More INCOMPETENCE in the Sth Island

[Freda]

6 hours ago, curious said:

What rule is that? They are required to be ridden in front of the stand though the stipes can exempt that from memory.

I just had that clarified.  Cameron George insisted upon all horses carrying their weight to the start .  Leading by the clerk of the course permitted but the horse must be ridden.  My recollection was that that was stipulated some time earlier than that... McCutcheon I thought.     Regardless,  that is how it is now.  Once in the starter's hands, what happens from then on is his call, but generally would be allowed only for matters of safety or loading expediency. 

[Reefton]

My understanding is this:- 

Everything was done correctly - horses had correct saddles and numbers but the initial error was the jockey(s) was legged onto the wrong horse. They realised pretty quick but attendants got confused that  the jockeys were right but that they had saddled the two horses incorrectly.  Took them away, jockeys reweighed and swapped saddles (which meant everything was cocked up of course). Matt Cross commented on the wrong jockeys being aboard as they finally left the birdcage which was realised at the start - they swapped saddles again I think at the start and then I am not sure what happened but the two of them were late scratched maybe at the stipes insistence.  

I commented to a few people that I would get arseholes on BOAY over it and was surprised to arrive home last night and not find any comment - only just picked this up.

I might add that I own 10% of the favourite who went off in the gates so I am as unhappy as anyone and needless to say embarrassed at the debacle on our raceday.  It was not however our brand checkers or any officials fault - the simple solution would have been to immediately switch Calloway and Bothamly in the birdcage and everything would have been correct.

As for the Vet well he studied vet science for five years so I am not going to tell him how to do his job (though I understand one M R Pitman let him know his thoughts).

Regarding the title of this thread I will remind the initiator of the time the gates were set up at the wrong distance point at the Waikato RC the time when the race was started with an unloaded horse and the time a huge great hole in the track was discovered at Ellerslie no less.  Not to mention the casual golfers at the ARC venue strolling around in front of the Great Northern field.  Or the interference occurring where no camera footage was available at Ellerslie.  The South has no monopoly on mistakes. All clubs have cockups - I would just prefer that yesterday's was not on my patch

 

 

[the galah]

24 minutes ago, Reefton said:

 

As for the Vet well he studied vet science for five years so I am not going to tell him how to do his job (though I understand one M R Pitman let him know his thoughts).

 

Is he also on the starting crew sometimes? Isn't he the same fella that forgot to release the starting tape he was hanging onto in the last race at the trots on the 2nd day at westport last week,then passed fit to race the four horses who had done a round at race speed for the rerun of that race.   He was the subject of a thread on the harness part of this site.  Just doesn't seem to consider the punters much.

[Reefton]

24 minutes ago, the galah said:

Is he also on the starting crew sometimes? Isn't he the same fella that forgot to release the starting tape he was hanging onto in the last race at the trots on the 2nd day at westport last week,then passed fit to race the four horses who had done a round at race speed for the rerun of that race.   He was the subject of a thread on the harness part of this site.  Just doesn't seem to consider the punters much.

Not sure but they wouldn't let the vet be on the starting crew as well would they?

[All The Aces]

It was utterly shambolic. No one knew what was happening. 

Mickey Mouse happenings with an international audience looking on deep in bush country at a hillbilly meeting in the West Coast outbacks. 

Was the vet drinking moonshine all day or just tooka  look over his shoulder whilst shagging his first cousin over the fence near the start that he couldn't detect anything wrong with the favourite. 

You say he studied vet science for five years Reefton, that may be so, but did he actually pass?  

i can't blame you for feeling embarrassed. 

[Chief Stipe]

4 hours ago, Reefton said:

the simple solution would have been to immediately switch Calloway and Bothamly in the birdcage and everything would have been correct.

Begs the question what were the two jockeys thinking.  Cant they read or count?  Or for that matter recognise their own saddles?

Woops just reread you post.  The strappers stuffed up too.

