jimsmith

Beep. Wrong. Correct answer is that Chris Cairns was one of the biggest names in World Sport and had a huge profile. When a man like Lolit Modi accuses you of being a liar and a cheat on a public forum millions of people will know about it well before any court challenge is confirmed. If the target had been Fred Smith for example Modi had accused it would have long since been forgotten. Modi very deliberately put Cairns in a position where he either say nothing and have the world accept the accusation must be true and correct or challenge it and have even more people watch what happens next. We must also allow for the possibility Chris Cairns was in fact innocent as well as not guilty. For the record Cairns didn't try and sue Modi. He successfully sued him. That in it's self is huge. Today's not guilty verdict is even bigger. I accept there are those out there who will always believe Chris Cairns is guilty and feel the "trial" was fair and reasonable and all about justice. As we know there are also people out there who also believe in the tooth fairy. These are my last words on the topic. It's also my final contribution to Racecafe. I'm an opinionated man happy to share my perspective and have it challenged. I've just found it unrewarding to contribute over the last few weeks and even more so recently. I will however continue enjoying reading the input of many others. Won't miss the cheap shots and passive aggressive bullshit from the online brave souls. I have a modest business to run that is getting busier and busier and need to get on and look after that. Cheers

Lalit Modi put out there that Cairns was a liar and a cheat. He had to do something. Sitting on your hands when someone does that to a high profile person is exactly the same as accepting the allegations are true and correct. Cairns was stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea. He had to act

Best not to confuse how many people read the tweet with how many people knew about the tweet. There will be only a few million difference.

I disagree Uriah. Tens of thousands of people read what Lalit Modi put out there about Cairns being a liar and a cheat. He had to do something. Sitting on your hands when someone does that to a high profile person is exactly the same as accepting the allegations are true and correct. That wouldn't have been quickly forgotten as you say at all. Cairns was stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea. He had to act. Who said he wanted to be a Sky Cricket commentator? Better than cleaning Auckland bus shelters for $20 an hour but why would he want to be involved in Cricket at any level after good mates and colleagues turned on him and his family? I wouldn't blame him one bit if he instead took up any career outside of cricket.

You're onto it Robert. Some perspective is always helpful.

Only for the judgmental finger pointers out there with a brain smaller than a sultana.

I have never said Chris Cairns was innocent of what he was charged with and will never say that. He was however found "NOT GUILTY" by two courts and two jury's. As we all know there can be a grand canyon of a gap between being not guilty and being innocent. Just ask Orenthal James Simpson. I do however allow for the possibility that Chris Cairns was actually innocent as well as not guilty. This trail only needed a basket of burning cats to complete the whole picture. As Admin points out you have one of the richest most powerful men in World Sport Lalit Modi unable despite all his focus and resources to achieve his main 2015 goal of convicting Auckland bus shelter cleaner Chris Cairns. That is also despite having NZ Sporting legend Brendon McCullum giving evidence for the prosecution. The difference in this trail came down to one man and he wasn't a lawyer. It was Lou Vincent. I've met Vincent numerous times over the years and got to know him well while he was dating a friend of ours "Jeneene". Her father Gerard a long time family friend. Only those who know Jeneene and or Lou Vincent know about that relationship. Love is the child of freedom etc etc. At least some will get the reference. I will add to that by stating I met none other than Mick Guerin through the same connection. That is not meant as a slur on Guerin. He just happened to be a good friend of Jeneene's ex who topped himself. Mick you know how I'm referring to. Our friend from the Balkans who you were a pallbearer for. Lou Vincent is a human worm. I wouldn't trust him with looking after a pet hamster for the afternoon let alone be the key witness in the most high profile court case on the world stage in 2015.

Well said 2Admin2

As this thread stated "Guilty until proven innocent" The trial went longer than most high profile murder trials and received even more media attention. In these P.C days you can't do this or that because of privacy laws etc etc etc etc but you can legally utterly destroy a mans reputation and just pass it off as "news". The only thing missing from this farcical trial was a basket of burning cats.

