Happy Sunrise

The old stand being demolished to make way for apartments seems to be the last roll of the dice for ATC? I presume they are getting a good amount of money for this land?

And down south, I see Matt Markham suggest on X that Lavros Lodge could be turned into a harness training centre with a bit of subdivision. A good idea if feasible.

The new boss of HRNZ is going to face a lot of decisions in a short time. I think it is make or break time for the harness code.

On 2/16/2024 at 7:49 PM, Rusty said:

Are these things becoming more common these days, especially in the last couple of years, or have they always been seen in racing to this extent? 

And what causes them? 

Do some trainers experience more than their fair share? 

Asking for a friend that did their money cold, on a suspected case in race 6 at Addington tonight. 

Cheers. 

From a purely punting perspective, the trainers of that horse seem to experience large variations in performance.

And if I am being morbid, after last year when they had a run of deaths, at least the horse on Friday got off the track. The report into those deaths cleared everything so nothing to be seen!

3 hours ago, karrotsishere said:

It stated clearly that the clubs annoymously voted the current NZ Harness board out.

Shambles all round. So the ATC could possibly have thrown out the HRNZ Board? That is priceless.

The only thing that will enhance racing in NZ is Entain. It is beyond any harness racing admin (clubs or board) with their limited budgets and skills it seems.

On a lighter racing note, which is the only thing that really matters. Fancy getting 11th (and last) but only 2.6L away from the winner. Not often do you see the whole field in the frame.

On 2/8/2024 at 8:54 PM, Happy Sunrise said:

Not connected to this thread, but worth a follow is another stable change at Methven on Sunday. Knockshanbally goes to Sam Thornley. He has shown glimpses but he might be able to turn it around like he did with his trotter, Special Effects. A definite tote watch.

13ff into 3.60ff.

I hope raceplacers turned into beachgoers and got on early. 

PS Tyler Dewe magic has gone...

DONTTELLTHEBOYS - driver C DeFilippi defended a breach of Rule 868(3) alleging that he failed to drive the gelding out to the end of the race when having a reasonable chance of finishing in 1st placing. After viewing the replays and hearing evidence from Stewards and Mr DeFilippi, the Adjudicative Committee found the charge proved and Mr DeFilippi's driver's licence was suspended from the conclusion of racing on 11 February up to and including 6 March 2024 (7 days).

Anybody who watched that race live would have seen his near-complete lack of effort at the end. I feel sorry for the punters who backed the horse and had to watch the horse not be driven out. 

No excuses are possible with this one; it was fully deserved, and he is probably lucky the suspension is not longer.

After Race 5 at Addington, you don't need a deep south watch. You need one for Canterbury.

14 hours ago, Rusty said:

Hell yes. 

But most (not all) people don't care, or choose to stay quiet about it. Not even question it. 

And no point posting about it on here. Only you, Happy and I seem to give a monkey's about it. 

They are still there, but in my book, have gone quiet though I have to admit I don't watch southern racing like I used to do. Wonder why!

A test for my 'quiet' theory is Race 3 at Winton on Sunday, Regan Todd's cast off 'On Top of The World' currently paying 11ff but now trained by Tyler Dewe and driven by Rory McIIwrick, see if it gets backed in or runs miles better than its usual weak self.

Not connected to this thread, but worth a follow is another stable change at Methven on Sunday. Knockshanbally goes to Sam Thornley. He has shown glimpses but he might be able to turn it around like he did with his trotter, Special Effects. A definite tote watch.

5 hours ago, karrotsishere said:

How much did you collect?

For me, a decent amount.

I think Swayzee drifted out to 21s when Grimson was banned but I didn't get that. I think maybe 7s, did it open at 9s? I can't remember, but someone must have cleaned up.

5 hours ago, karrotsishere said:

Who is his next new sudden star that you are going to get onboard? 

Any horse that can't win presently.

5 hours ago, karrotsishere said:

Heard they tried to pull some sort of a Phar Lap. Where they scratched the horse from FFA, but due to pure exhaustion & just before scratching someone from his crew bet heavily on Akuta to win FFA as no scratching reductions. But wait for it, heard the bet wasnt a winning one hahaha

And the scratching of Republican Party. A good old attempted rort of the TAB there, and, people wonder why the TAB operate so tightly. I can't blame them.

Typo or misunderstanding on part of RIB because it is changed now.

