The Box Seat – 27th May, 2024

Season Finale – G1 action wrapped up from Alexandra Park, and 7 of the best from JR Dunn #GIANThand

the box seat brought to you by our stable of sponsors hi everyone welcome to the final Edition for this season of your box seat yes it has been brought to you by our stable of sponsors Michael gearan we get a chance to wrap up the Autumn Carnival which is outstanding to be feir and dominated on the final night by an Australian yep it could be called the Australian Carnival Greg a big hi to you and to all our viewers on both sides of the Tasman because they started their domination of course uh in the trotting ranks on Race by grinn of not of Champions at Cambridge and I think last Friday night would be the biggest double in Australian history on New Zealand soil now there was an interd Dominion back in 1983 where we had something similar but this was one stable gist tubs One driver Greg sugars and two horses who we know so well over here well done to them was a very special double let’s get into it Gregory and later on I’m looking forward to your chat you’re going to talk to the boss the president of the oran trotting Club Jamie McKinnon about a really really interesting time in the club’s history and heading into the future so looking forward to seeing what Jam’s got to say absolutely we’ve got a lot on the show for you so what can you look forward to we’ll wrap up Auckland cup night trillion Trust of course the sponsor of that and the reh Harvest rad cup night it was a sweet trip to New Zealand for the man they call the Candyman uh former New Zealand Cup champion retired off the back of that trillion trust Auckland cup we’ll have that ATC update seven wins in a night off the back of winning five the previous week for John Dunn we’ll cross the Tasman with our good friends from gads and will thanking everyone for their great Support over the last four years of your box seat let’s get to the big one the trillion trust ockland Cup first run in 1890 here was the all important start bit eclipse on the outside [ __ ] away as was Oldtown Road thought this might have been crucial but in the end it didn’t matter what was crucial is when we transition this American me settles in front of Kango and Timor but right about the 400 meter Mark Michael things went peer shaped clearly for the mark Shard team right there it could easilly have gone that way for better Eclipse as well off the back of this we’ll get to the interviews but right here he had to run down a two-time Oakland Cup winner Michael and self assured look he’s had no luck for two New Zealand campaigns finally the luck went with him and against others but he came from second last to win an Orland cup not an easy thing to do here’s Greg Sugar’s just tubs and better Eclipse taking home Alexander Park’s biggest race and better Eclipse will get the win better Eclipse to be self assur third across Republican party than Oldtown Road Greg enormous performance because you gave him a decent start yeah that’s right now a little bit of nervous moments at the start where he he didn’t quite get the start right this time around but luckily he gathered himself quite quickly and um yeah worked out well after that take me through the run because you got back in the field after after missing away but you got a decent run after after that probably just had to navigate a bit of traffic at about the 400 when Max sh went off stride yeah that’s right when I when I landed his back early I thought oh this is good I’m I’m following a horse that’s going to take me where I need to be but um yeah it all went pretty pearshaped around the 400 met Mark where he struck trouble and uh yeah nervous moments then to see what was going to happen out of that and if we could get round safely which we did and at that point in time I I wasn’t confident of winning that far out but I I knew I was going to be right there in the fight yeah mark p to your inside on selfish sure we know he’s a war horse but probably got to him very quickly he really accelerated he sure did yeah know he really felt on song tonight and uh you know much more like his uh like his old self you know been wrapped with all these runs over here with with not much luck but um you know I just thought he hadn’t been quite as sharp as what I know he’s capable of being in his last couple but tonight he uh he really felt switched on jez MK you loomed up like you won another group one yeah well he got the perfect trip or drag into the race and around the corner he just turn turned up at the right time and I thought it was going to be his and uh but the Aussie was just too good down the outside take me through the Runing because he seemed to get a good trip from about the mile onwards and he seemed to be really traveling yeah well I sort of came out when I could hear the others coming and then um Tim popped out in front of me which gave him a beautiful trip and sort of had a look at the front and that probably just took its toll on the leader at that point so uh as I say coming around the corner and you know off off out of the one one I thought he was a winner yeah well he has won on many occasions so that’s not surprising Mark we’ll talk about him in a moment Michael but the winner very good and I’m really pleased that he got a group one here in New Zealand because he really hasn’t had a lot of luck Republican party very good Oldtown Road needs to get the starts right uh because that probably cost him and of course the Unlucky Mark Shard things just not going uh the way they wanted to at about the 400 meter Mark but he’s had a great campaign he has let’s let’s start with the winner um first of all Chance favors the brave I mean a lot of Australian horses were touted to come to the race by