Andrew Fitzgerald

[Forbury]

I have nothing against Andrew and his obvious passion to drive in races.i do think it's wrong that he's allowed to be a jnr driver with all his experience over many years including driving a winner in Australia.hes robbing every jnr driver starting out a chance to progress and achieve there best possible result in a very competitive industry.i believe it's totally unfair and just another bad decision by hrnz

[Harrison]

9 hours ago, Forbury said:

I have nothing against Andrew and his obvious passion to drive in races.i do think it's wrong that he's allowed to be a jnr driver with all his experience over many years including driving a winner in Australia.hes robbing every jnr driver starting out a chance to progress and achieve there best possible result in a very competitive industry.i believe it's totally unfair and just another bad decision by hrnz

Andrew’s averaged 41 drives a season as a junior, hardly enough drives to say he’s taking away from any kids starting out! This is one of few smart decisions made by HRNZ to try help out the junior driver numbers which is dwindling significantly over the past ten years, as there is hardly no new drivers coming through! Unfortunately it is very tough for juniors to make it as senior drivers and our study found only around 5% of juniors in the last 15 years have successfully ‘made it’ as senior drivers. There are also many drivers such as Monika Ranger & Devon van Til, who have only started their careers in their late 20s, which means they would’ve only been able to drive for two/three years before losing their juniors, making it virtually impossible for them to become successful senior drivers with very little experience. This is one of the main reasons why HRNZ has extended the age limit to 30, if you haven’t driven 100 winners 

[AndrewFitzgerald]

12 hours ago, Forbury said:

I have nothing against Andrew and his obvious passion to drive in races.i do think it's wrong that he's allowed to be a jnr driver with all his experience over many years including driving a winner in Australia.hes robbing every jnr driver starting out a chance to progress and achieve there best possible result in a very competitive industry.i believe it's totally unfair and just another bad decision by hrnz

What about the others that have made a comeback to the Junior Ranks under this new rule?

Or are you blind to that fact and just taking a pot shot at me behind ya fake name😂

I'm one of the biggest supporters of Juniors with my Syndicate horses - have a look at Arnie's Army down south, hardly had a senior driver on him since we've owned him. Frequently have used the follow Juniors in Carter Dalgety, Mark Hurrell, Alana Cameron & Korbyn Newman in open races on other horses too. 

It's the owners involved in the stables these new juniors are working at that need to support them more, but it's a tough one - rising monthly costs and then being asked to put a inexperienced driver on. The new HRNZ change which sees 4yo and older horses only get half points if they win, should help encourage owners to put Juniors with under 50 career wins on their horses as a way to beat the handicapper.

[hunterthepunter]

I think Andrew drives very well . I give them a drive one day in junior drivers race to get a good div

[Brodie]

I say the more Junior Drivers we have available the better for the good of the industry.

There has to be something for the young ones who are working in stables, as there are far easier ways of making a living.

I certainly would not want to be getting up when it is dark and driving to the stables anytime of the year and work as hard as young ones do.

Andrew Fitzgerald is a total harness enthusiast and is an asset to harness and promotes the industry more that what HRNZ does, so not great to knock him as he is a top bloke and we need him to keep up his great work.

[Forbury]

6 hours ago, AndrewFitzgerald said:

What about the others that have made a comeback to the Junior Ranks under this new rule?

Or are you blind to that fact and just taking a pot shot at me behind ya fake name😂

I'm one of the biggest supporters of Juniors with my Syndicate horses - have a look at Arnie's Army down south, hardly had a senior driver on him since we've owned him. Frequently have used the follow Juniors in Carter Dalgety, Mark Hurrell, Alana Cameron & Korbyn Newman in open races on other horses too. 

It's the owners involved in the stables these new juniors are working at that need to support them more, but it's a tough one - rising monthly costs and then being asked to put a inexperienced driver on. The new HRNZ change which sees 4yo and older horses only get half points if they win, should help encourage owners to put Juniors with under 50 career wins on their horses as a way to beat the handicapper.

What about the others who made a comeback that everyone didn't have the experience or chances or number of drives you have had.you have had well and truly had your turn unlike them.so are we supposed to post in our correct name now LoL 😆.keep up the great work and keep trying to achieve what you want.i have achieved a lot more than you from NZ trots and my bank says so too.

Edited January 10, 2023 by Forbury
Spell correct

[Forbury]

19 minutes ago, Brodie said:

I say the more Junior Drivers we have available the better for the good of the industry.

There has to be something for the young ones who are working in stables, as there are far easier ways of making a living.

I certainly would not want to be getting up when it is dark and driving to the stables anytime of the year and work as hard as young ones do.

Andrew Fitzgerald is a total harness enthusiast and is an asset to harness and promotes the industry more that what HRNZ does, so not great to knock him as he is a top bloke and we need him to keep up his great work.

I agree not knocking him at all.