FLYAWAY - contacted and punctured the sulky wheel of JUST FOLLOW ME on straightening for the run home. Junior Driver S O'Reilly, who declined the assistance of a senior driver, defended a breach of Rule 869(3)(b) in that she drove carelessly in this incident. After viewing the replays and hearing evidence from Stewards and Ms O'Reilly the Adjudicative Committee found the charge proved and suspended Ms O'Reilly's driver's licence from the conclusion of racing on 3 December 2023 up to and including 9 December 2023 (2 days).

2 hours ago, Blackie said:

Hi Happy

If you’d back fixed odds on account, you could always cash out if you weren’t happy.

For sure. 

However, they do tend to plummet the cash out value if the horse drifts in the odds pretty quickly. Tote betting, is not so good for the punter in this situation.

The TAB are not giving many options to punters early at the moment. They just have Win and Place fixed odds (no top 4 or exacta etc) betting until the day of the races now. I wonder if the TAB are playing hard ball at the moment after the debacle with Swayzee and Republican Party where I think the TAB were set up to get hammered with those 2 horses' scratchings. And this morning, having the market closed before the scratchings come through is unusual too.

The TAB might also be in the firing next Sunday on Grand Prix day with FO bets because of all the horses who won't be starting. Anyone with inside knowledge could be set to take them to the cleaners. 

Anyway, it seems as though Sarah O is driving today. There might have been a typo in the stipes report and she is suspended for Friday and Saturday next week and not today.

9 hours ago, Dancing Show said:

Simply, it's not.    Why didn't she want a Senior Driver to assist her though, did she think it wasn't that serious?  Even if it wasn't, experienced drivers do tend to know the explanations that can gain you time or even get you out.   That just seems silly to me.

Also, Is it usually so immediate?   I've never seen this before.      Tbred can usually delay it depending on rides booked to enable re-engagements, and races of punter/owner  importance in the near future, but it seems that this is not a consideration.

They defer in harness which has led to some good debate too. Sarah must want to drive on Grand Prix day so she is copping the two days at Methven and Geraldine (but there is a meeting at Wingatui on Friday which could have counted for her since she goes south sometimes)

The TAB is in the midst of a new approach to how they offer harness odds. All odds are down at the moment for Methven and Sarah is still there driving.

I want to see what happens here. 

Sarah O has drives tomorrow at Methven, and the markets have been open since at least 8.45 this morning (earlier than usual) but she was suspended today at Motukarara so won't be driving tomorrow according to this?

FLYAWAY - contacted and punctured the sulky wheel of JUST FOLLOW ME on straightening for the run home. Junior Driver S O'Reilly, who declined the assistance of a senior driver, defended a breach of Rule 869(3)(b) in that she drove carelessly in this incident. After viewing the replays and hearing evidence from Stewards and Ms O'Reilly the Adjudicative Committee found the charge proved and suspended Ms O'Reilly's driver's licence from the conclusion of racing today up to and including 9 December 2023 (2 days).

So all those punters who have backed Bettor Be Sharp, Buckskin or Franco Messi etc will be waking up to a new driver for tomorrow?

How is this fair to anyone?

57 minutes ago, richie said:

Definitely,saying that Olivia Thornley hardly missed a beat in Nat and Mark's absence 

Olivia is doing exceptionally well. 

Do you know the particular reason why MP didn't get back on Chase A Dream? Just leave Olivia on since she is doing a good job?

3 hours ago, richie said:

Yeah I heard last week was going be driving at trials on Wednesday but cant see where she did.Who knows what's going on.

She is such a fixture in the big races it is a shame she won't be there Cup Week.

The two favs will be lead and parked by the mile. I doubt they will have each other on when they are in those positions until 400m out so nothing else will have a chance.

The only possibility is the Dalgety factor and what they would do if they reached the top early and decided to sacrifice one for the other.

It will be exciting to see who goes for the lead first but after that it could be a procession once the two favs are in position. The race should be extremely predictable `but it would be nice to see some drivers anticipate the movement of the favs and act accordingly.

On 10/6/2023 at 8:41 PM, richie said:

Common knowledge that she has had a minor op programmed for quite a while.Is expected back driving about 13th October I believe

Still out?

No sign of her or any communication from anyone about her status.

