La Zip

It's tough here for youngies Puha, I wouldn't be a 20 something for all the tea in China........at least here in Bizvegas houses are affordable, and it's always warm.

Puha, why doesn't your son leave Brizzie and head to Sydney? to Mr Waller, he's on the Coast as well.......most of his staff are Kiwi's...or Indian's on special visas, he pays well above the award, and your son will never lose his accent.

What? just like Auckland Barry, or have you not been there recently? My heritage is Italian, we here in Oz enjoy the integration of many nationalities, and the country has benefited by migration, Kiwi's are pro-rata the highest inhibitors of our Prisons, but on the other hand grand contributors also......My husband was born in NZ, and is very happy to be one of the 700K that live here, but most of the Kiwi's we know here don't whinge, they know where their bread is buttered. My time in NZ was shaded by various social issues that saddened me. I couldn't believe the disparity between rich and poor ....and the levels of obesity in my country town were something I had never seen previously, obviously as the cost of fresh food is beyond the pale. And racism - a lovely Maori guy at our track was treated appallingly but that was only the tip, I have never seen racism on a scale that I witnessed in our town, we have it here but nowhere near as blatant and vicious as what I saw......but most of all, it was the lack of accountability....truly breathtaking...in every walk of life, not only racing. I'm not sorry to tell it how it is, because, that's how it is.

No I don't hold a trainers license LJ...but my husband did. A licensed trainer at Flemington and Rosehill....but as I said, we trained for a rails bookmaker and a leading lawyer who was a also a director of one of the biggest stud farms in NZ. They were very large punters(up to $100K per bet) ....and whilst we always kept our owners counsel, respected their privacy and never divulged to any what the other's horse was doing. On Numerous occasions we were approached by "colourful racing identities" for the inside info as we were a well known punting stable and the answer was always the same - none of your business If there was a "plunge" that was not from the stable, it in most cases can originate from a track rider or the clocker at the track....and in today's age of video and NZ trainers obsession with trialling, there is any amount of ways that someone "stole" the odds.... Perhaps the NZ Trainers Association should be upset with your comments and your insinuations concerning trainers integrity....

I've read some absolute rubbish in my time but this takes the cake, you don't have a gambling culture, unlike, Britain, Ireland, Australia and USA....just to name a few, hence you are up the creek, racing was established on the Newmarket Heath by King James, starting out as sweepstakes so he could usurp his fellow racing aficionados, therefore creating the industry and sport we know today.....I'm sorry Woodville's going, it;'s a great track and champions came from there to Australia like Darryl's Joy, Classic Mission, Triton, and many many more, but to say gambling is a demon and that's what you're saying is laughable......since God's dog chased a stick trainers will covert or divulge information, so too stable boys and jockeys, you obviously have felt hard done by Mr Shannon, but my Dad was a bookmaker and we trained for one of the biggest rails bookies in Victoria, they're your opinions and you are entitled to them, as I am in defending the gambling arm of our industry, and after all, getting up at 3-30am has to have some rewards financially......we kept our info close to our chests, but sometimes the trackman or the boy/s girl's would let the cat out of the bag......don't throw all trainers under the bus Mr Shannon.

Ok, let's get your attention. Gaol Time.......yes, I'm not kidding, if we are at all serious about the Messara Report then surely after reading and hearing about the figures being bandied about, eg, the value placed on NZ TAB by relative parties, compared to the value placed on it by TAB CORP....we need to look firstly at the years gone by, the massive losses the TAB has gone through, the massive, out of control costs incurred by NZRB/NZTR, and the misleading, inaccurate and fanciful forward projections released by NZTR/NZRB since 2011. Surely, there needs to be a forensic investigation into how the budgets were audited/approved/released. These were based on what? Who signed off on these figures? and what accounting firm put their names to the audit sheets? ....if any? Who in fact authorised the loan, the borrowing against cash reserves? The magic word here is who.....you see it leads to accountability! So far we have had no resignations, surely under the NZ companies and associations statute you have a compliance code? surely? I as a business owner cannot release to the public a knowingly misleading document relating to my business and it's future path, not it's solvency, to that I have to have my auditors sign off and authenticate my statements. By it's very actions, NZRB has placed it's support behind Mr Messara and Mr Peters, Mr Jackson has agreed to the recommendations, therefore the public/stakeholders have every right to know how we ended up at this point and who took it there. Was it taken there through incompetence or something else, poor investments, poor advice, mismanagement or another scenario? To move forward Mr Peters as the Racing Minister needs to show leadership, he has so far, but by calling the management of NZRB/NZTR to account is the ultimate commitment to our industry and the image New Zealand portrays on the international stage. On social media many are asking, what can we do, especially those within the industry itself, the answer is as clear as the nose on your face, disenfranchised stake/stockholders bring no confidence motions in the board/s......the ball is in your court. In closing I would like to say, I have after 30 years closed my international/Global marketing company, I would have liked to have supported my trainers in New Zealand for years to come, as an owner/breeder I am disgusted by the behaviour and denial by many involved and this effects my decisions moving forward re my future with New Zealand racing. Of course should Mr Peters and the people he empowers to oversee the re-building of NZRB bring those responsible to account, publicly and transparently I will reconsider my future. If you don't understand your past, and how we got to this point, then you cannot plan for your future! I hope those of you that can see past all this get your just rewards, and those of us at the twilight of our lives live to see another thriving New Zealand racing industry. La Zip.