[paleface adios]

1 hour ago, Forbury said:

.i have achieved a lot more than you from NZ trots and my bank says so too.

MARK JONES?

[Gammalite]

29 minutes ago, paleface adios said:

MARK JONES?

Think that bloke should of kept driving. Excellent driving record 20 odd years ago . World Driving Champion too !!

In 1999 he won the Australasian Young Drivers Championship, then a years later, in his last as a junior before Harness Racing NZ decreed he should lose his junior status for being too successful, he reined 100 winners in a season for the first time. Twelve months later, in his first term as an open driver, Mark won the NZ Drivers Premiership with 116 wins _ at the time a record for a South Island-based driver.

At 22, he also became the youngest driver by a few months to win a NZ Drivers Premiership, eclipsing Maurice Holmes, who won his first premiership at the same age in 1931. At the end of that memorable 2000-2001 season, Mark enjoyed a memorable night at Moonee valley, Melbourne, winning both the Australasian Breeders Crown 3YO Fillies Final with Sparks A Flyin, and 3YO Trotters Final behind Locofoco.

Training is a bit Lean for Mark ??? A 'Forbury' 4 year old championship a highlight ? lol

BIGGEST TRAINING WINS: 2010 NZ Trotting Derby & Hambletonian Classic (Shezoneotheboyz), 2010 Forbury 4YO Championship (Crystal Star).

 

[AndrewFitzgerald]

1 hour ago, Forbury said:

What about the others who made a comeback that everyone didn't have the experience or chances or number of drives you have had.you have had well and truly had your turn unlike them.so are we supposed to post in our correct name now LoL 😆.keep up the great work and keep trying to achieve what you want.i have achieved a lot more than you from NZ trots and my bank says so too.

Don't let facts n figures get in the way of your pot shot.

I've gone to the minor effort of looking up the figures of the 4 relicensed in the past fortnight. Only took a couple minutes to find the right info.

Jnr1) 15 Winners from over 300 drives as a Jnr

Jnr2) 22 winners from roughly 500 as a Jnr

Jnr3) 37 wins from roughly 600 as a Jnr.

Jnr4 (ME) 7 wins from 147 drives as a Jnr.

 

Good on your for your achievements in Racing - it's a shame when your bank manager is rubbing your back  telling you how healthy your account is looking that he hasn't gone to the effort of also telling you, there's more to life then sitting behind your computer having pot shots at someone having a crack in the Industry you apparently made your fortune in.

Young people aren't lining up at the door looking to be involved in this game - and it's people like you who take pot shots at people you don't like for no reason that actually drive the young people we have involved in the game out the door.

Best of luck in your future endeavors.

[Gammalite]

8 minutes ago, AndrewFitzgerald said:

Don't let facts n figures get in the way of your pot shot.

I've gone to the minor effort of looking up the figures of the 4 relicensed in the past fortnight. Only took a couple minutes to find the right info.

Jnr1) 15 Winners from over 300 drives as a Jnr

Jnr2) 22 winners from roughly 500 as a Jnr

Jnr3) 37 wins from roughly 600 as a Jnr.

Jnr4 (ME) 7 wins from 147 drives as a Jnr.

 

Good on your for your achievements in Racing - it's a shame when your bank manager is rubbing your back  telling you how healthy your account is looking that he hasn't gone to the effort of also telling you, there's more to life then sitting behind your computer having pot shots at someone having a crack in the Industry you apparently made your fortune in.

Young people aren't lining up at the door looking to be involved in this game - and it's people like you who take pot shots at people you don't like for no reason that actually drive the young people we have involved in the game out the door.

Best of luck in your future endeavors.

Don't worry mate . you should hear him carry on about Marky boy or Ben Hope when he winds up lol. 

Nz Junior Luke Whittaker now gets a good go in Brisbane . It's the place to be if young and wanting drives as race 6 days a week here. When I started out in Nz you got one drive a month in junior races , fighting like hell for a drive against Mark, Mango and Co at Auckland. Iceman Tony had just 'mopped' the floor with us all too. they'd be winning , while the rest of us were 'crashing' in the demolition Derbies probationary races lol😂😂.

kiwi lad Jack Trainor doing well in Sydney. Best hope for young Nz driver ??? go to Australia. heaps of drives available. (and heaps of old kiwi horses too lol.)  not much left there North Island these days ?

[Forbury]

51 minutes ago, Gammalite said:

Think that bloke should of kept driving. Excellent driving record 20 odd years ago . World Driving Champion too !!

In 1999 he won the Australasian Young Drivers Championship, then a years later, in his last as a junior before Harness Racing NZ decreed he should lose his junior status for being too successful, he reined 100 winners in a season for the first time. Twelve months later, in his first term as an open driver, Mark won the NZ Drivers Premiership with 116 wins _ at the time a record for a South Island-based driver.

