Whale

[Walt]

Over the years I see a lot of punters questioning the tipping record of Craig Thompson. Two biggest critiques are the very short starting price of his tips that even blind Freddy doesn't need assistance to find and the other complaint is just how often his tips are rolled.

Personally, I couldn't care less. If you need a tipster to find a $2 winner, you have nobody to blame but yourself. I find it satisfying to find winners using my own method so wagering on the perspective of another punter is a bit like fake boobs. 

What I dislike about Craig Thompson is that he's so far king boring. He's about as vanilla as a TV presenter ever gets. When I watch / listen to him it feels like I've found the cure for insomnia. If we want to entice more younger people into the game you need a person people want to tune in to. 

I love harness racing but the moment I see him, I hit mute. This shouldn't be happening. That's akin to a punitive deal around your dinner. You can eat you're fav meal but you first have to eat some toenail flavoured stale bread. Harness racing is good, but it isn't that good.

I look forward to NZ Cup day every year but that is now lessened by the significant role Craig plays on the day. I generally enjoy the input and latest news from the other presenters.  

Part of the problem also is saturation coverage of "The Whale". It won't matter where the meeting is. Auckland, Cambridge, Manawatu, Nelson, Reefton, Addington, Otago, Invercargil, Winton, Gore etc etc. The Whale will be dominating every race at every meeting. Imagine how quickly you'd turn off if a younger Brendon Popplewell was used for Ruakaka, Auckland, Te Rapa, Manawatu, New Plymouth, Wellington, Marlborough, Reefton, Riccarton, Timaru, Oamaru, Wingatui, Invercargill and Gore etc. You'd soon get sick to the back teeth of him and it least Brendon has a personality. ...I think  

There is a role for Craig in the game but it should never be as a TV presenter.......unless it was for an informercial selling coffins.

[Newmarket]

8 hours ago, Walt said:

Over the years I see a lot of punters questioning the tipping record of Craig Thompson. Two biggest critiques are the very short starting price of his tips that even blind Freddy doesn't need assistance to find and the other complaint is just how often his tips are rolled.

Personally, I couldn't care less. If you need a tipster to find a $2 winner, you have nobody to blame but yourself. I find it satisfying to find winners using my own method so wagering on the perspective of another punter is a bit like fake boobs. 

What I dislike about Craig Thompson is that he's so far king boring. He's about as vanilla as a TV presenter ever gets. When I watch / listen to him it feels like I've found the cure for insomnia. If we want to entice more younger people into the game you need a person people want to tune in to. 

I love harness racing but the moment I see him, I hit mute. This shouldn't be happening. That's akin to a punitive deal around your dinner. You can eat you're fav meal but you first have to eat some toenail flavoured stale bread. Harness racing is good, but it isn't that good.

I look forward to NZ Cup day every year but that is now lessened by the significant role Craig plays on the day. I generally enjoy the input and latest news from the other presenters.  

Part of the problem also is saturation coverage of "The Whale". It won't matter where the meeting is. Auckland, Cambridge, Manawatu, Nelson, Reefton, Addington, Otago, Invercargil, Winton, Gore etc etc. The Whale will be dominating every race at every meeting. Imagine how quickly you'd turn off if a younger Brendon Popplewell was used for Ruakaka, Auckland, Te Rapa, Manawatu, New Plymouth, Wellington, Marlborough, Reefton, Riccarton, Timaru, Oamaru, Wingatui, Invercargill and Gore etc. You'd soon get sick to the back teeth of him and it least Brendon has a personality. ...I think  

There is a role for Craig in the game but it should never be as a TV presenter.......unless it was for an informercial selling coffins.

Would rather listen to him than those trackside presenters on site. They think they know their stuff, but we know they don’t

[the galah]

9 hours ago, Walt said:

Over the years I see a lot of punters questioning the tipping record of Craig Thompson. Two biggest critiques are the very short starting price of his tips that even blind Freddy doesn't need assistance to find and the other complaint is just how often his tips are rolled.

Personally, I couldn't care less. If you need a tipster to find a $2 winner, you have nobody to blame but yourself. I find it satisfying to find winners using my own method so wagering on the perspective of another punter is a bit like fake boobs. 

What I dislike about Craig Thompson is that he's so far king boring. He's about as vanilla as a TV presenter ever gets. When I watch / listen to him it feels like I've found the cure for insomnia. If we want to entice more younger people into the game you need a person people want to tune in to. 

I love harness racing but the moment I see him, I hit mute. This shouldn't be happening. That's akin to a punitive deal around your dinner. You can eat you're fav meal but you first have to eat some toenail flavoured stale bread. Harness racing is good, but it isn't that good.

