Tauhei Notts

Sheriff, You are wrong to malign Sir Henry Cecil. I see a degree of cunning about the man that would almost qualify him for indigenous species, if he was a New Zealander. I think the severe undulations in the Goodwood track would work wonders for Frankel, but put Black Caviar at a serious disadvantage, were they to meet in the Sussex Stakes.

This might be a cruel coincidence, but I think the last time Zabisco won a race, Postman's daughter got relegated. Am i correct?

I agree with Meomie that I can see little need for a convention centre of that size. Accordingly it would be dreadful if taxpayers' funds were used to fund such a venture. I would be laughing if the ratepayers of Jafaland were to fund it as it is what the Jafas deserve. But, and this is the beauty of it all, the taxpayers and the ratepayers will not be funding it; a publicly listed company will be funding it. That is what is perplexing to the Labour Party people. they are experts at spending taxpayers' funds. And what they cannot understand is why an outfit would fund something and not call upon the taxpayers for funding. Sky City obviously think it is a good move. Okay, the problem gamblers will have more machines on which to lose their dough. But I consider anybody silly enough to pour more than $200 into a poker machine in any one month, to be a person not worth worrying about. People must have the freedom to waste their money any way they like. But please do not come bleating to me. Personal responsibility. That is what is required. It took me several months to get over that $600 I dumped on the tote at Ellerslie 16 months ago. So I do love a bet. And I punt with some degree of personal responsibility, although some thin lipped Methodist wowsers would doubt that.

I hope this is not too far off topic, but consider this; The WORST runner in Saturday's AJC Sires Produce Stakes has higher stake earnings than all of the acceptors added together in the listed Great Northern Champagne Stakes at Ellerslie on the same day! The problem of N.Z. horse racing is becoming rather serious.

J.C. Tomkinson trained horses for a Dunedin man named Arthur N. Smith. Smith had Hush Money at my parents' farm and Tomkinson requested that the horses be prepared as if they were yearlings for the yearling sales. Then he would collect them at Trentham. Horses such as Hushaway, Shipmaster, Shipboard, Shipmate and Lincoln's Inn. I recall that Tomkinson spoke very quickly.

I saw his debut win today and was very impressed. It's April and occasionally you see a very good horse win as an autumn two year old. I think this fellow could be very good. No, I didn't back him as he looked a bit scratchy in his preliminary.

I think, and I want anybody who knows to tell me, that this year's Manawatu Sires Produce was the first group one race in New Zealand where all of the first four home were conceived in Australia.

Sheriff, Delete this if it is out of order. If I had paid the rider of the Roger James trained filly to lose the race I would have to give that jockey a bonus. He did that job with aplomb. My curiosity was aroused when I heard her odds drop from $4.20 to $3.20 in one fell swoop. It has been said that only two things smell like fish. Well, I think there is a third thing; namely that ride on Silent Achiever.

Thank you all for your help. My visitors were rather shocked by the destruction in Bexley. The Polish woman, who is an engineer specialising in environmental aspects was astounded by all we saw in Bexley. Although Polish, she was, until recently, employed in Athens, but a 40% salary drop for public servants like her has made her become a common housewife. Her husband, my brother in law, is an expert in Tv technical items. He had enjoyed working with the TVNZ crew during the 2004 Olympic Games. The Pole was interested to hear from a mate who was a district councillor. My mate advised that many years ago the Chch City Council refused planning consent for the Bexley subdivision, but that ruling was overturned by our Environmental Court. I suppose it was typical of the Greek who remarked; "how much did the developer pay the Environment Court officials?" Those Greeks have a cynicism about them that is based upon a lifetime of experiences. Once again, thank you for your suggestions. It is helpful comments like that, that make this a good blog site. For me; it was my first visit to the Garden City that did not include a visit to the Holy Grail. My heart goes out to those Cantabrians affected by the shakes. On a different note; how things change! Upon my return home from work the two from Athens, together with a visitor from Barcelona, were all on my balcony drinking my bubbly as each of them skyped their homes. I would hate to be a postcard salesman these days.

Thank you for your help. The Pole's son would dearly want to to do post graduate study at, in his words, the world's leading university in earthquake design; the Victoria University of Wellington. But they don't have the dough. Tough!

I have visitors coming from Greece and Poland. The Polish lady's son is studying at an advanced stage in earthquake resistant design. We will be in Chch on 13th March. Could any Racecafers suggest a good way to see the results of that awful quake. Please do not consider us to be deranged voyeurs. My visitors have read widely on the catastrophe and are eager to see with their own eyes what happened.

Damrak and Straight Strike; I have studied New Zealand history at length; the real stuff, not the sanitised stuff; What both of you write is inarguable; it is so correct. But no politician has the intestinal fortitude to do anything about it. That makes me worry for the future of my country.

