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Dont worry about them only about 5 people see it a day anyway. I think he actually argues with himself sometimes. Yes Pam is the salt of the earth a really nice person from what I have had to do with her and calls a spade a spade. Pam is welcome to post here anytime she has the best interests of the industry at heart all the time.

John I got to say this is one of the closest comps we ever rune here...its so much fun on a Saturday afternoon and most of the matches week in week out are damn tough to get a win.......I am so glad so many support all the effort you put in week after week I am sure It is really appreciated by everyone.

Aw, shucks.....I'm touched- and somewhat embarrassed- by the support. Thanks to all. And for the record, I'm not anti-TA at all, they do what they do very well indeed.

Bruce your clinical wonderful race form analysis continued over Melbourne Cup week. Thank you, on behalf of all viewers and the race cafe forum ,for your astute contributions. And frequent references to NZ breeding and personalities. Your quick crosses, to the racing.com team ,to Franciscca and the racing.com ,team , certainly upsurted, anything the local nz presenter, Rodney, on course, did to inform us. We are lucky to have you, Bruce, the ex Macau race caller, back in NZ, making an enormous contribution to our thoroughbred industry. We lost Tony Lee, Tom wood, Alby Gain, Hauby, Christopher McQyaud, and Mark McNamara ( and George Simon, to Singapore, all but temporary) * hopefully, the AJC new south Wales, don't recruit Shirwin to sort out their Issues with their pattern group races. And the issues with Arion pedigree, sales cataloged. Kindest wishes. Rev

Race, there board members, their track at Awapuni, the selling off of land , the whole set up is a disaster! I saw first hand when the chase course at Wellington was set up wrong and my clients were denied the maiden win with Smug! Absolutely hopeless, take a horse to Wellington, board members can’t even acknowledge you , pompous pricks! Sick of these types of people, who have had no experience in the Racing game, trying to dictate what’s best for racing clubs! Corporates, Flash Harry’s, whatever you want to call them, bloody dickheads! So this land will be sold off, no stabling for visiting horses, the money will be frittered away, as per usual. Sort of reminds me of Auckland Trotting Club, sucking in Pukekohe Harness to their venture….Isn’t that just a success story from hell!

