scooby3051

1. Otaki R2 3-7 2. Otaki R5 4-7 3. Te Rapa R3 2-3 4. Te Rapa R5 1-5 5. Randwick R2 6-11 6. Randwick R8 1-7 7. Randwick R10 3-10B 8. Caulfield R4 4-9 9. Caulfield R5 6-11B 10. Caulfield R6 1-4 11. Caulfield R8 7-10 12. Caulfield R9 6-9 Good Luck partner tough day today...good luck to all except our challengers LOL...just kidding...may the best team win...thanks SNM as always.

Didn't make reserve so not sold.

I am glad you agree Curious/Leggy is Mr Know it all.

If you do this one more time you WILL be on moderation...your choice I have asked you not to go personal and you just dont listen so now its your choice as to what happens next.

Agree nothing like many before him...

Agree and throwing more money at the top end will not change the field they would get in any form as the good horses would still be there. My opinion is there should be more of the special big prize money races for the battling trainers and battling owners with a lower grade horse, these should be encouraged as you never know the next one they own may just be a good one but if they leave then very difficult to get them back. Way to much focus on the top end...needs to spread more somehow...not sure how as there are so many lower end races to fund but targeted series for those may work to..spread out the riches to many more not just a select few.JMO

Sad to hear of the passing of Dr Jim Marks, one of the best vets I ever had the pleasure to know. Great guy who loved life and lived it to the fullest. Thought and prayers with his family at this sad time, give em hell up there Jim you were one of the worlds great characters...RIP.

