Rusty

Short answer, yes, the Act does provide for the alleged offender to potentially go to the big house.

Yes, you got it Karrots, this was it. I just couldn't share it until now, as it had been kept under wraps by the agencies concerned. I love the horse. They are such cool creatures, they are amazing. Anyone that has ever patted one, ridden one, feed one, smelt one, been breathed on by one and spent some time with one, will know just how awesome they are. Most of them are such gentle giants, and a fair few do such great work with kids with disabilities. That is why, I get pretty pissed off, when people do things to horses that they shouldn't. You are right, this is great news for animal welfare.

It's not widely known about the MOU. I'm guessing that MPI, RIB and the SPCA wanted to keep it all hush hush, to asssit with the first few investigations, and have the element of surprise. Most normal people would be a lot more fearful of any punishment/prosecution brought about by an MPI led investigation, than the RIB. Then again, most normal people wouldn't inject an animal with a bit of formaldehyde, for financial gain or reward. I think it will take the first prosecution, and the book thrown at a horse person, until there is even a remote possibility that such low lifes will stop and try to think about any repercussions.

I posted this in the harness section initially, but the gallops guys and gals may find this of interest too, given the recent headlines of a galloping trainer and dead horses: The Racing Integrity Board (RIB), the SPCA and MPI's Animal Welfare NAIT Compliance unit, have joined forces to create a three pronged attack to ensure the best use of resources in the fight against animal cruelty in both horse and greyhound racing. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed by the three agencies during New Zealand Cup week in November, with the purpose of information sharing between the parties regarding “animal welfare incidents", including the administering of prohibited substances into race horses. The three agencies have committed to a “no surprises” communication approach, and will share high level summaries of individual animal welfare related cases. The RIB will continue to oversee and enforce race day incidents, however the more serious ones, including positive dope tests for horses, will be referred to MPI within 48 hours, whilst deaths of race horses in competition will be reported to MPI (Ministry Primary Industries) on a monthly basis. Upon receiving the notifications, MPI may elect to investigate the matter under their legislative powers and enforcement, something that the Minister is believed to be keen to see. The spotlight has been on the greyhound racing industry for sometime, but with the highly publicized cases of positive doping cases in race horses, attention is now moving towards the equine codes. Reports of formalin, which contains formaldehyde, being injected into race horses, has left not only the hard working honest racing participants outraged, but also the wider general public, as the minor sport has often featured in mainstream media reports for all the wrong reasons in recent times. There have been quiet murmurings of frustration within MPI for some time, as their officers have encountered some what perplexing RIB officialdom at times when the lines of investigation into animal cruelty are often blurred regarding who should be the lead agency, and the lack of sharing resources and information, for the good of the animal. It is suspected that the MOU will also include the use of the whip in horse racing. Norway is the only country in the world to have previously banned the use of whips in horse racing and Sweden is set to join them from April, as calls for whip use reform gains momentum worldwide. Personally, it made me stop and think today, when at the end of a race, a 3 year old girl asked me, “what are those sticks for"? I didn't have the heart to tell her what they were, and why jockeys were using whips on horses, especially the horses that were well beaten, in more ways than one.

The Racing Integrity Board (RIB), the SPCA and MPI's Animal Welfare NAIT Compliance unit, have joined forces to create a three pronged attack to ensure the best use of resources in the fight against animal cruelty in both horse and greyhound racing. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed by the three agencies during New Zealand Cup week in November, with the purpose of information sharing between the parties regarding “animal welfare incidents", including the administering of prohibited substances into race horses. The three agencies have committed to a “no surprises” communication approach, and will share high level summaries of individual animal welfare related cases. The RIB will continue to oversee and enforce race day incidents, however the more serious ones, including positive dope tests for horses, will be referred to MPI within 48 hours, whilst deaths of race horses in competition will be reported to MPI (Ministry Primary Industries) on a monthly basis. Upon receiving the notifications, MPI may elect to investigate the matter under their legislative powers and enforcement, something that the Minister is believed to be keen to see. The spotlight has been on the greyhound racing industry for sometime, but with the highly publicized cases of positive doping cases in race horses, attention is now moving towards the equine codes. Reports of formalin, which contains formaldehyde, being injected into race horses, has left not only the hard working honest racing participants outraged, but also the wider general public, as the minor sport has often featured in mainstream media reports for all the wrong reasons in recent times. There have been quiet murmurings of frustration within MPI for some time, as their officers have encountered some what perplexing RIB officialdom at times when the lines of investigation into animal cruelty are often blurred regarding who should be the lead agency, and the lack of sharing resources and information, for the good of the animal. It is suspected that the MOU will also cover of the use of the whip in horse racing. Norway is the only country in the world to have previously banned the use of whips in horse racing and Sweden is set to join them from April, as calls for whip use reform gains momentum worldwide. Personally, it made me stop and think today, when at the end of a race, a 3 year old girl asked me, “what are those sticks for"? I didn't have the heart to tell her what they were, and why jockeys were using whips on horses, especially the horses that were well beaten, in more ways than one.

Good on Sweden, in my opinion it is a good move.

Key word being "again".

Perhaps I can see one, as I was brought up looking for patterns on Sesame Street.

