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Huh? Isn't the family asking for help? Am I not allowed to share my opinion on a public forum? Please porky do yourself a favour find out how much his net worth was, and even how much $ he made in 2015 from RWC promotions/public speaking? As far as I'm concerned porky there is FAR more deserving charity's that need and warrant money FAR more than the Lomu family, call me heartless or whatever you want I couldn't give a shit. Personally if I'm donating to a charity I want to donate to a worthwhile cause and to something that will make a difference, like for me it would be a kids cancer charity as that's something my 3yo nephew had to deal with, a 6 month old baby having to have chemo ETC ETC. thank god he's full of life and cancer free now but let's get some perspective aye buddy? My sister doesn't have a net worth of 20 mill + and she certainly didn't receive the media attention that the Lomu family is getting, and just ask yourself deep down who would it benefit more? GET A JOB AND START LIVING WITHIN YOUR MEANS.

Quite amazing really, and they are currently renting in a 2.2 million dollar property, time for them to get realistic and start living in the real world like the other 99% of battlers in this country.

Leading the way? When did the South Island West Coast clubs buy their overhead gates, or Riccarton for that matter?

It would be nice if some of those Corporates that were associated with Jonah would come to the party here. And some of the wealthy Rugby players who came along to benefit from where Lomu took the game to. Bloody sad situation. Bad advice, bad decisions, too generous to others...?? Who knows.. I would think this fund will grow pretty quickly when word gets out overseas..

Most of the above article is complete crap in my opinion. I've been critical of what occurred in the Summer cup but I'm not speaking via my pocket. I had my money on Hughie Green from the draw and based on what was coming out of the stable about H.F.I.M in the days leading up to the race. HFIM not being in the first four greatly increased the size of my collects. I believe it was right to charge Tim Williams but feel Mark Purdon should also have at least been questioned about his driving instruction. Mark Purdon got a free pass and Tim Williams took one for the team. A team that has looked after him beautifully. I don't believe for a moment Tim stayed on the fence because he thought it was the best chance of him winning the race. He stayed there to look after the horse leading up to the Group One Auckland Cup. A high value race where the horse was very likely going to start a warm favourite and justifiably so. The part they did get right in the article was the limp noodle penalty Zac Butcher copped for causing Mossdale Conner to be narrowly beaten in the Group One FFA. That was diabolical as was the logic applied to justify the lame penalty.

Your right it does make me happy, the sooner these drug cheats get banned the better IMO. It's no surprise to me to see Moody's 'top class' horses going rather badly this season either. 14 starters at G1 level for no wins or placings. 16 starters at G2 for 1 win and 1 placing. 14 starters at G3 for 3 wins. When you take into account his record over previous seasons it sure does make the cynic in me wonder what those horses have been on. Now I've been thru all the results from the 2014 melbourne spring carnival results and I'm struggling to find all these winners and placegetters your talking about, apart from Dissident who wasn't running over a staying trip who had a win and a placing, apart from him it seems Lidari and Brambles had some massive form transformations, and once again you cannot deny the fact Lidari hit a massive career peak and went terrible once the cobalt news was reported. I'm sure your smart enough to work out cobalt works a lot better on stayers than any sprinter or middle distance horse, just like EPO is more likely to help an athlete over a longer distance than the 100 or 200m sprint.

I don't know the true state of the family finances and don't want to know. If however there is genuine hardship on the horizon,here's a suggestion. Jonah was respected by all his peers around the world. I'm sure many would happily put their hand up to play a benefit match. World XV versus a NZ XV. I'm very confident NZ Rugby would work something out with Eden Park as some sort of payment for services rendered. Not difficult to imagine a substantial crowd. Everybody feels good about the cause and their own contribution. Huge sums collected for Jonah's kids. Everyone happy. Then move on. R.I.P Jonah

NZ racing appears to be a joke. Certain trainers get preferentially treated by the handicapper, our mutual friend Pitty is the worst ( check El Chico ), but the Cambridge crew aren't far behind. It's always a point here or a point there but it all adds up. There are other ways the "favoured few" get to cheat too, but because it's tactically approved from above we must not complain, or we get victimized.