[Chief Stipe]

4 hours ago, Reefton said:

They realised pretty quick but attendants got confused that  the jockeys were right but that they had saddled the two horses incorrectly.  Took them away, jockeys reweighed and swapped saddles (which meant everything was cocked up of course). Matt Cross commented on the wrong jockeys being aboard as they finally left the birdcage which was realised at the start - they swapped saddles again I think at the start and then I am not sure what happened but the two of them were late scratched maybe at the stipes insistence.  

Reminds me of a story from when I worked at Seaview Hospital during my Gap Year.  Seaview was a mental hospital and originally had been a farm like many such institutions in NZ until the politically correct deemed it was exploitation of the patients to have them working on the farm.  Didn't matter that they got paid a small amount, had something to do instead of staring at white walls all day and actually kept them fit and healthy.

Anyway the farm was turned into big lawns and flower gardens and some of patients were still able to keep working in the Garden Department.

We had a smoko room that was split loosely between us sane one's and the not so sane although sometimes it was hard to distinguish between the two.

Anyway we'd get to work in the morning and most of the patients were already there - the pot belly stove lit and cups laid out for coffee/tea for all in readiness for the "team briefing."

Anyway the boss spotted that Budgie had put his gumboots on the wrong feet.  "Budgie you silly old bugger you've got your gumboots on the wrong feet!"

Budgie looks down, a roll ya own cig stuck to his bottom lip, thinks for a bit scratching his head then smiles as a light comes on.

So he takes his gumboots off places them down in front of him.  Swaps them so they are the right way round.

Thinks again for a moment.  Then crosses his legs and puts the gumboots back on. 

We all sighed and giggled.  He wore them like that all day.

Some of you might have to think about what he did.

Also reminds me of the bus that my father built (he owned a panel beating and coach building business).  Every Hokitika and Kumara raceday's a handful of staff and a load of dressed up patients would fill the bus up and have a day out.  One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest - West Coast style.

I guess that sort of thing happened all over the country but is now gone.

[All The Aces]

23 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said:

Begs the question what were the two jockeys thinking.  Cant they read or count?  Or for that matter recognise their own saddles?

Woops just reread you post.  The strappers stuffed up too.

Sounds like everyone was on the moonshine. 

[Shad]

11 hours ago, curious said:

What rule is that? They are required to be ridden in front of the stand though the stipes can exempt that from memory.

This is a big bug bear for me, no bloody preliminaries, no one in the stipe police seem to give a rat's arse, and been happening for a very long time, all punter can see is the arse end of the horse, only prelim seen is the one to 1400m start st reefton, used to be standard many years ago, but so did a few other things.

[the galah]

5 hours ago, Reefton said:

Not sure but they wouldn't let the vet be on the starting crew as well would they?

Well the fella with the hat who they said was the vet yesterday was the same man who was hanging onto the tape at the westport trots,and forgot to let it go causing the false start there. Is he a twin perhaps?

[hunterthepunter]

2 hours ago, the galah said:

Well the fella with the hat who they said was the vet yesterday was the same man who was hanging onto the tape at the westport trots,and forgot to let it go causing the false start there. Is he a twin perhaps?

is Pete lamb a vet now? 

[Brodie]

41 minutes ago, hunterthepunter said:

is Pete lamb a vet now? 

Be a better vet than a starter!

[the galah]

2 hours ago, hunterthepunter said:

is Pete lamb a vet now? 

Thats the question. How does a vet get to help start a harness race,and how come the same vet lets horses start in both codes that other vets probably wouldn't?

[Joe Bloggs]

15 hours ago, Chief Stipe said:

Reminds me of a story from when I worked at Seaview Hospital during my Gap Year.  Seaview was a mental hospital and originally had been a farm like many such institutions in NZ until the politically correct deemed it was exploitation of the patients to have them working on the farm.  Didn't matter that they got paid a small amount, had something to do instead of staring at white walls all day and actually kept them fit and healthy.

Anyway the farm was turned into big lawns and flower gardens and some of patients were still able to keep working in the Garden Department.

We had a smoko room that was split loosely between us sane one's and the not so sane although sometimes it was hard to distinguish between the two.

Anyway we'd get to work in the morning and most of the patients were already there - the pot belly stove lit and cups laid out for coffee/tea for all in readiness for the "team briefing."

