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I have interests in a number of horses that are racing and or getting prepared to race and i also breed a couple as well, however I am having a blast at the moment with a syndicate i only have 1% in and was the brainchild of Richardson racing Stables the His and Hers syndicates pitting the ladies versus the men . Its a affordable way of having ownership of a horse and attracting new people to the industry . About 2 1/2 years ago Richie and Rochelle purchased two yearlings from the Karaka sales with a budget of 15k each and syndicated them out for the cost they paid for them with a fixed monthly cost which included training , vet ,transport , nominations etc . It has been a blast with Eprouvez going beyond expectations and winning a couple and placing in others and to be honest could go on with it a bit as a 4 year old . the ladies horse Hashtagfabulous didn't fare as well and was retired however The Richardson's transferred the ladies to 2 other horses A Redwood Gelding and Darci brahma Gelding who are in work as we speak . There was no extra cost associated with this transfer . What it has done is generated approximately 160 people to racing, I'm not saying everyone is new to racing but a great percentage are and having a blast as you can see when the camera pans to stands and sees the many owners of these horses there . A big part of this is the interaction between the teams mainly on social media a bloody lot of borax thrown and given but in the end of it it comes down to a great idea by the Richardson's and there team .

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/wanganui-chronicle/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503424&objectid=11643647

Maybe they should have purchased the Paeroa track when it was available.

When u think of the millions wasted over the last 20 years +, wouldn't it have been nice if someone at the top had some balls and said, "Right, enough of this crap. We are going to build 3 all weather tracks. One in Waikato, one in CD and one in the South Island. ALL winter flat racing( 3 months) will be held on these tracks - period! The Jumps racing can be also held on 3 or 4 designated jumps race courses and jumps will stay in place for a 3 month period. If the Board is not willing or does not have the guts to proceed with this plan, then stick your job up your jackseat!". Somebody please tell me if anything has changed over the last 20 years other than the salaries at Petone (UP !) and the income of Trainers and owners. (Down !). We are still racing on bog tracks, Counties has been a disaster, it goes on and on and on. The big studs do fine, selling to an international market. But that's where it stops. Something has to CHANGE and people have to accept change and accept that "the good ole days" will not be sufficient in today's environment. Just ask Gerry Harvey. Now there's a person who embraces change and that's why Harvey Norman is such a success year after year and look what he's done with Magic Millions ! Meanwhile, down at Petone the only things that have changed are the rent (up) the Salaries (up) and god knows what else. It's a worry

with a new track having just been constructed/laid at Pukekohe - who in their right mind would schedule meetings for late May, June and August with the likelyhood of heavy rain preceding these dates? Chances are they would always be a heavy track and the new grass would get ripped out!

Lonergan and Hosking together. Throw Auckland Mayor Len Brown into that mix along with Cameron Slater and you have four much loved and highly respected New Zealanders I would much rather pay $50 pay per view to watch those guys all in the ring together. Last man standing. The losers never allowed to be seen in public again. The winner gets a two year all expenses paid holiday to Syria.

Synthetic Track in the North needed but I fear it would be Plan Z.

If anyone knows a farm manager in Canterbury who won't say anything about adding coffee in his cows' troughs to the IRU, let the Coles know.