Tuesday As soon as Half Yours crossed the line in front in the Caulfield Cup on Saturday I resolved to write about him in Good Morning Bloodstock this week, as he combines two of my favourite things in this job: first, an obscure, scarcely used sire hitting the big time, and second, the chance to speak to an Australian stud owner, as they are generally far more open and indiscreet than their European counterparts, and always good for a pithy quote or two. Half Yours’ sire St Jean is especially intriguing as he was bred by Hadi Al Tajir in Ireland by sending the Group 2-winning Marju mare Oriental Fashion to Teofilo and was trained by Kevin Prendergast for the breeder to win a Tramore maiden by 16 lengths in 2013. St Jean, whose third dam is outstanding matriarch Height Of Fashion, was sold to Highflyer Bloodstock for 65,000gns at the Tattersalls Autumn Horses-in-Training Sale towards the end of 2013 and transferred to Australasia, where he won five more races and eventually wound up in a minor stallion role at Grant and Joanne Dwyer’s Brackley Park in Victoria. Half Yours, a five-year-old gelding sent out by Tony and Calvin McEvoy to win the Group 3 Naturalism Stakes at Caulfield last month and to finish fourth in the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes a fortnight ago before his decisive Caulfield Cup success, is one of just 13 foals in St Jean’s third crop. The sire’s first, second and fourth generations numbered 17, 11 and ten. Grant Dwyer, who doesn’t let me down as a typically plain-speaking Australian horseman, takes up the tale of ‘Saint Gene’, as he calls the sire, rather than ‘San Zhon’, as his name was presumably supposed to be pronounced, as the French for St John. “People have difficulty finding the stallion on the internet so I call him ‘Saint Gene’ and then they know how to spell it and can find him and my phone number online,” he explains. Getting back to the story, he says: “Brackley Park was originally owned by the Freedman family and in the 1980s and 1990s their horses, including all those Group 1 winners like Mahogany and Schillaci, were pre-trained here by Anthony and Lee and then sent to Richard who put the finishing touches on them at Flemington. “The property came onto the market in 1999 and my wife and I purchased it from the Freedmans. We had a few broodmares and moved them here, and after a few years I started standing stallions at the bottom end of the market. “We’ve stood about six or seven horses for A$2,000 or A$3,000 a cover (£950 to £1,500), and St Jean is the first one who can throw a decent horse. It’s been a hell of a hard road with the stallions, so it’s nice to finally get a good one. “You’ve got to keep going, though, as you can’t expect to find a top-class sire with only one or two rolls of the dice. Only two things can happen, you either get one eventually or you go broke.” Asked if he was ever close to giving up due to money running out, he replies with a laugh: “Ah, I used to be a stockbroker so I’m travelling alright, because the gold prices are doing very well and I’ve been a big punter in gold stock.” There’s an honest appraisal of personal finances that has been given by a British or Irish bloodstock figure in an interview on no occasion, in any circumstances, ever. I think I might emigrate. Describing how St Jean arrived at Brackley Park, Dwyer adds: “St Jean was imported to Australia by the Warrnambool trainer Aaron Purcell for a group of his clients and he did quite well for him. He won four of his first eight starts here, including at Warrnambool, which was important for his connections as they’re all Warrnambool people who love their racing. “But then he bowed his tendon and, unfortunately, at that point the best bloke to look after tendon injuries was treating them with ibuprofen, which stayed in the horses’ systems for a long time after the treatment stopped. Some of the favourites for the cup races who’d had ibuprofen started testing positive, and Racing Victoria banned them all from racing. “St Jean consequently lost two years of his racing career, but Aaron’s father James, a local independent politician in the Victorian government who was in the horse, rang the stewards in New Zealand and explained the situation, and asked whether the horse could run there. They said yes, but they'd test the horse after the race, and if he was positive no prize-money would be paid out. The Purcells thought that was fair enough and they sent him across the Tasman. “He was trained by Donna Logan in New Zealand and was sent out by her to win the City of Auckland Cup at Ellerslie. He was caught four horses wide for most of the way but took off 800 metres from home and outstayed everything.” In the meantime the Mornington trainer Rob Blacker, a good friend of Aaron Purcell’s, got in touch with Dwyer to ask if he’d stand St Jean on behalf of the horse's ownership syndicate. “I said ‘yeah no worries I’ll have a look’, just to humour him really, but when I did look him up and saw his pedigree I thought ‘wow’,” recalls the stallion master. “If he’d managed to win a Group 1 race he’d have gone to a major stud. I’m only a small operation, so I grabbed hold of the opportunity with both hands when it was offered to me.” In a turn of events that will be recognised by purveyors of budget sires not just in Australia but the world over, Dwyer’s enthusiasm wasn’t shared by all, and trying to launch the well-bred youngster was like pushing water uphill. “St Jean has had very limited opportunities,” he says. “A stallion usually needs volume and quality to make it, and he’s had neither. He’s beaten the odds by doing it the hard way. “The thing is, at this lower end of the market you’re dealing with people who have a passion for racing, but often not much money and only an ordinary mare. They’ll breed a foal and then it'll sit out in the paddock, and not all the farms in this part of the world are that well appointed, so you lose a fair few foals through paddock injuries. Either that or the breeder runs out of money, and can’t afford to have the horse broken in. “Whereas if you breed a horse to a A$50,000 or A$100,000 stallion, the foal will be reared in the best possible environment and go to the yearling sales, where the top trainers will buy them. They have a way better chance of getting to the races, let alone winning.” St Jean is no one-trick-pony, either. Half Yours is his only stakes performer, but that is easily excused considering the quantity of his output, and he has 12 winners and three other place-getters altogether from a grand total of 22 runners. Dwyer thinks that this is yet another case of ‘blood will out’, and that St Jean’s unlikely success as a sire is down to his exceptional pedigree, and in particular his blue-hen ancestress – not that she is necessarily appreciated by other breeders in Australia. “Ah, no-one’s heard of Height Of Fashion down here,” exclaims Dwyer in exasperation. “I tell people she’s his third dam and they look at me like I’ve got two heads. I say ‘well, the Queen owned her and she won a stakes race at Ascot’ and their faces are still blank. I carry on and explain that she was the dam of Nashwan, Unfuwain and Nayef, and there’s