TBHunter

Well its been a while and during that time my two eldest children have growen up. What do you know it they are both into these race day piss ups for young folk. well done guys. Although they are from horsey backgrounds its the social interaction that they attend for. Trick now is to get them to buy into the actual horse event The stuff news photo shows up to 10 boys from a single prestigious Waikato private school and my reliable info is that another 6 were off grabbing a couch. Thats some valuable demographic info for the TB marketeers

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Whats this horse all about, any opinions? IMO its bred and built to win but appears to have the brains of a chocolate fish. Walks with the stride of a geisha on tip toes. But has talent. Will he go 2 miles? Is he a sleeper just waiting to explode ? Who knows

Beware the yellow Dragon for when it awakes the world will tremble before it.

What a great sport, the world would be a lessor place without it. I bet most those girls go every year

And then theres Big Brownie, Many years ago Ill never forget the day I stood in a paddock talking with a trainer of note. Just over the fence a group of curious 2Yos gathered and one stood out A big plain bay I said to the trainer, Hmm if he doesn’t make a race horse, Id like to have him. The trainer replied, sometimes they are worth a lot of money as sport horses too. I think she new something about that horse that I didn’t. It was Big Brownie, a horse that was to win at fifteen yrs old One of the consequences of banning jumps racing will be the lose of horse lines like this and the substance they possess

One thing that I've just remembered about jumps which may be relevant to this discussion is that a jumps horse is possibly more connected to the rider's mind set than a flat horse is, or at least the mental connection a jumps horse has with it's rider is related to life and death where as the same connection with a flat horse is related more to just winning or losing. So could it be that its the jockey's that need some schooling

Hard bones are made not bred. Horses may be going into the first jump too fast and the last jump too tired. Id be looking at fitness and type. A jumping horse requires a level of fitness that may not be appreciated in these modern times. They also need to be of a particular type in body and brain. Sorry wrong thread

Kotare Chief's run was one of the greats for sure. If you like that type of racing as I do, check out Gold ship and Deep impact to name a couple. These horses are the master 2 milers, The Japanese run 2 mile races where the entire field is home inside 3: 18.00. In fairness though, The MC horses come a long way to race in Melbourne and to run them at mile pace over 2 miles is a big ask.

In Balance to my earlier comment, what if there was a fair and reasonable consensus among a majority of connected people that going forward, the MC was not going to become the race that damages or possibly kills horses. In the business of this event, fast times are not what it's all about. Im at a lose so Im just trying to rationalise the race as it was run

Well that's racing I suppose. Being philosophical I would say that if you want to have a great time, eat, drink, spend too much, then go to Melbourne or at least a formal black tie MC party. If you want to see good fast racing over 2 miles where the entire field finishes in under 3:18.00, watch some japan racing.

Id like to think that would be the case but the way I see it is hes at the top of his game ( breeding/training). Hes up against some of the best 2 milers and trainers in the world. Fleet footed horses that can go 2 miles at a good mile pace, trained by outstanding men.

Damned good horse, I said last year that the true test of this horse in my mind would be the way he came back from that fast flemington 3200m. Not a realistic contender in my mind but still a heck of a good horse.

In this MC, the horse that likes to get back and run home will be beaten by the horse that simply likes to run home. 1:37 1600m/ 3:15 3200m

What a terrific horse, what a great jumps jockey. Together they out jumped the field. Awsome!