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The Cubmeister is pretty sure no-one out there in 'Caferland gives a flying toss , but anywhoo....... This is how the Pins mare in the last @ Riccarton on Saturday got her name.... Cubes went up to Karaka for the first (and last) time back in January 2016 Obviously wanting to rule the world by way of dominating South Island Racing , the Cubinator had got prior management permission (i.e. Mrs Cubes had been bribed into agreeing) to purchase 4 yearlings and bring them back down South and win everything from Guineas to Karaka millions and become rich and famous.... However... Basically Cubes lost his bottle in the auction ring and got very hot and sweaty and the thoroughbreds we wanted seemed to go for gazillions over our budget and it was very stressful and Cubes is cheap so doesn't want to pay too much and it was very hot and we only went to the Festival sale which is the last day out of 6 but then Cubity had a couple of beers and managed to pick out two fillies eventually...pheww !!! And then they went to George Simon's place for agistmentness and Shelley Houston for breaking in and then came South and then did not much and then trialled and one is an absolute donkey but then we had to decide on names and over numerous glasses of vino collapso nothing was ever agreed on and then the Trainer got stroppy and said they couldn't start without a name and then Mrs Cubes pushed the eject button on the CD player in the car and "Hot Fuss" by the Killers popped out and that is how the Pins mare in the last @ Riccarton got her name .

Its just a bloody mess. I know nothing about Allen, he is just a figure head really. I get the impression he is not getting good advice, as Pam has suggested. I agree Glenda contributes nothing: I was going to say a lightweight, but that seems inappropriate. The place has been going down-hill for so many years; there is no easy answer, possibly no answer at all. In many ways we are dealing with two quite different things: trying to run an efficient racing industry from a purely racing point of view, and trying to make that industry profitable. The frustration is that we can't even get close to getting either of them right, and there is no excuse for that. It is indisputable that the people running the industry at most levels are totally out of their depth. I don't agree with Peters approach and the Messara report is in many ways inadequate, but at least Peters is doing something; at least he has got people considering some options.

Any more family members yet to comment?I doubt anyone will be surprised by your posts. It definitely isn't any of my business what happens to prizemoney your owners earn but it sort of is my business if it is at the detriment of our sport here. Both you and Junior lament the lack of facilities for breeding, rearing and breaking in, yet you are part of the cause of why it exists. We don't need the facilities here and anyone having a go will probably fail because the Aussies are doing it for us. How many registrations are there for Aussie dogs? Each one of those negates the need for NZ's even trying. You quote how you yourself changed tack from the bones of the industry to the fluffy bits bubbling at the top yet don't say why. Presumably too hard, easier and more certain money to take the shortcuts. Look at the others who have followed suit. Imagine if you will that a deadly virus was discovered either here or in Aus and all stock movement between the two counties was forbidden. Do you think NZ greyhound racing would stop? If you can answer yes to this then what we are doing here is very wrong. If you answer no then there is no reason to continue our dependence. (Mind you one of your owners seems to find a way around such restrictions) What will bring this sport to a close is not the activist's unfair attention or the supposed inability of the board to administrate correctly but the lack of new people coming into the sport. To achieve that not so long ago a young person on a modest income and a bit of common sense was able to get established and buy a local dog and they were away. Now unless you have enough to source an import or have a family member with the right contacts they are immediately kicking shit uphill.

Whilst he is entitled to his opinion and has a vested interest in the outcome for his training partner i think he is way off course in some of his comments. The RIU are not there to act in the best interests of Harness racing. I suggest he and others look at their webpage for a description of what their job is. Further, but im pretty sure the police are the ones bringing the prosecution case to the courts not the RIU. Good luck with the bitter feelings about the RIU, you seem to forget the role the play in the game both now and in the future.Clue, they police the rules which HRNZ have made and enacted FYG Mark, due process takes time as do court cases where multiple arrests have been executed. You contradict yourself in para 4 re not going to speculate about outcome yet you do in last sentence saying they should be better treated than they have been given the outcome- what outcome is that? Plenty of people have given long service to many areas of sport and commerce yet turned out to be bad apples and punished by the court system accordingly. Finally , its sad whats happened and Harness racing's credibility has been tarnished by this episode. I would suggest that getting rid of and punishing any guilty party who has not followed established protocols will be the first step in resurrecting the credibility of the game. Newmarket

That was the point.