Chris Cairns overcomes pain to walk away a free man after not guilty verdict. A floppy-haired match-winner on the cricket field, in retirement Chris Cairns has proved unbeatable in court, even if personal pain and financial injury have blighted his latest achievement. Cairns, 45, emerged from the dowdy Southwark Crown Court on Monday morning (local time) a free man, not guilty of having lied under oath in his previous London court outing, his 2012 libel trial win against wealthy Indian businessman Lalit Modi. Modi had in 2010 tweeted Cairns had been excluded from the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction due to his "past record of match fixing". Cairns, who had no record of match fixing, took legal action. Having slogged Modi out of the park, Cairns was able to keep the might of the British Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) from knocking over his stumps, when it alleged his statement in court that he had "never" cheated at cricket was a lie. He was not guilty of perjury, nor of perverting the course of justice by seeking a false witness statement from confessed match-fixer Lou Vincent. The trial win came at a high cost for the cricketer though, who speaking from the courthouse steps afterwards, described his reputation as "scorched and burnt". The son of Kiwi cricket folk hero Lance Cairns, an outlandishly talented player with bat and ball, a square-jawed chiselled adonis, he will have no criminal black mark against his name, yet mud slung and his efforts to wash it away have taken a toll. In a trial lasting nearly two months, the investigative might of the Metropolitan Police and the persuasive power of the CPS were unable to convince the jury Cairns was a cricket cheat and, thus, a liar under oath. Cairns sat in a glass box dock week-in, week-out as late summer turned to early winter, watching his old cricketing friends come and go, each casting shadows on his innocence. Outside court he ran the gauntlet of news and television cameras at both ends of the day. Cricket stars aligned against him - one New Zealand captain in Brendon McCullum, another in Daniel Vettori, former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting, New Zealand cricket boss David White, and former Black Caps Shane Bond, Kyle Mills, Andre Adams, Chris Harris and Lou Vincent. All were prosecution witnesses. Crowds came to court to see the show, with Kiwis on OE or in London for the Rugby World Cup spilling out of the public gallery into the already crowded press box, where journalists from New Zealand and Britain sat with typing fingers poised. McCullum was a popular draw card, so was Ponting. So was Cairns. He could still draw a crowd. The morning he was due to testify there was a queue outside the courtroom, featuring more jandals, board shorts, silver ferns and dodgy haircuts than Southwark Crown Court had seen since it started dispensing justice in 1983. In the end, the jury of seven women and five men did not accept the case against Cairns, so he walked from court free, but into the remnants of a life that once had him standing atop the world, celebrated across the globe as one of the best all-rounders to play the game. Now a civil suit looms, as Modi seeks his money back, revenge and to save face. As a cricketer, Cairns was often really something special. A short single over 15 years ago he was celebrating smashing New Zealand to its only International Cricket Council (ICC) one-day world title, with an outlandish century against India in Nairobi. A report of the game on Cricinfo carries the headline 'Magnificent Cairns steers New Zealand to great triumph'. He hit 102 not out to haul the Black Caps to victory with just two balls left, after India dominated the first 25 overs of each innings. It remains New Zealand's only world title. He was put on a high pedestal; cricket Bible Wisden named him one of five players of 2000. Across the Thames from Southwark, at the majestic Lord's cricket ground the name C L Cairns is written on the honours board, for a startling first innings bowling display that in 1999 set up New Zealand victory over England inside four days. Cairns took 6-77 against England at Lord's to earn the right to be on a glittering list of honours board names at the world's most revered cricket ground - you need five wickets in an innings, 10 in a test, or a century. Among those alongside Cairns on the wall; G L McGrath (Australia), A A Donald (South Africa) and R J Hadlee (New Zealand). Again, Cairns was writ large in the match summary of a game New Zealand won by nine wickets. "Cairns was a revelation, unveiling a slower ball, learned from former Nottinghamshire colleague Franklyn Stephenson, that dipped viciously to cause panic among the home batsmen," Cricinfo archives recall. "His dismissal of 20-year-old Read was the most spectacular, not to say embarrassing: Read attempted to duck what turned out to be a yorker, and fell away as he was bowled." His test career would end in 2004 with 3320 test runs with a best of 158, 218 test wickets, 13 five wicket bags, and one 10 wicket haul. In one-day internationals he had 4950 runs with a top score of 115, and 201 wickets, when he put his bat in the cupboard in 2004. Injuries saw him miss 55 tests, with his record in his abbreviated career as good as great all-rounders such as England's Ian Botham. He developed from a young rebel to a senior statesman in the Black Caps, captaining the side seven times. He was only the sixth man to reach the double of 200 wickets and 3000, though oft criticised for too rarely playing as he did in Nairobi and at Lord's. But statistics don't show what kind of player he was. Cairns was a draw card, a player who made things happen. He may have quibbled in the trial about his former cricket mates calling him "icon" and "hero", saying they were over-egging it, but to many young cricket fans that's what he was. Cairns is now off the pedestal. He has lost cricket-related jobs, and seen cricket-related dreams - TV commentating, a cricket academy, an X-Factor style television show among them - at very least, on hold. While awaiting trial he was reportedly cleaning bus shelters in Auckland, working for less than $20 an hour. He had to borrow money to fight Modi in court. He was on legal aid for the perjury trial, fighting a battle during which he appeared at times stressed and upset. He wept four times, three times in the witness box, once in the dock. He has been away from his wife and small children for months. He had trouble getting people to testify on his behalf, both at the libel hearing and in the perjury trial. No one wanted to be linked with match fixing, with Cairns telling the court he'd become "rather toxic". He had good reason to feel more stressed by this case than when he stared down Modi - perjury carries a maximum sentence of life in jail, while perverting the course of justice bears a maximum of life. In the Modi hearing no such cell-oriented risk existed. Some evidence heard seemed more suited to a James Bond movie, than a cricket cheating trial; Vincent went to a hotel room to inspect cricket bats and found himself inspecting a semi-naked woman instead. Later, he admitted he'd done more than just scrutinise. Blackmail allegations, diamond deals, lies to authorities, drunken conversations, bags of money picked up in industrial Birmingham, the Manchester underworld, depression, cricket teams both trying to lose, threats of violence with a cricket bat, broken marriages, unpaid debts, and sneakily recorded Skype conversations were lobbed up. All were made for scandalous headlines, yet in the end proved peripheral to the real issue; could Crown key witnesses Vincent, McCullum and Ellie Riley - the ex-wife of Vincent - and Crown Prosecutor Sasha Wass, QC, persuade the jury Cairns was guilty of lying under oath? In three fraught days in the witness box punctuated with two breaks to recompose, Vincent told the jury Cairns employed to him to fix games for the Chandigarh Lions in the 2008 Indian Cricket League (ICL). His role was to score 10 to 15 runs off 20 balls, then get out. He also reeled off so many "I don't recall" answers, he could have hit a century of them. In his shorter stay at the crease, McCullum said Cairns in 2008 twice tried to line him up as a fixer, once in India, where he was in the Indian Premier League (IPL), and again in England. Riley told the court Cairns had reassured her on a night out in 2008 the fixers would never get caught. Six other witnesses said either Vincent or McCullum had talked to them about Cairns. Defence lawyer Orlando Pownall, QC, painted Vincent as a self-confessed liar and cheat out to save his own skin by setting up Cairns. Vincent should have been jailed for corruption, fraud, money laundering and bribery in England, Pownall said. Cairns had never paid him a "penny piece", but Indian bookie Varun Gandhi had. It wasn't disputed that McCullum met Cairns twice in 2008, but over the years he had turned those meetings into approaches to cheat, when they never were. And Riley? She was "in drink" and emotional on the night she said she talked to Cairns. After all the legal jousting the attack, and counter-attack, the final decision was referred to the 12-person panel of third umpires, sitting in the jury room. After deliberating for 10 hours and 17 minutes, they ruled Cairns not out.

