Leaderboard

As the ring leader of the Trentham debacle I will give my point of view Feel free to keep the pitchforks in hand and torches burning. I'm a big boy and can cop it on the chin. We as jockeys are shown a map,a small map,of the track before racing and taken through the course on the map,a small chalkboard. There is 1 exit gap to get back onto the course proper on the maps. I was riding the figure 8 for the first time and watched years of replays to prepare. Once again there was only ever 1 gap to re enter the course proper. While leading over the 2nd last fence I commenced the corner looking for the 1 gap to go back onto the course proper. As I cornered I seen the wide gap marked by cones to my right so let my horse rollout and go through the gap. What I thought was the 1 and only gap. It had to be,there has never been another gap and we weren't told there would be another 1. It was only very late Hamish had realised there were 2 gaps today and called out to everyone. By then it was too late for 3 of us. Jockeys who have ridden the course plenty said they were also fooled because there has only ever been 1 exit. Yes we need to take some responsibility for the error. We "should have known" where the crossing is but when you are doing 45-50kms/hr full of adrenaline after jumping 18 fences going in all directions you are simply looking for the 1 and only gap in the fence. You see it and ride for it. You're there to win not for sightseeing. Unfortunately unbeknown to us for whatever reason there were 2 gaps in reasonably close vicinity to each other this day. That's where the confusion lay. Similar if I told you drive down the road and turn right at the Oak tree. If I planted another tree 50 metres in front of it without you knowing would you still take the right turn? Yes we take the Blame. All the blame. We lose our money,a valuable winner on a horse I love dearly and have travelled up and down the country side to ride (many times at a loss to my pocket, including Saturday) for a great boss in Chris for very loyal owners. I am gutted for everyone and even apologised to the staff at home. He's a horse I have put alot of time,effort and travel into to get him to Saturday. Nobody is feeling it or kicking me in the arse harder than me We Cop the abuse,it comes with the job. Get suspended for 3 weeks and are labelled incompetent riders. We miss out on rides and risk losing rides. It very well could completely cripple the rest of the year for us. We Cop a decent punishment for our part. It was a mistake. Do the people who left the rail down receive the same penalties?

New Punting comp running over 10 weeks starting 21st June. Free entry and all you need to do is pick 1 horse racing in New Zealand or Metropolitan Australia on the Saturday. You will have an imaginary $10.00 each way on the horse. To stop any dead heats the first to post the horse will be used in the comp, so get those selections in early. I am sure we can find enough horses on all those meetings not to have the same choice. The top earner each week will get a $50.00, that I will put up, to bet the following Saturday to be used as they wish on a single horse. ALL monies raised will go to charity and the RC team will choose a different charity whenever there is a winning amount, lets hope there is plenty. I will put up 10 x $50.00 bets so the comp will run for 10 weeks and at the end of it we will have our BIG KAHUNA punting champ here at Racecafe, the person who has the highest total from their bets over the 10 week period, bragging rights for sure!!!!. Just a bit of fun and hopefully some good banter amongst the competitors. There will be a $100 prize for the overall Racecafe Big Kahuna after the 10 weeks too.

It's not just about racing, the sports betting product that entain provides is amongst the worst you'll see & I would argue in many cases criminal - I'll paste some examples of it below. And to those banging on about this being a good thing (morons), tell me how selling out to a multinational gambling company based in the UK is a good thing for NZ? The money being taken off-shore by them will more than match that of the NZ punters betting overseas. The NZ govt just sold out to a British giant and is trying to convince us that is a good thing for NZ? I dont know if people are thinking straight here but forcing people to use your product instead of improving your product and being competitive in the marketplace is NOT what we want as a country in ANY industry, why would u guys accept that? If you're a fan of NZ TAB that is fine, and you can continue to use them, but to pretend like this is a good move is pathetic. In sports, they'll very often suspend betting on one side but allow it on the other side. They have games offering $1.02 bet pairings (instead of $1.90 pairs as it shiuld be), they offer a $1.02 fave with a $3.70 underdog?? (That pairing should be at $13-$15, not @ $3.70) In soccer, late in games, they'll offer "under" betting but not "over" (example- @ 1-0, you can bet under 1.5 goals, but not over 1.5 goals) I have seen this occur at least 10-15 times now, I imagine it's a regular thing. You simply cannot offer one side of a bet and not the other, just because the liability will be higher on your end if said event does happen. The bet delay (how long it takes to place a bet) on the gold cup soccer (international) was 14 seconds when I checked the other day - you can't even get a bet on options like that as the odds move before the bet can even be placed. Monopolies of any kind are bad, British-owned Monopolies owning our country is even worse! Nothing makes me more angry than governments or entities forcing people to do something, controlling our actions as if we can't control them ourselves. Also, how can they ban NZ hounds, but allow betting on aussie greyhounds? Hypocritical much? Reminds me of the climate change mob who act like emissions are down in western countries while China polluted everything instead (on our behalf) People will get big mad at my rambling here, instead of being mad at their own government And dammit, I can't seem to paste these images from my phone here, but I have countless examples saved that I'm going to make as many people aware of as possible

