RaceCafe..#1...Tipsters Thread.... Share Your Fancies For Fun...Lets See Who The Best Tipsters Here Are.

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  1. rumpole

    Sea King

    wonderful win today by a great horse
    7 points
  2. Pam Robson

    Johnson v Johnson

    A good friend of mine, from Britain, who knew well both Vincent O'Brien and Lester Piggott, reckoned that Chris was second only to the great Lester for sheer natural talent.
    5 points
  3. Yayyyy we got some cream for those P'Gers Lovely stuff bro's - fantastic total on a 'mare day .. cruising nicely for the play offs .. I feel like doing a ...
    5 points
  4. Insider

    Johnson v Johnson

    And what a record that will be. Go for it Chris. You are the most naturally gifted rider in my lifetime. I don't care what anyone else says, that is my view!
    5 points
  5. rumpole

    Johnson v Johnson

    seriously he is chasing the David Walsh record and when he passes it he may consider retiring as the most winning rider in NZ but if he is fit and well he will continue riding
    4 points
  6. richie

    PUNTERS CLUB 14

    My totalfor weekend is $180.90. Got 10% of Sydney Quaddie due to scratching in first leg and sub winning
    3 points
  7. Well played Dream Team to knock over the top team in the commipition.
    3 points
  8. It was an incredibly tough day for selecting Lloyd I think the totals of most teams are evidence to that and I suspect that for many .. it was a day filled with horses we originally thought of picking but didn't due to track conditions etc..
    3 points
  9. Can someone please undo the latch on my cage
    3 points
  10. JackSprat

    Pokie Fraud

    Everybody involved knew exactly how the money was being split up, hence the clubs being happy to pay the invoices, and as What A Post has alluded to, business people are pushing the boundaries of the rules, especially the tax rules, every single day. This was no different. If as it appears, Mike O'Brien and his associates are going to end up in jail over this affair, they are simply the fall guys for an entire industry that was happy to reap the benefits of their "rule bending" scheme that flooded money into harness racing. I wonder how many of the owners, trainers, drivers and breeders that benefited to the tune of many millions of dollars of Bluegrass Trust funds, will back O'Brien and his associates now that the "excretia has hit the rotary oscillator "?
    3 points
  11. The results this week alone have been remarkable not to mention the season to date. 12/06 7 wins from 12 races 14/06 8 wins from 11 races 16/06 9 wins from 12 races I have no afiliation to this kennel on any level I'm purely voicing an opinion.
    2 points
  12. Insider

    Johnson v Johnson

    Trump, the one thing they all have in common is that they are all South Islanders who honed their skills on the West Coast!
    2 points
  13. TABLE after ROUND 8 1st 22 points THE REDS* 9813.00 2nd 15 points THE ANZAC ARMADILLOS* 9190.40 3rd 14 points THE GRIM REAPERS** 10,567.40 4th 14 points THE PRETEND GERS** 10,325.40 5th 14 points THE DREAM TEAM* 9130.20 6th 13 points THE THUNDERBIRDS** 7194.00 7th 12 points THE HABIBIES* 9365.60 8th 11 points THE TRUMPING DONS* 7233.60 -----------finals qualification mark---------------- 9th 10 points THE MONGOL STORMERS** 8440.40 10th 8 points ZIG'S WARRIORS** 8757.60 A loss for The Reds cut their lead by one point although they have to wait another week to be declared the Minor Premiership winners with at least 3 teams - The Anzacs, Dreamers and Habibies - who could mathematically catch them. The day's big movers were the Anzac Armadillos who used their Joker to good effect making up 3 places with their win over the Warriors who remain in the cellar but still have a chance for Finals qualification. The Pretend Gers and Grim Reapers lost both a match and a place on the ladder while The Dream Team won but still lost a place in a congested mid-table squabble. Important wins for the Thunderbirds and Habibies failed to make any progress up the ladder for either side however The Trumping Dons win got them into the qualification zone (just) climbing over the bodies of the Stormers whose Joker play came unstuck seeing them slide below the qualification line. Every team still has a chance to make the finals. Only The Reds are assured of a Finals berth.
    2 points
  14. Hmmmm ..... I think I luf you..
    2 points
  15. JackSprat