Bloody hilarious fella's. Give yourself a huge rap. The guy has had everything to do with himself dragged through the mud while under the considerable spotlight of world media attention and scrutiny. He's been pursued with more vigor than some murderers and terrorists have been pursued. Why? For Justice? In a pigs ear. That trial was 100% all about revenge. The revenge of a very wealthy Indian gentleman who hates losing as much as the rest of us hate being devoid of oxygen. Every aspect of that trial was farcical and centered around the highly dubious and farcically named Indian Premier League where punters would sell their own mother to have a few thousand rupee's on someone being stumped on the third ball of the ninth over or someone else being run out after scoring between 6 and 11 runs. It's a bloody joke. Nothing whatsoever to do with sport. Everything to do with everyone involved trying to score money out of the game. In that climate some went too far. Did Chris Cairns? Two courts and two jury's have said NO. So now he can finally breath again despite his reputation being utterly destroyed. I hope he can move on and all this bullshit negative focus on him can be redirected to arseholes who strap explosives to themselves and walk into Cafe's full of innocent men,woman and children and yell out ALLAHU AKBAR and then pull the plug on their own worthless arse while killing a dozen beautiful people in a heartbeat...or those who molest and murder children for their own pleasure etc etc. How cool would it be to actually have perspective? If Chris Cairns was guilty then he's more than paid the price in this witch hunt trial that was 100% motivated by pure revenge of a very powerful man. The courts however have decided he was NOT GUILTY. I hope he can rebuild his life and somehow find a way to put all of this bullshit behind him. I sincerely wish him well. Meanwhile corruption and rorts will continue daily in the .I.P.L exactly as if nothing happened. The same will happen across almost every sport on the planet. Horse and dog racing will continue on with it's rorts while people high up in their Ivory Tower will look down their noses at Chris Cairns and bravely throw their fluff at him. What was that little phrase the carpenters son said: "He who is without sin,cast the first stone" or similar?

