Hunter the punter

You have the gall to come on here and make baseless, uninformed and scurrilous allegations against a leading driver with an impeccable reputation, and you're not man enough to even admit you were wrong, let alone make a public apology.
You are a pathetic waste of space JJ Flash!
If the admin had any balls he'd either make you apologise or kick your gutless arse to the kerb!

And this is why Nathan is one of the best drivers in the country, and you're .... well .... just another armchair expert!
The horse was driven in EXACTLY the same manner it has been successfully driven in the past. On this occasion however she had to come from further back running faster times than she'd ever had to run in the past.
Neither horse nor driver could have done any better on the day.
Don't give up your day day JJ!

Robert has had quite a lot of problems with this horse from when it was a "baby" and cut it's leg in an accident "down to the bone".      As Wolfie once said to me "only the good ones have problems"

Love racing at Forbury. Battlers v battlers = good divies

I know,maybe we were spoiled in the past with all the tv and radio coverage,they do cost money to run I only turn trackside on if I specifically  want to watch a race,without the radio as well I just check the results at night.

1- Do you believe it is in the best interests of Harness Racing  & transparency that a CEO is appointed without proper process, ie opening up the recruitment process to others with appropriate skills.?  And if so why.                                                                          2- Will you be producing a vision statement for where you want Harness Racing to be in 2 years, 5 years & 10 years time?                   3-Will you be producing a plan outlining how you are going to reverse the decline in Harness market share of wagering to the other racing codes?                                         4- Will you be outlining a plan to increase overall betting on Harness to increase revenues, thus increasing stakes.                       Anyone in senior governance roles should be doing this & if they can’t they should resign now.

Cambridge shouldn’t even race,  not just because of Covid because of the terrible stakes and shit facilities they have 

False.
False.
 
Shut the thread down if people are just going to spread false accusations and rumors.

No Grimstone needs to go with the others who have stuffed up the RIU

I told you to go back to your sandpit, ergo don’t tell me that I can’t respond to someone telling me to fuckoff
If that’s patronising and you are upset that’s just tough. It was my polite way of telling you to xxx xxx
I can’t see where any of my posts on this thread were caustic, it’s common knowledge that the Dick head thinks he was the greatest employee in the history of harness racing  and that he’s got a grudge as previously posted by me
As for you, why don’t you try actually answering queries that are directed at you following statements you make?
You always dodge the questions or throw another comment in
Mikie

And then they fucked it all up.
Time for the whole board to resign. They are an embarrassment to the industry.

Wow what memories come back with this horse!
Spanked our best 3yos in the 1989 John Brandon Derby series. And they weren’t a bad lot - Inky Lord and Neroship went on to win NZ Cups.
Westburn Grant raced against arguabably one of the greatest free for all eras in harness racing.
When he won his Interdom Grand Final the likes of Blossom Lady, Master Musician, Christopher and Mark Hanover couldn’t get within cooee.
A true champ and champion people associated with him.

Using your 'footy' analogy thats like paying club players more while cutting back on the salaries of International/ Star players.
Water down Group races and it may sustain the Industry for another 12-18 months but the breeding side of the Industry would soon collapse as would ownership / betting /stakes and speed up the demise of even more clubs .
Your club has been very well represented at the decision-making level for a long time so surely the word got through , the frail nature of the Industry must have been so very obvious !
So who would not listen , who or what clubs insisted on Harness travelling on the road to certain decline ? Answers please.
The Earthquakes obviously hurt Christchurch for a while , while the ATC tried their own tragic path to try and future proof their future but what did the rest  or the Industry as a whole do !
That's all behind us now .......betting on NZ Harness has been in steep decline in recent years and Aussies bet more on our races than we do !
The big question is what can done to try and sustain the industry and give our young participants some hope for their future !Answers please !

10 years is way to much he should get the same as what a jockey would get if they bet on another horse in the same race 1-2 years

This is very sad.  Besides the trackside production teams and part time tote staff, I would like to know who else makes up the 230 staff who are to be made redundant.  I hope they are shedding middle management pen pushers as they are the ones that need to go.    The Whale, Greg & Mick were effectively the sales people for Harness Racing.  They are getting rid of the very people we need most to grow the industry.   

