Comments worth a post but not a thread of their own

savethegame · September 18

Roof of grandstand had work done 2006, was there a maintenance team when Bovell was in the drivers seat? or was it the last time a glove was laid on the joint?.

Gilgamesh · September 18

JayJay said:
About as long as the star pickets holding up the birdcage fencing or the "temporary" scaffolding in the Grandstand or the broken automatic entry door from the rear steps that has to be closed manually.

Is that door still broken??? Surely that isnt even an expensive fix!

Jasper · September 19

If that perimeter wall has been like that for 5 years how does the council allow that? Also didn’t the parade ring have a bed of roses in the middle? Note - I love GP, despite my protestations, and have been going there on and off since I was a kid.
Looking forward to Kelleberin this Sunday re 100 years of harness racing in the area. Learnt to bet at Wyalkatchem (could have been Trayning) as a kid ( around 10 years of age). This was back in the day when a kid could have a bet without the virtue signalling or moral messages that are around now. Happy days!

Gilgamesh · September 21

Bunbury tonight
R5 No6 Artful Major EW all day @$6.

Novelites with it and the 1 horse.

Frog · September 21

Still broken. Plus 30% off the TVs.

Frog · September 21

Even the roof over the members still has a sunlight.

Frog · September 21

Please close manually. As the sign reads.

Frog · September 21

I don't understand how Pinjarra fix all issues attended too and GP has nothing done. Its a care factor from management. How's the new water truck at Pinjarra going.

Ivorytrunkey86 · September 22

You want to talk about another reason we won’t get new people through the gates or wanting to join the game,pick up the paper every weekend and Ernie manning continues to write negative stories….. how about we try some positive stories or some in depth interviews with trainers or drivers about their day to day and get some feel good stories going.
The fact that almost every article of his is negative is a blight on the game and a big factor in the way people not involved see the game.

warrenrobinson · September 23

Nothing like the truth, Integrity and handicapping are the two most important thigs in our industry and we lack both.

Arapaho · September 24

We all talk about turnover and how we can improve on the figures that we are getting.

Fixed odds betting,having basically replaced Bookmakers would probably, at a guess,be the preferred option for punters to have a bet,especially the more professional or learned ones

Surely RWWA , who run Tabtouch would be pushing to get a bigger slice of that turnover,by making sure the prices are available as early as possible, especially on our own product in our own state.

The GP meetings prices have just gone up 10.00am where as the corporates have been betting on it for hours.

Markovina · September 25

savethegame said:

Ivorytrunkey86 said:
You want to talk about another reason we won’t get new people through the gates or wanting to join the game,pick up the paper every weekend and Ernie manning continues to write negative stories….. how about we try some positive stories or some in depth interviews with trainers or drivers about their day to day and get some feel good stories going.
The fact that almost every article of his is negative is a blight on the game and a big factor in the way people not involved see the game.

What a load of absolute Crapola

I havent read the last say 3 Saturday editions of the West because i simply havent had the time

However i have read the prior 2-3 years Sat editions of the West , and Ernie has allways had happy vibe stories with quotes from the trainers , last one i read was Kim Prentice getting a double on his birthday with those Soho horses , and reflecting on Baltic Eagles etc etc

So to say EM consistently writes negative stories about Trotting is factually incorrect and utter Garbage

sonny · September 25

Tommy Smith said, any publicity is good publicity

Ivorytrunkey86 · September 25

There’s only one bloke on here that talks “crapola” marko……..
It’s not 1980 anymore we are in an era where people are waiting to be outraged or offended,I consistently have people saying to me at work “cheats on chariots” are at again are they or the best one when I was at the races the other day “I see you trot blokes are loving the arsenic lately” these are all from articles this bloke writes and non horse people reading don’t know any context that horses are chewing posts and what not.
That’s not going to get new people through the gates or involved and it just helps the growing number of animal activists and detractors have a voice.
I may be outnumbered on this forum but believe me im well supported in this view by the racing fraternity.

JayJay · September 25

The reply to your friends at work or at the races could well have been along the lines of "I see you racing blokes are loving the (a) arsenic and clenbutorol (b) 4-hydroxy xylazine (c) trendione and altrenogest (d) trendione, altrenogest and 17a-trenboloneand and (e) lignocaine that have been detected in thoroughbred swabs since August 6th"

As far as arsenic post chewing is concerned, Stewards have been issuing warning after warning after warning for year after year after year, about the issues surrounding arsenic treated fencing. If people choose to ignore those warnings, I am not quite sure how they are supposed to deal with it.