Will greyhound racing stop if no imports come in NO it won’t . People are showing to much tunnel vision and this is why we have a problem. I’ve brought over imports and have litters on the ground so I think I can see both sides of the fence. What is easier, bringing in a import for sure. What is more cost effective bring in an import a ready made winner. Now we have a problem and we always will with gap they are never going to be able to re home all the dogs born or imported in nz. So what do we do ? They have already put costs up to bred a litter they have put restrictions on breeding. But you can bring in 240 imports a year . With the cost of breeding and the restrictions in place that has already cut gap numbers down , has importing 240 dogs a year cut gap numbers down ? Ok so you say no imports no c5 520 race what a lot of rubbish with out the imports a 30.70 dog around Auckland will make top grade. People will still bet on them. The wastage of these nz bred dogs that can’t break 31 or 18s will be able to race earn a be Mary. The cream will rise to the top. You will be able to get more people into the industry.i could go on but like I say people have tunnel vision and you won’t change there minds

Not, the guy has had issues with authorities in earlier threads and got warned about his posts from memory. We dont want this forum to turn out like the others with bad language and unsubstantiated rubbish being posted without any moderation.Its not fair to those who are defamed

One thing that occurs to me is that the individual clubs have had the stuffing knocked out of them. Gone are the days of innovative club secretaries like Ian McEwan at Tauranga and a few others around the countryside. Probably the only club that tries anything these days is Taranaki. Most club secretaries these days are purely office managers. We are unlikely to see anything like the Bayer Classic happen in this environment. There is no incentive for clubs to attract sponsors or to boost stakes or develop new races. When is the last time Te Rapa or Trentham or Riccarton did anything exciting? Other than the sweep-stake thing at Ellerslie, what other races have been introduced in recent years?

Has to be. You could hardly have a cuppa tea with the man without learning something.

Canterbury Claytons awards night put to shame in not recognising many great achievements such as 232 driving wins and the greatest ever year by a leading stable .The Auckland/nz awards were done with some dignity esp from people such as Natalie and Mark. Good on Mick G. for handling the evening very professionally. ( and I am fast to criticise him normally)

Cripes, can you prove what you just posted. Reply- delete and block me. I guess that might mean he cant

https://www.racecafe.co.nz/danielles-blog/

Cambridge trainer Stephen Marsh made a flying visit to Gosford, just outside of Sydney, on Thursday to saddle a pair of maiden gallopers and walked away with the lion’s share of prizemoney. Four-year-old mare Campari was successful over 1100m, with the stakes-placed daughter of O’Reilly coming from back in the field to round up her rivals and win going away. “She had a few issues and had been off the scene for a long time and came over off the back of one quiet trial,” Marsh said. “Class takes them a fair way and I thought she was labouring a little bit coming into the straight, but she picked up nicely in the end and was strong late. “I think she will benefit a lot from the run. If she keeps fronting up, we will stay here for as long as we can.” A race later Group Two-placed Pins mare Mark Two broke her maiden as expected over 1600m. “A mile is just her warm-up distance and you could see she was on and off the bit, but that’s just her,” Marsh said. “She will go straight from a mile up to 2000m at least and she will carry on stepping up from there.” Both mares sport the colours of New Zealand syndication company Go Racing and both were ridden by Kiwi jockey James McDonald. “It is good to see Stephen coming over from New Zealand,” McDonald said. “He is a very good young trainer coming through and I’d say we will see a lot more of him bringing these types of horses over.”

