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Great to see Terrill Charles and Peter Corbett win the big prize after all the health issues they have both had. Given 4 months to live over 4 years ago, Terrill has refused to give up and kept on going so a more deserving winner you would not find. Bravo both.....

sigh......I remember Show Gate winning the Stewards [ 1200m first day ] , Canterbury Gold Cup [ 2000m second day ] and Churchill Stakes [ 1600m last day]. Now that was a racehorse...

After a period of recovery following a big week I felt I needed to post something positive about the CJC and Cup Week. Pretty much all I have read on here is an aggrieved owner who didn't get enough pampering for turning up with a horse (newsflash that happens at just about every racetrack), and complaints about facilities etc. So some balance - Saturday was an enormous day. Great crowd, music, fashion, car boot parties, great corporate boxes, good racing ..... Yes the facilities are stretched - that is what happens when you lose your main stand due to EQ damage and are fighting an ongoing insurance claim. Very difficult for the club - but as thousands of householders and building owners here in ChCh will tell you - not that unusual. I say well done to the CJC - you do annoy me on some things (just so no-one accuses me of being a fanboy) - but I had a great week. So did many out of my friends I got along and out of towners I know.

Well you can please some of the people some of the time, but not all of the people all of the time.

I don't see anything political about it flock. As WD says, it's more about the industry itself and it's own ineptitude which has left it begging to government. Unfortunately, Peters has bought that. The first time signing off on what is now $50+m of duty relief with no accountability requirements and so completely wasted. Now another $13m of that. Same. It will disappear with no constructive use or payback to government or taxpayers. He somehow seems to lead the industry to sit on their chuffs and moan on the basis that the Minister and government will provide more and more handouts. It would be more useful if he had said sort your own shit out. The worst of the damage is yet to come from the implementation of the Messara report which Peters and the industry again seem to have bought. A very sad and painful few years now ahead because of that. If you can suggest a single positive or constructive thing that WP has or is doing for racing, I'm all ears.

Cut the nice fresh bread , some nice thick slices of cheese , some nice Branston pickle, a pickle onion on the side , a cold beer and celebrate, what Snowden couldn't do The Stanaway can, Laheeb pissed in at start 45 . Stanaway got the sandwiches .

It happens all the time - everyone knows Paul is a master preparer of squares but around comes the big races and once again all his charges are forgotten in the glam of the big stables. And I'm sure Paul is quite happy with that. Well done Master!

To give him some credit he did pour some money in last time, which was all wasted. $1m Telegraph, which is now worth $250,000. $2.2m Derby, now half that, and four or five other examples. Just a very wasteful use of money and very poor advice from his advisors, much the same as he has been very poorly advised this time around.

That misery guts paid her $30 because it only took six minutes.

I'll be right beside you

They just didn't seem to be their usual "invincible" selves over this carnival. Sure they got plenty but were seldom a factor in the "other" races

May be - they were from a long time age. Let's have a listen

We need to get away from government intervention, restructure the rights to betting, change the archaic way the structure of racing currently is and amortise the value of everything we have.. I'm with P4P...I smell a rat and its not a friendly one...

Do dooby doo

The idea Gubes is to give them a look at what they are about to partake in. I have wondered for years if some dogs are actually disadvantaged and as a result only uuse them when I have an underesponsive one at the races. I think it gives the handler some sort of confidence that it is rearing to go. I imagine the last thing you would want to do to a thoroubred is stir it up before a race, in fact if it was too stirred up it would probably be case for scratching. Dogs have very good memories and the ones that have been to the particualr track they are about to race on before, probably get nil benefit from it and possibley some detriment. I agree it should be available to the trainer as different tracks have different lures and to see and hear the difference before the race is important but once a dog has raced at a track they are generally OK from then on

You are correct, Racing didn't need Winston to drive it into the ground, it has been doing that happily all by itself for 30 years.. So to blame Winston for any of Racing's problems really is a bit harsh. I give him credit for at least trying to do something, but I don't agree with any of his methods.

Can you elaborate on all this 'damage'..or does political bias mean he's a handy ..scapegoat?