Anyone else starting to see a pattern here? I would like to see the $150 fine ramped up to $1,000 and the "caretaker" trainer also gets whacked with it. If trainers are as professional as what they think they are, then there is no way they would get Dunn, sorry I mean done for it, multiple times a season. The current set up is another example of letting the punter down and not fully protecting their interests. Happens all too often, and when it does happen, man how good does the horse go in that race? Rarely has a bad performance, they often win, and win paying more on the tote than what they would have if the notification was formerly advised. Or to put it another way, if the rules were not broken.

Just as a side note, on the cash outs - when the Novak drama was playing out in the aussie open tennis, he was still in the NZ TAB market as favourite ($2.25). When the judge ruled that he had to leave Australia, Novak continued to remain in the market, so at that point, I grabbed a wee piece of Nadal at $9's. Cash out for Nadal was available, up until he made the final. I was interested to see what the cash out figure was, when it was confirmed his opponent would be the Russian concrete block wall, but it never eventuated at all. Even during the final match, the cash out option was showing "suspended." Luckily!

I can't help but think that maybe it was a combination of the poor punter missing the decimal point when placing the bet on his cellphone, and also having fat fingers? Perhaps it was meant to a final field win bet of $16.50, but unfortunately he missed out the decimal point altogether and the fat finger hit the zero twice. I have actually done this before unfortunately. Wasn't a 5 figure bet thank god, but it did end up being a significantly larger bet than I had planned. Also when bidding on an auction in ebay, I forgot to add the decimal point on a last second maximum bid. I don't really want to talk about that though. I have only just recovered. Or, the punter's wee 3 year old grabbed his cellphone and started pressing all sorts of buttons. No other explanation for it. Poor bugger.

Off N Gone won her 4th, 5th, 9th and 10th race day starts, for the Dunns I believe and furthermore, I think she commenced her racing from that stable. Pretty good record that, a horse winning 4 races from her first 10 starts. A credit to the Dunns. So if she had commenced her racing career from that stable, and established a fairly good record early on in her career, it is probably not the best candidate to hold up as an example of a horse "drastically improving" after being transferred to the magical golden sands of Woodend Beach. Simply put, she doesn't fit the criteria that Happy as previously mentioned. Which I understand it to be, a reasonably well tried horse, transferred to the beach, from another stable.

100% dead right. And not just honest trainers, which most are by the way, but also other industry participants too (like drivers, owners, breeders, even farriers and vets that I know), many of them all share the same concerns, but can't say boo about it publicly.

Hey comrade Lightning Blue, that's a bit unkind saying I'm unkind to some of NZ's best horsepeople. I can honestly say I've never said a bad word against any of NZ's besthorsepeople; Phil Williamson, Paul Nairn, Jimmy Curtain, Ken Barron, Jamie Richards, Lisa Allpress, David Walsh etc, etc, all NZ's best horsepeople in my opinion.

Hahaha Karrots!! That is like furiously waving round a red tablecloth in front of a bull and asking him, what's this piece of material? Is it a flag, is it a bedsheet, a beach towel, a pair of bloomers? Now where is my popcorn?

100% agree. Also with the aussie gallops, the presentation of the product is a class above, which is just one further aspect that makes it a more attractive option too.

I and many of my punting homies have predominantly moved our punting dollar to gallops from harness. Still have a go on the trots, but not as much. Gallops is in my opinion, and a few others, is eatting into the harness market share. No official stats to back that up. It's just from our own experiences. Addington makes the point of punters leaving in droves (from the harness code). I tend to agree, if my circle of friends and family are anything to go by. TAB retail operators have also shared the same viewpoint. They didn't say "droves" but a noticeable decline. Perhaps it's the shift to gallops. Or sports betting, or to online betting. Or people just tightening their belts a bit with the cost of living increasing at the fastest rate in decades.

The bonus bet promos have certainly helped Riccarton drive turnover. Races 1 to 4 inclusive, returning a refund in the form of a bonus bet, if your runner finishes 2nd, 3rd or 4th. Gives punters something to chase, and they have more confidence in betting into the markets, as the gallops don't tend to have 23 start maidens come out and win paying $3.50 after recent atrocious form. Two key ingredients for punter participation, are promos and confidence (trust). Something the gallops have a lot more of than harness at the moment.

Thanks for sharing your tip. That horse hasn't even featured in my atlas, nevermind the radar. What odds are we hoping to get for it (based on this early stage for noms only)?

Here you are Happy. Only the best for you mate, feel free to use it every week.

It is not uncommon for a horse to be transferred to a bigger, higher strike rate, stable. It's very common. Happens multiple times every season. However, when this occurs the horse in question, is usually on the up, or at least shown something on the track or at home, that resembles ability. It's not common to have a horse that has had one third from 20 something race day starts, to be transferred to a leading stable. Especially when the horse in question has had such poor recent form, as Happy highlighted in his opening post: Last 4 runs: 4bk otr,wdr tn,asked,no impact (12/12) Soon ld,no peace,on retreat 600 (12/12) Prkd,1x1 700,grinding bid in str (11/11) 4bk otr, 3wd train, no impression (10/10) Today's win is no surprise at all, and the divi's reflect that. The Stipes quite rightly asked the question regarding the improved performance, and J Dunn responded by saying the horse had "derived benefit from being trained on the beach in a larger stable environment." Ok then. That'll do me.

Yes, and good honest hardworking folk, the Hopes. Ben has a bright future ahead of him. A credit to his parents and those around him, like RT May.

Woodend Beach?

Current TAB odds: $1.10

Craig Thompson has Whale Watch. Happy Sunrise has Woodend Watch. Both not to be missed, and valuable pointers to the punt.