Stables

A banned drug cheat and domestic abuser, what a wonderful bunch aye 

He's had too many chances my old mate. Lifetime ban earned and deserved for Mr Burrows. He's a cheat who cuts corners rather than putting the work in. Personally, i think that those that dope up a horse should be charged with animal cruelty and get jail time. The penalties for cruelty to animals needs to be much tougher. Get rid of the crook from the industry for good. Good riddance.

Disqualified Persons still allowed to work with-in the industry ? cannot understand it. never seen that before..... who would approve such a thing? must be old connections of the DQ person I guess.. are they real short of horsebreakers or something in Canterbury these days. that they Have to use penalised DQ persons?

Excessive. How many times was he caught? This wasn't a one-off occasion. Mr McGrath is a serial offender, a cheat and animal abuser. He should never be allowed animals again. As for the woman basher Anderson. WTF?
Disgraceful decision

The CEO must resign. First he is sexually harassing and bullying female drivers, now he is letting to of the worst crooks that have been in the game back. Joke. 

Unfortunately this is just the beginning, just the tip of the iceberg, more to be released soon, McGrath and Anderson have both been given special (corrupt) treatment, the CEO is not the only one on the board acting inappropriately, I love the game, many of the participants are honest hard-working people but this cancer is much more  infected in the industry than most people would believe, it's not conspiracy theories not jealousy it's real, yes we have to let this play out but what has been happening could almost bring this industry to its knees , everything has to be dealt with now, everything 

He must resign or be sacked. His behaviour is totally unacceptable for the CEO Harness. Neanderthal. Sack him.

Dear oh dear. Far be it from me to defend Gary Woodham, but on this occasion he's 100% right — this is a non-story. At least in the sense it's being presented.
What's happened here is that some amateur driver, along with others, has engaged in a highly stupid act that would have got her in a lot of trouble if witnessed by a member of the constabulary. Word gets out and instead of being hit with a code of conduct charge the CEO has a quiet word that involves a bit of borax-poking. Embarrassed, and presumably worried that there might still be more serious consequences, she attempts to deflect the story onto the messenger and make him out to be the bad guy. Pathetic.
Remarkably, some are actually falling for this cynical piece of deflection. Anybody doing so should give themselves a swift uppercut.

Sack him
 

Thank you for posting this. The article is quite right. Cruelty to animals is treated casually in New Zealand. There are hardly any consequences for hurting or being cruel to animals. Hurtle through a banned area where endangered birds are nesting with your hulking tangolike four=wheel drive. What a tough guy I am. If they are caught they are seldom charged and if they are it is a petty amount $200 or so. Disgraceful.
Doping horses is animal cruelty.
This article is correct, it is time for trainers to call out this criminal behaviour. Hurting defenceless animals is inhumane and not OK. Never/ Trainers have united to back Mr De Filippi getting a Cup drive, even though he had zero chance of clemency given the statements he made about stipes etc. But, if a horse is mistreated, doped, tubed, or a harness figure strangles a woman and then she has to hide in a ditch to escape the ranting lunatic. Or a trainer has multiple doping charges. Nothing is said, In fact, many industry come out in support. Shameful.
This is article is correct, it is time trainers looked at themselves in the mirror and stood up for the horses, the public and punter, not drug cheats. 

Sad news that Mike passed away yesterday after  health issues in recent times.
A good bloke and former top driver who won over 1100 races. Sundowner Bay and Naval Officer  were a couple of his top liners 

The product is poorly marketed by HRNZ and the TAB. There are so many good stories in the industry. Why isn't Luk Chin marketed to the sizeable Asian market in Auckland? He'd become a folk hero... Real harness fans have been forgotten and once not to be missed days like NZ Trotting Cup at Addington are now all about who can drink the most piss on the day and wear the skimpiest dress. I don't blame Addington cos I guess they make enough from that day to finance the season? I think they need someone like Michael House at HRNZ  to give them a shake up but it will never happen until it is too late...

Well I don't know who it is, can you tell me, I won't tell anyone else.

I feel for trotting vendors, having been there myself. Based on returns for last 5 years, 26% of NZ standardbred foals are trotters and it costs much the same to breed and get a trotting or pacing yearling to the sales.  But for a number of reasons the chances of making a quick return on a sales purchase are currently heavily weighted towards the pacers. For example in the long 2021 season, only 3 trotting 2yos earned more than $40k (cf 20 pacers). While the odds improve a bit as 3yos and 4yos, this lack of early earning power inevitably influences buyers. But the good news for the fans of trotters is that if you hang in there till your horse is at least a 5yo the odds change in your favour: in the 2021 5yo+ cohort, 48 trotters earned over $40k compared to just 31 pacers.  While it is good to have new funding for young trotters, IMO the addition of the $100k 2yo fillies Jewels race won't help, especially as at this age, sex makes little difference in capability as records show. I suggest splitting that funding over 5 $20k "Jewels prelude" races (including a couple up North). Having 5 garanteed good money races around the country would provide incentive to have young trotters in work, gaining race experience and of course, earning money.