Consensus won an $8000 mid-weeker and went up 4 points! Vavasour got 3 and Stolen Dance got 4 for winning $100k races on the weekend and you get 4 for a midweek $8000 event??? AND Consensus has won half as much stakemoney as Vavasour this season yet has gone up by exactly the same number of ratings points Mind you it might be payback time for her owners picking on NZTR.

Gotta love the RIUseless and Mike Goober. They couldn't give two fucks about the punters that keep the industry's a float and pay their large salarys. "Our policy is we don't release any more information until investigations are completed," Godber said ITS A JOKE. It's the trainers job to get their horses to the race's DRUG FREE. If they return a positive it should be released straight away and the onus on the trainer to prove he is innocent. This is people's hard earned money at stake and they think it's alright to release this crap 2 and a half MONTHS after the positive? Or in Wexfords case about 6 months... i have to laugh at the hypocrisy of Goobers statement as well, when Sweet It Is returned a positive swab to the silver collar ( greyhounds ) they released it about a week after the race and positives, oh just because it was an Australian trainer the rules are different? The RIU is an absolute joke and needs a major reform IMO, first step would be getting rid of the majority of people paid to keep racing clean and full of integrity, because whatever they are doing currently isn't working very well.

Riccarton had them first didn't they then Ellerslie then the Southern Clubs then ours(the Coast). We are the odd one out cos we had to pay for ours ourselves(soon poor old Avondale will have to pay for theirs too apparently). As far as Hawke's Bay leading the way - ya right are ya? Incidentally the Simtrack ones(ours and those in the deep south plus most of the city tracks in Aussie) are far better and more professional looking than those Steriline ones Ellerslie and that lot have. Not to mention that the padding etc looks like it will be much lower maintenance than the opposition equivalents

This is an interesting article that appeared in HarnessLink regarding the Tim Williams suspension. I think they are on they money. "Turf Digest" drivers get it wrong again 08:57 AM 15 Dec 2015 NZDT Tim Williams - Outed for twelve race days Since last Friday night and the Summer Cup at Alexandra Park, there has been a cacophony of abuse and vitriol directed at young reinsman Tim Williams for his drive on Have Faith In Me in that race. Plenty of journalists, bloggers and media people have got stuck in and demanded blood. Just about all of the people leading the charge are noted serious punters and in our view it calls into question their objectivity when they are gambling on the races they are commenting and writing on. Gambling losses are known to distort one's viewpoint and in our view that has driven a lot of the vitriol in this case. We like to think of them as "Turf Digest" drivers and treat their views accordingly. The stewards laid a charge under rule 868(2) and the JCA agreed with the stewards. The following extract from the stewards report explains the situation. An information was lodged alleging that driver T. Williams was in breach of Rule 868(2) in that he failed to take all reasonable and permissible measures between 1400 metres and 1100 metres to ensure that HAVE FAITH IN ME was given full opportunity to win the race or to obtain the best possible position and/or finishing place by failing to shift out from the marker line before being covered by BETTOR DREAM. After hearing the relative evidence and viewing the replays the J.C.A. upheld the charge and imposed a suspension of Mr William's driver's licence up to and including 31st December 2015. So when you take all of this into account, the JCA and the stewards are saying a driver must move off the inner if able to do so, if he is to give his horse every chance to win the race Tim had an opportunity for 300 metres to come out and sit parked but he decided he had more chance of winning the race by staying where he was. The stable had stated several times pre race in both the print media and on Trackside that Have Faith In Me was liable to end up three back on the inner and if that happened, he would be driven for luck as it was his first run for a month Tim was driving a horse who had run a half in 52.5 at Ashburton off a soft trip so chose the short way home because he believed that still gave Have Faith In Me a winning chance. Would he have won the race sitting parked? Highly debatable when you have a talent such as Hughie Green having a charmed run in front. Hughie Green brushed home in 55.8 and 26.9 without being seriously asked for an effort so Have Faith In Me would have had to produce a career best performance to get close from the parked out position. As it was, Have Faith In Me got a half gap on the inner which would have made the race very interesting but the gap shut just as quickly as it opened. Would Tim have still been charged if that gap had stayed open and Have Faith In Me had roared home late? In our opinion there is no way that Tim would have been charged if he had got that gap What that decision from Friday night should do is create a huge rod for the stewards back. Following the logic of the decision by the JCA, every well supported horse is now obliged to come off the marker line as soon as possible and a failure to do so should result in the driver getting a holiday. Will that happen - NO So the stewards have chosen to target Tim Williams for not coming off the marker line but have turned a blind eye to the numerous other times it happens at every meeting in New Zealand. And then don't start us on the inconsistencies of the penalties handed out in New Zealand. Zac Butcher gets fined $800 for deliberately breaking the rules and ruining Mossdale Conner's winning chance in the Group 1 $250,000 New Zealand Free For All and Tim Williams gets stood down for 12 racing days for not coming off the marker line. The monetary loss to Tim Williams here is huge and seems completely over the top in our opinion. The only disappointing thing for us is Tim after consultation with Mark and Natalie has decided not to appeal For the RIU- JCA system to work, the people working in the industry must have faith that the two bodies overseeing them are competent and independent. When members of the JCA state in decisions that dragging a flat tyre for 250 metres doesn't affect a horse's performance as they did in the NZFFA case, their competence is immediately called into question. Now we have them trying to second guess the best way to drive a horse. The whole judicial system looks fragmented and disjointed from the outside but the good ship JCA Titanic sails on regardless. Harnesslink Media

