Auckland Reactor sets out on Inters mission

[Harold Parker]

I got to see him to see him in the flesh ... in the States. He's no Cardigan Bay that's for sure.

I watched a few of his bigger wins in NZ, the majority of them appear to be a Half Mile sprints to the wire off soft halves after being gifted the front by a mate or a mate of a mate. Is there a race I missed over a trip where he's worked on the clock and dug deep ? don't say last week : )

[Viv Strangman]

I got to see him to see him in the flesh ... in the States. He's no Cardigan Bay that's for sure.

I watched a few of his bigger wins in NZ, the majority of them appear to be a Half Mile sprints to the wire off soft halves after being gifted the front by a mate or a mate of a mate. Is there a race I missed over a trip where he's worked on the clock and dug deep ? don't say last week : )

Not a hard one Harold. Either of his wins in the Auckland Cup or NZffa would fit the bill. Drew the outside of the gate in the Auckland Cup, dropped out to last, looped them midrace and brained them . Note the two getting the soft runs (Monkey King, Changeover) who after getting great trips cant get close. But Im more interested in these soft wins in the big races Harold. Please tell me what races you are referring too because I have been on track for most of them and for the life of me cant figure which races you are referring to

[Old Frank]

Not a hard one Harold. Either of his wins in the Auckland Cup or NZffa would fit the bill. Drew the outside of the gate in the Auckland Cup, dropped out to last, looped them midrace and brained them . Note the two getting the soft runs (Monkey King, Changeover) who after getting great trips cant get close. But Im more interested in these soft wins in the big races Harold. Please tell me what races you are referring too because I have been on track for most of them and for the life of me cant figure which races you are referring to

Hey Viv, I like how you threw in that your beloved Reactor beat Monkey and Changeover (getting soft runs) but the facts still stand which your unable to accept, their records winning the right races (the big GC events) which how horses getting really judged on this side of the ditch isn't as good.

With your logic, because Reactor beat Monkey and Changeover, he's obviously the best NZ has produced, yet last time I looked, Monkey and Changeover came over here and beat our best, so we Aussies would have to accept that Monkey and Changeover must be better than Blacks a Fake, Smoken Up and the like? Is that the case you'd like us to accept?

Monkey and Changeover beat our best, as well as beating your best in Kiwi land, a feat your bloke hasn't up to this point done over here, or in your part of the world done on a consistent basis over there.

Every race consititutes a different set of circumstances, records are what horses are judged by and whilst I know it eats at you compared to how you judge the horse, the Kiwi horses I named all have superior 'real' racing records than Reactor, end of. Actually I was guilty of also leaving out Iraklis who was a fantastic horse also who won the big races on both sides of the ditch.

If Reactor wins a Hunter Cup, or an ID (may well win both, but I think he has more chance in the Hunter than the ID due to the tight GP track), then he'll get his due respect here. His reputation goes through the roof should he stay settled and a NZ Cup or Miracle Mile come his way later in the year.

In my opinion, this has to be his season as again, only my opinion but I think Smoken Up is well on the back end of his career, Mr Feelgood certainly won't get any better and age will tell with him, ITMQ has one good season left in him, so this has to be Reactor's next 12 months before horses like Sushi Sushi, Fanco Jamar and the younger brigade start to dominate just due to natural evolvement.

Reactor has a an over-hyped reputation for what his record shows, however again as per my last post, I actually hope he wins a big one over here as Harness Racing overall, as well as importantly the horse enjoy a far greater profile and presence with the likes of him winning big ones.

If you could have a fully wound up Reactor vs. Sushi Sushi later this year, you'd have to salivate as a fan wouldn't you? Any Harness Racing club on either side of the ditch would want that race on their card!

[Maorisidol]

Nathan, i love the Reactor and think he still is an untapped entity who has shown undoubtedly he can race against and beat the best going around.
Now yes he has beaten Monkey 7 out of 11 but i still dont personally claim he will go down in history YET as a better horse AS FAR AS HIS CV GOES.
His CV is still being added to.
The horses you mention have all retired (maybe not Monkey yet?) and completed their careers, his is an unfinished book at this point, so i dont believe we can say he is a better horse as far as HISTORY will assess him cos he aint finished yet, and therefore unfair to compare CAREERS when he is still adding to his.
Again my point is he has showed more "talent" when racing against the Monkey although i agree Nathan the Monkeys CV is totally better on paper.
And yes mate he has done jack in Australia in the big league so far. However he has racked up an ID heat while not even at his best.
You dont seem to acknowledge apart from saying he is "fine" that he has loads of talent (53.8 last quarter winning, how many horses can do that?)
I dont say he is the best horse in NZ or Aus currently and i dont claim he is better than Monkey, Elsu etc etc etc, YET...
You seem to not be getting my ITMQ example regardless of running well in NZ or bad in Melbourne, point is they are all animals and sometimes run good sometimes run bad, thats all... You seem to excuse ITMQ for his underpar runs here but dont cut Reactor slack on his Qld runs when he went a bit psycho on Gavin kicking his cart, is he not allowed excuses?
Hence just cos Reactor ran "bad" in the ID series doesnt mean he cant run good this time, we had good signs at Ballarat (notice even a track record i still dont say great signs) so hopefully this week being fitter settling in even more he may go to another level up.