You need to fully explain your POV. How exactly is it unfair? In fact - How is removing well informed investment value options in the slightest bit fair. How is the freedom to exercise one's free will and choice after hours of study finding value unfair? What we are really talking about here is a massive $100m bribe by a multinational betting organisation to obtain a controlling monopoly on NZers sport and racing investment's freedom to choose, to meet their own profitable ends. Now If the best value in a betting scenario is provided by the NZ TAB they get the investment. Its not rocket science. It is a universal law of competition, a law of nature and a law of successful business in a democratic society. In fact this whole sorry episode reminds me of the deregulation of the mid 80's when clever but self interested investment bankers pulled the wool over inept politician's eyes by advising them on asset divestment and then buying those assets themselves. The appointment of one of the key advisors of that perverted period on our history as chair of the TAB is not, in my opinion, coincidental. History is just repeating with the same obfuscation of facts that occurred then happening again today.

Our first donation for Saynomores Chosen charity... Compassion Soup Kitchen thanks to Foxmerts...lets hope its the first of many we donate to good causes. https://soupkitchen.org.nz/donate/

Bill Birnie was a director of "Investment Bankers" Fay Richwhite. As such he was also a senior advisor to the Lange Douglas Govt on the divestment of many of the most valuable of NZ's Crown assets. I wont expand further than that, but some research will show what hands many of these assets ended up in and at what price they were sold. He was also a director along with Fay and Richwhite of Capital Markets. The shell company JV between Brierly Investments and Fay Richwhite & Co. Capital Markets, sought to acquire a controlling stake in the BNZ through a series of complex financial transactions including the sale of preference shares to the crown, and the acquisition of a substantial number of BNZ shares. The transactions surrounding the BNZ acquisition and the subsequent sale to NAB were highly criticised and led to the public inquiry, colloquially known as the "Winebox Inquiry". because of Council's habit of carrying their significant number of documents to court in wine boxes. Court summary of enquiry on Impact on Shareholders: The transactions resulted in gains for Fay Richwhite and Brierley Investments, while minority shareholders experienced significant losses. Further reading here: https://www.stuff.co.nz/editors-picks/8056958/Birnies-Bergdorf-folds-owing-11m It fills me with dread on the medium/long term future of NZ Racing and I question whether in fact it has a long term future at all, given these recent developments and the appointments being made. We have not learned from the American disaster of selling horse racings valuable land assets to developers and to casino operators, the latter who use the track only to attract custom to their casinos. Consequently Horse racing in America is experiencing a slow but sure death. Or maybe those appointed to the welfare and future of the sport here have learned, and what we are experiencing now is the beginning of the long game that will end in NZ becoming an elite equine breeding country only. Maybe we will only have one or two racecourses. Ellerslie to hold elite only race meetings, and maybe a couple of feeder clubs to cater for low class or feeder meetings. I see two things that I vehemently disagree with: The sale of NZB's world class sale facilities at Karaka makes no sense to me at all except from a short term financial windfall perspective. And two: The sale of the WTR s racecourse at Te Rapa. If anyone thinks that the residential creep that is impacting the values of our race venues and Stud farms and sales complex, and being used as the yardstick for divestment, will go away by moving them to " new Greenfields venues" at a cost of billions is a solution. It isn't, because our immigration settings will ensure the demand for commercial, industrial and residential property will continue. What is Greenfields today will be intense suburban creep tomorrow. Mark my words on that. Viz Ellerslie, not that long ago a suburb full of training stables and houses and a vibrant racing and training hub, Gone: Move training to Greenfields country to Takanini, Gone to intense suburban development. Move to Greenfields country Karaka. Quickly changing from Greenfields to intense suburban development. You can't keep running away. If the industry is serious about building a strong, robust, secure and successful racing industry, it needs to put a stake in the ground. To respect our existing and valuable assets and zone them accordingly in perpetuity. I take my hat off to the members who successfully voted not to sell Rosehill to developers and their various financially vested interests. I will expand on these musings further, but this piece at least will be fuel for thought and debate.

