Turn It Up! Monday Sermon 4/3/2019

[Chief Stipe]

Where to start?

Where exactly do you start when analysing Mark Purdon and Natalie Rasmussen’s domination of Miracle Mile night?

Do you start with Spankem, given he won the big race?

And if you do, where do you start with him?

Do you look in awe at the fact that the horse came back to win a Miracle Mile after he was set to be booked on plane to leave Australia in the weeks leading up to the race?

His foot was sore, his campaign was done.

But after a change of plans, the All Stars resurrected his Miracle Mile campaign and the rest is history.

Though, is Spankem’s return from a reasonably average and injury plagued three-year-old season even more amazing?

When the horse came back from the harness racing wilderness and lined up in minor events at Addington and Ashburton in November would anyone have ever dreamed he would contest a Miracle Mile.

I am not sure many would have even when he went on to win the Kaikoura Cup.

But, this is the All Stars we are talking about.

SPANKEM leads all the way to claim the Group 1 $1million Miracle Mile at @TPMenangle for Mark Purdon and Natalie Rasmussen. pic.twitter.com/dmgkC2ObI1

— Sky Racing (@SkyRacingAU) March 2, 2019

Maybe, instead of starting with Spankem, I should start with Princess Tiffany and how the All Stars team turned her season from horror show to freak show in just two starts.

Or, maybe, I should marvel at the incredible career of Dream About Me and what an emphatic full stop she put on her five seasons of racing on Saturday night.

Perhaps I should just focus on the whole of Saturday night – on how one stable totally dominated one of Australia’s biggest night’s of harness racing.

To be honest I am really not sure where to start.

It is so commonplace now it should not surprise me.

But watching it unfold never ceases to amaze me.

And I am quite sure the All Stars did it all without giving a flying ? about what any haters or keyboard warriors wrote about them along the way.

Keeping pace

New Zealand racing – not just harness racing – has a long history of copying what the Australians do.

The disqualification rules instantly springs to mind.

I hope that we are quick to jump on the move from Harness Racing Victoria to shift their transfer of horse ownership to a digital platform.

The sooner this happens in New Zealand the better!

Perhaps we should just hope the resulting website is not as polarising as the new TAB site.

Harness Racing Victoria is pleased to announce we've moved the transfer of horse ownership process online, making the days of paperwork being sent all over the countryside by trainers and owners a distant memory!

Full story at #TheTrots: https://t.co/INzB959hHZ pic.twitter.com/LXWthfgzLU

— The Trots (@TheTrotsComAu) March 1, 2019

PC gone mad?

I do not need to tell anyone who has a job about health and safety.

It is impossible to walk around any work place in New Zealand without stepping through an obstacle course of invisible red tape.

The harness racing industry was hardly likely to be some sort of miraculous reprieve from these rules and regulations.

That is despite the fact that the sport and horses, by their very nature, come with an element of danger.

The red tape is at its most obvious when winning horses return to greet their owners.

It has become a common sight at some of our biggest tracks to see those owners stood behind railings and barriers.

Though I accept it is just part of life in 2019 and that harness racing is bound by the same regulations are other businesses, I can not help but think owners are a robbed of a little bit of the joy from meeting their winning horses.

It seems to be a privilege that has not been taken away from owners in Australia and many other racing jurisdictions.

The question is has New Zealand got a bit precious or are clubs just being proactive with their health and safety procedures?

My vote is yes.

Have birdcage barriers and procedures at major racetracks taken fun away from owners? Photo: Race Images.

 

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