is mr lithgow exempt from asking trainers about their first timers?

Interesting comment Mr Irwin maybe you could elaborate. If asked by Molly Shaheen Jimmy Cecil or any international correspondent from any racing jurisdiction around the world regarding one of your first timers would you give an honest opinion or not . Do you believe that that info is only for you and the stable or not. Should Justin Snaith or any of your trainers offer an opinion as to the wellbeing and ability of a first timer to the racing public ? Just curious.

First timer info is in many cases reserved for the stable (or those in the know). Only chance to get some cash back if it can run a bit. As an owner no problem with this. Normal comments if asked is need run/experience; needs further; hasn't been on the grass etc. So - no use actually asking trainers about first timers.

amazing we still have people living in the dark ages no wonder the industry is in the state it is in(td)

bloodshot Wrote:

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> Interesting comment Mr Irwin maybe you could
> elaborate. If asked by Molly Shaheen Jimmy Cecil
> or any international correspondent from any racing
> jurisdiction around the world regarding one of
> your first timers would you give an honest opinion
> or not . Do you believe that that info is only for
> you and the stable or not. Should Justin Snaith or
> any of your trainers offer an opinion as to the
> wellbeing and ability of a first timer to the
> racing public ? Just curious.

Thanks for your interest in my comment. First of all, who on earth is this Molly Shaheen Jimmy Cecil? Is she English or Irish?

As to whether I would give any information about one of my first time starters if asked, the answer is as follows:

I always answer them forthrightly. Whether my trainers answer them forthrightly is their business. I have championed transperancy before most of the readers on this forum were racing fans, but if you think any presenter is going to get a true nugget of information on a first time starter, you are not being realistic. And is most cases, it is not because the trainer is trying to hide anything so that he can place a winning wager, it is because the guy doesn't want to expose himself. Most trainers are more interested in covering their ass than being proven to be smart. And most owners don't tell their owners what they expect for the same reasons.

I don't bet much anymore. I run a stable of racehorses in South Africa to develop talent that can be exported or proven good enough to be retained for stud. It is not a betting stable.

My trainers can say anything they want to anybody who asks. I don't really care, because since I don't own the horses to bet, it doesn't negatively impact me in any way.

I welcome your curiosity.

Now I am curious. Question: should I consider interviewing this Molly as a prospective Team Valor employee? She most be quite knowledgeable. How would you compare her to, for example, to Julie Alexander? Now there's a real winner!

By the way, since I rarely get to watch TellyTrack, how does she handle it when her brother has a live first-time starter that gets bet off the board? Does she do a suitable job by your standards?

Barry

Molly is a he
but molly does like thailand where alot of she's are he's
i think he is also married to a he/she i dont know only he know's or she knows
you on the other hand did not know that molly was a he
now you know molly is a he and he might be in a relationship with a she
do yee think that he could make a decent employee

Easy, being a left-wing liberal pinko commie bastard type, I don't discriminate against gender. From the point of view of an employer, however, a she that is really a he could in fact be preferrable, because of the insurance savings on pregnancy and other female related issues. Thanks for heads up.

You guys are too funny

Barry, I'll light up the Vegas skyline if your big girl wins!!!

Barry u can interview me for a job anytime..
I'm young and definately a HE and no pregnancy insurance needed.lol

Punter, would never work, because I am a stickler for proper grammar and even when you try to spell a word correctly such as you just did with definiately, you mess it up.

Barry I know how to use spell check.........but then again, someone that abrieviates with emoticons cannot be taken seriously....:S

Molly Shaheen Jimmy Cecil are 4 people Barry

Molly is David Mollett
Shaheen Shaw
Jimmy Lithgow
Cecil Nthembo (may have spelt wrong) so no job for me

All first class guys IMO

Perhaps I can just enlighten you about the situation as far as accessing info about first-timers at the Vaal is concerned. Last time I was there I asked the On-course Producer if I could take a roving mike to the parade ring, which is about 100 metres from where we broadcast the race previews and interviews, to be able to interview trainers on the spot. He explained that there are dead spots in the parade ring and that the signal from the mike cannot always be picked up.

The norm is to start the pre-race broadcast by focussing on the horses in the parade ring (which sometimes goes out to Tellytrack viewers and sometimes not, depending on scheduling), and, as the presenter, I have no closer view of the horses than viewers at home, via a TV monitor. I can only really assess their respective appearances in the brief moments when they walk by my thatched hut, and yesterday that did not happen as they exited the parade ring at the far end, to speed up tne time between races, so as to accommodate French punters, for the first time.

So the only time I would be able to source information from trainers is before the commencement of the race meeting, when they are running around getting their horses, grooms etc organised and I would probably be an unwelcome intrusion.

To obviate that, I go onto Action Racing Online, in studying my formlines the night before, and study every first-timer's pedigree and the performance and breeding records of the dams. This is the info which I pass onto the punters. The rest is up to them - the betting is usually a good indicator. And let me tell you that for every meeting at which I am presenting on track I study the form for about three to four hours, making appropriate comments about each horse, and writing my own, short race analysis.

And the proof of the pudding in that first race was in the eating. Between Alistair Cohen and myself, we supplied the first two past the post in our pre-race summary. It was not hard to find the Marwing winner. Their favourite was scratched and Weichong replaced Jonathan Soll on the other horse - a sure indicator that it was fancied. It also went down very well and looked good.

The first two horses past the post were by far the best bred in the race - and I said it. The third horse past the post was trained by Paul Matchett and had had a run. With Marthinus Mienie in the saddle it had to be the pick of Matchett's runners. But I said that the Bezrin filly of Matchett's looked good in the parade ring and it duly ran a close-up fifth.

There was money for No 9, which looked well but was a very moderatley bred horse.l. I made that comment too, and it ran accordingly, after being slowly away.

So where, exactly, did I err?

It's a very different kettle of fish at Turffontein, where you can access the trainers in the parade ring, especially if there are two presenters, which there often are. The Vaal layout doesn't lend itself to that. Anyone interested in coming out to the Vaal to lend a hand.