My Prediction for the Future of Harness Racing in New Zealand It’s becoming increasingly clear that harness racing in New Zealand is heading for a serious crisis—one driven not by a lack of passion within the industry, but by poor leadership, financial mismanagement, and strategic failures at the top. At the centre of this downward spiral is John Mooney. His reckless spending and apparent disregard for fiscal responsibility are putting our industry at serious risk. It’s baffling how someone with such questionable personal financial history was entrusted with oversight of our industry’s money in the first place. His mismanagement is evident in the race date allocations, where races are created in direct competition for the same small pool of horses. This not only splits fields but drains financial resources—losing the industry money instead of generating it. Communication with clubs has broken down, leading to infighting rather than collaboration. The lack of transparency and consultation from those in charge only deepens division and alienation. This is not how a national sporting code survives—let alone thrives. While the introduction of geo-blocking may offer a temporary fix, the real reckoning comes when the Entain funding deal ends. Our turnover figures are already falling short of what’s needed to sustain current stake levels. When that guaranteed money dries up in a few years, and we’re left exposed, those responsible—Mooney and Brad Steele—will likely walk away, leaving the damage behind for others to clean up. We’re also wasting time and money fantasizing about training centres, at a time when we’re losing trainers and horses. The focus should be on retaining and supporting what we have—not building infrastructure for a future that may never come under the current direction. Auckland Trotting Club is another financial sinkhole. Despite receiving disproportionate industry funding, it continues to produce small fields, low GBRs (gross betting revenue), and poor attendance. The decision to sell Pukekohe—yet still be in financial turmoil—makes no sense. Auckland is losing its training base, which will reduce horse and trainer numbers even further. Alexandra Park is a logistically difficult venue for many, and it’s not serving the wider industry. The only sustainable path for Auckland is bold: sell Alexandra Park, retain Pukekohe, and invest in a world-class training and racing complex, similar to Menangle in NSW. With the right structure, Auckland could then re-emerge as a vibrant centre with strong prize money, improved horse numbers, and renewed interest from owners and trainers. Meanwhile, the proposed handicapping changes—also driven by Mooney—threaten to destroy the bread-and-butter racing that actually generates revenue. Overemphasis on high-end age group races may look glamorous on paper, but it risks alienating the core participants who race week in and week out. It’s the country meetings in Canterbury and Southland that keep the engine running—alongside major days like Cup Week. Harness racing in New Zealand is a television sport, and that model only works if you have full fields, competitive betting, and regular racing. In summary, if we don’t act decisively now—by stopping the flawed handicapping changes, completely reworking our major race dates, developing logical and aligned carnivals, placing the right people in charge of the industry’s money, and getting clubs working collaboratively—the sport will not survive in its current form. We are on the edge of the cliff Mark Jones Never one to shy away from major Harness issues IMHO. Good on him

What the hell was the go with the long drone overhead coverage of the Wellington Steeplechase. It was a blight on the race as a spectacle and bloody annoying. It was very hard to tell where they were exactly on the course and was that far away the horses were tiny looking down. When they switched back from the drone to normal coverage it was far better viewing.