    Pokie Fraud

    Yes. according to the letter of the law a crime has been committed. But there are crimes, and there are crimes. There are no dead bodies here. There are no injured parties. There are no financial victims. In fact, there are no victims at all! The fact that these guys, especially O'Brien are looking at longer jail terms that many people who have killed, raped or maimed others is ridiculous. When it comes to killers, rapists, violent offenders, and those that have conned Internal Affairs, I know which ones I'd sooner have walking the street. For the very beneficiaries of this "crime" to now be baying for blood, is the ultimate in double standards. I presume the recipients of winnings and percentages from any races run by the participating clubs during the "Bluegrass Trust era" will be lining up to hand the money back. No? I thought not. Yet another double standard. Glass houses and all that sort of thing!
    2 points
  16. rdytdy

    Brian De Lore - Article

    We already have some of the highest take outs on the punting dollar in the world leading people to bet offshore, so taking even more take out will only lead to the TAB becoming even more uncompetitive meaning a further decline of punters in NZ. They should have been able to manage M & P and Infrastructure on what they have been getting by being management proactive, not reactive as you suggest meaning further customer decline .
    2 points
  17. What did the buffalo sayed to his boy when he was going off to school? bye son
    2 points
  18. Governance of New Zealand racing still in the 20th Century Brian de Lore "We are quite happy to allow planning processes to go on forever. It's not the big that eats the little, it's the fast that eats the slow." Those are the frustrated words of Employers and Manufacturers’ Association chief executive Kim Campbell uttered a few years back when asked what it was that impeded the Kiwi psyche in business. Campbell’s statement could be applied to the psyche we have in New Zealand racing industry governance today – “happy to allow planning processes to go on forever,” followed by a racing industry that continues to contract and disillusion the bulk of its participants. The brief history goes like this: racing was doing fine until the late 1980s. The economic crash of 1987 followed by the internet and technology revolutions of the 1990s brought globalisation and since then we have been gradually losing ground. Racing clubs started the TAB in 1951 but before long the Australians came, looked and copied the model before opening the Victoria TAB in 1961. Their prolific betting, larger population (they bet A$2.10 per head for every NZ$1 we bet) soon produced higher revenues, superior betting services and consistent, sustainable profits for a healthy racing industry. Then the big game-changer occurred in 1993 when the Northern Territory state government licenced Sportsbet, the first non-government organisation allowed to provide betting services in Australia. Three years later Centrebet became the first company to offer on-line betting – the tide had turned forever. With dwindling race crowds and on-course betting in the late 1990s coinciding with a burgeoning on-line betting industry, the Australian government stepped in with the Interactive Gambling Act of 2001. The Act served to rein in the on-line bookmakers’ free-for-all that had been tolerated till then with a strict rules and guidelines, but then further game-changers appeared in 2007 and again in 2010 with the respective introduction of smart-phones and iPads/tablets. As technology advanced more on-line bookmakers joined the game, necessitating the drafting of race fields legislation to force them to give something back to racing. They were hurting the tote and paying nothing for the use of race fields and other relevant data. Sportsbet and Betfair contested the race fields legislation in the High Court and after dragging it through the legal mire for four years, a landmark ruling was delivered in March, 2012 in favour of Racing NSW. The 1.5 per cent of turnover amounting to over A$100 million that had been held in trust for those four years was freed-up to allow Racing NSW CEO Peter V’landys to announce massive prize-money increases for the state. The door was now open for New Zealand to follow but, more than five years on, we are still working through the legislation for our own race fields. That Kiwi psyche kicked-in; we were slow leaving the barrier and have continued to fall further behind our counterparts across the Tasman. My reasoning for regurgitating this 25-year history is to emphasise how much the game has changed and then to contemplate the doubling of that amount of change over the next 10 years. That’s where technology is taking us – to a place unknown. Meanwhile, it may be this time next year or even further down the track before race fields legislation is introduced to Parliament, undergoes three readings and is then passed into law. Presently it’s in draft form only, still requiring fine tuning, and from what the writer has learned is ‘low priority’ from a government viewpoint. The racing industry viewpoint is race fields is ‘high priority’ because for each year that flows by without it being passed into law it’s costing the thoroughbred code alone $10 million that could go straight into stakes. And that $10 million is potentially $20 million annually, because at present Australian betting on New Zealand racing represents only 3.2 per cent of their turnover. Unlike harness (6.7 per cent) and greyhounds (6.5 per cent), the gallops have been poorly marketed across the ditch and so the potential to double the percentage, given its exclusive time zone, is a very real one. Aside from race fields legislation, which NZRB CEO John Allen promised us in this session of Parliament in his February ‘talking to the industry tour,’ the