drewandjo

Ardern was democratically elected as our PM. When the threat to her life becomes so great that she can't attend events because of the violence towards her and she figures it's not worth it, I really don't think that's a good thing for democracy. There's plenty of Prime Ministers and politicians I have disagreed with a lot over the years, I've never thought abusing, swearing at, and making threats towards them is acceptable as some seem to think it is today. Imagine if we all did that when we didn't agree with a politician or public figure.

Absolutely agree.  So much anti-BGP sentiment on here.  I’m not part of the group but take my hat off for what they’re doing to bring new people to the game.
Outside of those big syndicate days/weeks there will be a whole new bunch of punters having a bet here and there.  Can’t be bad.
Im pretty sure if one of the key BGP guys were on here he would be asking The Torch about Kane Williamson’s batting technique or deductions on same horse multis 😀😀
 

You know this is the Thoroughbred Chat forum don't you?

Zacinto not covering

Story in Autumn Owners Bulletin by my pal Cat Williams. 
Sorry script pasted as small and pic didnt download. NM
NEWMARKET GROUP 1 –
DREAMS DO COME TRUE
101-1 odds, homebred, the Group1 Newmarket, beating the Aussies at what they do best – YES it’s possible!
First though, let’s wind back to the beginning of the week when I popped up to Karaka for 48hrs to support the LA team in the sales tent. Fully aware that Covid was running rampant in the City of Sails I decided to only spend two days there in the hope of not falling ill.. Thankfully, succeed we did which made up for the masked crusader look I’d taken on.
Over the next couple of days of the Sales I kept saying to Sam “Roch ‘N’ Horse, do you think she’s a chance?” “I do!” he said (uttered with the same energy and passion he’d given on our wedding day.) Thus was planted the idea of kicking off the logistics of a possible hit and run (and collect) to Melbourne.
In years gone by it would have been simple: book your ticket, pack your passport and reserve a bed en-route to the airport but with Covid the planning had to be extensive. I had said to myself that if I hit a brick wall during the planning process and it all becomes too hard then it wasn’t meant to be, no problem, watch it from home, it doesn’t matter. This happened at the airport when one piece of the stream of Covid-required documentation wasn’t appearing where it should, despite it being viewable on my phone. A close friend and neighbour was determined to help and her dogged persistence got me on the plane with two minutes to spare.
Melbourne, beautiful weather, I managed to find a “wheelly” accessible room despite the whole of Australia deciding Melbourne was the place to be that weekend and I gathered a few Aussie based friends who were keen to come and play. I’d tried to secure a NZ friend to travel with but I realised I was asking a lot, it was very short notice. So: “I can do this by myself, get on with it!”
The crazy thing is, I was so incredibly lucky, everything just fell into place. I caught up with a gorgeous friend for dinner on Friday, who joined me with her daughter on race day, an old school friend had arrived in Melbourne a few hours after me as she had been visiting her family in NZ and said she was definitely coming to the races for some fun despite only being home a few hours. And a gorgeous couple I’d met in Perth and had moved to Geelong happened to be in the city for their sons interschool swimming finals...there was no way they were not coming to play.
Race day arrived and I enjoyed a beautiful Saturday breakfast with friends. A lovely start and although they couldn’t come to the races the fascinator I wore had been made by her. It’s known to be my lucky one.
I arrived at the races early and had a lovely conversation with a couple who were Flemington regulars and on further discussion found he was a committee member. They wanted to know where I was from and why I was there so like a good Kiwi I gave them the Roch ’N’ Horse story... I said she unofficially broke a course record with Levante at Trentham, last Group 1 start – but the bookies seem to have missed this.
My friends arrived, we went round to the stables and the strappers admitted to Rochy being a bit ‘wound-up’ but she was OK now ...I had two people I needed to chat to ... trainer Mike Moroney and jockey Patrick Maloney. Mike’s right hand guy Anthony ensured I got my owners worth with both. I asked Mike about Pat? “Tell me about Pat, I believe he hasn’t won a Group 1?” “Well...” said Mike “He’s the sort of guy you’d like as your son-in law” “I’m not looking for a son-in-law Mike... we send you the best horse we’ve ever had and...” I replied with raised eyebrows.
I met Pat. The message I thought I gave him was “Pat, ride this horse like she’s the best in the race, because she is.” Evidently the message he received was “I’ve come a jolly long way and with the wheelchair it hasn’t been easy so give it y’all!” Pat and I held eye contact for the whole conversation and it finished with Pat saying “I promise to do my best for you all” and I said “Don’t do it for us, do it for you.”
On to Rochy he gets – and she saunters around the parade area like it’s hers. She seems to have that Usain Bolt swagger. She looked like she knew they were all here to see her and she owned that privilege. I turned to my friends and said, “My goodness imagine being favourite, how fun is it going in as underdog?”
At that moment I looked up and saw Tony Santic, the owner of Makybe Diva. A favourite memory of Flemington was on a girls trip with Sarah Wilson and Gin Warby to watch Makybe Diva win her third Melbourne Cup. That was seventeen years ago. When we arrived on course that day we spotted Tony and Gin went over and asked if we could have our photo with him ... “It’s a sign,” she said and loaded up her punt on Makybe and as they say the rest is history. When I saw Tony there again, I wanted to go and say “Hi” but didn’t get up the courage, instead I kept telling myself “It’s a lucky omen, it’s a great day.”
The race starts, they split into two groups as predicted, one jock seriously did not want
to race on our side and yanked over to the outside rail. Rochy is a good spot, she pulls out, looks like her side is in front, yes it is, she’s moving forward, she’s in front, I think she’s won, has she won? YEEESSSS! OMG dreams really can come true! Photos, pats on the back, photos, texts, champagne, photos, hugs... did I mention photos? My gorgeous school friend said “Catriona I feel like a movie star, people keep requesting my photo.”
We met the couple who I’d met at the entrance and they showed me their ticket... they said “we loved talking to you so much we backed her $40 each way!” So many
had backed her. We now have all these new found friends. It truly was a once in a lifetime experience that I’m now planning to do
all over again... hopefully next time all the owners are there and of course Sam!
You’ve gotta have a dream!
LA -BIG ON WINNING!

