He (Shinn) added that it was hard to gauge her performance off of her debut where she found the drying track tough, “we gave her a quiet trial. She was feeling the track a bit, so we let her poke around out the back.”
Also some horses go better on the grass tracks . I enjoy watching them on the bigger tracks like the Mot and Methven . A lot of horses get their chance with the roomier grass tracks .
Actually am just wondering whatever happened to the grass track racing at Pukekohe ? Anyone know ?
It was a nothing race when it was run at Riccarton - not worthy of the name.
The GN Derby was always a better quality race and what was done made perfect sense.
The answer is obvious . They go a bit slower on the grass. People are always trying to place their horses in races they can Win .
FOR EXAMPLE : Even the countries leading stable does this.
The Nelson Classic with a handy prizemoney BUT they ripped around in 1.53 something . pretty quick so Dunn's didn't bother contesting. Instead putting their 3 handy runners in the Marlborough Cup for exactly the same prizemoney this Friday. Race time will be slower They knew they would go too quick at Nelson for them.
You always get bigger numbers on the Grass . Haven't you noticed with all the counting you do all the time ? 😉😁
Good trainers looking for suitable races. That won't bust their horses guts chasing in vain.
They have been trying to run the show and get everyone else to fit in with their needs for at least 50 years. The industry as a whole was able to prevent them destroying the likes of Wgtn Cup week for most of that time, but now there is no overall controlling body representing the views of the whole industry so they can pretty much do what they like.
They have successfully destroyed Wgtn Cup week so now the world is their oyster. NZ Cup Week will be next. Then they will probably want the Nuggets to be run at Ellerslie on sweepstake night to boost their attendance.
The real guide is the Geelong Cup run. He ran second and Wolfgang fourth. How big a chance do we rate Wolfgang? But it must be remembered this is two miles not a mile and a half.
Why does it need to improve 20 lengths on its first trial? Mark Walkers instructions to Blake Shinn was that the horse was there just for education nothing else. But I guess you have it all worked out on its first trial. Actually that would be an interesting exercise - how many top horses had a very ordinary first trial?
Marlborough on Friday has 12 races and 156 starters.
That is a huge increase in numbers compared to the Nelson meetings, whether it is the attraction of grass track racing, or the Nelson meeting is one week to soon and Canterbury trainers needed a break from their West Coast and Central Otago trips?
You have to push a 2yr old to the point where they experience some soreness otherwise you haven't stressed them enough to get the physiological response that ensure they have a long career. Some 2yr olds can handle going earlier others can't but at the end of the day you still have to stress all of them. The trick is knowing when to pull back and when to press on. I'm sure Mark Walker has more knowledge than anyone here or any Jockey for that matter.
While the owners and managers of RaceCafe endeavour to moderate and control the site and posts on it, they give no guarantee that posts are true and correct, and take no responsibility whatsoever for what individuals post on the site.
Posts do not necessarily reflect the sentiments, views or beliefs of Race Cafe or its owners and management.
The owners and managers of RaceCafe reserve the right to remove posts from the site and to provide details of members whose posts warrant scrutiny.