fixed-odds betting platform which is part of the $60-75 million NZRB spend and was promised for early next year, is unlikely to arrive before the start of the 2018-19 season. Late last week in a call to NZRB Head of Communications Kate Richards, The Informant was told: “The FOB platform has been agreed to in the partnership with Open Bet and Paddy Power but it’s impossible to say how long it will take to implement – current estimation is that it will start in 2018-19 season. The Board has approved the partnership to start the process.” Does the time-frame blow-out also mean a budget blow-out? Cynicism for that comes from a perusal of annual reports, statements of intent, and budgets released by the NZRB over the past six years that show a series of under-estimated costs and over-stated returns. For example, in the NZRB Annual Report for year ended July 2012, the budget for employee expenses was $43,660,000 following the previous year’s actual of $41,149,000. But the actual for 2012 blew out to $47,155,000 – an additional $3.5 million over budget. Between 2012 and the year ended 2016, total revenue for the NZRB increased by more than $50 million ($301,881,000 to $351,923,000), yet the thoroughbred industry stayed ‘flat-lining’ in terms of its returns. Why? Simply because costs at NZRB were and still are spiralling. Is this the reason – or one of them – that prompted NZTR Chairman Alan Jackson to write the following in the Chairman’s Annual Report published in the November, 2016, edition of the Thoroughbred Monthly: “Looking forward, there is only so much more running to stand still the Code can sustain. We cannot have another financial result like the current one, and we cannot simply continue to reduce the number of meetings and races to raise stakes.” As stated previously in this publication, the NZRB wages bill has now soared to $66,824,000 as per the P&L of the NZRB Financial Statements for year ended 2016. Unacceptable in a public company environment, the difference here is that the NZRB came into being as a result of a now completely outdated Racing Act of 2003. The Act and especially Clause 16 is probably some of the dumbest legislation ever passed. It gives the NZRB carte blanche on how much they return to the codes with no accountability on their costs. It was written by bureaucrats for bureaucrats and has placed us where we are today. Back to the governance of racing, it’s not the fault of the NZRB but the government of the day and the legislation they passed that has put us in this hole. The NZRB comprises a group of people that don’t have their livelihoods at stake in racing because they are mainly corporates, marketing and IT people, whereas NZTR and fellow code governing bodies comprise in the main people with a vested interest. Ironically, the people at NZTR didn’t want to talk to me for this rant but the NZRB obliged. But it’s the NZRB that’s setting off down the path to its own FOB platform and an app for smart-phones, all at massive costs in world that will continue to leave them behind in technology. With at least 12 major bookmaking companies operating on Australian racing, some of which spend $120 million annually on IT to retain or gain market share, how could we believe our TAB could be competitive long term? Tabcorp recognised some time ago that scale was required to compete against the bookmakers. It’s now a massive, integrated betting organisation that supports all forms of wagering and is the rock that provides revenue for racing. Tabcorp is currently in the process of taking over Tatts (Ubet), which is the Queensland equivalent of our TAB. They have signed a deal which now only requires ACCC approval for the corporate merger. The deal will strengthen Tabcorp and save Queensland racing hugely in annual expenses. Tabcorp services also include retail, digital and sky media platforms – their strength provides stability for a strong Australian industry. Scale gives them competitiveness in today’s globalised wagering business which gives better service to punters and more back to racing. So why is the NZRB going it alone and risking massive capital to develop its own technology to compete against Tabcorp and the bookmakers who possess far bigger scale and budgets? The reason New Zealand doesn’t own its own banks is simply a consequence of scale. We are not large enough to go it alone when the market is global. Why wouldn’t our TAB instead outsource all betting services to Tabcorp and became part of the scale that would provide more certainty for our racing future? The answer may be in the DNA of the NZ psyche previously mentioned. Outsourcing to Tabcorp would provide $50 million to $70 million of savings over the three codes in annual expenses. Those savings would transform racing in New Zealand as we know it. But the catch-22 is that most at the NZRB would lose their jobs because that’s where the savings lie. Instead, the racing business is all-aboard the Titanic and heading into the North Atlantic knowing there are icebergs to negotiate. And is the NZRB the band that continues to play while rearranging the deck chairs? But just maybe it’s not too late to head back to port and replot a safer course?
    1 point
  19. He has corrected it on my site...4-2**
    1 point
  20. R1: 7 R2: 8 R3: 6 R4: 2 R5: 6 R6: 2 BB R7: 3 R8: 7 You said all welcome. I will stay out of the racecafe v pix battle and just see how I do.
    1 point
  21. I dont answer to you .go and ask jmac for your self jason.
    1 point
  22. How do you seem to know more about this than anyone else on here. please explain?
    1 point
  23. The Cubemeister was last in a Rep team when he was a bantamweight rugby rep back in '71 !!! Race 1...#2 Race 2...#3 Race 3...#3 Race 4...#2 Race 5...#1...BB Race 6...#3 Race 7...#3 Race 8...#8 Thank you Brian for all your time and effort in organising and scoring .
    1 point
  24. Trump