Many punters are cold in this years Inter Dominion. I don't blame them. That is until all my homework pointed to one horse and it's not Lennytheshark. Waylade will be the boom horse in this series. By the time the final is run I wouldn't be surprised to see him start at less than $2.80. That makes the $8 he's at now VERY attractive. Not as attractive as it was several weeks ago but still very attractive all the same. I strongly suggest you get on board and enjoy the ride. Arden Rooney was excellent value a couple of weeks out from the NZ Cup. Waylade has exactly the same flashing lights,bells and whistles going off to my eye.

You dislike Harness but feel compelled to come onto a harness thread and bleat about false starts holding up yet another dog race. One of hundreds they have every day. I can't stand dog racing regardless of how good you think it is. It should have it's own channel so it does not impact on the other codes. I find it impossible to watch a dog race without thinking about things like live baiting etc etc. I'd bet on hippo racing before dog racing. Well done for making a dollar off dog racing. Good for you. Anyone who bets on every race on Trackside regardless of code will lose but what has that got to do with anything? I also dislike meetings like Albion Park low grade as it's invariably suspect in one way or another but that does not reflect on the premier product of harness racing. I appreciate you'd rather go straight to the next dog race rather than watch an owner celebrate but not everyone feels that way. If it's just another race then move right along but if it's a major race I believe pausing for a breath to see jubilant owners celebrating winning the Melbourne Cup, NZ Cup,Auckland Cup,Golden Slipper etc is good for the game. I find the revolving door of races on Trackside a total turn off. No appeal whatsoever to me but I appreciate the bewildered and or compulsive gamblers will keep having a go on the next race to go. You will see the same sort of punters at Sky City playing the one arm bandits. Getting back to the subject matter. Are the TAB and Trackside encouraging punters into their shops at this time when those shops have empty shelves?