The comments by Cyril Rioli struck a chord. About ‘concentrating on older horses that can race year after year’.
I’m a kiwi based in Australia, semi-retired. Previously had a long small-time involvement in NZ racing, both thoroughbred and standardbreds. Now have time to follow the comments on Race Café periodically. And Australian race results and news.
The main harness track in NSW, Menangle, race at least twice a week, once for better class horses and once for the lesser lights.
Last Tuesday’s meeting for the lower grade horses included a Claimer. The 9-horse field raced for a $A7,000 odd stake. The interesting thing about the race, for me, was that the average number of lifetime starts for the 9 runners was around 140 starts.  The most was 215, the least 91. The winner was having his 191 start. Every horse was averaging over $1,000 in earnings per start. So seemingly, pretty much all paying their way. Three of them have earned over $40,000 each this season. 5 of the field were NZ bred. There was one 10yr old, one 9yr old, three 8, three 7, and a lone six year-old.
On the humorous side, ironically, one of the NZ’ers was called Underworked, he was only on start 141! Another horse, the favorite, led but faded in the straight to last. His excuse might have been that he was the novice of the field having only his 91st start.
So, on reflection, what can be learned? First of course it illustrates the durability of the standardbred. Second it shows that with flexible programming there is a place for all. These warriors had a competitive race. Seems like there is a suitable race at Menangle for these horses every week.
In summary Cyril has a good point. Not necessarily concentrating on such horses but making sure there is a better balance of programming and adequate opportunities for all.

Lets hope the "slash and burn merchants" don't  feel too entrenched in their 2 track North Island policy  and give Manawatu a chance for survival of the region (compare with the 14 South Island venues.) As Phil Fleming states there are enough trainers in the wider area to support the innovative proposal. Really the dog option or  with Gallops somewhere say joint meetings (awapuni/otaki/Wanganui/New Plymouth) cut costs but keep hope alive,.I also wonder if wall to wall trotting Cambridge/Auckland will prove an overkill as many thurs/Friday clashes have proved detrimental in recent seasons. .Manawatu would be a welcome addition. for punters and horses. 

A lot probably can’t, need to somehow restructure the industry to concentrate on older horses that can race year after year. They may not cover all their costs but they’ll get a bit back. Way too many owners are being burnt playing the yearling game

Doing what they are.doing in Southland and Otago. Also Manawatu is hitting the grass roots at their base. Instead of fertilizer they are using tordon. Howdo they expect a club like Tuapeka to go all the way to Oamaru or Invercargill. The locals in this area are not going to travel those distances.
Gore a large service town with a Licensing trust who put a lot of sponsorship into racing will not sponsor because there is no return to them. Like most other sponsors.
Volunteers who give a lot to all clubs in NZ . What do they do it for. It's a community thing. They are not interested in all that work if another area is going to reap the rewards. Look at Rugby. As soon as you don't us local content you lose interest and this is what these high paid corporate types lose site of. The value of the the unpaid. All they are interested in is the elite.
Well if its was not for clubs like Tuapeka Manawatu Roxburgh Gore Wyndham Blenheim etc. there would not be an industry. The top 10 percent is costing us 50 percent of our money. But you won't get them to recognize this because they are the decision makes and the aren't going to chop their own heads off.
  That's my rant for the day

Majestic, the previous CEO was there for about 25 years

As an owner it is awful getting 5th - no rating drop and once you've subtracted the trainers and drivers fees, you are little better financially than the owner of the last horse (and sometimes you are the last horse just to rub it in!!).  

I would scrap the whole system and go back to a Class system and let Clubs and the Handicapper write specific conditions to suit the available racing pool
Oh,  that would be too simple
Mikie

There  are ideas there that I think are applicable across the board and not just suited to the North Island.  Particularly like a maximum of 6 points for a win,  or I would go even further and try 4 points.   

Let's not blame the previous CEO entirely
The previous President was a co-leader
Mikie

Although some  associated with ATC would be happy to have it as the only track in the north island and race every Friday night, the true harness enthusiast puts all parochialism aside and is genuinely concerned at any trotting club or any sporting club that must find 1 mill per month in interest  charges.. The smaller centres such as taranaki and Manawatu need Auckland as the highest standard of racing and when any of us get that superior horse we can then test our horse with the best eg. Blossom Lady or a Yulestar .Without Auckland there would be no goal to aim for and we would all suffer. So I for one wish Auckland the best outcomes with their sales and a bright future when the dust finally settles.