Midget

This whole perception in this scenario is the word "WHIP". When you bring up the word whip, people think pain and suffering, which in my view is wrong with the whips of today. If you go back some years ago when the whips were made, they are completely different from the ones used today. The whips are padded and soft, where as years ago they had leather flaps which could be soaked in water to make them hard and when you riders like W Skelton J Dowling and R Vance, they along with others could leave stripes on a horses rump. I have no doubt that this can't happen now, we have come a long way in horse welfare and another positive is the banning of spurs, these items could inflict more pain than whips, they had very small heads on them , not much different to a large nail and did leave small puncture holes in the horse. I think that NZTR tried to appease the masses, but clearly got there policy and or policing wrong and Opie Bosson"s case is a perfect example of that

If there are better Trainers than Team Pitman at placing there horses, i have yet to see them. I have always thought Michael in particular, thinks outside the square when it comes to getting the best returns for his owners. Just trying to think of the horses name that won over a dozen races that in my opinion was the best placed horse i have seen. it was no champion, but had had enough ability to win races when well placed. Just my opinion.

Watched the races all around Australasia yesterday. I had only bet at Wingatui and the reason i backed it was because it was ridden by J Lowry. I try to watch races in my old home area and I am of the opinion,J Lowry is riding better than anyone in the SI. His ride on Hasabro was a 10/10 ride and the horse was good enough to deliver.It is just a pity he has weight issues , so a tip for punters who are having a bet, do not forget to have a look at him.

He is in the show hunting scene,he had a cast off a year or so ago which he also won with,he did ride trackwork for zimmo. He does colour his hair on a regular basis, because i think the girls like it, Good bloke

I take it by that mild response, You want me back? Things i do for mates

Well to get into HQ, he would have been double vaxed. You apply to Ministry Of Health and ask for pass for your company, then take a Saliva test and when it comes back Negative, then you are good to go. I did this last week and got across with no problems. I am not vaccinated and never will be, the only carrot to change me, would be if Leo insists i cannot get into HQ without a passport , but i believe he will weaken as he knows how well i look after the solo mother fraternity when i am there, which helps his huge turnover.

Yes a great win for the connections of Copy That so congratulations. The driver Blair Orange must take great satisfaction for the win, when you consider what he and many others went through with this failed INCA inquiry. What was it 2 years years ago this fiasco was instigated and yet NOTHING HAS COME FROM IT. The financial and emotional stress, that he and his family must have gone through would have been heart breaking. Also good people like Brent Wall lose their employment over this fiasco. In my opinion all involved should be reimbursed any costs they have incurred from RIU, if this case is found to have no merit.

Well done Leo and the team for raising over 200k for the food bank in Sth Auckland.

You are a huge chance, going by the last Election in the Auckland City, where Chole Swarbrick won, If Aucklanders can vote her in, anything can happen

I often watch videos of races when a jockey has been suspended and Race 1 at Counties has been confused. The horse Me Liberez ridden by M Hashizume was involved in an incident at the 900m.The charge was easing the pace abruptly. I waited for the Stewards vision before making an decision on the charge.After viewing the alleged charge,I am of the opinion that Masa was very hard done by being found guilty. What i believe was the he was easing from a 3 wide position into a 2 wide position,he look inside and eased into the running line,the rider of Borri Hyde contributed to the incident by riding his horse into the easing Me Liberez. I have never seen a rider being charged when running in 4th position for easing to get cover. I don't know what Harry thought about this,but in the report he asked for clarification of the rule. In the report it states the rider abruptly restrain his mount, I disagree with that statement. In my opinion the horse"Me Liberez was already in the 2 wide line, without causing interference and the trialing horse clip a heal after Me Liberez was already there It is of no surprise the the rider pleaded Not Guilty to the charge. Any opinions?

I rode The General a few times and he was the easiest horse to ride. The owners were real characters, I will tell you a few story's about them. They told me that General had been up and down State Highway that many times, that he knew where the pub was at Waikoloa ,as 1km from the pub the General knew the pub was a short distance away and would start rocking in the float, they would take him off the float and tie him to a gate. This was all good but the boys got another horse called Hasty Simm and they continued with the same practise. Then on one visit, unbeknown to the boys the Publican had got a couple of pigs , both horse were half asleep , then they spotted the pigs and story goes the both horse pulled the gate off its hinges and they say it was liken to a mobile start at the Trots. The General's work was always done by being lead off Bernie's Landrover up down the hills on their farm. Another true story was that they went to Hokitika and the other brother lover playing the piano, he was asked to provide some entertainment, which he was happy to do, the issue was the piano was bordering on the edge of the stage and after the brother had consumed a dozen jugs, the oblivious happened and the piano went tits up of the stage. The brothers were top people who just loved racing, didn't matter if they won or ran last. my memory is fading, but can our resident historian tell me if the General won at Marlbrough? I am going to Paul Richards 60th Birthday tonight at HQ , so will ask him if he rode him

I was told by a racing expert, that the now Chief Stipe Ydgren mistook the rounds in a race in which he drove in,Can any Cafers confirm this? Thanks

No,he can ride at 53kg any day of the week,so weight isn't issue here.

