South Island v North Island

I enjoy watching and betting on South Island trot meetings. Form seems to be easier to follow and trial and workout results are beneficial too. Somehow, when I bet on North Island races my money turns to vapour. I cannot get a handle on the form like I do in the S.I races. It often feels like there is more team driving ( not suggesting it is, just feels that way ). Maybe it's the smaller tracks or quality of horses in the N.I. Alexandra Park being a right handed track also bamboozles me form wise. Anyone else think there is a difference in racing styles between the two Islands?

You may notice that a 3wide train is a bit of a novelty in NI racing and you need to be handy whereas in the SI every race has its inevitable 3 wide train.
Best place to be in NI is in the 1 out line but in SI the 3wide train ensures that anything in the 1 out line will inevitable end up out the back.

I dont know that they run trials persay in the NI...Mostly just workouts whereas in SI Canty and Sthland they have workouts and trials which with the extra "Level" so to speak trainers have to bring there horses to race fitness level.

Driving is generally more aggressive in the North. Reputations don't win races.

The only time driving is more aggresive in the north is when Alan Clark comes up!! Otherwise it's a bloody big yawn. Not saying it's much better in the south but at least we get fields that change in terms of runners. In the north its the same every week.

I love watching the 3 wide train move around and all the chopping and changing. Makes for intriguing racing. Aus racing is boring when the leader or death horse usually kicks up and lets nothing in. Maybe its the smaller tracks in Aus or the mile racing at Menangle that doesn't allow for that style of racing. The only thing that changes possible results is if the leader gets gassed but usually if you know who will be where in a race in Aus you can work out the winner in 2 or 3 chances.

I think it's just race tempo. Australian racing is generally more genuine tempo/up-tempo than is NZ racing, especially early on. In NZ there's rarely if ever any genuine early pressure applied to the front end...even in the really big $ events. Instead they're much more inclinded to take hold and wave the favs through to the front unchallenged...like a bunch of Fijian Traffic Cops doing point duty in Suva and so you see guys getting forward early and because there's no early pressure they're getting there much more cheaply than they generally would be able to here in Oz. For reasons that are only known to themselves it seems the Kiwis much prefer to walk out of the gate, dawdle along to the half and then all sprint home. That's really boring.

You're right triple - it makes my bloody blood boil. Time and time again over here they meander off the gate and then the leader (if its not the favourite) sits up and waits for the hotpot to arrive and is handed the top with a handshake and glass of red. We get group races over here that can have quarters run in 33 because the fav is in front.
There are many many horses here that if they left the gate quicker and kept the speed on would perform so much better.

Them why do the NZ horses come to Aus and usually dominate races? I see many win 2000 metre races in 2.4.0, 2.5.0 mile rates and come to Aus and run records or record pace.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Diablo

Them why do the NZ horses come to Aus and usually dominate races? I see many win 2000 metre races in 2.4.0, 2.5.0 mile rates and come to Aus and run records or record pace.

Simply because of the conservative way they are driven here!!