Anyway the boss spotted that Budgie had put his gumboots on the wrong feet.  "Budgie you silly old bugger you've got your gumboots on the wrong feet!"

Budgie looks down, a roll ya own cig stuck to his bottom lip, thinks for a bit scratching his head then smiles as a light comes on.

So he takes his gumboots off places them down in front of him.  Swaps them so they are the right way round.

Thinks again for a moment.  Then crosses his legs and puts the gumboots back on. 

We all sighed and giggled.  He wore them like that all day.

Some of you might have to think about what he did.

Also reminds me of the bus that my father built (he owned a panel beating and coach building business).  Every Hokitika and Kumara raceday's a handful of staff and a load of dressed up patients would fill the bus up and have a day out.  One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest - West Coast style.

I guess that sort of thing happened all over the country but is now gone.

No, it's not gone, it happens everyday,.....at the Beehive.

[Thomass]

20 hours ago, Reefton said:

My understanding is this:- 

Everything was done correctly - horses had correct saddles and numbers but the initial error was the jockey(s) was legged onto the wrong horse. They realised pretty quick but attendants got confused that  the jockeys were right but that they had saddled the two horses incorrectly.  Took them away, jockeys reweighed and swapped saddles (which meant everything was cocked up of course). Matt Cross commented on the wrong jockeys being aboard as they finally left the birdcage which was realised at the start - they swapped saddles again I think at the start and then I am not sure what happened but the two of them were late scratched maybe at the stipes insistence.  

I commented to a few people that I would get arseholes on BOAY over it and was surprised to arrive home last night and not find any comment - only just picked this up.

I might add that I own 10% of the favourite who went off in the gates so I am as unhappy as anyone and needless to say embarrassed at the debacle on our raceday.  It was not however our brand checkers or any officials fault - the simple solution would have been to immediately switch Calloway and Bothamly in the birdcage and everything would have been correct.

As for the Vet well he studied vet science for five years so I am not going to tell him how to do his job (though I understand one M R Pitman let him know his thoughts).

Regarding the title of this thread I will remind the initiator of the time the gates were set up at the wrong distance point at the Waikato RC the time when the race was started with an unloaded horse and the time a huge great hole in the track was discovered at Ellerslie no less.  Not to mention the casual golfers at the ARC venue strolling around in front of the Great Northern field.  Or the interference occurring where no camera footage was available at Ellerslie.  The South has no monopoly on mistakes. All clubs have cockups - I would just prefer that yesterday's was not on my patch

 

 

Cheers for that reefer, hope this incident hasn't damaged her mentally...

...did she have stitches post race and was there blood streaming over her face as she came back to scale do you know?

Callaway recently complained " I'm the most drug tested jockey in NZ"

If Dick Francis included a cock up like this in a novel he'd have been laughed off...

How can 'Jockeys' not recognise their saddles ffs?

[Chief Stipe]

10 minutes ago, Thomass said:

...did she have stitches post race and was there blood streaming over her face as she came back to scale do you know?

Can you explain why that is important to know?  

[Reefton]

8 minutes ago, Thomass said:

Cheers for that reefer, hope this incident hasn't damaged her mentally...

...did she have stitches post race and was there blood streaming over her face as she came back to scale do you know?

Callaway recently complained " I'm the most drug tested jockey in NZ"

If Dick Francis included a cock up like this in a novel he'd have been laughed off...

How can 'Jockeys' not recognise their saddles ffs?

I was a bit busy Thomass but I certainly didn't notice any blood.  I only glanced though. I am sure he will be OK but expect Michael will run him somewhere like Riccarton next time with a bit more space.  Re looking at the video he actually went a lot better race than it appeared at first glance.  Every time she (the rider)looked for a run she ran into traffic

That's racehorses for you

[Reefton]

13 hours ago, the galah said:

Well the fella with the hat who they said was the vet yesterday was the same man who was hanging onto the tape at the westport trots,and forgot to let it go causing the false start there. Is he a twin perhaps?

No idea

[Reefton]

16 hours ago, All The Aces said:

It was utterly shambolic. No one knew what was happening. 