Quick Update Race Café’s had a massive year and our database has grown 130%. It’s been slowing the site down, you might have noticed slower page loads. We kicked off a major upgrade last night to fix it. Stage One is complete. It took longer than expected – sorry to be offline this morning. The real speed boost comes with Stage Two, which is set for Sunday night from 10pm. This is a serious backend upgrade to handle the ongoing growth. Thanks for your patience - I appreciate it more than you know.

They are using a $100 million dollar lubricant so don't worry Irish, you shouldn't feel a thing.

There should never ever have been two gaps leading to the course proper.

The drone camera from above can be a good tool to analyse races but when they use it so much, like the did with the Wellington Steeplechase, it takes away from the experience of seeing the horses leap over the big fences.

Ross is retiring from his role as Clerk of the Course. He will be greatly missed. A fabulous all around contributor and ambassador to our Equine sector who many have had the pleasure of been introduced to patting a horse and the equine world who are all the more enriched as a result. We hope all those who meet him over his 60 years plus contributions have either encouraged others, or taken up a career in the wider sector as participants. Enjoy your retirement with family and friends and acquaintances Ross Thank you for your service is the last race at Ellerslie Racecourse on Saturday https://img.nzracing.co.nz/RaceInfo/53355/Meeting-Overview.aspx Enjoy a couple of reflective articles on him from days gone by https://img.nzracing.co.nz/News/47756/RossColes-EllerslieClerkOfTheCourse.aspx Twelve Questions: Ross Coles NZ Herald 4 Mar, 2014 05:30 AM6 mins to read https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/racing/twelve-questions-ross-coles/LQMIDHH7NK55JVQ546YLU5AR6Y/

I hope you are referring to your horse? Great to hear he will be back. Wish him all the best.

A sad reminder of just how dangerous it can be around horses , had a couple of close calls myself , and but for the grace of God . Thoughts are with all associated with her .

Thank you for Michael's contribution. I think the penalty is totally out of proportion to the offence. Basically wiped out for 25% of the jumps season because of an honest mistake in a maiden race. Meanwhile jockeys who blatantly and knowingly break the whip rules to win a race get away with a minor fine. Just think about it. A clearly superior horse wins a maiden race despite taking a longer route, not missing a single jump. The horse gets disqualified and the jockey gets put out for quarter of the season. Another horse gets up to win a major race by a nose, that it almost certainly wouldn't have won otherwise, the jockey gets a minor fine and there is no suggestion of the horse getting relegated let alone disqualified. I do struggle with the logic and consistency.

Some off you might know that Matt Hill will be at Trentham on Saturday to call the Wellington Steeplechase and a couple of other races. What you probably don’t know, is that the idea was instigated by Justin Evans and paid for by Justin himself. When I asked, why is Justin doing it, I was told so that he could learn from Matt. For the record Entain have also come to the party and why shouldn’t they? Also for the record, there will be a meet with Matt Hill on Friday evening at Trentham involving questions and answers. Liz

Some people get involved in horse racing without ever working with/handling horses. To many of these people horses and horseracing are a vehicle to promote their ego's, to tell their mates that they own one or a share in one. The horse is secondary to them. Watch what happens when horses that are syndicated finish competing. Unless it is a mare with some residual value many of these once 'big noting 'owners forget the horse. They don't care what happens to it, never ask, just wait for the next opportunity to be an 'owner'. Guarantee that these types are in the pro-whip brigade who wouldnt know that a horse twitches when a fly lands on it..because they have very sensitive skin. They'll be the ones in the crowd screaming ' hit the fucking thing ' when ' their 'horse looks like getting beaten. Probably never thought at all about limiting whipping. On the other hand many of us love and respect our horses. We know that not all of them will be successful. We consider their well being to be paramount in or out of competition. The 'slow ' ones are still sensitive animals who rely on humans for their wellbeing. They weren't born in the wild. And they should be protected from abusers either jockeys, trainers, stable staff..whoever. Horses have been the mainstay of human transport for thousands of years. They deserve our protection. Whipping in racing? Done its time. Right now there is a group working to stop horses being whipped. As a half-way point they are open to jockeys carrying whips as a safety issue, but on the basis that both a riders hands remain on the reins with the whip only used to 'tap ' the horse to correct it. As is the case in the Harness code ( in NZ ). Somehow some harness drivers still dont get it but that might come down to their intellect more than anything. We cannot rely on racing industry participants to properly control whip use. If we could there would already have been a right to disqualify placegetters who have been subjected to abuse by riders. It's a no brainer.

