Prodigious

A very good appointment.

You are kidding. Surely.

I will wait, like all the others, until the smoke clears and the verdicts are down. But, as they say, where there is smoke ... and it's been pretty smoggy in this game for a long, long time.

You haven't heard anything substantial because you won't until the court cases begin. If you are just a punter, then you will perhaps be forgiven for the disbelief, but if you have been an owner, then you will not be so surprised.

The naivety of some on here is boggling, or perhaps just a symptom of the head in the sand "nothing to see here" attitude which has allowed this to flourish for decades. There is 18 months of investigation here, they have tapes, wire taps, seized computers, phones. I have heard that there could be a couple of dozen other people who can expect a tap on the door. Friends or not, they deserve not one iota of sympathy, and we just have to hope that they have not done irreparrable damage to our sport.

Firstly you don't have to bet on every race. Secondly, this is a serious form of racing everywhere else in the world that they have trotting, although by the sounds of it, you rarely get out. I have actually been to Paris and witnessed the wonderful Prix du Cornulier, a 700,000 euro race featuring some of the best trotters in the world. I have also been to Solvalla and seen the Monte run there on Elitloppet day, a popular and prestigious lead up race. And I was in Australia, only last month, and witnessed a very competitive monte race on Redwood Classic Day, Montes are very popular with the female trainers and grooms, all over the world, and in a declining industry, a new way to get more prople involved - as are amateur driving races. So for those who don't like to bet on these events, don't. For those who like to PARTICIPATE in these events, and get off their arses and support the harness industry by doing so, all power to you.

Five pacing horses, four from the same barn running for $50k. Kind of says it all really. They can find the money for the right barns and owners, but try getting a 3YO filly race, with a full field, racing for $30k. Something and the State Of Denmark, as the old Shakesmeister would say.

I could not disagree more with this poster. Montes are not only not a novelty, they are a genuine alternative option for trotting horses and a new pathway to a different particularly female market, which is where they are immensely popular in both Sweden and France (giving the many stablehands, who have little chance of making it in the male dominated driving ranks, a chance of competing regularly). I love them, and I hope they catch on here as they will bring in a brand new stream of participants, riders, with little of the expense of the thoroughbred code. You need a bit of vision in this game and this is something that is fast catching on in the rest of the world.

Majestic Son 144 foals in 2013 and 2014 crops, Jewels Winners NONE Love You 37 foals in 2013 and 2014 crop, Jewels Winners TWO. Now that is dominance.

AND without a log in I can't see the races since I don't have access to Sky.

Without betting there would be no racing. This is disastrous for our industry. On the biggest day, the biggest races are unbackable. Literally. Heads should roll.

Geez Brodie you are clutching at straws. Norwegian betting is ALL totalisator - no fixed odds or bookies. Like most of Scandinavia most of the wagering is on their version of doubles, trebles, quaddies, pick 5, pick 6 and the big money V75 or weekly Pick 7. And yes they don't use whips, while whip use is hugely restricted all over Europe. Animal welfare is paramount in equestrian sports in Europe.

Pacing is very much a numbers game given the very high quality of the shuttle stallions. There are only four or five countries in the world that race pacers, and we get access to the very best ones. Trotting is very different since it is far too expensive to shuttle a top of the line trotting stallion given the fact that we are by trotting breeding numbers and quality, about 13th in the world in rankings. There are more than 1000 trotting stallions standing in the 12 European trotting countries above us (not counting the 520 French ones) and conservatively 20 to 30 per cent of them would be better than any who are currently standing out here. So, the gap between the frozen trotting stallions available, and these include at least three (Muscle Hill, Andover Hall, Love You) of the world's current top ten, and those currently standing here on farm is massive. Sundon was a world class stallion. We lucked in when McKenzie brought him here. We haven't got close since.

Majestic Son does not have anywhere close to the maternal strength that Sundon does, not by a long shot. Trotting has two camps, frozen and fresh and the frozen stallions are so far ahead it is almost not worth breeding if you can't get in foal with a frozen stallion .

Beware of confusing precosity and talent Brodie. Trotters who run at two are notorious for being not much at three and four as the others catch up. Pacers have been bred to run early and don't last. Trotters can and do improve with age and just keep on going. It is not the numbers, it is the quality.