U be the judge

[Bonnie]

I own and love my mare National Gallery, and admit to being a passionate harness racing breeder and owner. I wear my heart on my sleeve where my " girls " are concerned. On Monday January 23 2012 National Gallery competed in Race 7 Drawn 7 at Geelong Vic. She was $1.40 favourite.
I am upset at the treatment handed out to her by a couple of opposing drivers. She was blocked when making her run and then had another horse gallop in front of her, narrowly avoiding a collision.
In my opinion the Stewards report does not address the tactical blocking by other runners to the $1.40 favourite nor my serious concerns as to the welfare of these valuable mares if this type of tactic is allowed to continue.
The reputation of the industry suffers when this type of activity continues unchecked.
I would be interested in comments from other passionate participants.
The replay of the race can be viewed on harness.org .au under "results " for Jan 23 @ Geelong.

[Starship Captain]

Looked to be taken to the rear by her driver & needed some luck to get past all those other horses.
Congrat's on the win she looks an extremely nice mare.

[peteboss4]

I own and love my mare National Gallery, and admit to being a passionate harness racing breeder and owner. I wear my heart on my sleeve where my " girls " are concerned. On Monday January 23 2012 National Gallery competed in Race 7 Drawn 7 at Geelong Vic. She was $1.40 favourite.
I am upset at the treatment handed out to her by a couple of opposing drivers. She was blocked when making her run and then had another horse gallop in front of her, narrowly avoiding a collision.
In my opinion the Stewards report does not address the tactical blocking by other runners to the $1.40 favourite nor my serious concerns as to the welfare of these valuable mares if this type of tactic is allowed to continue.
The reputation of the industry suffers when this type of activity continues unchecked.
I would be interested in comments from other passionate participants.
The replay of the race can be viewed on harness.org .au under "results " for Jan 23 @ Geelong.

Watched it as clear as the replay could show & im with you Anne,IMO the driver of the horse that gallops in front of you looks to lifts his hands prior to it breaking up, maybe it was going rough but it did not look like it was. IMO they were out to beat you & tried what they could , she was simply better than them. Well done.

[broncobrad]

Hi Anne, on face value I cannot fault any of the other drivers tactics and your driver did a great job to miss the galloper, keep her balanced and win for you. Nothing in there to suggest anything else but competitive race driving. Lovely mare, good luck with her.

By the by if you ever wanted to query the driving performances of other drivers, check out Newcastle on 2/9/11, R1 No.5, River Valley Romance. You wont believe what the horse had to deal with, the courage it and its driver showed and the injustice it was dished up. Furthermore if you read the stewards report (which I cannot seem to access now) you would die laughing. I let the replay speak for itself.

[roosters]

Hi Anne
I just watched the race a few times , and to be fair i cant see what you are referring to.

Your horse drew wide and was snagged back a the start. Your driver then elected to go 3 wide and other drivers elected to come out in front of you as is their right and as happens in every race every day. Your driver then elected to go 4 and 5 wide as the 3 wide train wasnt going anywhere. Your horse was then way too good.

i think you may be reading too much into things, but maybe you know things I dont!

[teecee]

I have just watched the run of your horse in the race you have concerns with.
I have to agree with ROOSTERS as how the race was run.
I can see no problems at all with how each of the drivers drove their respective horses during the race. The stewards report for the race is IMO accurate to events during the race.
I can see nothing untoward with respect to this race or the relevant Stewards report.
Accordingly I cannot agree with any of your concerns regarding the race at Geelong Race 7 23 january 2012.

[Lucky Camilla"s Lovechild]

Hi Anne. Gee shes a nice mare. Dominant win! Regarding the interference, are you suggesting the stablemates? Do you also own Scottish Glamour?

[NormanS]

By the by if you ever wanted to query the driving performances of other drivers, check out Newcastle on 2/9/11, R1 No.5, River Valley Romance. You wont believe what the horse had to deal with, the courage it and its driver showed and the injustice it was dished up. Furthermore if you read the stewards report (which I cannot seem to access now) you would die laughing. I let the replay speak for itself.

I watched this replay and was waiting, other than putting his horse under a bit of pressure to get to the top. Handing up - nothing unusual there... But then at the 500m what the. Hanging out and closing down. Mind you i have been warned about taking inside runs going into a turn. Not making excuses for the driver shifting back down, there is no legitimate excuse for that .

[NormanS]

Writing about drivers not respecting others on the track with them, try Race 4 Maitland 7/01/12. Going into the 1st turn. River Valley Romance the offender this time. Whos Escaped on the receiving end.

[Bonnie]

Hi Anne. Gee shes a nice mare. Dominant win! Regarding the interference, are you suggesting the stablemates? Do you also own Scottish Glamour?

I guess I was disappointed that runners pulled out and went nowhere. In my opinion it appeared to be a blocking tactic rather that giving their own horse every chance. They could even have got on the back of the favourite for a trail into the race. And yes, we do own Scottish Glamour.