Great guy from a great family, one of THE BEST judges in the industry 100 winners for a season with his budget and selections is a huge achievement...congrats Paul.

Not quite right, you need to back horses that are paying above there true chance of winning. Most punters make the mistake of trying to back the winner, that is flawed unless they are overs, you will lose regardless of how many winners you find as you wont be able to beat the TAB margin. Value (True Chance) is subjective of course as there is no one real way to determine this, the Starting Price is the most accurate the market can be & there can be many factors determining weight of money which can be red herrings. To win you need to find runners more often than not that are above there true chance of winning (using your method that is proven at finding good value), there are countless ways to assess this. No one way is better than the other, however it is other punters you must beat not the TAB, as it is other punters that create or destroy value, following what the majority are doing is the quickest way to lose. You must find value before other punters, winners will take care of themsleves, have a bank that is able to sustain long losses.

Some newer punters might not know what some of the abbreviations mean in the new AI comments in the PDF files. I couldn’t find what they meant on the PDF files so here are some of them. OP On Pace ROS Ran on straight WNC Wide No Cover MF Midfield Otr Outer

We have five kids. We were utterly committed and kept going until we got one we liked.

Yesterday I was talking to a friend by chance as her dad had passed away, who was until recently involved in management of one of the bigger clubs in Australia in Melbourne. She always wondered why Trentham and Riccarton for the big days never reached out and promoted tours or flights bringing people from Melbourne or anywhere in Australia on the East Coast to these carnivals as it’s a very short flight and an easy commute. She also said last year she came out with her husband who was a kiwi and they arranged for 10 people to go to the Wellington cup carnival on Wellington cup day.Paid big money for tickets and packages, and thought they were gonna have a fantastic day. Their experience was horrendous poor food not allowed to go anywhere poor facilities. She then reached out to the club not a word. Nobody responded. She doesn’t give up easily so she kept contacting them. Kept calling them. In fact she called them for three weeks and finally on race day somebody answered. They then told her oh no we can’t do anything. You have to reach out to this email address they will get back in touch. Seven months later six emails not a single word from anybody and they wonder why it’s going downhill. Lack of ideas lack of thinking outside the box. Lack of passion was what she said. She is now working in tourism and she thought what a great way to expand things before her experience. No thinking outside the square, no marketing to new people, she said they have an under 30's club with specific areas at the club she used to manage and even on a normal Raceday this area sells out and more and more new people come to be involved, some just looking for a place to go and hang out and get dressed up. Shame we dont have this sort of foresight here, she could not get over the difference in a Raceday experience in Oz to what she got served up here.

If he genuinely feels this is the right thing for him then it's the right decision . Obviously there were things going on in the background that didn't help and his heart wasn't in it at that time . I have never met anybody who hasn't done a turn around on something they were adamant they weren't doing again . Good luck to him , best in NZ at his best . Selfishly I hope he gets back on my big boy straight away .

Listening to Matt Hill this morning on Trackside about jumps racing and I remembered they had a hurdle race on Melbourne Cup day in years gone by. I attended the 1991 Melbourne Cup and thought I could remember race 1 being a hurdle race. Here is a video of the race, while watching it I saw Lord Zirito was in it and remember him being a pretty good NZ jumper so I have included an article written about him too that I found interesting. Hope some of you find it interesting too. https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?pglt=299&q=was+there+a+hurdle+race+at+the+1991+melbourne+cup+meeting&cvid=62af60c9a199499b88847473523943df&gs_lcrp=EgRlZGdlKgYIABBFGDkyBggAEEUYOdIBCTIwNzU5ajBqMagCALACAA&PC=ASTS&ru=%2fsearch%3fpglt%3d299%26q%3dwas%2bthere%2ba%2bhurdle%2brace%2bat%2bthe%2b1991%2bmelbourne%2bcup%2bmeeting%26cvid%3d62af60c9a199499b88847473523943df%26gs_lcrp%3dEgRlZGdlKgYIABBFGDkyBggAEEUYOdIBCTIwNzU5ajBqMagCALACAA%26FORM%3dANNTA1%26PC%3dASTS&mmscn=vwrc&mid=5417A54E547164EE93615417A54E547164EE9361&FORM=WRVORC&ntb=1&msockid=98ea6865539b11f0b42bf154e53a35b9 https://www.racehorseowner.co.nz/racing-tales/lord-zirito-versatility-and-endurance/