still no reaction. “But most Australian breeders want to produce a two-year-old and three-year-old sprinter, and this horse doesn’t throw that, he throws a three-year-old and four-year-old stayer. In fact, he’s never had a two-year-old runner. They take a while to mature.” Drilling down further into St Jean’s breeding appeal, he continues: “There isn’t all that much evidence to go on at the moment, but if you look at the pedigrees of his foals who have run and won, versus the ones who haven’t made the track, you’ll see that he goes well when he sees the female family of Sadler’s Wells, he goes well if there’s Halo somewhere in the mare’s pedigree, and he goes well if Mill Reef is somewhere in the mix. “He obviously also goes well with Desert King [the damsire of Half Yours]. It puts a double dose of Danehill into the foal, but I don’t actually think that’s the reason for it working. I reckon you have to look further back at the duplications of Bustino and Special.” Half Yours was bred by Janice Thomson, the wife of the late meat processing billionaire and prominent Warrnambool racing figure Colin McKenna, who was one of the shareholders in St Jean. The newly minted Group 1 winner is from a family that meant a lot to the owners, as his placed dam La Gazelle is a half-sister to Flemington Group 3 winner Moudre, one of the first good horses trained by Ciaron Maher for them – the team later tasting big-race glory with superstars such as Jameka, Merchant Navy and Duke De Sessa. “I’d never spoken to Colin McKenna in my life but he supported St Jean by sending him two mares in his first season and another two mares in his second season,” says Dwyer. “One was actually Regina Coeli, who was raced in partnership with Ciaron Maher and won the Grand Annual Steeplechase at Warrnambool twice. “One day during St Jean’s third season at stud I got a call from Blue Gum Farm, another stud just up the road, and they said they had two of Ciaron Maher’s mares here who would be going to St Jean, with Colin McKenna providing the service for free. “I said no worries, send them down. There was nothing in it for me and I had to pay someone to come out and hold the mares while I jumped the stallion on her, so I asked if they could pay a couple of hundred bucks as a walk-in fee, and Ciaron agreed to that. He didn’t have to, but he’s a decent fella.” One of those mares was La Gazelle, and the result was Half Yours. Maher owned half of the chestnut gelding with Colin McKenna, hence the name, and saddled him to win two races at Geelong and Cranbourne, but when McKenna died last October the horse was sold in an an Inglis Online auction, with the McEvoys giving A$305,000 (£148,000 or €170,000) for him, leaving Maher as the frustrated underbidder. “No-one could believe that a horse conceived at a fee of A$3,000 could make that much money,” says Dwyer. “It generated a lot of good publicity for St Jean.” He insists that he doesn’t mind that he received only a small ex-gratia payment from Maher for the breeding of Half Yours, when the horse was the subject of a six-figure takeover bid and has now earned more than A$3.8 million (£1.86m or €2.14m) in prize-money. “Are you kidding? I’m rapt,” he beams. “It’s changing my life. I’m hoping Half Yours goes for a spell now and doesn’t go for the Melbourne Cup, as a lot of horses run in that and then it’s all over for them. I’d like him to win something in the autumn like the Australian Cup, and then he’ll have won two Group 1s and I can put St Jean’s fee up to A$20,000 next year.” Many would dispute that Half Yours shouldn’t line up for the race that stops a nation at Flemington in a fortnight, as St Jean’s sire Teofilo has provided three of the last seven winners, in Cross Counter, Twilight Payment and Without A Fight. By the by, isn’t Teofilo one of the most underrated influences in breeding? The source of 24 Group/Grade 1 winners has sprouted a flourishing sire line in Europe through son Havana Gold and grandson Havana Grey, and he is the damsire of numerous stars, including Anisette, Cachet, Coroebus, Dreamloper, Ezeliya, Inisherin and Mac Swiney. He arguably deserves as much, if not more, credit for the rise of St Jean than the indisputably wonderful Height Of Fashion. Anyway, back to the matter at hand, Dwyer continues: “St Jean only covered six mares last year, and I jacked his fee up to A$10,000 prior to the Caulfield Cup, but the trouble is Half Yours started winning when the Australian covering season was already well underway, and most mares were already booked into stallions and a lot had already been covered. “Up to Saturday he had 15 mares booked in this season, but the phone’s red hot so he might cover a few more, though not loads because it’s so late in the season. Realistically he won’t benefit this time but hopefully he will next year. “The important thing is that a few more commercial breeders come on board, as up to now he’s operated in the breed-to-race market. Commercial breeders don’t send their mares to A$3,000 stallions as the sales companies want to sell the most expensive yearlings because they work on commission, which is fair enough, so those breeders use the A$50,000, A$100,000, A$150,000 sires whose progeny get into sales and make more money. “But I recently spoke to Inglis, the major sale company in our state, and asked if they’d take St Jean yearlings in future. I told them I’d never entered anything in their sales before as I didn’t think they'd get in, and they said ‘well, they wouldn’t, but now you can have three'.” There is an outside chance that a bigger stud notices St Jean is exceeding expectations and takes him for its own roster in future, but Dwyer is insured against the loss of such a capable sire by owning a handful of breeding rights in him. “We’ve got about 52 mares on the farm who we haven’t been breeding from because I'm 64 and my wife doesn’t want to get left with a whole heap of horses if something happens to me,” he says. “But I’ll probably put some of them in foal to St Jean and sell them when they’re pregnant, to reduce my numbers and get a few more foals out there.” It might have taken 15 years for St Jean to become an overnight success, but he is at least in good nick in middle age. “He looks fantastic, with a lovely shiny coat and perfect knees, but it’s not like he’s done a lot of work for a horse of his age,” says Dwyer with a laugh. “He’s typical of European stayers, in that he’s not close-coupled and he’s got longer pasterns than a lot of our sprinters. They’re not sloppy, though, and when he walks he doesn’t go down on his bumpers. “He’s 16.1 hands with large feet and his progeny tend to grow into similar types. They can be a little awkward when they’re first born because they’re large and they’ve been cramped up in the uterus, but if you leave them alone they naturally grow into very correct individuals who can cop a lot of work.” What a couple of beauties, as they might say down under. I couldn’t be happier for St Jean, who has proved once again that rags-to-riches tales can happen in the multi-million-dollar stallion industry, or for Dwyer, the horse’s patient custodian who, like so many of his compatriots, is an interviewer’s dream.

