Latest odds who first caught   J Dunn 1/5 J morrison evens B Orange 5/1 B Hope  6/1   Tim Williams 20/1 10/1 the field

Hawera good to go , Otaki xfered to Hawera on Tuesday , same fields , scratching's reinstated . I will call this a positive as we need it .

Good use of the word"Hope" Charlie

Trump’s bubble of economic unreality is coming close to bursting…   CNN —  In the space of a few hours, Donald Trump went from hailing America’s new “golden age” to warning parents their kids would have fewer toys — and they’d cost more. The president’s dizzying switch this week epitomized the hype surrounding his “Make America wealthy again” promise and the pain it might take to get there. Trump’s note of pessimism in a Cabinet meeting was a rare admission that his China trade war will mean fewer goods at higher prices and a dose of truth on a day when reality several times threatened to pierce the White House bubble.   It came as the president on Wednesday fought to dispel bad vibes following official data showing the economy contracted in the first quarter by 0.3% — the first big step-back measure of Trump’s impact on US growth. The Commerce Department report doesn’t mean the country is tumbling headlong into an immediate crisis. Some of the underlying figures were more encouraging than the GDP dip. Such reports are often amended upward as more data is processed. And although the US economy has been extraordinarily resilient, it’s normal to see cycles of growth and decline in a capitalist nation. The report is more important for its political and symbolic effect than for its snapshot of a slowing economy. Trump cannot afford for its flashing red lights to become conventional wisdom. The gap between reality and Trump’s promises The dueling mix of rhetoric and data coming out of the administration on Wednesday suggests the White House has a growing problem that will go a long way to dictating the shape of Trump’s second term. Having launched the US and the world into the economic unknown — on his own gut calls — Trump’s path to a successful outcome is looking opaque. That’s why his comment on the cost of toys was so revealing. The president was referring to the potential impact of his showdown with China — the most important front in the trade war. With Chinese President Xi Jinping still refusing to bend to the president’s 145% tariff, the president has been insisting for days that he and his administration have been involved in intense talks with Beijing, despite no public evidence this is the case. US-based observers don’t usually believe China’s communist government over statements from Washington. But this administration’s record of propaganda and falsehoods means that it’s not getting much benefit of the doubt these days. The president, describing China as the “chief ripper-offer” of US factories and workers, boasted that his action had caused cargo ships laden with goods for the US market to turn around and head back to port. He curiously painted all this as a good thing. “You know, somebody said, ‘Oh, the shelves are going to be open,’” Trump said. “Well, maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls, you know? And maybe the two dolls will cost a couple of bucks more than they would normally.” The remark may have been flippant, but it was revealing nonetheless, and pointed to a looming trap for the president. There is a solid argument that the United States has let itself become too reliant on cheap consumer goods from China and that, for the overall health of the nation, it would be better to have a more balanced economy. But it’s a discordant political argument for a billionaire president who moves in an orbit of wealthy CEOs and members of his Mar-a-Lago club to tell working parents that they will be able to afford fewer toys for their children. And this goes far beyond dolls. While the trans-Pacific pipeline of goods from China has hurt US domestic manufacturing, it has raised living standards for millions of Americans. Almost everyone has benefited from cheaper school supplies, clothes and consumer electronics like flat-screen TVs. Every parent knows how quickly kids grow out of their shoes. Most of that footwear comes from China. If that suddenly goes away, there’s going to be real pain. This was one of the only times he’s leveled with the Americans about the probable cost of his trade clash with Beijing.     To start with, the data rained on a White House flattery offensive billing Trump’s first 100 days as the greatest-ever burst of presidential action. And it pointed to a growing political vulnerability. While much of Trump’s support derives from his tough border policies, the idea that he’s a master businessman who knows how to steer the economy is key to his mystique. If that is stripped away, his political foundation becomes weaker. Second, the GDP report played into a growing sense that bleak economic days are ahead and that this is just the start. Trump cannot allow such an impression to take hold. Apart from its impact on his personal standing, panic among GOP lawmakers could rock the fragile unity of the fragile GOP majority in the House — which Trump needs to pass his “big, beautiful” tax and budget plans. More importantly, amid signs that consumers are already pulling back, evidence that rough times are ahead could become a self-fulfilling prophecy. History shows that a country can talk itself into a recession. The world is watching, too. If Trump’s sliding approval ratings create any impression of political weakness, it could undermine his negotiating position as he seeks to close trade deals with dozens of countries seeking to avoid his tariffs. If foreign leaders think he’s desperate, why would they put good offers on the table?   A familiar excuse: It’s all Biden’s fault As usual, Trump’s reaction tells the story. After the release of the GDP report, Trump published a panicky Truth Social post saying, “This is Biden’s Stock Market not Trump’s.” He added, “This will take a while, has NOTHING TO DO WITH TARIFFS.” All day, the president slammed his predecessor to offset blame for the economic numbers. Later, he looked to future data. “This is Biden, and you could even say the next quarter is sort of Biden because it doesn’t just happen on a daily or an hourly basis,” Trump said. Every administration blames its predecessor for grisly economic news — it’s fair game in politics. And it’s true that it takes time for an administration to establish its own economic policies and see the results. Trump is undoubtably responding to a real economic problem — the gutting of many communities in industrialized parts of America as the result of globalization. But his claim that disappointing economic indicators are the fault of his predecessor would have more credibility had he not initiated the most disruptive assault on the global economic and trading system since World War II with little planning, questionable metrics and trademark chaos. The day that Trump stood up in the White House Rose Garden with his scoreboard showing each nation’s tariff rate, he took ownership of the economy. Many of the shocks and uncertainties that are weighing on investors and consumers can be traced directly back to “Liberation Day.” Millions of Americans, meanwhile, have seen the impact on their 401 (k) pension plans. These have been especially scary months for those who have just retired or plan to do so soon. And one important reason why Trump won the 2024 election is that voters judged him to have more credible answers on reducing the costs of living, such as groceries. Despite the president’s attempts to obscure the truth, he’s done little to mitigate those prices, which have a huge impact on the lives of those who — unlike most of his Cabinet members — are not millionaires or billionaires.              

