SA Footy

Can anyone explain to me why our golden boy D.Harding wasnt rubbed out for 6 weeks following his drive on KING CULLEN at Gawler Friday night, gets my vote for worst drive of the year - what was he thinking ???????? he gets away with murder. What sort of EDIT runs his first 1/2 in 58.8 on Gawler and expects to finish ??????? LACK OF JUDGMENT, INCOMPETENT DRIVE or FAILING TO GIVE HIS HORSE EVERY CHANCE, he is guilty of at least one if not all yet he doesnt even get called in WHAT A JOKE!!!!!!!! And people wonder why no one bets on Adelaide trots. He absolutely murdered that horse (2nd fav) just because hes our leading driver doesnt make him exempt from the rules, wheres the protection for the punter? anyone who backed that horse would be feeling pretty ripped off.

Let the excuses begin

Edit by Mods above...cant be defamatory Iron Man

As president of the Hollywood Harding cheer club it would be remiss of me not to make comment
KING CULLEN is an enigma, its a horse with some ability but finding the formula to this horse is a worry
Hollywood did go very quickly on the horse in what may have been a change of tactics on the nag
Yes it was the first horse beaten with half a lap to go
BUT nothing ventured nothing gained with the driving tactics?
OR perhaps the horse could not settle and was to wound up, Im not sure
I think the horse and not the reinsman is the mittigating factor.
I will watch the tape and make a more erstwhile assessment.

Ironman you have picked on the best reinsman in the state
This star driver has a lot of drives
This by definition means he is more of a chance of having a concieved poor drive
Hollywoods good drives far outweigh any of his below par drives
Take the good with the bad, and with this driver its nearly always good

DAVID HARDING = CHAMPION DRIVER

Im fairly new to this forum but it was pretty obvious Mal would lead the "Not the golden boy" cheer club. Would it be fair to say Mal that you reckon D.Harding is in some way entitled to drive poorly and not be subject to the rules because he usually drives well, thats the most ridiculous thing ive ever heard, the fact that D.Harding drives so often makes it even more questionable when he slaughters one like he did on KING CULLEN, how does a driver who is apparently so good run a 58 first 1/2 on a horse whos form does not even remotely suggest he is capable of doing so ???? The horse didnt pull, no one pressured him he just let it run.
LACK OF JUDGMENT, INCOMPETENT OR FAILING TO GIVE IT EVERY CHANCE you tell me Mal which one is it ? you cant just say "oh its golden boy he has a get out of jail free card" and dont blame the horse you cant have it both ways, you kiss his arse when he wins and bag the horse when he doesnt.
The integrity of racing is most important and questions regarding his drive should have been asked, he would have been hard pressed to justify his drive and he should have been punished accordingly.
Lets put it into perspective, running a 58.8 first 1/2 on Gawler would be like running 57.0 on Globe, it just doesnt happen and when it does rest assured the horse doing it will run near last. King Cullen is no enigma, he has had 17 starts this season for one place, it was a drop in class at Gawler and if driven competently would have been very competitive the only enigma here was D.Hardings drive.

Everybody makes mistakes, Hollwood makes them less often than all drivers [thats why hes the best in SA]
On face value it appears a questionable driving tactic on King Cullen
However to condone 1 percieved poor drive against a multitude of good drives by a talented driver is a bit over the top.
David quite often replaces drivers and improves most horses when he does
He has that special inert ability to do that
BUT
KING CULLEN is not an example of his brilliant horsemanship
I would suggest if Hollywood cant get this nag going who else could ?
17 runs for 1 placing in your exhibit is ample proofing .



Did we see the drive on Crusaders CREST in the last ever race
Barrier 10 and Hollywood settles in front of half the field on the first turn, a truly great drive.

Ironman one moral in racing
__________________________________________________________________
EVERY DRIVER AT SOME STAGE WILL MAKE AN ERROR OR DRIVE A POOR RACE
__________________________________________________________________

The difference between the superior vrs inferior drivers is they do it less often.

Geez I even make mistakes and Im known as FIGMAL ...

iron man, what makes u say the horse didn`t pull...
i spoke to a stable representative and asked the question and i was told the horse pulled to hard..
i think your talking from your pocket!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Too right im talking from my pocket, i dropped a hundred on that horse and i was there and if that horse pulled a 58.8 1/2 he's got a funny way of trying to slow it down.

As i said in my original post, LET THE EXCUSES BEGIN.

