Leaderboard

I will reply to this a later date, but to give some idea what i think,The JCA AND THE RIU MUST BE REPLACED, THIS IS CRIMINAL. I will lose my licence if this comes about,but this is the worst decision i have seen and i will voice my opinion and being a licence holder,i am up tp lose it,but i did it once before and won the case, i will make sure justice is done,i will read all reports and then i will put my opinion up to make sure justice is done, unbelievable this has happened. have a look at the winner's ears pricked 50m before the line.The best horse won without a doubt.

Sadly one couldn’t have expected anything different, given the state of our racing and the extremely slow pace of RITA. Of course it’s not necessarily their fault (RITA’s) given what they have inherited. I blame that fairly and squarely on the previous management and the Board made up of mainly National Party lackeys’.

Firstly, some disclosure - David Ellis started selecting horse for me in 2003 in my personal capacity and since 2007 has been selecting horses for my Syndication company Fortuna. The original poster, Steve, seemed to focus on the outcomes of the horses, particularly the high priced horses, that David Ellis has bought over the years. I personally think that is the wrong approach. If David Ellis purchases a high priced, well bred Colt, for say $500k to $1m plus and sells all the shares in that syndicate within a few days (as he does) then to my mind that is "willing buyer, willing seller" - I am sure that every person who takes a share in that particular syndicate is under no illusions as to the risk or range of potential outcomes. It is "speculation" not "investment". Buy into a $1m Colt who can win Group One races in NZ and Australia and the Colt could potentially be syndicated to Stud in Aus for A$30m - that is the reality of it - the fact that that may not happen at all (i.e the Colt has no or limited ability, needs to be gelded or is successfully Syndicated to Stud but at a much lower figure) is a risk that everyone understands. As other posters have already commented, if you examined the records of other organisations around the world that target high priced Colts, you may well find similar outcomes. Steve I think would be better to focus on Te Akau Racing's achievements as a training establishment. After all, it is one thing to select and buy the horses, it is another thing to train and manage them successfully, particularly for a large training organisation like Te Akau. The best way of doing that is to look at Strike Rates and Group and Listed Race success. The Te Akau Strike Rate has for four of the past five seasons been under 6 and is one of the leading Trainers by Strike Rate, if not the leader, from the top 20 trainers. And on the Group/Listed Winner scale, it has been one of the dominant training organisations over many seasons. Its current NZ Trainer, Jamie Richards, has already won a Training Premiership (in partnership with Stephen Autridge) and has finished either 2nd or 3rd in each of the past three seasons. Te Akau's Singapore based Trainer, Mark Walker won five NZ Premierships for Te Akau, has won two more Premierships for them in Singapore and is about to be crowned with a 3rd for the current season (which ends this Sunday 8th December). This means that any Owner who has a horse being trained by Te Akau Racing, whether as a private owner or a Member of a Te Akau or Fortuna Syndicate, can take a lot of comfort knowing that their horse is in very good hands. Finally, other posters have speculated on the success or otherwise of the various NZ and Aus based syndicators - it can be difficult to glean this information from the various racing websites but Fortuna is very proud of its NZ/Aus strike rate, which in the current season is running at 2.78 (9 wins from 25 starts) and since 1st August 2016 3.31 (35 wins from 116 starts. All of the Fortuna horses in NZ bar one (Highly Likely trained by Kevin Myers), are trained by Te Akau Racing - we certainly don't have anything to complain about with our choice of Trainer. On the subject of Strike Rate, it would be great if someone was able to compose a table of the NZ/Aus based syndicators and make available for the marketplace to view - such as the Trainers table on the Love Racing website - perhaps Steve could put his hand up for that task.

Mrs Cubes rates the Crossmeister Big boots to fill with the depature of Mark Mac the Aussie foresure whom was great But one thing you cannot fake in life is passion.....and Matt Cross has it in spades....he loves the game and is passionate.....Cube Central says keep up the good work

By the end of today, Matt Cross will have called about 72 races in 8 days. He is an exceptional talent. Every caller makes mistakes, I don't think Matt has fluffed anything important this week - and even if he does, we should all recognise that race calling is an art, a demanding one done under pressure of immediacy and public expectation. Not many people are prepared to try it, let alone make a career of it. Best wishes to him, he will become one pf the best, and probably go on to a international career.

The RIU are pressing charges against many of the accused that have had their criminal charges dropped. This is grossly unfair and in my opinion unscrupulous and malicious. Where is the decency and justice iin filing charges against people who have had charges dropped, due to no evidence, in a higher court. Talk about double jeapordy

We’ve asked that there be no publicity around this, and Starship won’t name the families anyway because of privacy issues, however if any donor would like a photo of this event please indicate as much and I’ll sort something

Wow!!! Rode the reactive lad for the first time this morning in the above bridle with a rubber coated snaffle bit. I got off him and doubled check if it was the same horse. It's taken a few weeks to work him out with just the basics and discovered the lighter the bridle gear on him the better he went. What a kind comfortable bridle and gives the right control needed. I'm a happy little camper.

