John Clydesdale

My comment was directed more at the manner in which he gathers his reins as he is positioning his run home. Not knocking his capability, just the aspect of style and as the reference was at how our jocks capabilities compared on the world stage, and he answered the question quite clearly.

Henri, the other positive aspect to Johar is that he performed at his best when he was an older horse. He came from a good way off them to catch HC on the post at the Breeders Cup and the third horse that year was a huge horse both physically and in performance terms. Johar is a good looker and has passed on that value, mainly to the females. He will leave good broodmare prospects, but he will leave more class performers than Defensive Play as he has produced more range in their distance indexes, 1200m to 2200m. DF and Prized tended to be 1600 plus. DF left good sized mares but I am not sure the Johars are all big in size.

Jason Collett is a world class rider, two sisters are good as well, McDonald is pretty good but a little untidy for me, Ormsby a top jock as well, Tinsley could compete anywhere, and the old pro Handbrake has all the skills but age is against him. Much much better than you get in the USA, that's for sure. We have the class available to us here, just not numerically strong.

The nature of costs are the same. Yes a townie has to pay full retail, but the stud owner has to earn a living as well. He has to meet higher ACC costs than the townie, he has to front the $$$ to buy the stallion in the first instance and.......as we all know, most stallions are unsuccessful on a commercial basis. So his risk is very high, mortgages to pay and also loans on a non successful stallion can take some time to to repay with very little income from them after year 5. The preparation costs for yearlings is high, even for the stud o their own horses. Over the decades most studmasters have told me they make very little out of yearling preps, whether for the townie or themselves. You are right in that the mare owner takes some risk on new stallions, but that is part of the decision to support a new stallion. You weigh up the risk against what you can get as a return. That is my point about about risk! Do the exercise on the yearling returns, you may be surprised at the results you see.

Go and have a look at the results of the Premier Sales this year. Look at all the sales, not passes, then look at the stud fees and ALL the associated costs from conception to sales ring, and then do the same for the Select Sale. You will be surprised at the results. You will find the BIG and the Small win and lose money on any yearling. Why? Because they are all individual yearlings who attract a certain level of interest and appeal. So yes, some "big" breeders make some good money off big investments and big risks, but equally some smaller breeders make some good money off proportionately smaller risks, but the running costs are the same for both sets of breeders. Take the RTR results, the top lot was purchased astutely and the reward was fantastic. What is the nub of this issue is that it is a risk industry, because of the subject matter involved. Doesn't matter whether you are big or small, the level of risk is still the same to all, it is just the dollars as governed by each individual decision that changes and colours the description of "big or small". So any cliche's used about the big getting bigger at the cost and expense of the smaller is just that, a cliche.

Mr McHugh must have plenty of both as there is zero chance that the racing and breeding world internationally will accept AI, whatever the prospective or perceived merits that could be offered or suggested. The reason offered by Mr McHugh with regards restraints of various things, matter not one iota to the rest of the world. Interestingly, the 3YO's running in Australia at the moment could perhaps be regarded as the best in many years. Yet they are the progeny of the EI season where horses were very limited in their transportation movement when their mothers conceived them. AI, in my view, would breed a larger number of average to bad horses and deminish the gene pool. If we had AI we would not have Zabeel via Sir Tristram and we would the poorer for it, just reflect on what Sir T did for the NZ breed. Add to him Noble Bijou and Mellay and the benefits they have provided NZ over decades would have made the NZ thoroughbred a very different proposition. AI will never be internationally acceptable in the next 50 years.

If he is sound and fit, then he should make the field on the list of entries on the VRC site.

Trakdap, I was not suggesting that you do not progress the horse on to trials should you not receive your reserve at Festival. My suggestion was that some horses go to any sale, with the vendors thinking one level of sale return and the would be buyers thinking a different figure. We all do it, no matter which sale you are in, but at the moment the local buying market is very scarce indeed. My suggestion was that some incentives could be implemented by NZB to encourage local buyer support. There has been overseas buyer incentives for a very long time, now the local market needs some support and enticement. My claim is that there is a need for the Festival Sale to be retained. I am sure, with the right incentives, some owners and trainers would be willing to bid for horses that will be going on to the track when the future plans of NZTR have been implemented next April. There is no easy solution or silver bullet, and there will definitely be reduced foal crops in the immediate future, but we do need to get horses sold at Festival Sale level. Unfortunately, putting them into an expanded Select Sale is not going to change their pedigree or type!

Sorry Woodbine, you need to keep the Festival Sale. History has provided plenty of gems in the rough, but as a buyer they need to be found and as a breeder/vendor a good type can always sell well in Festival but get completely lost in Select. NZB could add some incentives for the local buying fraternity to buy out of the Select and Festival Sale and that could add further support for the sales. The critical decisions are these. The selection process, for entry, has to be made by the vendor, and the purchaser makes the selection as to whether to buy or not and at whatever level. Currently breeders of lesser than K1 quality have too few opportunities to sell yearlings at present. Let us not consider further reducing that option because of some serious industry mismanagement in historical terms and the current economic climate, both are due for change. Leave Festival as it is, but breeders just need to be more selective as to what they want to offer to buyers. No easy task I agree, but the market will clarify the picture quickly enough.

