Race 5 at Whanganui today... Form comment " His best can pay a dividend or be first four." Haha..............there were four starters, and yep, the horse finished in the first four.  

Alf I would also like to add his name to the current comp as a small token from me...if you have a better suggestion of name I am open to it too...thanks for all your support in here too...I really appreciate you witty and funny posts they always make me chuckle.

Hi Alf sad to hear the news and glad we could bring some fun in his closing years. He is in a much better place now resting peacefully, but he will always be with you I always believe that, thoughts and prayers to you and his family. Now get on your bike and pick some winners for this weekend....it wont be a fair fight for the rest of us you will have an angel on your shoulder helping you.🌹

What has you disciple Sunloon girl told you that Aussie jockeys should replace NZ ones on another horse has he...just like he suggested maybe someone else should ride Pivotal Ten...both of you do not have the word loyalty in your vocabulary. Kiwi jockeys do OK there is plenty of speed in the race so dont worry your precious self about how it is run there will be OK tempo.

Forever hopeful but if there is a good contingent of OZZIE Jockeys then maybe we will see a change to the pattern of NZ Racing that we have been experiencing recently especially at Ellerslie.  I'm not the only one to make that observation either.

Hi John, Sadly advising that my dear friend Murray, Pardon My Dust (AUS) passed away yesterday morning. After his initial diagnosis 15 months ago, I connected him with the Racecafe competitions as one of a few ways to be in regular contact. He enjoyed the fun and spirit of it all and looked forward to it each week, so my thanks go to you and Scooby for making this possible. RIP PMD ❤️  

CM, try being positive for once, I thoroughly recommend it …. It is great

Ruidoso Downs will not offer Thoroughbred racing at its upcoming race meet, leaving New Mexico without an operating Thoroughbred track during the summer. View the full article

With his connections making the decision to fork out a AU$55,000 late entry fee for the Feb. 22 Blue Diamond Stakes (G1), Field of Play heads the market for the AU$2 million group 1 after a perfect barrier draw. View the full article

What's the bet it is a stack em up sprint home.

Friday sees the Group 2 Balanchine at Meydan for the fillies and mares. Just five go to post and having run down one Godolphin hotpot in last month’s Cape Verdi, CHOISYA bids to repeat by defeating the 1/3 shot CINDERELLA’S DREAM who ran in America as a 3-y-o and ended up second in the Filly & Mare Turf at the Breeders Cup. That was over 2200m however and this is 1800m but we know CINDERELLA’S DREAM loves tight left hand ovals and firm turf. I’m just not convinced this is her trip and I prefer the proven course specialist CHOISYA who looks a tempting bet at 9/2. Oddly enough, I can’t see Buick or Godolphin represented at all at tomorrow’s Saudi Cup meeting at Riyadh. The Group 2 Sprint on the Dirt over 1200m looks the usual standoff between the Japanese, the Americans and the locals. Breeders Cup Sprint winner STRAIGHT NO CHASER has an obvious chance if ready after a near four month layoff. The Japanese have a powerful challenge but none of their really good sprinters - GABBY’S SISTER looks the best of them. The Group 2 Turf Cup goes for just under £1 million but no Coolmore or Godolphin runners. If you could take the form of his close second in the Eclipse at Sandown literally, AL RIFFA has a huge chance but all his form is on soft turf and he was well beaten in the Arc last time.  To be fair, he was one place in front of SHIN EMPEROR but we know the Japanese horses love firm turf and SHIN EMPEROR ran third in the Irish Champion and second in the Japan Cup which is serious form and looks too good for this lot if he brings his form to this race. CALIF was sixth in the Hong Kong Cup and with ROMANTIC WARRIOR in another race on this card, he has place prospects. This isn’t a strong field for the race and I think SHIN EMPEROR will take a lot of beating. The Group 2 Turf Sprint over 1200m has runners from Japan, America and Britain up against the locals in a 13-strong field. ASCOLI PICENO was favourite for the Golden Eagle at Rosehill last November on the same day as TEN HAPPY ROSE was running fourth in the Breeders Cup Mile - racing is a global sport these days. I quite like TEN HAPPY ROSE who only faded close home at Del Mar and showed plenty of tactical speed. The British challenge is arguably headed by TASK FORCE from the Varian yard who was seventh in last year’s 2000 Guineas but he didn’t really build on that in runs over 1400m  ANNAF won this last year but was well beaten in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee at Ascot and had a decent if uninspiring pipeopener at Lingfield three weeks ago. I’ll be surprised if he can repeat in what looks a stronger renewal. Of the locals, MALYAN, an ex Roger Varian gelding, looks the best and you can never rule them out on their home turf. The 3000m Group 2 handicap always draws some decent European stayers. CONTINUOUS runs for Coolmore but his triumph in the English Leger seems a lifetime ago. GREGORY has had the misfortune of coming up against the likes of KYPRIOS and VAUBAN but it’s interesting to see the Gosden team put on the blinkers which is rare for one of theirs, The thing about first time blinkers, you never know, he could improve 10 lbs, go backwards or they may have no effect at all. They put blinkers on DEIRA MILE in last year’s Leger and he ran a decent fourth which is where he had finished in the Derby. The form alone entitles him to plenty of respect though I’m not sure the track will be ideal and he probably needs a strong end to end gallop. There are too many ifs, buts and maybes in this race so DEIRA MILE is a tentative selection at best. The feature Saudi Cup carries a first prize of £8 million making it the world’s richest race - about twice the value of the Arc and ten times the value of the Kiwi. The pot has drawn some serious contenders for all the American challenge has been diminished by injury, ROMANTIC WARRIOR is a superstar in Hong Kong but he’s done it elsewhere notably in the Yasuda Kinen In Tokyo last summer and the Jebel Hatta at Meydan last time. That was on turf, this is Dirt and as we saw with CITY OF TROY at Del Mar, the change in surface can be crucial. ROMANTIC WARRIOR’s connections have been honest - he can run on the Dirt but the kickback is the issue - will he face it? For those of us trying to punt on the race, that’s a huge question. The safer option is probably FOREVER YOUNG who was third in the Breeders Cup Classic and beat WILSON TESORO in the Daishotten at the end of last year,  RATTLE N ROLL was very good in the qualifier over course and distance and I can see him in the places. Another to consider is WALK OF STARS who won the Al Maktoum Challenge at Meydan last time.    