I have been in racing for 50 years and i have never meet a better person than Tony,Nobody had a bad word to say bout him and he did as well as he did as a trainer,through sheer hard work. Tony helped me a lot as an appretice and gave me a lot of winners. I will tell you a story about Tony and Mr Aybee.I had ridden Mr Aybee in the Riverton Cup and he ran 2nd after to Miles Better, i thought he had every show.On the first day of the Easter carnival at Riccarton i picked up the ride on Candyboy,in the Geo Adams,he bolted in and on the last day i was down to ride Mr Aybee bit also could ride Candyboy again.I didn,t have the balls to tell Tony,so i got Tim Barton to tell him,which turned out ok.In the race i was getting a good run,with Mr Aybee inside me under lock and key,then the horse i was following droped down to the fence and then Candyboy took charge and the next second my saddle had slipped,anyway into the straight and i am gone,the dry witted Michael Mein got up inside and as he went passed,said"I bet you wish you hadn't got off him down,he went on to win the race and i never look like getting back on. Tony do not listen to Danny Crozier,when he tried to convince you i pulled him up in the Riverton Cup. RIP Tony,you were a champion

Went to puke today to watch our 2yo,i thought it went OK,but get home to watch the video they had heat 5 up but nothing else,people in charge of this shit,need to get the shit together,i have 10 people who had to work and i told them to watch the video,but because of these non performers who get paid for shit service,i will be struggling to hold the syndicate together because of this incompetence.

The RIU has lost respect from me again. I am told that A Dooley, now this is the guy who was the chairman of the JCA , when the 2yo of B Lindsay was wrongly relegated from 1st placing and also there was confusion over who had lodged the Inquiry, then J Oatham said he will lodge the protest.Mickey Mouse all around. I have no evidence that Mr Dooley fell out of favour with the hierarchy of the JCA and his position was in jeopardy after his wrong decision, but it does appear odd that he has now gone from the judge to the Lawyer, no doubt with the support from Godber and Oatham. I would like to know who he has replaced as a Steward,as in these testing times it would be ludicrous to be adding to the workforce when everyone is shedding staff, but then again we are talking about the RIU here. If Mr Godber would have the courtesy to reply on Cafe, as he should for transparency purposes, especially now that his weekly chat on Radio Trackside has gone, can he confirm who was paying for the travel expenses being accrued by Mr Oatham being based in Christchurch , for his personal reasons.

Yes i noticed that his hands were continually shaking

Michael,i will tell you the reason why J Oatham was based in the SI. He went down there to look after his daughter who had just had a baby. Now, this is very noble, but he was appointed as the Head Steward(Northern), my argument if he could to the job from Christchurch, that is good, but if he wanted to do the big meetings up North, he should pay his own way, but this would never happen, as the RIU has been reckless with their finances, even having to pay 12k to me(which still went to my Barrister) plus the 5k i had to pay,after 3 telephone conferences, where it was clearly indicated that the charges laid had no chance of succeeding, plus the Legal bill for the RIU must have been over 20k, as my Barrister said it was done at mates rates. This organization has been to allowed to create this monster, with costs increasing year on year.I would like to know how many members of the RIU, have actually run there own business and are aware that when an Industry/business is struggling, the solution would be to decrease expenditure,NOT INCREASE IT. Anyway, Michael,i know you are not a party type of guy, so I am picking you are thinking about you business and staff at 2am and what the future will hold,Good Luck It must come to an end

Correct Gary, but when you cant deposit funds into your account, it leaves you with the problem i had. When the TAB becomes more competitive and wants to look after its customers, I will change back to support our Industry. The other issue, i got a lot more value on my bets.It is human nature to get the best deal available. When any business has competition, they must compete and the NZ TAB has a lot of ground to make up.

Yesterday, I gave my son $200 to put into his Bet 365 account for some bets, as i am over this monopoly called the TAB. Well what a user-friendly site, you get the best odds offered, you can cancel your bets, not sure how long before the start of a race, as I didn't use that facility. I just found the whole experience so much better than our $50m platform, so unlikely i will use our TAB again in the near future.

Yes and the Oaks

They don't get much worse,I will give him 1/10 and he only gets 1 as he stayed on the horse.I hope he gave the riding fee back to the connections.

I see a live feed was streamed on Facebook. I see our old mate Colin Wightman has had a live stream.Of the submissions i seen and heard, Dr Murray Blue made a big impression on behalf of the SRC.

100 percent Gruff,it was 3 strides before the winning post, this remains the worst decision of all time

Tim,go and have a look at the NZTR Web site and have a look at the stewards 4 videos. Then you will see this is the worst decision by both the RIU/JCA, the incident happened 3 strides before the post and how anyone can come to the conclusion the best horse didn't win the race is beyond belief.