It's holiday time mate. These galloping folk work hard 7 days a week with horses and each January a whole heap of these hard working folk,  get to go to Gold Coast and while still working with some runners in the Gold Coast Magic Millions and buying some yearlings for some of them , there's still time to kick back and get to the beach with the family for a day or two,  and forget about Rosehill for a week or three. 🏄‍♂️🌞

In this crap field my pick is Arby . The way George Simon has said how good Son of Sun is then would be the obvious pick I reckon . Paying good money too

How many brothers and sisters were in Phil's family?

Lots of Ellerslie knockers on here, have a look at Rosehill today, smallish fields,  Whats your take on this?

There were some good times recorded last Sunday at Nelson, in the mile races; Non-Win   1.56.8               R45-R55   1.53.8           FFA  1.53.7          R41-R44  1.55.3 Ashburton Tuesday   1700m; Non-Win    1.55.5          up to R50 F&M Trot   1.58.8        R4.-50  1.54.8     4YO+ 1W   1.56.5      R35-R45   1.56.7 Of particular note was the mare Follow Your Dreams, who won on both days at Nelson, the first win was 2400m by 2 3/4L (R40-R45), in 1.58.3 MR, the second win was the mile in 1.53.8 by 2L (R45-R55), this was 0.00.1 out side of the FFA time, these 2 wins doubled her score and she is now  23-4-1-1 Her last win, last year, was at Addington over 2600m in 3.15.9 (2.01.2MR) on 23 May, she followed up with a second on 30th May, this was a 1980m, she was 3/4L from the winner who's time was 2.25.8 (1.58.4), the form for the rest of 2024, all at Addington was  6,4,9,8,10,7, the last race being on the 18th October.    

Sometimes it can be something as simple as the weather which makes the difference to crowd numbers. It’s a huge factor in the UK and Ireland - courses pray for good weather at big meetings.

Really? The place looks vacant to me but I'm not there. Maybe all inside but with no public stand and the infield and stands empty?

Big crowd for Cup day great to see.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1840253846719891 Los Angeles

Yes, I would agree with that, I think it also suits the one-paced horses that don't have a super sprint in them, rather than the dawdle and sprint races you see so often on the all-weather. The down side of course, in the South Island at least, is the large fields, good for Harness Racing profitability but not for the owners in 14 plus fields.

Voyage Bubble and Ka Ying Rising return from December glory in a Group 1 doubleheader at Sha Tin Racecourse in Hong Kong.View the full article

Well, yes, but instead of moaning about what has gone wrong about which we can now do nothing, what or how needs to be done to stop the decline? You have less than 300 gallop meetings per year and 2,400 races. Harness is nearly as popular while when dog racing ends next year about half of all the TAB races from New Zealand will disappear. From my perspective, what does everyone want? Crowds at tracks, a strong and successful bloodstock industry, big money races to attract top Australian and perhaps international runners? I imagine all of that and more. Britain and Ireland have two out of three, France also two (not the same two). Most other European countries barely have one - Hong Kong has two, Japan probably has all three. Dubai has only two.  I would look at the French model only because I think it’s the one which is closest to NZ. France Galop isn’t perfect but has improved a lot. Over there, they have a lot of trotting and a lot of country tracks mixed with the big metropolitan circuits. They have the daily Tierce race, a big handicap where you have to find the first four. They have a race like that every day. You need something which reaches out beyond the TAB players to those who play the lottery and scratch cards. Keep and expand jumps racing whatever you do. Offer a $10 million jump race to entice British, Irish, French and American runners - make it the jump equivalent of the Melbourne Cup, hold it in August and offer a huge bonus to any horse winning the Galway Plate and following up in the Southern Champion Steeplechase.

Due to forecasts of subfreezing temperatures early next week, Oaklawn Park and Mahoning Valley Race Course have canceled racing Jan. 20. View the full article

Talk about integrity re the sport. And certain quarters scream out for new owners getting involved in the sport. This is bullshit what's going on at Blenheim ,absolute bullshit.

Society and everyday life has changed dramatically, and the splintered groups of self interested administrators with their heads up their arses have not coordinated to counter this effectively. That's it, in one line from me (not usually something I'm good at 😄)

A former president of the Louisiana HBPA charged in a broad-ranging federal indictment in connection with staged motor vehicle collisions was accused of colluding in the murder of a witness.View the full article

Was going to mention Bedtime Story again today after getting the win 3 weeks ago but I see the value well gone , 3.7 now , thankfully got the opening 7s . Someone knows something , big move which started early . Really like Nereus in the cup , loves Trentham and goes better left handed and I think he will eat up the 3200m .

AH ! those were the days , I so miss those great days , where has it gone wrong . Remember when the crowd rose as one as the horses got to the 300m , the noise , amazing . And that was for every race . 7000 today and their so proud of themselves , the fields are pitiful . An interesting question just popped into my head , how many of those youthful faces in the crowd still have a bet today ???

Nom De plume today for me.

The “halcyon days” when huge crowds turned up for race meetings are gone and they aren’t coming back.  It’s nice to remember 250,000 at Epsom for Derby Day but many of those were on the Hill, paid nothing, spent nothing and had a few low price bets. Racecourse economics are as much about per head spend than numbers through the gates - if you spend $100 on food and drink and have $150 worth of bets the course will love you but you’re still one person. As for Kumara, presumably we know (or the club will know) how many paid the $20 admission - that’s your crowd - but I presume kids go in for nothing (they do in the UK). It would be nice to see these numbers published so we have some proper data rather than tv pictures which can be misleading - a big crowd in a small place can be the same size as a small crowd in a big place. We also don’t know what people spent but I imagine the on course bars and catering did pretty well.