After a period of recovery following a big week I felt I needed to post something positive about the CJC and Cup Week. Pretty much all I have read on here is an aggrieved owner who didn't get enough pampering for turning up with a horse (newsflash that happens at just about every racetrack), and complaints about facilities etc. So some balance - Saturday was an enormous day. Great crowd, music, fashion, car boot parties, great corporate boxes, good racing ..... Yes the facilities are stretched - that is what happens when you lose your main stand due to EQ damage and are fighting an ongoing insurance claim. Very difficult for the club - but as thousands of householders and building owners here in ChCh will tell you - not that unusual. I say well done to the CJC - you do annoy me on some things (just so no-one accuses me of being a fanboy) - but I had a great week. So did many out of my friends I got along and out of towners I know.

Great to see Terrill Charles and Peter Corbett win the big prize after all the health issues they have both had. Given 4 months to live over 4 years ago, Terrill has refused to give up and kept on going so a more deserving winner you would not find. Bravo both.....

Sorted now. It was a data entry error.

there have been results alright Gruffy - Mrs. vS asked me if she was the only one I had slept with - I said yes.... all the others were nines or tens I should be out of hospital soon !

Can't McKenzie just do it.... Saving $2,000,000 over 3 years...

I have a niece who wouldn’t have known a horse’s head from its tail, no idea of the racing game (other than go once a year and socialise with friends over a glass Or 3 of bubbly etc), probably she has not been to a horse sale and probably thinks Karaka is an imported fireworks from China! Anyway, friends talked her into “investing/speculating” into owning a racehorse, so she “invested” a fingernail in the smallest share - in a Te Akau syndicate. It was her first “speculation”. Name of the horse was? GINGERNUTS. Winner of the 2017 NZ Derby. Ask her what “she” thinks of horse racing, Syndication, Te Akau etc!

Hindsight is 20:20 and if SD had his time again he may have better using a more neutral name when investigating returns on purchases for racehorses. That was where SD wrong ended. However I think we all know this game is a cash burner, I have a spreadsheet of my spend and it is not pretty (but a lot of fun). Stock reviewers analyse stock brokers daily. That's the game. KFE left a message on SD phone in a temper and told him she had been to the police. SD tried to get a in contact with TA or its representatives to clear this up. SD posted his messages etc on here and offered a donation of $10K to womens refuge if this was not correct. This post got removed for whatever reason?? This thread was 61 last night and now 55 this morning. Let Leo can have his name calling posts kept. I personally have never called Leo anything, but have been subject to his unwarranted abuse. Water off a ducks back to me.

Just to let everyone know 3 families from the Starship Foundation will get to enjoy the HQ hospitality thanks to its owner P4P, the winners of the LGL donated their prizes and Leo suggested giving to the Starship Foundation...thanks P4P and I hope the three deserving families can have a little bit of enjoyment during their otherwise tough road.

I won a chook in the pub raffle last night - do you want to see a photo of the ticket?

The trainers might not like it but it's perfect for the punters having a track that you know exactly how it's playing...no shifty irrigated ground on the rail

The problem that you have is these blokes only talk about betting and the merits of bets and their so called tipping prowess. If you sell the program on betting, then you'd like to capture your audience because you're good at that. They're not so they should keep away from it and concentrate on the horse. If you market placing bets on tips given by so called experts, and in 28 chances you only get 14 in the frame, and this has been a norm, then stop it. Sell the program on the horse, breeding, people and the love of the animal.

They are not tips they are selections totally different in my opinion

Been saying it for years, relocate the Casino to Riccarton in the ground floor new stand and have second floor for racing - glass floor to ceiling And if we are real committed a harness track inside the gallops and close Addington Just a dream but has potential

Watching yesterday I thought the 'new' young commentator did a fantastic job. When you consider it was his first NZ Cup day I'd rate his performance as outstanding. Most of the races had big fields ,there were a lot of lesser grade horses going around and I find him hard to fault. Us at home we are all so knowledgable....experts........and even a trifecta taker like myself only has 3 or 4 horses to concentrate on . He has the entire field. Yes, I saw Winterfell break much earlier than him ...big deal ,I was specifically interested in where he would settle. As for a bit of emotion ,well good on him. Calling a horse a superstar or a champion is something which can sound over the top but when a horse wins a Group race brilliantly, surely he can let loose. The lad did a fantastic job yesterday IMHO.

In isolation the figures shown on that Twitter thing show eye watering amounts of loss , but its a small sample of only racetrack earnings .Maybe it's perspective , and iam not doing the John Cleese i was brought up in shoe box thing but where I was brought up people get a knife in face for a fiver and that's no bullshit so however much I get in bank or how much property i get a cold hard fiver still means something to me , my family take piss out me because of it but they have no idea thankfully . I think another angle would be income as a whole over period of years . Selling Torcedor , wow good business , syndicating for stud DarcI Brahma, Embellish , Burgundy good business , the many wins at top level, MB TAS brilliant , maybe Motueka River running in a dust cloud at Backwater Downs not so good , but that's the game , I really like Mr Galvin's description , speculation .I am sure TA and the other syndicators have also provided some lifelong memories for plenty . I suppose as well different people take things differently , I go races or bookies with my mates and have a bad day on punt , they don't sooth me with kind words they mercilessly take the mick with absolutely no sympathy . Maybe I should find kinder mates .

I must say, none of the connections of Te Akau Racing had any input into this relegation or inquiry I am told that the rider was quoted as saying, we were beaten on our merits. If this was the case then surely it is time to have a serious look at the competency of the RIU and the JCA in this instance. This is not good enough in my opinion.

one thing i want say on the Winebox enquiry... thank God for those who had the courage to speak out and expose the Fraud!!!!