As far as not reporting breaches of the rules, there are two ways of interpreting the reporting of such breaches, one of which could be that the public is reassured that things are not being hidden and that integrity is being maintained. Surely you are not suggesting the revelations surrounding positive swabs and rider/driver suspensions should be censored or ignored?

For the record, Ernie clearly writes far more positive articles than so called "negative" ones. What finally makes its way into the sports pages, often severely pruned to fit into the minuscule space left over for racing after covering Harley Reids's latest bowel movement, is under the control of the Sports Editor, who decides which of the dozens of stories that both Ernie and Hayden file each week, is best for Seven West Medias Newspaper sales. Clearly, the Sports editor, cognisant of the modern media environment, wants only hard stories that are impactful upon the readership.

Rightly or wrongly, the days of human interest stories such as little Molly feeding a horse a carrot over the fence doesn't cut the mustard but someone getting caught out breaching the rules does.

I am respectful of others different views on this subject, I can see both sides of the argument but think the editors are the ones the barbs should be aimed at, not necessarily the messenger. There are good writers at The West and for the life of me, I can't understand why Ben Harvey's dross gets any column space ahead of some of the more serious contenders but apparently, Ben's style and content sells.

Jasper · September 25

No need to report breaches around substances which result in fines to the public via the newspaper. Most of these will be fairly trivial and not affect integrity (Waller /Waterhouse etc get fined on a frequent basis and people still seem to bet on their horses). Read about the fines on the website if you are interested. More serious breaches which result in disqualifications, go for it Ernie!

JayJay · September 25

I respectfully disagree. Fines for breaches of substance abuses on horses are not trivial, especially for the punters who backed the 2nd horse or had their novelty trifectas and first fours turned to scrap by being beaten by a horse with a chemical or therapeutic advantage, intentional or unintentional. They very much affect integrity in my opinion.

The public should not have to look up a website to see whether Coles or Woolies have been fined for price fixing or price gouging, or whether Casino Management have been fined (as opposed to being disqualified from holding Directorships or whatever)) for money laundering or illegal practices.

AbbysAce · September 26

JayJay said:
Pinjarra again proved on Monday harness racing can still get a crowd, this is one way to grow the sport. If you can get them in the gate, they spend, they watch the races, they place a bet, they go home and say to their kids, partner, grand kids that they went to Pinjarra trots . Then there is a chance they get interested and it goes from there.

Chariotsonfire · September 26

The participants that provide the fodder for Ernie to report on are far more to blame for our current situation. Since our industry began there have always been those that seek an advantage by breaking the rules. Transparency in exposing the miscreants is hardly the fault of the journalists.

LightningJake · September 26

In the same vein rule breaches by drivers in races, regardless of the stake of the race, are also a form of cheating; as is an unapproved/unofficial gear change made by a trainer.

In the interests of integrity, all should be dealt with severely. None of this "tap on the back of the hand don't be a naughty driver again", approach. A $50 fine for an unapproved gear change also must be insufficient because many continue to do it.

Markovina · September 26

Ivorytrunkey86 said:
There’s only one bloke on here that talks “crapola” marko……..
It’s not 1980 anymore we are in an era where people are waiting to be outraged or offended,I consistently have people saying to me at work “cheats on chariots” are at again are they or the best one when I was at the races the other day “I see you trot blokes are loving the arsenic lately” these are all from articles this bloke writes and non horse people reading don’t know any context that horses are chewing posts and what not.
That’s not going to get new people through the gates or involved and it just helps the growing number of animal activists and detractors have a voice.
I may be outnumbered on this forum but believe me im well supported in this view by the racing fraternity.

That Arsenic re chewing posts is a disgrace , and in Victoria they would have id say about 40-50 cases a year utterly pathetic

You click on the Stewards Wrap , trainer so and so been charged with a horse re substance , then you see its arsenic , re chewing posts , oh in these circumstances no conviction will be recorded but the horse is disq from the race , so the owner cops it

When are participants going to actually do something about that situation , id say never

I only get the West Aust Wed and Sat ( havent read neither for a month ) but prior to that i hadnt seen an article from EM slagging off trotting . And he is allowed to report on inquiries/ Suspensions and disq

Pinballwizard · September 26

Ivorytrunkey86 said:
You want to talk about another reason we won’t get new people through the gates or wanting to join the game,pick up the paper every weekend and Ernie manning continues to write negative stories….. how about we try some positive stories or some in depth interviews with trainers or drivers about their day to day and get some feel good stories going.
The fact that almost every article of his is negative is a blight on the game and a big factor in the way people not involved see the game.

