cambridge races

[the galah]

i guess if you backed a winner or owned a winner you would be happy enough,but isn't the racing at cambridge so boring.

I know,you csn say,don't bother watching.well,i've actually got to that point now. I just flick over ,often the races are half over.

canterbury workouts are much more exciting .

the races at cambridge are generally run at speeds where the leaders are testing how slow they can get away with running them. 

When i have caught what the "out the gate" trackside presenters have bet their money on,i just feel sorry for them.

They seem to love betting on horses that just sit at the back on slow speeds,or break up at some stage.

And they are nearly always paying next to nothing anyway were they to get somewhere.

what about the racing at cambridge would attract anyone new to the sport? Wouldn't it do the opposite?

Edited Thursday at 08:07 AM by the galah

[Nowornever]

You are right I couldn't have a bet on those fields tonight.

Absolutely woeful exotic pools. 

[mikeynz]

Think if you get same old same old week after week anything gets boring after time, but Cambridge and Auckland are hard work, might be interesting to those with horses racing there, not very to anyone else.

[the galah]

working out the reasons why racing at cambridge is such a bore and so unattractive from a betting perspective,doesn't seem too hard.

1)having.6 races with an average field size of just 6.6.

2) so many opportunites for every horse that exists in the north island to race every week of the year.

3)The small number of participants and the bubble they work in-i think this is the most important reason myself.

Look at the backgrounds of those competing. they all know each other because many are related,they are all mates,so many of them work together.I'm guessing all the drivers from oustside the waikato  area would travel in 2 or 3 cars to the track.No one,and i mean no one exists outside te bubble that exists in waikato/auckland, except for luk chin.

outside the amateur race last night you had 9 professionals and 10 junior drivers. 

j stormont,p ferguson,w rich,z butcher,b butcher,m white,j dickie,a poutama ,n chilcott

l hibell,e johnson,j dunn,b wilkins ,k coppins,m ranger,c hackett,f schumaker,h orange,k denisfotova

now i'm not saying this bubble doesn't have good  people with camradery and i'm sure they would rally around someone within the bubble if they needed support in some way.But i'm talking about the racing product that they want us to bet on.

i've seen how it works.quite a few years ago, we travelled a long way to start a horse in the middle of the north island. Half way down the straight bang,when travelling and looking like the winner,a driver inside barges into our horse and knocks him over (which caused a career ending injury),you could hear the bang 200m away where i stood. So the horse and driver come back in,the driver says,we got completely flattened by ...,he just barged his way out ,it was quite reckless the way he did it. So what did he tell the stipes,well nothing apparently. Even though blind freddy could tell what happended from just 1 look at the video. That was 30 years ago and the stipe being escott,well he preferred to be the big bully that he liked to be what asked to show the video evidence that justified his inaction. Tosser..anyway.

the lesson i learnt was drivers aren't going to moan about what their mate has done as they may need their mate to cover for them next time. Mates don't want to upset a good relationship by complaining .

i get it,thats just the way it works.

but heres the thing, you see the same thinking in the way they drive. They drive like they don't want to be annoying one another with aggressive tactics.Afer all,we're all mates aren't we,type of thing.

The drivers up there i'm sure are  very loyal,hard working and would do whatever they can to help someone they knew out.

but the problem is theres no one outside the bubble to keep those within the bubble on their toes and its all ended up like the punter is being taken fro granted and that they know HRNZ is going to keep prioritising the uncompetitivercaing they dish up..

you know ,i used to read where gammalite would say,he hardly ever watchs redcliffe races at all and i used to not quite understand that, as he is a pasionate follower of harness racing. But having watched cambridge recently,i get why now. And the thing is redcliffe racing has full fields and is more competitive than cambridge.

Edited yesterday at 02:26 AM by the galah

[the galah]

32 minutes ago, the galah said:

 So our horse and driver came back in,the driver says,we got completely flattened by ...,he just barged his way out ,it was quite reckless the way he did it. So what did he tell the stipes,well nothing apparently. 

perhaps i should have added,as i wandered off to care for my horse i watched our driver and the driver who knocked us over ,get into the same car and start their journey back to auckland with others

. Harness racing operates within a bubble and things within that bubble are magnified.. You need outsiders who aren't part of the group think.

The irony is,the more outsiders you have,the better those within the bubble perform. But its all heading the wrong way and cambridge racing is an example of that.

Edited yesterday at 02:56 AM by the galah

[Gammalite]

1 hour ago, the galah said:

So the horse and driver come back in,the driver says,we got completely flattened by ...,he just barged his way out ,it was quite reckless the way he did it. So what did he tell the stipes,well nothing apparently. Even though blind freddy could tell what happended from just 1 look at the video

Very sorry to hear that damage to your horse like that in race conditions. a sad day when stuff like that happens. 

There is a 'Duty of Care' that should be applied , no matter what class of race or horse , and whoever is driving. (just like we all have to display while driving on the road ) Is not worth it to 'knock someone down' by exceeding basic safety guidelines.

The standard is very high for race driving these days ,and the 'Bubble' you mention,  consists of a lot of drivers that are related to each other through family and marriage . all through NZ and all the Aussie states too. This is a Good thing . You don't see the recklessness you described very much at all these days . Very few crashes and serious incidents that were common in NZ last century with the Big fields and makeshift drivers.