That's correct, even more questions. Used the previous trainers stable jockey, Kathy O.....he needed her.......

We are on the same stage RR, my husband trained for a rails bookmaker at Flemington, we never trialled a horse, even our 2yo's were jumped out up the straight for a barrier cert. We pulled off some amazing plunges without the need to trial our horses, we believe it's the trading arm of racing that's driven the trial obsession in NZ.....if you are a punting stable, the last thing you need or want is to show up your horses, and it's hard to hide a hard going animal, it teaches them nothing but bad manners.....the gambling culture in NZ is not what you and I are used to RR, and basically it shows the lesser skills of the newer brigade of trainer who can't get their horses ready on the training tracks and that applies here in Oz as well RR. Trialling horses just provides revenue for NZTR for doing nothing......I understand many will say the need to trial is weather driven, I understand that to an extent but its an obsession in NZ.....they need to see their horse perform in a race day environment, and yet come Raceday so many horses get up at huge odds.....that doesn't happen here. A trial freak here in Oz is Waller, so much so that he needed to trial that wonderful mare Catkins [his words] after she flopped badly in a race, she trialled only a few days later with Chris saying I needed her to tell me if she had had enough racing.........and again he trials Single Gaze, she trialled poorly and yet he runs her on Sat to see her run so badly it hurt......I shake my head RR....where did good old horsemanship go? Having said that, Gai W is also a trial freak, she just loves to win trials, the difference being, her horses like her Dad's always run on the pace, they are trained to do that, there is method to Gai's madness.....her track record says that.

Trials Pam, not racing, there isn't enough horses to go around, trial Mon and Tue and race every day after, I'm not going to argue about racing early in the week, you are closer to it than I, but trials are a must, and then 4 day a week racing, at least one meeting somewhere, with 4 mil plus population there should be enough interest to generate a plus situation, if not why not? running an international travel marketing company for 22 plus years I learnt early to invest in marketing my business, without marketing and selling yourself you don't have a business, or at best a very small one......someone like John Singleton or Richard Branson would shake the s - - t out of NZTR/NZRB.......it's not really hard, it just takes a will.....a living will Pam, not a bloody death will.

Just having breakfast and opened the ''new' NZTR site on my lap top.......the first thing that struck me, the calendar in the bar across the top, glaringly, No Meetings, No Meetings, No meetings......isn't that sad. The reality of course is A. There aren't the horses, B. There isn't the money, C, There isn't the inclination. So, the elephant in the room is where does the money come from to pay ALL the wages for Petone and Parnell......while the industry sits idle, where is the money being generated? where? the industry is not self funding we know that, why can't all trials in NZ be on a Mon or a Tue, most are, but many aren't,....they successfully do this in Oz and it's no shame to replicate what works across the pond. I have never seen so many horses have to trial before racing, I know your tracks have been terrible due to the weather, a new AW or Strath track will assist, although being privy to seeing the many strathayr tracks here in OZ, I have my doubts they will survive your weather, which is far more savage than here plus your soil compositions might not 'take' the strath grass. It's shameful to open the offical site of our industry only to see NO meetings!!!! fair dinkum, they must be laughing in HQ, what on earth do they do all day, has anyone ever asked,.... P4P has to his credit, and often, but to improve grass roots, management MUST he called to account, until that happens, well ....you all know the end result.....

Barry, you and people like you are the very reason NZ is in the state is it......we have sometimes 10 meetings across Oz on any given day, not counting the night meetings, of course there are some shockers, they are punished.....on the other hand a top jockey in NZ does that and it's an ''advice'' to be more vigilant.....please, there is no integrity in NZ.....look at the recent swab debacle.....don't be so narrow-minded and chip shouldered about NZ....without us, 700K + Kiwi's would have nowhere to call home.....and that's a fact!

