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Hesi and Uber--have a read of Paul Little's piece about Election debates on the last page of North and South. The debate 42 years ago between Muldoon and Rowling had issues of the day 1. Rising house prices--doubled in 3 years 2. Young not being able to afford a house 3. Flood of immigrants need to be stopped 4. Reign in house speculation. Sound familiar. Except that 42 years ago there were no bleating millenials, interest rates were 15% and boomers lived within their means , ate at home, drank less grog and had no expensive "toys".The immigrants are only doing the jobs that 150,000 so-called unemployed will NOT do.

Lets not do this Again

In reply to Blue's comment about Russell Sutherland. I am Russell's partner of 10 or so years. Russell told me that upon winning the 'Great Northern Steeplechase' on 'Confer' that Alec Walker gave him a miserable 'sling' of £5 and upon leaving the Jockey's Room he remarked 'You're married aren't You!' here's £5 for your wife!' Russell was so annoyed at such a miserable sling for such an important race he purposely lost the next race as revenge on Alec Walker!

The Racing Act would disqualify the Vice Chairman of Sport NZ being on the board. I am surprized that Bill Birnie having been Vice Chairman Sport NZ for some eight years would resign that position in order to get on the board. Obviously the calling for applicants to fill the board positions was a sham as Birnie was always going to be appointed. The Chairman of Sport NZ too can not get on the Board but lo and behold he is put on the Offshore Betting Working Group. Quite bizarre as it baffles the imagination just why an ex chairman of Brierleys knighted as well would get involved with the intricacies of horse betting. Then there is the so called "Independent" Chairman of the Working group" Chris Tremain an ex MP and heavily involved with Sport NZ. Once again what experience has he had with wagering, None. Yet he is the king pin for overseas wagering. Berri Shroeder with experience trying to launch RaceO would have been better. A good contact tells me Chris Tremain is being "credentialed" to take over from Glenda Hughes as the next Racing Board Chairman. Pity if Labour gets in all that planning goes out the window.

Structured correctly we would have a sensational championship that would be very appealing to the people who bet on sports

What a finish to the Open Hurdle, 5 of them in a line at the last, amazing sight. Shame that was marred somewhat by the senseless fall of a horse tailed right off who was forced to jump the last (right into it rather than jump it), thankfully it looks like horse (Top Choice) & rider were ok. Time a very clear and strictly enforced directive was made that a horse out of contention should be eased down and bypass the remaining fences. Those like myself who enjoy jumps racing don't want to see senseless falls like that when nothing is at stake, if jumps is going to survive it does need to remove acts like that.

No they don't - Carter said it years ago - once you sort your internal house out we will get involved - still the same today - well almost has worsened big time

Why do you think I've entered the competition??

Check this out pure bliss!

Title says it all really folks - just had to sigh a little when the latest pamphlet and email arrived today inviting me to stallion parades I'd love to attend but can't for the same reasons a lot of you probably can't either (too far away, too busy working to earn $ to pay stallion fees etc). There are also other reasons too of course - like disabled breeders who find it really hard to get to the parades let alone around the place once they are there .... I reckon it would be an awesome service if someone videoed these then made them available for viewing after? I think it would provide authentic, raw information to breeders - which can be valuable alongside the edited/selective marketing material in which the studs naturally want to show their stallions in the best possible light (even if the final (marketing) "cut" of the video was the first time ever that they managed to get the beast to walk on 4 legs not 2 in the parade ring!! ) I see there was a sponsor on one of my pamphlets - any takers to sponsor this initiative? Or maybe NZTB could step up (just got your account fellas - and we're nearly up to $200 per annum .... ) Just a bit of FOMO I guess and a thought on what could be done so peops like me would not feel we were missing out quite so much .... J

agree he got it easy up front but an 80-1 shot winning any race should be worth some form of mention from the stipes or does the I in RIU mean something else.

Fathers' Day starts well for Joe Moreira. First day of the new season this amazing Hoop has won the first 5 Races. ( 7:23pm NZ). That does not happen early season in HK .That favourites win. Mr Bosson could learn a thing or two about dedication and fitness. No wonder Bosson came back to NZ after riding against Purton and JM and the flybuys Aussie Jocks like Bowman. Moreira's 5th consecutive win tonight was on a horse (YoutheOneforMe) who had not won in HK in 33 starts ! How the hell does that work ?? He, Must be On track to win 2 more at least tonight. Wonderful to watch His magic. Terrific to see the Commingling working tonight ( HK huge pools) ,unlike yesterdays pathetic TAB issues with our Premier Spring Day.

And without these same Landlords, where would they be living again.....?? Typical Labour, tail wagging the dog......