Hypothetical situation. You own and run a business. You've just run a multi million dollar advertising campaign. Your stock is flying off the shelves and you're noticing lots of new customers as a result of your successful advertising campaign. You well appreciate that half the battle is just getting customers to walk in your front door. What would you do : 1) Invest in your business,make sure you have enough stock,stimulate your customers and keep them coming back,keep the momentum going forward? or 2) Sit on your hands? We've just had a very successful cup week. There will be a few newbies wanting to carry on their new found interest in harness racing. There will be a lot of fringe punters looking to rekindle their interest some more after being woken from their slumber in cup week. Then we have seasoned punters who enjoyed cup week very much and are not ready to put their cue back in the rack. I generally only bet on the big race days but am known to be tempted outside of that. I was going to top up my account and have a nibble today. I changed my mind. What a load of crap going round. First off we have four pathetic harness races from Yonkers in New York. Very poor quality races. There are numerous runners aged 12 and 13. These are often veterans that couldn't keep up anymore in 3k races at Redcliffe etc. I wouldn't bet on these races on principal but the fact is the meeting has 12 races yet the NZ TAB are only allowing betting on 4 so they don't clash with the 40 million dog races there are today over Australasia. If you are going to cover a meeting and encourage Harness punters to have a go why restrict it to 4 poxy races? Is the NZ TAB encouraging NZ punters to bet offshore? It's like they are saying "here's four races to enjoy. If you did enjoy them and made a dollar you will have to open an offshore account to bet on the other 8 races". NSW TAB covering all 12. I enjoy quality United States Harness Racing but when do we ever see any of that on the NZ Racing TV channel? NZ punters could be forgiven for thinking the only races they have in the States are for 13 year old has beens at Yonkers. So I look closer to home. Not remotely interested in dog racing. I'd have more interest in betting on camel or hippo racing. I see there is a Wagga harness racing meeting. Racing for 3k stakes. Similar arrangement at Albion Park. No thanks. If the horse is any good it will only race in those kinds of races to get it ready for something more meaningful. Can't bet into that with confidence. If the horse is only a battler who warrants racing for 3k then no appeal there. Seems to me that the NZ TAB have encouraged / invited all sorts of customers into their empty shop. The percentage of customers that will return to a shop that had empty shelves the last time they visited must be very low. What's that saying? Good looks will get you in the door...but they won't keep you in the room.

Invariably it's easy to make a case for any horse after it wins. I believe punter ignorance was not the reason Prince Of Penzance was at 100-1. In some races 100-1 reflects a horse most expect to finish last or close to it. In other races such as the Melbourne Cup 100-1 only reflects order of favoritism. People right across the board believe you can make a stronger case for other runners. That's not "punter ignorance". Easy to be wise after the event. That aside there is already more than enough "them and us" in the game without encouraging more.. I'm not an ignorant punter and I personally put numerous horses ahead of P.O.P in this years M.C. The weight of money on those strong fancies must result in other horses who are realistic hopes starting at odds such as 100-1. I believe this years Cup was not a great cup and also believe more people have been turned off the event in the last two years than turned on to it. That won't stop it being a huge event in 2016 due to it's importance and the hype. Truth is you could have people lining up at the TAB to bet on an egg and spoon race if you hype it up enough to the point people believe they have pointy shaped heads if they don't get involved in the race. In 2014 we saw the demise of two wonderful horses. The Japanese horse Admire Rakti who started fav but died shortly after the race. It wasn't enough that the horse was never a winning hope in the home straight but it then dies. Most novice punters are not philosophical about such things. They just watched many others get excited about the finish while they stood there wondering why they had a once a year bet. Then you have the grand stayer Araldo taking fright and breaking it's leg shortly after the race. Most people admire horses. They see them as noble majestic animals. They don't like supporting a sport that results in horses dying. Many still lined up for another crack at picking the winner this year. Many picked the clear fav Fame Game. So much hype about this horse prior to the running yet was never a winning chance at any point in the race. Many selected Red Cadeaux due to the known factors of it's history in the race. With so many question marks over other runners at least with Red Cadeaux you had a horse that will likely be there abouts. Instead the brave warrior Red Cadeaux is unplaced and pays the ultimate price. All of us seasoned punters understand this is just a most unfortunate aspect of a sport we love so we turn the page. I sincerely believe many novice punters along with a few others will not turn the page. They will just ignore all the hype in next years cup as the negatives for them outweigh the positives. From that aspect alone this years M.C was not a great race.

I think you could be being hard on yourself. Not all your posts are ridiculous.

bellend 1. The head of the penis, being vaguely bell shaped. Like a mushroom head. 2. A complete idiot. Does that answer your question?

Funny how at times some people say things that later come back and bite them on the arse and highlight what a complete bell end they are. Harness Racing needs really good horses and Hughie Green is certainly one of them. Yes he failed in the big Group One on Cup day in 2014 but he'd come a long way in a short time and was quickly forgiven by all those with a brain bigger than a sultana. He may not be as good as Have Faith In Me but very few are. He does not need a soft run to show his best. He's only going to get better. I will enjoy his every start regardless of what know it all knobs say.