grins Greg and Jess and their owners have turned up two years in a row and then they’ve stuck around now the only reason he stuck around was because just believe was sticking around but they’re still here you can’t win races you’re not ined in and we have a lot of chat about who’s going to go here and who’s coming to Addington but they’ve proven they’re going to turn up big effort turning up at a two M standing start race which is not really there Forte he found exactly the right Orland cup because the 277 down the back me the leaders and some of the horses who are a bit more tired couldn’t stick on so they drop out then it became a swooper race very clearly self assured two years ago would have won but that’s not the self assured he was two years ago he’s not anym hence why he’s being retired go back one more space mark Shard I think would have won had he not galloped I don’t know that but I I think he would have because on their form over the Autumn B Eclipse wouldn’t have run past him but it’s a pacing race you’re going to start at your gate and then you get back to B Eclipse that’s him to a te follow the speed he came out it was really strong to the line which means Greg and and J from afar and the people helping them at Stonewall start have done a really good job G they’ve kept this horse up and happy for a bloody long time it’s a long time since the race by Grins and then Oldtown Road put him two spots further forward maybe he wins the race but he traveled the furthest did a thing he’s not used to doing standing start two mile races and he won and now we can say to ourselves first League of a great double but also Greg you and I have to say to ourselves and probably have viewers at home what do we do with the Oakland cup now because that’s not good enough for the Oakland Cup by no means disparaging the winning performance y but that’s not good enough for what used to be our second biggest Harness race now very clearly it’s only third or fourth and I think it needs a date change because when the field is that field and there’s no Merlin and there’s no don’t stop dreaming it’s not our fault there’s no Auda or Milwood Nike they might come back next season but Greg we can’t keep running the Oakland cup in the last week of May it was freezing there the other night nobody wanted to be there and I get the feeling watching that race half the horses didn’t want to be there yeah agreed I think it’ll come a closer to the race boy grins I think that’s the logical thing if you do that question for you if you do that should it be 2 m stand which isn’t everybody’s cup of tea n 27 27 mobile 27 Mobile in my opinion okay that’s what that’s what I do and then you can have the messenger tailor mile whichever way round not far after that and then it’s done at 11 at 110,000 that don’t matter too much to no no that’s right but then it’s done and it could almost mean that the Kango or the mark shards or whoever can a Target those races maybe without a leap to fame next season or or don’t stop dream and if there’s more Aussies if it’s a 2700 mobile they’re more likely to stay obviously if it’s a week or so later they’ll definitely stay yeah yeah but bizarrely as it turned out this crop being what it is um leap to fame suy both being aimed or have one in New Zealand cup two mile standing start B Eclipse I don’t think the two mile standing start actually put as many people off a length of time think it’s going to be they got to stick around anyway look the story is it’s it’s a great win and a great first leg to a double because after we saw that I think everybody knew what was coming next all right we need to wrap up self assured’s career uh I’d love to have more time to do it but this is the last show but here is uh his biggest win in the it New Zealand trotting cup of 2020 um at this stage he was I’m not going to say unbeatable Michael but he was just way too good uh for this lot and spank he’s been a brilliant racehorse uh his statistics tell the story Michael he’s won close to $2.5 million he’s been beautifully trained and handled by the All Star uh he’s had various drivers drive them Mark Natalie predominantly Mark and there’s probably the most important uh person involved in this horse and James Stevens along with uh Jean Fe obviously there’s a stats 70 starts 63 times and the money Michael look at those group ones all the way back to the Queensland Derby he’s won uh a race by grins the inaugural running of that on all important inaugural running of the Roy purin he won’t be declared a champion but he’s been a hell of a racehorse he has been he reminds me a lot of Christoph Vance a horse who raced in the late 1980s and in the 1991 because he won a lot of the same races Auckland cups New Zealand cups Christopher Vance won a Miracle Mile this hor didn’t but a race by grin swaps out nicely for for that um never a horse who could go sit parked and beat them up that was never self assured beautifully maned horse though wonderful swooping horse of course he’s come from last to win three major races Christopher Vance came from last to win a Miracle Mile very similar horses and those Horses Don’t often get called Champions because they don’t have that Warrior thing they don’t tend to win a lot of races by huge margins but two or three times Greg and I thought he was down and out he’s come from last to win the New Zealand free for all and he’s beaten proper horses doing it like he came from last to be the COA this year he also came from last to win a race by grins it’s a dying skill coming from last TN races we saw at the Orland cup more or less the other day but he’s won three major races in the last two years when I’m pretty convinced he wasn’t at his best coming from last Gregory so wonderful horse I’m so glad he’s