There's plenty more that result in a clear ,accurate , interesting call of the races from Aaron White.
Paints the picture of the race very well IMO.
The city of Sails........starter Frank Phelan [ no need to ask who the starter is , unlike in South !]
The Chief ,the wizard , the magic man, jimmy Stormont.
Up on the nickel , this class of pony ,in the box seat !
In the jewels jacket ,in the breckon jacket , .
The lead up time ,the son of American Ideal , waiting on the HR FIsken passing lane.
Takes up the leeway ,tracks up the favourite , .
Goes up in the air , 
Deep on the passing lane , getting to the outside ,charging late , given full bore .
The lead up time , the back strait quarter. 
Names the sponsors , humanises the drivers /trainers and raises his voice at right time ,highlights when leader getting an easy lead time etc.
Field sizes often less than 10 so has the time to say all these things .....funny how the 'all dressed up and nowhere to go' irritates some but there are horses under lock and key , either 3 back or 4 back on fence in almost every race so the listener left in no doubt where their horse is !!!!
Does an EXCELLENT job IMO !

Seeing the FFA and Dominion today, both were spectacular performances and it gives us confidence that harness racing is bloody awesome at the moment, despite what the doom and gloomers may want to say about the current state of affairs.
Spectacular two days of racing, shame the usual crowds couldn't be in attendance.
Sundees Son was nothing short of sensational.  Star.
 

Fascinating reading the moans in this thread. Thanks to the public health advice and the restrictions  that the govt has enacted, the Delta variant has been kept out of South Island. Yes, the public can't attend Cup Day - but those with the most on the line can. Unlike around the 60% of NZers still in Level 3,  the rest of you can have some sort of gatherings to celebrate the day. As Tasman man wrote, it is only one year. I'd much rather live with these temporary restrictions till we get our jab levels high enough than experience the levels of deaths and cases of "long covid" amongst my friends and family as experienced in other countries with similar or higher standards of living as ours. I'm all for healthy living but certainly not going to turn down the benefits of vaccinations as would prefer not to get very ill and risk death and complications in the first place.

Well Meomy , I was quite happy to get my jabs ,as I have since I was a baby.
Overall I have had good health ,but like many getting older I did have a medical event a few years back and as an alternative to having my leg cut off at the knee I chose to have all sorts of jabs and substances stuck into me......like the Covid issue I was given options and read the dozens of opinions of accepting the jabs ,insertions and medications suggested.
As a letter to Herald today points out those struck with Cancer have to endure treatment with some highly toxic chemicals and therapies which kill every fast-growing cell in your body including your skin ,hair and hopefully the cancer . The jab is a doddle compared to chemotherapy.
As with most things there is a choice !
Cup week is approaching ,as I attend most years and enjoy that time of year for the racing I am pissed as that I probably can't attend as I am under this house arrest.
But it's only one year so I can live with it....but I wouldn't act in a way to deny my fellow citizen the chance of freedom etc,and a better life !
And I won't be writing to any politician  repeating some crackpot theory from some overseas 'expert' or some Internet cretan.
There are a lot of educated derelicts in this world !
For the record ,I used to work at KFC and I have had an University education !

Cindy & Co couldn't organize a piss up at a brewery, so it's no surprise that they won't let a party at the races, that they have nothing to do with organizing, go ahead.
As far as the pie man goes, once upon a time ministers of the crown were staunch advocates for the industries they were ministers of. Show me one minister that has done that in this current dictatorship, who rule by fear and fear alone.
Almost 2 years of Covid and NO COVID CASES IN THE SOUTH ISLAND FOR ALMOST 12 MONTHS....... But wait, they now have a plan, we just have to wait until Friday to hear it!!!!

Well Gruff I’m inclined to believe the medical advice that 
1 the virus will more likely find him and infect him
2 he is more likely to be infectious to me.
 
That makes him dangerous! But even more so if he has been encouraging others not to be vaccinated.
Hope you had a successful day on the punt yesterday!

To the anti vacciners and anti mandatories, of which racing seems to have its share, I expect and hope that you are going to have your freedoms restricted for the benefit of the rest of us.
I will want to know, when I’m cheering on my horse in 2022 and beyond, that the people in close proximity are only there because (like me and all my family members) they had their shots.

Thought the South Islanders should have had Kaikoura running, but it's off, so there you go. Have read on here folks are pissed off with restrictions, some seem stupid, like Pukekawa included in Auckland lockdown, and the Sth Island at level 3. It must be the coming transfer of covid which is going to happen surely when restrictions ease. Now will our health system cope? I'm inclined to think no, hence Govt policy has shifted to urge vaccination. You could imagine the hue and cry if NZ happened to get deaths from Covid.

I would say you would be right Spike.   They will no doubt turn up again around September as the build up to Cup week starts. 
Although Nat indicated she wanted a decent break it is obvious her and Mark are always going to be around to take the top drives for the stable when the money is up.  
Williams probably realized this so there was really no point in staying. 
While Cullen is running the stable logistics and so forth I would imagine Mark & Nat have significant input into the training, especially around the big races.
It would be interesting to see how their results would stack up if Mark & Nat weren't around at all. But that may not happen for a few years yet

Well done 
I watched the race and loved the call….” Leo is strong “
I’m coming down for Cup week, intro yourself, I’ll buy you a beer 

Nah , all good . I only support horses. I don't support abuse. Inca had a task . hopefully all done and dusted and we can get on with GREAT HARNESS racing !! (risking abuse)
funny story. by co-incidence My dog is named LEO. so I had a nice win off that horse with that name, supporting it in the first at Royal Randwick .  $6.50 odds was nice. Hope you got on. !! 
Hope you can't find some abuse in that post , but give it shot if you must.