RaceCafe..#1...Tipsters Thread.... Share Your Fancies For Fun...Lets See Who The Best Tipsters Here Are.

bazach

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Everything posted by bazach

  1. a real shame. As Midget pointed out, a humble hero, who probably wasn't comfortable being treated as a hero. Was happy to chat with anyone regardless of their background, and in addition, had a very dry wit. The country will miss him.
  2. ...........and yet there are still those saying we need to keep all our current racecourses going!
  3. You only need to look at sales catalogues to see that even mares that leave group winners mostly have stats such as: dam of eleven foals, eight to race, four winners etc etc. One will be a stakes winner, a couple the winner of minor races and the rest?? - maybe pet food! Makes you realize how much money goes down the gurgler in service fees when you read sales catalogues thoroughly! Of course there are occasionally exceptions, but not often.
  4. I agree that having more staying races here would be good. That said, you need to put things into perspective re the number of 2400 metre races there are across the ditch. They (Oz) have hundreds more meetings a year than us and there are many meetings with just the one 1800 or 2000 metre race carded.
  5. This is a very good article, well written. There are numerous forces at play which have influenced why less people are interested in racing. Some of them are the same reason clubs like golf clubs, bowling clubs etc are also struggling with new members, ie too many other options, both partners need to work to pay the mortgage, computers, social media etc etc. Horse racing is also suffering because we are now two generations removed from the generation that used horses to work the land, and these people often also had an interest in thoroughbred racing, either as local committee club members, small time breeders, or owner trainers. These "horse" people are now (mostly) gone. There isn't much we can do about all the above. However, one thing that can be done, is to provide enough incentive for younger people to want to go to a racecourse (outside the one day a year picnic meeting they may attend), and in that regard, we are still on a down-ward spiral of deteriorating facilities and crumbling infrastructure. I don't have an issue if local areas want to retain their traditional "picnic" meetings, but in reality most of the attendees at these meetings are there for the social occasion (nothing wrong with that of course) and nothing else. Sure the odd one might get enthusiastic toward regular punting or ownership, but the one thing that is sure to put people off going to the races and showing an interest in the industry is the out dated and tattered nature of facilities at 90% of our racecourses. I have mentioned this before n Racecafe, but I would like to see in the Waikato, a new racecourse constructed which not only caters for the majority of Waikato horse racing, but is also an equestrian facility for showjumping, dressage, eventing, equine retail, apprentice jockey school etc, plus be a desirable venue for large non horse functions.
  6. Wings of Eagles wins Derby - by Pour Moi!
  7. Agree most race horse trainers and those associated with putting in the long hours needed at the track are totally dedicated and hard working types. There are not many "born with a silver spoon in their mouth" types at the race track at 5.30am!
  8. Jimmy Choux was a great race horse but doesn't have a very strong female line. Not that that means a stallion with an average female line can't be successful, but it is certainly one of the key things to look at when deciding on a stallion. Shocking also doesn't have a very strong female line and is doing well enough. Dalghar has a very strong female line, albeit he wasn't a 'top' race-horse.
  9. Definitely a "wait and see". Pentire has no history of siring successful stallions as yet. He won't have the cream of mares so will have to "do it on his own merits". He isn't a stallion I would send a mare to (personal opinion only) - couldn't win a GP1 in NZ, and only won a GP3 in Oz. Plus was unplaced in half of his 22 races. The studs always gloss over how many unplaced races their stallions have - I wonder why!. Anyway, all the best for Mapperley, as Pentire has been a great stallion and it would be nice to see his sire line successfully continue.
  10. These have been my thoughts for decades. Really good to see this great post by Midget. Racing can't continue as it is with the number of tracks we have, most of which are devoid of people most of the time (except Christmas etc). Our total population is less than Melbourne, and a lot less than Sydney. Also good to see mention that we don't need concrete edifices anymore! Go to tracks like Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast and see their facilities. There is still time to save this industry!
  11. Could have had a better record at stud if he had gone to a well known stud and had better mares. Top bloodlines of course being by Zabeel out of Eight Carat, therefore a full brother to Octagonal, three quarter to Don Eduardo, Kaapsted etc etc. He managed to sire 10 stakes winners from just over 200 to race, a pretty good effort considering the quality of mares he served. More disappointing at stud was Don Eduardo.
  12. Horsetalk, they have gone the way of the cassette player, the fondu set, and the record player - more junk to add to our landfill and the world's pollution!
  13. "The Karaka Million does distort the 2yo First Season sires Premiership.If you look into Power's pedigree you will see this is not a 2yo family, so expect much more when they get to 3yo's and above. After all this is the Bruce Lowe number one family.Some examples of great family number one are- High Chaparral, Shirley Heights, Swynford ,Blenheim, Phalaris...etc." As previously discussed on here back in April, as above, Power is a descendant of the great "blue hen" mare Malva (who is Blenheim's dam). I agree that Power's progeny should be far better as three year olds.