They make some valid points concerning the judicial system and the desire for consistency etc. But the writer also come across as a bit of a tosser when they talk about Turf Digest drivers. " We like to think of them..... and treat their views accordingly" What a self important muppet. A lot of what they write is also nonsense. I would pose the following to the author. If Tim had got off - would HFIM have finished closer than 6th ? If HFIM sat parked and ran a 52.5 half did he have a better chance of winning ? Would Hughie Green have had such a charmed run (as they put it) if HFIM had sat parked? What relevance is the fact the stable said pre race he might get stuck 3 deep ? None. The key point is that unexpectedly Tim had a chance to get off the rail - which normally doesn't happen. It is the decision made then that is important. I will finish by saying I like Tim - he drove my first ever winner as an owner, and I have really enjoyed seeing the opportunities he has got. I don't want him crucified - but the charge seems justified here. I hope he comes back and wins plenty. And - no I didn't have a bet on the race. Mind you I reckon I have enough common sense to recognise if my thinking is impaired by a bet I had, the beer I have drunk, or the arrogance that seemingly comes with being a writer for Harnesslink...

And by a gambling and drinking analogy I am not saying these are issues in the industry but rather they are the 2 main attractions to racing for example go to races get pissed and gamble as opposed to go to races because the product is worthy in its own right. The same issues exist with domestic cricket in NZ.

HesI I agree in part, the fact we love racing and are passionate about its issues suggests there are a number of positives which goes without saying but racing in NZ is a bit like Hamilton city, it's got a gambling and drinking element ie. casino and nightclubs but the streets are mostly deserted as there is no attraction to anyone in general because it's been let slide and no parameters put in place to halt that slide. There is a vacuum that has been created with nothing substantial to fill that vacuum. The production sector, the studs, are in a fair position as you say due to top quality product but the rest of the industry is in freefall and needs serious revitalizing. Just my opinion, I am merely a passive observer of the industry these days so possibly I am the crux of the problem being opinionated with out being positively engaged, I suppose that's less disingenuous than paying lip service to and industry, being apathetic whilst in a position of influence and neglecting to initiate change. Maybe both are equally as bad?

Another positive - I watched the Steve Davis Off The Track interview of Laurie Laxon, brilliant, absolutely brilliant. Could have been a 2 parter. Am a thoroughbred follower, but also enjoyed the Dexter Dunn interview. Steve really does his investigation and homework on his subjects. Doubt if I have ever seen a disappointing one, but have to say those last two were magic.

the members council is well named - is it not?

MERRY XMAS PUNTERS CLUB FROM SAM

Why is John Key even being asked about this. Oh,thats right there may be votes in it.

