Spikecity

The problem is that many drive for each other and are mates or are related

GEORGIE ZUKOV - raced wide early. Lay inwards in the middle stages of the run home and shifted into the passing lane having to be corrected by its driver. Authorisation of 2nd placing was withheld until Stewards had spoken to driver R Close (FLYAWAY) placed 3rd, to ascertain whether he wished to lodge a protest after GEORGIE ZUKOV had shifted into the passing lane. Mr Close advised his chances had not been affected and elected not to proceed with a protest. DD'S SUPER STUART - raced wide early. Held up early in the run home. Driver C Markham admitted a breach of Rule 869(3)(b) in that he drove carelessly when shifting ground inwards rounding the first bend when not sufficiently clear of LIVING THE MOMENT which was checked and broke. After viewing the replays and hearing penalty submissions the Adjudicative Committee suspended Mr Markham's driver's licence from the conclusion of racing today up to and including 19 April 2024 (2 days). BIGGLES - lay inwards near the 180m having to be straightened by its driver hampering a trailing runner. Authorisation of 2nd placing was withheld until Stewards had spoken to driver J Dunn (KAIRAKI DELIGHT) placed 4th, to ascertain whether he wished to lodge a protest after being briefly hampered in the middle stages of the run home. Mr Dunn advised his chances had not been affected and elected not to proceed with a protest. Why do they let the drivers make the decisions - can't they tell if a horses chances have been affected!!! I bet Carl Markham is furious at getting 2 days holiday - probably was getting full books on these 2 days

They also had ladies non tote races way back

He is the link to the page with stats from 1st Jan 2024. https://infohorse.hrnz.co.nz/datahrs/premierships/tpship.htm?_gl=1*86tqap*_ga*MTc3NDAzMzYyMC4xNjU4NzA1MzE4*_ga_89LHVN1VNM*MTcwODk3NDM5NC41MDkuMC4xNzA4OTc0Mzk0LjYwLjAuMA..

For me their stake money to starter don't read good Steve & Amanda Telfer 115 32 12 13 409,911 0.3739 Robert & Jenna Dunn 143 23 21 13 324,809 0.2727 Mark Jones 68 15 8 5 130,361 0.3105 Barry Purdon & Scott Phelan 39 14 7 6 257,576 0.5100 Michael House 87 12 17 11 145,969 0.2886 Bob Butt 49 11 6 5 139,474 0.3265 Cran & Chrissie Dalgety 32 10 4 5 105,380 0.4340 Kirstin Green 48 8 3 7 86,445 0.2500 Mark & Nathan Purdon 23 8 4 1 242,020 0.4589

Yes makes the stipes look even more stupid than what they have previously shown - disgraceful

Agreed but the cost is the atmosphere of being at the races - firstly marking the scratchings in your book - writing in the drivers for the next race (god only knows who is driving what in the next races until we are told) - cues to get a bet on - the thrill of running to the back of the tote - worrying about if you have time to collect, study the form and cue to place a bet for the next race. Meal to be fitted in whenever you could. Busy but enjoyable times.

And I liked when you would just take the horses in the first leg of a double or treble and go and change winning tickets for the next leg

I presume if drivers are licenced in another country they are eligible to drive in NZ e.g Cam Hart or when NZers go to Aussie. If so wouldn't it be a huge drawcard to have Dexter driving a few at each meeting he has attended. It seems like a waste of talent sitting on the sideline and he has attended most if not all the meetings that have been on whilst he has been here. Yes it could be safety issue with big fish to fry in the US but hard to believe

As far as I was aware it wasn't refunded - that was what I was hoping to clarify

I was concerned when last year the Telfer Telfer Cullen combo was scratched from the trainers premiership. It didn't affect me personally but felt it was very unfair to those who had backed the trio. I recall saying something on here re what would happen if Dunn/Dunn split up or died so decided to ask the TAB as follows - "Last year in this option there was an option on Telfer, Telfer and Cullen, however Cullen left the partnership and therefore all bets were deemed as losers. This year the main 2 contenders are - Telfer/Telfer - and Dunn/Dunn - if either partnership split or if one of the partners happened to die will the bet on that particular partnership be a loser? I can't find the answers to these question in the rules" To there credit it was answered within 2 hours with the following reply - "Thanks for your email. This is the sort of thing that will need to be sorted at the time if this happens If one decided to leave and not train on their own accord then yes the bets would stand, where it gets tricky is obviously if a partnership breaks up and they both just train under their own name." I don't know who answered it and as it was answered at 7.59 pm it may not have been someone in the know to which I have replied - "So basically there are no specific rules in place to cover this and we should bet blindly and hope neither scenario occurs. I sincerely hope that this is not the case" Whether or not it will be replied to - who knows I know Mick Guerin commented on Box Seat last year about how unfair it was to backers of Telfer/Telfer/Cullen when they lost their money when Cullen left With all the mickey mouse changes re Allstar training partnerships who would know when they could change again SOME CONCRETE RULES PLEASE TAB - no-one likes betting blind - we could bet on the dogs for that hehe

Carter Dalgety1.70 Wilson House2.00 Sam Thornley7.00 Crystal Hackett34.00 Olivia Thornley34.00 Mia Holbrough34.00 Not a lot to pick from and odds terrible considering you need to wait a year to get paid out. Are there really no good juniors in the NI?