Interesting to watch the Steeples today and witness the behaviour of the 2 riderless runners. Watch how Brok Bak and Mr Kanton catch up to field and lob along amongst them going over the jumps still, then Brok Bak takes off and leads & Mr Kanton decides to charge off after him and both lead the field by 3 lengths still completing the jumps. Both of them hug the rail turning and miss the jumps in the straight, after the race you can see a shot of the 2 of them just getting pulled up before they are about to head over the first fence out the back. Mr Kanton was having a field day without out a rider going over those jumps.

Total after Week 8 $1350.50($71 per share) Net Loss of $1689.50 Well that day started off with such a good start with the late finishing Allpress ride and I saw $$ signs in my eyes but it wasn’t to be. Still banked $288 so all was not lossed. So onto next week and the each way king of Cubes paired up with Ritchie hopefully keep the slow moving wheels to get some momentum Have a good week all, not much happening here in Otago region other than work work and more work.

Thanks for The Updates Midget ! Scoring, and running these competitions is always a bloody night mare. A good rule to include is : ( Cadbury Chocolate have it in their fine print as Rule 488 (b)) "The Sponsor is always Right. No Right of Reply from any Entrant regarding scoring." Over 26 years ago I got George Lawson a beauty in the Judicial Room at Tauranga. Sir Alan Lesley Jones had won his own sponsored Maiden race with a miserable ride by "Rocket" Linda Ballantyne on board a pony by Vaguely Tender.Alan was not oncourse so I represented Linda.My front on Video pictures clearly showed Alan's horse dictating the line of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th horse.The marvellous Judicial Committee ( Bloody Great Club and Guys) asked for my final summary. I used the Cadbury Chocolate fine print that they used for their competitions at the time and addressed Ginger Tankard and George Lawson, while looking at The Committee Panel with the phrase... " Rule 488 (b) applies here Gentlemen. Regarding Sponsorship " and I immediately left the room with Linda. (Of course there never was a Racing Conference rule 488 but I remember George and Ginger thumbing their leather bound Rule Books as we made a Hasty exit ). Jockey Ballantyne received a fine. Judge Jim Lambert's original Call stood. Linda and Alan continued to assist The Bay of Plenty Racing Club. Those were the great Days !!

What a well-mannered lot as well! That was a treat thanks Huey ....

Here's a taste of what's coming folks....... http://home.nzcity.co.nz/news/article.aspx?id=254905

Ok, my results follow. No doubt there'll be mistakes, let's just agree to make polite corrections. I'm scoring Kawi x 3 for the G1 x 3 for the joker. Volpe Veflop is scored x 2 for the G1 All jokers are scored x 3. Losers are less 40. If you backed Kawi and threw Winx in you'll thus be +187.- 40 net 147 I've got a record of who's played their jokers. Clear as mud ?? Black Kirrama 187.2 Catalano 187.2 Chelseacol 187.2 DBurrow 187.2 Dtab 187.2 Peter Harrop 187.2 Premixer 187.2 Redrew 187.2 Scooby 187.2 Steveh 187.2 Taaxi 187.2 Tasman Man 187.2 The Crucible 187.2 Tonkatime 187.2 Trump 187.2 Turny 187.2 Kloppite 166.5 CT ( the STD ) 130.2 Insider 130.2 Ivanthegreat 130.2 Mr Zim 130.2 Porky 130.2 Midget 90.2 * Hesi 62.5 Southland 62.4 Vanturk 62.4 Fostermd 43.4 Napier 43.4 Newmarket 43.4 Ohokaman 43.4 Pottsie 43.4 Talk 43.4 Diver Dan 41.66 Dillo 29.4 Mr Gee 29.4 Davey 28.56 Shane McAlister 28.56 Rdytdy 28.5 Huey 23.8 Mainland Rookie 23.8 Nick 23.8 Turnip 22.7 N1mue 22.4 * Bimbo 13.33 Sayer 13.33 Wrinkles 13.33 Sighted 11.76 Cubes 6.25 Tauhei Notts 4.86 Brown Fox -40 * Gordy -40* Gruff -40 * Mooseman -40 *

Gingernuts humidoorJohn snowhardhamharlemdawn wallVentura stormAntonio guisepeguardiniso si Bon sarrasin

Congrats team Blues on your win Hard luck Howie I'm sure Geoff can sympathise with you mate last Race Blues hopefully it's not catchy looks like team Blues are in for a good Spring But yet again it was team Hurricanes who set the bar at that very high standard well done John 8 winners nice way to start the spring Thanks professor J as always

Well done, John, a massive effort selecting 8 winners in the 10 races . Top stuff ! Well done also Ian of the Chiefs, a perfectly timed finish with a Best Bet Quinella in R10 to run me down after I'd had the lead for the greater part of the afternoon. I'd been doing a pretty good 'Red Excitement' impersonation, until Ian came through with his 'Winx' impersonation. Next time I want to be the 'Winx', please !

