frankie 119 Report post Posted January 2, 2019 In race 8 at Auckland on New Years Eve M Purdon was once again questioned about team driving. And once again his explanation was accepted and the " stewards noted his comments". When are they going to pull their heads out of the sand? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thejanitor 1,206 Report post Posted January 2, 2019 I don't think there was team driving in this race. Natalie Rasmussen controlled the race from start to finish. She was on the best horse Ultimate Sniper the rest of the field were outclassed. I think his explanation is reasonable because if he had followed the McGrath runner Artstanding he would have been dragged back to the rear of the field because this horse put in a weak effort. I am more concerned with the performance of Heisenberg that ran a shocker considering it had an easy run most of the way. Seems this horse is another overrated Dunn runner? JESSE DUKE - raced three back on the outer from the 1000 metres before having some difficulty obtaining clear running early in the home straight when having to shift ground outwards and finished on into 5th place. Stewards questioned M Purdon regarding the manner he drove on the first bend as to whether he could have made a better effort to take up the position behind HEISENBERG which was eventually filled by ANOTHER MASTERPIECE. Mr Purdonexplained he had been following SUPREME DOMINATOR which shifted down towards the markers when he felt ANOTHER MASTERPIECE had immediately shifted down to take up that run believing he was not in a position to hold that runner wider. Attempted to shift out near the 600 metres causing MR YIPS to race roughly and having to be steadied. Driver M Purdon was cautioned regarding this. When questioned regarding his decision to shift from a three wide position back into the two wide line near the 500 metres. Mr Purdon explained that he noticed ARTSTANDING, which was racing ahead, laying inwards and proving difficult. He added that he was mindful of that horse breaking at it's last start and so felt an inside run was his best option. Stewards noted his comments. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chevy86 2,680 Report post Posted January 2, 2019 Been doing it for years through weight of numbers, R&B in the 80's and 90's and MP since. Lone stable starters get dealt to if they dare try to lead. JMO having been on the receiving end. Shad and lamour 1 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lamour 662 Report post Posted January 3, 2019 5 hours ago, frankie said: In race 8 at Auckland on New Years Eve M Purdon was once again questioned about team driving. And once again his explanation was accepted and the " stewards noted his comments". When are they going to pull their heads out of the sand? Not sure I agree with you on that race Frankie, but if you want to see an example of team driving look no further than the Nevele R Fillies final last year. In looking at the race i have no doubt IMO that 3 drivers colluded to bring about a certain result and the disgraceful thing is that it is not even being investigated by Operation Inca. Would be very hard to prove however as there will be no evidence of communication between the 3 drivers concerned.. LongOwner 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackSprat 947 Report post Posted January 3, 2019 Of course what the Purdon/Rassmussen team do is team driving! But it's not "team driving" as it's been done in the past. They clearly drive for the "benefit of the team", as opposed to classic cases from the past in which one member of the team was "sacrificed for the team". They don't send out a stablemate to destroy the chances of a dangerous opponent as we have come to expect in traditional team driving cases. Their horses are vastly superior (but that's a story for another day) to the opposition, and they meekly hand up dominant positions in the race to stablemates, to the extent that virtually total control of the race is in their hands, and opponents are more or less shut out. It's a mixture of vastly superior horsepower, sheer weight of numbers, and intimidation, ie except for a handful of cases, drivers who are mentally beaten well before the race is run. It's team driving at it's very best. Precision to watch. It's hastening the demise of an already dying industry, but precision to watch. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lamour 662 Report post Posted January 3, 2019 1 hour ago, JackSprat said: Of course what the Purdon/Rassmussen team do is team driving! But it's not "team driving" as it's been done in the past. They clearly drive for the "benefit of the team", as opposed to classic cases from the past in which one member of the team was "sacrificed for the team". They don't send out a stablemate to destroy the chances of a dangerous opponent as we have come to expect in traditional team driving cases. Their horses are vastly superior (but that's a story for another day) to the opposition, and they meekly hand up dominant positions in the race to stablemates, to the extent that virtually total control of the race is in their hands, and opponents are more or less shut out. It's a mixture of vastly superior horsepower, sheer weight of numbers, and intimidation, ie except for a handful of cases, drivers who are mentally beaten well before the race is run. It's team driving at it's very best. Precision to watch. It's hastening the demise of an already dying industry, but precision to watch. In the vast majority of cases I agree with you Jack Sprat but in the instance I refer to in my earlier post, they clearly used one of their stablemates to destroy the chances of a dangerous oponent while setting up one of their stablemates IMHO As it happens I don’t think they would have been beaten even if they played fair but that doesn’t make it any less illegal. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...