Mike Martin

Johhno goodonya, The questions and answers in the mag are either, well edited, written by staff at NZGRA or by some obsequious sniveller. If they are to have any credibility they must in future have a proper name attached.

I should have added that Auckland club runs three meetings the week before the derby heats snaffling Waikato's meeting. When you look at it Waikato must be the only one of the main clubs in NZ that are not able to run a meeting each week, they have a few of breaks a year when the usual Waikato date is given to Auckland. The extra date during the Auckland cup series is ridiculous. Maybe having a joint secretary for the two clubs is a little too cosy and Waikato need someone who is able push their barrow a bit more.

Absolutely correct Reilly, The Derby is the race in each country for any of the codes, that is most sought after. Except NZ greyhounds that is where it is the same value as one clubs feature sprint race. Not only that but as you say it is run during the day on a day that has poor turnover since comingled betting was removed from it plus there is no meeting at the venue the week before the derby to allow dogs a run on the track. The promotion leading into the heats is usually nil. Sad sad state of affairs

The point here Reilly is a qualifying trial is run under NZGRA jurisdiction and there are rules to prevent this happening, thus Hound fans question about what is happening. Henny says as usual nothing is done about it (including not being notified of the scratchings) and although that is not confirmed it is not good enough if she is right. The stipes seem to be adopting a self imposed right to allow people to break the rules when they approve, and I am not just talking about Auckland yesterday.

Well done NZGRA. the Ray Fergusson lectures were well organised ,pleasant and informative. Good innovation from head office.

Huge finishing burst, congratulations to Hayley

Funny thing that, Magico is a notoriously bad traveller especially in the heat and I enquired about him wearing a cooling vest when kennelled and the stipe said no as it is considered treatment which is not allowed racedays.

I guess it depends on your point of view Ba ba, With that logic it would mean a lot of dogs that night didn't deserve to win. My comment about deserving, was all the winners deserve the laurels not all the losers deserve some mirth at heir misfortune.

I think of all the posts on the other thread for the cup and railway Henery who started the thread was the only one to pick both winners

You are right about the railway Blunty and I guess we should mention the huge run of Ralph, his run was at least as good as the winners

My point Reilly is that is the nature of racing. The trials are not official trials where fields are assembled and results published or shown on TV as they are with horses. We do pay for trials by the way. Horses work every morning at their local tracks and the TAB does not monitor who is doing what on those days. There are trackwatchers that time a lot of those trials for newspapers and racing publications and greyhounds in Aus have their share of those as well. Maybe there is a position in NZ for a person or organisation to do that at all dog trials, I am not sure how it could work though as when you get to the track and see trainers with multiple dogs of similar appearance how are you going to put the time to a dogs name. How many times do you see a fresh starter or first starter at the horses with the comments, no trial form watch the tote. If a trainer in any code chooses to keep the result of the animals work to themselves there is little us mug punters can do about it and that is how it should be.

Isn't it amazing how often we overlook the obvious. Butcha has been a model of consistency all season and the Walsh/Harding team the in form big race winning team yet there was so little talk of him in the lead up. In saying that he was very well backed. Once the first corner order or disorder had been established the result was never in doubt. I thought the effort of Brando to get a s close as he did after terminal interference at the bend was also huge. Comet in the railway deserved every step he took. Very gutsy and clever performance. Johnny's smile retuning to the winners Dias said it al. I said in an earlier post if people wanted to knock Bright Star off her perch then come to Auckland and do it, and they did. What a shame for connections that she was not able to show her best when the time was right.l

Too much talk through pockets here. Horses get worked at home or in private and people are unaware of how well they are really going. Dogs more often. We work our dogs almost always at home In private even during months of spells. Did you expect Steve and Kath to put out a bulletin advising anyone having a punt to get on their dog? I thought Bublin Gold looked a great bet without the info. Field was not strong, dog has always shown a lot of pace when able to get it's own way and the kennel has a reputation for having them ready returning from a spell. Ease up people and as Steve Davis would sayturn the page

Sorry bout that Ba ba it didn't strike me as humorous and you will be aware of many instances where dogs have been scratched in the same circumstance before. We in fact had a dog draw box 8 in a Sires Produce final while his wide running kennel mate who was unlucky in the heats was 1st reserve. Unfortunately the starter had to be scratched but we were rewarded when the reserve ran second. Couple of points here; If in fact the scratching was necessary (with integrity) should Paul have scratched Jamsey as well so it did not look 'bad' As you correctly stated it is a public forum which is why I am able to comment and if you have a look at the prizemoney the stake is $20,000 no longer group2. One thing we agree on however is we wish all the greatest results bestowed on all who deserve it

You cannot prove what you have just posted and as a result it should be removed. Maybe it is sour grapes now your bullets are running out. I think Jamesy will win and good on Paul and team. The only thing that stops me backing him is his name reminds me of someone.

What an effort yesterday, This dog is very underrated. When able to get uninterrupted run it is as good as most around. So strong when in the lead it was never going to be run down. Mention also for Hennny Mouse with her Vellocette winner. Henny has been telling everyone for ages the litter are hard chasers and look good dogs.

I could see all sorts of problems with trial times. As everyone has said it would depend on what stage a dog was at. However it would be nice for other than a select few to know when a dog had been trialling exceptionally. I posted this once before on racecafe albeit many years ago; We were breaking in a litter that we bred and they were all going along nicely. We qualified the whole litter in the one qualifying trial and the one I least expected to win (Taiho Tiger ) won. When I saw the time I was disappointed as it was slower than some of the litter had been trialling in. During the lead up to their first start I had a ring from three different trainers telling me Taiho Tiger was going to be punted off the board at his first start because I had been given the wrong qualifying time and it was in fact an exceptional time. Sure enough come raceday he was paying microscopic odds without any of our money on and got beaten narrowly.

It is ludicrous that a c1 dog that was good enough to win a C4 and C5 series event could carry on in the c0 and c1 series at the next opportunity without penalty. What could happen with the new rules is that people with a good enough dog will be able to just race in the series all season or in fact season after season without penalty. I think the series is not achieving what it was designed to do. If you look back over the last few years the spoils have been spread pretty thin. Someone like yourself Robin who has travelled extensively with dogs for the series, could just concentrate on the series and nothing else without penalty all season. Good on you by the way for giving it the effort but I don't think it is the best system to reward NZ breeders overall.

If you think logically about the new welfare system you would expect a lot more breakdowns at the track as now we are trying to ensure that no matter how the dog is going or how poor it is there is some kind of reward for it. In a lot of ways it is counterproductive to the dogs welfare.

I can think of another occasion a couple of years back where a red hot favourite ran last and a kennel mate won the race at understandable long odds. The favourite was asked to get a vet check but they took the dog straight home without one. The owner of the dog then appeared on this forum saying how they had cleaned up on the punt. Before the race you would have to have been deluded to think it could win. I think it was the same stipe, gave the trainer a warning not to do it again.

Last night opened a can of worms for next Thursday night. Dennis and team with their great record in big races look to have plenty of ammo fro the finals. Brando for me.

I think you miss Reilly's point. He was questioning the variation in judicial decisions nothing to do with animal welfare. Asking if Reilly would be happy for his trainer to send a dog round injured is childish and nothing to do with his original comment.

That makes more sense as to what happened with howrude

Maybe it's the big punter versus smaller one mentioned in an earlier post

OLD MAORI SAYING He aha mea nui? He Tangata, He Tangata, He Tangata OLD AMERICAN SAYING Sonny, when there is more than one person in your organisation you are in the people business. You are not in the food business, service industry, medical profession, racing industry or whatever, you are in the people business. You just remember that boy!