Agree Berri. We have been let down bigtime by successive " leaders" over many years. As for HRNZ, don't expect anything to come out of there that is either inventive or constructive....the place has been comatose for years with Rennell there.

I personally don't think we've got a dog's show either way this plays out. I think there is a move due to economics to support sports in front of racing. It won't matter which party wins, they're all supporting the notion to ensure additional funds get to sports, whether that is to the cost of racing, or not. Racing has lost it's relevance. You can see that by the simple placement of Racing on the Herald site (the start of this post) and the ambivalent attitude shown to racing for years. We've been let down by the boards and leaders of the respective codes. You can't blame Bernard. He's the newbie on the block and you can't blame anyone on the NZRB board, apart from the thoroughbred appointments, because they are all trying to steer the ship to sports betting becoming the preferred beneficiary for funding. Lotteries funds need to be used elsewhere as that funding has been diluted. It's the heads and members of the NZTR, HRNZ, NZGH, Trainers, Owners, Jockeys and Breeders Associations that are now accountable. And I'll tell you why....no matter how you look at this, racing is going to be worse off than it was and I don't believe that those in charge have actually understood the meaning of the proposed changes to the Act. I've tipped someone off in Harness Racing, and the response has suggested that they personally haven't looked at the proposed changes, but are relying on the NZRB's assertions that everything is necessary!!! And the lack of comment and advice from Jackson is stunning. That guy should be screaming to make amendments. Why hasn't he let his constituent beneficiaries know of his intentions to apply for amendments? He's already come out to say that he thought the amendments were great for racing!!! What the fuck??!? No wriggle room there and Midgie might be right. This bloke may be all hat and no horse. We've got to get vocal!!

Hi jas, still recovering mate...can I have TAB a/c no. to put $288 winning from yesterday into easier that way ...if o.k, Cheers Porky

Great result, Shelley does a great job with a small team, ably assisted by her right hand man, son Matt. Not many better blokes in the game than one Grant Cooksley. Many readers on here wouldn't know that he won a Great Northern chase in 78 if my memory serves me correctly. And the loyal owners that have been the backbone for Shelley for a good number of years. Great result for all concerned, and another G1 from the best training centre in NZ!

Didn't Cookie just go on and on and on during the after race interview?

The NZRB is rapidly developing a culture of rewarding failure. Bill Birnie is the latest example. In a years time after another disastrous season for the Warriors I would not be surprised if Cameron George is appointed to the Board. Racing Minister David Bennett being in full election mode is blissfully unaware of the parlous state of NZ Racing.

Think we all need to realise newspapers are a fading medium . There's two good weekly racing publications available plus countless websites and trackside it's far better than it's ever been .

John Minto, now that's a hated man from the past. I used to own a T Shirt that had on it, Blazey till Minto to get F--ked.

That should motivate people to get off their arses and vote...particularly Nats.....this is getting serious...

http://www.youtube.com/embed/Pkeiv7hZy_Y?rel=0

Do we sometimes focus on height too much and forget about length? i.e. I think Dundeel was barely 15.3 but he seemed to have good length which helped him have very good stride length. Race horses are runners not high jumpers aren't they?

An American bets an irish man that he can't drink ten pints one after the other. The irish man ups and leaves and comes back after half an hour an accepts the bet and wins The American in shock says wow paddy fair play but can I ask were you went. The irish man replies sure I had to go to the pub across the road and make sure I could do it first

OWNERS REVOLT, it costs a lot of money to train a horse per month and maybe only have two or maybe three starts in gut busting 2600 at Addington or elswhere, , maybe we should look at the USA or Aussie and have shorter races with smaller fields, then the horse can race more often and give the long suffering owner a chance to at least break even, at the moment, you need to run two places a month and one must be second to keep your head above water, the owner is the backbone of this industry, give him at least a chance.

He certainly does. Golden Horn appeals to me , a champion racehorse who has a lot of his sire about him , really hope he makes the grade.

Thanks for posting the Darley parade. What a line-up. Brazen Beau is some specimen. Hasn't he thrown to Bletchingly.

Not sure about that Dibbles - I guess I was just thinking of the parades - the studmasters go to a bit of effort/risk to put their horses up for public parade and I think would mostly welcome the extra audience the parade would reach if filmed? All the studs can film their horses any time, any how - and post it on their websites ...I think the fairness side of it comes from simply filming the parade as it occurred - as if you were there - with no special (editing) favors to anyone. Just my thoughts ...cheers, J

This is a very good idea. Steve Davis would do a very good job as a narrator for such a film. It would be an opportunity to introduce a wide range of stallions to potential breeders. The Waikato and Auckland branches of NZTBA should take up this initiative

Let's be reasonable, the track is bloody good and that is backed up by trainers. The facilities are crap but I look at it like this, they are consigned to midweek racing if they stuck up a ****** Taj Mahal type stand there and gave away free grog , they wouldn't get hardly any more than they already do. Just look at ARC Headquarters, all the facilities Avondale doesn't have and how many people can they get there on even a Saturday for God's sake ? . Big days aside, as a mate of mine said they could resurrect Charles Whitman. let him open fire and the prick would be firing away merrily into empty space.

