Racing matters

Many of you are not Facebook friends with me, so I'll let you in on a little secret. I enter a whole new age bracket today.

Thanks to the vagaries of public holidays, I had a fair bit of time to watch Trackside last weekend.

I don't mind long days - some would argue I don't have many of them - but I do wonder at the common sense that goes on when Wingatui gallops and Forbury Park harness are held on the same day, such as yesterday.

To steal a phrase from Monty Python's Eric Idle, I would like to think I always look on the bright side of life.

There was no more deserving winner at the Waikouaiti harness meeting on Tuesday than Bruce Negus.

Did you think the fallout from the Interdominion Grand Final was over and done with?

During New Zealand Cup week last year, I was talking to Otago Racing Club chief executive Andre Klein about the quality of the horses being trained at Wingatui.

I'm back from holiday. I would say tanned and refreshed, but I smeared sunblock on like it was going out of fashion, and I seemed to come back from the States with more ailments than I left with.

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but I'm not so convinced when it comes to naming racehorses.

Otago Racing Club president Dean Lawrence said back in October that he would like to shed the ''wet-weather president'' tag after the weather gods delivered two very average days on Melbourne Cup day and Boxing Day in 2012.

This week was notable for the retirement of two warriors of the turf.

Allow me to put the blue-and-gold eye patch on for a moment, and reflect on a couple of fillies doing the job at the top level at Addington last week.

The hospitality sales for Cromwell are well ahead of last year, and it appears the decision to switch the feature status of Sunday's meeting has paid off.

It's been a while since my last round of questions - some rhetorical, some more than welcome to be answered by you.

What a New Zealand Cup week it's been. The weather has played ball, the racing has been pretty much up to the mark, and the Canterbury public has responded.

If I didn't like the world of racing, I'd be in the wrong job this week.

I'm not a fan of business jargon. You know the words and phrases I'm talking about - ''green fields approach'', ''going forward'', ''maximising potential''.

The progeny of Yamanin Vital are still doing the job on the race track, even four years after the White Robe Lodge stallion's death.

It appears there are some well-travelled racing fans who read the Otago Daily Times. My total of 22 racecourses visited has been comfortably usurped by at least three racing aficionados over the last week.