Mickey Mouse happenings with an international audience looking on deep in bush country at a hillbilly meeting in the West Coast outbacks. 

Was the vet drinking moonshine all day or just tooka  look over his shoulder whilst shagging his first cousin over the fence near the start that he couldn't detect anything wrong with the favourite. 

You say he studied vet science for five years Reefton, that may be so, but did he actually pass?  

i can't blame you for feeling embarrassed. 

Yeah all those incidents at hick country meetings - like the ones I mentioned the wrong starting point,the horse left behind, the huge hole appearing in be track, the golfers wandering on the race course, the lack of video coverage of part of the track.  No no wait sorry they happen at two of NZ's premier tracks not in the scrub.

It was a mistake on the part of the person who legged the jockey up which snowballed into total confusion and it could have happened anywhere.  Definitely no fault of anyone from the Club 

[Chief Stipe]

45 minutes ago, Reefton said:

Yeah all those incidents at hick country meetings - like the ones I mentioned the wrong starting point,the horse left behind, the huge hole appearing in be track, the golfers wandering on the race course, the lack of video coverage of part of the track.  No no wait sorry they happen at two of NZ's premier tracks not in the scrub.

Yep and between those two "premier tracks" they have about 140 staff - many full time.  They even have Racing Manager's!  How many at Reefton - Reefton?  Let me guess one part time who is racing manager, track supervisor, seat cleaner, number cloth cleaner, function organiser, hospitality co-ordinator, ....probably even hammers the odd nail into a yard plank or a stable door occasionally!

Oh and how many "practice" race meetings a year do the big tracks have compared to say Reefton?  Yet in 20+ years of a golf course in the middle of the Ellerslie race track no one thought about a raceday protocol and risk management plan?

[Reefton]

49 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said:

Yep and between those two "premier tracks" they have about 140 staff - many full time.  They even have Racing Manager's!  How many at Reefton - Reefton?  Let me guess one part time who is racing manager, track supervisor, seat cleaner, number cloth cleaner, function organiser, hospitality co-ordinator, ....probably even hammers the odd nail into a yard plank or a stable door occasionally!

Oh and how many "practice" race meetings a year do the big tracks have compared to say Reefton?  Yet in 20+ years of a golf course in the middle of the Ellerslie race track no one thought about a raceday protocol and risk management plan?

We have a caretaker who the tow clubs pay $3000 a year to cover his costs.  Great bloke too and does a great job as evidenced by the other day.

[Reefton]

10 hours ago, the galah said:

Thats the question. How does a vet get to help start a harness race,and how come the same vet lets horses start in both codes that other vets probably wouldn't?

I do not watch a lot of Harness racing though I like most of the participants I know but if debacle starts are a topic wasn't the NZ Cup a bit of a circus in November.  Biggest race of the biggest day of the year - the point is it can happen anywhere.  I wouldn't want the job because if you do it properly you are never noticed but make the slightest cockup and they will crucify you.

[Tesio]

Track issues today at Kumara. How does that happen on a Dead 6 

[Shad]

On positive note, nice win by mama sans, congratulations to the connections and first win by her trainer, followed this mare until she had a nasty fall at motukarara a year or so ago, may have been touch n go for a while, but great to see her back, and in winning form.

[Freda]

11 hours ago, Shad said:

On positive note, nice win by mama sans, congratulations to the connections and first win by her trainer, followed this mare until she had a nasty fall at motukarara a year or so ago, may have been touch n go for a while, but great to see her back, and in winning form.

Yes, good result,  the mare was badly injured but, for once, a happy ending and Meg's first winner.  Her Dad was on course as well, making the day even more special for them.

Overall, another great day and a huge crowd. 

I noticed a petition doing the rounds at Greymouth,  presumably carried through to Reefton and yesterday, for Hokitika getting a day on the circuit again.  Not at the Westland track, of course - which is a real shame IMO -  but four days does make the trip a bit more viable for some trainers from out of the district. 

What must be frustrating for the Westland folk, is that any 'improvements '  that NZTR may have deemed necessary for the club to continue,  could have been done without industry financing.  They had the money.

Edited January 9, 2021 by Freda