"BALLSEY SACK-ed" another headline eagerly awaited then?

Getting a bravery award .

Bloody awful weekend for the NZ horses wasn’t it ? Crocetti runs last in Perth after not getting the best of runs. El Vencedor went out way too quickly and weakened to last in the QE2 at ShaTin. The Oz horses Mr Brightside and Royal Patronage fared no better in the Champions Mile finishing last and second last respectively. Ka Ying Rising ( Kiwi bred ) was outstanding in the Chairmans Sprint making it 12 wins in a row. The Everest in October looks his for the taking. $2.10 on FO looks money for jam.  

Actually George could probably offer some sage advice, as I am sure that he was on the Board of Te Rapa if not the Chair, when their new track was a mitigating disaster when brand new.  Now of course I could be quite wrong given that I was a star in the 1950's, not today.

Scooby, where does that leave you and me?

The last race winner at Addington on Friday night is a full brother to Marketplace. Cullen Who was a Kevin Court owned mare. I think Kevin sold the mare when Forbury closed.

Your welcome , should be part of the curriculum for all forum readers . He's obviously used the same experts as those working on the Awapuni reno .

Fcuk! I blame Nomates for making me read that. What a load of rubbish. Ballesy going to lead NZTR into the future! What the hell did Sharrock do? Has his work all been scrapped? I would have loved to have seen a headline that said "Ballsey says lets get back to basics to reset NZ Racing." I would give him two years at best.

Obviously George doesn't have the answer, nor do any of us. But none of us are being paid to find the answer, and none of us are experts in the field of track maintenance. Others however are being paid to find the answer, and are considered experts in their fields, so the rest of us have every right to be disappointed in their efforts. In fact disappointed probably isn't even a strong enough word after several years of this.

There's no anticipation required , it's an NZTR statement .

Thank god for the AWT. 

I don't know whether to seek out the statement with anticipation or not.

And as i posted in another thread we need another McKenzie to sort out the nonsense that inhabits harness. The $ dont lie and the Entain puppet is asking why to some market participants. Not sure asking breeders will assist?

It's time to buy Bitcoin..it's about to burst into trade action

George Simon: Is it time to question the status quo? George Simon  •  April 28th, 2025 5:13 PM Early Bird winning race one at Awapuni on Friday, April 25. Credit: Race Images. The abandonment of the Fielding JC race meeting last Friday had many shaking their heads in disbelief. With a fair bit of justification too. Greater minds than mine have given their considered opinions over what is becoming a blight on the racing industry. It's an unwanted recurring theme having to abandon race meetings due to unsafe track conditions.  Compounding matters with the Awapuni track last week was that it was the first official race day on the newly refurbished track. Local racing enthusiasts were understandably excited by the return to racing after a near two year break due to the track undergoing a major renovation.  And the comeback lasted all of one race.  Disappointingly, Dark And Dusty, ridden by Kate Hercock, slipped free of interference rounding the home turn.  After the obligatory track inspection by jockeys and officials, it was deemed in the best interests of safety for horse and rider, the meeting be abandoned.  Inevitably there was a swift response from industry participants.  Senior rider Kate Hercock was interviewed on Trackside over the incident that saw her mount Dark And Dusty slip on the home turn. Hercock, one of the most experienced jockeys currently riding, didn't hold back in voicing her disappointment. According to Hercock, a large part of the reason for the abandonment, was the placement of the rail out 6 metres. Trials had been conducted in the lead up to last Friday's meeting, but the rail was out only 3 metres.  With the rail out 6 metres on race day, the horses were essentially racing on new ground, instead of the previously used ground from the trial days. Hercock was adamant this contributed significantly to the abandonment of the meeting. Brad Taylor, RACE General Manager of Racing, acknowledged that, with the benefit of hindsight, more should have been done to ensure the track was safe for horse and rider. He gave further assurances to achieve this objective going forward, which everyone says when their meeting has been abandoned under such circumstances. Taylor was keen to inform industry participants that the new Awapuni track was a vastly different version from the previous one.  It’s obvious everyone wants racing to prosper and having safe and fair tracks to race on is an integral component. Has the time arrived where we start to seriously question the status quo regarding the preparation of our racetracks for race day? Why does the rail have to be shifted in and out from race meeting to race meeting? I’ve heard a few jockeys say just leave the rail in the true position and let them find the best part of the track. As they say that's part of their job.  It's getting to the stage where we need to think outside the square.

Need to ask yourself WHY open class class horses are trialing over 800m surely they can do that on their home tracks if the trainers cant tell how fit they are ,Well. Trials are there to educate young and inexpienced horses.  

Some interesting ones trialing too....😉

https://www.facebook.com/reel/683419987669521 Neil Armstrong

Had the same feeling myself. The script never changes, only the actors. 

Excess noms from the 2yo's and open horses means our 3yo maiden filly misses a shot at trialing on a grass track......along with 100 odd other horses🤬