[aussiebreno]

Nathan, i love the Reactor and think he still is an untapped entity who has shown undoubtedly he can race against and beat the best going around.
Now yes he has beaten Monkey 7 out of 11 but i still dont personally claim he will go down in history YET as a better horse AS FAR AS HIS CV GOES.
His CV is still being added to.
The horses you mention have all retired (maybe not Monkey yet?) and completed their careers, his is an unfinished book at this point, so i dont believe we can say he is a better horse as far as HISTORY will assess him cos he aint finished yet, and therefore unfair to compare CAREERS when he is still adding to his.
Again my point is he has showed more "talent" when racing against the Monkey although i agree Nathan the Monkeys CV is totally better on paper.
And yes mate he has done jack in Australia in the big league so far. However he has racked up an ID heat while not even at his best.
You dont seem to acknowledge apart from saying he is "fine" that he has loads of talent (53.8 last quarter winning, how many horses can do that?)
I dont say he is the best horse in NZ or Aus currently and i dont claim he is better than Monkey, Elsu etc etc etc, YET...
You seem to not be getting my ITMQ example regardless of running well in NZ or bad in Melbourne, point is they are all animals and sometimes run good sometimes run bad, thats all... You seem to excuse ITMQ for his underpar runs here but dont cut Reactor slack on his Qld runs when he went a bit psycho on Gavin kicking his cart, is he not allowed excuses?
Hence just cos Reactor ran "bad" in the ID series doesnt mean he cant run good this time, we had good signs at Ballarat (notice even a track record i still dont say great signs) so hopefully this week being fitter settling in even more he may go to another level up.

Most horses could run that quarter but I doubt many of them would win when running it!!!

[Harold Parker]

"Drew the outside of the gate in the Auckland Cup, dropped out to last, looped them midrace and brained them."

Last at the 1200m, in front at the 1000m. He was gifted the front with minimal effort and sprinted 300m. The NZ FFA where he copped a little heat, hardly blistering sectionals and caved in soon after straightening, how about that one ? : )

The great ones climb off the canvas, win when really they shouldn't and I can't find one example of it. I have seen quite a few times though when he's had the opportunity to do that and punctured ... and always an excuse or three.

They take no prisoners in WA, that's going to be interesting...

[Viv Strangman]

"Drew the outside of the gate in the Auckland Cup, dropped out to last, looped them midrace and brained them."

Last at the 1200m, in front at the 1000m. He was gifted the front with minimal effort and sprinted 300m. The NZ FFA where he copped a little heat, hardly blistering sectionals and caved in soon after straightening, how about that one ? : )

The great ones climb off the canvas, win when really they shouldn't and I can't find one example of it. I have seen quite a few times though when he's had the opportunity to do that and punctured ... and always an excuse or three.

They take no prisoners in WA, that's going to be interesting...

The win at Auckland was a NZ record until broken by Smoken Up during the inters. 1:58:2 MR over 2700 metres. Or sitting parked outside Changeover in the NZFFAand bolting clear in 1:54MR for 2000 metres. But I get back to your original quote of him winning big races with soft trips. Please tell me which races you are referring to. I am keen to have a look at these races. Just atip. Try to avoid races where he sets NZ records.

[Maorisidol]

"Drew the outside of the gate in the Auckland Cup, dropped out to last, looped them midrace and brained them."

Last at the 1200m, in front at the 1000m. He was gifted the front with minimal effort and sprinted 300m. The NZ FFA where he copped a little heat, hardly blistering sectionals and caved in soon after straightening, how about that one ? : )

The great ones climb off the canvas, win when really they shouldn't and I can't find one example of it. I have seen quite a few times though when he's had the opportunity to do that and punctured ... and always an excuse or three.

They take no prisoners in WA, that's going to be interesting...

Harold, re the FFA where he "copped a little heat" from the renowned sit sprinter Awesome Ambro, stablemate of Monkey King who sat quietly one out 2 back appreciating the hot pace up front, do you recall that Awesome Ambros driver underwent a pretty thorough very public drilling by stewards and subsequently got a pretty good holiday for i believe not giving his horse the best opportunity to win???
The race caller on the day during the race actually said "they are setting this up for Monkey King" because it was SO out of character for AA to put pressure on when racing in the death. It was only about a 7 horse field and AA could have been snagged back to 1/3 or about 3 pegs.
Monkey subsequently pinged down the outside and won, AA finished about 60 odd metres or so last after galloping under pressure on the home turn.

[Maorisidol]

Most horses could run that quarter but I doubt many of them would win when running it!!!

My bad, 53.8 last HALF...
And i dont think MOST horses could do that at all...not outside the top 10 FFA horses in NZ/AUS combined, especially under race conditions.

[aussiebreno]

My bad, 53.8 last HALF...
And i dont think MOST horses could do that at all...not outside the top 10 FFA horses in NZ/AUS combined, especially under race conditions.

Lol I know.
I think the horse is definitely top 10 in Australasia.

What got me though back when he was a 3yo and a 4yo wasn't the horses fault, but if you believed everything you read this bloke was 10 lengths better than Courage Under Fire and Christian Cullen - this wasn't long after the Kiwis tried to tell us the 4yo mare Mainland Banner was better than her sire as well!
I was very critical of the Reactor back then, he would run 1.54 going halves in 60 and 54 and beat up on no names. What makes a good horse, imo, is running 1.54 by going 58 and 56 and he couldn't do that back then. What he has done since returning from America I'm a fan (I use that term loosely, I could never cheer for a NZer ) now the relentless media beat up and 'picket fence' bandwagoners have dropped off.