I think it was broken as far back as the 2022 Telegraph when Levante ran an unofficial (because it was hand timed) word record of an astounding 1.06.18!

George Carlin 20 years ago……more relevant now than ever, particularly that ending…..👏    

After winning the Florida Derby (G1) last week with the Brad Cox-trained Tappan Street, owners WinStar Farm and CHC have an opportunity at another top-level stakes victory April 5 when River Thames competes in the Blue Grass Stakes (G1).View the full article

Gotham Stakes (G3) winner Flood Zone will aim to take a circuitous route to this year's Kentucky Derby (G1) when he starts in the $1 million UAE Derby (G2) March 5 at Meydan in his final start ahead of the United States classics.View the full article

During an April 1 meeting of the Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corporation's Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund Advisory Committee meeting, a Kentucky Downs advertising budget double the size it received in 2024 was approved for $974,000.View the full article

@rdytdy no one is doubting that the track played fair nor your observations.  What is being queried is the actual Track Ratings that were published.  The moisture meter reading was 32.5% and a Rating given at 6:27am of a Soft 5 (note there are two different times on the NZTR website).  After Race 1 it becomes a G4 - Why wasn't it upgraded BEFORE Race 1?  They break 1:07 for the 1200m in Race 2.  NO FURTHER UPGRADE!   You could argue that the chute was firmer than the rest of the track but it wasn't if you believe the sectionals - a one win horse runs 32.16 for the last 600m! The previous week the rating was a Soft 6 and the moisture reading 34.8%.  They run 1:07.7 in the last and run 1:09 in the R65 4th race (note the Stewards had faster times on the day as they weren't corrected until later).  In the fourth race the second horse runs home in 32.24.  THAT ISN'T A SOFT 6 EFFORT! Both days had the same weather conditions - a Northerly and temperatures between 22 and 24 degrees. The fact is as @Pam Robson has illuded to the system is being rorted to meet the policy.  There are NO penetrometer data published and the moisture readings bear no relationship to actual conditions.  Then the RIB are for some reason being hesitant to correct the ratings.

If you had listened to the Racing Show just after 8am on Saturday morning the curator had expected a track upgrade from a Soft 5 to Good later. That soft reading was taken very early on Saturday morning and with it being a very it hot day and a good breeze (tail wind down the straight) when I walked it half an hour before the first it was always going to be a good track.  The track played very fair and I think most punters would have been very happy. A number of favourites won including all three Group races won by Kiwi Skyhawk, Waitak and La Dorada with only one winner paying double figures on the day. If you refer to the Stewards report there is only one horse mentioned that was unsuited by the firm track I Park. Stephen Hunt from the TAB wrote yesterday " How the track played…  There were two leaders that won, with winners coming as far back as 6L (Kiwi Skyhawk) off the leader at the 600m mark.  Winners were in lanes 4,5,1,1,6,7,5,2,2.  The track raced perfect on Saturday, without a notable pattern.         

No. – Horse – Trainer – Jockey – Barrier – Weight 1 – OVERPASS – Bjorn Baker – Joshua Parr – 2 – 58.5kg 2 – JIMMYSSTAR – Ciaron Maher – Ethan Brown – 9 – 58.5kg 3 – JEDIBEEL – Brad Widdup – Craig Williams – 8 – 58.5kg 4 – HEADWALL – Matthew Smith – Zac Lloyd – 7 – 58.5kg 5 – BRIASA – Michael, John & Wayne Hawkes – Tyler Schiller – 3 – 58.5kg 6 – SUNSHINE IN PARIS – Annabel Neasham & Rob Archibald – Chad Schofield – 11 – 56.5kg 7 – JOLIESTAR – Chris Waller – Damian Lane – 4 – 56.5kg 8 – MAGIC TIME – Grahame Begg – Jordan Childs – 1 – 56.5kg 9 – I AM ME – Ciaron Maher – Tim Clark – 6 – 56.5kg 10 – KIMOCHI – Gary Portelli – Nash Rawiller – 13 – 56.5kg 11 – SWITZERLAND – Chris Waller – Ryan Moore – 5 – 56.5kg 12 – TRAFFIC WARDEN – James Cummings – Blake Shinn – 12 – 56.5kg 13 – SHEZANALISTER – Bjorn Baker – Rachel King – 10 – 56.5kg

Here is the field and barrier draw for the ATC Sires' Produce Stakes. State Visit for mine..from 1 and 2. No. – Horse – Trainer – Jockey – Barrier – Weight 1 – RIVELLINO – Kris Lees – Hugh Bowman – 6 – 56.5kg 2 – WODETON – Chris Waller – Ryan Moore – 9 – 56.5kg 3 – VINROCK – Matt Laurie – Mark Zahra – 1 56.5kg 4 – PRESTIGE FOREVER – David Brideoake & Matt Jenkins – Jamie Mott – 10 – 56.5kg 5 – STATE VISIT – Ciaron Maher – Jason Collett – 5 – 56.5kg 6 – BUFFALO – David Atkins – Zac Purton – 4 – 56.5kg 7 – NORDIC VIKING – John Sargent – Craig Williams – 3 – 56.5kg 8 – NAVY PILOT – Ciaron Maher – Zac Lloyd – 2 – 56.5kg 9 – FEDERALIST – Michael, John & Wayne Hawkes – Nash Rawiller – 8 – 56.5kg 10 – BELLAZAINE – Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott – Tim Clark – 7 – 54.5kg

It's not fair at all, and doesn't just apply to Trentham. It is a given that many tracks are mis-reported, in either direction.     S.6, out to a H8.       S5, back to a Gd 3.  Which in some cases is a euphemism for a Gd 2 or just bloody hard. And as well, I gather some punters have already stopped 'buying our inferior product ' .