retiring to Jimmy so the other Jimmy of course the horse is named Jimmy after the first Jimmy James Stevens spoke to James last night he said uh he’s going to stay just down the road for where James lives and he’s going to be stable with the mate of his there and they’re going to bring him back to the farm every day and the boys who ride the gallopers at Mark and Nathan puin are going to break him into the saddle and then James is going to ride them around him and his old mate are going to be able to go for a cruise around from time to time so um he’s going to be as well looked after as any horse in the history of harness racing who’s reti Gregory really cool story well done to James well done to Jean for allowing it to happen and this horse of course was part of Jean’s life at a really tough time when her her husband bill passed away so she said to me he’s been really special to me and it’s been a special story um maybe not a total champion on the racetrack but I think a champion of lots of people’s hearts in the last four or five years yep certainly well said Michael the double that you mentioned earlier was this just believe here’s the start again all importantly how they settled 1 2 three they finished second third and fourth but the crucial part to the race Michael is we just show enough footage here to see Greg Sugar’s look up he’s got muscle mountain behind him Mark pin’s in front on Oscar bonavina and he just comes off the wheel here and you know he’s going forward he knows he’s going to get the lead and once he gets there as we transition to the closing stages and then here from Greg sugar you knew he was going to win Michael home in a very very quick last half yeah well he earned that respect he earned the respect that means you get the lead in group One races when you want to get it here is the completion of a remarkable Autumn Domination by this he makes the perfect raid on New Zealand two group ones the inaugural tabr good on you Harry wonderful win in the road cup just believe second over was Oscar bonavina they were followed then by midnight Dash up for third Greg another outstanding performance another group one win for the Champion how did how did he feel for you tonight yeah know very good you know it was uh quite a quite a soft victory for him uh it’s you know seems a hard thing to say in a in a race of of a caliber of a row cup but um he once he was able to find the front he was uh traveled very well and did it comfortably you did get away from them cheap sectionals and they really never pressured you to probably around about the 600 met Mark had Oscar bonavina on your back I’m sure you could see Mark in the corner of your eye yeah absolutely you know he was hard up on my helmet the whole way so I knew he still had some horse horsepower up the straight and um you know he dug deep and you know we couldn’t really shake him off by much this time around so um full credit to his team they had him on song tonight but um yeah thankfully we good enough uh to get the job done let’s talk about Jess and and and what she’s done with this horse over the last two years and where where it’s taken you because I mean it’s obviously taking you all parts of the world you’ve end up in New Zealand you won a trot slot you’ve now won a row cup you’re kind of living the dream a you yeah that’s right no as far as as far as trotting goes it’s doesn’t get much better than this fell and uh and the and the r he’s taking this on so now just done a wonderful job with him uh you know in the last couple of years um he’s just sort of taken all before him and full credit to the horse really you know I don’t think J I do anything you know that out out the box with him to make him as good as he is he is just a phenomenal animal and a pleasure to have around can we talk you in coming back next year uh definitely a possibility yeah if we’re uh if we’re in this good of form still next year touch forward everything going well um yeah I can’t see why we wouldn’t be back I know Nicole touched with you on on a pleasure it’s been having you here but just for the public and obviously having a horse like this is that so much to our industry you’ve been a pleasure to deal with in the media and we thank you so much for your time no worries guys thoroughly enjoyed my time over here everyone’s made uh made us feel extremely welcome and yeah it’s just been amazing Mark you got a lovely toe into the race from about the about the mile and a half again you got halfway beautifully Tri the right one and J I thought again at the top of the lane you were chance of winning yeah I probably never thought that Greg I think I’ll run into a champion and that’s what he is and uh you know I was just happy to run second and uh I thought Oscar was probably the best he was over the last three runs and uh he certainly went a good race run a easy second what do you do with him now uh he’ll have a well earned break now and and then get ready for sort of November cup time so four from four for just believe spoke to Greg sugar on scnz trots talk yesterday uh both he and better Eclipse Michael in the paddock now for a month so no Queensland Carnival said to him just believe Maybe for the rck Farms Dominion he said it’s a possibility but that into Dominion is only two weeks after that it’s New South Wales it’s various uh tracks that you got to travel around so I doubt he’ll be there and he’s a125 to win the Dominion but um let’s let’s focus on what he’s achieved in New Zealand um he’s proven that he is a champion yeah it’s been great fun watching him uh win the races themselves Outside The Tib TR haven’t been very competitive cuz he’s been too too good for Oscar bonavina the two times he’s led the time against muscle Mountain was fun for about