I guess, but to be fair, a heavy 10 is as close to a bog as you can really get. I also fully agree that the transport is crazy, but I think thats a case of transporters charging some pretty premium prices, aside from that i still see Ruakaka as a good surface for winter racing, and we see this in August when a lot of trainers end their big guns up there to kick off as they are seeking the better going. Avondale probably does deserve another meeting or two to be fair.

I agree with you that Avondale is now probably the most under utilised course, and their track is finally been remedied were it is now a good standard. Now they need to rip down that old grandstand, renovate the main stand and give the place a splash of paint, presentable, improve the overall facilities and you have a premier track

8th March, Avondale had 26ml of rain over night and raced on a Heavy 10, the reason they haven't been racing on a bog at Avondale is largely due to the fact that its been summer, they had 5 meetings in June, July and August las year with 4 of those being on a heavy 10. I personally see Ruakaka as a great place for horses that aren't good enough to be racing during summer but don't necessarily want a wet track either. By northern horses I'm assuming you mean from pukekohe etc. and they do have options if they don't go north, even with Auckland shutting down, those horses can get to Waikato to race, so them being deprived of saturday races isn't entirely accurate.

Haven't seen any horse swimming at Avondale for a long time even after heavy rain. But it doesn't really matter, by the same token other horses might prefer a heavy track in winter even if it is a 9 or 10. Not every winter track needs to be a bog, they are after all winter gallopers. . I went to a few Waikato meetings last year and while they were genuinely heavy tracks they weren't bogs. Our own horse ran 2nd on one and he is no genuine heavy tracker. It could be why they get the fields up there, and I'm sure it did taper off last year, is that with Auckland shutting down for 6 -8 weeks it deprives northern horses of Saturday races if they don't go up there. It's travel up there or don't get a race while tracks like Avondale are underutalised. . What I would be interested in is to hear the views of an astute bloke like Chris Wood on what he thinks from Waikato trainers point of view. . I am fully prepared to be wrong, but impression I've had is in a lot of cases they almost go up there by necessity . it isn't as if they clap their hands and say great another Ruakaka meeting this weekend !

Because some times horses that are racing during winter don't want a bog, and they aren't good enough to race during summer, hence why Ruakaka suits! 40mls of rain the night before a meeting at Avondale and they'll be swimming in it, 40mls the night before Ruakaka and it comes up a dead 6. Its not like there is a shortage of wet tracks for these winter horses to get their foot into like you say, but not all horses racing through winter want a bog. Your forgetting that when we race at Matamata the majority of the field is Matamata trained and they are hard to beat, its the same concept at ruakaka, its just more concentrated on one stable as opposed to Matamata's many. If trainers thought it was that hard to win races at Ruakaka why did they still get capacity fields? Obviously some people want to race their. 90% thats a it of a stretch, I'll agree they win a lot of races there but so does Pitman at Riccarton etc. And when you say 'they have 4 and 5 horses in a 10 horse field' its usually more like 2 or 3.

Had to be better than that bog at Otaki today where the fields are strung out like Browns Cows. And good to see they are on the ball down there.....track still showing "Easy" on the winning post......

Leader bias just like an all weather track, then again it is an all weather track. Got it yet guys?

Theres nothing wrong with Ruakaka,a great course.As was my $14 quaddie outlay,for 10% of the quaddie.And both trainers through the $23 2nd leg out.They should race there every day,lol.

We shouldn't be too critical of Ruakaka; it is what it is. At least it provides an option. And good on the Logan stable for doing what they do. I never bet there myself, just like I never bet at Moonee Valley, but it provides an option for certain horses.

To be fair, the Logan's only won 2 races today, Roger James won 2, Stephen McKee had a win and a 2nd, Rogerson's had a win and a 2nd, bit harsh saying its a Logan benefit day. If people take horses up that are good enough to win they will beat Logan's, end of story. Peter McKay has a lot of success up there he is another example. Personally I find it more boring when our races on Friday and Saturday are called off and we have hardly anything to watch all weekend. Atleast they can get through a race meeting at Ruakaka!!!! Not sure why you hate betting there also, form stacks up pretty well and its pretty easy to find some value if you ask me. And the only reason Ruakaka is "inflicted on us all winter" is because tracks like Te Aroha and Avondale cant stand up to the racing, at least we know they get through meetings, they had 40 mills of rain last night and this morning, with the rain stopping at 7 this morning and still managed to get through a good days racing.