Ohokaman

“Sticking my beak in now “ ? And here was I thinking this was a forum…..

Give it a rest, just look at the video ( 2.20 on..) it’s not that difficult….. Laboratory tested sand ? Carefully selected turf for the local climate/environment ??

Not all beer and skittles then Stodge, but probably not a surprise to many… https://www.telegraph.co.uk/racing/2024/04/15/cocaine-grand-national-crowd-aintree-peaky-blinders/

Agree Tom. If they can get $4m for Avantage, you would think she is double that.

So, could Imperatriz sell for more than $5m? The answer is probably yes. Highest-priced broodmare purchases at public auction in Australia and New Zealand: Millanova - $5m at 2008 Inglis Breeding Stock Sale; Sunlight - $4.2m at 2020 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale; Avantage - NZ$4.1m at 2021 NZB's Gavelhouse online platform; Away Game - $4m at 2022 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale; Sunshine In Paris - $3.9m at 2023 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale.

They might be having second thoughts after watching the events at Randwick at the weekend. Pic at 6am. Cannot imagine any course here running a meeting after 230mmm of rain in 24 hours, whatever the surface. Incredible that they were running 1.10.4 in the TJ Smith, and 1.35.2 in the Doncaster was truly unbelievable. I heard Radley say they had put 5000 tons of sand in the track base over 5 years of renovations…….that’s why. Maybe they have learned something….whether the application is correct we will have to wait and see…..

Thought it might be going to the well once too often and so it proved. Roger James acknowledged this after the race. She rated 101.5 when she won the Derby, then 99 in the Vinery. In the Oaks 97.5 so clearly over the top.

Being sold as a broodmare proposition only apparently.

So much for all the hype about the European horses being better when the speed was on…. Pride of Jenni ran 2.02.02 yesterday at Randwick winning by 6.5 lengths. Via Sistina had romped home at Rosehill in a sedate 2.04.49 yet couldn’t get closer than at the post. What do they do next time ? Take her on with a bunny ?

Of all the memorable and freakish wins mentioned above, Pride Of Jenni's Queen Elizabeth win takes the cake. No.1. The pinnacle. There is no doubt. The unheralded Declan Bates pulled the pants down of some of the best jockeys in the world — James McDonald, Nash Rawiller, Blake Shinn and Craig Williams to name a few. Official GPS data from Racing NSW showed Pride Of Jenni was 91m in front of Mr Brightside with 700m to go, which is the equivalent of 38 lengths. That is simply unbelievable for one of Australia's premier weight-for-age Group 1 races. It was game over after 600m when Jenni got rolling. She just got further and further in front, and half way through the race those watching knew they were witnessing something special. Her six sub-12 second sectionals between the 1800m and the 600m (11.99, 11.54, 11.11, 11.42, 11.48, 11.60) were insane.

Less said the better…not sure what the stable was thinking there. Keep an eye on it though.

Late scratchings still go on fave John ?

Scratching R1. #48 Randwick R2 Now 5 and 13 BB

1. Randwick R2 -4,12 2. Randwick R3- 2,8 3. Randwick R4- 5,12 4. Randwick R5- 6,11 5. Randwick R7- 9,15 BB 6. Randwick R8- 8,10 7. Randwick R9- 1,14 8. Morphettville R4- 3,8 9. Morphettville R5- 2,9 10. Morphettville R6- 3,5 11. Morphettville R7- 5,16 12. Morphettville R8- 1,10 BB Go well team…..

Here’s one for the adventurous….. Morphettville R7 - Judge Jenni ( owned by Pride of Jenni crew ) Maiden - on form and ratings no hope. Maher stable’s only horse at the meeting, Froggy Newitt riding. Like the way it has hit the line…now up from 1400 to 1800m. $51 and $9 FO. Worth watching. Kallos in R8 much better placed today. 6kg swing on Queman from recent race. $7-8 good value. Benedetta the obvious danger.

Good two miler Stodge. Won the NZ and Auckland Cups over 3200m. Wants good ground definitely.

