Rusty

Magic stuff  Rusty , youve nailed it , nothing like the clouds of dry Aussie  dust wofting down the old asthmatic lungs as field passes on first circuit  , it's earthy, it irritates the eyes but its good.Tennant Creek Cup  ,field  avoiding the crocs  down back straight,  Frankel Star would do Colin the Croc for speed, racing at its best.
Is there a Bonny Doon Cup I wonder , that be something .

Straight to the pool room Red Rum.
Bloody oath it's special.  
You can keep all ya Melbourne Cups, Caulfield Cups, Cox Plates and Golden Slippers. Derbys and every other group one event. 
Give me the Snake Gully Cup, Alice Springs Cup, Drouin Cup or Kumara Gold Nuggets anyday over that fancy pancy look at me I never go to the races but I had better go and be seen and update my bookface or instakilogram whatsname pictures. 
Beer is reasonably priced (or you can take in your own slab), dont have to sell one of your bloody body parts to pay the admission, bit of room on course to belt ya racebook hard against your leg to get your bloody horse home and the women are good down to earth sorts that are not some funny shade of orange (from fake tan) with what looks like a dead sparrow on their head. 
Bush (or country) racing; God bless the backbone of the industry with the battlers, the real horsemen and horse ladies. The ones that wouldn't even know how to spell pretentious.

We do have a ratings system, just a buggered one. 
 

Stables mate, quit makin assumptions my mind is far from closed otherwise I would not have bothered to answer and ask the questions I did.....just askin you to back what you say as far as your first post went, point is we all know who the 'dominant trainer/stable is to whom you refer and you mention ref Purdon etc all the way thru, you didn't back yourself and explain the direct relationship, alluded to in that first post, hey fine by me.....all good and all the best to you too.....
We in RaceCafe have all heard on numerous occassions, from different folks over the years, how AllStars is so bloody bad for the sport etc etc and they're gunna kill this, kill that, all doom and gloom.....but you know what? I've only ever heard that in here, I hang out down Puke (Alex Park race nights) track watchin trials, workouts etc and talkin to those I know, and the closest I've come to hearin anything even slightly negative, was from a small trainer who said 'I don't even think about AllStars and what they're doin, I know they target this and that, but I have enough to deal with just gettin my own ones sorted, can't be thinkin bout them' same trainer said 'my horses are earnin good enough money with what I'm doin' I asked what about if you end up in the same race as one of theirs, the reply was ' well give as good as we get, we may go down whackin but at least we'll be whackin'    the one common thread I heard was the handicapping, stakes, and HRNZ don't know what they're doin (sorry HRNZ not my words) and one other trainer statin after I asked about settin up etc 'I wish I had what AllStars have, bloody MarkP is one lucky bugga and if yuh know of bunch of rich buggas to back me can yuh let me know' I said I'd get back to them....when I went down to track and started askin I expected to hear the worst (after seein it on here) but no, one guy however did say 'oh geezuz yuh don't be listenin to any bugga on that RaceCafe, bunch of bleep bleepn idiots' I had to laugh, then was forced to elucidate him, roundly, I might add......sorry forgot to add, that the other thing pissin everyone off is the Inca thing, yeh that was cause for few heated words......
 
Cheers Iraklis

Stables mate, I respect what you have said to a point, but when someone starts with 'in an earlier era', or back in the old days, there is the inevitable comparisons to an era, gone! or on it's way out, and the lamenting of how things were done then, and, and, and, so on.....change happens, and mate you know what, it is now the future and Harness Racing is still here only now it's a different beast (for want of better word) and AllStars Racing is a much sort after stable for those who want their horse trained by the best in the business, because they regularly get results! hence they are able to bid for the stock they want, and race the way they want etc, but it aint their fault people dont bid against them or don't want to challenge them in a race etc that's just the measure of the respect they have for AllStars in general; Mark's talent for selectin the right stock for their needs, and both he and Nats trainin/drivin capabilities what a lethal combination, and good on them for makin the most of what they have.
Far from killin the sport they are the catalyst for those out there, who, dang it want to compete, and to survive they will! and, they are, alot have lifted their game, the trainer with the most horses entered in the Cup this year was who? wasn't AllStars, when an owner says 'I'm selling to aus its too hard racing the marks here' what do you think they mean? and no it aint MarkP they are talkin about; I get that you have gripes but venture to ask, alot of those gripes, really, how are they a problem of AllStars and their success ie. the young trainers strugglin to buy horses, findin it to costly to get established, or below priced horses goin to AllStars barn; ahh any young trainer would have to do what Mark did when he first started out as did any trainer had to do, yuh do what yuh gotta do! go get the sponsor, wealthy parent whomever on board work yuh proverbial ass off.....and by the way don't you think its bit pointless to sell overseas specially to aus, AllStars race there too, just sayin.....
 
