eljay

Only one result - lifetime ban for both

Is the Hawera trot taking the matter just too far - nil wins off the front back to 12 wins off 90 metres. This is what shortage of horses has caused but is this field taking things just a bit too far. Damned if I know the answer.

Bank Loan?

Due to Auckland's glorious summer trials/workouts postponed till tomorrow.

Yes. that was added this afternoon - after my polite bitch!

If you were thinking of going to the trials/workouts at Pukekohe tomorrow - DON'T They have been moved to Alexandra Park at same time. Track being worked on tomorrow at Puke.

For those of you who may go to their site and look up the scratchings - they have again changed (slightly) the format. The "form hub" tab that used to be across the top of the page has vanished. With a bit of guile & luck you can still find the form hub . You have to go to the bottom left under Racing Links in Racing page and scroll down (&down & down)

Is Nat still there?

Or perhaps just balancing off Mark Hurrells forays in the other direction.

You running out of favourites Iraklis. Or should I say New Zealand is running out of better class horses!

If they'd started 5 to 5.30 they wouldn't have needed lights. Big power saving. Sorry, I'm not allowed to be sensible

This has been known for years lamour, but still they persist. All it does is watered down meetings and rising losses.

Surely ............ Auckland is in deep trouble this week Cambridge - 97 nominations Auckland - 58 nominations (which includes 17 nominated as well for Cambridge) There comes a time when you have to be realistic. Next double up appears to be 9th & 10th March. This MUST be sorted out by then!

He would probably be fined for not carrying one. As they say, damned if you do damned if you dont really applies here. Some seem to apply the rule more "vigorously ' than others.

There is a very complicated system in place Iraklis. The bigger clubs get more votes than the smaller ones. ATC & The Met get one board member each who they alone appoint. There are NI & SI delegates voted upon by the number of votes each club has. The CEO is appointed by this board and other officers appointed by the CEO or the Board or both. These latter people are paid servants answerable to the board & the CEO. Just how much "power" these appointees have is a very grey area but some of them appear to apply the rules as they see fit without any consultation to anyone. Like Topsy this organisation has just grown!!

Avondale as well. No trouble with the jocks & drivers - most are quite good friends. I think t's just another something the administrators have dredged up to keep harness down. At Avondale the harness horses were mainly "stabled" along the fence line (and any other spot that could be utilised. No one complained! They even also had Kidz Kartz on course as well.

Do they still have a racing minister? Only one has been sighted in the last 20 or more years - and it is debatable whether his "innovations" were good or bad for racing. We still see one of his brilliant ideas causing shit - the closing of all the country tracks. He did of course pave the way for the explosion of high paid executives!

Harness would have to put up with the crossings and no passing lane (not so bad this() Whether they run alternate or harness before gallops is a moot point, but my thoughts is alternate as this keeps followers of both codes on course for the whole meeting. No - that's using logic which is a no no in this game!

The trouble these days in the north is that T'breds get most if not all of the say Most grass tracks now taboo to harness. T'breds upped their hirage by hundreds percent to a level where it became very financially difficult for harness to conduct a meeting. Of course harness officialdom meekly gave in . We all know for years the larger galloping clubs have resisted any Saturday harness as they deemed all monies invested on a Saturday was theirs. The trend may be changing in the smaller areas as the gallops also having trouble at many mid week meetings to get reasonable size fields and perhaps see a solution could be dual code meetings. For harness sake lets hope so as this would keep a bit of interest in harness over all areas as well as allow the t'bred clubs some hope in these areas also. But unfortunately it requires both codes to extract their officials heads from the sand and most would appear to prefer to remain in their la-z-boy's in their oldies homes.

Don't forget that they who know best shifted the carnival (Auckland Cup) to mid winter so all the good horses stayed in the South Island. Well they got their wishes - they even upped the Southland Cup stakes to reinforce their desires. So the summer racing in the north was effectively closed down. What show then to race any meaningful race in the "sunshine" in the north. But even worse than this, is how the northern clubs even allowed this to happen. A few "negative" people predicted this would happen but were never listened to. Is it now too late? It's time the racing clubs once again ran racing and told HRNZ they are a governing body only and day to day racing is the domain of the clubs. The TAB must return to being a servant of the industry not the law.

Take your marks---Set-- Bury the boot Not yet Christmas Eve but crashes aplenty, roads closed. and carnage will once again ruin many peoples family fun. Please EVERYONE be careful on our rubbish roads (called highways) infested with potholes etc. We all need to be here in 2023 with our friends and families. Enjoy your holiday if you travelling to beaches, lakes etc. and please don't forget the animals. Be sure they will be properly cared for if they unable to travel with you. Merry Christmas to all

A harness club. It wasn't you - so relax LOL

Yes he is. Alive & well too, to my knowledge. Haven't seen Pete for some time now. Incidentally, the patron of the ATC is - a person no longer with us (deceased) Perhaps the ATC can't find anyone who willing step up for the "honour'

Excuse no.1 - we can;t. The TAB/Rib wont let us. Sorry guys - that has worn thin Don't worry the clubs etc. read the forums but they have a policy - No reply to forums!! I have even been asked by an "official" - who is @@@@ (nomdeplume) My answer - that for you to find out.

Love your heading Barry - could be in line for the Headline of the Year award Makes you cry (or those of us who had the privilege of seeing him race) to see Cardy consigned to a dirty dusty corner in a cardboard box. Of course as we know his resting place is also in jeopardy. Wonder if the local Iwi aware! Or (and more to the point) whether the ATC & their board have plans to re-site him and where in the park he will be laid to rest. Will need to be a site they dont intend selling or "developing" which narrows the options down to virtually nil.