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Copper Belt is the pick of my favourites. The clashes with Grey Way were awesome. For the record Copper Belt came out the overall winner between the two.

Pitty, I have bumped this up in case you missed it last night. Cheers Ted

Pitty, I'm sure that you will reading what is being said here and you are on the Trainer's Association committee and you don't minding fronting questions. I understand the concerns that your Association have raised and want addressed however they also impact on others in the industry ie owners, jockeys etc. From my understanding the TA haven't consulted with the Owner's Association, Jockey's Association and have gone alone on this. Wouldn't it have been a more powerful lobby after dicussing all the issues with these other stakeholders and lobbied together? Can you please confirm that the payment for providing horses to the races, that this would go to the owner, not the trainer, as it is the owner that is providing the horse and paying the costs for the horse to go to the races. As an owner I would be peeved if this was not the case and the TA was looking for it to go the trainer. This would only rub salt into the wound owners received when one of the best initiatives in recent years Free Racing was introduced and then rescinded later at the request of the Trainers Association under the Presidency of David Howarth. Owners were shafted. Good luck with this, I still think you should be looking higher as I outlined above and I look forward to your response. Thanks.

My understanding is that there was no consultation beforehand Ohokaman and this is a Trainer's Association stand alone. What is needed is a united front on the real industry issues as I highlighted above and not a fragmented band aid approach. I had my farrier here this morning and missed Des's show.

Having read this article again and given it more thought, why are the trainers doing this in isolation and why are they not encompassing the NZRB when it comes to costs and accountability also. Wouldn't it have been worth more to have also had the support of associations such as the Owners Association etc to provide a united front from stakeholders and not just trainers after all some of the things called for affect owners. They want. 1.Input into all policy that impacts on trainers, their clients (which is owners, who basically employ the trainer). 2. Payment for providing horses to run on race day. (this payment should go to owners who actually supply the horse not the trainer). The matter of costs by NZTR not only impacts trainers it impacts on owners also. So, were the Owners Association consulted re all this and asked to support thereby making a united front? NZTR get funding by the NZRB and their operating costs impact on what is available for distribution to the codes. Their operating costs have increased immensely over the past decade and we have things such as $14 million write offs for flawed computer projects that did not have due dillegence applied, operating costs by the TAB and costs/losses associated with such things as Triple Trio etc. Salaries and wages. If the NZRB were to reduce operating costs by 10% what it would that mean in return to the codes alone? What the trainers are asking for is only a tiny band aid to cover a scratch basically and what is required, as has happened in Australia , is direct imput and funding from government to stimulate growth in racing. We do not need a Minister Of Racing, we need a Minister FOR racing and a supportive Government. They can support the Arts, Sport, America's Cups etc but don't seem to recognise what racing contributes to this countries economy in terms of tax revenue, employment, along with the GDP return to the country. To make any meaningful impact is to get full support from from all industry sectors, everyone stand up, and pull the pin for a complete Saturday's racing. No horses paying up to race. That will get not only the full attention of the media here but surely overseas media as well which will be embarrassing for any Government. The resultant media coverage will also bring it to the general public,s attention and I am sure that the Government wouldn't remain idle for long if this happened a couple of times. We don't need Nero fiddling whilst Rome is burning.

Pardon!!!!!!!

And you obviously haven't read the whole thread Centrofold as there was an explanation above as to why Mahanadi started a warm favourite. No, he didn't jump through them like a lazy jumper as you correctly point out, he jumped like a horse who had never seen a fence before, slowing up and jumping skyward. I was surprised that Daniel Miller didn't pull him up but I suppose he continued on to give the horse some jumping experience (he says tongue in cheek).

I note in Michael's column in The Informant this week the call for Free Racing to return, something I fully agree with. This was an initiative that had been introduced but was abandoned after lobbying (as I understand it) by none other than the Trainer's Association particularly driven by trainer David Howarth.

