Houlahan's Dream

That Legarto bet....made no sense. If TAB were bold enough to have a laid market I'd have leapt in. Hot pace, front runners bias, rail true. Etc.

1. Wingatui R5 1- 6 2. Wingatui R7 5 3. Wingatui R9 3-7 4. New Plymouth R4 2-9 5. New Plymouth R6 4-15 BB 6. New Plymouth R7 8 7. Rosehill R5 3-6 8. Rosehill R6 3 9. Rosehill R7 2 BB 10. Rosehill R8 1-9 11. Caulfield R7 1-7 12. Caulfield R8 1-7 Good luck team mates, and thanks for the comp guys!

Odds on look on, is a punting adage with a lot of merit. Regarding Legarto the other night - with a new track possibly favouring front runners in a speed event and Legarto known to come from the back - I felt he was vulnerable to a runner getting away in the straight. So it proved.

If losing 50% of your stake is a great job.....?? They do a a great job overall in terms of marketing etc. Sure. But lousy on the punt, last two years. BTW I am not complaining. I can just do maths. They have been poor and they need to improve in the punting dept, in my view.

Come on now. IF? It is called Boys Get Paid. They hype it up, get people on course.... And fail, big really. All that research, good intel you imagine, and you end up with tricky multis with a low percentage of success. They need to be judged on their results ......

Some of their bets....head shakers really. As for TAB...there is a reason many of us put our hard earned through overseas bookies. Legal - for now.

1. Ellerslie R1 1/7 2. Ellerslie R2 1/3 3. Ellerslie R3 1/3 4. Ellerslie R4 4/11 BB 5. Ellerslie R5 1/12 6. Ellerslie R6 10 BB 7. Randwick R1 5/7 8. Randwick R2 13/17 9. Randwick R3 1/3 10. Randwick R7 1/6 11. The Valley R9 1/2 12. The Valley R10 7/8 Thanks for the comp guys. Good luck team mates!

Pinn (STATE OF FEAR) - Defended a charge in that he failed to take all reasonable and permissible measures to win or obtain the best possible placing by failing to ride his mount with sufficient vigour when detached from the body of the field in the early to middle stages. After considering submissions the Adjudicator found the charge proven and imposed a suspension of W Pinn’s licence to ride in races from the conclusion of racing on Sunday 18 February up to and including racing on Sunday 17 March, 4 weeks That looks fkn terrible. And when he gets to the field on the turn and it looks to 'sweep around' he checks it to go inside! Only really rode it hard for perhaps 75 m and it really picked up. Glad I had not backed it.

That is a very very good point. Rail was out, what, 3 metres the other day for their meeting? That inside section could be a speed lane or a one way mud track to Taihape......

Exactly Scoobs, I like the energy he brings. He is one of those riders who I am happy to back in any race as I am pretty confident he will give you a run for your money, as they say.

I think it is a bit of an outlier. I suppose if they can generate enough profit from KM and Akl Cup day, perhaps that will sustain them through the year. The public stand will be full. I wonder what some of those well dressed people will think of the birds nests and piles of bird shit in the public stand? For me I enjoy going all year round, just not especially on what my mother used to call the 'high holy days'. Too much security, too much drama, too many stressed staff not quite coping with their roles. I am also slightly suspicious of the PR from our racing journalists - where does the line between reporting and selliing fall?

Yes, that is correct. And from a punting POV anything with exposed form is good. Bring it, as you say. Now we just have to find a way to get a salmon bagel on the racecourse......

To do that you have to first give a rats arse. Surely you have one or two of the staff not doing the track rebuild, on the stands and surrounds? Or, are they so broke they cannot afford even those upgrades? Track management are either incompetent or negligent. No amount of cheerleading from Guerin and co next Saturday changes that fact.