Q & A with Eddie Lamb Paul Richards@richowp Eddie Lamb. (Image: supplied) Winning Post’s Paul Richards catches up with former leading Kiwi jumps jockey Eddie Lamb. PR: Eddie, we’ve just passed the 25th anniversary of your Grand National Steeple win at Flemington on Vowtinsk (1999). Do you remember the day? EL: Yeah, clearly. I flew over from New Zealand that morning and was back on the plane home again before the meeting had finished. It was the only time you rode him. How did you get the ride? I think Craig Durden was supposed to ride him, but he had to take something else. Robbie Laing was Vowtinsk’s trainer, and he asked around for options. I’m great mates with Scotty (Brett Scott) and he ended up suggesting me. Robbie gave me a call and I said yes and flew over. As it turned out we knocked off Scotty on Wild Trista. Had you met Robbie before? No. I think he got a bit of shock, actually. After he legged me on, he asked, “All good?” I said, “yeah,” then after a pause I threw in “How many laps is it?” He stopped in his tracks and said, “What?” He wasn’t happy until he realised, I was joking, but I suspect he was thinking, “Who’s this idiot?” Did you know much about Vowtinsk before the race? Not really. I knew he was Vo Rogue’s half-brother, so I was a bit surprised he was in a steeplechase. One of the owners picked me up from the airport and we called in at (expat Kiwi horsewoman) Amanda Lupton’s place and watched a few videos of his races. I watched the Grand Annual where he’d finished second and they were concerned that he’d gone early that day. They wanted me to hold him up for as long as possible before asking him to sprint. As it turned out, I was able to sit and cuddle him for most of the way before asking him to go in the straight. If you flew out that afternoon, I’m guessing there were no big celebrations. No, I didn’t even have time to shout a drink. My flight got diverted to Auckland instead of Christchurch. They had to put me up in a hotel near the airport and all I wanted was a beer, but I didn’t have much cash on me. I couldn’t go to the bar and the minibar was empty as the airline didn’t want to pay anything extra. It wasn’t until the next day that I got to have a bit of a party. Vowtinsk never raced again? No. I was supposed to come back and ride him in the Hiskens Steeple two weeks later — the owners promised me an extra 10 per cent if I came back — but he broke down and never raced again. Did you get the 10%? Ha ha. No, I’m still waiting. What was it like winning Australia’s biggest jumps race? It’s funny, I took it all for granted a wee bit when I was riding. I didn’t realise the talent I had, and it was only when I retired and saw the good races I’d won that it sunk in that I was okay at it. At the time you’re just looking forward to the next race and the next beer. I do remember the days after the National win though. I rode a few more winners, but also, I got a cheque for winning the Great Northern Hurdles on Serpente six years earlier. Why did it take so long? On the day, I got promoted to winner after being beaten a half-head by Majestic Blaze. He’d knocked me sideways at the last fence. It was so bad I reached out and pushed Rick Cassidy away. I ended up getting suspended for three months for reckless riding. The connections of Majestic Blaze weren’t happy with the protest decision, and they appealed it, and it ended up going to all the way to the High Court. It took a few years before they eventually confirmed that I’d won, and I got paid. You mentioned earlier you’re good mates with Brett Scott. He came to Australia and was very successful. Did you ever think about moving as well? I had plenty of offers but I was happy at home. I enjoyed being a big fish in a small pond. I suppose I was bit of a homeboy. Whenever I went to Australia I’d fly back the same day. The same when I rode on the North Island, I’d always fly back home (to the South Island) that evening. I was happy at home. I had a short stint in Australia in early 1992 but I got rubbed out and had a bit of a discussion with the chief steward about it. He suggested I shut my mouth and gave me a three-month suspension. I went back home after that and stayed there. Do you look back now and think maybe you should have come over? I do, and maybe I should have had a crack. Scotty and I were always top-two in the riding premierships back here in New Zealand. I came second to him four times and I was managing around 20 winners a season. These days they win the jumps premiership with seven wins. Then, when he moved to Australia, I started winning titles. I guess I was believing my own press a bit. The media were saying I was the best, and I thought I was the best. So naturally, when people are ringing up and saying you should move to Australia, you’re thinking, “Nobody tells the best what to do.” I used to have the attitude that it was “cash or crash” when I was riding. It was only when I broke my leg badly and spent over two years out of the saddle that I changed my attitude. I was watching the races and thinking, “Gee, these guys are pretty reckless, the way they ride.” Then it occurred to me that I was the same. I came back when I was bit older, started to ride a bit safer and wasn’t as successful. People said I’d lost my nerve a bit, and to be fair I probably did ride a year or two too long. Why did you become a jockey in the first place? Was it a family thing? No. I was very small as a kid — I was only 28 kilos when I was 14 years old. I’d been working at a stable before and after school up until then. One day I was at Foxton races and Jimmy Cassidy rode a treble. Everybody just loved him. I thought that day, “I want to be like him.” When I got my licence to ride, I’d grown to weigh 40kg and two years later I was up to 55kg. Did you have a growth spurt? A little. I’d also found beer by then … I rode around 60 winners on the flat, but as soon as I jumped a horse, I knew this was for me. What would have been your first feature win? It would have been when Region won the Grand National Steeple at Riccarton (1987). I’d finished third on him in the Grand National at Flemington two starts before. When I won at Riccarton, I was only 18 years old. I think I’m still the youngest jockey ever to win the race. I had bit of an attitude. I certainly wasn’t as good as I thought I was. I remember I was asked by a member of the press, “Where to now?” in relation to me winning the race at just 18. I said, “I’m going to the bar.” I was very naive and didn’t appreciate what I’d done. I’d certainly love the cash and the lifestyle now from those years. I’m guessing the best horse you rode was Rand. He was a sensational horse. He was the best jumper in the world in 2001. When I won my second race on him, I said to (trainer) Mark Oulaghan, “He could be something special, this horse.” He had such a high cruising speed. I won all five starts on him in New Zealand, then we went to Japan for a crack at the Nakayama Grand Jump. And how did you go? In the lead-up to the big race he kicked their heads in. On the day of the race I said to Mark, “The only way he gets beaten is bad luck.” Uh oh. Yep. With a lap to go we were just cruising, when the leader slipped coming down the hill and then the two horses behind him went down. It was absolute carnage and I had nowhere to go. I got thrown off as well. He would have absolutely bolted in. But things improved soon after in America. Yes, we won the Iroquois Steeplechase in Tennessee. That was an amazing occasion. It’s actually not a racecourse, it’s like a point-to-point course, but they get a massive crowd there. It’s another thing I didn’t appreciate at the time, to win such a big race. I met up with Craig Thornton, who was a top Kiwi jumps jockey over there at the time, and we partied for three days straight. Unfortunately, I never rode him again. I had a falling out with Mark’s partner and was replaced. Then I started to lose the passion a bit. I’d been a bit spoilt by the success and probably didn’t work hard enough. Why did you give it away? I had another fall, and I think it took my tally up to 14 different broken bones. I kept coming back but I’d had enough of it by then (2007). I trained myself to deal with pain, but now I’m a sook. Unfortunately, I was diagnosed with leukemia a few years back and I think that riding experience of dealing with pain hasn’t let me down. I’ve been able to cope, though I do whinge a bit. I was told five years ago that I only had 24-36 months left to live, but I’m going okay at the moment. I’m on some good medication. Sorry to hear that, Eddie. All the best with it all, but also well done on a fine riding career and thanks for reliving it with me.

Lovely language for a Sunday morning...consider yourself warned ....stop the personal stuff...OK??

I must say a huge thank you to my partner...carried our team today.

4 mls of rain and they pull pin...WTF...is this really the best kind of trick we can have to be forced to race on...give me a break.