At 22, he also became the youngest driver by a few months to win a NZ Drivers Premiership, eclipsing Maurice Holmes, who won his first premiership at the same age in 1931. At the end of that memorable 2000-2001 season, Mark enjoyed a memorable night at Moonee valley, Melbourne, winning both the Australasian Breeders Crown 3YO Fillies Final with Sparks A Flyin, and 3YO Trotters Final behind Locofoco.

Training is a bit Lean for Mark ??? A 'Forbury' 4 year old championship a highlight ? lol

BIGGEST TRAINING WINS: 2010 NZ Trotting Derby & Hambletonian Classic (Shezoneotheboyz), 2010 Forbury 4YO Championship (Crystal Star).

 

That's a mystery too me why Mark stopped driving as I thought he was one of the best.to busy training maybe since he's branched out to racehorses.i think the main reason is Sam runs stable so she should be driving them.

[Forbury]

52 minutes ago, AndrewFitzgerald said:

Don't let facts n figures get in the way of your pot shot.

I've gone to the minor effort of looking up the figures of the 4 relicensed in the past fortnight. Only took a couple minutes to find the right info.

Jnr1) 15 Winners from over 300 drives as a Jnr

Jnr2) 22 winners from roughly 500 as a Jnr

Jnr3) 37 wins from roughly 600 as a Jnr.

Jnr4 (ME) 7 wins from 147 drives as a Jnr.

 

Good on your for your achievements in Racing - it's a shame when your bank manager is rubbing your back  telling you how healthy your account is looking that he hasn't gone to the effort of also telling you, there's more to life then sitting behind your computer having pot shots at someone having a crack in the Industry you apparently made your fortune in.

Young people aren't lining up at the door looking to be involved in this game - and it's people like you who take pot shots at people you don't like for no reason that actually drive the young people we have involved in the game out the door.

Best of luck in your future endeavors.

Best of luck to you to for the future.im sorry if I offended you as I did not intend to.i thought it was just odd that you were allowed back as jnr(apprentice)with so many drives over the years and your experience that's all.no potshots intended at all.i understand how hard driving can be and what hard industry it is to be successful.keep your contribution going as it's benefit to the industry.i certainly don't won't to drive anyone away. 

[the galah]

49 minutes ago, AndrewFitzgerald said:

Don't let facts n figures get in the way of your pot shot.

I've gone to the minor effort of looking up the figures of the 4 relicensed in the past fortnight. Only took a couple minutes to find the right info.

Jnr1) 15 Winners from over 300 drives as a Jnr

Jnr2) 22 winners from roughly 500 as a Jnr

Jnr3) 37 wins from roughly 600 as a Jnr.

Jnr4 (ME) 7 wins from 147 drives as a Jnr.

 

Good on your for your achievements in Racing - it's a shame when your bank manager is rubbing your back  telling you how healthy your account is looking that he hasn't gone to the effort of also telling you, there's more to life then sitting behind your computer having pot shots at someone having a crack in the Industry you apparently made your fortune in.

Young people aren't lining up at the door looking to be involved in this game - and it's people like you who take pot shots at people you don't like for no reason that actually drive the young people we have involved in the game out the door.

Best of luck in your future endeavors.

I pretty much agree with what you have said on this thread,and he does appear to have played the man a bit and not the ball,but to say 'its people like you who take pot shots at people you don't like for no reason that actually drive the young people we have in the game out the door". Well i think thats a bit over the top.

In this day and age of social media and everything that goes with it in as far as everyone commenting on whatever or whoever they like or dislike,then surely by the time someone has reached the status of being a junior driver,they  must know they will be exposed to comments that could be viewed both positive and negative,and which they may not agree with or like.

Surely dealing with social media would be part of what junior drivers are taught when they do their in classroom learning before they get a licence. Besides life experiences, even if they are younger ,must have exposed them to that.

Someone commenting as forbury has in reality has opened discussion around a subject that some may have been unaware of the reasons for the change. You and another junior driver have given explanations which have expanded the knowledge of those reading this thread around this topic.

I guess the point i make is how much should it really matter what forbury or i or anyone else who comments thinks. Its your life,you making the most of any  opportunity that presents itself. Besides i always think its does no harm to know what people may be thinking,irrespective of whether it is positive or not or whether they need enlightening so as to further understand a topic that may be discussed.To me it matters not whether people use a non de plume or a real name. Obviously using your real name when you post places more weight to a topic like this,but using a real name or not doesn't change what any person posting thinks.

[the galah]

8 minutes ago, the galah said:

Obviously using your real name when you post places more weight to a topic like this,but using a real name or not doesn't change what any person posting thinks.

that should read "doesn't change what any person posting...is thinking at the time they make a post.

I guess sometimes,after posting something,then reading the subsequent replies,a posters view or knowledge around the subject may change a little. probably not that often,but sometimes.