....

There were clearly inconsistencies in the track last year on an extremely Heavy track and that meeting went ahead and was completed. Is it purely a case now of Health and Safety being so paramount that this will become the norm?, Kumara would have to be odds on to be abandoned now, they had 67mls of rain and there is more forecast and we know what kind of shape that track is in, was abandoned last year.

Thanks for that, Would think tracks would be Soft at best for Hokitika and Kumara?, love the West Coast circuit racing

Look's like the rain has turned up!

There is a nice 3YO $1 Million Dollar mile race coming up for Eligible 3yos

Talented colt that is only going to get better as the distances increase, bred to get over a trip on the dam side and by the right sire when looking towards Guineas/Derby races

Still tough going, cant believe Bloomsbury didnt achieve more in that time

9 years of breeding without getting a blacktype horse!, geez they were doing it tough. The two Group horses by 2 great stallions in Zabeel and Montjeu!, interesting reading though Berri, thanks for explanation

Correct, thanks for that. Have rightfully taken the Thorndon away from the nothing Saturday and added it to the middle day were it used to belong.

I know that you are a fan/lover of trentham but isnt it suited to the condensed 2 day carnival?, the last day this year with the Thorndon was very average and only poorly attended (shocking for a G1 day) and the poor track was tired (trentham shoudnt have picked up that extra date from AWapuni in early jan?) 2 great saturdays has to suit doesnt it? Instead of a spread out 3 saturdays?, it was great with 2 saturdays and the public day monday though to be fair IMO

And this race was always going to be slowly run and she was in the perfect spot, stables tactics worked for this race, i dont get your point? Of course horses when settled back can finish faster! They have done less work SImply on the day she wasnt good enough to beat Paddy, he wanted it more, she was given every chance possible, tactics right (and she performs that way), she ran great but didnt win, WFA racing in NZ you would love to be an on pacer why would you change!

Wheres the replay of Cal Isuzu? I find it very difficult to believe in retrospect that anyone could think that she was in the wrong spot to win this race (am talking solely this race) You would have to say tactics wise last two starts they have had it right (and thats the point i have made!) have suited being right on pace especially in a farcically run Zabeel (always looked a slowish pace on paper and the stable agreed with that) could have settled back worse of midfield and battled on for a 5th or 6th cause thats all she would have done of you would have preferred that? She may have more turn of foot when settled off pace and could even be better and im not disputing this, but she can win good group races being right on pace! at least she has been given her opportunity by being on speed these last two, especially after being a victim of being back in the field and unlucky early in her melbourne prep.

I thought she was great winning a G2 the same way, the way the race was run she was in the right spot but not good enough on the day. Stable are keen on her being handy but you are entitled to their opinion. Why woudnt you want to be handy the way most Group races are run in NZ?

Ridden upside down? Didnt she win the Cal Isuzu the same way and was stated that she was always going forward?. if you werent handy it was inpossible to make ground in that race!, run so slow! How the track played that bad was due to how much water was put on the track, disapointing and a lot of horses werent at their best on that.

Now he has!, full credit on the ride to Trudy she stole it! And paddy was good enough to make the most of it! Pedestrian run race

He looks like his progeny require a bit of time/a staying type of stallion and is making progress, but with the numbers and the quality of mares he has served he has only made a fair start you would suggest in comparison to other first/second season stallions. Hopefully does make it and is still a good chance, but plenty of work to do going by these stats. 39 Runners for 13 winners. 1 Listed winner and 1 Listed placed horse.

$11,000 Included in the 6 winners are 3 Listed winners. Amazing start will be interesting whether he can follow through with it, his best race form himself was as a 6yo!

Not sure on the exact make up of the new ownership but Berkley Stud have retained an ownership interest in the stallion.

Interesting news coming through that Highly Recommended is re-locating to Cambridge Stud after 4 seasons in the South Island at Berkley Stud, The Berkley Stud team did a great job with him and managed to secure books of 100 mares or more each of his seasons. Has made a great start to his stud career (off limited quality mares as a cheap stallion) with 8 winners from 21 runners to race including 2 stakes winners and another 2 stakes place getters. Will be interesting to follow his progress, profiles very similar to Burgundy and from the same dominant sire line so will now be in direct competition against each other. Big loss to the South Island stallion ranks

There is much more to this story and Waikato Racing Club (Steeds and Melodies) have been very quick to try and lay all of the blame with the current caterers. Was only 6-12 months ago that the contract they had with Hamiton Caterers was the reason the club’s ‘bottom line’ wasnt what it should have been. Simply and purely this is not just a Wild Tribe issue.

Sums up Waikato Racing Club doesnt it, i cant believe the way that statement/apology/whatever it is has been written. No ownership, no leadership and no idea

The club know how the venue is being set up, they decided after the ‘Steeds and Melodies Party Zone’ was ‘sold out’ to re-open and sell more tickets. There were major problems right across the whole course, members , level 1, level 3, GA, corporate. Not isolated to 1 party zone, a total disaster and if the club was serious some heads should roll, have heard that the caterers are considering quitting the Te Rapa contract, which is fair enough why would you want to work for a company like that and that have purely blamed you. Mickey Mouse outfit!

Waikato Racing Club have thrown the caterers under the bus. This is the new caterers that “they” employed. Have also done it not under their official label but under Steeds and Melodies, look up Steeds and Melodies (which is Waikato Racing Club) and see what they have put up, beyond belief and totally trying to put all blame on caterers, Te Rapa are the ones in charge and they are responsible for their events they put on and who they employ.

He needs to go is an embarrasment and frankly the lady in charge is dis-interested in the things/basics that really matter. Board are dysfunctional and they cant blame the caterers this year, have a look at some of the messages on Te Rapa’s facebook page, not good reports. A lot of the new young race-goers wont be back as a result of how saturday went, and that is extremely sad.

Good to hear as Te Rapa was an absolute disaster, Not even a massive crowd or much different to other years but nearly impossible to first of all get a drink, massive wait on any ordered food, luch coming out after 3pm in many of the functions on course, alcohol ran out and then they served warm beer, tap beer was out of action from the start. Massively disappointing, Te Rapa..they just cant get it right

The concept isnt the issue at all just the choice of the strange patterned colours, good basic contrasting colours would have made tmuch more user friendly, Ellerslie may have tryed to get a bit fancy on it.