Trainers are planning disruptive action nationwide after a vote of no confidence in New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing. And they warn that without prompt action the industry's downward spiral will see people opting out in droves as the infrastructure crumbles and it becomes no longer viable to train. From July, trainers will refuse to do interviews on Trackside television, a lifeblood for punters and a crucial driver of turnover. But even more significant action, as yet unspecified, will follow unless a list of concerns submitted by the NZ Trainers' Association national executive is addressed. In a letter sent to board members and the executive of NZ Thoroughbred Racing on Friday, the trainers say a vote taken at its May 8 meeting was unanimously one of no confidence in many of the initiatives taken by NZTR. Specifically, the trainers' body cited: ■An apparent lack of racing knowledge within the NZTR board which has seen irrelevant and costly policies and rules implemented. ■A lack of transparency and accountability over administrative travel costs. ■A continual lack of support and consideration for trainers, and ■A lack of consultation by the board or advice given by stakeholders being ignored. In the letter, the trainers say racing clubs are not providing regular and safe racing and trialling surfaces, evidenced by the record number of abandonments in the last 12 months. And it says there is a lack of accountability when club personnel are at fault, compared with trainers being penalised when they make mistakes. The trainers' executive says numerous issues had been repeatedly raised previously and very little action had been taken. It now required the following for trainers: 1. Input into all policy that impacts on trainers, their clients, staff, and horses 2. Payment for providing horses to run on raceday 3. Transparency and accountability on all administrative travel and expenses including detailed analysis and reports of each venture, who travelled, and the worth to the industry 4. All new applicants for a full public licence or permit to train to be approved by the NZTA executive. The letter, signed by Wendy Cooper, executive officer of the trainers' association, said disruptive action would follow if these concerns were not addressed in an appropriate manner and to the satisfaction of the national executive. But there was clearly time before the planned action for NZTR to attend to the issues, and for a mutually agreed resolution to be reached. Trainers president Tony Pike said his association's letter wasn't just an all-guns-blazing bluff but a wake-up call for all racing officials. Ad Feedback "Hopefully this action won't need to happen but trainers are very frustrated and there is a lot of dissent out there. This has been brewing for a while. A lot of trainers are struggling, even the top ones. "Like any industry, the top 5 per cent or 10 per cent should be making a good living out of racing but they're not. "We want to see something being done rather than the industry slowly winding down. Without action, New Zealand will end up being just a pre-training farm for the rest of the world as all our horses get sold overseas." Pike said owners were now facing the brunt of increasing costs and their returns in stakes were the second worst in the racing world. "As trainers we have to keep increasing our fees or we go broke - we still have to run a business - but then we lose a lot of owners or they send their horses overseas." Pike said the model which leading Australian breeder John Messara preached was that only by increasing stakes can you keep the industry healthy, with its filter-down effects on breeders, owners, farriers and everyone else involved. But racing clubs here was so cash-strapped that even the infrastructure was breaking down. Pike, campaigning in Queensland, said he had been embarrassed on Wednesday watching the last race at Te Aroha on TV in the local pub, and seeing the reaction as it took several minutes to tow the ambulance out of the bog. "I know it's winter racing, but our facilities and infrastructure is starting to fall by the wayside. "It's my personal belief we have to centralise and spend money on our main centres." Pike said while some of NZTR's policies had been great, not enough was being done quickly enough to stop the downward spiral. "I know NZTR will be under pressure to keep its costs under control, and it could be a staffing issue, but this management and those before them have been too slow to implement changes. "Ours is a great industry and it would be sad to see it wound down to the point that it is no longer viable for the people who sustain it." Pike said he and most other trainers were big owners and investors in the industry. "It would be nice to have a bigger buy-in with NZTR and the New Zealand Racing Board because they control the purse-strings." Pike said trainers were tired of non-beneficial policies being introduced without consultation. The move to Monday racing had been vehemently opposed by trainers, who faced a huge increase in costs, but "it was set in stone when I attended the first meeting about it". "Anyone with a logical mind could see that moving racing from Sundays to Mondays and Tuesdays was going to cost trainers dearly." Only this week, NZTR backtracked and cancelled almost all Monday meetings next season. Association vice president Michael Pitman said he was a great believer in the need for initiatives to get people back to the races. "And that means racegoers, not the partygoers who go to the odd big meeting." Pitman is hot on the NZTR directive that now prevents owners from getting access to their horses on raceday. "My owners spend thousands of dollars racing their horses, and they can't even get close enough to see them, let along pat them. A lot of my elderly owners are now saying ‘what is the point of going to the races?' They can get a better view on television." NZTR board members who now had little knowledge of racing but were only skilled in business needed to realise that trainers introduced owners to racing, and they in turn might become sponsors. Pitman said trainers had "had a gutsful" of getting no recognition for supplying the product that kept racing alive. Unlike the harness and greyhound codes, whose unplaced runners earned something, thoroughbred owners got nothing. Two attempts by the trainers to convince NZTR to implement such a system for helping to reduce costs had failed. The trainers' ire over expenses peaked recently when New Zealand sent 12 representatives to the four-day Asian Racing Conference in Hong Kong. As well as NZTR chief executive Greg Purcell and three NZTR directors, Matthew Goodson, Ben Nettleton and Greg McCarthy, the industry sent Julie Walker (NZ Stud Book), Andrew Birch (NZ Thoroughbred Marketing) and club officials Carey Hobbs (Taranaki), Jason Fleming (Hawkes Bay), Tim Mills and Jeff McCall (Canterbury Jockey Club), Greg Mitchell (Counties) and Alicia Moroney (Waikato ambassador). Purcell said he was "surprised and disappointed about the content and distribution of the letter." As recently as a few weeks ago the trainers' association, along with the other four key stakeholders, had been part of NZTR's strategic planning meetings held round the country. The board would consider its response to the letter at its meeting this week but he did not intend to run the consultative process with the trainers through the media. "NZTR acknowledges there have been increases in industry costs but since the new independent board was put in place three years ago we've seen improvements in both prizemoney and other industry fundamentals. "There has been significant improvement in base prizemoney levels, average prizemoney is up 24 per cent and the aggregate has increased, but we want to keep improving." Purcell said NZTR spent considerable time consulting with the trainers, including monthly telephone hookups but "listening did not necessarily mean agreeing". NZTR had progressed many of the five key pillars of its strategic plan, which ranged from working with clubs to improve their performance to funding significant projects on drainage, irrigation and railing. - Sunday Star Times