Micheal , congratulations , whether you are right or wrong and other people , us , think you were wrong or wronged , you have done something that very few people do , in life , or in racing when we see so many things go wrong and never see any accountability , you have put your hand up and copped it on the chin . There are many in our industry that don't have that character . Well done and good luck going forward .

Awesome post Raz - I've just been catching up on the thread and this comment mirrors my thinking. Last year I sat through 2 'anti-competitive behaviour' seminars conducted by the large company I was contracting to, such was their fear of being prosecuted for innappropriate actions of anyone connected to them. So this has bewildered me right from the get go and I've expressed my displeasure several times. It smacks of corruption, and the enticement of $100 million dollars subject to the legislation being passed is not seen as a bribe?? This, like the sale of TAB to Entain, is just a lazy cop out from those in charge, far too inept to improve the product enough, and be the optional choice for punters, rather than having them corralled into the monopolistic serving they will get. I took a couple of months off betting, disullusioned with racing in general and this doesn't help my mood about the state of NZ racing..... For the record, I have NEVER bet offshore, have a budget of $50 to $100 per week as a rule, but can turnover well in excess of that through winning and reinvesting, purely for entertainment, so I'm not directly affected by the ban, just more and more pissed off at the way the Circus is being run.

Jayne Ivil? She is fantastic.

Just happened to flick the TV across at the wrong time and saw Popplewell & Innes Had flashes of Big Ted & Little Ted

Give me a break! McGrath is a serial offender. If he had offended once yes, give him a chance, but that's not the case. He had his chance and blew it. He, Kerr and Anderson should never be allowed back.

Great ambassador for New Zealand...superstar.

The site looks great Scooby! I'm still popping in occasionally and was pleasantly surprised by the fresh new look - well done All the best to you and the Racecafe regulars. I might find the time and energy to join in again soon. Cheers Phil

Wonderful days indeed, The QB weekend and the following Saturday with the McGregor Grant steeples. 8 races each day, 4 hurdles, four flat races including a highweight. My memory goes back to the 50s as a kid with my dad. Back then the Ellerslie straight public viewing areas were separated by huge fencing into the Leger for the plebs like us, down on the bend into the straight with the old single tier grandstand, the Derby for the more well heeled, with the majestic double tiered, open top grandstand with the cupolas at each end, and finally the Members area. Entrance to the Leger was free, the Derby cost was affordable for most, whilst the Members area was exclusively for members and club officialdom. Entry to each area was closely and often officiously guarded by white coated staff who both patrolled the fences and also removed your admission fee with relish. My dad would always arrive early before the staff and I was instructed to climb and jump the fence to join him in the Derby area. All right for him I used to think after carefully My earliest memories were of the great golden chestnut jumper Golden Defaulter, the grey Cretan trained by Merv Ritchie on the track and stablemate of the flying Yahabeebe, by imported derby winner Mid Day Sun. I remember seeing him set the national 7f record of 1.22. Later on who can forget the mighty Smoke Ring, winner of the GN Hurdles Steeples double on the same weekend in 65. Patrick Molloy, a majestic jumper, winner in 61 and 62, the immortal Eiffel Tower in 67 who, after being checked at the stand double, turned around, jumped the fence he missed and, from being left 5o+ lengths last, got up to win. The mighty Ringloch, and the other Southern grey marvel Kumai. Loch Linnhe winner in 75 and 76, Brockton in 71 and 72. Hit Parade, Knights star and Irish Ace were other winners of that golden era of jumping. I also remember Central District raiders, in particular the late great Eric Ropiha, in particular how is horse Arakhan loved Ellerslie. In ending, one matter that has changed forever, the ability to get a seat in any of the packed stands by at least 10 minutes before the start of the GN Hurdles on Saturday and the Steeples on Monday.