Some interesting answers given by Strathayr MD some time ago……( borrowed ) 1. Is there any reason to suggest Strathayr would not work in NZ ? StrathAyr Tracks will definitely work in NZ. We have tracks working well in all climates from the tropical climates of Hong Kong and Singapore all the way down to Moonee Valley and Moe in Victoria and Launceston in Tasmania. The only difference is the grass species on top which is selected to best meet the local climate 2. What is the updated data on abandoned race meetings on Strathayr tracks ? There hasn't been any track related wet weather cancellations other than due to visibility in extreme weather. The allweather StrathAyr Track drains extremely well and gives an extremely consistent racing surface around the entire track whether it is wet or dry. Even though a StrathAyr track is a natural grass racing surface it is in fact more all weather than many of the so called all weather synthetic tracks as well as being a very safe and consistent racing surface 3. What are the success stories with Strathayr around the world ? All StrathAyr Tracks are performing well from the oldest at Sha Tin and Happy Valley in Hong Kong(1988) , Moonee Valley 1995, Singapore 1999, to the more recent Australian Tracks in Launceston, Mackay, Toowoomba, Moe, and Newcastle. The newest StrathAyr Track build for the Hong Kong jockey Club in Guangzhou in China is also performing very well. All of these tracks have stories of racing well in extreme weather conditions and many with heavy racing schedules. No matter the age of the track they will keep racing well indefinitely into the future as the ReFlex mesh reinforced sand profile under the grass has a very long life. Moonee Valley track surface for example is now 23 years old which is many years older than any other Metropolitan track in Melbourne 4. What are the problems that have occurred around the world and why ? Any issues have all been related to track maintenance and in particular in regard to thatch control. Heavy thatch can create weakness at the surface and result in kickback. Toowoomba and Moe had issues that were soon solved with good renovation and maintenance. Since these issues that some tracks had, StrathAyr now provides much more support in the early years in working with the track managers to make sure these issues don't occur . StrathAyr Tracks are not difficult or expensive to maintain but are a little different due to its unique reinforced sand profile and so education on how to manage the track initially is the key to success from day one onward. 5. Eagle Farm was a disaster, was it Strathayr, what happened and why ? No Eagle Farm was definitely not StrathAyr. Not really up to me to comment further. One more point I would like to make is that there is a perception that StrathAyr Tracks are very expensive. This is not true with the extra cost compared to building a new conventional track being quite modest. The long life of the track, the increased usage and fact that wet weather cancellations become a thing of the past more than makes up for the cost difference. 6. In regards to maintenance the support we offer is regular visits and working with the track manager to work out the most appropriate program for all aspects of management including nutrition, irrigation , and thatch control. We don't try and take over the full management but monitor and offer advice including warning of any impending issues. We have a specialised agronomist who visits regularly for the critical first couple of years. 7. We don't licence out but generally run the installation contract ourselves using local contractors for general earthworks etc and will source turf by working with a local turf grower. 8. In regard to cost comparison it depends on what we are comparing to as conventional can means lots of different things and the cost of local materials such as sands and gravels has a big bearing on cost. However, for example if a full reconstruction to a higher standard conventional track including all earthworks, irrigation, drainage turf etc compared to a full StrathAyr system the difference would generally be around $ 40/m2 or $2 million for a 50,000m2 track 9. In terms of hard data on safety this is hard to come by as reliable figures are hard to get. However, lots of anecdotal evidence and examples of horses with leg issues being run at Moonee Valley for examples and avoiding some other tracks. There is more data I believe that shows grass tracks in general are safer than synthetic. 10. The profile features a perched water table design which means it holds extra water in the bottom part of the profile. This reduces how frequently the track needs to be watered and helps encourage deeper roots which also help to maximize water use efficiency. Also the track is extremely consistent all the way around so all the track needs the same amount of water and so you don't need to over water some areas to make sure poorer areas get enough. While the grass itself uses the same amount of water on any track the fact that you can more accurately apply only what the grass needs without waste can result in very significant water savings. Savings of 20% or more would in many situations is very achievable. More importantly a consistent healthy track will take more use and be better to race on. Also management of irrigation is much easier as the manager does not have to worry about watering close to a race meeting because of the free draining profile. I apologise that answers aren't clearer but really to talk about costs and savings really need to look at the track in question. In terms of pros and cons compared to synthetic I am obviously biased but synthetics do seem to have a place for training where very heavy use is required day in and day out. However, grass tracks are generally better for the horses and are preferred for racing and betting is higher on grass tracks. A StrathAyr Track is cheaper than most synthetic tracks and will last indefinitely which is not the case with synthetics. Many synthetics require a lot of time and money to maintain properly. StrathAyr Tracks will take more use than conventional grass tracks and so in many instances will take all the use required without having to resort to a synthetic. Also as stated before a StrathAyr track will drain better than a synthetic track and so be more all weather.

The saviour of racing eh….? Wonder how long it will be before Entain realise throwing money at stakes is not much use if the Premier track can’t be trusted by punters ? Will be interesting to see developments once Winter really arrives…. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/home-stretch-how-ellerslies-55m-racecourse-reno-is-set-to-save-horse-racing/JLHL5TL2DJA33JOZUAUJZ4EEQE/#:~:text=A slice of the gambling,the Ellerslie and Pukekohe courses.