Not only did he, and Katelyn, go straight from winning the Cox Plate to visit Tom Prebble he has just announced that everything he earns today (riding fees/percentages) will be donated to the Tom fund. A superstar jockey who is a genuinely humane and generous person.

Big shoutout to Pondy who broke the $1,200 bonus point mark on his own today and also owns a small share in horses that ran 1st and then 2nd in two races within the space of 10 minutes today.

Without wanting to sound sycophantic in any sense, I get the impression there are more informed and intelligent people commenting on here these days than I can ever recall previously, which I think is brilliant. A small minority might think some of us are too critical, but I think it is mostly constructive criticism. It is when people give up and stop bothering that the industry should worry. While there are significant numbers willing to make constructive comments I think that bodes well for the industry.

Wasn't it fantastic for our Race Cafe trainer and no nonsense contributor Chris Wood to get that win at Ellerslie ? Box moss . 2400m race beating some hyped horses. Chris has always been a Good trainer and he is also the Sire of an astute Hong Kong Race Caller and brilliant form analyzer, TOM WOOD. Go well Chris Rev

I found it both insulting and patronizing.

Thursday Down on the sun-baked stud farms of Australia things are growing hot, as the Melbourne Cup gives its rhythmic annual signal that summer is nearly here. And there are no farms running hotter, in the metaphorical sense, than Darley. Sheikh Mohammed’s stallions have been ringing in stakes successes at a dizzying rate, offering exquisite validation for the way the royal blue empire go about their business. It comes at a critical time, too, with its racing wing Godolphin have taken an unprecedented step, for their Australian operations, of switching from private to public training at the start of this season. It came as their trainer since 2017 James Cummings - grandson of the legendary conditioner and Melbourne Cup king Bart Cummings - announced he’d be setting up his own stall in Hong Kong. As successful as Cummings was, so far Godolphin, having sprinkled its stock through nine different stables, hasn’t missed a beat. Saturday was Derby Day at Flemington, one of the grandest meetings on the Australasian calendar, and Godolphin hogged the two main events. First, they took the stallion-making three-year-old sprint, the Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes, with the special-looking Tentyris, a son of their evergreen sire Street Boss. Forty minutes later they won Australia’s oldest feature - the Group 1 Victoria Derby with Observer, another colt with a huge future, by Darley’s burgeoning sire Ghaiyyath. On Tuesday, Cup Day, Ghaiyyath did it again, with an exciting three-year-old gelding named Different Gravy joining the stakes winners’ party with a two-length romp in Listed class, over nine furlongs. He won the Batman Stakes, named not for a comic book hero - though Australia has been hatching some silly sounding racenames in recent years - but a founder of Melbourne who preceded the caped crusader by some time, John Batman. Not to be outdone, Ghaiyyath’s barnmate - and Darley Australia’s undoubted star act - Too Darn Hot, claimed his fourth black-type winner of the season, and his second at two-year-old level, when Tornado Valley took the important Maribyrnong Plate. For good measure, another Darley sire Pinatubo had his first two Australian runners in that race, and they came second and fourth, in Yulong colt Tales Of Time and Carnevale, who started favourite. Onto Australia’s greatest race, the Cup itself, and Darley stallions didn’t have a runner. But the party continued in a different sense as Half Yours became just the 13th horse to complete the Caulfield-Melbourne Cups double in the 146 years that the feat’s been achievable. He’s by St Jean, who might well be called St Jean the Obscure, for the fact he covered a grand total of 26 mares over the past four years at a little known Victorian farm, at a paltry A$3,300 (£1,645 / €1,868) service fee. But St Jean - who was imported to race in Australia in 2013 after seven starts in Ireland - inspired more pride at Darley for siring the Melbourne Cup winner, since he’s by Teofilo. Darley’s grand old staying stallion has his influence all over Australia’s greatest and most enduring cultural institution of late. He’s sired three winners of the two-mile contest - all in a stretch spanning just six editions - in visitors Cross Counter in 2018 for Charlie Appleby and Twilight Payment in 2020 for Joseph O’Brien, and the imported Without A Fight, who did the Cups for double Anthony and Sam Freedman in 2023. And now Teofilo is onto his grandchildren, with Half Yours winning for St Jean, who’s fee is a tad more respectable this spring at $11,000 (£5,480 / €6,227) thanks to Half Yours’ deeds. Teofilo shuttled here for six seasons, but hasn’t done so since 2017. But Darley looks to have another exceptional staying sire on their hands in Ghaiyyath. Shuttling him here, amidst the plethora of Australian sprinting stallions, is emerging as something of a masterstroke. That said, he was taken off the shuttle this year after four seasons, but judging by how his three-year-olds are going, it would be stunning if we didn’t see him back in 2026 at Darley’s Kelvinside farm, their main operation in the breeding heartland of the Hunter Valley in New South Wales, ahead of their smaller Northwood farm in Victoria. Ghaiyyath - winner of four Group 1s from 1m 2f - 1m 4f - was something of a speculative venture in the Australian market, as a European staying sire. The son of Dubawi stood his four southern springs at just $27,500 (£13,700 / €15,570), compared with his fee at Darley Ireland this year of €20,000. He drew a robust 103 mares in his first Australian spring of 2021, though that declined to 98, 97 and finally 79 in 2024. His first crop two-year-olds yielded a fairly expected return of two winners from 15 runners. But with the new season barely three months old, his three-year-olds have brought nine winners from 23 runners including four stakes victors, which has put him atop the second season sires’ table. It’s a small sample size, but a 17.4 per cent stakes-winners-to-runners ratio is understandably putting springs in steps at Darley Australia. In just six weeks since his first stakes winner here - a filly deliciously named Yum - Australia has quickly become Ghaiyyath’s strongest market, as he still awaits a first runner from his second crop. In Europe, where he has two crops running, he has four stakes winners from 116 runners, while he has also been represented by a stakes winner in America. While Yum scored over seven furlongs, his other three black-type victors have won from nine furlongs to the 1m 4.5f of the Victoria Derby, Ghaiyyath’s first Group 1 success anywhere in the world. So far, Darley can start viewing the shuttling of a staying sire to speed-mad Australia as a gamble that’s paying off royally. And it’s a move that stands to reason. While Australia is renowned for its sprinting blood, what’s often overlooked is that so many of its richer races sit in the nine to 12-furlong bracket. Such races are dominated by the recent tide of imported European stayers, but having stamina sires such as Ghaiyyath (pictured below) here is giving Australian breeders an opportunity to address that. So too is Newgate Farm’s State Of Rest - the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes and Cox Plate hero who shuttles from Ireland’s Rathbarry Stud. And so too, quite possibly, is St Jean. “The idea behind Ghaiyyath coming here was that there was, and there remains, a big gap in the market for staying stallions in Australia,” said Darley Australia’s head of stallions Alastair Pulford. “You bring these horses out here, and you stand them at a discounted fee, although the quality horse that Ghaiyath is, he probably should command a much higher fee than he does except for the fact his distances are a mile-and-a-quarter, a mile-and-a-half. There’s so much competition in the sprinting ranks, but not enough in the staying ranks. “But Ghaiyyath is such an elite horse that we had a huge amount of confidence in him. He mirrors Too Darn Hot in a lot of respects. He’s a Group 1 Champion by Dubawi out of a Group 1 winner, though he’s obviously a lot more stamina-oriented than Too Darn Hot. “But in any case, he looks like making a very good stallion in Australia. Considering he didn’t get huge books and his progeny are only spring three-year-olds, Ghaiyyath looks like making another huge impact here, as much as Harry Angel has and Too Darn Hot has.” Oh - there’s another one. Harry Angel - standing his seventh shuttle season now for an almost-doubled $66,000 (£32,920 / €37,370) remains on fire here. The 11-year-old has five stakes winners from 86 runners this season, at 5.8 per cent, headed by exciting sprinter War Machine, who won four in a row into the spring. He’s one of Harry Angel’s three Group 1 winners, all of whom have come in Australia. As to the three-year-old sires’ charts, despite his successes the ten-year-old Ghaiyyath has to content himself with fourth place at the moment. Top spot is held by his teammate Street Boss. Despite his advancing years, Street Boss remains in outstanding form. Resident at Northwood - having stopped shuttling from Darley USA in 2022 since his best results were coming here - the son of Street Cry sits ninth on the Australian general sires’ table, one spot higher than his all-time best finishing position. He’s had 12 stakes winners for calendar 2025, needing just one more to match his second-highest haul, though he won’t reach his best of 19. That came in 2021, in the bountiful days of his nine-time Group 1 winner Anamoe, who’s now Darley Australia’s second-priciest sire, at $110,000 (£54,870 / €62,320). Aside from Tentyris, Street Boss has had his flag flown by another royal blue three-year-old this season in Tempted, the flying filly who took second at weight-for-age in $20 million sprint The Everest last month, and is one of his three black-type winners this term. “Street Boss is 21 now so he’s covering a limited book, with 60 mares this year, but he’s getting plenty in foal,” Pulford said. “Tentyris and Tempted are both very good. Tentyris especially looks like something really out of the box, and to have another potential stallion son of Street Boss is great. “The blood of Street Cry just keeps coming through. Everywhere you look in these big races, either through the sire or the dam, time and time again you see Street Cry.” Tentyris and Tempted are also the latest stars from the sparkling production line of Street Boss over Darley legend Exceed And Excel, who has plenty of mares on the ground in Europe from his 17 seasons of shuttling to England and Ireland. The cross has hatched seven stakes winners from 53 runners at 13 per cent, including two G1 victors. Come to mention him, Exceed And Excel, who’s 18 months retired, tipped in another Godolphin stakes-winner on Tuesday, with Burma Star winning in Listed class. Too Darn Hot, meanwhile, continues along the merry way that’s led Darley not only to return him to Australia this season after a year off the shuttle - for being too darn precious - but as it’s top-priced stallion here by far, at a hefty $275,000 (£137,160 / €155,810). After winning the country’s first season and second season siring honours, he’s now on top of the two-year-old sires’ table, albeit early doors, with both of his runners being stakes winners. Overall, including - but not limited to - Ghaiyyath’s impressive start, Street Boss’s enduring appeal, Too Darn Hot being Too Darn Hot, everyone being wild about Harry Angel, and with reports strong over Pinatubo’s emerging first crop, these are some heady times for Darley Down Under. “We’re absolutely delighted - we’ve had an unbelievable spring,” Pulford said. “To win the two most important events on Derby Day is an unbelievable thrill, and it’s recognition of what we’re trying to achieve. “We strive to stand stallions with variety and quality. Obviously we’re blessed that we’re able to draw on the Godolphin racing team all around the world, to supply our stallion sheds, but we’re very strong on the quality of the horses we stand. "We don’t just stand everything that retires to stud in the northern hemisphere, but the best ones who suit the market here and who we think have a genuine prospect of making an impact. “And recently, they really are making an impact.”

If this is of any help Wilf, when you see the Manawatu Cup at Trentham and the HB Cup at Waipuk and the Fielding Cup at Tauherenikau, the Banks Peninsula Cup at Riccarton, the Waikouaititi Cup at Wingatui, none of that is dementia, these things really are happening.

Leigh , I drafted this post two days ago. I have edited it so that it is not derogatory to our NZ presenter on course at M V and Flemington. When Entain took over our NZ TAB, ALL jobs were assured. Including presenters and Camera people, technicians .For a 3 year period . Is that correct ? Yes But why on earth would the TAB send a presenter and camera crew to Melbourne for the Cox Plate, Melbourne Cup Carnival ? What is this costing our Industry? ( travel, accommodation , ) The Racing.com pre/post race interviews are done by sensational, world class presenters. They present crisp, succent interviews. Question/ response. There is a fair dinkum NZ breeding/ Trainer/ Jockey connection to the Cox Plate / Derby ? Melbourne Cup . Surely we could take the video feed from Racing.com back here in a studio, and have Bruce Sherwin / Stephen McKee, Lance O'Sullivan, or 75 year old Des Coppins,( who has seen more Melbourne Cups than any NZer over age 60. Mark Clayden, Tony Lee, In the studio here in NZ. Video Cuts could be made to Mick Guerrin on course at M V. ( He has paid his own way ) Many of us here, on Race Cafe, have skin in the game and have invested time and resources, some of us for decades. Why waste $50k ? ( the cost of a good good maiden Race at New Plymouth, or Inglewood ) on sending Mr Rodley to Victoria ?

