New Zealand Racing, 2014-15

[my miss storm cat]

If I ever own a horse I want Opie to ride! What a beautiful win by I Do and wow, Ms. O'Reilly! Very nice!

I just can't watch the race with Ponderosa Miss (any updates?) but can I ask you something? Was it Marco Chui's fault? I mean that is a serious question but in your heart of hearts...

I remember him well from his many episodes in HK.

[my miss storm cat]

Finally all caught up and I saved Antonio Lombardo for last. What a nice win that was. I wanted Puccini, of course, but nice to watch.

Oh and lest I forget the replay of that last barrier trial... whoa that was cool! Too bad Recite didn't look as good for her race.

[_ed_]

Encouraging news about Pondarosa Miss: http://www.theinformant.co.nz/racing...Pondarosa-Miss

I do believe it was Marco Chui's fault. Obviously it was an accident, but he didn't check before moving his horse outwards. They cut right in front of Pondarosa Miss, and she had nowhere to go.

Marco Chui was given a one-month suspension after the race. Some of the other people in the press room said they thought he was lucky it wasn't longer.

[my miss storm cat]

Yeah from what I've heard he WAS lucky that he was only given a month. Ugh I just cannot watch the race.

Thanks for the update!!!

[_ed_]

Yeah, extremely careless. Hopefully he'll learn from that.

I had such a fun day at the Avondale trials today! Beautifully sunny day, and I can walk there from where I live. Viadana, Brave Centaur, O'Marilyn, Little Wonder and Prince Mambo all ran really nice trials, and there were some impressive efforts from younger horses as well. Exciting time of year.

[my miss storm cat]

How awesome! I would be thrilled to see those horses in person!

Ed I've been wanting to ask your thoughts on the whole David Walker debacle but wasn't sure if that would be appropriate or not with your new position.

Anyway would love to hear how it's all going over over there... if you cannot or don't want to comment I understand!

[_ed_]

It's a terrible thing to do if the allegations are proven - grossly unfair on the owners and trainers of the horses he rode.

But I also don't like the head to head bet. It can be exploited in the way Walker allegedly did, and it could also lead to horses being pushed and ridden aggressively even when they're tired and out of contention in a race.