Come on guys, from where he found himself in the running, he was tag teamed. The pace of the race couldn't see him doing anything else and in his yester-year Stradivarius would have mowed them down. Yep, he had to extradite himself out of a hole, but then he just didn't quite show that dash that he has in the past. That is all i think Frankie was saying.

Flightline is next-level - and most called it after winning on debut.
Missed all the Triple Crown races (which are absolute shite, anyway) but don't expect to see him on the track for too much longer.

You are using domestic ratings for your exercise Berri - ratings used for the purpose of rating black type races are completely different. see point 9 from the Executive Summary of the 20/21 Pattern Committee report
9. The race rating is determined by the peak World Best Racehorse Ranking (WBRR) that season for the average of the first four finishers in the race. Note that the WBRR has no relationship with the points-based domestic NZ handicap rating and the two measures should not be confused.
 
Aegon's final rating at the end of 20-21 was 115. Both Melody Belle & Avantage were rated 120 while Levante, before she had won her 2 Gr.1's, was rated 115.
There is no doubt however that there is pressure on some of our black type races because of various factors. Our 3YO ratings have seemed low when we see those horses go to other jurisdictions and immediately be rated points higher. At present we have 6 Group 1's with a warning attached, 4 of them for 3YOs. However the Asian Pattern Committee benchmark for 3YO races looks like it will be reduced by 2 points which will help those races with warnings.

Nelula, are you referring to the current government in your 2nd paragraph?
If so may I remind you that it was the current government that had to bail the TAB out to the tune of 70 million, after taking over!
I do agree with you that we are heading for tough times. So whilst I welcome the new stakes I hope that they don’t have dig into their reserves, all over again, just to maintain what they have promised.
 

He didn’t cause any controversy, a steady hand on the wheel, he was approachable and I always found him a fair & reasonable bloke to deal with
I’d suggest he was quite an improvement on the bloke before him !!!
 

Pretty easy to look at 1 year in isolation Berri and start a panic. Yes the 2022 figures are low but if you look back over the last 8 years there have only been 2 where the NZ-purchased average was higher than the sale average (when you take the obvious big price purchases made by NZ agents for Aus clients). Only last year we made up 8.44% of the purchases and the spend was $10.3 million out of a sale turnover of $142 million. No doubt questions should be asked of purchasers from previous years and of our major studs around their recent buying strategies and we may get a clearer picture - or it could just be an off year. There is no doubt it is getting harder to buy at the middle to top end of the market with the likes of Yulong buying anything with a half decent pedigree in the last couple of years. I share your concern because it is always good to see imported (aus and other) bloodlines being brought in to the NZ market.
 
However - not sure I see where the number bought versus the number of NZ-breds racing in Aus is relevant. And how does the average price of broodmare compare with the average type of horse racing in Aus? Five years ago at this sale kiwis spent $9.1 million out of a turnover of 103 million with the average higher than the sale average. Is your argument that the quality of our black type racing is diminishing because of less investment (those quality mares from 5 years ago will now have progeny racing in those races so by your argument those black type races should be rating higher) or that we should be trying to buy at least the number of broodmares as compared to the number of kiwi-breds currently racing in Australia?

National are experts in scoring own goals

Paul Sugden's first winner - Doncast
Not Sure by Oakville. had a habit of running home late for second - one of the first I strapped - pretty sure owned by Peter Rogers

and Charlie
you missed my one of my favourites - big old Finton, a son of Ruddington. I remember one morning riding him and leading 1 each side to the track from the Pekerau stables and as we passed the Park Lodge motel on the main road their telephone bell on the outside of the motel rang, extremely loud, and Finton jumped 10 feet sideways, right in to the middle of the road. Thank goodness nothing was coming although I think I may have slightly shit my pants!!!!

Paul Sugden's first winner - Doncast
Not Sure by Oakville. had a habit of running home late for second - one of the first I strapped - pretty sure owned by Peter Rogers

changing to SW & P hasn't worked for a number of former handicaps

changing to SW & P hasn't worked for a number of former handicaps

and Charlie
you missed my one of my favourites - big old Finton, a son of Ruddington. I remember one morning riding him and leading 1 each side to the track from the Pekerau stables and as we passed the Park Lodge motel on the main road their telephone bell on the outside of the motel rang, extremely loud, and Finton jumped 10 feet sideways, right in to the middle of the road. Thank goodness nothing was coming although I think I may have slightly shit my pants!!!!

It's called "State control of the dumb and gullible". Just the start . And with their confederates in the media and education sectors there will be no future enlightenment to save democracy.

Take your conspiracy theories somewhere else...that is THE biggest load a crap I have ever heard ....I said this is for racing...enjoy the break.

Ignorance abounds! Watching Trackside and hearing Triscay mispronounced several times as 'Tri scay' made my BP rise more than a few points. The lack of historical knowledge was glaringly apparent yesterday afternoon.

Held the ship together, not an easy task in these testing times.

Track was in great order, the break has done it the world of good, nice take with the undersowing!

I see because no one's listening you appear to be posting more and talking louder, its not because we can't hear you it's that we choose not to.

Geez some of you would moan if your arse was on fire...its a good day..it gets people to the races that has to be a good thing and unfortunately times change and if racing does not change with it we will be finished...JMO.