Can't add to original so continue here: But first Shifnal Chief had to clash with Oranmore on the first day of the Avondale winter meeting. This time "the Chief" had 65.5kg reduced by Mather's allowance to 62.5kg. He had to concede 3.5kg to the front running Oranmore and it seemed likely that he would have to concede him a fair start as well from the top of the straight. Though it is a big, roomy track with a long straight, Avondale seems to favour front runners. Whether or not the first part of the run home is slightly downhill, the leader on the turn often seems able to shoot to a handy break in the first 100m of the run home, and very often it is a winning break. Oranmore, who hugs the rail like a mechanical hare, is well suited to such tactics and, having won already four races on the track, had proved himself well suited to Avondale. He sped straight to the front in the President's Handicap. Sabre Prince, who had looked on the way back to form and was himself something of an Avondale specialist, tried to keep the pressure on him making the top bend. But once they straightened Oranmore shrugged him off and shot to a commanding lead in no time. Meanwhile Shifnal Chief had got snookered on the rails well back in the field. By the time he got clear he was giving Oranmore an impossible start and he did well to grab second in the last 40 odd metres. So the stage was set for another clash between Oranmore and Shifnal Chief in the Long Handicap on the second day. Both had risen further in the weights. Shifnal Chief was handicapped at 66kg and would carry 63kg with Mather's allowance; Oranmore handicapped at 64kg would drop to 61.5kg with Mathew's allowance. At that level in the weights it hardly seemed a match race. Though the others were not in the same class they were receiving such big weight advantages, even with the weight allowances, that it seemed one might come up with a run good enough to overturn the topweights. Just the same, a match race it was. The Cameron's, philosophical though they were about their first day defeat, had one instruction for Ray Mather; to have Shifnal Chief handier than he had been on the first day. For the rider of a horse like Oranmore there was no need for instructions, unless it was the classical old simplification: Go to the front and stay there. So away went the field and away to the front, with that remarkable early acceleration of his, streaked Oranmore. Sabre Prince had even less chance of footing it with him this time; Shifnal Chief, as per instructions, was keeping handier in about third place but he was well astern of the flying pacemaker. And when Oranmore turned the corner and set sail for the judge, he widened his gap in dramatic fashion. From being two or three lengths clear of his nearest rival he was seven or eight lengths out in what seemed the space of barely fifty metres. The task of Shifnal Chief in closing that gap, though he was in the clear to challenge from the top of the straight, looked well nigh impossible. But horsemen don't use a very large vocabulary to their charges and evidently the Camerons had never taught Shifnal Chief the meaning of the word "impossible.' He set out to bridge the gap and, though Oranmore was still galloping freely in front, he gradually closed it stride by stride. Fifty metres out Shifnal Chief closed with Oranmore and it seemed he would storm past him. But then Oranmore showed his own brand of class. As "The Chief" came alongside he pulled out something extra and the two grand sprinters flashed across the line locked together. It was anybody's guess who had won. I've become a rather better judge of the Avondale angle since the days when the camera gave the December Plate there to Gay Sovereign after I'd thought she finished a close third. I though Shifnal Chief had just got up and the camera confirmed it - Shifnal Chief by a nose. If Oranmore had won the honours it would have been just as richly deserved and I've heard few horses get a warmer reception than those two when they returned to scale. The final measure of the quality of their performances, of their superiority over the rest came with the official margins - a nose between Shifnal Chief and Oranmore, an incredible eighteen lengths to the third horse Battle Fury. Just a run of the mill sprint at Avondale, only a modest $4000 at stake. But what a memorable thriller that race was! Ends.