Cheers Iraklis

Most people I know in Harness racing, and they range from across the Owner, Trainer, Breeder ranks have all said at one time or another, they sold because of the 'good money on offer' for their horse, and the fact they can 'race in aus off better marks' there, their horse won't get 'killed racin off hard marks' all the time like here, all of them have mentioned how hard the racin is here......not one of em has said 'we don't want to race AllStars' in fact a couple from Puke have said 'they welcome the competition as it allows them to see where their own horses are truly at' and as shown on Fri last, just because Mark P may 'hold all the cards' doesn't necessarily mean its goin to automatically translate into 'AllStars wins all', my friend actually said 'phooey, alot can happen in races at anytime' there are no certainties in racin'.....
AllStars aint gunna kill the sport! but deaf ears and lack of vision will.......
 
Cheers Iraklis

Because its patently untrue.  They sell because of a variety of reasons, hopeless handicapping system,reached their mark, trainer likes 10% and last but not least poor stakes and leadership. Kiwisin both major codes have always been sellers. The AS nonsense is akin to everyone selling rather than taking on Te Akau or Baker -Foresman.

We do have a ratings system, just a buggered one. 
 

I don't hear George much thankfully, but every time I do hear him he comes out with" early doors". No idea what it means. Does he have a word of the year or something?

Early doors " women's drawers " in rhyming slang, but early arrivals at pub in old country are Early Doors . 

Presented a little too late.....while the leader was presented with the race......

We do have a ratings system, just a buggered one. 
 

Didn't realise the birdcage steward needed a resource consent for the signage on the jacket. 
If Addington officials are going to sort anything out, the bloody advertising on jackets should be well down the list.
3rd or 4th page in I would have thought. 

Got a few in training in Bangkok

Rusty no need to exclude relatives My bet still difficult to find someone to defend" his starting procedure".  I did discusswith Gary Phillips that he might like a week in November next year to be at addington to avoid current malaise. As the present encumbent is part of the Judiciary which  in effect controls the starter and can fine him for incompetence there has to be a conflict of interest 

Would I be "RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT" in thinking there was no starter Lamb in the mobile for the first today at Motukarararara? 
Is this the first trotting club in Canterbury to go vegetarian? Finally!
Let us pray and hope so. 

I only ask as there does seem to be an overwhelming percentage of people that have expressed some degree of concern with his methods. 
Jack Mulcay was a brilliant starter. Just had the knack. 

Correct.
It has been a debacle and embarrassing feature most years for the cup. 
The horses change, the drivers come and go, but the starter remains the same. 

Correct.
It has been a debacle and embarrassing feature most years for the cup. 
The horses change, the drivers come and go, but the starter remains the same. 

Good stuff. 
Give you an example of how 2nd rate the NZ TAB is (when their site is actually up and running that is). 
They offered money back today if you backed a certain horse and it ran 2nd. So your bet is refunded, but it's at reduced odds for this bet type. 
Ladbrokes have a promo where you pick the horse, any horse in the nominated race(s), and if it comes second they pay out as if it won. At the original odds (not reduced). 
And they wonder why there is offshore leakage, bloody hell wake up NZ TAB. 

My bets all went on ok. Including the free bets and a cheeky odds booster bet and the bet which pays out as a winner even if the horse runs second. Thanks Ladbrokes, you guys are great! 
Said it before and I will say it again.
Forget about the NZ TAB.
The outfit is useless, incompetent, so far behind the times and they take the punter for granted. 
Gotta love the offshore betting; the entertainment and customer service they provide, well done. 

Ricky Donnelly the starter today? 

Mynanasgotnoteeth how bout yours? 

Agree with you Harewood on Beyond The Horizon.
$8.50 $2.90 FF is a great EW bet today. I framed it at 5s and 1.80. 

Im hearing you Nelli,connections of 2 other very well supported runners at Cup week  are in no hurry to engage him again either from what parties close to owners have told me. The thing is and why i raised this whole thread is that when he does decide to go forward he invariably ends up going well as he did yesterday at Geraldine