One thing that is done well now, is the same basic group of drivers go around in each race , at Metro venues, so the racing is high quality, way safer , and the drivers all have Great respect for each other , and are regular opponents etc.  so the close relationships is probably a good thing. Mostly they seem to drive to win . The top stables generally end up with a few in a race. Emma Stewart has 4, and Grant Dixon 3 of the 10 runners in the $2,000,000 Eureka tomorrow night. so that is likely to keep it more 'Sedate' than 'Reckless' really. for the biggest prize race going.

The last serious Incident I remember , leading to a horse being destroyed in a race, was the 2014 Interdominion Final when a large field thundered around Menangle , with Beautide taking Victory. But alas for the 2nd favourite, named Im Victorious , he had his front leg tendon severed by an appalling drive from a local driver , who was Desparate and bamboozled by the size of the field and the Big occasion , that she was not capable of adjusting too. She got 8 weeks suspension . and  the beautiful NZ bred horse racing for WA who had won 22 of his 34 starts and was looking at being the next millionaire pacer got the death sentence. thankfully these sort of things are very rare now.  

[Chief Stipe]

2 hours ago, the galah said:

perhaps i should have added,as i wandered off to care for my horse i watched our driver and the driver who knocked us over ,get into the same car and start their journey back to auckland with others

. Harness racing operates within a bubble and things within that bubble are magnified.. You need outsiders who aren't part of the group think.

The irony is,the more outsiders you have,the better those within the bubble perform. But its all heading the wrong way and cambridge racing is an example of that.

That was 30 years ago!  I sense you have the same type of gripe that @Yankiwi had.

[TAB For Ever]

On 9/5/2025 at 2:54 PM, the galah said:

perhaps i should have added,as i wandered off to care for my horse i watched our driver and the driver who knocked us over ,get into the same car and start their journey back to auckland with others

. Harness racing operates within a bubble and things within that bubble are magnified.. You need outsiders who aren't part of the group think.

The irony is,the more outsiders you have,the better those within the bubble perform. But its all heading the wrong way and cambridge racing is an example of that.

Northern racing is extremely competitive .

There are a few drivers who must have the front early in any race they contest but the horse must have the gatespeed or SS skill to get there.

Team driving can be a potential problem particularly in small fields where one trainer could have 3 or more horses.

Last night at Auckland one trainer had 3 of 5 starters ...among our group one guy had a decent go on #2 which was not the favourite and close to the line when heading to the front its stablemate moved ever so slightly and checked its momentum.

The favourite held on...then the head on film showed clearly the winner did enough to check the winner. No siren from the stipes ,a surprise . Race 2.

Last night the two 2 yrold  Sires Stakes races were great contests , big fields and many drivers desperate to be put in the race to qualify !

Better stakes and Qualifying races for Group races are exciting........go Auckland !

Unfortunately small fields can be sometimes boring as a lesser horse doesn't want to sacrifice its chances for a stake in a race it hasn't got a chance of winning in !

And with small fields with wide ratings in it many of the horses have little or no chance of winning.

Cambridge racing gives owners the chance of a win and incentive to keep investing ! The thrill of a win lasts longer than the memory of what its cost !

Last night at both meetings many horses were more like having trials cos they not 100% fit. Hoping to fry bigger fish !

If a horse resuming after spell or injury with no trials , no one knows how it will perform.The punter needs to work this out !

The main race at Addington had some slow sectionals....other races were to help fitness level boosters ! Quite obvious !

[the galah]

9 hours ago, TAB For Ever said:

Northern racing is extremely competitive .

There are a few drivers who must have the front early in any race they contest but the horse must have the gatespeed or SS skill to get there.

Team driving can be a potential problem particularly in small fields where one trainer could have 3 or more horses.

Last night at Auckland one trainer had 3 of 5 starters ...among our group one guy had a decent go on #2 which was not the favourite and close to the line when heading to the front its stablemate moved ever so slightly and checked its momentum.

The favourite held on...then the head on film showed clearly the winner did enough to check the winner. No siren from the stipes ,a surprise . Race 2.

Last night the two 2 yrold  Sires Stakes races were great contests , big fields and many drivers desperate to be put in the race to qualify !

Better stakes and Qualifying races for Group races are exciting........go Auckland !

Unfortunately small fields can be sometimes boring as a lesser horse doesn't want to sacrifice its chances for a stake in a race it hasn't got a chance of winning in !

And with small fields with wide ratings in it many of the horses have little or no chance of winning.

Cambridge racing gives owners the chance of a win and incentive to keep investing ! The thrill of a win lasts longer than the memory of what its cost !

Last night at both meetings many horses were more like having trials cos they not 100% fit. Hoping to fry bigger fish !

If a horse resuming after spell or injury with no trials , no one knows how it will perform.The punter needs to work this out !

The main race at Addington had some slow sectionals....other races were to help fitness level boosters ! Quite obvious !

i agree with pretty much everything you have said. Auckland racing was entertaining this week.

Good to see the full fields for the 2 year olds.

Only the high class race was not a good watch.

lets hope we get more of that.

cambridge ,is part of northern racing though and it has delievered a couple of uncompetitive nights racing ,not because of the horses, but because of the field size and negative driving.

[mikeynz]

9 hours ago, TAB For Ever said:

 

Unfortunately small fields can be sometimes boring

Which kind of sums up Northern harness racing to a tee.