They did tell us some time back that his A Sample was 390 and B sample 410. Heres an article from August: https://www.racing.com/news/2015-08-28/moody-cobalt-blown-out-of-proportion The case for Moody will probably fail at the RAD board but im not so sure the Civil court will convict him of deliberate administration. The only evidence they have is the Positive which is enough but it maybe a weak leg to stand on when it comes to a court without racing people steering the ship. All he'll have to do is muddy the waters and create reasonable doubt. Without supporting evidence a conviction may be hard. The underworld in Melbourne thrived in the late 90s early 00's from the wall of silence. People were shot in the middle of busy streets but nobody "saw anything" and alot of murders to this day remain unsolved. Police knew who did it but had no murder weapon,witness' or hard evidence to back it up. Peter had a positive but if there is no evidence of him purchasing it,no evidence of anyone administering it or no witness' to the crime did it happen? Possibly a case of him being more clever than his mates who left a messy trail a blind man could follow.

Only if Richie does

2Admin2 you missed one! Check drinks cabinet in President's Room.

That's because of sheer numbers more than anything else, of course when you have the number of horse's that he trains your going to get a few winners, how did he go in the Melbourne Spring carnival this year with all the scrutiny over him currently. Apart from Kinglike I'm struggling to think of many top class horses he's had winners with? Surely the group statistics of this season says it all, and if your going to dope a horse on cobalt your not going to target a 30k mid week race are you, your going to try and win a big race, as we know big race wins get new owners and horses to the stable, something Mark Kavanagh experienced this year with his $600 in frozen stakes from the spring carnival. Then there was the transformation of mid summer music and Manighar a few years back when he could do no wrong, yet this year alarm bells must be ringing even for the true believers.

Slightly off topic but then maybe not.... Recently a friend's horse got left behind when with jockey screaming out at starter and attendant still with slight hold of the horse, race began. Consequently came out 5 lengths last and jockey hanging off side of the horse with one foot out of irons. Jockey said after race she would go straight to the stewards and report but trainer went instead . Reaction was they hadn't seen a thing, so trainer got them to watch replay. They then said " Oh, that's obvious " Question is what had they been looking at in first place ? So for punters that would get left out of report and all punter sees in form is some horse that fails to jump.

You only need scrutinize the background of the handicappers to see where the problems begin. They should have a strong background in maths, pure and stats at the very least, or have proven experience at the craft, on the international stage. Instead they appear to be appointed from within, or anywhere. They even had a retired jumps jockey of foreign extraction ( English appeared to be his second language ) doing the job for a while. I think he might have fallen off a few times, head first, into a concrete fence post. Unfortunately I was on the handicapping review committee for a couple of years, with various members of NZTR staff, and others including the handicappers themselves, and it was excruciating to have to work with them on what's a dysfunctional model that even they couldn't articulate clearly. Of course Bruce Sherwin is appointed now to monitor and receive complaints ( my initiative ) but even if you do complain they invariably reply with " the rating penalty is within the variable/flexible range allowed " which translated means nothing other than " why don't you tell someone who gives a flying fxxx ". A good journalist would have great fun doing a compare and contrast analysis of ratings penalties given to all Saturday or premier day winners.....a couple of very high profile stables might be looking a bit sheepish when the results are published !! I should add that even though the current regime looks a bit dodgy it doesn't compare to the day that fine mare I Do ran second in a $50,000 stakes race at Wairarapa, earning about 10k for her trouble, and got two points deducted !!. Absolutely fxxxing marvelous effort that, sensational in fact, a mare owned by you all know who, runs second, gets black type, earns 10 grand, and loses points !! Only in NZ. I wonder why no one takes our racing seriously.

I don't think I need any help with my physiology and or haemotology thanks. You're determined to make a mountain out of a molehill but as you'll have noticed I generally support all licencees, unless they're guilty of a heinous crime involving drugs or direct harm to another person. I thus won't give you the privilege of fueling your fire any further thanks, but I might just risk giving you one smidgen of advice. If you haven't been there and done that as a trainer or jockey, or been a paying owner over a long period, you're probably living in an ignorant world and your ignorance is moulding your cynicism. That's your context as I see it, ignorance, but do feel free to expand on your own background to validate and justify your apparent hatred of Moods, Jonah, et al....