Absolutely. I think we all agree, there needs to be a complete overhaul. BUT, when I see articles quoting Murray Baker, David Ellis, Tony Pike and especially Alan Jackson, I get very, very angry. They are luckier than most in the industry as they have influence...and yet they couldn’t speak up or make a stand. As I said to Arrowfield on Friday, they’re all waiting for someone else to speak up and devise a plan. Oh well, why would they want to speak up? Life’s been good to these people now speaking up...if we need to pay a bill, just sell another horse..... Alan Jackson...? Now says NZTR supports the reform? P,ease correct me if I’m wrong but has he not been in a position where he could have provoked change?

My interest is in safety, and you have no respect for jockeys safety.....they and the horse are my priority!!! You keep quoting Australia, my husband was a metropolitan trainer here and I have raced horses for 40 years....I think I know what I am talking about.

I don't read a race I watch them......it was carried out by the chestnut inside of her, she then in return let her horse wander toward the fence taking those inside her with her!......the rules state clearly BarryB you must stop riding and correct....that didn't happen, simple!......so the stewards don't apply their own rules.....it was a dangerous ride, she showed no concern for her fellow jockeys safety.

I'm an Australian, been in the industry for 50 years+, I've never seen what go's on in NZ ....here........Danielle at no time stopped riding to straighten her mount......if the Dalghar horse had of been travelling just that little bit better he may well have clipped heels and/or the horse inside him......then, oh then, you would have had a whole different outcome, the stewards are not up to it, and the racing reflects that, more's the pity as the horses are fabulous.

Agressive? you jest......you often do.

Jockey Ms Johnson issued with a warning in R1 @ Ruakaka today. The ride from the top of the straight was bordering on dangerous, Ms Johnson showed little concern for her fellow riders and/or the horses. I have no confidence at all in your stewards and as an offshore owner will ensure my horses do not venture north to Dodge City or beyond. The events of this week have bought NZ racing to the attention of an international audience, therefore integrity is paramount. In the company of several racing people at Sunshine Coast we watched in horror as the race became a dodgem derby in the straight, we were all certain Ms Johnson would receive several weeks to contemplate her actions, and to read the stewards report reminds me of the ineffectual and dysfunctional judiciary you have in NZ. If one of those horses inside of Ms Johnson't mount had of clipped heels, anything may have arisen, if this is condoned, we want no part of it. The area of integrity is another section that needs total root and branch reform. I'm sorry JM missed this area as its a major point of contention with all participants. Sometimes I wonder whose side they're on...because as sure as hell freezes over, I don't have any faith in them. I'm sure there are many others that feel the same way. They're not hard enough on jockeys....they have no consideration for the owner that has to pay regardless of the quality of ride....and in the majority of cases, its not worth the $165 or so...they need to be rubbed out and hit in the pocket...that's one way to lift the quality...I will not put up with it for much longer....

Oh, God, what will we learn from that discourse, self interest spring to mind? Peters has been seen to be active, that's a start, the other two, what on earth can they bring to the table, if it's to be believed there will be a clean out, so why have Allen and Saundry on?.....surely they are now irrelevant......

Now a bullet train to Petone could be apt....don't you think?......think about it , it'll come to you.....what do you need to put down an injured, terminal animal.....I rest my case.

Now, there's a plan!!!!

or even worse, a broke arse? you reckon?

Or you could end up with a 'busted arse'......

Alan Jackson, what a joke, his quotes make for a comedy indeed,Denis Ryan referred to a buoyant mood, oh God, Alan, what were you thinking man, fancy a buoyant mood..if you are feeling buoyant what is floating your boat? the fact that racing is so low? the world is laughing? why would you feel so buoyant?.......what an embarrassing scenario? ...you just don't get it Mr do you? Time for a change? what a shame you didn't identify these problems before JM had to intervene?......it took outside forces to mainstream this, so many good souls had to leave the industry while you and your mates lived in denial.....or if you did know and didn't act, that's even worse...I for one small player am disgusted.

JM also tried to stress as did The Hon Winston, they have been borrowing against reserves, and that if you ask an investor is the most dangerous strategy on the planet.....they are a collective of fools, totally delusional, and they have been outed!!!!

Absolutely....it's another Grimms fairytale, but I've said it before, there is none so dangerous as those that believe their own bullshit.