There were no winners from the abandonment of race 2 at Forbury Park last week after Janet's Passion fell with 1100m to go - that much is obvious.
There have been a few critics of the decision from the stipendiary stewards to abandon the race, pointing out all horses were driven out to the line.
That's an understandable opinion to hold.
But the stewards' job - especially in this tough new world of health and safety regulations - is to take every reasonable step to prevent an accident.
They can't anticipate whether horses and drivers will pull wide in the straight - as they're entitled to do - or stay in close, and they had 15 to 20 seconds to make that call from the moment the horse fell to the track about 10m in from the outside fence and the crash crew's ute pulled up behind them.
Not very long, in my view.
... thank you very much
Moving on from that, it was a good move from the club and Harness Racing New Zealand to compensate the connections of each horse to the tune of $300 and for the driving fee to be paid to the drivers, who did their job as required.
Hopefully, it's a stance that will be repeated in future abandoned races across New Zealand.
You might be looking at maybe three abandoned races (due to a crash) at most per season, and $10,000 in the form of goodwill is a small price to pay to keep owners in the industry.
Falling like blowflies
And then there was one.
The Australian invites have dropped by the wayside like tired seagulls off the rails of the Interislander since the first one was announced a month or so ago.
We're now left with My Kiwi Mate to fly the flag for the Australians.
All the reasons are legitimate but are there any solutions for next season or do we just write it off as an unfortunate chain of events this year?
The idea of inviting an Australian in each category has merit, so let's stick with it.
Banning the booze
I can hear my former boss, Hayden Meikle, sighing already as he reads about drinking in this column once again, but this is very relevant to racing.
News came through on Wednesday that the clamp has well and truly gone on for next New Zealand Cup day (for thoroughbreds) at Riccarton.
Police sought to suspend the Canterbury Jockey Club's on-licence for the day altogether, but a compromise was reached which will allow the club to apply a special licence for the day.
While Riccarton on Cup Day might be the most extreme example, this could make things very interesting across the country over the next few years.
Lazy Fiver
Second for Amarula on Saturday, so let's try again.
Forget the sixth from Galaxy Miss last start, as she will love the deep stuff at in race 2 at Trentham tomorrow.