What an extraordinary tale. I'd love to hear the "other side of the story" to give it some balance

So it doesn't make you suspicious when it was his main 'group 1' staying horse that returned the positive? He may have had dozens of winners but that's down to sheer numbers more than anything. We all know this stuff was good for the stayers as results show, we also know Lidari hit career peak form when on the cobalt juice and we also know he was pretty legless when racing clean in the Autumn. If you honestly think he's innocent then good on you but I struggle to share your views on it obviously. There's some massive money to be made in these big group 1 races and it all seems far to coincidental to me to be an accident. How many group 1/2 runners did Moody have in the spring of 2014 Sheriff and how many winners? I don't have the time to find those answers but I'm sure if he had lots of winners you will let me know.

Irrelevant really. Moody had one single positive amongst dozens of winners. The other alleged offenders had multiple positives, and significant money changed hands for bags of IV "vitamins". Moody had no known ( as yet ) relationship with Brennan, and there's no money trail there either. Moody's single positive falls within known scientific levels ( urine not serum ) post administration of VAM or Hemo 15. I think most learned people expect Moods to get a substantial fine for presenting a horse to race with a drug in its body. I personally don't agree with Moody's defense and think it'll fail scientific scrutiny, but I also think he can create considerable doubt around these charges, and I hope he walks with a fine.

In that same race where Consensus picked up 4 points for winning a $8,000 Rating 85, Stolen Dance picked up 3 points for running 2nd and picking up $1,600 ( the same re-rating as Vavasour got for winning a $100,000 Group 3!)

The apartment is in Wellington and the transaction was in 2008. It is all very sickening and I feel for Jonah as he has been ripped off..

Surprising to say the least and a bit sad

Isabelle and Sam are absolutely adorable Here's a lil something for Sam.. I think she'll enjoy this.. she might even be able to click the things herself if you tell her where Chudley wants to say Merry Christmas

Well I think that Ernie Merrick would have about the same involvement in racing as that rugby referee i.e. not much

What would have made more sense would have been an article on whether they should introduce pre race plans being announced to the public. That is the only way that appearing not to try, could be argued as acceptable.

Agree with chelseacol and magicman. Some of the articles on harnesslink make you wonder.

Your a good humored fella Kakama, We won,t get into that again please... I,ve found alternative sources online to view whatever I need!...(no need for sky).strike me down/burn me at the stake/shoot me Kakama. Don,t get me started on drugs Kakama, alright for us as teens, but my son just starting to experiment. (different story these days)

Steve certainly is very good at interviewing in shows like off the rails. However, he does have his shockers. One show that comes to mind is when he had a Rugby Referee on and they both prattled on about rugby for the first half of the show by which time I decided to turned it off.

1.So if he clearly ordered it what exactly did he say.You obviously in the know ,as all that has come out of stable is that Tim was told that horse not screwed right down and give him as easy run as he can.That could mean anything. 2.IMO Williams didnt get off lightly when you look at a lot of other drives that have never been charged.Seen a horse nursed to 4 back on fence last start and in Junior Drivers penalty free race this week.

Hilarious! And right on the mark.

I wonder if the pay rise could some how be passed on to the carers who wipe my father in laws bottom 4 times a day as he sits in the same chair all day long.Now and again he manages to move a few yards on his scooter to make sure that his excrement is well and truly scattered all over the place and sometimes slips into his track suit pants. A 40% pay rise is surely due to these lovely,caring people.

So good to have Steve Davis back on the show on Saturday. My Sky'd it because I knew I would want to watch it more than once. Fantastic preview for the Winton meeting. Not many can pick winners there. Best part of the whole show was when Steve asked Stu if he was still on Tinder. Great stuff. Unfortunately it's back to two hours of boring commentary and woeful selecting this week, as Steve was only doing a one off appearance.

NZ racing is a trial ground for Asia and Australia so no surprises to see weak fields and an overwhelming sense of apathy at home level. Sold it's soul now is in a permanent state of purgatory.

It is indeed a curious state of affairs and a sad one. You are right about both that and that they can't say they were not warned. The chickens have come home to roost as predicted and NZ Racing's spiral continues. The whole thing beggars belief.