a lap but in the end it was a pretty Hollow Victory he’s just developed into a wonderful horse when you go back over his record he he was a good horse and obviously he got better when he joined Jess and Greg but he’s got better since then like he’s very fluid in his gate he doesn’t use a lot of energy around the barn he doesn’t make life hard on himself and he’s too good for all of these horses call me the breeze who beat him in the Great Southern Star will beat him on some occasions one would think from time to time um I’m not sure Oscar bonavina is going as good as he can and muscle Mountain absolutely isn’t that is an excuse making for the kiwis Oscar bonavina hasn’t really looked very sharp since that night at Addington where he dropped out he’s been okay but he hasn’t looked himself and muscle Mountain clearly isn’t he barely ran past a horse the other day so forget take just believe out of that race mountains finished fourth so clearly I still going to be in hope they said we’re going to take him home and start again and that’s what you got to do sometimes so yes this horse would have won regardless I’m absolutely certain of that Greg but I also think this New Zealand openclass crop is in a real state of flux I’m not sure where they’re at I think both the big guns have had adequate autums at best and I think there’s no depth behind them so this hor doesn’t come for the Dominion G to be tempting to bring Co Me The Breeze or something like that J which is good for the race of course it is of course it is Win might be a big hope Michael you keep saying it well well my views on trans tesman harness racing are well known it’s too small an industry to survive by itself don’t get me wrong cup we’s cut week it’ll be massive regardless but if you get leap to fame there and just believe or call me the breeze that really helps um the best decision this team made and I had some heated discussions of people about this because everybody who goes to the elite wants to go back to the elite lot because it’s in Sweden it’s really good fun but they were very smart about this Jason and Greg they chose not to go back to the elite lot now that was run overnight and the horse who won it absolutely smashed them obliterated them horsey dream pretty cool name very good horse who missed the elite lot last year so it’s a better horse than the horses this hor raced in the elite Lop last year and as Brave as his as his campaign was last year it was very brave he didn’t a race Y and what they’ve done is rather than going to all that expense they’ve come over here L taxing on the horse he’ll be home in his own Pedic on Wednesday and they’ve won 460 Grand now it’s all right for us to want to get on planes and go on trips and I would love to have been in Sweden last night i’ probably still be in a bar in Sweden right now if I was but people like Greg and Jason and the owners have bills to pay and at some stage you’re going to monetize these horses so they made the right choice there’s absolutely no doubt about that not only did they make the right choice but as much as you can’t know this definitively once you see last night’s Elite Lop you go well they wouldn’t what they go Michael 495 or near enough to 49 and change y on a on a th meter track but the horse who won was so good there’s no beating it for just belief one would think they made the right choice they have nailed it and here’s the thing if just believes in Sweden they don’t win the Oakland cup no they so it’s a no argument performance they banked about $600 something th000 in the last six weeks and they Haven had to leet the southern atmosphere yeah terrific performance by them and it’s been great to have just believe here let’s go to the three-year-old trotting feature with bricken Farms they sponsor the northern trotting Derby in a single moment got the job done uh unlucky no question about that Phil William son uh sitting in the trail getting badly held up I don’t know that Empire City went as well as what she could because right here she could have dashed through excellent run from the runner up looked to the Stars improved after Galloping last time but here’s Tony Cameron now a group one winning driver and in a single moment a single moment a photo second between Empire City very unlucky all look to the Stars Then lucky M Tony outstanding performance in a single moment she just showed that great speed again yeah she was really good um we ended up getting a bloody good trip and uh she’s like you say she’s got some good turn of foot and it worked out really good take take me through the run because you were about three back on the outside and there was a lot unfolding in front of there was a little bit of pressure on from about the 600 you made your move and what did you kind of think at the the point of the turn that you thought with a winning chance here yeah she’s still traveling good there on the point of the B but there’s some good horses inside and uh it wasn’t until he sort of crossed the line I thought we’ve got that Tony Cameron I mean Tony hurle has been a big major part of your life and and he’s been a great boss and he’s put you on some very good horses one of your favorite temporar for a long time can this horse take you on a ride again I really hope so um yeah Tim Tim was really good to me um and and like you say Tony and Suzanne been big supporters of mine the whole way through since I started working there so that’s been a real big help too the man they call weeny Michael is now a group one winning driver popular guy really popular win even though the favorites were beaten because everybody likes Tony um he’s cut his teeth sometimes doing the Cambridge trips that the other Tony didn’t want to do and he’s always been great with the Trotters