I look forward to NZ Cup day every year but that is now lessened by the significant role Craig plays on the day. I generally enjoy the input and latest news from the other presenters.  

Part of the problem also is saturation coverage of "The Whale". It won't matter where the meeting is. Auckland, Cambridge, Manawatu, Nelson, Reefton, Addington, Otago, Invercargil, Winton, Gore etc etc. The Whale will be dominating every race at every meeting. Imagine how quickly you'd turn off if a younger Brendon Popplewell was used for Ruakaka, Auckland, Te Rapa, Manawatu, New Plymouth, Wellington, Marlborough, Reefton, Riccarton, Timaru, Oamaru, Wingatui, Invercargill and Gore etc. You'd soon get sick to the back teeth of him and it least Brendon has a personality. ...I think  

There is a role for Craig in the game but it should never be as a TV presenter.......unless it was for an informercial selling coffins.

I'm not sure whether its the whale,but i mute the tv when he presents as well.  At least i leave it on the racing channel with him,as if it was mick guerin i change channels when i see him. Both very knowledgable,but they aren't my cup of tea.

My theory is the punters who do the form are the ones who get most frustrated with him.He causes horses to come into unrealistic prices when he selects them.

And it is the uninformed punters,who in reality will remain uninformed by using the whale as their sort of robot selector,who like him the most. 

I honestly don't know whether trackside catering to the people with not much knowledge of form,is a good thing for turnovers.I very much doubt it gets people to follow the sport long term. But the betting focus these days always seems to be about todays picture.

Then theres those who watch for the people/horse stories.I can't say trackside would be doing anything to encourage them to keep watching.Theres  much more to harness racing that can attract peoples attention,but it somehow doesn't come across that way on trackside when all the focus is on getting the uniformed to bet.

i think its as much a trackside focus problem. Although i do prefer their other harness presenters myself and don't mute them much.

Edited October 1, 2023 by the galah

[Brodie]

10 hours ago, Walt said:

Over the years I see a lot of punters questioning the tipping record of Craig Thompson. Two biggest critiques are the very short starting price of his tips that even blind Freddy doesn't need assistance to find and the other complaint is just how often his tips are rolled.

Personally, I couldn't care less. If you need a tipster to find a $2 winner, you have nobody to blame but yourself. I find it satisfying to find winners using my own method so wagering on the perspective of another punter is a bit like fake boobs. 

What I dislike about Craig Thompson is that he's so far king boring. He's about as vanilla as a TV presenter ever gets. When I watch / listen to him it feels like I've found the cure for insomnia. If we want to entice more younger people into the game you need a person people want to tune in to. 

I love harness racing but the moment I see him, I hit mute. This shouldn't be happening. That's akin to a punitive deal around your dinner. You can eat you're fav meal but you first have to eat some toenail flavoured stale bread. Harness racing is good, but it isn't that good.

I look forward to NZ Cup day every year but that is now lessened by the significant role Craig plays on the day. I generally enjoy the input and latest news from the other presenters.  

Part of the problem also is saturation coverage of "The Whale". It won't matter where the meeting is. Auckland, Cambridge, Manawatu, Nelson, Reefton, Addington, Otago, Invercargil, Winton, Gore etc etc. The Whale will be dominating every race at every meeting. Imagine how quickly you'd turn off if a younger Brendon Popplewell was used for Ruakaka, Auckland, Te Rapa, Manawatu, New Plymouth, Wellington, Marlborough, Reefton, Riccarton, Timaru, Oamaru, Wingatui, Invercargill and Gore etc. You'd soon get sick to the back teeth of him and it least Brendon has a personality. ...I think  

There is a role for Craig in the game but it should never be as a TV presenter.......unless it was for an informercial selling coffins.

Walt, to be fair is there anything wrong with fake boobs?

Far Better than sugar bags!!!

You are correct, far better doing your own research, and  choosing your selections!

Thing is Craig over evaluates things, picks horses that really are not worth the risk for the return.

He mostly selects the horses in the more tightly assessed races on the program, and any successful punter will know that is not the way to make money long term.

Personally dont believe that ENTAIN “IS IN IT FOR YOU!!!!!!”

The NZ TAB certainly was not interested in increasing the turnover on NZ harness racing over recent years at all!!

It was all about making it as hard as they could for many punters to put on worthwhile amounts, and all about trying to keep the losing punters on board.

They do this by money back bets and free bets!

The money back maximum of $50 lol.

Harness racing is only going to survive if they can attract wealthy owners into the sport and are able to maintain enough losing punters to make it viable.

Problem is, are there enough new punters being attracted?

Edited October 1, 2023 by Brodie