they must be joking right?

well lets just put it out there - auckland reactor would have flattened for a reason into the track as a 3 yr old and im no big fan of auckland reactor and it would seem he didnt have a flying start to his stud career for whatever reason

trip - i like to see a stallion with some good horses in the pedigree, just to show its not a total freak and its relatives weren't all too mad or badly put together to make the races, cullen has kates first, courage had advance attack, rocknroll has a few too

deadly woman imo is lucky to have won any races bar its win at bankstown as it has ran into some very poor races and drawn well, PK filly - im still to be convinced about her, she did ALOT of work leading up the breeders plate and was pretty well beaten by the colt who was then just easily dealt to by kerryns colt.

the point of the original post was to show the ridic bias and hype that home town journos have for horses

I went abit overboard back there sorry about that, i have since gone back and edited my post as i don't want to tarnish this site.

Buster writes...>the point of the original post was to show the ridic bias and hype that home town journos have for horses <

Triple says...You've hit on a soapbox of mine Buster. With that I could not agree more.
The standard of Harness Racing journalism here in the Southern Hemisphere, with one or two notable exceptions, is absolutely bloody deplorable. The widespread lack of objectivity, the lack of research and the henious crime that is an abject lack of a good general knowledge of the Industry about which they write never ceases to amaze me.
Add to that the sycophanitc fawning about at the feet of come excuse making/running public interference for the transgressions of some who have fallen foul of the Rules (take Minty Man Number 2 and Geoff Small for example) and it's not particularly uplifting by any stretch of the imagination.
Here in Australia in particular there are little kids who run up and down the grass strip to the outside of the home stretches, periodically lookingover the fence to watch the horses, and they would have a far better grasp of what is going on than many of those who's job it is to observe and to accurately relate.
You can extend that general malaise to some of the Sky Compares as well. Just the other day there was a blonde lady on there covering Bathurst Harness.
A 2yo colt knocks an odds on fav. over by wide open spaces and gets up at 22/1...after having had its 1 and only other race start in a 2R0 back in November of last year where said 22/1 shot finished a fair sort of 4th to the odds on shot, beaten only 4m or 5m or so.
What does she say?..... "Well a BIG form reversal there at Bathurst!". What the ????? Are you fair dinkum????? I yelled. How in the Hell can a 2yo with just the 1 lifetime start 2 months previous in a 2R0 Kindergarten type of race be said by her or anyone else to have been responsible for a BIG form reversal? For crying out loud, it has had 1 start Toots!! Do your homework! It's exactly those dumd as a box of hammers comments that put Harness Racing across in a bad light to all those watching.

Mango - he may not be the sire for you, in fact he wouldnt be sire of choice for me either, but there ARE people out there who will send mares to him. Can you not see that?

Agree with terrible journalism. The blonde girl on Sky knows nothing - which is fine because she is a thoroughbred girl. But she tries to pretend she knows. which is the thing that irritates me. Last week she was looking forward to the Vic Derby...then she realised the market she was about to read was for Heat 1! And her pronounciation of some names was laughable. In my local nag I'm constantly seeing he's referred to as mares and she's refered to as geldings. Puhhh-lease!

Maybe a stupid question her, and apologies if that is the case, more into the racing side than the breeding side of things, but if there was a dual Derby winning colt in the thoroughbreds he'd be talked up as a huge multi-million dollar stallion prospect, and be rushed off to stud before his 4 Yr old campaign.

Obviously there's a large US influence with the preferred sires now, but is ther any reason why a horse like this would be overlooked?

Cheers

Quote:

Originally Posted by Village Kid

Maybe a stupid question her, and apologies if that is the case, more into the racing side than the breeding side of things, but if there was a dual Derby winning colt in the thoroughbreds he'd be talked up as a huge multi-million dollar stallion prospect, and be rushed off to stud before his 4 Yr old campaign.

Obviously there's a large US influence with the preferred sires now, but is ther any reason why a horse like this would be overlooked?

Cheers

Too right Village Kid and its not just in the thoroughbred industry, but in the northen hemisphere as well. Harness racing in Australasia is just about the only place where Grand Circuit racing is more important than early riches!
I'd overlook For A Reason because there are other options that are a) better bred horses and b) better racehorses. But there would be plenty of breeders only too happy to send a mare to him and good luck to them; when and if the time comes!

for me its because he wasn't the best of the 3 yr olds, just one of an even bunch in aus

this is an absurdly ridiculous statement "nowhere near the pedigree for a stallion or the racetrack performance"

WOW I just don't know where to start with that, by Art Major from a Fake Left mare with some nice kiwi blood. Follow the mares sire lines - Lordship, Armbro Del, Lumber Dream.
He stitched up Smiling Shard in the NSW Derby and look how well he's gone in the Hunter Cup. I have followed this horse from when he qualified and he's a star.

As for Chris Barsby, the guy works his butt off for the industry, he has four radio shows a week with news, views and interviews as well as his race calling.
Follows the sport closely in NZ, Aust and America and has his finger on the pulse. In that article he is doing exactly what he gets paid for.

Another example. This time a QLD example. Left By Colada stands @ $990 on the back of winning a couple at Albion Park and being closely related to BAF. Studs dont run at a loss; so if Left By Colada can be a profitable sire then of course For A Reason can be.

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Charioteer

this is an absurdly ridiculous statement "nowhere near the pedigree for a stallion or the racetrack performance"

WOW I just don't know where to start with that, by Art Major from a Fake Left mare with some nice kiwi blood. Follow the mares sire lines - Lordship, Armbro Del, Lumber Dream.
He stitched up Smiling Shard in the NSW Derby and look how well he's gone in the Hunter Cup. I have followed this horse from when he qualified and he's a star.

As for Chris Barsby, the guy works his butt off for the industry, he has four radio shows a week with news, views and interviews as well as his race calling.
Follows the sport closely in NZ, Aust and America and has his finger on the pulse. In that article he is doing exactly what he gets paid for.

1- smiling shard was injured going into that derby and had a very limited preparation and season, hes about 20 levels higher than that this season
2- he got his arse kicked in victoria but apparently had excuses? like no other horse in the race had any setbacks
3- barsby gets paid for working, amazing situation really
4- his pedigree is quite weak, he is the only group winning or placed horses within 3 dams as far as i can see (and is sister deadly woman is a deadset cat)