She must have got the 1 and the 2 around the wrong way of the race distance. It was 2100 but she rode it like it was only 1200. It would have been a huge shockiff that was ever going to see the distance out!!  

Now I am loathe to bag jocks but what the hell was Portia Matthews doing on Shockiff...if that is not a clear case of an incompetent ride I do not know what is...gave it absolutely zero chance, and should be given a holiday for it...if the stewards think that is OK then I am lost for words....and NO I did not have a cent on it.

I just hope Regan like many doesn't make the same mistake lining him up in the NZ Cup at some stage . Mo'unga for example hasn't been the same since and many in the past I have seen are the same . Would love to see him race one day in the Free for all or even the Auckland Cup or Miracle mile 

I'd like to see Brittany used at the track more. And Greg for that matter. I guess that's the plan for the really big meetings, but Greg are Britt are the two bast on track, so to have them both in the studio is a waste of talent in my opinion. 

I Have a very simple solution to finding the money needed, stop the extra $4mil that is programmed in for the 25/26 season for even more increases to the 50 odd “Summer of Racing” races. Why do those races need even more increases next season, it’s crazy and i dont understand why no one pushed back on that idea. Bering in mind those 50 summer of racing races already have huge stake (approx $20mil) so why the need to increase them again for next season. Surely the extra funds should go towards helping raise the bottom end for the benefit of most of the industry instead of the selected few.

You can add the extra funding to the GN steeples and the Opunaki and Taumaranui cup . Every little bit helps right .

Heretic !!!

Trainers are going to say SFA , they are riding this pigs back all the way . There are 20 trainers in the top 36 with stake earnings over 1mil , unheard of numbers . Previous seasons have been , 11 last season , 11 the one before and 7 the one before that , so in 3 seasons the number of trainers earning over 1mil has tripled . The cash river is flowing at peak , so why would any trainer say anything that rocks the boat . Jockeys enjoying it as well , the number of jockeys with stake earnings over 1mil has tripled over the last 4 seasons . I wonder how many owners have race earnings over 1mil ? Now if one organization should be standing up and yelling it's loudes it is the owners federation . If only they could find their teeth , there still in the jar soaking in the polident .  

By my very quick, back of an envelope, calculation it would cost somewhere between $2.5m and $3m to boost minimum stakes to $20,000 all year round, with open races at low key meetings running for $25,000. This could very easily be funded by reallocating the $1m of extra bonuses attached to the slot race, the $1m of extra industry contribution to the two sweepstakes and the $0.5m Legarto bonus. If any extra is needed, the stake for the Orchestral benefit race could be halved, providing another $0.5m. If they need a little bit more, $250,000 could be knocked off  each of the Derby and Oaks. And if they still find themselves a few dollars short some of the races with the tacked on superfluous $50,000, such as the 2,000 and 1,000 Guineas and the Dyke and several others could all have their stakes rounded off. I imagine the races I have mentioned above would all attract exactly the same fields and do the same turnovers as they do currently. You can't tell me a $550,000 1,000 Guineas attracts a vastly superior field to a $500,000 1,000 Guineas. This has nothing to do with a shortage of money, as we are all aware, it is totally to do with an obsessive ideological approach to allocating said money. The management of racing has been captured by a fanatical little clique just at a time when there is some funding available. Sadly that funding is all being wasted with no benefit to the wider industry.

Basically, the industry is now a total mess. The Trainers, and Owners and Trainers, have got to stand up for themselves and put some pressure on NZTR. If they don't stand up for themselves everyone will think everything is going smoothly and NZTR will carry on down their current route. Perhaps most trainers do think everything is going  smoothly. Certainly those around the Waikato do, but I am surprised that SI trainers seem content to carry on as they are. Standing up for themselves need not cost a lot of money. The first thing they need to do is to bring it to the attention of the media that the industry is unravelling, if indeed most trainers think it is. Obviously there is no racing media anymore, but there is plenty of other media wanting something interesting to write about.

The 3-year-old Justify colt Crudo lived up to his name, exhibiting raw talent in blowing away the field by 7 1/2 lengths in the $100,000 Sir Barton Stakes at Pimlico Race Course May 17.View the full article

Journalism rebounded from a runner-up finish in the Kentucky Derby (G1) to post a resilient victory in the $2 million Preakness Stakes (G1) May 17 at Pimlico Race Course.View the full article

100% .. for someone so young, she is a natural. Surely they could find more like Brittany. But they seem happy to stay with what is there now. Like someone else mentioned, how hard is it to improve on some of the small things to be professional. An example is Sweeney always leaning on the table in front of him when presenting. Not a huge thing, but bloody easy to correct. Sit up straight and look professional Bevan.

100% no way its better it is a shambles now.

You're right about that, your last sentence. Okay, you make valid points [ I still don't agree but never mind..! ]   if you cast your mind back before 2003, when club delegates made up the NZRC instead of the ever-increasing corporate body it has become - would you think the administrative system is better now, than it was then?    As we were told it was going to be?

HOW GOOD WOULD IT BE TO SEE A FOX/ HIGGO PAIRING IN THE FINAL ROUND......FINGERS CROSSED

Most tracks have their own particular Quirks.Any decent Jockey  will soon work this out and plan their rides accordingly

Afraid so, it seems.

I think you are wrong Pam. The dismissively named Sector Groups have no standing with NZTR. The Clubs  carry the votes and that is why issues like failures are swept under the carpet. There is no tension in the running of NZTR and the CEO is beholden to the clubs. Add in 4 sector groups  - and admittedly they would have difficulty swinging a motion at a Special or AGM.but they would have a presence to promote a view. And even the opportunity to call a Special meeting. All the Sector Groups are funded by NZTR NOW. If you perceive they are weak, could it be because they are run by volunteers trying to keep their members serviced from insufficient subs and a "grant" from NZTR. In the case of the Owners Fed, NZTR will not share their Owners "database" list so here is an organisation referenced in Statute as the one to represent ALL owners in NZ and the Owners Fed" cannot create a full ownership database because NZTR will not provide that. No standing and 'confidentiality" you see. I thought the same as you Pam and resisted any affiliation with NZTR as I was in "Industry' meetings and had seen the resistance put up by clubs to Industry people having a say. Just poor thinking! I have put 15 years into an industry group, unpaid and if the situation remains unchanged I will walk away, race my horse until it finishes and say goodbye to an industry - in its death throes! I have said in the past Racing in NZ is like a communist system- Politburo - Cantons - Serfs. Nowhere in the World has communism created prosperity.    

Oh no not you again...🤣