BETTORS POCKET

Yes, Geejay,  another one which got away .  Looking at the dearth of class in the tighter class races at Alex Park I think he could have continued to pay his way here but once a trainer loses interest the impetus to sell gathers momentum.

Looking at his condition and being aware of his constitution whilst in New Zealand I don't believe prolonged racing will do him any harm.

Yes I have to admit that I was stunned to see the time after the race. It was not that long ago that that the fastest time for a New Zealand horse was Border Control running 1:50.6 in the 2013 Jewels at Ashburton. I know that we are not comparing apples with apples comparing Bettors Pocket with Border Control as Menangle is a faster track and most race times have reduced significantly over the past 5 years but even so a time of 1:50.4 for what was considered an "average" New Zealand horse is worthy of highlighting.
Change of environment and training techniques has made a difference and hopefully the run was not a gut-buster.

Well what can one say,have the aussies done the magic,did anyone expect to see a time like this from Bettor's Pocket.1.50.4 for the mile.Great win at Menangle friday night.
First Quarter: 25.4 Second Quarter: 29.6 Third Quarter: 27.7 Fourth Quarter: 27.7
Margins: NK x 3.0m
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Actually Franco Nelson did a 1.50.3 earlier in the night.

He is listed on the HRNZ Exported Horses section as having left NZ on 11/09/2017 and I have added him to my "Blackbook' on the Harness Racing Australia website so hopefully it will not be too long before we see him racing over there. He should pick up some easy wins initially to repay his purchase price before he meets similar quality horses as himself.

Yes, sorry to see him go .  The current handicapping system does allow for drop backs in rating and a few unplaced runs would have seen him in a more comfortable class.  The ATC will generally frame the class of race to suit the horses available, while a further attack on the country cups series was an  aim I would have favoured, preferably from a stable which travels to the country tracks regularly.

The loss of so many horses to overseas does make it hard for the better class horses to feature at Alexandra Park , despite the increasing stakes which are apparent this season.

Bettors Pocket to be sold to Australia with a syndicate vote of 26 in favour and 2 against.

With luck he will have a lot better racing opportunities in Australia than are currently available at Alexandra Park. If you have a look at the fields for Friday evening at Alexandra Park you will see that the races available for a horse of Posie’s current rating of 75 are slim to non existent. The highest rated pacer running on Friday in Auckland is a rating 72.
The number of horses of Posie’s rating and better are so slim on the ground in Auckland at the moment that a race cannot be mustered.

Posie won 6 races for us and the highest total stake of any race that he won was $14,349. As this is under a threshold of $15,000 I assume that none of these will count for handicapping purposes in Australia and he will thus be graded as a M0 maiden when he reaches his new home.

I do not know where he is headed as regards what stable he will be in, but this will no doubt come to light in due course and I will follow his racing with interest.

Happy to keep Posie on. Is Tony away in warmer climes at present? If so may have missed some fine tuning prior to his latest race.

( Must remember to check the rules as to whether we are a Racing Syndicate, or a Selling syndicate).

The forum is for the expression of all opinions but in this case Des I am putting my hand up to retain Bettors Pocket at the moment. So the vote becomes one in favour and two against.

His recent form has been very encouraging, racing at Auckland against the currently best available opposition.
If he continues in his current vain and wins a few more races then it is probable that he will hit his mark grade-wise and may struggle. Then I will re-visit my opinion, but not at the moment - he is doing very well except for one off-night. Don’t hang him just yet because of one bad night.

Nobody is telling anybody to do anything. Merely expressing an opinion. That looks like one in favour and one against so far.

I am sick of people telling us to sell our horses every time they do not win. He is the only horse we have racing and its to bad if he had an off night not like he does it all the time. of course we do not have off days and we dont get sold.

Time to sell Bettors Pocket before he loses interest and form. Is he getting sour and breaking rather than putting in at the business end?

Just had a look at the replay of last years Winter Cup with Bettors Pocket being relegated from third to fourth on protest. Would have won the race if the driver had dived straight down into the sprint lane and not let the horse behind him get there first. Hopefully he will win this years Winter Cup on Friday with last years winner Hug The Wind again in the field.