"The facilities are crap" Describes the facilities at 95% of our tracks. Tired, run down, Racing Clubs cannot be arsed tidying up their facilities. Best example is the public stand at Ellerslie. I thought last week with the track upgrade they might have, oh, I dunno, waterblasted the place, perhaps replaced broken seats, maybe a bit of paint here and there. Oh no, that is too hard. Main plan seems to be charging a fortune for booze, having aggressive security ensuring you cannot bring in your own liquor, and then serving outdated cold food with inexperienced staff struggling with any sort of crowd. Modern punters just sit at home on their computers, they can monitor multiple venues at once and that way are saved from the drunks and the smokers/vapers allowed on our 'smokefree' courses. I sound grumpy...but things could be so much better for the on course experience. KM night is an outlier, and it obscures the dire state of most of racedays.

But at Flemington they have good food and coffee etc. I know they would cater well to the corps and members lunches etc, but the public stand offerings are generally inedible. Havent had a hot dog on a stick for 30 odd yrs, but that is the state of it at many tracks.

Randwick last month was $40 BUT you got $30 food/drink voucher for use on course. Aussie racing has brains in charge though....

1. Trentham R4 : 5, 15 2. Trentham R5 : 1 3. Trentham R8 : 2,8 4. Trentham R9 : 7, 14 BB 5. Trentham R10 : 6, 10 6. Gore R9 : 1 7. Rosehill R2 : 1 8. Rosehill R3 : 6,8 9. Rosehill R7 : 2,3 10. Flemington R7 : 1 BB 11. Flemington R8 : 9.10 12. Flemington R9 : 10,14 Thanks for the comp guys.

I am looking forward to his WCup call - I am certain he will go out with a bang.

Issue is that NZ racing is so insular and small, people cannot express opinions for fear of upsetting someone. I remember first time going to the races in Sydney, watching the pumper get absolutely sprayed for a losing ride. It is such a closed shop in NZ, people are afraid to speak their mind. $1.70 shot runs 4th? Silence. Just one example. Long live Luke.

I stopped being a member for that reason. Essentially a lottery each raceday about where you can or cannot go. Glass on stand yes. Glass on stand no. Etc. Public facilities need a major reboot. Bit like the worst bits of Te Rapa - inch thick birdshit and broken seats. Average pie, poor coffee yday. As usual. It is a shit show run by self congratulatory fwits. Thats why they have to sell the track treasures to stay solvent. I know that sounds strongly worded but I stand by those statements and would be happy to repeat them to the latest wideboy of the month who is now running ARC. But- track was glorious and I hope KM is a success for them.

Ellerslie R1: 1-6 Ellerslie R2: 1-5 Ellerslie R3: 5-8 Ellerslie R4: 3-6 Ellerslie R5: 13-14 Ellerslie R6: 5-9 thanks for the comp guys. Happy punting to all of you.

100% agree with you, nothing personal on the jockey but a month off and $2k? That is no way to incentivise sensible riding behaviour. We will continue to see wacky racers in our G1s until they get serious about rider performance. Perhaps one good thing that might come from Entain is more professionalism through the whole NZ racing operation. Far too many of our courses and race days are run like it is 1974, complete with Dad's Army level of staffing and general lack of service. It could and should be a whole lot better.

I went to Telegraph....3 yrs ago? Could not believe how poor the crowd was. Essentially, like a country meeting, with matching lack of food/drink unless you like hotdogs on a stick. Astounding.

Trentham R1: 1, 6 Trentham R2: 5, 9 Trentham R3: 6, 8 Trentham R4: 4, 7 Trentham R5: 10, 11 Trentham R6: 1, 14 Trentham R7: 3, 6 Trentham R8: 2, 7 Trentham R9: 1, 11 thanks for the comp guys. I think today is one of those Trentham punters graveyard days. Plenty of $10 - $30 shots with potential. Good luck to you all.

I always back P Rockstar and will be on Sunday. Drops 4 kgs, good trial second to Sacred Satono at Ellerslie and yes, the surface is different but that is only one of the variables in making horses 'like' particular tracks. Paying $18/3 at the moment.