Brendan Walsh trainees Somethinabouther and Salt depart from the balmy South Florida weather in search of Kentucky Oaks (G1) points in the Feb. 21 Cincinnati Trophy Stakes at Turfway Park.View the full article

For the first time in the United States since data has been recorded, the racing-related fatality rate for the majority of U.S. races—specifically tracks under the oversight of HISA—fell below 1.00 per 1,000 starts for a calendar year in 2024.View the full article

Commissioner John Carvelli, who was appointed to the CHRB in August 2024, resigned from his position, CHRB executive director Scott Chaney acknowledged during the Feb. 20 meeting. Chaney said the resignation came "about 10 days ago."View the full article

Though three Japanese-trained 3-year-olds traveled to Saudi Arabia to compete Feb. 22 in the $1.5 million Saudi Derby (G3), a cast of 10 promising 3-year-olds remained behind in Japan to contest the Feb. 23 Hyacinth Stakes at Tokyo Racecourse.View the full article

Ellerslie R5 - 1, 5, 15 R6- 3, 4, 6 R7- 1, 5, 7 R8 - 1, 2, 6 Rosehill R2  2, 6, 11 R6 - 2, 3, 10  BB R8- 1, 3, 4  BB Caulfield R7- 1, 2, 3 R9 - 2, 7, 15

Sky screened one game a week live but I think others got on board and sorted the club and Heartland comp coverage so it can be done, just no good sitting back and blaming Sky for everything. As for Cricket it ain't helping itself with saturation of the calandar of 20 20 meaningless crap, after a while people lose interest.

It's too late Mike. In my household, interest in NZ cricket has waned considerably and our cricket viewing over the Xmas period consisted of the Aussie-India Test series (surely one of the best Test series ever) and the Aussie Big Bash comp. Re Heartland. They tried to cut Grassroots Heartland Rugby in 2024, but there was a stink and somehow they brought it back. There is a real strong following for that down in provinces. People love it because it harks back to a bygone age. It's very well done, especially the highlighting of the veterans and volunteers at the various clubs.

Don't worry Lee, I've been looking in on occasion, to read the profound views of some of the greatest intellectual minds in NZ, as posted on Race Cafe's Main Street. I found i couldn't post, so had to change servers in order to have my say... and I needed to have my say, because what a month it's been. As good as I could have hoped. President Trump has threatened to annex the Panama Canal from Panama; Greenland from Denmark; Gaza from the Palestinians and appears fairly serious about Canada being the 51st US state. In addition, he is blaming Ukraine for starting the Russia-Ukraine war, (despite what we all saw with our own eyes back in Feb 2022) and throwing them to the wolves.  He has made a news reporter and domestic violence perpetrator, Head of the Pentagon and a loony, who killed babies in Samoa by way of his false messaging, Head of US Health. I watch Fox News and Republican Senators falling over themselves to justify and support his utterances. Gutless, the lot of them!! I'm confident it will soon get even better Lee, so you'll be hearing from me for sure. UH

1. Ellerslie R5        1, 2, 15 BB 2. Ellerslie R6        2, 4, 6 3. Ellerslie R7        1, 7, 8 4. Ellerslie R8        1, 2, 6 5. Rosehill R2       2, 7, 11 6. Rosehill R6       1, 2, 10 7. Rosehill  R8      1, 4, 11 BB 8. Caulfield R7      1, 2, 4 9. Caulfield R8      1, 14, 15 10. Caulfield R9    2, 5, 15 Thanks Say No More and Scooby.