So is Karen applying Jess

The Sprinters. Speed To Burn by John Costello from DB Racing Annual 1975-76. Think of crack sprinters and you usually think of Ellerslie's Railway Handicap or Trentham's Telegraph. Flying fast track speedsters, streaking over 1200m in less than 1:10, breaking 1:23 for 1400m. Certainly two of the 1975-76 season's outstanding sprint performances fell into this category - Blue Blood's phenomenal 1:07.5 in the 1200m Telegraph Handicap and Mop's 1:22.1 in the 1400m Thibenzole Sprint at Te Rapa. Yet to me, the most remarkable sprint race of the season was a 1200m event run at Avondale for the modest stake of $4000 and a time of 1:17.5, just ten seconds slower the Blue Blood recorded in the Telegraph. That race was the rather inappropriately named Long Handicap at the Avondale July meeting and the two fine sprinters who lifted from mediocrity to high drama were Oranmore and Shifnal Chief. Oranmore, a nuggety little speedster who loved to go to the front and run his rivals into the ground; Shifnal Chief, one of our very best sprinter-milers of the last decade, inclined to get back in 1200m scurries but able to turn on a blistering last 200m. Both of them at this stage were well up in the weights. And both, though ridden by apprentices to get some weight relief, were still conceding big weight advantages to their rivals. The word "blistering" would be relative this July day. The track was too heavy to allow fast times. Under such conditions, a horse which can gallop through the deep footing at 13 to the furlong is going fast - and one which can run the last 200m in 12 is finishing brilliantly. Shifnal Chief's class, on top of the ground or in the heaviest going, had been well established before the 1975-76 season opened. He boasted a string of wins in the wet, a Railway Handicap under top weight and from an outside draw on a fast track. Oranmore had been a speedy two-year old in the 1974-75 season, his four wins including the ARC Welcome Stakes and the 75th Avondale Stakes. In the latter race he beat the highly regarded filly named Tudor Light. A three-year old Oranmore didn't waste much time showing that he could pit his speed and determination against the older sprinters and hold his own. By the time the Avondale winter meeting came around he had notched six metropolitan sprint wins, three at Avondale and the rest at Ellerslie. And he had shown, too that despite his lack of size he could carry weight. At the Auckland winter meeting he'd recorded two sprint sprint placings with Tony Williams riding him at his full book weight of 61.5 kg and 62kg. In the President's Handicap on the opening day of the Avondale winter meeting Oranmore was weighted at 61.5kg. Owner-trainer Jim Doran put apprentice Ken Mathews up to get 2.5kgs off his back. Back even with 59 the chunky little speedster's task looked difficult. For among his rivals was that great sprinter Shifnal Chief, right back to peak form. "The Chief" had resumed from a summer spell at Te Rapa in May and finished third behind Good Gift and Regal Tan under 62kg. Taupiri owner-trainers Ian and Jim Cameron realised that in his coming winter campaign their star would need to take advantage of apprentice allowances where he could, So, although the maximum top weight of 59kg at Rotorua on May 29 was already inviting enough, the Cameron's engaged Takanini apprentice Ray Mathers to take the mount. With his weight reduced to 56kg by the allowance Shifnal Chief looked a shot's eye, and he was. Mathers, having his first ride on "The Chief" and conscious that he could get more rides on the classy black if he acquitted himself well, had him well positioned all the way. With Shifnal Chief, that's all you had to do. He did the rest, outfinishing his opposition comfortably. The Cameron's were happy with young mathers' showing and he had the mount again when Shifnal Chief lined up next, on the final day of the Auckland winter meeting. No maximum top weight here and in the the 1400m Visitors' Handicap. Shifnal Chief was handicapped at 63.5kg and even with Mathers aboard he still had to lump 60.5kg, the equivalent of 9.7 under the old scale. From soon after the home turn it was a two horse race, Shifnal Chief and Cornelius, himself a grand wet-weather sprinter with 4.5kg lass than the topweight and the services of wily veteran Grenville Hughes opposed to the youthful and inexperienced Mathers. But young Mathers did his part and Shifnal Chief, like the high-class horse he is, did his part and more. Nether horse giving an inch, both shifting ground a bit under the tremendous pressure, they slogged it out to the line. And Shifnal Chief was just too good, getting there by half a head. It was a measure of their superiority that the third horse, Regal Tan was seven lengths away. An even more crushing display of superiority was still to come. (more to come)

Cheers Gubes. Two races he won as a 2yo were the ARC Welcome Stakes and the 75th Avondale Stakes. From what I can gather he won 7 races as a 3yo in the 1975-76 season three at Ellerslie and four at Avondale. His last win was at Counties on 17 January 1981 beating Our Shah. His second to last was at Avondale on 4 November 1980 beating Waiheke and the previous win was at Ellerslie on 15 August 1979 beating Question Me. So that makes it 14 NZ wins we know of. So between June 1976 when he won the President's Handicap at Avondale and August 1979 there may be every chance he picked up six more to qualify. I have looked at a number of sales catalogues but no luck so far in finding any of his family going through the ring. I made mention earlier of his clashes with Shifnal Chief and in one of the few Racing Annuals I have I found a great write up about the pair in the 1975-76 annual by John Costello. I will post it later, it is worth a read.

Gee, you must have literally started frothing at the mouth when you saw this subject, Brodie..... Let's tick a few of your pet hates off the list that are pertinent to the Jewels. 1. All Stars. 2. Short priced favourites. 3. Short distance racing. 4. Horse movements. The amount of horses that are domiciled at places that are not their correct lodging leading up to the Jewels must be just too much for you to handle. 5. "Boring" racing. No wonder you think they are over-rated, they epitomize everything that you hate about harness racing.

Post by our Eastern European sounding "friend" looks a bit out of place here ...?

Most of the best horses and winners will come from Canterbury so why have them travelling to Cambridge for mile racing Typical snooty nosed comment all you could expect I suppose. Just remember woolly Mutton, many of the so called winners from Canterbury come out of the Karaka Sales Ring.

