Tauhei Notts

No, I have never ever been a jockey but I thought the rider of Trav taking the horse so wide at the turn was careless. That Trav was able to win after a ride like that means he is a hell of a lot better horse than I thought he was. But I am bit disturbed by the time they ran in The Cup. 12 seconds slower than my old hero Kotare Chief.

Those foal numbers are alarming. Many mares are raised on land well suited to dairy farming. With a dairy price of about $10.50 per kg milk solids the opportunity cost to breed a pacer has rocketed up. The principle of "opportunity cost" is difficult to explain, so I won't bother.

My only bet was $20win $80place Hakkinen at $61 and $12. I had seen him win at Matamata and thought he was an improving Savabeel horse. He only got fourth, but I thought Rory Hutchings ride was inch perfect. It is rare for me to praise a ride on a loser, but Rory Hutchings is a much better rider than I used to think he was. On that basis I cannot see Hakkinen being any sort of show in The Derby. I got a few bob off Oceana Dream on 1st February and was pleased, but I thought he was lucky to win. So I was surprised by his effort yesterday. The Avondale Guineas has been a great guide to The Derby, but I so liked Tuxedo at Te Rapa. Years ago I was at Flemington to see Rebel Raider beat the odds on favourite in the V.R.C. Derby. His grandson, Thedoctoroflove will be a chance. I do not like his name. Thedoctoroflove sounds like an abortionist.

A pity I wasn't at that Napier TAB. I have always enjoyed Stodge's comments on this site and I am certain he would be a wonderful gentleman to join for a pint or three.

Martin Stevens is England's best racing journalist. So I was surprised that he did not note that El Vencedor is out of a Sir Percy mare; Sir Percy having won The Derby.

Insider had a wonderful post at the end of Day One. Could you please post the statistics to the end of Day Three. I have spent 75 minutes searching on the unwieldly NZ Bloodstock for the statistics. Insider's help would be most appreciated.

An anonymous knowledgeable man told me that last week they had 250 horses run at the trials at Matamata with the rail out 16 metres. Today the rail was out 7 metres. When you are taking your horse wide you want to avoid that part of the track that had 250 horses gallop on it last week. Hence the jerk to the left.

My sympathy lies with the hard working Matamata committee. Racing was abandoned after Tempest Moon (Lily Sutherland) slipped where the stalls had been placed for the 2000 metre start. Poetic Justice, in a run from the back, went wide entering the home straight. From about 10th at the 700 metre peg he got within a head of the winner. Lily Sutherland followed Poetic Justice and, in the words of an elderly hugely experienced ex-trainer, Lily seemed to notice that she had taken her horse too wide and sort of jerked it to the left. The horse slipped, but then ran on okay for about sixth. I submit that the jockey correcting the horse's wide running caused the slip rather than an unsafe racing surface. A horse slipped so the Judicial Control Authority abandoned the race meeting. That is, in my opinion, the actions of spineless administrators. The course looked like a lovely emerald green ribbon amongst a burnt off environment. The sort of abandonment that destroys the enthusiasm of track staff who had worked so hard to present a great racing surface. But the down stream consequences are that next week is the great horse supermarket, that is, the Karaka Sales. "Tauhei, would you like a share in a couple promising yearlings we have bought?" "No thanks. If racing continues to be run by those numpties on the Judicial Control Authority we saw at Matamata today; I don't want any part of that game. Call me Billy, but don't call me silly." Breeding horses to sell is a hard game. The actions of the stewards at Matamata today make it even harder. Yesterday we saw the inauguration of a courageous man as president of the USA. Trump achieved more in the four hours after his inauguration than did that spineless prime minister of ours in the past 15 months. The stewards displayed as much backbone as our prime minister has shown.

I thought Doyle's ride on Wolfgang was brilliant.

No, I wasn't there today but it was a fascinating day's racing. Note how 5 of the 8 winners were sired by Australian bred stallions. Why do they have a trifecta pool AND a first four pool on races with four runners? Tale Of The Gypsy looked good at Te Aroha. An above average two year old but no champion. Put on a $30,000 1400 maiden and only get 9 runners. South Island trainers would look on in dismay. I am beginning to have a lot of respect for Checkmate. Hakkinen, who looked so good at Matamata; is he another "paper tiger"? That Hasstobeawinner is getting better as he ages. Some of the Vadamos stock are like that.

Racingoutsider - many thanks for your help. I read widely on foreign armed conflicts. I had seen RPG on the NZTR site and thought it was Rocket Propelled Grenade. I erroneously thought that on the NZTR site an RPG would be a suppository for Butch Castles.

After 25 minutes of ploughing my way through the labyrinthine NZTR website I still have no idea what a Special Conditions race is. If any of you could help it would be most appreciated.

My nom de plume is from a cricket club I used to play for. I think your mathematics teacher gave you your nom de plume.

Possibly off topic but I note that the Odds Boost in M2R1 is set to a 106.7% market. I am wondering how the TAB can cover their big big overhead expenses on such a skinny margin.

Making the bars eftpos only has taken me a bit of getting used to. And using a deposit slip I only use cash at the start of the day and the end of the day. I saw John Thompson of Rich HIll Stud just before the big mile race. Then I cheered for Arby in the 2400 metre race. Had he got up (beaten a neck) the result for Rich Hill stallions would have been unprecedented. Four group races won by the offspring of Satono Alladin, Vadamos and Proisir; all from his farm. I left before he last race and apologise to those people who heard me, whilst I was on the motorway, beep the horn a bit too long after Chateau Vallee got me out of the hole I had dug for myself.