Keep up Turnip…..

V'landys issued the death knell for the Kensington track in its current form after receiving reports that the problems that have plagued the course still exist after it hosted five trials for the first time in more than 14 months on Tuesday. "There is no doubt it is not suitable as a racing surface. We have given it every chance to perform and it doesn't," V'landys told Fairfax media. Someone might like to think about these comments.

Get Michael Wood over from Randwick to show them how it should be done ?

More problems it seems…..

Here is the field and barrier draw for the Sydney Cup. No – Horse – Trainer – Jockey – Barrier – Weight 1 – MILITARY MISSION (IRE) – Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott – Adam Hyeronimus – 17 – 56.5kg 2 – MAHRAJAAN (USA) – Shaune Ritchie & Colm Murray – Tom Marquand – 16 – 56kg 3 – ASHRUN (FR) – Ciaron Maher – TBA – 12 – 55.5kg 4 – LOFT (GER) – Ben, Will & JD Hayes – Blake Shinn – 7 – 55.5kg 5 – STOCKMAN (NZ) – Joseph Pride – Reece Jones – 8 – 55kg 6 – SELINO (GB) – Chris Waller – Tommy Berry – 9 – 54.5kg 7 – KALAPOUR (IRE) – Kris Lees – Dylan Gibbons – 6 – 54kg 8 – SERPENTINE (IRE) – Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott – TBA – 4 – 53.5kg 9 – AMADE (IRE) – Phillip Stokes – Michael Dee – 5 – 53kg 10 – ATHABASCAN (FR) – John O'Shea – Tyler Schiller – 11 – 52kg 11 – MANZOICE – Chris Waller – Zac Lloyd – 1 – 51.5kg 12 – CIRCLE OF FIRE (GB) – Ciaron Maher – TBA – 15 – 51.5kg 13 – GLENTANEOUS (IRE) – Anthony & Sam Freedman Jamie Kah – 2 – 51.5kg 14 – MAJOR BEEL (NZ) – Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott – TBA – 3 – 51.5kg 15 – MOSTLY CLOUDY (IRE) – Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young – Rachel King – 14 – 51.5kg 16 – TORRENS – Marc Chevalier – Jenny Duggan – 13 – 51.5kg 17 – SO DAZZLING (NZ) – John Sargent – TBA – 10 – 51.5kg ****

Here is the field and barrier draw for the 2024 Queen Elizabeth Stakes. No – Horse – Trainer – Jockey – Barrier – Weight 1 – MR BRIGHTSIDE – Ben, Will & JD Hayes – Craig Williams – 11 – 59kg 2 – CASCADIAN – James Cummings – Ben Melham – 6 – 59kg 3 – BUCKAROO – Chris Waller – Blake Shinn – 2 – 59kg 4 – LINDERMANN – Chris Waller – TBA – 10 – 59kg 5 – KOVALICA – Chris Waller – Nash Rawiller – 7 – 59kg 6 – ZEYREK – Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes – Joshua Parr – 4 – 59kg 7 – PRIDE OF JENNI – Ciaron Maher – Declan Bates – 3 – 57kg 8 – VIA SISTINA – Chris Waller – James McDonald – 5 – 57kg 9 – ATISHU – Chris Waller – TBA – 9 – 57kg 10 – PLACE DU CARROUSEL – Anthony & Sam Freedman – Tommy Berry – 8 – 57kg 11 – CEOLWULF – Joseph Pride – Jason Collett – 1 – 55.5kg ******** The Randwick track was rated a soft (6) at acceptance time. The rail will be in the 4-metre position on Saturday. The Bureau Of Meteorology forecast for Sydney is. Tuesday – Mostly cloudy (95% chance of 4-15mm of rain). 23. Wednesday – Partly cloudy. 21. Thursday – Mostly sunny. 23. Friday – Partly cloudy. 23. Saturday – Partly cloudy. 24.

Some cynical buggers on here…… We all know Debbie Kepitis, along with the Tighe and Treweeke families, owned Winx and are now $27m better off because of it. The attachment to the mare is obvious, and she was quoted as saying they did not intend to bid on the filly, but in recent weeks the family had realised how strong that attachment was, and the likelihood of her going overseas prompted the change of mind. I think it is brilliant she put her hand up to keep her in Australia. Winx had already lost her first foal by I am Invincible which almost cost her life, and there was no guarantee she would have another one. ( Good news today that she is in foal to Snitzel ) Woppit Bloodstock and Chris Waller will handle her as they did Winx. Whether she attains heights anywhere near Mum, time will tell, but even so the opportunity to carry on the bloodline down the track was no doubt another reason to keep her in Australia. Good on them.Wish them all the best whichever way it goes.