    Brian De Lore - Article

    How can Clubs manage when all the money is collected and spent by NZRB? Sure, Clubs like Ellerslie have great revenue streams but don't forget, they were in deep shit debt at one point and are fortunate to have a heavily populated area as a source to draw patronage to their function centre - without resorting to having the "Merchants of Debt" (pokies) to rely on. Otaki, Cromwell, etc have no such luxury.
    1 point
  25. Trump

    Brian De Lore - Article

    Big Boned maybe, but surely a Bonehead comment.
    1 point
  26. Big Boned

    Brian De Lore - Article

    What is the point of crying about legislation when clubs are to lazy to empty rubbish bins.
    1 point
  27. Te Awamutu R 1 3 R 2 11 R 3 5 R 4 2 R 5 1 R 6 14 R 7 6 Onwards and Upwards RaceCafe
    1 point
  28. I had Flamboyer BB and is was a huge run, Lloyd....
    1 point
  29. Next week's draw: Round 9 Sat Jun 24 Meetings will be Tauranga & Doomben THE GRIM REAPERS (3rd) vs THE PRETEND GERS (4th) Hesi v Kay Von Smallhausen v Casper Cam v Maria Rob v Ian Cabbage v Tom THE MONGOL STORMERS (9th) vs THE REDS* (1st) Sarah M v Gordy Rees v The Crucible Jack v Lloyd Luca v Sarah Betty v John THE ANZAC ARMADILLOS* (2nd) vs THE TRUMPING DONS* (8th) Viceroy v Ray Sharne v Sasha Richie v Catalano PJ v Punter Pete Cubes v Pete THE DREAM TEAM* (5th) vs THE THUNDERBIRDS (6th) Alan v Sir Gallivant Sylvia v Moose Rosina v Jill Mr Gee v Damion 6xes v Jason THE HABIBIES* (7th) vs ZIG'S WARRIORS (10th) Brian v Craig Pam v Steve Isaac v Tony Maureen v Steve P Graeme v Wrinkles Thanks everyone for playing. Special thanks to the Anzacs for a nice win today
    1 point
  30. Would be nice if there was an extra point for the team that had the top total on the day.. only for today though just a one off
    1 point
  31. and my best bet on the roughie Flamboyer looked good till about the last 75m!!! Oh well...good it's not with 'real money'
    1 point
  32. i so needede IN HIS STRIDE. to win would of made it easier to knobble Sir G . .but maybe could still strand him On The Beach !!???
    1 point
  33. Who the hell swapped my fertiliser with weed killer.Look out when I find out who it was.Damion your at the top of my list?
    1 point
  34. Basil