No defamatory posts please...sure have your opinion and debate but be careful...Thanks

My 2 cents - everyone makes mistakes, Drivers, Horses, Punters, Stewards...best advice is to worry about the next winner not the last loser...

Iron man wrote:Im fairly new to this forum but it was pretty obvious Mal would lead the "Not the golden boy" cheer club. Would it be fair to say Mal that you reckon D.Harding is in some way entitled to drive poorly and not be subject to the rules because he usually drives well, thats the most ridiculous thing ive ever heard, the fact that D.Harding drives so often makes it even more questionable when he slaughters one like he did on KING CULLEN, how does a driver who is apparently so good run a 58 first 1/2 on a horse whos form does not even remotely suggest he is capable of doing so ???? The horse didnt pull, no one pressured him he just let it run.
LACK OF JUDGMENT, INCOMPETENT OR FAILING TO GIVE IT EVERY CHANCE you tell me Mal which one is it ? you cant just say "oh its golden boy he has a get out of jail free card" and dont blame the horse you cant have it both ways, you kiss his arse when he wins and bag the horse when he doesnt.
The integrity of racing is most important and questions regarding his drive should have been asked, he would have been hard pressed to justify his drive and he should have been punished accordingly.
Lets put it into perspective, running a 58.8 first 1/2 on Gawler would be like running 57.0 on Globe, it just doesnt happen and when it does rest assured the horse doing it will run near last. King Cullen is no enigma, he has had 17 starts this season for one place, it was a drop in class at Gawler and if driven competently would have been very competitive the only enigma here was D.Hardings drive.

Bravo Iron Man, some of the best stuff written for a while. Keep it up

Totaly agree Iron Man, The stewards at least had to call him in and ask for explanation at the least.
I dont think he should get in trouble but just ask the question?

And even good drivers should be accountable for their actions no matter if their good ones out way their bad ones

whether it was a mistake or not, speaking with someone connected to that horse said it is a mongrel of a horse to drive it pulls & it hangs & it isn't that good

now i'll say IF it was a mistake he makes one very very rarely perhaps 1 in a 100 drives, where as some other drivers make 10 mistakes in 30 drives which is obviously worse because it is 'ok' to make a mistake as we all do (we are human) but when you make the same mistake over & over again then that is when it is time to be critical, so if he makes a similar 'mistake' in the next week or so then yes 'pay him out' but not on one drive

Im not saying it was a good or bad drive, the stewards had to ask him the question. And if his reason was that it pulled, so be it. But the punters doing their form in the future need to know.

Theorangeboy wrote:Im not saying it was a good or bad drive, the stewards had to ask him the question. And if his reason was that it pulled, so be it. But the punters doing their form in the future need to know.

when was the last time a 'decent' question was asked in the stewards room ? & i do agree with that post tob

MALS EDITORIAL

IRONMAN.
Quite within his rights to raise this subject.
Raised some good points although his assasination of the states best driver was over the top.
We all prob agree if any horse driven by any driver has a shocker we need clarification as to why.
This subject continues to come up on the forum.
SCD/BAYMAN/MAL/G/STRUTTER and others have discussed this previously.

DRIVERS
Lets not underestimate how difficult it is to be a driver.
They are courageuous individuals who risk physical danger every time they drive.
They drive for as little as $40-$60 a race.
Im not one for criticising a driver who in a split second must decide what to do, thats whether to come out, stay in, ease back, go forward etc, most times they get it right, sometimes not.
I do occasionally get peeved of when drivers on longshots kick up in the death seat for several hundred metres to keep out favoured runners and then run last or near last.
However overall I am very satisfied in the drivers in SA, they do a good job.
Some are better than others, theres a skill in being on the right ones at the right time.

STEWARDS
These are the guys who are in my opinion underperforming
We all get shafted at one time or another when a horse under performs.
Punters [like Ironman Friday] need clarification as to why a horse fails or is driven in a certain manner.
Quite simply if the stewards report that King Cullen had an injury /gear problem/pulled hard etc
then the punter can be partially contented
If there are no excuses then we have to evaluate whether the driver drove poorly or the nag is NFG.
In general the stewards in SA appear to be too inactive
I have no doubt there would be less incidence of questionable drives if these guys were a bit more reactive.

MALS STEWARD REPORTS FROM THE WEEKEND [just for discussion purposes]

FRI
YOUNG WALTON
led as did King Cullen, went a lot slower and was beaten with half a lap to go as well
WHY ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
Yes I backed it as well !

