Chris Wood

Got that Rum, should have been implemented with the next lot of nominations.... Understand their problems alround........

The 2 kg for the jockeys is a bloody joke, were the trainers consulted, if it had to be introduced shouldn’t it have been when there were no acceptances due to come out? Not handled well NZTR!

Makes me laugh, how many horse connections, punters etc would have congregated at various TAB facilities in Australia yesterday to watch racing all over Australia, so the virus is exempt from these areas, turn it up!

Matt Cameron was at the track here in Cambridge this morning, I mentioned the track to him as I thought it was presented in pristine condition. He didn’t think the inside was off, and really couldn’t give me a reason for so many riders taking their mounts out wide, although he did give me one flippant comment that made me giggle!

As I have said many , many times on this forum, Ellerslie should conduct racing every 2nd Saturday, with the ARC putting in a Strath Ayr track. The population is there, people would know that racing was being conducted on a regular basis, and it might just get people back on course. The facility is wasted, get with the times, promote the best facilities in NZ.

Diane Knowles as she is known now?

Tim does it really well at the TeRapa Tavern. Have to agree, bar staff at TeRapa are far from welcoming, and yes come the last race, all they want to do is shut up shop and piss off. A lot of this has happened since the independent caterers have been involved at the track, there is so much room for improvement.

Our times are not really relevant here as has been shown many tines in the past. The Shark was impressive, you can only beat what is dished up......

Claim long gone, still ride a bit of work, they do say one at a time when I get on, but they cope.....

Isn’t this just a build up of the downward spiral of where we are at in NZ? Yearlings sold, RTR sales, trials performers exit the country at the rate of knots, it has to affect the product NZ trainers are left with, and we still box above our weight. I would love to have a horse good enough to participate in either race, but go through the list of past winners for both races over the last 30 years and see the quality of the animal that used to line up in these once prestigious races, we are on a rapid down hill spiral, and arresting that spiral is going to be a massive task.... Then there is the renaming of the 3yo fillies race.........

Tony Prendegast trained Mr Ay Bee when he was down South.

He was a naughty boy Raoul.....used to pull up on his own accord....

Two great horses, rode Oranmore at Ellerslie one day with my 4kg claim, sadly he was past his best.

Bernard is against the Bill and knows it’s implications, I find him to be a decent bloke, and he has inherited a sinking ship.

Just on a thousand here at present. Track opens at 4.30, big teams pump them through pretty quick, open till 10.30 out on the back tracks. The front tracks are closed at 8.30 now, so the earthworks can be started. Lots of soil to be shifted, good progress already.