I do agree with you Ivory, Simon Miller had a go at Ernie for his articles on a racing radio interview last week for the same reason. Today’s paper perfect example, none of Marlo’s good news stories, sensationalising an inquiry from last week where the stewards found the jock had no case to answer. The double page spread on Kev Nolan made him out to be worse than WA’s most notorious paedo who got quarter of a page yesterday.

Frog · September 26

It seems the Group 1 2 year old Golden Slipper is not a big enough race to have a podcast of Talking Trots.There must be a way it could happen every week or letting people there know their is no episode this week. Without wasting time checking every 5 minutes.

warrenrobinson · September 26

The penalties in racing today are to light prime example arsenic surely the time has come to increase the penalty to a disqualification now that will fix the problem. To many cheats in racing and we keep letting them back to cheat again. Number one KPI is integrity number two handicapping and as i've mentioned previously we lack both.

savethegame · September 27

Forget the percentage of trainers that are likely to reoffend to the percentage of first time offenders .

Biggest blight on the codes allowing them to reoffend. Some galloping trainers have had over 5 serious indiscretions with one having 8, another leading Sydney Trainer having 6.

The Queen had to authorise a Queens Pardon for W A. Harness trainer, on a visit to resume training he had no otherway to return .

JayJay · September 27

Racing Appeal Tribunals, usually devoid of horse people and often chockablock with Lawyers and Social Workers, are a fine thing, justice and fairness of course must be done.

However, the inclusion of "taking personal circumstances into account", the "length of time in the industry", "past record" and whether the stable cat had died or whether you'd had a good nights sleep, as mitigating circumstances, has made stewards panels gun shy in ridding the sport of serial cheats.

Disqualifications have been replaced by fines, causing interference or careless driving now invokes a reprimand or repeat warnings to exercise more care, unacceptable whip use continues after, in some cases dozens of offenses, to attract either paltry fines or advice to modify whip action. Start relegating horses and suspending drivers and watch the incidence of unacceptable whip use fall. If the whip is eventually banned, it will be solely due to driver noncompliance.

Chopchop43 · September 27

JayJay said:
Racing Appeal Tribunals, usually devoid of horse people and often chockablock with Lawyers and Social Workers, are a fine thing, justice and fairness of course must be done.

However, the inclusion of "taking personal circumstances into account", the "length of time in the industry", "past record" and whether the stable cat had died or whether you'd had a good nights sleep, as mitigating circumstances, has made stewards panels gun shy in ridding the sport of serial cheats.

Disqualifications have been replaced by fines, causing interference or careless driving now invokes a reprimand or repeat warnings to exercise more care, unacceptable whip use continues after, in some cases dozens of offenses, to attract either paltry fines or advice to modify whip action. Start relegating horses and suspending drivers and watch the incidence of unacceptable whip use fall. If the whip is eventually banned, it will be solely due to driver noncompliance.

I think "length of time in the industry" and "past record" are definitely things that should be taken into account, not everyone intentionally cheats , I remember a few years back when cobalt was a big issue , I believe a trainer gave a positive whilst using a product commonly used in the industry , that had no labelling saying "may contain trace amounts of cobalt" the product was tested turned out it did indeed contain cobalt, the label was then replaced with one stating it may contain cobalt, this person who had never recieved a positive in there decades within the industry was still given time, proving that you don't have to be dead to still be stiff. I think when handing out penalties that could impact someone's livelihood every single factor should be taken into account

JayJay · September 27

Indeed, not everyone intentionally cheats but "Serial cheats" do and are being allowed back in. .

JayJay · September 27

savethegame said:
The Queen had to authorise a Queens Pardon for W A. Harness trainer, on a visit to resume training he had no otherway to return .

If it is the one I think you are referring to, incorrect. It was not a pardon but a remission on penalty instigated by a Royal Visit. Of the initial absurd penalty, for such low levels that today may attract a $2,000 fine, and for which an almost identical breach in the authorising jurisdiction a few months earlier attracted a $300 fine with the horse keeping the race (a Derby in fact), over 4 years disqualification had already been served.

The "otherway to return" would have been to serve the full initial 7 year disqualification.

savethegame · September 27

Refering to Anderson . Coulson got seven years for interdomion think he served 2 years seven months In around same time Charlie Rifici five years horse called Worthy Red .

G'day Punter!

In this Discussion

Who's Online

Comments worth a post but not a thread of their own

Comments