I dont know too much about scheduling. I do know, that Pukekohe has had more rain in the last 6 days than it had for an entire month in May, June, July and August last year. Thats input from mother nature you cannot predict and probably one that you just turn the page on, and forget.

Bradez - I am not disagreeing with this statement (although proof will be in the pudding next year whether it was a waste of money the track redevelopment) - however why was racing even scheduled at Counties during the winter if the grass was as you describe inadequate to race on after plenty of rain? The biggest joke is "Every attempt was made to find an alternative venue" - what, with 24 hours notice for another club to pick up the meeting.....or did NZTR know, for arguments sake, in the weekend, that it was looking 50/50 and did nothing about it?

There have been two successful meetings at Pukekohe Park since the rebirth, not one. You would think with 66mls of rain in the last 7 days, it would be best to preserve a new track and young grass. It would absolutely fucking stupid to race on it tomorrow with the amount of rain Pukekohe has had. The right decision has been made. Next winter with another 12 months of the roots growing down into the ground, you'll find the surface will handle this much rain, but its to new/young to contemplate racing after so much rain.

Yes. It was remarkable in so many ways. A small puff of smoke to begin with, then a gradual increase in smoke and f then fire. Almost in slow motion as I recall. No panic. People made their way down the stairs and went down to the rail. We (a few mates) helped a number of people over the fence on to the track. Then we turned around and watched it all burn down! Next race please. Quite remarkable. The Cup of '61 was won by ... Invicta. For some, that was almost as remarkable - and memorable!

Surely they have the manager who put coffee in the cow trough ready to be seen but cant talk. Hey Pete dont forget to ask Godber how much coffee is needed to cause a positive today.

Well said Trump, the nail has been hit firmly on the head. One bouquet for Counties, at least they called their meeting off before the owners and trainers got on-course, incurring all the expenses. Foresight, not normally a word used in the Administration here in NZ Racing. One other thing, the times run at TeRapa on Saturday, are the distances wrong or do they have a fast timing mechanism? Something is wrong somewhere!

Better late than never!!! On Friday 20 May the JCA disqualified the horse Yogi from its win in Race 2 at The Canterbury Jockey Club Meeting on 19 February 2016, after the horse tested positive to the prohibited substance Caffeine. The JCA has reserved its decision on penalty for the trainers of Yogi, Mr. W and Mr. M Coles.

This Horowhenua crew likes their lie-ins I think Puha! - all NZ tracks with upcoming meetings updated now today except Otaki!

Seems outstanding value at that fee. Good luck to WP and the MK owners.

I would like to see the Jewels over a mile at the super fast Young Quinn Raceway.

Flying Trix, now that's a blast from the past. I borrowed a full sister to Flying Trix (my first venture into breeding all those years ago) and bred a colt that never won a single race!

Everyone has a direct debit set up so its a matter of just checking the statement nice and easy set figure a month

hes got a great office manager and Wife ha ha

Thank you Mr Purcell......

Great idea Grant, how does he manage the payments from so many individuals?

That's because they were all at home sinking piss while watching Facebook Midget......

Yes thanks Newmarket, we do have an invite from both Sat. meets...and yes Trentham is the only one on the cards - great mud, great $$$, always a real punters heaven..!

Hi fox yes I spose 1 way to put it is I'm there most race days helping out

There must be someone looking over me getting box 6 again in a group final lol hope the prick goes blind lol

You surely would not have the person ultimately accountable for the issue, investigate and report on it would you? I agree about the irrigation. It's hard to reconcile the apparent fact that " To accurately indicate exactly how much water was applied to the track in the days leading up Ladies Day is guess-work at best" with the idea that the track could meet the venue guidelines for black type racing, " All venues that run Group or Listed races must have an irrigation system capable of producing a track rated as GOOD 3" I don't see how you can have a system that is capable of producing anything much at all if the track is not capable of measuring volume, evenness of distribution and depth of application. This is level 1 irrigation science per Dairy NZ and I thought the track was in the heart of NZ's prime dairy region. Do they not have hi tech equipment like plastic buckets and rocks to stabilise them up there?