The Guardian reports that a Leistershire horse trainer named John Harris faces suspension for racing a horse named Palestine Liberator. I can understand the head of the New Zealand Racing Board taking on a similar stance if anybody had the temerity to give a New Zealand horse that name.

Faye, You have your own tank. Water falls from the sky. It runs downhill and eventually to the sea. Would somebody please advise at what time that water acquires ownership by the Maoris. Faye has stored water in her tank. Does that stored water belong to the maoris? How much rent can Faye charge the maories for storing their water? Does the water that reaches the Waikato River belong to the maoris? What about that water that enters a tributary of the Waikato river? What about the water that enters, say, the Waipa River? Or the Waihou or Piako Rivers? Does the water in our irrigation dam belong to the maoris? But that water will be evaporated before it reaches any waterway! This whole thing is arrant nonsense as my questions set out above illustrate so clearly and succinctly.

Black Caviar. If she was to go against Frankel in the Queen Anne Stakes it would take place about 3.00 a.m. our time. This would rank above the F.A. Cup final. I sincerely hope that Trackside treat such a race, if it was to eventuate, with the respect that it deserves.

Ellerslie for CC REvisited was good. The crowd, at about 2500, was disappointing. Also, they should have opened the tunnel by the 700 metre peg, to allow the crowd to quickly disperse at the conclusion of the show.

Scooby3051 It is posts like your's that make this site worth visiting. Thank you. That 14.3% drop in the median is a worry. It is a big worry. If Scooby could repeat his effort for the Select Sale the figures would be intriguing.

I think Hororata was the last course to close.

Averages are for manipulating. The median price at The Sales is THE most significant statistic. If anybody has the median figures for the Premier and Select sales could they please post them on this site. It would be good if they could give the corresponding 2011 statistics.

John Eales, Michael Laws, Chris Trotter and their spouses. Eales because his nickname was Nobody. That is, because nobody is perfect. Laws because he is the only reason I buy the Sunday Star Times. Trotter because he is the most erudite left wing writer in the country by a country mile. I imagine that they would clean out my wine cellar and demolish my collection of liqueurs, but it would be a lot of fun; and hey, we are only here for a short time, as my geologist mate keeps telling me.

Possibly off topic but England's The Guardian has a bit about Paul Bittar; remember him? http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2012/jan/17/pa I hope I have got it right.

I have some concerns about Karaka 2012. I have studied the last two Saturday race results from Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. Apart from two by Pins there were no other winners conceived in New Zealand. That is a worry.

I looked at that race and thoughts of The Jewel came to me. Taking that decision into account I reckoned that the judge's placings would stand. Driefontein is not a New Zealand horse, however. Driefontein is named after a gold mine in the eastern Transvaal. A suitable name with stake earnings that it has earned.

Aquaman, Please correct me if I am wrong. I understand that Quinella take out rates are 14.7% on commingled pools and 21% on pools that are not commingled. Your erudite opinion would be appreciated.

For the first time since 1969 I do not have a financial interest in any racehorses. But I am still a punter. The best product the TAB have is fixed odds betting. I well recall my first visit to the bookies; November 1972 at Moonee Valley; the day Gough Whitlam won the election. I was hooked on the concept of fixed odds betting. But nowhere are the odds displayed for fixed odds betting. In an apologetic manner I approach tote operators and ask what is this one or that one paying. I like annoying bastards because they deserve it, but I dislike annoying tote staff with my requests as they have never ever done me any harm. If anybody on the NZRB was a keen punter they would immediately see that this is an intolerable situation. Next thing; show what percentage the fixed odds market is betting to. Be transparent. Show the exact situation. I can work it out myself, but not after I have had several bevvies. That is information that mad keen punters like me want to see. It will be argued that that sort of information will be beyond the knowledge level of the average N.Z. First Party voter. So be it. But for punters like me it is interesting information. The next thing is turnover figures. They exclude fixed odds bets placed on course. Club management make decisions based upon turnover figures. They cannot make informed decisions when that sort of statistic is withheld from them. At one meeting I found that 2.17% of the on course turnover was attributable to me. But then I found that fixed odds turnover was excluded from those published on course turnover figures, so my percentage was a bit less. I like the Victorian bookies who will bet "best fluctuation". I doubt whether we will ever see that here in N.Z. And the N.S.W. bookies who bet starting price guaranteed. We are not likely to see that here either. Without any competition in the fixed odds market our odds setters bet to a similar percentage when the tote opens; as to what they bet to when the race starts, whereas in Aussie the market percentage usually reduces the closer one gets to start time. To summarise; we need some keen punters on the NZRB.