    Pokie Fraud

    Sorry, but when you take money that you're not entitled to by law, that's not 'pushing the boundaries', that's a crime. It's no more complicated than that. Nor should this be news to anybody involved --- Sir Ngatata Love was recently sent down for a far more trivial example of basically the same offense. Personally, I think jail time for transgressions such as this is ludicrous, and it may well be true that there should be plenty of others in the dock in this case as well, but these are completely separate issues to whether or not a crime has been committed. Trying to deny that is like claiming the tide doesn't come in twice a day.
    1 point
  35. tasman man 11

    Pokie Fraud

    Pokies in NZ have always been the subject of shonky deals and back handers. In about 2006 a Metro Trust had MO'Brien as their CEO and basically the NZ Met club was owning and operating Pokies with the money going back to Harness. The authorities put a stop to this cos of conflict of interest and deemed MO'Brien as an unsuitable person to involved with trusts/pokies. They took a dislike to O'Brien. Around this time a lot of pokies money went to Pro or semi pro-rugby...some $150 mil from memory. Then the Bluegrass Trust was set up in Blenheim mainly to benefit Racing as its purpose ,in particular Harness.In fact many of the machines were in the North Island with the money going to mainly South Island clubs.....kinda obvious that MO'Brien was involved but he must have thought that by using his dad and others as a front he could keep the DIA/SFO at bay. The Nelson Trotting Club received $620k over 5 years ,much of which went to stakes so many racing people have benefitted from this rort.And probably all harness and many gallops clubs received Bluegrass monies. After years of running around in circles the Authorites obviously found some charges to stick to Mike O'Brien so they have got their man ...he wasn't so clever after all. Paul Max was bankrupted a few years ago by the IRD and was living for some time in a small Motel while still working in his pubs .....he is obviously a 'fall-guy' in all this ,but also must have thought that O'Brien could stay one step of the Authorities.He has run pokies etc for a long time.So he's collateral damage in all this. O'Briens commission seems obscene but there are many who have also benefitted greatly from these pokies rorts....all around NZ and in racing and other sports. Events such the Harness Jewels were largely funded by pokies and few if any were screaming then 'Lock away the crooks who have funded the Stakes '.
    1 point
  36. jasonmccook1

    PUNTERS CLUB 14

    $56.70 odd Trentham quaddie ( so unlucky that Lord Ernesto didnt hold on as would of doubled the divie at least)
    1 point
  37. barryb