I agree with Kakama, some of the comments on here about Dummy are over the top. I did not have a bet in the race other than to put Mahanadi and Bally Heights in as my place 6 runners and came in to watch the race and see Mahanadi put in an inglorious display of jumping which is unusual for a Myers runner. Some are now saying he shouldn't have been favourite and mug punters made him that but that's a bit rich post race. Pre race he deserved to be favourite and it wasn't just mug punters that thought he could win. Have a look at all the selections in papers, TAB, TV etc and he was a clear first choice for most of the analysts. Why? He had won 8 of his 22 starts including three of four over the hurdles with an easy win by six lengths in the Grand National Hurdles last August with a great display of jumping. In November he ran 4th in the NZ Cup, three lengths behind Spring Cheer. He came into the race today on the minimum weight after some very good flat runs. Fresh up over 2050m he was unplaced and then lined up in a 2000m jumpers trial which he won. He then ran third in a R85 race behind Willy Duggan and last start won a $40k open handicap over 2500m after sitting handy and going to the front at the 600m. Compared to the others in the race this was terrific form. Add in the fact he comes from the Myers stable renowned for producing competent jumpers and it was no surprise to anyone he started favourite today. Whether $1.90 was justified is debatable. Rioch won the race for Kevin last year and he was able to switch between hurdles and steeples successfully so to see Mahanadi's jumping display today was indeed a shock for many. What rubbed salt into the wound of many was the fact that the stable mate won after two poor runs in in his last two steeplechases. Going into the race Palemo had won 3 from 31 and the highest grade he got to was R75 where he placed third. He had run unplaced in three hurdle appearances and had six steeplechases for a maiden win and a second. Two steeplechases ago he was pulled up at Riccarton and last week he finished 37 lengths behind Bally Heights. Therefore one can understand why punters are a wee bit peeved. So questions needed to be asked which they did re Mahanadi although it wasn't as thorough as I would have thought from reading the stipes report. ie no question as to how he jumped the fences the day before etc. There was no questions at all on the improved perfomance of the winner either which there should have been. Still,there was some good racing there today, we saw a top class horse in Allez Eagle win impressively again and wasn't it great to see Troy Harris gain his second jumping win taking out the Waikato Hurdles on King Piccolo after scoring his first jumps win at Wanganui recently. He ran second on Myths And Legends in the Steeples as well plus had his first fall today also. The ups and downs of jumping races, for riders and punters alike.