Does anyone have a contact number or know the whereabouts of Jo Davis (of Fair Tax fame)? Thanks in anticipation.

Young (4) winning Kashani mare for sale. Good confirmation, strong 16hh, has not been to stud. Will leave good foals. Her mother and fellow siblings are all good correct and physical types. Stakeswinners by Shinko King from immediate family. Damline is Eulogy family through Kashani/Straight Strike/Vice Regal. email: john@grosv.co.nz

Has this ratings service lost it's credibility? Over the last few months there have been some incredulous rating statements coming from them...........Frankel rated as good as Sea Bird??? Now G Crispe (Timeform in Australia) indicating that So You Think is the best since Phar Lap from our part of the World. Do these guys believe their own press? They seem to have lost that critical objectivity that made Timeform the benchmark rating service and relevant publication that the thoroughbred world could rely on. Change of ownership can do that to companies!!!? Mr Crispe should back off the coffee and have a hard look at the others that preceeded SYT. Strawberry Road and Balmerino do spring to mind. Both of those horses had International success that exceeds what SYT has achieved to date. SYT could well supercede both those great horses by winning a few more goodies, the Arc maybe, or perhaps The Breeders Cup but to be indicating that SYT is near Phar Lap beggars belief. Hype is one thing, reality is what Timeform used to deal with. It should stick to the original formula.

Great to see two New Zealand sires hold titles in the cauldron that is Hong Kong racing. Pins from Waikato Stud with Horse Of The Year Ambitious Dragon is a coup and Windsor Park with Golan and Beauty Flash are major achievements. Congratulations to both teams and their breeders.

Pam, they don't need to worry in either juristiction as there is not any betting competition in SH terms. They are also too early for NH concerns as well. I don't know if it is still applicable, but previously the terms of Saturday racing were that if you ran a minute late you missed the opportunity of telecast in Australia. It may still be the case. I am not sure about Sunday racing. I watched a race yesterday and to me it appeared the ground staff were incompetent. They ran over 3 minutes late trying to load seven horses and they appeared to not be working as a team. Sorry guys. Winds, late arrivals etc are issues you work around and manage. But to be three miuntes late and there is not vet inspection, no released horses, no re shoeing.......unprofessional!

You haven't transported any horses have you Voorhees? They do have to be identified before they leave and when they arrive.

Young (4) winning Kashani mare for lease. Good confirmation, strong 16hh, has not been to stud. Only Festival level I'm afraid but will leave good types. Her mother and fellow siblings are all good correct and physical types. Damline is Eulogy family through Kashani/Straight Strike/Vice Regal. email: john@grosv.co.nz

I agree with you Catemar when we get past the 1600 metre distance, our percentages climb very steeply.

The racing world is focussed on one stage at the moment and there is a need to maximise the opportunity while you can. I like the Aussie-Kiwi clash idea - take a quote from Barts book and use it. Australia can produce quick horses, we produce great stayers, point of difference and the USP for NZ. Doing it after the event shows up as cheap hacks jumping on the bandwagon. Media kits are yesterdays methods.

Leggy, where once NZTM had a significant distribution stream and was used as a great creditable resource for information, Andrew Birch, the new CEO has a mountain to climb to re-establish those credentials. To his credit, Andrew was a member of the original team that did build a good international network, and he may now be able to restore that credibility. It will take some energy to get there, but as Aushorse is now a mirror of what NZTM used to be, we have a strong viable unit claiming SYT to be Australian. Some hard yards are required.

You are spot on Berri, there should be space and info clarifying the fact of SYT being born and raised here.

Barry, a great reference of yours, but to whom do you refer?

For the benefit of yourself and Dennis. John Hawkesby and Rosie Horton do a tremendous amount of charity work for zilch. I have an involvement in that area of giving and both of those recipients well deserve their respective awards. Rosie Horton has given a lifetime of effort to charity and most particularly the Childrens Star Ship Hospital and John Hawkesby provides his services as an MC and entertainer free to many charity organisations. Obviously good works remain unseen to many people, but you do not get recognised unless you are a worthy recipient.

I have seen him a few times and he is a lovely loose walking type with an obvious turn of foot. Hard to find those sort of credentials in one package.

Matt and Lloyd, Patricks advice is sound, but it is based on having a few mares of that calibre. If you have just one, the risk or loss becomes a great deal higher if there are any issues during the carry, at birth or even with what gender you get at foaling. The returns can be great if everything is going your way and you have the product that is wanted, but if not, the losses can also be significant. My advice is use horses like the sharemarket, invest what you can afford to lose. If it works out well then you are well ahead.

The cuts with the smaller breeders are very very deep. A lot of blood on the floor at Karaka if you have a filly. The broodmares being mated this year will drop significantly on the back of these sales, and then NZRB will start to comprehend we are running out of horses. Sadly, in human terms, the cost to the industry in loss of skills and infrastructure is going to be very expensive. Perhaps the incoming Board of NZTR may have the appropriate vision and strategic expertise to counter such expense. Let's hope so.