Thank you, RJR. Well thought out and makes absolute sense to me [ for what that's worth! ]

I was going to comment after Wingatui was abandoned on Sunday, but decided not to as it doesn't seem to worry anyone else. My comment would have been that it was $120,000 not distributed to owners and trainers in the South plus another $20,000 odd not paid out to jockeys. Many of those industry people would have been anticipating some income from that meeting to help them survive through the winter. I realise it was too wet to race, they shouldn't be racing at Wingatui in June and July anyhow, but the attitude of NZTR was basically: "tough, there are meetings coming up at Ashburton and Oamaru, plus the gold plated AWT at Riccarton", just what a horse nominated for a heavy 10 at Wingatui was looking for. Well now the Ashburton meeting has come around and we have starting limits of 10, 12 and 14. Based on current numbers, 73 nominations will miss out on a start. Two of the races that can only start 10 horses have 28 and 29 noms. There is no intention of splitting any race. There is so much wrong about this situation. Why the hell are they holding a feature meeting with massive noms at a track that can only start 10 horses? And why totally different treatment for the NI and SI? We also have Rotorua this week. 75 acceptors, basically the same number that will miss a start at Ashburton. They had 16 noms for one race at Rotorua so they left the race open and said they would split it. They got no extra noms, but still decided to split it with 15 acceptors. This contrasts with the last Oamaru meeting where one rating 65 race had 24 noms, but there was no intention of leaving it open or splitting it, despite this meaning that no maiden winner from the delayed Timaru meeting would be allowed to start at Oamaru. I have no idea whether trainers even notice these things. Perhaps they are quite content that NZTR has offered to put on an extra race at the next AWT meeting.

I am new to these forums and while not a huge racing fan find the promotional and social side of horse racing interesting as there are many similarities to speedway, a sport which I have a great interest in. Horse racing [both gall ops and harness] was once a major pastime enjoyed by all walks of life and social backgrounds. For many casual punters the gambling was only secondary to relaxing and catching up with friends and family along with people watching. Media coverage was extensive with comprehensive newspaper coverage, several specialist publications and racing being the cornerstone of Saturday afternoon programming on TV1 much to the chagrin of 80's kids! What then has caused racing's fall from its preeminence? Superficially the introduction of Lotto and Instant Kiwi, weekend shopping, an urban population with little connection to country living and more competition for the leisure dollar have been major factors. While they have certainly played a role in racing's decline, does some of the blame lie with the industry itself? When did the rot set it in and what were the major steps along the way? Was the loss of coverage on Sport On One on Saturdays [along with broadcasts on Radio NZ commercial stations] play a role? How much have track closures/mergers in rural areas hastened the decline? Yours thoughts please.

Not surprised at all. Best jockey in NZ.

Bet 365, can no longer access the live in play platform, great for all up to date sports scores, FU Winston and your self centered flash suit wearing mates And no I didn't bet with them but it was a great platform for scores, stats up to the second.

Donation of $170 done. Thank you for your donation. Donation of $5 and over are tax deductible. A receipt will be emailed to the email address provided. Thank you for supporting our work to help Kiwis in need to live with dignity in the community.

Congrats must also go to Foxmerts he won $170.00 for charity. I will confirm tomorrow who we are giving it to.

Happy birthday Tom one of NZ's best racecallers doing himself and his family proud in Hong Kong. Many happy returns form all here at RaceCafe..... Keep up the good work...hope to see you back calling here one day.

Nigel…. Blue Magic…. Raceday drench…. Repeat…. M kerr…. Repeat…. Same…Same….

In fact - here's a pic of the last NZTR AGM

Unlikely it will bother them ...