I didn't watch to the end because it is such a Ioad of frogshit. Whatever they paid George he shouId be ashamed. If the wankers at NZTR think trainers are so ignorant of horse weIfare perhaps someone can expIain to them the success of NZ horses over the years. AbsoIute insuIt to those who have horse weIfare cIose to their hearts every day.

its not me, I don't have a prominent member

Secret Squirrel messaged me and said that he only entered for fun and is happy for me to donate the money to charity. Thanks SS - very generous of you. I will donate the $200 to the Huntington's Association, in memory of Joan.

For me it was the most exciting race of the day yesterday.

She's a fine trainer, and has been for a good number of years. Gets results without the numbers of the factory stables. And keeps her feet on the ground. When congratulated recently on another successful day at the office, she said, it helps when you take progeny of Savabeel and Proisir to the races.

Congratulations to the wonderful Auret family. They Bred Mr Express who had a jump out: then was renamed Ka Ying Rising (foaled 3 September 2020. But wait there's more. folks Tonight 19/10/25 HK R 3 was won by Special Hedge ( 6g Unusual Suspect - Delgatie Pearl ). Bred by Fraser's family. Special Hedge My Congrats to a wonderful resilient racing family. Rev Somervell

I will give $100 to Huntingtons and The Soup Kitchen as I stupidly agreed too...Way too good.

Good guy and a bloody good trainer...hard worker deserves all the success he is having...well done him.

Administrative decline is sending racing down a rabbit hole by Brian de Lore Published 17th October 2025 Anyone in racing long enough will be aware of the wonderful history the NZ thoroughbred has carved out over the past 150 years, but they will also know that the headwinds facing the horse business today come only minimally from climate change, and mostly from a sharp decline in the quality of its administration. The incumbents will argue that it’s a global thing, and a modicum of truth exists in that belief, but for NZ, the thoroughbred business has declined in tandem with a series of unsuitable director and executive appointments over the past 20 or so years. From the days of good governance, when the ‘Captains of Industry’ and the leading names of racing and breeding had a lifetime of experience when they went onto boards, the degradation of the decision-makers is matched only by the depletion of clubs, members, racegoers, race meetings, races run, foals born and every other stat that applies to horse racing. A major difference between the people who once made it work and those who now can’t is that they used to be on the inside looking out into the clear blue; now they’re on the outside looking in through a hazy fog that won’t lift. The former typically had extensive experience and a vested interest in the business, remaining in it after serving their time. Institute of Directors a curse for racing Today, decision-makers from outside the industry, often introduced through the Institute of Directors, typically arrive with limited or no knowledge of racing and depart for another sector before the allocated time of their tenure. Their departure leaves the industry with another lemon to suck on. The paradigm shift towards this recurring theme happened around 2005, when it was decided that paid professionals would replace the horse-passionate honorary directors who had industry knowledge. Suddenly, all you needed was a degree in something, completion of a five-and-a-half-day course at the Institute of Directors, and you qualified to sit around the NZTR board table knowing little more than what end bit and what end kicked – enough to collect your directors’ fees. Worst of all, the appointment to the board is made by the ‘Members’ Council’, a hotchpotch of appointed people from around the country, including jockeys and trainers, none of whom would have the qualifications to recognise a good director if one bit them on the arm. Since regional representation was killed off in 2011 and replaced with the Member’s Council, of the 30 NZTR directors appointed that have come and gone, not one has stayed long enough to serve out their full term. Members’ Council also a curse I recently spent an hour talking to a prominent person on the Members’ Council and came away shocked by how little they knew about the problems facing the racing industry. The administrative structure of racing in NZ is broken; the stakeholders all know this, so why haven’t we seen a revolution to bring change? It’s a one-word answer – apathy. They sit on their hands, hoping someone else will do something. When NZTR called for applications for the board in 2021, they asked for “proven corporate governance experience and understanding of governance policies and processes, strategic insight, and guidance of change.” They then requested seven additional skills and attributes in bullet points, all of which were corporate world requirements. Notably, there was no mention of racing knowledge, and the word ‘horse’ did not appear anywhere in the document. You reap what you sow. In the latest ‘Position Description’, extended to four pages, the requirements are much more detailed and corporate-specific. On the last page, in the last paragraph, on the very last line under the heading of “Desirable but non-essential skills of applicants currently include’, it says, ‘An interest or involvement in thoroughbred racing.’ Racing hijacked by corporates If this document wasn’t written by the ‘Institute of Directors, then it was written for them, because it all but eliminates anyone with a deep knowledge of racing and racing experience. The Institute of Directors has gradually hijacked NZTR and now controls it for its own monetary gain. We know that when you have a board weak on racing knowledge, they will fail to deliver on racing’s core mission: to appoint a competent and experienced chief executive and have an educated overview of what to prioritise for the long-term value and sustainability of racing, to know where the problems lie, and provide strong oversight and strategic support to the management. Do we have that at NZTR? Not on any available evidence. But if you had watched the Guerin Report a week or two ago, when he interviewed the Institute of Directors graduate, NZTR CEO Matt Ballesty, you would have heard Ballesty say, “My board is an exceptional board, everyone has an opinion, and they are very knowledgeable about racing and are steering me along the way.” What else is he going to say about the people who employed him? He did, however, virtually admit he knows nothing about racing. “My skills are unique” – Ballesty He said, “My skills are unique; I’m unique in that I have a bit of grassroots mixed with the corporate side of things. Whilst I’m learning the racing industry, I’m learning very quickly – a product is a product – and I believe I can learn it very quickly.” The simple fact is, Matt Ballesty has come to NZTR from the casino business, and three of his new appointees to new key positions come from the same area of experience – one from OlyBet, Tabcorp, and William Hill, another from Tabcorp, Sportingbet, BlueBet and Bet365, and a third from Racing and Wagering Western Australia. You will likely think that these new individuals are better suited to Entain or TAB NZ, and doubt that wagering professionals possess the expertise to make a meaningful impact on NZ racing. Well, everyone knows that racing knowledge is a lifetime of learning, and you cannot absorb it quickly, and it raises more concern when you’re planning to make fast and dramatic changes. There was more arrogance displayed in that interview than has been witnessed by racing people for a very long time, and it should be ringing alarm bells. Quoted in ‘The Straight’, Ballesty talked in platitudes when he said, “These changes reflect feedback we have received from industry participants about the need to enhance our leadership capability and sharpen our focus on delivering better outcomes. Bold change is the theme of our strategic focus going forward, and this restructure is a key part of enabling that.” Relocation of group and listed races??? The numerous changes that Ballesty alludes to include an eight-page policy, currently in draft form, for the relocation of group and listed races. This policy outlines the clubs’ role only as custodians of these time-honoured races and threatens relocation if certain expectations are not met. That appears to be a veiled threat to the Canterbury Jockey Club about losing the 1000 and 2000 Guineas races at Cup time. In recent times, NZTR has markedly increased its operating costs in deference to the contracting industry it presides over. Not including special projects and other one-off expenses, but only the day-to-day running of the organisation, in the ten years between 2014-15 and 2023-24 seasons, the cost per race run has risen from $2200 to $3900. In other words, racing in NZ is now living well beyond its means, and although the 2024-25 Annual Report is yet to be released, it is known that the NZTR spend for the season has risen to over $13 million. The arrival of Ballesty, his new executive appointments, and the projects he intends to undertake, will balloon that figure outwards again for the current racing season; all against the tide of racing, and which costs that will have to be eventually borne by the most underrated and maligned group of people – the owners of racehorses. It’s about time the true stakeholders in racing got together and discussed a complete overhaul of the administrative structure of racing. It badly needs change, and if it doesn’t change, the corporate ‘comers and goers’, who are the takers and not givers, will surely condemn racing to obscurity.