SAT
WUNLASTCHANCE galloped out
PICCOLO WIL WIL galloped out
FIFTY GORILLAS galloped in the run a cert beaten as flasssssssshed home too late
Punters did thier $$$ cold on the these 3 very very good horses
Will the stewards enquire as to why these 3 nags galloped ???????????????????????


TOPPIE OTARA
______________
last year
ran at Midura Friday night
ran GDP sat nite the next day and ran an enourmous 2nd
SAT GDP from box 7 lobbed behing the pace
Boris made a good decision to come off and get the lead
Im thinking, good Im on the winner EW
UNPLACED
good drive , yes
poor run , yes
Should the stewards intervene ????????????????????????????????????????????????????

DAYZEINAY
__________

Went like a superstar on a Monday recently
Improved many many many many lengths and won by half a length, half a length of the straight
Was trapped wide for a fair while
Was in the death
Went to the front and went like the wind and killed Fifty Gorillas by plenty
I thought this is a horse that is now right and could be anything


Did the stewards ask why it improved so much
NO !

Subsequently DAYZEINAY has performed way below that win on the Monday
WHY ?



SUMMARY
Ironman has picked out one isolated instance[which I still think is too inconclusive]
There have been more blatant instances in recent times with no action taken

PS
IRONMAN take the good with the bad

D Harding is the best driver in SA clearly and I think you should cut him a little bit of slack for what is perceived as one bad drive - where he clearly did the right thing to try and lead, but then the horse got to fierce....

However - I think you are right Iron Man - the stewards need to take a long hard look at themselves... Constantly there are changes in tactics - not notified to punters or stewards, drivers going 58 first halves and getting beaten 100m and nothing is said ever...

i actually (only saw it live haven't watched the replays yet) thought piccolo wil wil wasn't quite on the track & wasn't anywhere near straight, so i thought span may've protested against the start

this is from a side on view

obviously the head on view could be entirely different

for the record i didn't have a bet in the race, was just watching a leg of the quaddie (which i got)

scaffidi can't drive wrote:D Harding is the best driver in SA clearly and I think you should cut him a little bit of slack for what is perceived as one bad drive - where he clearly did the right thing to try and lead, but then the horse got to fierce....

However - I think you are right Iron Man - the stewards need to take a long hard look at themselves... Constantly there are changes in tactics - not notified to punters or stewards, drivers going 58 first halves and getting beaten 100m and nothing is said ever...

Harding is our best driver, but look at the amount of drives he gets and the horse flesh he has to steer. Im sure if Ryan Hryhorec had the same horses too he would drive the same amount of winners. Lets see the steward reports for the weekends racing and see what they say or do. Can anyone tell me as ive not checked besides when a horse gets claimed when was the last swab done after a race. We had a claimer lead all the way on a monday paying $100 and no swab, any other state and its swabbed and why not here.... Coz it all costs money

Iron man is absolutley correct. I was at Gawler and saw the race first hand, and I have also watched the replay. I am not talking through my pocket because I am boycotting SA narness racing until the stewards start doing their job. It certainly appeared as though King Cullen was driven way beyond his ability and by allowing the horse to run the first half in 58.8 meant that it could not win. It did not appear to pull, he just let it run. At least the stewards should have asked why, just as they do everywhere else in Australia. The SA harness stewards are not up to standard and I will continue to boycot SA harness racing until they are.

Warrior,
dont get me started on Ryan Hryodionc, Ryhornoinc, Ryronianc mmmmmm Hyrodinionc nah thats not right Hyrodinonici, Ryonionicle ahhhh stuff it lets just call him Peanut Butter. I was watching Peanut Butter drive on Sat night and what's the deal with that ridiculous mask he is wearing ? He must think he's The Lone Ranger, i cant understand why he was wearing it no one else was wearing one, perhaps he's a little on the SOFT side. Next thing you know he will don some woolen mittens and ugg boots or perhaps a foot message between races could be in order. I know maybe some hot milk and cookies before he transforms into THE LOOOOONE RAAAAANGER !!!!!!

SA stewards too soft , something we all agree on.
I dont follow VIC trots but I have heard the stewards there are very active.

Top 4 drivers in SA

1 HOLLYWOOD HARDING
2 MARK WEBstar
3 RYAN HRYHOREC
4 ?

Think your getting bit carried away Ironman.
We see things/drives just as bad or worst all the time.
Stewards haven't been doin their job for a long time why start after one race at Gawler?????