TOM(the other Molloy)

Sorry got to the initial question - didn't realise it had been answered in later postings Jim Tomkinson of course had Judy Hawes as his successful apprentice in the early eighties. Those Collett kids haven't just got riding pedigree on one side. Midget tell us some stories about what used to happen at Riccarton(and on the Coast) when you were a young chappie. What about shenanigans with the scales for a starter. I know you were lilly white there but know some colourful stories about events on the Coast. I remember a time on the mid eighties when Bill Kennedy(from Ikamatua) had four horses in work and in the space of four racedays with ten starts won nine and ran second beaten a half head in the other. RJ McCann the rider on most if not all of them. Prince Rapido, De Porres. Campala, The Gadfly. Four from four the first day at Greymouth, three from four the second then one form one each day at Westport(in the days when they ran at Westport). Remarkable as they were the only four of racing age he had at the time.

Chris Ryder(at a guess) I see his father died in the last couple of days.(Kevin Ryder) Lovely man RIP Sorry hadn't been looking at this thread until now

Entourage & Jim Tomkinson. Whats the prize?

Sue I too was unaware that you yourself are afflicted by a long term injury BUT.... I've been in this tax and accounting game for 25 years now and I know that:(1) there are indeed people out there milking the ACC system for all it is worth -don't think that I was getting at you as yours may well be a totally genuine case. Jude Lawson and all those others are examples too as is Katie (2) the tax law remains the tax law and regardless of whether Katie's employer was following the rules re monetary remuneration ACC MUST take the value of that into account in assessing her entitlement. It is up to the IRD to deal with the employer(too late now anyway). Just because your 'income' was not declared does not mean you are not entitled to ACC to compensate for it. (3) I know and deal with enough racing people to know how crippling the ACC levies are so Katie is entitled to her fair share. She needs real expertise on her side to get it(and I hope you are the person to help). Ask any of the big tem trainers about it. (4)ACC are bullies - I've seen it a hundred times and those worst afflicted are the self employed. They(ACC) have a culture of trying to frustrate and in a lot of cases people simply walk away rather than pursuing their entitlement. That is especially so of the self employed who, by their nature, tend to simply want to get back to their businesses(to be fair sometimes they HAVE to get back to their businesses so as not to lose them). I have found on several occasions that the appearance of a bloke in a suit and tie has a miraculous effect on the speed with which victims get their entitlement. God know's I'm a long way from Superman but those ACC staff often recoil when taken on by someone who may just may have a vague idea of what the recipient is entitled to. Keep up the good work and I reiterate kick some ACC butt.

This case of Katie's is a good example of the bad in the ACC way of working but there are probably two things I could point out here. One is that board and lodgings provided fall under(and have for years) 'monetary remuneration' under the Income Tax Act. So if my employer is, say, providing me with a house worth $300 per week they are required to add that rental to my wages/salary and declare that 'total' income to the IRD. So the IRD records me as having an income of, say, $1300 for the week instead of $1000. Probably Katie's boss was not doing his paye returns correctly(ie not including the 'rental' value) possibly because he knew this would reduce her net pay. Secondly of course as an apprentice half her earnings would be being attributed to her boss. But the IRD would have the records of the other half and MUST have provided ACC with that info. So if they didn't take it into account in assessing your entitlements Katie you are clearly being robbed. Ironically had it been your boss who got hurt he would have been paid ACC based on earning's INCLUDING the one half of yours attributed to him. If what you are saying is correct Katie(and I don't doubt it is) you are being well and truly ripped off. I'm pleased Assisi is helping you otherwise my advice would be to get hold of someone like Grant Cameron who could put you in touch with ACC expert Lawyers(he doesn't claim to be one himself incidentally). They will soon sort your situation. With ACC it is a matter of knowing the legislation inside out. They have a culture of keeping 'the foot on the throat' of the 'little' guy in the hope that frustration will drive them to give up the fight. People like Grant and the ACC experts are just the people to help in those types of situations. Conversely most of us know of those perennial ACC beneficiaries 'milking' the system (nine times out of ten because of a 'crook back') - the difference is they refused to give in and eventually it was the ACC who weakened. (I'm not talking about the genuine cases there) Good luck Katie and Assisi. Kick some ACC butt!!!