  14. All my thoughts are with her family tonight. Such a tragedy.
  15. Of course you are making the correct decision morayfm, Melbourne is a great place to race a horse. Also cheaper and quicker to get to than flying from the top to the bottom of NZ. You can also race a horse with modest ability at a country midweek meeting at places like Moe, Sale, Benalla etc, for the equivalent of our Saturday stakes. And a good horse is always racing in the city for roughly 80k minimum. Why wouldn't you? I think you are also correct about our conditions for breeding, especially if we go back to our knitting and breed good staying types. The fields for staying races in Victoria are not good quality and should be a good target for NZ bred horses with stamina.
  16. I can't see him attracting mares if over 10k. Staying stallions equal another 1-2 years training costs for owners and at 30k per annum, you wouldn't pay more than 10k in my view. Interesting that Americain started at stud in Australia at 12k from memory. I am interested to see his full tabulated pedigree and family record though.
  17. No surprize. The number of NZ buyers at the RTR sale was abysmal. With stakes so low, rearing and training costs always going up, and therefore the actual cost of buying the horse being a decreasing % of the total costs for the next 3-5 years, horses with poor conformation and/or pedigree are not going to find a ready market. The situation is only going to deteriorate, and is only being saved by the strong asian and Australian buying bench who are prepared to pay well for good conformation and pedigree.
  18. It is a huge increase in numbers, but the numbers of unsold horses went from 143 last year to 258 this year, ie 115 more horses taken home. Another figure not provided by NZB - I wonder why!?
  19. of course the usual hype from NZB of the great increase in average and median price, but nothing about the 40% of entries which didn't sell.
  20. I would have thought that the "Winston" party was our populist party Midget? I hope you aren't suggesting we go back to "first past the post" as a system of electing our government. Although MMP isn't perfect, it at least gives individuals who may not like the two main parties some confidence their vote will count for something. GM is just testing the waters. Personally I don't think his party will get off the ground but he is a clever guy who thinks outside the square so good luck to him I say - and I will be interested to see what policies he has. He also says what he thinks, and has no political baggage or apparent agenda, so maybe he our new populist guy??
  21. Your post is excellent common sense BruceL. I wish Dalghar all success, and all feedback about the Kings is they are very nice people. Hopefully he isn't one of the 95% of stallions who, despite all the hype and glossy brochures don't measure up to what their promoters think or hope they will. My only negative is that on the basis of one listed winner they raised his stud fee from 6k to 8k, - "The Aga Khan-bred grey has stood at a fee of $6,000 since 2012, but with a number of talented first-crop performers headed by the impressive Listed ARC Champagne Stakes winner Astara, his fee has been raised" - which is typical of the sales spiel talk studs use. In my view his fee increase was totally unwarranted until the stallion has proven himself, and having one listed winner doesn't mean he has (proven himself).
  22. Interesting that I Am Invincible was a straight out sprinter. Dixieland Band is a great source of stamina, so clearly the 'nick' worked well for I Am A Star to win at 1600 metres, plus the 49kg weight played a big part too! Makes you think that the mare mated to Shocking might have too much stamina in the pedigree.
  23. I see the winner of the Myer today sold for 12k as a weanling at Karaka in 2014, and her dam Star Band was sold at the same sale for a measly 2k, and in foal to Shocking! Another great buy, similar to the 1.5k paid for Tarzinos dam a couple of years back. Good luck to them. Like lotto you need to be in to win!!
  24. Hi Trump, You are right about the Sunshine Coast track, no crappy ancient concrete edifice facing south, no brown carpet, formica tables and chairs or toilets that are stained or don't flush etc etc. The terraced and shaded viewing areas are lovely, and it just feels good being there!.
  25. Midget, I was having this conversation in Taranaki over 35 years ago, and they still have race-courses at Wanganui, Waverley, Hawera, Stratford, and New Plymouth. In this case they aren't quite one hour from any of the others as the other three are between New Plymouth and Wanganui - it's a drive of just under 2 hours between Wanganui and New Plymouth. But the population base for this whole area is far less than the Waikato and there are five courses. There is always historical parochial interest in keeping your own track, and I don't blame locals for their sentiments, however misguided they are, but it does make it hard for them to see the big picture, that racing isn't what it was in the 1960s and 1970s. It's interesting that growing up in Hawera in the 1960s and 1970s, the town was bustling and all shops were occupied with 'proper' retail outlets. Now, although the population of Hawera hasn't gone down, the shopping area is deserted. Why? Simply because people don't think twice about hopping in their car, travelling down a great road, and going to New Plymouth or Wanganui to shop, and they don't think anything of living in New Plymouth or Wanganui and driving an hour to work at the large Fonterra plant at Hawera. So people interested in racing will still go if there were one or two 'decent' tracks in this region. Again, as with the Waikato it needs a pooling of resources, and leadership, not dictatorship, from above.