He wishes he had 1/10th of the people we have on here, it is the members who make this site the best one out there.I can only say thanks to you and everyone else for that.People like Pete and John help out so much and that is why its a good fun environment here.

Cheers Pam. It's a tough game as you will well know. The old saying 'winners are grinners' is never truer than in horse racing. But even if your horse comes last it's welfare is still paramount. Some of my best friends are 'slow 'horses. I just love them, and I've had horses around me for over 40 years. I sure as hell don't make any excuses for that!

Blah ! Blah ! Blah ! Fuck me , I don't know of any successful trainers that don't understand the basic principles of getting a horse "mentally and physically" fit and healthy . Not saying they always get it right , because they are sensitive animals . But yet again treating industry participants as dummies . Most have been doing the right thing long before some pinhead in a suit with a clipboard decided that they needed leading by the nose .

So they now want to be involved in telling trainers how to train...what about teaching the stipes how to do their job professionally...to me this is a huge waste of money...

Yes but the difference is that Hutt Park wasn't owned by bloody industry participants , unlike Trentham . Talk about cannibalizing your own product . Whoever is pushing this needs to be run out of the game . Bloody atrocious .

Racing needs to be on the front foot not standing back defending itself or doing nothing. Fight fire with fire. Some lunatic says horse racing is cruel on the internet,sheep follow them in. They don't really care but they just want to be part of something. Why can't racing get in first and put videos up of retired racehorses enjoying their lives,behind the scenes at the stables where the kids are busting their hump for the horses? Horse hotel. The horses go for a run and a swim,room service turns up,cleans the room from top to bottom,provides a meal and snacks and fresh bedding. Horse comes back gets a nice bath including a sponge bath,dried off and back into the hotel room. Or out in the paddock for the day. Horse welfare is put first. Someone turns up at 3:30am checks the horses welfare,any waste feed,signs of distress etc, temperature taken. Horses get a nutritious meal,better than most people get, supplements for overall health,exercised , washed,feet trimmed , around the clock veterinary care,covered,fed,dentist, chiropractic treatment,provided with shelter and safe from predators. A horse in the wild cuts it's leg open and dies slowly from infection. Why are we not telling this side of the story instead of bending over saying we probably should ban the whip,we better not advertise our great sport in case something happens etc Alot of people,myself included dedicate our lives to these animals. Not to exploit them to make money,my accountant can back me up with that one, but it's because we love them and put them front row centre in our lives. I have 3 retired horses at home aged 20,17 and 12 and we lost a 23yo a couple of years ago. They get covered,fed, farrier,vet check,teeth done and live in the lush grass of Putaruru. Nothing better. But some blue haired lunatic on the Twittergram tells the world all racehorses are bashed and beaten for profit and shot the day they are retired. It's just bullshit. Racing needs to do better telling our story. I believe Nztr has a marketing department. Over to you .... Also pony racing needs to be made bigger. It's the greatest way to get the young kids in ,the parents,siblings and friends come watch them race and while it may not make jockeys alot of these kids will end up trackriders or stablehands etc or fans of the great game. It's called doing. Or we can just sit back and argue over the whip. Banning it will create 0 new racing fans,they will move onto tongue tied,jumps racing,2yo racing and so on. Do be a do-er don't be a dont-er Bending over to blue haired septum ring wearing people or the internet isn't going to help. We need to tell our story

I think she has been very impressive her last two runs and she looks to have a big win in her. I would love to see her win on Saturday.

Rail out 5m. Why?! In most cases horses slip coming wide into the straight when the rail is out. Reason: they are galloping on ground that hasn't been consolidated by previous racing. Solution: Leave the rail in the true position. Very few horses slip when they are on or near the rails. Just saying.

