High Sparrow

Dead right Everton, as a Naenae boy myself I used to cheer on the local sides from the sideline occasionally - there was a lot of work from some dedicated grassroots people that worked tirelessly for those various Naenae sports - softball, football, rugby and boxing among them. We could do with that spirit in racing today.

Was having a look at the Menangle trots tonight to see what Kiwis were running and whether there might be some hidden value somewhere. But the "form" supplied by the TAB via the fields (including the pdf) are devoid of such form basics as the horse's record from behind the mobile, from a stand, at the distance etc. You know, basic stuff that forms your opinions of the various chances. Apparently the TAB thinks it's fine to take the lazy approach with providing even the basics in terms of overseas form and for us to bet blind on such events. That is suggestive to me of a type of contempt for your customers, so in light of that, my money is staying in my pocket today. Overseas races with no available form? Not for mine.

Reminds me of the time I broke my golden rule and took a girlfriend to the Trentham races. I had a big collect on a roughie and said I would buy her a present. She said she wanted something with diamonds. So I cheekily bought her a pack of playing cards. She didn't have a sense of humour as it turned out. Haven't seen her since.

Hey great photos. Rolls Royce or Mini for this one?

Can someone enlighten me please about the line around Nicky "consenting" to the horse being disqualified. Don't the stipes/judiciary in these circumstances have an outright authority/powers to disqualify a horse for returning a positive? What's with the consent business? Thanks.

Hey thanks for filling out the detail for me Gubellini. It was a great day on one count but not so great on another. My hand and fingers hurt for days. "Dormo" (Brother Dermott's nickname, I wrongly added the Mc in my earlier post) wasn't a bad sort but we're still waiting to get that transistor back! My share of the winnings took me to the 'flicks' at the Regent Theatre in Naenae for a long time afterwards.

Chris Johnson's daring ride on Camino Rocoso takes the biscuit as the best ride yesterday for me. The horse was pulling from barrier rise and the Magic Man sure had a handful of horse before electing to take up the running and make his own rules. It was a masterful ride because settling a horse sufficiently to get that pace judgement just right in those circumstances is an art form. How many times do you see a rider fighting the horse and the horse has run its race before the turn? Johnson's magic was evident yesterday in that he acted boldly, controlled the pace to his own tempo, gave the horse a wee rest across the top and let the others work to start bridging the gap before having a couple of sneaky peeks between his legs and then nursing the gelding away when the others had their bats out. Then in typical Magic Man fashion he only asked the horse for his best when the post was in sight. Brilliant ride. I doubt that horse would have won for anyone else. He is such a balanced rider and so kind to horses that they respond for him. You never see Chris knocking horses about and good on him for that because he understands the old racing adage: "If you are kind to horses they will be kind to you." A wonderful training effort by the Parsons too and credit where credit is due there for another successful southern raid at the champagne turf though I thought Karen was a bit on the defensive side in the post-race interview when she said: "When we come up here you always rubbish us". I think most in the racing game realise what fine trainers they are, so I'm not sure who she was referring to there but someone had obviously put a bee in her bonnet. Anyway, full credit to all involved. The tactics reminded me a little of Whiti Te Ra's win in the St Leger about 50 years ago when John Harris sent him out to a 25 length lead, allowed the field to get up to him on the turn and then kicked clear again. Another great ride. As classmates at college, Robert Dunn (harness racing trainer), Keiron McCauley (Ashburton galloping trainer) and the late Steve Edwards (Turf Digest) and I had pooled our resources to have a small bet on Whiti Te Ra and Keiron was listening to the race on a transistor with an earpiece in Science class. He was giving us whispered updates every furlong and when White Te Ra won he forgot where he was, leapt to his feet and said "White Te Ra just won the St Leger!" The game was up. Brother McDermott, the Science teacher, confiscated the transistor and we all got six with the cane as a result. It was worth it - the horse returned big odds.

That's so great to hear Iraklis. Best New Year's news I've heard so far. Speedy recovery Ricky.

Imagine the work it took to get down from 85 kilograms to 52 kilograms! Now that's real dedication to a cause. Well done Malcolm. I wish him every success in the future - he deserves it.

Brilliant stuff. What a great story of a man who has persevered and deserves this success. The fist pump salute said it all. His own personal Everest/Melbourne Cup victory. I suspect there are few thrills better in racing for the battlers than to own, train and ride your horse to success. Well done Malcolm and welcome back. He rode the horse well and has clearly lost none of the ability that saw him register 45 wins, 36 seconds and 40 thirds from 634 rides nearly four decades ago. I hope there are many more to come.

I was on the road all day yesterday and never caught up with this tragic news about one of the sport's true gentleman until this morning. The harness racing community will be in shock, as will be many who've been involved in the wider racing industry. The racing community are great at rallying round at times like these and will be there for Ricky and his family for sure. Great bloke Ricky and I wish him all the best for a full recovery.

I have long been of the opinion that the so-called TAB "bookies" are so risk-averse that they should not really be allowed to use the name. This stuff is merely a mirror of the whole 'doldrums' nature of the industry for mine. The old-time bookies I used to bet with at Randwick in the 70s took the bet and then cut the odds - they didn't cut the odds from 80-1 to 60-1 just because someone showed an interest in having a bet. What a joke.

Thanks again Toblerone for all your hard work in this competition. Kind regards, HS. Caulfield Race 10: Schillaci Stakes. #2 Trekking.

Thanks Toblerone for all your hard work. Randwick Race 8 (The Metropolitan): #12 Brimham Rocks.

Thanks for the clarification guys. Much appreciated. I found the wording a bit ambiguous. Maybe they should have put and/or instead of just "and". Kind regards. HS.