Racing: Premier day debacle at Riccarton must not be allowed to happen again

Riccarton's cranky starting stalls have to go.

A repeat of Saturday's debacle when the last race - run and won by Caught Out - had to be abandoned cannot be allowed.

The two serious malfunctions on Saturday were bad enough, but they're not isolated.

That set of starting apparatus has been giving trouble for a while.

Remarkably, a complete set of starting stalls is not as expensive as you'd imagine for what is a relatively complicated piece of machinery.

Ellerslie's new set cost the Auckland Racing Club something like $150,000.

Saturday's Race 10 stakemoney of $15,000 was lost to the industry.

You could add roughly the same amount in lost betting revenue.

There's $30,000 in one hit - 20 per cent of the cost of a new set of starting gates.

New Zealand racing loses significant betting revenue from Australia when races run more than two or three minutes late.

Add that to Saturday's $30,000 when Riccarton's gates next play up and it's starting to become an ugly scene.

It's a no-brainer.

* * *

Congratulations to the South Island's new Australian racecaller Mark McNamara.

It can't have been easy going from the tiny New South Wales harness circuits to calling Riccarton for the first time.

Especially a Riccarton winter meeting with low sun angle, massive big spaces and jumping races twice as long as anything McNamara had previously called.

He did a great job on the 4150m Koral Steeplechase after admitting he started out a bit too keenly, leaving himself little room for upward expansion late in the race.

"I reckon I'll start [those sorts of races] a little easier next time."

It sounded just great to us.

McNamara is a member of an even smaller club than those who can successfully call a horse race.

He's an Australian who doesn't bet.

* * *

Tommy Hazlett and trainer Mark Oulaghan go together like gin and tonic.

Peaches and cream even.

Few trainers get jumpers as hard and as fit as Oulaghan can and invariably does.

And even fewer ride them as astutely and as economically as Hazlett.

Counter Punch's Saturday victory in the Koral Steeples was a triumph

for horse, trainer and rider.

The Awapuni trainer had to walk that knife edge of leaving Counter Punch that smidgen short of absolute fitness to allow the necessary improvement for next week's Grand National, yet still have him fit enough to win this time, even if it was a tough finish, which it was.

Watching Counter Punch get the better of Bennyosler in the closing stages made you realise how brilliantly Oulaghan managed his task.

Hazlett paid tribute to his trainer when he revealed the touch of improvement in the horse for next week.

And what about Bennyosler.

Counter Punch is now two from two in the 'chasing game and looks one of our true headliners for the next year or more.

And it took all of that to beat Bennyosler, who had not previously run in a steeplechase.

What a future he's got.

* * *

Donna and Dean Logan and Chris Gibbs tidied up - as they often do - at their local Ruakaka meeting on Saturday.

The only thing missing was the late Bob Tait, who you just know as a former president of the Whangarei Racing Club, would have liked to have been there to see his horse Ima Lady, rated to perfection by Michael Walker, score her dashing win in the St Reims Stoney Bridge Whangarei Cup.

The stable also won with El Presidente and Sun Spur, both of whom have bright futures: Sun Spur's in Hong Kong and El Presidente at home. The trio also won with Last Blast on Friday.

* * *

Richard Beymer seems to have become more solid with each preparation.

He's now six and judging by his fresh-up Ruakaka win on Saturday he looks to be in for a great season for trainer Jakki Good, who has done an admirable job.

But it's never easy keeping the weight off the back of a topline sprinter in New Zealand.

* * *

The reappearance of Daffodil (at Hastings on Thursday), Boundless and Richard Beymer (at Ruakaka on Saturday) last week has been heartening after the winter racing blues and it's about to get better.

A decent list of the best horses from the old season will step out for the first time in their new preparations at tomorrow's Te Teko barrier trials and most of those who are missing will run at next week's Cambridge trials.