Irish

Cup Day Tradition - ROOTED
World Famous Jumps race over the HILL - ROOTED
General state of Racing - ROOTED
$55m Track - NOT ROOTED (apparently)
Seems the Muppets can root everything except what they needed to ....
Apparently this shot is from the meeting when they decided to send the Track developers home early

   

Dear me Pogo.  Many years, long time no speak, but you still have the ability to make me smile.

Dear me Pogo.  Many years, long time no speak, but you still have the ability to make me smile.

They are not machines she has done a super job...lets hope not one run to many.

Well first of all hats off to the Randwick track staff for providing a racing surface that nobody expected after the overnight flooding .....it was a brilliant effort and a safe racing surface.
The racing was great as well and there wasn't a dry eye on course when that grand old trainer Les Bridge won the Donny with the wonderful grey Celestial Legend who will win many more races.
The Derby was a case of 'Hats off to JMac' as his ride won the race on Riff Rocket as the runner-up Pericles with Blake Shinn on top circumnavigating the field as JMac sliced through the middle like a skilled surgeon and it won him the race.  Plus it was the great Kiwi expat Chris Wallers first Derby which completes the set for him.
As for the Group one Sires Stakes for the 2yo's ......well that was Jason Collett at his absolute best ....waiting waiting waiting and then BANG he got up on the well supported Manaal 11/2 and proved the fillies are a smidgeon better than the colts this year. 
The disappointment was the fav Storm Boy  but the writing was on the wall after the Slipper that his 2yo campaign was on 'wobbly' legs and I made him the 'lay of the day' as 2yo's will tell you when the green light has gone to amber which he did on Slipper day but as he was valued at $40 Mill they really wanted a group one with him but it was a case of going to the well once too often.
The TJ Smith was also a great race with another grey Chain Of Lightning upsetting the favs with a rail hugging Damian Lane special which proved she was up to group one company on soft tracks.  I thought I Wish I Win was excellent and only peaked on his run the last 50mtrs which also showed he is a true race horse after two horrible trials leading in. He only turns up on race day like good horses do.
Imperatriz was also excellent and finished her campaign in style running a very game 4th. She certainly didn't shirk the task and after an interrupted run and many horses would have turned it up .....but she was coming back again at the post. A truly champion mare who will be back at Randwick for the Everest in the Spring.
So now we look forward to Oaks and Queen Elizabeth day next Sat and Orchestral can hopefully prove her worth by going out in style. Interesting to see James Cummings saving his filly for a re-match rather than taking on the boys in the Derby......another great race day awaits us.
FF.

Declan Bates...
My guess would be Master?

Long time since I posted here my children.
I remember the awesome day I had at Hastings when Tony signed my knickers for me.
An amazing memory no one can take away.
Sorry to see you go T. Lee.
One of the best.
 
Regards,
 
Irish
 
 
 

Long time since I posted here my children.
I remember the awesome day I had at Hastings when Tony signed my knickers for me.
An amazing memory no one can take away.
Sorry to see you go T. Lee.
One of the best.
 
Regards,
 
Irish
 
 
 

Long time since I posted here my children.
I remember the awesome day I had at Hastings when Tony signed my knickers for me.
An amazing memory no one can take away.
Sorry to see you go T. Lee.
One of the best.
 
Regards,
 
Irish
 
 
 

Long time since I posted here my children.
I remember the awesome day I had at Hastings when Tony signed my knickers for me.
An amazing memory no one can take away.
Sorry to see you go T. Lee.
One of the best.
 
Regards,
 
Irish
 
 
 

Long time since I posted here my children.
I remember the awesome day I had at Hastings when Tony signed my knickers for me.
An amazing memory no one can take away.
Sorry to see you go T. Lee.
One of the best.
 
Regards,
 
Irish
 
 
 

Long time since I posted here my children.
I remember the awesome day I had at Hastings when Tony signed my knickers for me.
An amazing memory no one can take away.
Sorry to see you go T. Lee.
One of the best.
 
Regards,
 
Irish
 
 
 

Long time since I posted here my children.
I remember the awesome day I had at Hastings when Tony signed my knickers for me.
An amazing memory no one can take away.
Sorry to see you go T. Lee.
One of the best.
 
Regards,
 
Irish
 
 
 

Guess I'm just not as precious as some people and can have a laugh at most things. 
 

He is a Maori himself and just having a bit of a laugh. God help me if Bill T James was still trying to make a career  in comedy in today's world. 

Raceform Born Nov 2019-Dead June 2020
Your birth was greeting with much excitement..
"I’m sure it will prove to be a huge marketing tool in all sorts of ways" Patrick Hogan
“We’ve desperately needed a fit-for-purpose news and form publication – it’s an essential for any racing jurisdiction,”  Tony Pike
NZTR CEO Bernard Saundry also lauded the arrival of RACEFORM.  
Covid 19 stunted your growth and now RITA have killed you off.  Apparently the VIP punters surveyed said you had no impact on their lives.
I personally will miss you and looked forward to our weekly visits.
 

