For all you armchair experts - here is a view from the Sulky seat!

[Chief Stipe]

It isn't that easy is it @the galah, @Newmarket, @Gammalite !

 

 

[Gammalite]

1 hour ago, Chief Stipe said:

It isn't that easy is it

Not a chance of it being easy. No race anywhere. 

Thanks for that Chief  👍🏆. got a tingle up the spine watching that . Next time pop the whip in the left hand even better lol

That was a Group 2 race worth about 50k from Nov 2022. Nathan Dawson the winning driver. He drove in the recent World driving Championship here too. and is very good. 

The thing that gets me most in a race (any race)  is how fast it flashes by when you are competing. The 2 minutes of the race seems like just 30 seconds when you're out there as everything is in FAST MOTION. flat out Go to Woah. you barely have time to make a decision of any kind.  Just go with the flow. It's like rafting rapids 😅

 

*** Notice Nathan was going to go for the passing lane from 3 back on fence as they turned for home , BUT didn't even have Time to do that 😂. He came through between the 2 up front instead, which is not usually available. 

What a great sport horse racing is. one of the only ones where you have pairs of great athletes working together to not only run fast as you can, but beat up on others trying to do the same thing at the same time !! amazing stuff !!

 

[Chief Stipe]

38 minutes ago, Gammalite said:

The thing that gets me most in a race (any race)  is how fast it flashes by when you are competing. The 2 minutes of the race seems like just 30 seconds when you're out there as everything is in FAST MOTION. flat out Go to Woah. you barely have time to make a decision of any kind.  Just go with the flow. It's like rafting rapids 😅

A really good horse that is tractable will buy you time.

One thing I noticed and it bought back memories was watching the boots in the foot rest.  There isn't a lot to grip is there and if you are a bit short it is even harder.  Are the foot rests adjustable?  The other thing I noticed with the foot rest is if the distance to it is too long then it is difficult to hold the reins properly as I was taught to do.  That is further up than in the video.

You have no control over a horse if your elbows are bent and your hands are on your chest.

[Newmarket]

Was lucky that those up front faded otherwise wouldn’t have got run. 
I like the speedo

[Chief Stipe]

4 minutes ago, Newmarket said:

Was lucky that those up front faded otherwise wouldn’t have got run. 
I like the speedo

Geez you can't read a race can you?  He was lucky the horse outside him faded as well as running out under pressure.  The Driver then skilfully drove through the gap using a combination of whip and rein.

Notice the whip use?

[Newmarket]

3 hours ago, Chief Stipe said:

Geez you can't read a race can you?  He was lucky the horse outside him faded as well as running out under pressure.  The Driver then skilfully drove through the gap using a combination of whip and rein.

Notice the whip use?

🤣🤣

Obvious the horses up front faded…hardly skill to win that race

 

 

[Brodie]

Yes great use of the whip if you had backed the horse.

The driver wouldve been suspended if he was in NZ!

[Gammalite]

54 minutes ago, Brodie said:

Yes great use of the whip if you had backed the horse.

The driver wouldve been suspended if he was in NZ!

Loved the way though that he gave it a flick flick flick right at the start , even though drawn on the second line 😂.

Got the horse switched on nicely , and he knew it was 'race-time' . Brilliance .

9 hours ago, Chief Stipe said:

A really good horse that is tractable will buy you time.

I think this great video shows how little time you have over a mile. They jump into formation so quickly it is almost like the horse knows where to go from the barrier it has !! 😂👍  they're beautifully tuned these days.

That's where NZ is slightly behind . still running a lot of standing starts , and too long a races and too many in the field a lot of the time as well , which REALLY stops them ALl having a chance of winning the race. No doubt those long grass tracks straights and 2400m + distances they often go (taking about 3 minutes of time ) do give the driver a chance to 'buy or' bide' his time a bit better. A lot tougher on the horses though . 

Brodster is right, in that the mile racing is quite boring in comparison though. And it also means the New Zealand drivers are really good at rating horses over those longer distances so become excellent drivers. I've been quite surprised at how good Cam Hart and Jason Lee handled it at Addington,  but they are absolute Top Notch. 

The bloke winning in this video winning had a drive on a trotter in your NZ trotting Derby 2 years ago. Nathan Dawson got hung out to dry by some good locals though and was 3 wide for a lap, but still a credible 4th. so he would struggle with the NZ style. The mile driving becomes almost instinct. Just ask Dexter. Every race USA. It's just a speed burn. 

 

[Chief Stipe]

14 hours ago, Gammalite said:

Loved the way though that he gave it a flick flick flick right at the start , even though drawn on the second line 😂.

Got the horse switched on nicely , and he knew it was 'race-time' . Brilliance .

Yes there were a lot of driver nuances in that race.  @Newmarket wouldn't have seen them - too busy watching the speedo.