um and he’s found himself a horse who is very well mannered and likes to follow speed and yes Empire City was unlucky and losing momentum I think at the end of a 2700 meter race is less than ideal I agree with you when she rushed forward about the 200 it looked like she could have gone on to win but I’m wanting to think the horses coming down the outside had enough momentum up but lovely Philly this and look she only had the one run last season Greek so she’s come back in this is only her second campaign that’s a big job if you had told people eight weeks ago this horse could be Empire City that would have said forget about that have you seen Empire City well she did and that’s how it works sometimes when you get the right run very similar to the better Eclipse thing the leaders came back to it a little bit and swooped on pass them she’s well bred her older sister Monarch Hill is a good horse I think the H is and Chanel Lawson who worked for Tony for a long time and is in this horse uh has done some photography and harness racing is a really nice bright young lady she’s also in the ownership I’m thrilled for everybody involved it was a really Feelgood win Gregory even if the punters didn’t enjoy it so much and what’s that one thread you’ve seen from the three races we just showed you mark p for his second second in each one not not a normal thing no that wouldn’t have happened in fact I would suggest hasn’t happened many times in New Zealand history a trainer driver has finished second in three group ones in a night can’t think of and definitely not that trainer driver No Ex exactly uh still a very good uh good effort but um yeah not winning one of those here’s another good effort 45th running of the pal Transport North iseland breeders really smart work here by Tony Thomas she’s been up and down the country uh she’s got a new name though Aaron wh’s nailed this I thought what’s he doing it’s bodika but I rang Tony today and he said no no it’s bua I said Tony that’s a 75th start and you’ve just told us that now he said yeah it’s budaa but I don’t really care what you call her as long as you’re talking about her that means she’s performing yep and look she’s just a lovely little racehorse one of those horses who I suppose have harness racings on the back of Gregory they’re not all stars some of them just turn up every week in the wet and the cold and great from the standing start she just turned up to work again and good honor lovely drive by Andre didn’t panic when he couldn’t get the lead um she was The Proven standing St horse in the race Greg and there’s a lot to be said for putting horses in the right race so that was good training from Tony I have no idea what a buer is but hey I’m congratulations to Aaron he got a right yeah absolutely he did and he nailed most of those calls or all of them that I can think of over the entire Carnival and you mentioned Smoke on the Water winning uh the country cups up there smart move uh sending the horse up well done uh to Tony as you mentioned earlier Michael uh I got a chance to catch up with Jamie McKinnon who was actually in Australia to talk about the Oakland trotting club and where it is at in financial terms as we know they’ve been in a bit of trouble very kindly joined on the box seat uh by the boss of uh the ockland trotting Club Jamie McKinnon before we get into some matters that a lot of people will be interested in let’s talk about this autumn Carnival that’s just been completed and the success of it and the Australian involvement probably more than anything off the back of Friday night was was massive wasn’t it well it’s always good if you can get the Australian connections here um it’s bit like you know in Oakland we like to look forward to the southern horses coming up but if we can get the Australians over here then you hit the jackpot and they hit the jackpot by winning both the features on um on Friday night course that’s a good thing for not just for Oakland but for harness racing in general in New Zealand because it means that they can really believe that they can come across and they can win our features and we saw that with swayy down your way and now uh with the two two big ones going away on Friday night I mean how good is that I mean you like to think the locals will get a share of it um but it’s a good message that you can come to New Zealand win our big races so I think it’s very lot of positive energy around it yeah Jamie history made Greg Sugar’s driving both winners uh obviously better eclipse in the trillion trust Oakland cup and uh in the reh Harvest row cup just believe but let’s focus on just believe and you’re a trotting purist you won a race on the night yourself with kiss and run um very very special to see this horse that’s been around the world now and is now showing new zealanders just how good he is yeah I mean by French alichi and um sorry olich uh Orlando Orlando isn’t he yeah yeah should know correct and I’m on Greg so my mind’s not quite there um and you know he’s $10,000 and it was a big punt for anyone to um to put the mirr to a $110,000 sire who really hadn’t done it in Australia or New Zealand and um they only get better with age and uh you know this horse probably has got some a good couple of years ahead of them and uh it’s it’s a terrific advertisement for the French s that are you know you don’t quite know what to do you know the muscle Hills and you know the father Patrick’s but you know in New Zealand we’ve had love you being successful but there’s a lot of the French size that haven’t been and probably encourage um breeders to maybe have another look particularly those that are reasonably priced yeah absolutely so a terrific Carnival uh really enjoyed the coverage out of Alexandra Park but let’s