Jonathan Riddell recording his 1,000th New Zealand win at Waverley on Sunday. Photo: Jane Davidson (Race Images) Riddell records 1,000th domestic win Jess de Lautour, LOVERACING.NZ News Desk 20 October 2025 The first horse Jonathan Riddell rode at the races was a winner and nearly two decades later he recorded his 1,000th victory in the saddle in New Zealand. Riddell had been closing in on the milestone through last season and sat on 999 on the morning of Waverley’s Sunday meeting, with his first ride Perfect Pete proving to be the only one he needed to tick that elusive box. It was a mix of joy and relief for Riddell, also known as ‘Scrapper’, when he crossed the line, having battled with weight issues right through his career. “It was a bit of a relief really, I never thought I would get to the 1,000 and then when it was getting close, it was getting a bit frustrating to say the least,” he said. “It’s good to have that box ticked. “She’s been a bit of a grind along the way and it’s been a milestone I’ve been quite passionate to get. For a rider of my weight to do this, I do give myself a little bit of a pat on the back. “I don’t check my weight before I go to the races, which sounds a bit unprofessional, but you know your body and know where you’re at when you’ve done it for so long. It’s always touch and go, I live on the knife edge of making weight or not. “It’s a job so the money (is motivation), but when you get a bit of success you keep wanting more - I’m pretty stubborn too. “It’s a good game, but it’s a tough game.” Having done it tough for so long, retirement had crept into Riddell’s mind just over a year ago when heading on holiday with his partner and Group One-winning trainer Lisa Latta. “Lisa and I went on a holiday to the UK last year and I was unsure if I’d come back from that because I knew I’d get fat over there enjoying myself,” he said. “I got back and had a few mates that were pushing me along to get the 1,000, so I just pinned my ears back. We didn’t go on holiday this winter, I said to her that being only 10 (wins) away, it would’ve been too tough to come back. “We stuck it out in the Manawatu winter so it’s great to get there.” Getting to 1,000 was no easy task, but Riddell got off to best possible start when winning his first ride as an apprentice at Tauherenikau in 1996. He couldn’t recall too much about the ride, but credited the win almost entirely to his employer, hall of fame trainer Murray Baker. “I was apprenticed to Murray and to be honest, I had no idea what I was doing,” he said. “I think he must’ve had a good dollar on it and pretty much set it up for me. I can remember the car ride there, he was pretty confident. “It was a great training effort.” Riddell had good success riding as an apprentice, but after finishing his time with Baker, he found himself riding over jumps in the early 2000’s. He rose swiftly to become one of the best in the land and further afield, winning three Great Northern Hurdles, two Grand National Hurdles and three editions of the Grand National Steeplechase. A number of those victories came aboard Paul Nelson’s horses, winning seven races apiece on No Hero and Just Not Cricket, as well as the Crisp Steeplechase at Flemington with Chibuli. “It (jumps riding) came about after I left Murray’s,” Riddell said. “Cheryl Douglas (now McGlade) grabbed me to help out and she steered me in the direction of riding jumpers, so I got good grounding from her. “That was basically my life for a few years. Paul came along, and we know how he can train a horse, and I was lucky enough to sit on some of his good ones. “It was a good time of my life, I got to see the world riding jumpers. I couldn’t put it down to one horse, I got to ride quite a few good ones and riding them in the big races is a real thrill.” Riddell had continued to ride on the flat and won his first Group One in the 2009 aboard Eileen Dubh in the Levin Classic (1600m). During that same year, a very special galloper came on his radar, which was a key factor in giving up the jumps. “I was doing both at the same time for a while, but it was just getting too tough trying to lose weight then being strong enough to ride the jumpers,” he said. “I did have a bad crash which didn’t rock me exactly, but possibly put a couple of doubts in my mind about it. “At that stage, Jimmy had come around, so it was too much of a risk riding jumpers to lose the ride on a horse like him.” That horse was Jimmy Choux, a once-in-a-lifetime talent that won 10 stakes races with Riddell on board, including the Gr.1 New Zealand Derby (2400m), Gr.1 Rosehill Guineas (2000m), Gr.1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m), Gr.1 Windsor Park Plate (1600m) and Gr.1 New Zealand Bloodstock Insurance Spring Classic (2040m). The pair finished second to Pinker Pinker in the 2011 Gr.1 Cox Plate (2040m) and competed in Hong Kong, memories that remain dear to Riddell. “He was such a nice horse, uncomplicated, everything about him was just easy,” he said. “He had a great big heart, a will to win and would be one of the quietest horses I’ve ridden. “I had an association with John (Bary, trainer) right from when he started training, I was actually at the jump-outs at Waipuk and he was in the same heat and I remembered how he went, so I must’ve chased him up and was lucky enough to get the spin on him. “Riding him in a race was easy, I could be where I wanted to be, there was no drama and he didn’t pull. The only times I didn’t ride him was when I was suspended, his first win when Lofty (Paul Taylor) rode him, then Michael Walker rode him in the Sires’ Produce. “It was a good field that that day in the Rosehill Guineas and he just smashed them. It was pretty cool. He’s one of those ones that only comes along every now and then.” Riddell said he had a real soft spot for another Bary-trained gelding in Callsign Mav, who he guided to three Group One victories during the Hawke’s Bay Spring Carnival. Always hungry for the next big success, Riddell was thrilled to add another to his record last month in the Gr.2 Hawke’s Bay Guineas (1400m) at Te Rapa on Magic Carpet. “That gave me a real good kick, I’ve known Stephen (Marsh, trainer) since I started riding and it was a bit of a surprise to me because I’ve never ridden the horse, maybe not so much for them,” he said. “I hadn’t been featuring in big races for a while, so it was really good.” That victory took his black-type total to 67, with 14 Group Ones, 10 Group Twos, 19 Group Threes and 24 at Listed level. Of his overall total of 1,013 wins, 10 of his came on Australian soil, alongside two in Japan. Loyalty has been an integral part of Riddell’s success and something he is proud of, having ridden from the early days for many of the same trainers as he rides for in the present time. “The numbers speak for themselves, I’ve had a great association with John, Paul, Allan Sharrock, and Lisa, she has been a supporter of mine forever as well as her owners,” he said. “It’s nice to have that loyalty and the good thing about it is I’m still riding for those people now.” A new chapter started for the 47-year-old when his daughter Amber joined him in the professional ranks last term, admitting it was an adjustment riding alongside her initially. “To start with I was hopeless, I was literally watching her in the races as any father would,” he said. “Now, I think it’s one of those things that you do often enough that it becomes natural. “I don’t worry about her out there now, she’s just another competitor and she’s going better than me so it’s good to knock one over her.” Also based in the Central Districts, Amber rode 53 winners in her first season and Riddell couldn’t have been prouder. “That would be an understatement,” he said. “She’s going so well, she’s determined and she works really hard. I’m so proud of her. “It’s a special thing to do, to compete and fight against your daughter in the sport we do. She’s got it all ahead of her.”

The best news at Addington on Friday is that Super Sarah O'Reilly is back. She is driving Moses in R5, the horse will need the run and I don't think the mobile suits. But she's back at last!!!

That Ghaiyyath horse Different Gravy that won on Tuesday is out of a Medaglio d'oro mare who's 4th dam is the mighty mare Gold Hope . Diffferent Gravy put the writing on the wall at his last start when storming home to run a close 2nd in a listed race in Adelaide at his previous start . His turn of foot on Tuesday was impressive and if he can continue the progression he might just be back racing on the same day next year , This is also the family of Champion 2yo and 3yo Broadsiding .

$100 Win. Van Der Hum

I'm not a Te Akau knocker, I think they make an amazing contribution to NZ racing, they have got a lot of new people involved, and they have an amazing record in the NZ sweepstakes and slot races, so win a lot of money, and they have done very well creating some stallions and selling broodmares for big money.. They do a lot of things right. It made perfect sense to send some horses to the SI and others to Australia in search of better spring tracks. However, their placement of horses in Australia seems quite strange at times. The filly La Dorada was placed in races where she was never going to be competitive, likewise Damask Rose was raced way out of her class. Even yesterday they had horses run last in the Derby and last in the Wakeful, certainly Mark Walker said he would never have raced that maiden in the Wakeful but the owners were keen. There is so much good money available in Australia, often in small fields with group status. A win in a weak Australian Group 3 would probably have enhanced Damask Rose's value much more than running down the track in Group 1s. Chris Waller is a master at placing his horses where they can be competitive, admittedly he does have an awful lot of horses to place.

Anyone who has been knocked out can throw in their tips until the comp ends and I will give a weekly $20.00 bet to each weeks winner. It will be individual results, not a team anymore. Just to give everyone an interest still that wants it.