    Sea King

    Less than a month later, ha.
    1 point
  38. Brown Fox

    PUNTERS CLUB 14

    Sorry,lack of computer skills mean its a bit brief Multi any 4/5/6 $22 Rua R4Honour Princess Tren R4 Thats Funny Tren R7 Our Bandit Rua R5 Nailed It Rua R8 Command Royal Rua R9 Rikki Tikki Tavi Moonee Valley R7-Rose Of Virginia 10/20 R8 Head Starter(8) 10/20 $60 Ips R2 Quad $46 (15%) 1 4 6 13 16 2 6 8 2 3 5 6 9 2 4 10 16 Ipswich pl 6 $70 (22%) R4 - 3 6 2 10 16 2 9 1 3 13 1 6 12 1 3 4 Multi $22 Any 4/5/6 Rosehill R1-Gaulois(2) Ipswich R2-Assertory(13) R8-Accatour(12) R3-Zamex(2) R5-Moss n Toss(2) Apologise again for appalling computer skills
    1 point
  39. Pretty sure Colin Evans is training horses there at the moment.
    1 point
  40. 1 point
  41. 44 years flag starts for steeplechases at Trentham Berri. One incident and the RIU want barrier starts for steeplechases which was my point. Nothing wrong with reviewing flag start protocols but RIU wanting barrier starts is an over reaction particularly when they were involved with the change to flag starts at all courses from the start of the season.
    1 point
  42. Black Kirrama

    Chocante

    Chocante's full brother (Shocking - Strictly Maternal ...by O'Reilly) Hermanito, won at Wanganui yesterday 14 June. He's a beauty too.Janelle Miller trains. First start. No recorded jump outs. J Parkes first up over 1600m. I believe the owners Mesdames Freeman & Price have plenty of moola. The Overseas offers, for this lovely horse will be tempting. He's not a HK horse. (Disclaimer: I have no financial interest in Janelle's stable.I have no close relation to Chocante: I have never raced 99 horses: I dont own or play Slot machines. )
    1 point
  43. Brilliant article. Says it all. Simply contract SKY for the television and TAB CORP for the punting. My old hobby horse.
    1 point
  44. legs&lashes

    A Message To The NZGRA.