JOHNRYAN / johnevans is well off the mark. You rightly should be extremely proud of your boy. He's a live chance in the Auckland Cup without a shadow of a doubt. clear second fav to my eye. I was on track to see his resumption last night and I can tell you that was as impressive a racetrack resumption as I've seen at the park in many a long year. Hughie and your other beauty T.O.A have been the two age group / sex horses that have given the All Stars the biggest concerns. I've nailed just about every Auckland Cup winner since Bolton Byrd in 76 barring Flight South in 2000. Impossible not to be mightily impressed by Have Faith In Me but if you give this boy have a sniff H.F.I.M will know he's there for 100% certain. I was genuinely delighted to see him win the way he did last night. You're in for a very exciting season. I look forward with baited breath to some epic battles. Sincere congrats.

This may well be a sincere offer of shares realistically priced but it has a very familiar ring to it that reminds me of many of the rorts offered to unsuspecting mugs in the 80's. I wonder how many of those mugs were lost to the game? First thing they did was grossly overstate the value of the horse in question. Then they would leave out crucial information regarding the percentage the major shareholder / trainer retains. You could well have a situation where 50% of the horse is retained and the other 50% offered to mugs for say 25k = a total value placed on the horse of 50k. The syndicator invariably and very deliberately kept their descriptions etc of the horse in question very brief to avoid being exposed. Is this horse here even a gelding of mare? Another big part of the rort involved grossly inflating monthly training fees. The next part was to mislead the mugs that bought in with glowing reports from the training track ensuring the mugs stayed with the ship for as long as possible. Perhaps the horse in question is the very promising mare Nicole Vaidisova :)

I prefer Ted's old quote...that's Teddy Theodore Roosevelt. "Speak softly and carry a big stick"

Recently we were told about a high profile actor who couldn't be named who was H.I.V Positive. Immediately you start to wonder who it could be. Then they let out a huge clue. They said the man himself had slept with many woman knowing he had H.I.V and was concerned some of those woman may sue him. Straight away it could only be Charlie Sheen. No mention at all of real concern for all these woman who have had their life destroyed by his diabolically selfish actions. Even now his only concern is being sued. What a total arsehole. He should have every $$ he has taken off him and distributed to all his many victims. Then he should be sent to prison for the rest of his worthless life. Others in the world have been sent to prison for the rest of their life for knowingly infecting woman with H.I.V. It's an incredibly selfish act that in my opinion warrants a penalty equivalent to the one you'd get for willfully and deliberately poisoning people. End of rant.

Would be interested in peoples thoughts on the two big Group One's on Show Day tomorrow. I still don't believe Stent is at his best over two miles but he's clearly the best horse and at the top of his game,driven by a master who is also in great form. Hard to see him getting rolled. Bit nervous about his run in the race last year. Smoked his pipe with cover and then hit the lead turning in and then found diddly. He's come a long way since then so clearly on top. I believe the bookies have got it wrong with the 21 and 5 they are offering for Alley Way. He ran awful at Kaikoura but they have very obviously put a lot into him since then. His run behind Monbet on Cup Day was superb. You know about trotters in form. At $5 fixed for a place he is a great bet. Habibti was reported as not being at her best on Cup Day but also ran a slashing race behind Monbet for third. They are my three. The FFA is a fascinating race. As we know the Cup winner invariably goes on and wins the FFA. Can't see that happening this year. Arden Rooney is the perfect lay for Show Day. I think Kerryn found the bottom of the horse in the Cup and simply hasn't had long enough to recover for my money. That aside the distance does not suit and he has a poor draw. I don't have it in the first 4. Sky Major from the ace must be very hard to beat. Just not certain if his failure in the Cup was 100% due to the race pattern and tyre issue. If it was then he could win this. He will however need to be at his very best as Smolda is at the top of his game. Easy to see Mark getting a nice run and then dealing to them. Smolda is my clear top pick. Stablemate Messini looks a good place bet. Tiger Tara must be jumping out of his skin. Would not be surprised to see him run a bottler. Can't see Franco Nelson getting close from his draw but would love to see him prove me wrong. What say you?