And no questions regarding the remarkable improvement of forty lengths in the space of a week by the winner.

With the very sad passing of Lisa Chittick a couple of days ago there was a significant win today recored at Awapuni when Cast King won the last there. Cast King was trained in partnership with Andrew Scott by her brother Lance and the dam of the winner was Cent To Win who was by the very successful Chittick owned Waikato Stud sire in Centaine. Very appropriate.

The $1.90 shot goes around as if it has never seen a fence in it's life whilst the stable mate, beaten by nearly forty lengths by the third horse a week ago comes out seven days later and wins. Questions must certainly be asked, so yes, the stipes report will make an interesting read tonight to just see how vigourous an approach by them is undertaken. The bottom line is....that it is NOT good for racing. Can you tell us what was said to you Whoknows?

Just got up, but nice win today and $6.50 offered by the bookies taken with pleasure.

Was too. Cheers Hesi.

Nearly forgot. R2 5 Goodbye Kevin R3 6 Kalabek R4 3 Srikandi R5 3 Hucklebuck R6 1 Arabian Gold R7 5 Junoob R8 2 River Lad

Thanks Biff for posting that clip of Peter Snell. I met Peter on a few occasions, with the last time being at Arthur Lydiard's Testimonial Dinner around 2000.

I was at primary school then Biff when Kaye and others used to come round home. I do remember Mr Mink winning at Trentham in 1966 just after we moved to the Hutt. He was trained by Deac, by Copenhagen and won about seven in row before being sold to the States. Yes, born in Wanganui and lived there until we left when I was thirteen. Remember Cooks Gardens very well, I used to go to athletics there myself and was there the night Peter Snell broke the World Mile record. Sitting up on the bank on the flat wooden seats wrapped up in blankets as it was chilly that night. Not sure about Kaye being related to Deac by marriage. I thought his father in law trained on the Gold Coast and Kaye rode for him . Can't recall his name off the top of my head but it may come to me later.

L K Tinsley, Hayden's Uncle and who was a very good rider in the sixties and early seventies before moving to Australia's Gold Coast. Kaye was a friend of my father's and I can recall Kaye coming round home especially in Wanganui before we moved to the Hutt Valley in December 19665. Kaye rode a lot of top horses and at Trentham some of his best wins were: Harcourt Stakes 1963 Beauzami 1966 Raidan 1967 Laramie Parliamentary Handicap 1961 Nerula North Island Challenge Stakes 1970 Astrella Wellesley Stakes 1961 Tara's Pride Wakefield Challenge Stakes 1966 Mr Mink Kaye had plenty of success over on the Gold Coast, firstly as a rider and then as a trainer. He turned out a not too bad apprentice also, tutoring one Glen Boss .

RIP Lisa Sincere condolences to the Chittick and O'Sullivan families. Our thoughts are with you at this very sad time. Ted & Lynnda McLachlan

Exactly MZ, just as the OZ breds dominate the staying races.

Try Show Gate for one Pogo.

Yes, well done to Indikator and team. Terrific win in ground that I thought would be too sticky for him. Wet and loose I rated him a huge chance. When I saw him have his first up run at Te Aroha last month the 10yo paraded in magnificent condition and in fact was the birdcage standout as far as looks went. He was under pressure as far out as the 600m yesterday but he fought on like a tiger showing outstanding courage to beat Pump Up The Volume by a nose and go into the record books. Indikator was the Te Aroha "Horse Of the Year" last season and every possible chance of repeating that honour again this year. We have a new set of hurdles for our jumping meeting in June and Indikator with Craig Thornton up will trial them shortly. Incidentally, we had seven races scheduled for this Wednesday but with such large numbers nominating there are now eleven races carded. Again, well done Indikator and team.

Turn Me Loose Cruised around at New Plymouth today picking up $6250 for the easy win. indications are, that he will now head to the paddock and be back in the spring.