Yeh Ivan I know what you mean, same race last year and left them to it, how many lengths did he win by? he (Marcoola) just don't seem the same, where's all that brilliance, full of runnin and then some gone?.......I dunno, what ever happened to him has changed him, I'm still a fan and think if the right Marcoola shows up ok, we'll have an interestin Inters Eljay mate, to answer your mandatory, 'I feel' that the 'fans' (not just punters) do love to hear anything about their favorite horse for very different reasons, but the sport has gone away from the fans now, and it pisses me off! once upon a time you could come in here and announce a call up of the fans for a particular horse, and all the fans of that horse would all jump in here and gee each other up in support of that horse, it was dare I say it 'fun' right?! now you do anything like that annnnndddd nothin! or you get someone jumpin on yuh tellin yuh they don't like the inane cheerin etc, oh yuh get a few who join in but mostly your met with apathy and or derision, its the same at the races, once upon a time you could share a cheer for your fav, and there'd be a group of like minded fans keen to share news and tidbits of info about that fav, it was 'fun' and added to the excitement and enjoyment of watchin and bein involved, not to mention sharin in the buyin of merchandise of that particular horse; I have two hats on my wall that have pride of place, one is that of me all time fav the mighty Freak! and the other is of the mighty Terror!...gettin down to the stables and bein able to talk with those in charge of your particular fav (I weedled my way down to the stables yrs ago and got to see and pat Mr Feelgood that was like gold) to be able to speak to drivers and trainers about those favs, and tell other fans that I got to pat a winner of The Little Brown Jug and Inters winner (I gotta tell yuh he was so impressive lookin, just like shiny black coal); yuh hang on every word from announcers on Trackside, scan the net for the latest, I love the sport to bits, and yes I am an avid fan, but I aint the only one out there..... remember when the great CC was racin he had a whole bevey of fans followin him from track to track, Lyell had the 'Freakazoids' and I'm proud to say I was one of the best of em (kinda depended on how much booze I'd had) it's almost become a shame to be loud an proud about a fav horse, but guys, the fans spread the word, yup they do! Cheers Iraklis

And yes, we shouldn't detract from the effort of Kaharau. He seems to be going as well as ever this year.

both...gutsy run with that big weight over 3200m

Plus old Kaharau getting a major share too. Is it that he just never gives up or is it an indication of the quality of our stayers today? No disrespect but I suspect the latter.

A few more options for consideration.

Welcome back and great tipping Greg

By the end of today, Matt Cross will have called about 72 races in 8 days. He is an exceptional talent. Every caller makes mistakes, I don't think Matt has fluffed anything important this week - and even if he does, we should all recognise that race calling is an art, a demanding one done under pressure of immediacy and public expectation. Not many people are prepared to try it, let alone make a career of it. Best wishes to him, he will become one pf the best, and probably go on to a international career.

Obviously i know that and i see based on no acknowledgement by Happy and Co that they dont believe either you are Scoobie. . Said it would never be enough and im as right as they are wrong over your identity not being JJ Flash and vice versa. Some people just cant admit when they are wrong, worse still its just such a trivial matter which Happy and co want to continually bore people with. Carry on posting under whatever name you want , i cant stop you but obviously its upset the precious ones who were apparently shown the door from this site. I can feel another screenshot post coming up as a result of their constant visits to this site. Greg

Mrs Cubes rates the Crossmeister Big boots to fill with the depature of Mark Mac the Aussie foresure whom was great But one thing you cannot fake in life is passion.....and Matt Cross has it in spades....he loves the game and is passionate.....Cube Central says keep up the good work

I can confirm they are different people and their IP addresses are not even from the same area....must be a bit boring elsewhere JJ...its good they are talking about you my old boss always used to tell me....

Or some of the others 30 years behind

He is the king 30 years ahead of his time ?

The term “strain” simply describes how an ancestor descends in a pedigree.If you go to the pedigree sheet immediately above (the Staphanos/Black Minnaloushe) and take as a for instance Eight Thirty highlighted in Blue. You will see he is descending via a daughter in the top half of the pedigree, thus a female strain, and via a son (Bolero) in the bottom half, thus a male strain. Exactly the same principle applies for Craig an Eran, Bull Lea, Tredennis, and Artists Proof as highlighted. The answer to your second question is no. It is an order of magnitude more difficult to start with a broodmare and endeavour to work out what stallion may suit her, there is simply not enough data to work with (unless it is a recognised cross such as Deep Impact with Storm Cat mares where nature has done the hard work) Starting with a stallion, analyzing say his top ten racetrack performers, determining the “constant factors” in their pedigrees then sourcing a broodmare to suit is likely to be more rewarding. Essentially that is what this Deep Impact et-al post endeavours to do. It makes mating decisions somewhat easier when there is at least a little clarity around what lines we are looking for. Trust this helps, as always happy to answer any questions or queries.

The above analysis again demonstrates the breeding principle that stallions have one or more ancestors they are strongest too, and when mated with mares that carry the opposite strain get the best outcomes. This is the sole principle this analysis is based on. It is evident Deep Impact has met with considerable success when mated with Storm Cat mares. They provide the opposite strains of Bull Lea, Craig an Eran and Tredennis found in Deep Impact's pedigree. By way of example the dam of Staphanos appears to be free of these lines, so given what nature has shown us utilising them seems a logical proposition. A couple of random examples are attached to demonstrate how this might work. The "constant factors" identified in the tabulated pedigrees above are somewhat compelling and identify other lines that can be line bred to (other than Storm Cat) thus increasing the population of suitable mares. Trust this is of assistance to those breeding to race to shift the odds of success a little more in their favour, at the same time potentially enhancing the stallions own statistics.

Saturday's Toorak Hcp winner attached. Line breeding Deja vu?

Certainly the Minister for Racing that has done the most damage to the industry in the last couple of decades and is now putting the icing on that cake.