I thought it strange and unfair that Wilson House wasn't included in the Driver's Prem betting option As he wasn't listed I assumed that he would be at longer odds than those listed and thought he could be worth a punt if he was a $40 and Blair got injured. So I rang the TAB and got some foreign speaking dude who was going to ask his supervisor He got back to me saying that Wilson would be added to the list and he just had to check that he had the correct name  In the meantime I saw that Wilson had been added to the list so I hung up. Surprise surprise he is a hot 2nd favourite now - if he wasn't on the list why not? And if a late entry to the list why not the longest priced on the list? Such an amateurish outfit TAB BETCHA ENTAIN whichever you are     Two minutes later I get a call with a red alert "Scam Call" - 0061399570117 so I didn't answer it - they left a message that Wilson had been added. Two questions - Why is this number classed as a Scam alert?                             - Why is there not a "any other option" included in these types of bets? If not then surely it is a scam (a bit like taking future bets last year on the NZ cup with Swayzee not included) Matt Markham - surely you follow these threads to keep your nose to the grindstone (If you don't then you aren't doing your job finding out what punters want) - please explain why there isn't an "any other option" included in ALL these options - or are these just sucker options to alienate punters?

Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) winner Straight No Chaser faces off with defending champion and local star Tuz in the Dubai Golden Shaheen (G1) on the Dubai World Cup program.View the full article

Lexington is forecast to experience rain showers and thunderstorms April 2-6, putting a damper on Keeneland's highly anticipated opening weekend. What that means for a race like the $600,000 Transylvania Stakes (G3T) is to be determined.View the full article

I hope Kate Gath gets the DSD drive. Orange is not a patient driver and I believe DSD performs better when driven patiently.

Thanks guys.   She has given us a fantastic ride this season. Five starts winning four and finishing second in the other.  Her last three starts have been winning the Karaka Millions, the Matamata Breeder Stakes and the Manawatu Sires Produce Stakes and her stakes earnings stand at $1,060,750.  To win a G1 race on my old home stomping ground was very special indeed.  Ginni is her stable name and she is a wee star. She is just so tough. She has now gone out for a well deserved break and we look forward to seeing her back as a 3yo next season.   

Blair seems to be losing a lot of good drives lately . He is not driving well these days and I think that reflects on his drives at Addington on Friday Night . Lucky for him Mark and Nathan are letting him drive their Southern team for now 

I well remember Gold fever running as a 2yo. A bit wayward as babies can be but was pretty nippy and I was keen to see how she came up at three but it didn't happen. Three ordinary trials and never raced. Don't know if she went amiss but when I asked, DE just said she was 'very small'.

The timing has been broken since at least 7 December 2024 as reported in the Stewards Report.  The photo finish was also broken that day. Which is around the same time as the BS started regarding the track rating.  The track was rated a S5 on raceday morning on 7 December 2024.  Upgraded to a G4 RETROSPECTIVELY after Race 1.  What good is that for trainers or punters?  THEN it was further upgraded to a G3 after race 3 when arguably it was even firmer that that going by the times.  As some who post here know a number of horses didn't handle that firm track. Now every race meeting since that date has had the same pattern - a S5 on raceday morning - a retrospective upgrade AFTER a race is run and more upgrades during the day.  Although the new pattern is they limit the upgrades to one grade as evident last Saturday when the track was clearly a lot firmer than a G4. Back to the timing - the times are retrospectively corrected hence a World Record 1:06.51 run last Saturday by Super Photon is now 1:06.99.  Definitely a track firmer than a G4.   Those corrected times are presumabley timed off the video replays.  How accurate are the sectionals given the parallax error?  Is there some software system that calculates the distance travelled for each horse?  Is Trentham using the same software and GPS system that Ellerslie uses?  No they can't be because it wouldn't take so long to update the time. This ISN'T arguing for the sake of arguing it is highlighting that the racing on one of our "Premier" tracks is nowhere near the standard of Australian metro tracks and the data provided from Trentham is worthless to Trainers and Punters.  If you are willing to accept that as a WRC member, or as a stakeholder be it a Trainer or Owner then so be it  but don't complain when your horse races on an unsuitable track or when punters stop buying our inferior product.

The final pool of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager makes its three-day run April 3-5. Santa Anita Derby (G1) contender Journalism was tabbed as the 4-1 favorite among 39 individual horses, and another option is available for "All Other 3-Year-Olds."View the full article

Full Moon Madness, coming off a triumph in the Tom Fool Stakes (G3), vies to return to the Aqueduct Race Track winners' circle in the $300,000 Carter Stakes (G2) April 5. View the full article