New Zealand Racing

NZ don't see the benefit of their champions going around!

Both Copy That (R120) and Hot And Treacherous (R92) were scrubbed from the field despite the conditions of the race saying the rating 35 and faster pace would be split into three races and selected from the highest rating downwards.

The decision left the race with an eight-horse field and a rating spread of R59 to R74.

Butterworth said the ridiculous situation of the two best horses and potential drawcards for the meeting being eliminated would never occur in Victoria.

“He clearly met the conditions of the race. It makes me wonder what I’m doing racing Copy That in Auckland. If it had been the gallops they’d have been ringing round trainers trying to attract the top horses to the meeting not blotting them out. How can doing this be for the betterment of the sport?”

https://www.lincolnfarms.co.nz/stori...liminated-too/

It's a shambles over there at the moment. Some changes are desperately needed at the top of HRNZ and true independents appointed. Then it must force changes to the board and management of Auckland Trotting Club.

Traditionally NZ racing is a huge let down after NZ Cup week but the change of the racing year changes all that. While the Inter-Dominion is in focus in Australia next Sunday's Grand Prix meeting at Addington is huge. Eight group one races including the $250,000 NZ Derby, $175,000 NZ Oaks, four $100,000 races for 2yo pacing and trotting colts and fillies, the NZ Trotters Derby and the NZ Trotters FFA.

For the older horses the group 3 Summer Cup, a 2600m FFA makes for an incredible day of racing.

https://infohorse.hrnz.co.nz/datahrs...20432pg-01.htm

Given the widespread snubbing of this year's Inter-Dominion across the ditch (at least Michael Guerin acknowledges it's importance by attending) we Aussies get to see a showcase of the best NZ talent from 10:15 AM Eastern daylight saving time tomorrow from Addington. Here are the fields:

https://infohorse.hrnz.co.nz/datahrs...s/120432fd.htm

Eight Group One races from race 2 through 9 with a Group 3 FFA to finish the day. The fields for the four 2yo Diamonds races for pacers and trotters have been selected on the Jewels format, the there ins the NZ Pacers and Trotters Derbies, the NZ Pacers Oaks and the NZ Trotters FFA make for quite a day.

Mark Purdon domination again
Wins 5 out of the 7 he contested
Including the First 5 in the 2yo Colts

https://infohorse.hrnz.co.nz/datahrs...s/120432rs.htm

R2 2yo trotting gelding Confessional was backed, driven and won like a good thing

R3 2yo filly Millwood Nike was a tough win by the favourite

R4 Trotters Derby was a bit of a shambles, a super drive got the winner home while the placegetters were big runs

R5 2yo Colts, Love the look of the winner and the Quinella so well bred. First 5 Purdon. Does the fav hand up IF the winner was from another stable?

R6 2yo Filly trotters. No wonder the caller got excited. Fav 3 wide whole way and still monsters them HIGH ENERGY

R7 Pacing Derby. We knew Akuta was something special. 1.54.8 for 2600m from last and 3 wide

R8 FFA Trot. Uneventful compared to the other races. Fav leads all way

R9 Pacing Oaks. Winner led all the way but you have to watch this. Led by 10m+ early then at 800m went away by 10m+ again AND still holds on

https://harness.hrnz.co.nz/gws/ws/r/...rSite&Arg=TRUE

The wins were a bit too good in PP's opinion and similar to his analysis of the Inter he has summed up yesterday in NZ with a lead sentence:
"Another big race day, another big fill up for the cheats"
How do we convince him otherwise?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Messenger

The wins were a bit too good in PP's opinion and similar to his analysis of the Inter he has summed up yesterday in NZ with a lead sentence:
"Another big race day, another big fill up for the cheats"
How do we convince him otherwise?

He's yanking our chain. The Purdon / Stewart comparison lacks any analysis. We are comparing an entire country that might host 5 meetings a week agains Australia. Victoria, Stewart's home patch, hosts at least 10 meetings a week. There is far more competition between stables. I don't know how many horses are on Stewart's book but enough in numbers and quality to dominate.

I started to highlight the NZ trainer's premiership last night before losing the post, never to be found again.

In a nutshell the selection process for the four Diamonds two year-old races which mirrored the old Jewels series; the 12 highest stake earners of each gait and sex excluding sales series earnings. Three of the four were won by Purdon - Cullen trained horses. Don't Stop Dreaming, a $250,000 yearling purchase, made it 6 and a 2nd from 7 starts. The stable had 7 runners, no surprise they trained the first 5 home. Millwood Nike (8 from 8) and High Energy (5 from 5) are in a class their own. Akuta is a freak, No Matter Wat was a bolter by any sense of the word. So, credit where it's due.

PP is Merlin's greatest fan, he can't help it. The fact is Merlin was an early 2yo that came back stronger but is now having a let up. The country's third and fourth best of that age, Sherlock and Sinbad, only qualified in the Spring so following their improvement through the new season will be tantalising.

The NZ trainer's premiership has been subject of much conjecture, namely the expectation that Steve and Amanda Telfer might break the All Stars domination. Some facts:

The Telfers are private trainer's for Stonewall Stud, which established a South Island stable managed by Amanda Telfer for the start of the 2022 season. Steve Telfer runs the North Island operation. Stonewall Stud's principal, Steve Stockman, owns over 100 horses in work and bought yearlings in unprecedented numbers and prices at this year's yearling sales. They recruited Tim Williams, formerly All Stars #3 driver in the batting order, as its main driver in the South. Former All Stars travelling foreman Matt Bowden is working at the Northern operation.

All Stars, in its current iteration, stems from October 2021 when Mark Purdon came back in partnership with Hayden Cullen who took over in his own right at the end of 2020. An interesting aside, Cullen's success was comparable to the former Purdon-Rassmussen team. I don't know how many horses All Stars have in work but the numbers are far less than in 2020. It’s been a while since they campaigned teams in Australia, the logistics of replacing Bowden and Williams not being easy. Many of their big owners, while not abandoning All Stars, have spread there chips around to other trainers.

Here are the premiership totals as of tonight:

Telfers: 460 starts, 89 win, 77 2nds, 61 3rds, $1,423,323
All Stars: 363, 90, 61, 50, $3,815,197

I am sure the title is nice, but I reckon Purdon and Cullen - and their owners - would be pretty pleased with the All important stakemoney figure.

I agree with many of PP's observations but I reckon he is just trolling for bites. He hasn't let facts ruin a good story.

TAB CEO Mike Tod responded promptly to The Optimist’s request for an explanation for the reduction and the current state of TAB’s finances.

Tod said: “TAB NZ will reduce distributions by nine percent in the 2022/23 financial year (year ended 31 July 2023).

https://harnesslink.com/new-zealand/...%20July%202023).

A terrible sign

The long awaited Racing Integrity Board report into the three racetrack deaths of three horses trained by premiership-winning trainers Steve and Amanda Telfer was released this morning. In typical NZ fashion, the media release consisted of just three sentences.

https://racingintegrityboard.org.nz/...amanda-telfer/

Move along, nothing to see here. We're too busy not disclosing why the horses died and we have a second coat of whitewash to apply.

Twenty-nine horses were exported from NZ to Australia in the four weeks over Christmas and the New Year. I would expect only lack of space on planes prevented more from fleeing the joint if this is the level of contempt the Government appointed RIB shows its participants.

Tell us the cause of each horse's death RIB. They are going ape droppings over this "report" across the ditch.