Max has tries to do a quick mid-arvo spreadsheet here so participants can follow progress, but I fear there may be an entry or two missing. Whoever they are will be suree to advise Scoobs accordingly! Foxmerts leads with a very tidy Tauranga collect to accentuate his legendary cleverness Big Kahunas W1 MEETING RACE # HORSE TIPSTER RESULT DIVIDEND TOTAL Tauranga 1 Bradley gubellini 3rd $1.10 $11.00 Tauranga 2 Macallan Winner69 3rd NTD Tauranga 2 The Honey Badger Al Feilding 1st $1.80/$1.30 $31.00 Tauranga 3 Blackpink Jennie Ponderosa8 Tauranga 3 Akimoto Kilcoyne Tauranga 3 Accentuate Foxmerts 1st $8.80/$2.30 $111.00 Tauranga 3 Thee Auld Trick Manfield Tauranga 4 Digger Stoyd Tauranga 6 Solidify AaronTheAnchor Tauranga 6 Solidify DoubleR Tauranga 7 Tristar Pottsie Tauranga 7 Grande Gallo Baz NZ Tauranga 7 Lux Libertas Seakem 2nd $1.40 $1.40 Tauranga 8 takeachance Shad Tauranga 8 Prudentia mr gee Riccarton 1 Captain Oumuamua barryb Riccarton 1 Cant Kach Me Pheroz 3rd $1.50 $15.00 Riccarton 4 Chlobon rdytdy 2nd $1.70 $17.00 Riccarton 5 Zacat nomates Riccarton 8 Shakin Stevens Blue Duck Riccarton 8 Schedar Pete Lane Flemington 2 American Wolf littletramp Flemington 2 Prochester Seddon Flemington 3 Recommendation Fredd002 Flemington 3 Cleo Cat Catalona 2nd $1.10 $11.00 Flemington 3 Mrs Chrissie Richie Flemington 3 Losesomewinmore Kloppite Flemington 4 Kiss My Rock Ohokaman Flemington 5 Freak of Nature Insider Flemington 6 Virtuous Circle Goodison Flemington 6 Through Irish Eyes Majestic Flemington 7 Avebury Lucasduke Flemington 7 Avebury Pak Star Flemington 8 Pounding Houlahan's Dream Flemington 8 St Lawrence Idolmite Flemington 8 Jimmy The Bear scooby3051 Flemington 8 Relentless Voyager The Lone Stranger Flemington 9 Bridal Waltz KiwiGnome Flemington 9 Bridal Waltz Blaird Randwick 2 Cumnock Toddy Randwick 2 NoExitFee Montydrum Randwick 3 Bengal sunlineboy Randwick 3 Pretty Powerful Pegasus9 Randwick 4 She's Unusual Insider 1st $4.40/$1.50 $59.00 Randwick 4 Piggyback jack Randwick 5 Rotagilla RacingJackReacher 1st $6.80/$2.70 $95.00 Randwick 5 Stallone Koriokaramea Randwick 6 WalkingPainting Dogzstar1 Randwick 7 Noble Soldier We're Doomed Randwick 8 Defining Lucasduke Randwick 9 Iknowastar jayar Randwick 9 Hammering Away Sayer Randwick 10 Pereille Alf Riston Randwick 10 Battleton Maximus Ipswich 3 Zaynudin Peter R S Ipswich 5 Premise Floyd Pink Ipswich 6 Lutetia Black Kirrama Ipswich 6 Tuned saynomore Ipswich 7 Philipsburg Pure Steel Ipswich 7 Brookhaven Basil brush Ipswich 9 Hermanita ChittyChitty BangBang

Haven’t been on this site for long but I agree with the others that your changes have been great and I certainly enjoy the wide range of opinions and thoughts on this forum

It was good to see Jason Teaz get his first Thoroughbred winner too with the horse in his Dads colors who he says he will now retire and frame them to hang on the wall...well done Jason it was a very good win.

The win can never replace losing a son but lets hope it can improve a disastourus week a little for the Wallaces...maybe had a little help from above today. Great for Mike Moroneys family too...a little Devine intervention.

Hi Phil I wish you well I hope your health improves and we can see you back in here I miss your humor here...take care and I wish you nothing but the best.

It is a shame that a well managed Club wth great facilities including magnificent new lighting has to virtually be put into recess for 6 months of the year (now to November) then have a compressed season when it would be good for trainers to get some of the 18 dates spread into say October and November .It does not seem logical or indeed fair to owners,trainers or supporters to force this situation to have no harness racing in the area Wellington to Cambridge for 6 months !!!