Maybe build a bridge and race at Waterlea, oh the irony in that name😁

Do the stipes want me to send in all the video footage I will have of drivers talking to each other pre race in the next few meetings? I will probably have 2 or three a race going on past experience.  Or have the stipes already sent Trackside a memo saying no closeups of the drivers pre start in case everyone can see we are not doing our job?

Riccarton to the synthetic on Saturday , that's the couple of bets I had lined up not going on , a winning day already .

Riccarton Races 6-8 Abandoned   Races 6-8 of today’s race-meeting (1 May) have been abandoned due to safety concerns caused by prevailing weather conditions.

Depending on what he has saved he could buy a couple of rental properties and live off the income so he doesn't have to work . I think most people who have been in the game with either Galloping or Harness want to get right out of it . Those long hours , riding or driving trackwork when its freezing cold or pissing down with rain , is not something I will miss . But will always love watching the racing 😀

No doubt about that.

Just looking at the calendar and looking at what tracks in the CD could definitely hold a meeting next week and all I could come up with was : Trentham and Wanganui . Trentham has a number of meetings coming up over the next few weeks including picking up the 17th May meeting so not sure if it could cope with another . Possibly , Hawera and New Plymouth and maybe Woodville at a big stretch but after yesterday who knows . Out for the short to long term , Otaki Awapuni and Hastings . If Foxton and Waipukarau can run big trials maybe it's time to bring them back into the fold as race day tracks whilst we have such a dearth of usable tracks tp fill in a couple of holes . . Just a thought , is this the pigeons roosting ?

Why is there a cone of silence from SAFE after each of these CD track debacles?

DH has a somewhat murky past too. Certainly not the right person for that interview I would have thought.  

I thought that the track cut up and deteriorated very fast yesterday , if that is the reason then I seriously don't know how there can be any confidence in their procedures , so now Woodville might be unavailable short term to recuperate . Bloody incredible .

It doesn't say they can't talk to a horse 🤣

I seem to recall a few months ago someone suggesting we should have a sweepstake on the number of abandoned meetings before the end of the season. I imagine it would have been a full refund situation as no one would have got anywhere near the actual number. Either that or the only person still standing would be paid out now, three months before the end of the season.

Certainly didn’t help that dick Dom Harvey was interviewing…used to be married to that other strange one J J Feeney.

The Australian attitude seems to be that the racing must go on regardless of field sizes, hence they are prepared to transfer to an AWT at short notice. In NZ our reaction to abandoned meetings is fairly random. I really struggle with the kneejerk reaction to the Awapuni abandonment where they boosted to stake for this weekend's Te Rapa mile to $60,000 (from presumably $40,000) because, I think, 3 northerners went home without a race in the fairly ordinary $80,000 listed race at Awapuni which was run a couple of days later. anyhow. That Te Rapa race has a rating 84 top weight. I imagine exactly the same field would have gone around for $40,000. It will be interesting to see what they do with today's abandoned races. Running them before Saturday's Riccarton meeting would seem like the logical solution.

WD , I think even NZTR have accepted that the A/W's aren't the industry savior that they expected , if they did then putting a meeting on for Sunday even this late in the day would be the obvious thing to do , but they know that numbers would be poor . Why didn't they xfer last Friday's abandoned meeting? The fact that both Awapuni and Cambridge are going to take open nominations for their A/W tracks tell us that they have no confidence in getting good enough numbers , I know that trainers are actually suspect about taking horses there because outside of mdns they don't know what class of horse their horse might be asked to be race against . Just imagine how many tracks that 30mil could have renovated .

After everything that has been happening in the CD with tracks it is very hard not to be cynical when the first excuse made is that it could be intentional damage . I ask the question of why would anybody want to damage the Otaki track ? History , recent and past doesn't give participants much cause to trust anything that is said . As I said earlier , it's just bloody sad , how many people didn't put their horses in at Woodville to race at Otaki instead just to be kicked down again . Again as I've said in the past , the industry needs a complete reset , with industry participants having 100% involvement in the process .