    How about you substantiate your claim Gary, You say alltheway is wrong so you prove how he is wrong and come up with your own stats to prove it. I could easily obtain those stats but then Im sure they would be questioned anyway. It is and has been obvious for years why a lot of the non chasers come here and I know that from my kennel more than 80% have raced without problems. AC
    1 point
  45. Back to the original topic. What do some of the Trainers out there think. Throughout NZ the horse codes regularly have races with smaller fields than us but pay prize money to the 1st 5 places with travelling/appearance payments on top. Australian greyhounds are paying it but we get a lousy $20 for 5th and 6th only. I believe this decision was based on the huge amounts paid to 2 to 3 trainers with an unbelievable number of starters each year. What about all the others struggling to make a living or just cover costs.
    1 point
  46. PEDIGREE “In the Northern Hemisphere, Galileo was supported by quality mares from day one. Here he at best got the second-tier mares.” - Nick Williams, of Macedon Lodge, home to several talented imported Galileos “It has to be the mares he got down here compared to the Northern Hemisphere. There is no other way to explain it.” -Troy Corstens, co-trainer of Galileo’s Stradbroke Handicap winner Linton “The genetic make-up of our broodmare band - there is so much speed tracing back for generations.” - William Inglis’ Jonathan D’Arcy So let’s take a look at the broodmare sires out of whose daughters Galileo has sired multiple stakes winners. They are: Air Express, Alysheba, Anabaa, Danehill, Danehill Dancer, Darshaan, Diesis, Dr Fong, Erins Isle, Grand Lodge, Green Desert, Indian Ridge, Intikhab, Kaldoun, Kingmambo, Kris, Kris S, Last Tycoon, Machiavellian, Mark Of Esteem, Mozart, Nashwan, Nureyev, Pennekamp, Pivotal, Rainbow Quest, Red Ransom, Shirley Heights, Silver Hawk, Spectrum, Ri Pekan, Storm Cat, Stravinsky Of this list, only Danehill had significant numbers of daughters visit Galileo in both hemispheres, not surprising since he was his stud mate at Coolmore. Frankel is the headliner for the Galileo/Danehill cross in Europe, one that has produced another 39 black-type runners with an outstanding stakes winner ratio of 21.5 percent. Of those 40 stakes winners, three were Australian-bred, the only one successful on Australian soil being the listed winner Banc de Fortune. Galileo served mares by Danehill on around 50 occasions in Australia. While this cross has been disappointing in this part of the world, it can be said in Galileo’s defence that much of his success in the Northern Hemisphere has been with mares from lines that have had much more influence there than here. For example, his strike rates with mares by Air Express, Alysheba, Darshaan, Dr Fong, Erins Isle, Indian Ridge, Kingmambo, Kris, Kris S, Mark Of Esteem, Mozart, Nashwan, Pennekamp, Pivotal and Silver Hawk are impressive - but these are not names commonly seen in Australia or New Zealand. The only broodmare sire to have produced multiple Galileo stakes winners in Australasia is Last Tycoon (Sousa, Saint Minerva, Jacquinot Bay) while mares by Diesis (Sixties Icon/Gallant Tess), Grand Lodge (Sword Fighter/Lightinthenite), Intikhab (Found, Best In The World, Magical Dream/Igugu), Red Ransom (Ard Na Greine/Mahbooba), Stravinsky (Rip Van Winkle, Easter/Sea Galleon) have produced Galileo stakes winners bred in Europe and Australasia. So did Galileo get more of a chance from his Irish base than from his Australian one? There is no doubt that an Epsom Derby winner - or any winner of a staying race for that matter - garners more respect in Europe. However, Galileo was well supported, serving 720 mares during his five years in Australia, an average of 144 per season. He served mares by a wide variety of stallions, both sprinting- and staying-bred, though there is no doubt he did better with the latter. He served, for example, mares by sprinting influence Rory’s Jester on around 20 occasions. This cross yielded ten runners, none of whom were stakes-performed. It’s a similar story with mares by other winners of the Golden Slipper; Galileo was visited by mares by Marscay, Luskin Star, Canny Lad, Catbird, Flying Spur, Danzero, Star Watch, Marauding and Vain. In total, 40 runners and just the one stakes winner, the 2400m listed winner Luvuleo, out of the Marscay mare Luvscay. When mated with mares by stallions bred for a bit more stamina, Galileo did sire the Australian stakes winners Tanby (dam by Danewin), Sertorius (Encosta de Lago) Niwot (Noble Bijou), Spacecraft (Octagonal), Galizani (Zabeel), Personify (Jade Hunter) and Sea Galleon (Stravinsky). Meanwhile Linton, Reprisal, Discorsi (from mainly a sprinting family but has the Melbourne Cup winner Silver Knight as his third dam sire), Dance To The Stars and Galizani have staying influence. The latter, a dual listed winner over 1900m and 2400m, is out of a mare by Zabeel, who you would think, all things being equal, was made for Galileo. Not only is he also a classic stallion, he is out of a mare by Nureyev, 3/4 brother to Galileo’s sire Sadler’s Wells. However, of the 16 Galileo runners out of Zabeel mares, Galizani is the sole stakes winner. So, while Galileo was supported by a fair whack of mares by sprinting sires, he did also have a chance with those with some stamina as well. Again he underperformed compared to the stellar job he has done in the Northern Hemisphere. Of course, looking at broodmare sires is only part of the story and Galileo did stand in the Hunter Valley where breeders have for generations been fine tuning their families for precocious speed. Success can of course also be about perception. If we