Maximus

agree totally, except with the spelling of 'wreaks' ...and in the absence of Miss Jools, perhaps Max can gently suggest 'reeks' would be preferred. However it is spelled/spelt, won't fix the terrible SMELL of it.

An extract from the ever-transparent (at saying bugger-all that's actually helpful) M Ballesty, “The simple reason for that is that we haven’t yet received any guidance from the TAB on what funding might look like so It’s typically a case of we can’t present what we don’t know." Well, excuse Max for saying so, but isn't it a substantial part of your JOB, Mr Ballesty, to get that certainty from the TAB/Entain long before May-June in any given year? As for the idea of three-tiered system a la Oz...laughable. NZ doesn't have the number of people or horses or wagering turnover required, and a steadily-reducing foal crop. God knows why we think NZ has to mirror Oz - slot races, Champions Day etc etc. Doesn't anyone in NZTR governance get it? We're TOO SMALL. 'Tiered' racing for NZ could only ever work if it's TWO tiers - eg Metro (Akl/Ham/Wellington/Chch) and Provincial-Country ( ie everything else, call it what you like). Stop trying to be 'Oz Lite' and start capitalising on Kiwi strengths - quality bloodstock and nurturing; outstanding human resources at the coalface; and a general population that loves horses and enjoys horse racing.

Where Sunset Watching is a National Pastime Uruguay -- a Trump "shithole country" -- survived brutal authoritarianism. Here's what they built when they came through it. Paul T Shattuck, MSW, PhD May 15, 2026 ∙ Paid I was standing on a beach in Montevideo, Uruguay when the crowd of thousands went quiet. The sun touched the horizon over the Río de la Plata. Something moved through the crowd on La Rambla, the public park that runs along the water for 22 kilometers. People stopped mid-sentence. Couples paused dancing. Tens of thousands of strangers shared the same breath as the sky burned orange. I met my wife on that trip several years ago and have spent a lot of time in Uruguay since. The country holds lessons and inspiration for what we’re fighting for in the US and what’s possible for a country that successfully gets to the other side of an authoritarian period. I’ve been writing lately about what it looks like when a society protects human life from forces that would extract and destroy it. Uruguay is the most vivid example I know. And right now, watching the deliberate dismantling of what we’ve built in the US, I keep coming back to what I’ve witnessed here. What Functional, Equitable Democracy Feels Like Day to Day Go to the same panadería (bakery) in Montevideo two days in a row and the owner starts to recognize you. Third day, free samples and a real conversation. Warm, genuine, not performative. The farmers markets run in most neighborhoods several days of the week. You talk to the farmers. You talk to the jewelers and artisans set up around them. People have actual conversations with you. In the parks on weekend afternoons, couples dance salsa and tango — holding each other, making eye contact, laughing. Groups of friends hang out, talking and drinking mate, a caffeinated herbal drink with an earthy, grassy flavor. People sit on park benches next to the ocean reading books. Others work out using one of the many free outdoor gym setups. Just what people do with a Saturday. Many major roads and parks are named for people who fought for human dignity. Gandhi Boulevard. Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park. Martin Luther King Square. A large holocaust memorial sits in one of the parks along the waterfront, not far from the Gandhi memorial. The presidential Executive Tower is a regular downtown office building. One security guard in the lobby with a six-shooter. That’s it. Presidential offices: no troops or barricades None of this is paradise. The streets in some neighborhoods are genuinely dirty. The architecture is mostly unremarkable. And the drivers — I have nearly been run over crossing Gandhi Boulevard more times than I can count. But honestly, there’s no better place to get hit by a car. I know I can go to the hospital, get quality care, and emerge without needing a 36-month payment plan. I learned that firsthand. Ran out of medication on one trip. Braced for the American experience — long wait, expensive visit, runaround. Got an appointment the next day. The doctor spent almost an hour with me. Thorough intake, full history, real attention. No insurance needed. Cost me $45 cash. Prescription cost $10. The country gets roughly 98% of its electricity from renewable sources. That didn’t happen by accident. Around 2008, a growing economy was outpacing energy supply and fossil fuel import costs were crushing the country. A physicist named Ramón Méndez Galain drafted a national energy transition plan. Every political party approved it. Government, industry, and civil society aligned behind it. They attracted over $7 billion in private investment, built the infrastructure, and cut electricity costs in half. Seven years later, done. Electric buses run on time and go everywhere. Uber drivers cruise around in affordable (under $20,000 USD) Chinese electric cars that feel like you’ve stepped into a Star Trek shuttle — genuinely impressive technology most Americans have never seen.

For Mr Gruffalo-meister

p'raps by the time he works the 'filly' thing out, she'll be a mare.

have to say that, while I find Heather's articles interesting and informative they are always in that God-forsaken A! style, and nearly always far too long. They almost always start along the lines of "At ...(insert ime here), the President of the United States (insert active verb here eg sat/stood/walked etc) (insert where he was doing, saying,'it' ... you catch mah drift!? Drives me nuts...to the extent that I will now only scan very quickly her stuff. Doesnt mean she's wrong in communicating what's happening ...but she just lost my full attention, so I may lose interest completely...which is exactly what that piece of @##@ in the Shite House thrives on. Apathy.

Just for you, Mr Gruff. Max is very wary of Pax Mundi in the last....underrated northern galloper now in the deep dark sowf of Ricketytown.

I cannot believe all you fullaz are referring to these droppings as golden ...gold-flecked mebbe but essentially they are tangerine and blue. Don't you know anyfink???????

Max confesses to knowing next-to-nothing about thoroughbred pedigrees. Happened to look up a runner called Reel Latino t'other day (it had broken maidens at its previous start). Below is its pedigree. Hopefully someone can explain/analyse/ inform me woteva ... what this is all about...all I can tell is that it's parents Highland Reel and Mambo Lady) have the same grandmother Circles of Gold,who is a direct decendant of Eulogy.

To be fair...who really wants to buy a broodmare in May when you can buy one in August?

What Max just saw from Morphettville R3 (jockey Lauren Stojakovic on the winner Brave Hustler) was an appalling thrashing of the horse over the last 150m. I counted 17 strikes. Maybe this is allowed under the rules over there? If it is, it shouldn't be...and the horse seemed to be winning comfortably enough without the drastic punishment.

yep, goes good fresh and has the class factor. EW for Max.

Absolutely, esp given recent placed form. Whathtemansaw also a previous winner on the track, as is Amazonia.

There's a difference be6ween complainin' and letting the site owner know of difficulties logging in.

Just for you, Mr Gruffalo ...a Maxi-Multi at Rotten-rua. A bit of fun to have an interest through a balmy arvo in the glorious north. The devious, cunning mind of Max works on the imperfect thesis (?) that Rotovegas is a 'horses for courses' track, so if you find one with a past liking for the sticky and/or puggy and/or holding and/or shifty Sulphur City bog ...go with it whatever its recent formline.