From Joshua Smith...on Love racing... High-class mare Prowess coming up for sale on Gavelhouse Plus A special standalone sale on Gavelhouse Plus will give breeders a rare opportunity to secure a trans- Tasman Group One winner. The auction of Prowess will run from the 2 nd to the 8 th of August on Gavelhouse Plus. Trained by Roger James and Robert Wellwood for a family syndicate headed by Dean Skipper, Prowess won eight of her 12 starts including five consecutive black-type victories as a three-year-old. Prowess was a $230,000 yearling purchase at Karaka in 2021 from the draft of breeders Hallmark Stud, and she turned that into more than $1.65 million in prizemoney in her glittering career. “She’s taken us on an amazing ride and it’s definitely a shame that it’s coming to an end,” Skipper said. “We have some mixed emotions about putting her up for sale. “But the way we look at it is that we were just so fortunate to have had one as good as her, and now she’s ready to go on to the next stage of her career. “She’s fit and well and a happy horse. She could probably even have made it back to the racetrack if we wanted to wait a bit longer. But she’s at a premium stage of her life to start her breeding career now, and we always set it up so that we would sell her at around this time and have her in the best possible condition for that.” Prowess was at the forefront of the meteoric rise of her sire Proisir, whose service fee soared from $17,500 to $70,000 after siring five Group One winners in a single season in 2022-23 – trans-Tasman stars Prowess and Legarto, plus elite New Zealand winners Levante, Pier and Dark Destroyer. Proisir has gone on to achieve blockbuster Book 1 averages of $188,947 at Karaka 2023 and $274,444 at Karaka 2024. The esteem for Prowess, her family and her sire was spectacularly illustrated in January when a full-sister to Prowess topped the Book 1 sale at $1.6 million. “It was unbelievable to see the full-sister sell for such a big price at Karaka earlier in the year,” Skipper said. “It shows how highly the family is regarded now, and it’s a great reward for the hard work that Mark Baker and the Hallmark team have put in. “Based on that, I guess we could say that we got Prowess quite cheaply in hindsight. But it was still quite a heady price to pay at the time.” Prowess wasted no time in making that $230,000 purchase price look like a worthwhile investment. She made a big impression with a trial win at Taupo as an autumn two-year-old in April 2022, then backed that up on raceday with a runaway romp by nine lengths at Wanganui in her only juvenile start. “We knew from quite early on that we might have something a bit special on our hands,” Skipper said. “Robert Wellwood texted me after the trial, telling me to watch the replay and then give him a call. I figured she must have done something, and I was blown away when I watched it. “Then we were on course at Wanganui for her debut, and we were a bit overwhelmed when she won it the way she did. We didn’t even really celebrate – we were just awestruck.” But it was as a three-year-old that Prowess really made her name. After spring placings in the Group Three Soliloquy Stakes (1400m) and against males in the Gr.1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m), Prowess embarked on a winning sequence that spanned five feature races between New Year’s Day and the end of March. She kicked off with a comfortable win in the Gr.2 Auckland Guineas (1600m), then produced a scintillating turn of foot to stun a star-studded field in the $1 million Karaka Million 3YO Classic (1600m). After returning to three-year-old fillies’ company with a five-length romp in the Gr.2 David & Karyn Ellis Fillies’ Classic (2000m), Prowess took on older horses at weight-for-age and recorded a rare win by a three-year-old filly in the Gr.1 Bonecrusher New Zealand Stakes (2050m). James and Wellwood then set their sights on Sydney, and Prowess produced perhaps the most impressive performance of her career with a three-length blitz in the Gr.1 Vinery Stud Stakes (2000m) at Rosehill. An injury-curtailed four-year-old campaign saw Prowess win the Group Two Crystal Mile (1600m) in Melbourne and place in the Gr.3 Taranaki Breeders’ Stakes (1400m). “We started to realise just how good she was when she won the Auckland Guineas, and it was a picket fence from there and she just kept raising the bar,” Skipper said. “Roger James has been training for a long time and has had some great horses in his stable, so when he started saying she was up there with the best he’d ever trained, it was incredibly exciting. “One thing about her career that was very special was that we managed to capture the attention of a few people who weren’t previously into racing. They got behind her and were opening up TAB accounts so that they could bet on her. That was another part of the experience that we really enjoyed. “It was just so much fun and we can’t thank everyone enough – the vets, the farriers and all the team at Kingsclere Stables. They’re the ones getting up at 3am and putting in all that hard work. We just paid the bills and got to enjoy the end result. “She gave us some incredible memories, and now we’re looking forward to seeing what she can do in the broodmare paddock.”

Yes he will...he will be with you know who.....

New replacement Race 5 Flemington now 4-7 cheers

1. New Plymouth R5 Gone like NZ Racing LOL 2. Eagle Farm R4 5-11 3. Eagle Farm R6 4-6 4. Eagle Farm R7 2-10 5. Flemington R5 7 10 6. Flemington R8 1-6 B 7. Rosehill R5 1-4 8. Rosehill R6 1-9 B 9. Rosehill R7 2-3 10. Rosehill R8 6-11 11. Rosehill R9 3-10 12. Rosehill R10 2-15 Come on partner lets give em hell...good luck everyone thanks SNM as always mate.