Totally accept what you are saying about split second decisions and Crystal has had enough experience (albeit not on this track) to have driven it better (and no I had no investment on the race but do enjoy watching them). She didn't just pull it 3 carts off the fence, but went 5 carts wide. And yes she is nowhere near as good as Blair - look at his drive on Sweet Spirit winning from 3 back and horses in front of him tiring - horses naturally run out when tired Sweet Spirit https://harness.hrnz.co.nz/gws/ws/r/infohorsews/wsd06x?Arg=hrnzg-Ptype&Arg=RaceVideo&Arg=hrnzg-RacehdrID&Arg=9A4E3F05-BBFB-455C-90AD-B1BDCE21B442&Arg=hrnzg-rSite&Arg=TRUE

https://harness.hrnz.co.nz/gws/ws/r/infohorsews/wsd06x?Arg=hrnzg-Ptype&Arg=RaceVideo&Arg=hrnzg-RacehdrID&Arg=CC0136A4-861C-4356-B840-366FA2DE8168&Arg=hrnzg-rSite&Arg=TRUE

Whether via pocket or not it was a shocker. She pulled the earplugs down the back straight when it was hard on the leaders back (not sure what that was about) and the horse that did stay on the fence got up for 4th. When she did pull wide she went about 2 more cart widths than needed to. I didn't realize who drove it until I looked at the results today but did note when watching the race yesterday how poor a drive it was and assume it was a beginner junior driver. Cystal is a capable driver and I am even sure she would be the first to admit that it wasn't her best work

Sarah has to be worth a lazy $10 @$21 in today's drivers challenge

Well Clarke had that class trotter (can't remember it's name - early Alzheimer's maybe) that won probably only half the stakes it could have won with even an average driver

Super horse but even more impressive was the drive. Parked earlier and in no rush to take the lead until sure the trailing horse was on his back so Swayzee couldn't get out. One of the best drives I have ever seen - had everything under control from start to finish

R1 Major Torque R2 Dreams Pat R4 High Step R5 Tokyo Rose R7 Not As Promised R8 Raknruin

The problem is that the horse that was leading is a grinder, that can pace rough, and loves the front. I know that just being an observer of races. She obviously either didn't do any homework before the race and didn't know her own horses capabilities which were limited and would have been best served right where it was. Even if it made the front it would have been putting the white flag up at about the 600. A complete brain explosion by her and yes other drivers have these from time to time, and yes it was a junior drivers race, but that doesn't make it right

Had the 1-1 with a front runner leading then gets Van-Nilled. Unbelievable drive feel for the connections and no no money lost from me - seen her driving skills before. Wonderful drive by Super Sara as usual and like many on here say - why doesn't she get better quality drives - she has that special something that horses just run for her. There are many super drivers but few have that "horses run for them" factor - the greatest being Maurice Holmes Race 6 GLUYAS MOTORS (JUNIOR DRIVER) MOBILE PACE Show Video TAKEMYBREATHAWAY - checked by a weakening runner near the 700m and broke losing its chance. KNOCKSHANBALLY - weakened near the 700m checking and hampering trailing runners. A post-race veterinary examination revealed no obvious abnormalities. Stewards questioned driver D van Til regarding the manner in which she drove in the middle stages when persisting in a challenge for the lead. After hearing from Miss van Til, Stewards adjourned the matter for further consideration. SOPHIA BROMAC - hampered by a weakening runner near the 700m. HOPE FOR LOVE - out of position at the start. Driver K Tomlinson was issued a warning. Over-raced early when being restrained to the rear of the field. Weakened final bend. When questioned regarding the performance Miss Tomlinson was unable to provide any explanation. A post-race veterinary examination revealed no abnormalities. Stewards will follow up with connections in the coming days. KILAUEA - hampered by a weakening runner near the 700m. BETTERTHANDIVA - Trainer G Smith was warned for presenting the mare to race in the incorrect colours.

Is this a Multi or an all up? I must be doing something wrong as I never seem to be able to combine bets at different meetings and certainly not with trots and gallops. For example I would like to multi Driver and Jockey challenges together but dont seem to be able to do it. I also wanted to combine Dunns Blair and Sarah in their respective premiereships but didn't seem to be able to

Swayzee has been scratched from the NZ FFA on Friday. Trainer Jason Grimson said he hasn’t recovered well enough from the Cup which was his main target.

SCRATCHED - I guess someone knew this was going to happen and unloaded on Akuta beforehand - Why else would the price drop?

Will be an interesting race that's for sure - what can Mark do to win it? If he let's Swayzee go to the lead it is race over. Personally I think this is his only chance to run second. If he tries to hold up Swayzee will just keep grinding away and Akuta won't like that all can may not even run a place. Remember Republican Party run past him easily a few starts back when he had to do a bit of work. Good horse - yes. Good tough horse - very doubtful. Don't forget Swayzee beat Leap to Fame (reputed to be the best horse in Austaliasia)easily.