A bit of a victim of circumstance tonight the way that he covered extra ground at the rear of the field and chopped and changed between travelling on the markers and being in the one-out position. He fair stomped home down the straight and the commentator mentioned a final quarter of 27.8 sec with Posie making up a stack of ground, so he would have gone quicker than that. It will be interesting to see Posie's sectional times when they are listed, particularly the final 800m and 400m - they should be impressive especially at the end of a 2:40 total overall time.

Congrats,great win and beautifully driven by young Cameron.Looked good and strong bowling along in front,nice start and strong to the line,bodes well for the future.

His first win of the season and well overdue. Posie is clearly a horse who needs plenty of racing and his strong constitution stood to him tonight.
It was Tony Cameron's second win behind the horse, equalling Tony Herlihy and Jay Abernethy. He should continue to be competitive over the coming months at Alexandra Park.

Good turnout of members present for the photo- all much braver than this couch sitter.

Oh ye of little faith............
Yes I am actually meaning myself there. I was not overly confident of a win tonight and was more expecting a first 4 finish. In what was a moderately strong field and what were truly horrible wet conditions he put the rest of the horses in the race to the sword and led from start to finish. The winning of the race was in the way that he pinged away from the tape at the start.
Well done Posie and Tony Cameron you have both done us proud.

Posie has put in some indifferent efforts at times but tonight he was back to his best, he did work and still finished off the race creditably for a good 4th placing in a very good time.
The winner ran 3:22.9 for a 2700m stand which is fast. By comparison the Messenger last week was a 2700m mobile and that was run in 3:25.2 when won by Lazarus.
The same situation applies to Posie as it does to The Faithful - keep him ticking over until after the Jewels by which time the better 3 and 4 year olds will likely be sent for spells hence leading to marginally easier fields.

Now with Lusty Mac and Bet Out of Ell both scratched the way is easier for Maxim and Posie also. The older horses percentages of dominating  have dropped slightly through those scratchings, but still likely.

I am inclined to favour the quaddie option now on a 2/2/2/3 basis.

This is an intriguing race, being a handicap with a wide range of contestants of different ages.  With first four betting I prefer to take a most likely winner to win with 4 others for the remaining placings but usually in mobile start races where the barrier draw usually plays a bigger role in the outcome.

Another factor this week is that the main South Island drivers are staying home for Addington racing the same night so a number of driving changes will occur.  A number of contestants are not always reliable from the stand, Bettors Pocket among them, but if he were to step and even lead his stamina could give him a prominent result, certainly first four if Maxim gets in front and he takes a trail. Over the 2700 metres I would incline to favour the older horses in this event. So many ifs and buts so I am uncertain how I will play it until maybe later in the week.

What do you think of Posie's chances on Friday evening? - first 4.....

By the time the horse settled, the leader would have been 15 lengths, or approximately 35 metres ahead . At one stage on the first lap he looked to be struggling to even latch on so the decision to take a softer route  gave Posie  the breather he needed with the result that he had plenty left at the finish.  I feel it unlikely that he would have had equivalent energy left in the straight if he had chosen the 3 wide route.   Just my opinion but seems to be the driver's thinking, based on the manager's report.

I now see that our syndicate manager has already sent us a racing report which answers my previous question.

Yes it was a good performance by Bettors Pocket in the Country Cup final after losing a considerable amount of ground at the start. It appears as though he is finally on the way back up.

Does anyone know if there was a reason given by the driver as to why he decided to opt for the markers rather than the running line or 3-wide line in the last lap? I assume it must have been because he thought the horse had already done a fair amount of work making up the ground he lost after galloping. Tony Cameron seems to be way too comfortable being buried 3 or 4 back on the markers for my liking.

A top run by Posie in the Country Cup final, particularly considering the early ground lost by an uncharacteristic gallop at the start.  He beat some nice horses home and kicked strongly in the straight, suggesting that good times lie ahead.

Looked a better effort from Posie last night finishing 4th in a good time of 2:41.9 - yes admittedly he did not do any work during the run and had a sheltered path but nevertheless he stayed with the leaders and ran a very respectable time.
A turnaround in his form? - we can only hope so and we look forward to his next run showing the same improved effort.