People from Riccarton will know better than I the background of Tane Matthews' actions but he was a senior rider(and a good one at that) not an apprentice and I don't think it arose over a raceday incident. There have been several incidences of racing people (often jockeys) taking their own lives. It is tragic that those sorts of things occur and rob the industry -and their families and friends - of an awful lot of talent(Tane Matthews and Paul Dooney being two who prove that)

Theysay Unlike your rantings that post did say something, it did have substance and the apology (if required) was to save the 'everyone picks on Rangiora' posts that would no doubt have rocketed back had I been wrong(which Hillside just pointed out I'm not)

Hate to wind you Rangiora supporters up but wasn't there another girl badly smashed up there riding work a few years ago? I can't remember her name and am not certain it happened at Rangiora but I'm pretty sure. On the bend out of the straight after a gallop rings bells. Apologies if I'm wrong

A young bloke called Hunter Thomas was killed in what I think was his first or second Steeplechase ride at Ashburton in the early to mid eighties. Was apprenticed to Ray Harris. There was a guy called Steven Gantley(no not Ganley and not up north before you lot rush to correct me) who fell off a jumper called Our Queen at Riccarton about the same time(maybe a little earlier). He got his foot hooked up, was dragged and extremely lucky he didn't get dragged over a hurdle. Quick action by either track staff or the Clerk of the Course saved him from that and I am not sure whether he survived it even but he certainly never rode again. Didn't Jamie Donald get badly hurt in a fall as well? I think he rode after and stand to be corrected but I think it was a fall that injured him. Having said that - and this will get some of you lot going - but has there been a disproportionate number of female jockeys involved in major incidents?

Have a look at the NZTR website result - the margin from 4th to 5th was 1574 1/2 lengths. Obviously don't state things in minutes like they used to on such occasions. Ice Pack did look to be travelling rather well at the time - could have produced a nice 40th birthday present for the owner/trainer. Happy Birthday this weekend Greg! Behave yourself

And also bear in mind there is a manual override on the overhead ones like Ellerslie and Riccarton where presumably you could still start them with a string(don't know why you would want to but you apparently could). Well the ones we looked at (but NZTR wouldn't support us to get) in Aussie from the same firms had a manual override option

I would tend to agree re the ark comment but they appear to still be a functional set of gates and,while not used terribly often, if they are well maintained(as ours were) why not continue to use them? Certainly don't appear too many issues with unfair starts. Our problem was the bar across the top - we had them for about 25 years, with in the early days 15 days use a year (including Nelson and Westport), never one false start then one day one of the little chaps forgot to keep her head down and banged it on the top rail as they jumped and that was the end of that. Agree also re Gary Phillips - pretty good effort to save himself sprawling across the turf. And Pam settle down re Stephanie Clark - it has nothing to do with her gender - when the TV camera is on you the slightest mistake is magnified (and that one wasn't a 'slight' mistake)

Well they did used to pull a string on the Coast yes but Stewart Ching and his cronies reckoned those gates weren't safe enough and made us use the old Riccarton ones (which are the subject of a report from our starter into the fact that the welds are falling to bits. That presents a substantial danger when you have a six furlong track and about 1 minute 12 seconds to get the gates off the track before the horses come past the second time) And Murray it did happen but I wouldn't expect it to be mentioned in the stewards report - it was funny and intended to be a joke post. If you can watch the replays and have a look - it was the 1950m maiden race that Pennon won. Watch G Phillips on the inside and in front of the gates he gives a huge tug on the string and the ladder topples forward taking him with it. We need a laugh a day and he provided it this Thursday.

Anyone notice when Gary Phillips started that 1950m maiden the result of his over vigorous pull on the string? Flew straight over the front of the ladder but fortunately hit the ground running We need Cameron George to take immediate corrective measures to ensure there is no repeat of what could have been a very nasty incident indeed. No doubt will feature prominently on the News and Close Up tonight for those who missed it. It's moments like these ...