4 hours ago, Globederby19 said:

I think Im going to vomit. I feel sick to my stomach over this

The fact they can't even show enough respect to one of the greatest horses, and a national treasure, by having a definitive plan for the memorial speaks volumes to their lack of character and dignity, let alone their acumen.

All associated with this disrespectful decision can hang their heads in shame.

4 hours ago, Hesi said:

For example, the ashes of one of New Zealand’s most respected racing writers, Ron Bisman, were scattered over Cardigan Bay’s grave in a ceremony attended by a who’s who of racing in 2016.

And how would Ron Bisman's extended family be feeling?

4 hours ago, Hesi said:

The club planned to erect a memorial somewhere else on the racecourse “some time in the near future”, but hadn’t decided where.

If they can't plan this in advance then it just shows their lack of competence. No wonder the club is in a mess.

3 hours ago, Globederby19 said:

I think Im going to vomit. I feel sick to my stomach over this .I cannot believe a national treasure ,one of the greatest harness horses in history, will be paved over, with a nice plaque and maybe a memorial somewhere else when they get around to it. Mackinnon needs a bullet. 

An outstanding lack of empathy by the club and Mackinnon in particular but we should be not surprised given his previous comments on things and it is at such odds with the way the greats of the past are immortalised in racing for this to happen.

They might as well pave over the whole ATC and be done with the lot of them as far as I am concerned. Not a shred of dignity among them.

Such a terrible shame to read about her plight. 

She is a real credit to the harness racing game so with such step costs facing her for treatment I would like to see Addington Raceway do something on Cup Day for her. Would not be too hard for them to put a page in the racebook about the situation and then have a few people go round with buckets getting a few dollars off the 16-20 thousand odd people at the Cup.

It might make a significant dent in the total required.

All the best to Katie Cox and I hope to see her back in the game as soon as possible.

I would go with Melody Banner at 7ff in the 2-year-old Sire Stakes final for fillies.

She was very good driven with a sit last Friday night and swept home very strongly for third. All Stars runners had cushy runs and only good, not great, the 2 Barry Purdon runners were very good but were in front of Melody Banner with the best trips the whole journey.

If Melody Banners gets a front-line draw she will go to the front and stave them all off as she has toughness about her. This toughness was shown when she raced the boys.

A multi with Chase A Dream in the boy's race will give you $22.40 to 1 during Cup Week.

Who do you like?

2 hours ago, Royal Nod said:

 I’m not sure what the purpose is of having a suspended & unavailable list on HRNZ website when it was last updated on 31 st August 

It is up to date on HRNZ.

12 hours ago, Royal Nod said:

Surprising that Nat didn’t turn up last Friday to drive Self Assured.  Now she isn’t standing in for Mark on Milwood Nike.  Is she away or has she given up driving?  I wonder if she will make an appearance on Cup Day?

A very valid question for punters and others.

If it were a public-worthy reason (covid, holiday, injury, giving younger ones a go etc.) the likes of Guerin would have said it because he loves to disseminate news like this. He would be mentioning the future implications going forward to the NZ Cup if there were any, and who would be driving who etc. He has always had a direct line to them so his silence indicates it is private (in my opinion)

No big guns from the stable at Methven for the Cup so a change in plans there from previous years but probably more scheduling than anything to blame. With Copy That out of the race the All-Stars have a much stronger hold over the race now. Akuta, with a reasonable run, wins in my view.

And did the TAB know Copy That was sore and left him in their readjusted market to tempt punters this week? Akuta into 2.75 and Copy That at 9s? Then it became public he is lame not long after.

On 9/11/2023 at 6:54 PM, karrotsishere said:

What has he started doing from 2021 to get this amazing results? That take 3 weeks to sharply improve a horse?

Gear changes? An increase in work? 

I backed Swayzee in the Cup because he would be training it. Majestic Cruiser was enormous last year. No reason why Swayzee would be any different.

I was told to get on the bandwagon so I did. Greed talks.

21 hours ago, Lightning Blue said:

Franco Nelson. bad luck John.  2nd beaten by Allstars again.

I backed Franco Nelson. 

A gutting memory. 7/7 in the betting.

2014 seems like a lifetime ago.

After having to change the name of a horse called 'Smiles Like Jacinda' last year I see Andrew Faulks has 'Winnyzback' starting tomorrow at Addington.

He is in the ownership of both horses so I think it is safe to say he will be voting blue this coming election. I look forward to future namings and wonder what he will offer up next?