ellenbrook

Not quite 20, but this thread has brought back memories of some wonderful racehorses in the 15-19 win range that were 'my' champions when I was first getting addicted to the sport: All in Fun, Irish Rover, Hero, Rebel.

Hmm, someone is on a crusade and I strongly suspect you've never worked in conservation in your life. We must effectively control the pests that threaten our vulnerable New Zealand ecosystems. Trapping is an important part (especially the Goodnature traps that self-reset) in as far as there is resource to do so, and the terrain allows. Poison (1080) is also a very useful tool to do this, especially where control is needed on a large scale and in difficult, remote areas. Yes, I think the vision for most people including me is for a pest-free AND a 1080-free New Zealand. Unfortunately if you were to suddenly stop the use of 1080 we would lose bird species. To those who are saying it isn't effective, yes, it is. After a 1080 drop the forest is quiet, but once the rats are gone, the birds come back in droves and are able to breed and once again thrive in the absence of pests. 1080 biodegrades relatively rapidly. It does not accumulate in the food chain or in the soil. It is soluble in water, becoming harmless byproducts. Your cup of tea contains more 1080 than streams where 1080 is dumped! It is also important to try to minimise animal suffering from pest control. 1080 is a painful death, definitely - ground traps can be even worse. I acknowledge the public concern about the use of 1080, especially from hunters because of bykill of deer. ERMA’s review of 1080 recognised these concerns and has resulted in stronger best practice guidelines including providing for community consultation before operations, and operators having to provide ERMA with post-operation reports. This can be accessed at http://bit.ly/1CheIWn The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment has also reviewed the use of 1080. In her July 2011 report she concluded that, “A solid body of evidence supporting the continued use of 1080 has been built up over the years.” Her report is available at http://bit.ly/1q0hMS1 The reason that NZ imports 1080 and other countries don't is because we have a different ecology - we don't have large native mammals that we want to protect consuming the poison, and we're unique in that regard. So, promoting practical alternatives to aerial 1080. To this end the Greens secured Government funding for large scale trials of self-setting traps under the Memorandum of Understanding between the National Government and the Green Party after the 2008 Election.The traps are powered by small gas canisters and reset themselves each time they kill a pest, meaning that they need to be checked much less frequently. Each gas canister lasts for around 20 kills so may be able to be left to work without checking for up to 12 months. If they prove effective they may be able to be used. While alternatives to 1080 are being researched, these are not sufficiently developed to replace it. The political reality is that a majority of Parliament is required to pass legislation and unless a party has an outright majority in Parliament then negotiation between parties is the only way forward. The 'ban 1080 party' will never be successful in its move to negotiate this - no bargaining chips! A more pressing human and ecosystem health issue in my view is increasing nitrate nitrogen levels in waterways and aquifers due to massive dairy conversions, like those in Waikato and Canterbury, because of their detrimental environment effects (algal blooms in summer, rivers unable to support life) and its association with blue baby syndrome and the known impact of elevated nitrate nitrogen levels on oxygen transport around the body. Priorities people!

Race 3 @ Rotorua on Saturday Won Ton (Chinese Dragon - Not Now) Perfect, as is the dam's name (Not Now by Howbaddouwantit out of Miss Challenge)

Love that he beat Modesty on the day, that bit makes it.

That's the bit of coverage I miss most....checking in with the trainer, jockey, even owners afterward...so that we can get a taste of their success and celebration and the emotion that comes with having a winning horse. Always seems to be the ones I want to watch the most that get cut in favour of these "venetian blinds" or aussie horses walking around before the start.

My frustrations are directed at the media and the reporting; on the importance of a career, rather than the next steps in the case (of which there are none yet). It's purely bad editorial directive, I don't blame Mils' "people" for the coverage really.

beerwithduncan.... my thoughts exactly. Thanks for writing. The reporting is a disgrace...for the most part. It's an ongoing criminal investigation, that is the only news here but from the NZH's reports, the "news" is the inconvenience to Mils rugby playing career, as though the wrongdoing he is being accused of is less important. While I don't know regarding the veracity of the claims either, in this case the complainant has kept their name suppression... that's not something that someone out for publicity would do.

Speaking of which does anyone know what is happening with Snapshot? I wondered if he has had setbacks or is just being rested..looked a nice horse. That article and also the OP comments reflects an unfortunate attitide. The whip study was done to inform debate. Perfect opportunity to run that debate on your terms by showing why carrying a whip is important (even if using it to encourage speed isn't) and that youre concerned enough about animal welfare to have the debate. Instead from Dillon we get "I don't understand this scientific study, no whip means no Melbourne cup and I'm not equipped to address racing's PR problems"

I fully understand that animal activists are playing with misleading figures but part of the problem is that I've tried to find those correct figures myself and they are not easy to come by. Why allow it to look murky when this type of thing should be front-footed by recording and documenting numbers and accidents etc, it's called accountability. I would like to know them then know how it can be improved. Get some data visualisations out of it and get them out onto social media or at least accessible reports. Then you have recourse to get that lobby to withdraw their claims. You don't want activists telling a bad story about racing? Then the racing industry needs to do a better job of telling it's story to the public as well. And that's just the negatives..don't get me started on the lack of opportunities taken for positive coverage!

This story was poor, but journo-blaming is a cop out. You cannot expect mild coverage when a trainer handles his operation in a way that allows disasters like that. Personally I feel that if the writer was actually out to get racing he would have weaved in past or related incidents. A better journo might have for that matter, without political intentions! The onus is on the industry to clean itself up and to avoid risks like this at all costs. It's lazy to say the 'extreme left' (by which you mean who?) are out to close it down. From what I can see, many want it cleaned up. It's a high value export industry that trades off our clean green image etc etc not entirely at odds with sustainable business ideals of left parties. I would rather have their concerns about the industry than the laissez faire attitude of the current govt.

Yes I'm quite familiar with these arguments. Jumps racing extends the racing life of a few hundred geldings by 2-5 years perhaps? Look I love horses, I believe they love to race, and I get upset when accidents happen especially when I'm not certain the horse should be there (early 2yos and older jumpers - IMO only). I never said a ban is the way to go, but soneone earlier on in this thread suggested promoting or raising the profile of winter jumps racing and I think that is the wrong direction for the sport. I can see this conversation is better had outside this forum..and probably offline

That may be true, but racing isn't being taken seriously by NZ media, non-racing public or barely by government, so what I can see a lot has to change for it to survive starting with PR and it's huge image issues.

It's not really about what you think of my words or stance. All racing is becoming increasingly unpopular amongst my age group (30s) as well as for younger people and I see opposition to jumps racing as a significant part of that. There is a strong negative perception that it is too risky for horses and antiquated. It is certainly riskier. Of course accidents can happen anywhere anytime.

He and Any Questions were favourites, have never been able to watch jumps since the latter horse's fall. Bit off topic, but jumps horses were some of my biggest heroes around the time I started following racing, Wanderlust & Smart Hunter etc; now I just think its bad for the sport. I wouldn't actively go and protest against jumps racing, but anything racing can do to clean up and modernise its image is for the best, which means some traditions won't last..

You would hope for much better outcomes for retired racehorses in NZ than up there.. as someone said above, space is limited and horses are commodities not companion animals for the most part.. But - from conversations I've had this is also why younger Kiwis are turned off by racing...my generation is far more interested in animal welfare issues and political about it too...they don't like that there are a great many healthy horses discarded every year in NZ too just because owners haven't considered a retirement or rehabilitation plan, and there is nothing to make them take responsibility. It may be best practice compared with Japan etc but it's not good enough.