By the time the last - another trot - came around, Bobby was barely able to walk,, and had to be assisted into the cart. Think he went pretty fair too!

Sounds great. I recall Bill Kennedy telling me about it too, on the Ahaura flat, he said, heaps of available land, enough for a large track with a moveable rail to cope with several days racing, ample space for accommodation facilities for horses/staff as well. Instead, Greymouth ended up with the best underwater yacht club facilities - as noted by one local wag as the Grey River rose steadily up into the tearooms, the grandstand, and the jockey's room.