Apart from the fact the TAB website has been a debacle today with numerous issues I have noticed there are no comments for any of the NZ greyhounds, and when you click on the dogs form the times the races were run in now comes up as 00:17.23 for example, rather than the usual 17.23 which is much easier to read. I hope these are just errors which will be fixed as it is definitely not an improvement.

NZTR and NZRB could issue debentures and fund a synthetic track in the North. Their senior staffers could dip into their substantial pay packets and demonstrate their commitment to racing and get the ball rolling. Oops I should have posted this on Comedy Cafe!

"Believe it or Not" Gone up one point to 8 after over 20 mls overnight!

Will liaise later in the week Cat once fields confirmed. Maybe combined effort on Q or P6 if pools worthwhile.

I'll do my usual 6-odd horse multi, but if anyone has something that must be included, please feel free to post or message me - with the obvious caveat that I may choose not to include the selection. We should get two very true winter tracks at Ellerslie and Trentham.

Another one? Remember when he got knocked into a different galaxy in a head clash against the Kangaroos in 91. Just watched the clip again. Some big names in both sides. The game just carried on as if nothing had happened while Lonergan was out cold,arms outstretched like a victim of Pompeii and legs shaking like the Christchurch earthquake. In this user pays society it's unfair to have some paying while others don't but it's well over the top calling those who watched it via Facebook as cowards. Boxing is responsible for some of the biggest rorts in sport so it's a bit rich to point fingers at cowards who almost certainly wouldn't have paid to watch the fight anyway. Most of us have listened to music or watched movies that others have paid a premium to watch. Turn the page. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-NQq611x8k

If and when they slash and burn it will be very interesting to see who picks the players up and at what cost. As for all the stuff about shopping Manu- who would really want him, scores one try but usually concedes 2 plus

The RIU is rapidly becoming a Secret Society. They are VERY selective in posting reports. No mention of this Yogi case in their Weekly Report. Frankly this is not good enough. Transparency seems to be an alien concept to them. Nothing will change until Mike Godber disappears into the ether.

Listened to Trackside Radio to hear what Mike Dillon had to say in his slot following last weeks embarrassing balls up piece all about the Rotorua Cup being a set weight and penalty race hence the weights of the runners etc when it wasn't at SWP race at all. However Dillo was a no show this week. Probably still getting a huge ribbing about it, so after one week must still be a bit too sensitive to front today. Come on Mike, it wasn't your first big cock up and it probably won't be your last.

The heading says, " Most wins since 1979", and as quite a few are going back further this opening it up, what about Phar Lap ? 51 Starts, 37 wins. But really, you have to look at the quality of the wins (G1, G2 etc) to really get a feel for outstanding performances and insofar as that is concerned, you can't go past Black Caviar - unbeaten and 25 wins in Qld, NSW, Vic, SA and England. A real Champion. Another that comes to mind that didn't win the most but did win about 10 in a row was PIKO. Remember him? He was a good horse. That's one thing racing does leave - many many memories of top performances.

R1 : 2x4 (3) R2 : 1x4 (3) R3 : 1x2 (6) R4 : 2x4 (8) Best Bet NZ R5 : 1x10 (9) R6 : 2x13 (7) R7 : 4x6 (10) Best Bet Aus R8 : 5x11 (6) R9 : 2x5 (9) R10: 2x20 (3) Good luck to my team-mates Betty, Nekky, Gordy, Rob, and Geoff. Big day for us today, we're playing the Goliath Joker (Joker 2) today against a higher-placed team. Hope we make the most of the opportunity. Let's do it, Broncos !

Is this the same club that destroyed the 766 mtr distance races?.

Wife's dog won the Manawatu cup there last year , no trophy or rug just a ribbon. Surely if the winner doesn't get a cup it should just be called " The Manawatu " ? To those at Palmy it's all about the money , sod the owners .

Civics at $2,000 would have to be the best priced sire in N.Z. Two runners today. Irish Call easily won the first at Riccarton and stablemate Call Me Royal ran a very close second in the Great Autumn at the same venue.

Any Australian Group One form in Sydney or Melbourne at a mile is good form. El Roca by Fastnet Rock second in the Group One Randwick Guineas 7,500 Proisir by Choisir second in the Group One Randwick Guineas 7,000 Sweynesse by Lonhro second in the Group One Randwick Guineas $6,000 Any of the above depending on the bloodlines of your mare are good chances at stud. They are all good value.