Jacinda a standout performer? by Christie <img class="aligncenter wp-image-376534" src="https://i2.wp.com/www.whaleoil.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Jacinda-crying.png?resize=630%2C631&#038;ssl=1" alt="" width="630" height="631" srcset="https://i2.wp.com/www.whaleoil.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Jacinda-crying.png?resize=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i2.wp.com/www.whaleoil.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Jacinda-crying.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https://i2.wp.com/www.whaleoil.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Jacinda-crying.png?w=474&amp;ssl=1 474w" sizes="(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px" data-recalc-dims="1"/> The fluff pieces continue… but this particular fluff piece from a newspaper seems to me to have no factual basis at all. I really do think that the media just make stuff up sometimes but see what you think of this: quote: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is seen by many CEOs as the standout performer in the Coalition Government. Just one year into the country’s top job, her charismatic persona, youthfulness and communication skills have marked her prime ministership. CEOs in the 2018 Herald survey marked trustworthiness as her leading attribute — rated at 3.17/5 on a scale where 1=not impressive and 5=very impressive — among a range of other attributes. end quote. You will note that this article is very vague about who is actually claiming that she is so good. ‘CEOs’ gives me no confidence. How about actually naming someone? Oh, here we are. quote: A banking boss says Ardern has been a far better Prime Minister than expected. “Labour inherited a country that had been neglected for nine years. She is an amazing communicator and front person for the Government.” end quote. A ‘banking boss’? Who is it exactly? Someone from the Bank of Islamabad? Either these Jacinda fans don’t actually exist, or they are not prepared to be identified. So, I have a very good reason to think that this article has just been completely made up. quote: But there have been incidents lately that have knocked her political capital, which some respondents to the Mood of the Boardroom survey say she should be cognisant of. Though Ardern is given credit for making the best of the cards she was dealt on election night, her Coalition management skills have been found wanting. Business leaders say she must do better when it comes to managing the relationship of the Coalition partners and ministers, and make the “hard calls” when necessary and rated that attribute 2.74/5. end quote. So, she is a standout, but… her coalition management skills are lacking and she can’t make the ‘hard calls’. Doesn’t sound like a standout leader to me at all. quote: ICBC NZ chair Don Brash says Ardern has a very tough job “being in a position where NZ First holds the whip hand on every issue not specifically covered in the coalition agreement.” end quote. Ah. So finally we have named someone and he said that Winston Peters is running the show. Not a standout leader then, is she? quote: Ardern’s natural ability to communicate was frequently raised by chief executives, but they have concerns her aspirational messages can raise expectations without necessarily transferring into operational performance. end quote. In other words, with absolutely no apologies to Lizzie Marvelly, she is guilty of ‘too much hui, not much doey’, as Christopher Luxon has already pointed out. Where is all this ‘standout’ stuff then? quote: Of the attributes CEOs were asked to rate, Ardern’s strategy for New Zealand received the lowest rating of 2.16/5. end quote. Really standout. quote: “It would be good to see a stronger decisive approach to the ‘bigger’ issues — infrastructure, health, housing, education — than jumping on the bandwagon of populist policy,” says Mainfreight CEO Don Braid. end quote. Ah. Another one named… and he has nothing good to say about her at all, does he? quote: Says another CEO: “The smile got her into government, but she is deeply inexperienced and is taking New Zealand down a dangerous path. Sloganism is a terrible way to run a nation.” end quote. Let me just correct you on that one, Mr A. N. Other. Winston Peters got her into government. Nothing else. quote: But a company director says we need to give the Prime Minister room to breathe: “I think you have to admire her, whatever your political perspective. Being Prime Minister, being female, being young, means she will be under attack more than others would be. end quote. I disagree with this, yet another unnamed commentator. First of all, I don’t admire her in any way whatsoever. Secondly, there is no reason at all why the fact that she is young and female means she will be under attack more than other leaders. If she was competent, she wouldn’t be constantly under attack for a lack of management skills or for the fact that she can talk the talk, but that’s all. All of those criticisms listed above are totally valid and to me, that means the headline of the article is completely misleading. No… wait. The headline is not misleading. It is misspelt. They did not mean she was a standout performer. They meant she was a standup performer. Well, I can’t argue with that.

pretty simple all imports must return home if overseas owned

Yes its does seems unfair only some were being monitored.

Tuesdays publicity over the race-fixing got me thinking ! Firstly , the level of regulation in recent years means Harness racing has probably never been 'cleaner' or ' fairer'. Cameras everywhere, regular drug testing , more rules, heavy fines ,advertising for tip offs, more stipes ,trials/workouts etc etc....though it could be argued that the rating/handicapping system actually encourages horses to be given 'quiet' runs to drop points to become competitive ! I note the race -fixing charges now seem filtered away from the party pill issues which IMO clouded and sensationalised things from day 1. My guess is that some , at least , will be proven not guilty ,despite many saying on here that the evidence is 'mind-blowing' etc. This investigation has taken over 17 months , and some of the accused face just ONE charge.....maybe the charge is a race course certainty. Ive heard many rumours from friends of friends ,their neighbours and motherinlaws ,including many who claim to be in the know including inside the TAB ...one race which comes up is the Derby....rumours about team driving ,injecting horses on day of race , conspiring to have the favourite run out of first 4,quiet lead up runs etc. For mine ,this was the most competitive race of the season and it was a Group 1. If the authorities are hanging their hopes on this race ,after 17 months of hiding in bushes and wire-tapping I'd say good luck !

Great choice of music there. The Killers are my favourite band, and Mr Brightside, on that album, is my favourite song ever. For that reason alone I hope the horse does well.