don’t compare the Australian Galileo to the European one, he fared well. As Nick Williams noted: “His statistics are pretty similar to a stallion like Northern Meteor, who served a similar number of mares.” As noted, Galileo served 720 mares in five years. Northern Meteor (who ranks world #118 in TRC Global Rankings) in four seasons served 622. Galileo’s Australian stakes winner ratio sits at 5.8 percent, Northern Meteor’s is 4.02 percent. The latter, however, did have six G1 winners. Galileo, as already discussed, had three. TRAINING “In the Northern Hemisphere, Galileo had success with 2-year-olds and trainers in Australian probably believed they were more precocious than they really were. Interestingly it was a similar story with Zabeel early but people persisted and worked out that they needed time. Our training style probably contributed to physically and mentally breaking them.” - Nick Williams “The training regimes that most Australian trainers use may not be suitable for the type of horses that Galileo sires.” - Jonathan D’Arcy “Trainers here are more inclined to push young horses and maybe they just needed time to mature.” - David Payne, trainer of Galileo’s dual G2 winner Gallant Tess “I think they were pushed too soon down under and, when the first crop of 3-year-olds didn’t perform up to expectation, the Australian market went off them.” - Paul Moroney, international bloodstock agent “The progeny of Galileo have proven more than capable under Australian conditions in recent years, as the likes of Adelaide and The United States (see YouTube videos below) have shown. I have no doubt in my mind that, if Australian breeders and trainers had the understanding of Galileo and his progeny when he first came to Australia that they do now, we’d be looking at a completely different proposition.” - Michael Kirwan, Coolmore Australia “I would think that, as a general rule, the Galileos don’t cope well with being pushed too hard too early. In Australia, we often don’t nurture the animals who need the time to grow up physically and mentally. “Of course, Galileo has had some exceptional 2-year-olds, but perhaps with Europe’s more relaxed and endurance-based training methods, they are able to keep them from going over the top at a young age. “It’s so lovely how they prepare a nice young horse here [at Newmarket]. They’re doing plenty of evens - every day up a hill - but it’s relaxed and they’re not being competitive. Then, towards the end of their 2-year-old year, they will have four to five gallops in pairs or groups on the bridle before going to the races in October/November. “Trainers will tell the jockeys to flop out of the gates and let them run home on his own steam, no whips. In Australia, on the other hand, we give them two to three trials over unsuitable distances with the sticks up!” - Michael Kent Jnr, who has worked in stables and ridden in Australia and the UK THE RACES/THE TRACKS “Our 2-year-old racing is much more jump-and-run than in Europe, where most of the horses are bred to run over a mile plus. As a consequence the races are run at a different tempo, which aids horses by stallions like Galileo.” - Nick Williams And, as regards to longer contests, Australian races can be sit-and-sprint affairs, as opposed to European races in which the services of a pacemaker can be utilized to ensure a fast race, something that plays into the hands of the stronger, staying-bred horse. “I think that Galileo’s progeny are better suited to a testing gallop on Europe’s big, undulating courses as opposed to the sit-and-sprint nature of Australia’s tight, turning tracks. To win a race in Europe requires totally different attributes and training. You need to be able to sustain a sprint and often finish the race uphill. At home, a quick burst of speed once you get into the home straight is enough to win the race.” - Michael Kent Jnr “My assumption is that his [Galileo’s] progeny are more effective on a soft surface and, as you know, the going gets very hard and firm most of the time here.” - David Payne “He is by Galileo, so a wet track won’t bother him,” said Nick Williams in the lead-up to this year’s Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Randwick, a race in which Macedon Lodge’s Galileo entire The United States finished second on rain affected going. He would go onto G2 success in the Crystal Mile at Moonee Valley in October, the track on that occasion rated slow. There is not a huge variation in Galileo’s European statistics on dry tracks versus rain-affected tracks, but of course Australian tracks tend to be firmer overall. Representing his father Dermot with Galileo’s Choice in the 2012 Melbourne Cup, Mark Weld told the press: “What you would call a good track would be too quick for all the European horses.”
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  47. The Japan breeding industry accelerated in the 80's as a result of Zenya Yoshida having the same love affair with Northern Dancer as Robert Sangster and Vincent O. That was the platform that has elevated the Japanese industry to the level it is, comparable to the best in the world. The comment on stayers is relevant, but I would suggest that Maurice would be comparable to Solow or any previous European miler. The Japanese industry lacked confidence in the 90's, has gained some in the early part of 2000, but they will develop into the "elite" level of performance and breeding within the next decade. Deep Impact is an outstanding stallion, the eastern version of Galileo or Sadlers Wells and Arrowfield are the avenue of access to that depth of blood, we should be thankful that Arrowfield had the foresight to generate that liaison.
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