You can blame the modern toys if you like, but the problems go back way further than that. Back before we even had betting on the Internet and live TV covering everything from everywhere  
I feel the problem is a lack of horses, particularly good horses, that attracted the interest and therefore the betting money. It was one big circle, as big race meetings attracted big fields and big crowds, which in turn attracted big newspaper coverage and even some TV coverage of our bigger races, pre Trackside (or Action TV as it was originally called from memory). How did we survive with just radio? And just local radio at that? Just fine, by comparison, it seems.
We survived when living in Auckland and trying to tune in to the night trots at Addington on Christchurch radio (there was no chance during the day, and coverage at night was patchy at best). We survived without betting on the Dubbo greyhounds and with having to put bets on huge amounts of time before a race through the TAB. What was it, 20 minutes for an each way bet? An hour before a double? I can't quite remember now. And didn't we have to cash them back a at the same TAB? And you couldn't cash an on course ticket elsewhere, so if you had the late on course treble still live you had to stay to the end of the night. But we survived, and by comparison to today racing flourished. 
One would of thought that as things have progressed over the years, Jet Bet, Phone betting, internet betting, bet right up to race jump etc etc, the ease of it all would have made racing more attractive to more people. But the opposite has been the case. For a long time now. 
The product we are left to be betting on from July onwards, is complete garabage by comparison. And while we can blame Covid-19 for the current "no racing" situation, it is far from being the reason we have very little left. Newspaper coverage of racing in Auckland was virtually non existent before this all started. And what we did get paid as much attention to the Wollongong dogs as it did a Group 1 meeting at Ellerslie. But then, at that Group 1 meeting, there's would be small fields and very little interest anyway, partially because so little is being done to generate interest. But then you need a product to promote, and currently, in Auckland a time least, while we do have promotable venues for both Galloping and Harness, we have such small fields the racing isn't attractive from either a betting or a spectacle point of view. There's no atmosphere on course, unless you're in with the young pissheads who seem to be the target audience of clubs today. Can't make money out of the racing, so we'll make it out of the booze instead. That'd be fine if the racing was still good. But it's not. Less fans make for less betting, which makes for less money and less horses. Less horses makes for less fans, less betting and so on and so forth. I used to bet more, much much more, in the 70's, 80's and 90's than I do today. And the newly proposed wall to wall TV racing turns me off completely. On course, with no form, no people and manned-betting counters even more so. The cold surgical experience of attending a race meeting will be like attending a funeral, a crematorium or a morgue  who wants that?
I have no idea on any solutions. Big prize money has helped when the Govt has helped fund that in the past, but it's not sustainable. The big money never hangs around long enough to encourage more breeding. And even if there was, so many exit to HK, Aussie and Singapore we're  left with virtually the dregs. And those that aren't, end up virtually their entire career racing in Australia. Hell, some don't even come back here to spell anymore. Bigger fields make for bigger dividends, less collects perhaps, but when you get a collect it gives you a lot more to put back through the tote.  
Then there's the 101 other things attracting the so-called "leisure dollar". Racing appeared on its last legs when there was such a thing as the leisure dollar. Covid has now changed that situation so that leisure dollars are going to be in short supply. Somebody pulled the plug out of the full bath many many years ago, and you no what happens when the bath is almost empty, right? Things spiral much more rapidly until they eventually disappear, for good....... 

Unfortunately there have been too many that do not know the difference between a salt lick and a caslick in charge at club and national level for too long!

You can walk if you want your choice  , iam totally  not anti racing , but horses don't get a choice if they don't want to race , if they refuse a few times like some do what happens to them ? Hopefully they are found another pursuit .
A few people die in the ring , iam a boxing fan , boxers get a choice know the risks accept the risk , so your example makes no sense at all .Rusty studies talking horses maybe he can tell you a horse that's been asked and replied yes they up for risk, I'd be more impressed if ones signed a waiver for risks involved .
 

Can I suggest Barryb as a third party observer of this conversation that your words come across as a bit on the  condescending side and might not win friends and influence people on this site when you are effectively taking a blaming and bagging tone with those that raise  legitimate concerns about a site you acknowledge has been found wanting time and time again over several months now. This new level of ineptness from the TAB really takes the cake in my opinion.  You.are of course absolutely entitled to your opinion as are others here but perhaps it could be couched in less inflammatory tones in future because what’s the point in getting people’s backs up by trying to shoot the messenger. We may disagree with each other and that’s fine but let’s keep the good manners intact eh.

More than one story I would think Huey.  
Addictive Habit is flying the Somervell flag with great alacrity but don't forget Celebrity Miss, or the lovely Fleur De Lune  - who has recently become a mother with a fine filly foal to Darci Brahma - and is set to visit Per Incanto.  (not that I suggest any of Lee's horses should lend themselves to promiscuity.  Dear me no.  We could have NZTR down on trainers for producing horses with loose morals - unlike themselves of course  who are absolute pillars of moral rectitude. 
They would probably invent some sort of fine  'encouraging a thoroughbred female into practicing loose morals'  has a nice ring to it.
Besides, that would crank up the NZTR bank balance for the next trip to the Arc would it not???    Ah, dear, what a cynic I have become and I was once such a lovely honest simpleton.
 
Enjoy the weekend children.
 
 
 
 

This is the new "leakage" Irish.....

I have a question.
I tried to place a bet at Cambridge but fiddled and buggered around for so long I gave up and bet elsewhere.  
My question is:  (remember I've only had one try)
Can you not bet a different amount for win and place on the one bet slip now??
Do I need to do the Win bet first then another bet for the Place?
We need the Romans.  They conquered the world.  A new TAB website would have been a five minute job to them.
Good luck punting over the weekend everyone. 
 
 

Neither can I.  I was hoping someone else could.  Perhaps we could compile a list of "unfiner' moments.

You're doing better than me. I went to the Deposit section and clicked Add A Card.  That was the end of that.  "Error.  Come back later" or words to that effect.
Thank goodness for my Aussie TAB, Ladbrokes and Unibet accounts.
New website doesn't seem to be one of their finer moments  - although perhaps I'm being too harsh.