Dream comes true for Crofskeys Heather and Peter Crofskey with Robbie Patterson and Craig Grylls after the Gr.1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m). Photo: Peter Rubery (Race Images Palmerston North) Joshua Smith, LOVERACING.NZ News Desk 30 October 2025 Heather and Peter Crofskey are pinching themselves as they prepare to hop on a flight to Melbourne to watch their pride and joy Leica Lucy contest Saturday’s Gr.1 Empire Rose Stakes (1600m) at Flemington. “It is a dream come true,” Heather Crofskey said. “It (dreaming of racing a horse at Flemington) started many years ago, just before we started breeding, and it has happened.” The Taranaki couple bred the daughter of Derryn and initially raced her with New Plymouth trainer Robbie Patterson, for whom she was a standout three-year-old last season. Patterson had a high opinion of Leica Lucy early on, and a plan was hatched to head towards the Gr.1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m) following her debut win at New Plymouth last November. “Robbie said very early on that she is the best horse he has trained,” Crofskey said. “Joe Doyle was the first jockey to ride her and he said ‘this one is a keeper’. “After the first win, Robbie said she was an Oaks horse and that’s what we headed towards.” Following a runner-up effort at Trentham in her next start, she went on to win the Gr.3 Eulogy Stakes (1600m) and Gr.3 Desert Gold Stakes (1600m) before prominent Australian owner Ozzie Kheir bought into the filly. She carried Kheir’s familiar silks to victory in the Gr.2 David and Karyn Ellis Fillies Classic (2000m), Gr.2 Lowland Stakes (2100m) and fulfilled their initial goal when taking out the New Zealand Oaks in March. Leica Lucy subsequently crossed the Tasman and joined leading Sydney trainer Chris Waller’s barn and ran fourth in the Gr.1 Australian Oaks (2400m) before heading for a spell. She returned to fill the same placing first-up in the Gr.2 Let’s Elope Stakes (1400m) at Flemington last month before finishing third in the Gr.1 Toorak Handicap (1600m), much to the Crofskeys delight. “She has done well,” Crofskey said. “We were thrilled with her run in the Toorak.” Lecia Lucy had a jump-out at Flemington last week to ready for the Empire Rose, where she will jump from barrier three with the addition of some gear. “They have put blinkers on her, that will straighten her up a wee bit,” Crofskey said. “It was proven at a run along on Wednesday morning and she was a whole lot better. She has been tending to lug.” The Crofskeys are heading over to Melbourne and they are excited to be trackside to watch their mare compete on one of the biggest days on Australia’s racing calendar. “We are over the moon that she is racing on Derby Day and we are going over to see her,” Crofskey said. “It is a bit unbelievable that we are there, but she is good enough to be there. “She has got a good draw this time. She didn’t have one in her last start (10), she was out in no man’s land, but she has drawn barrier three and has got Mark Zahra on her, so she is going to get the best opportunity.” While they can’t wait to reunite with their mare this weekend, they are also hoping to meet co-owner Kheir. “We are in touch a great deal, but we haven’t met him yet,” Crofskey said. “Hopefully we get to meet him over there because he is a good guy.” While excited to be trackside this weekend, the Crofskeys are trying to contain their expectations, but are hopeful of another Group One result. “It’s a Group One with an awesome field. We are not expecting anything on Saturday, but just to be there is going to be out of this world,” Crofskey said. “She is good and if we even get a place on Saturday, we will be absolutely thrilled. I know she will do her best.”

1. Tauranga R8 2x4 2. Flemington R2 4 3. Flemington R3 4x5 4. Flemington R4 1 5. Flemington R5 3x13 6. Flemington R6 1x3 7. Flemington R7 4x9 8. Flemington R8 4x6 9. Flemington R9 6x13 BB 10. Randwick R7 3x12 11. Randwick R8 3x12 BB 12. Randwick R9 4x7 Chicknsmack and I are up against the very well-performed Kilcoyne & Goodison combination in our must-win quarterfinal. Good luck to you both. Thank you for this excellent comp, John and Scooby. It's a great entertainment on a Saturday afternoon. The comp is so very, very well run, John. Kudos to you.

Race is a bloody disaster, Hawkes Bay no better, both very poorly handled! You will only ever sell off your land once, that’s it! Wellington is a joke, land sale deals going on again I hear!

They might be contemplating growing medicinal cannabis? great place for that, plenty of coin commercial quantities, guaranteed to keep racing on a 'high'.

Were they working for the club or NZTR ??? I can say reliably that the track is valued in the mid to high 3 millions , so if they are working for NZTR they are going to get a fright , nowhere near what has been bandied around , that being 30mill . I can also tell you that the club has already spent a six figure sum on legal work to understand their position , and a substantial bank account to back them . It will cost NZTR more than the track is worth in legal costs to gain control , if they can win that legal battle at all . Even if they got the track handed to them , the amount of cash they would clear does nothing substantial in the big picture . On top of that the land is zoned as rural , so to increase the value it would have to be rezoned . There is already a 2500 home subdivision underway in the east of Levin , part of the last Labour Govt initiative to deliver more cost effective housing , so a developer is going to have a long term project which has a lot of competition which doesn't make it more appealing .

I am struggling to recall anything Race has done that has not turned to shit.

Now this is a monumental stuff up...how could people who had never done a track before be given this contract...and now for this to happen it will cripple the club....sponsors will run for the hills.

Would there be a jockey who has ridden 1000 New Zealand winners who would include 136 Jumps wins amongst them? Amazing career to date. 14 Group 1 wins with one of those in Australia. Ridden winners all around the world including England and Japan and won all but one of the major jumps races in NZ. Who could forget his Cox Plate ride on Jimmy Choux. In the one by one at the winning post from barrier nine. Pinker Pinker got the one in a million run to beat him. Remember reading the Sunday papers in Melbourne where they gave him the ride of the day for a horse who didnt win on the card. Well done Jonathan. I have admired your riding for many years. Had to eat many a fresh air pie to make weight I hear.

3200m might be too soon? Hasn't he been in work since he was a 2YO?

Good on you young fella !! The over paid NZ Thoroughbred Breeders marketing division AND the marketing divisions of the TAB and should be ashamed. The Radio ZB Sports reports this morning should have been full of K Y Rising's amazing win in Australia. And the fact he was a NZ bred and raised product. Instead we heard meaningless English football results and trivia about The Breakers and knee injuries to over paid league wunnabees.

Your a sensitive soul . Obviously from the Scottish marriage guidance service .

I know Last Place often features in work Melbourne Cup sweepstake prizes but I find it quite gimmicky and sometimes open to interpretation. For example what happens if one or more horses fall, breakdown, pull up etc.... Is it the last horse to cross the line or the first horse to fall/pull-up? I prefer to focus on the horses that finish in the money but this is just my opinion, and I won't be running this one so happy to go with the flow.

Thats his style...I often wonder how he remembers that its not himself he is arguing with. At least we have a good group of members here Pete and the site seems to be flying at the moment lots of good input by many old and new posters. Thats what makes it what it is...something he can only wish for but never get.