And spare a thought for Stolen Dance. She's had a mere 4 starts this season, 3 wins, won $121,000, but gone up 20 ratings points cf Vavasour 13 points for $133k. In addition SD won a Waikato open handicap late October, worth $25,000 ( yes 25k ) and she got 6 points for that yet Vavasour wins a $100k handicap race and gets 3 points. Twice the ratings penalty for a $25k race as Vavasour got for a $100k race. Saturday last SD wins a WFA fillies race narrowly beating a 79 rated horse in Pipi Beel, and she got 4 points, Vav beat a 90 rated horse by three times the margin and got 3 points. The two met in late September of course, SD in receipt of 4kg on that occasion and beat Vav home by a couple of lengths. If they met tomorrow SD would have to give Vav 1.5kg...... A 5.5kg swing. And the system is fair, rational and stands scrutiny !!! Sure it is .

Why? I think we should be putting our focus toward the Junior drivers who are the future of the game. Kenny Browne as an amateur rider competed against all comers very successfully for decades. It often wasn't pretty and looked more like John Wayne leading a cavalry charge but you always knew what you were going to get. I don't object to the amateur drivers having their 15 minutes of fame. What I object to is this 15 minutes happening at so many race meetings now. The driving standard is average at best. What is the goal here? To have a NZ Cup for amateur drivers? To have the fourth leg of every harness quaddie to be an amateur drivers race? While we are at it when are we going to have one armed drivers races? What about drivers over 80 years of age races? I think they should restrict it to one amateur drivers race a month in NZ or make them all non tote races. This two and three amateur drivers races a week at times is bullshit. I'm overdosing on them.

Maybe it was a sign :P

I cant tell you what they are doing with their dogs although Im sure most people have similar suspicions, but mcinerneys would have to make around $900,000 a year just to fead their dogs. That is what I have been saying, the industry is rattling the wrong feathers, no one cares whether or not You have the right hat on, that is not hgoing to affect punting like some of the other issues we are facing and the association just do not seem fit to deal with these issuea.

He obviously has zero % chance of a successful appeal so you have to question just why this dangerous narcissist is appealing? Given the nature of this filth I'm picking he has deliberately set out to hurt the Gotingo family at Christmas time. This is a time of year that's all about family and that family will never be complete again. Christmas and birthdays are often even more challenging for victim's families to get through than normal days. The filth in this case will be very aware of that but will detest being left to rot in a Prison cell where he can finally be forgotten by society. He's on a quest to force everyone to look at his repulsive face that revolts all decent people in NZ. I believe there should be a consequence for anyone who lodges an appeal. This is a very expensive time consuming process. The lawyers just love it but who pays for it? You and me is who. We as individuals most be very careful with our money yet vermin like this creature can spend our money in the millions to his hearts content and have no consequence whatsoever. How is that fair and just in a user pays world? The vermin now has something to look forward to. He gets to waste the money of people he hates (us). He gets to upset the family of the victim repeatedly which will please him. He gets to have numerous court days away from Prison. He gets to have all the media attention on him yet again which feeds his narcissistic hunger for attention. How much money has been spent on this filth already? I'm certain it's several million dollars. How many hip replacements would that have paid for? How many badly needed prescriptions that are left behind at pharmacy's? How many rounds of the breast cancer drug could be paid for while good and decent Kiwi woman die waiting? etc etc etc. I worked Saturday and Sunday last week to help my family through Christmas as things are tight for us as they are for so many others. The amount of tax I paid was obscene. Much of the sacrifice I made went in tax. It makes my skin crawl to know my tax money is being abused and totally wasted on this vermin's appeal. I sincerely believe we need to urgently address this situation to prevent it's continued abuse. If your appeal is deemed to be understandable but rejected there is no penalty for the appellant. If however your appeal is unsuccessful and deemed devoid of merit the costs must be met by the appellant. That needs to be based on the average NZ salary. For example if the average salary is 50k and 500k is spent on a hopeless and revengeful appeal then the appellant has to pay for that by selling his house etc or by serving the equivalent in Prison years. ie 500k = 10 extra years in Prison. As it is now there is absolutely no deterrent against lodging pointless appeals. If the appellant is serving Preventative Detention as is the case here extra Prison Time will mean nothing so he must have a different consequence. No privileges for ten years. No TV or radio in his cell. No phone calls. No chocolate or other food treats. No visitors. 23 hour lock down etc etc etc. We all live in a world of consequences for our actions. That must be applied to the likes of Tony Robertson and Mark Lundy etc etc etc.