Genuine question..... Would you rather drive in a race against A....... a race fixer B........a druggie

I agree WD. Peters has at least initiated some action and conversation despite the lack of robustness to much of the Messara report recommendations. The subsequent RITA idea means we wouldn't be keeping on doing what's already not working and may, as a matter of urgency and interim arrangement, allow things to happen that will otherwise take years to even legislate. All probably beyond an answer at this stage as you say. Pretty sure something will eventually arise from the ashes but I doubt I will be around to see that and the ashes are already looming.

Certainly a clever option for an astute trainer; tiny fields and good stakes. Much better than racing straight into Saturday class. Good money to be made working through the classes.

Its good to have her on board... its a big start !!! She will get better its just the beginning.

I hope she gets a little more informative in future....this told us nothing we didn't already know....

Thats all well and good Pam but the CEO operates at the behest of the board. In this respect Glenda should be the first to be shown the door, IMHO was never qualified for the job and results back that up. Political appointments at CEO and Board level will often end in tears but good payouts, will this be any different, only time will tell.

Also known as the wife of a fairly handy trainer?

lets hope for a 1,46 or better. mcwicked and heaven rocks have a war then laz sets world record. Only a dream but could be poss. Before Scoob gets confused (lol) the race will be run NZ time on Sunday 7.10.18 at 8.13 am . (nz have moved to daylight sav. but Kentucky has not until November they then fall back 1hr)

Yeah...sure were the days...I count myself very lucky to have been around when they were...I can still bring to mind so much that Dave Kerr and Ned used to say and do. Were you referring to Jim Tompkinson? Barrie Taggart was another, a really good bloke..I worked for both him and Ned at different times and Gary Lee also...Bill Beck to whom Garth was apprenticed, what a wealth of information he has about old times.

Totally agree with you Steve, no substance at all. If we were to lose the 240 imports a year the quality of racing here will decrease dramatically. We would be lucky to have 3 middle distance races a meeting. C4 and C5 middle distance races already struggle numbers wise and the majority of these dogs are made up by imports. In Australia they have many people who specialise in rearing and breaking in and have the best facilities available. There are tracks dedicated to this purpose where as over here people have to juggle these things along with training a team of dogs. Aside from a small amount of breeders in nz most peoples properties wouldn’t even be up to scratch for breeding multiple litters a year. People shouldn’t be forced into breeding. Training is my occupation as breeding and rearing is that of the Wheelers and Stu. If everyone was to rely on sourcing dogs of other breeders and trainers in NZ we would have about 5 full time trainers left.

Thought I would make some comments on this as your comments have no substance at all. i train for Punters HQ and can tell you They do plenty of homework sorting dogs that will suit NZ racing i have 3x class 5 dogs and 2x class 4 dogs and a few other dogs that will get to be good class dogs as well These are not what I would call tier 2,3 or 4 dogs, and believe me , these dogs are not 2-3k dogs There are many owners sending a lot of dogs over Cawbournes or Wheeler dogs so this is nothing new to NZ racing Also they had favourite for nz oaks and the railway and well as winning group race ( Nancy cobain) Steve Evans

but Nat was not charged with race fixing - hard to believe the other two are allowed to drive

I imagine someone is a little reluctant to return from the states any time soon

Interesting counter punch. Ive always thought the tip off would have come from a betting organization who was being stung. Who knows. The press reporter at the time was rubbished. Rob Lawson was quoted in that story as saying these type of allegations are' mostly,in fact always, untrue.' At the time I thought,and it was rumoured ,a race in question was the eamon maguire run at tuapeka. The day that race was run I started a thread on this website about the failure of the stipes to take appropriate action against the driver concerned. Obviously it was too late for the police to investigate that race,but in hindsight the over the top criticism of the press writer on social media seems to have been very unfair.

Now to keep ahead of the game…. do yourself a favour and watch this. Aus NZ UK trying desperately to stop Trump from declassifying. This Aussie “awoke” bloke connects the dots….what your govt and media are covering up. John Kerry, James Clapper, James Comey, John Key, Malcom Turnbull, George Brakus, Alexander Downer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2gzh3dtdpc&feature=youtu.be

The world is watching Remember the Kavanagh show is a scripted movie to begin to red pill the public. The senators are all compromised and are acting their part for a reduced sentence. You are watching the beginning of the systematic destruction of the deep state and the scumbag ideology of the left that will result in the return of power to “we the people” The Dems will kick and scream to such an extent that a red wave will be imminent. This will carry over to an uprising world wide of the people. After Kavanagh is confirmed the bombshell declass will occur. Enjoy the show.

All my graphs etc has a southerly change and showers early on .Hope not for everyone’s sake.

All drivers should be wired up from acceptance until after the last race just to make sure they are not fixing races.