talk more things ockland trotting club and it’s been a challenging I’m I’m going to say last decade to be absolutely Fair uh we need an update Jamie in terms of where the property’s at uh where Poo’s at and and I know you can’t put too fine a point on it because it’s still um a little water a bit of water to go under the bridge but can you give us an update sure Greg well this time last year we were talking about a sale and we had um $1.5 million deposit in the bank on a100 million purchase and 1.5 million that’s a lot of money for all of us um for the purchases is probably as good as a lunch and you think well we’ve got a deal here and then since then we’ve got another check for um 8 and a half Mill so got 10 million in the in the bank uh and that gives you confidence that this Deal’s going ahead um and we have every confidence to think that it will I mean there’s still another 90 million due in uh in November uh we’re in regular contact with the purchases uh they’re on the property probably uh next week they’ll be out there they’re on they’re engineers so all indications are that that’s going ahead I know that I hear a rumor out there that it’s not but you know if anyone should know I should know and um I’ve not heard anything that they’re not interested I mean why would they be on the property why would they be spending money um so this is the property this is Franklin Park this is the Franklin Park here so yeah I mean you know as we all know a Deal’s not done till you got the money but um all indications are that it’s all proceeding so so you know it’s only another few months to go and uh and then we can turn the page and start to make some plans which we already are making plans of course because you know we’ve got to think about where is the next training center uh we’ve done quite a lot of work on that we’ve looked at quite a few options one of the problems in pooi is the soil is quite valuable and it’s called um highly productive soil so uh it’s hard to set up a training center you can set up a um a private training center but we’re not a permitted use in the Franklin area so a lot of the properties we’re looking at there’s quite a few Hoops to jump through and um so we’re starting to look outside of the Franklin area as well and there’s another property we’re looking at at maram maramarua uh that looks promising had a meeting with the Franklin trainers and drivers a couple of weeks ago and we talked about that opportunity uh it was mostly in favor um with with them it’s not that far to go from where they are and as far as State Highway One which is the all important you know freeway to Cambridge or ockland it’s only 12 minutes from there and the pooi complex is 10 minutes so there’s not a lot of difference the main difference is that is where you live and how long it takes you from where you live get to this this particular property so that’s a it’s a front runner at the moment um doesn’t have the obstacles that a lot of the properties do in Franklin paho area so yeah that could be it um but we got our options open the best option is what we’re going to go for we’ll be Consulting with not just the members of the club but also all the Franklin people before we um we make any decisions Jamie you also have recently done a deal on the stand one of the stands at Alexander park so a couple of years back as part of digging ourselves out but let’s face it three or four years ago we were gone for all money what were we going to do we didn’t have too many options and a uh company from um Australia came along and said look um would you consider selling us a block of land now you know uh would we well we needed to do something and that was a way out and they bought that block of land which uh is right up to Green Lane Road and and up to the track where the old Epsom stand was that’s currently being demolished and we sold that for 51 million and you know that took a long way to getting Bank support and digging ourselves out of what the problems that we had so let’s put it in layman’s terms the position of the Oakland trotting Club subject to that being finalized in November with the purchase of Franklin Park is in a Dan site better position than what it was last time we talked well yeah absolutely we’ got more money um the purchases are still there uh and you know they’re in frequent contact so we’re hoping that’s that’s done and then the club can focus without having that the weight of the banks you know over your head all the time it’s not a pleasant experience and you know it’s one that I wake up to every day and you’ve just got to try and put that to the side and think positively and and go forward and you know the the industry is starting to get you know I get highly motivated again we’ve got entain there is a great partner that’s uh it’s giving us all hope there a decent future and we’ve got to make the most of that future so once we get this deal done then Oakland’s going to think about well what’s next for us well firstly we’ve got that training center but I think Greg we’ve also got to think about how can we best support the industry and support in Tain and we all know that Orland can never turn over on a Friday night what methin can do on a Sunday or what Reon can do for that matter it’s just something that those those Sunday meetings and Country meetings do attract bigger Fields more betting and we can get the F we can run the feature races and get the betting but not at that level not on a not every day that they can do it so our job is to try and grow the business and by giving people a uh a special OnCourse experience and that means raising the bar and Hospitality so that’s that’s one of our projects for the new year is to think about what have we got to do to compete with what’s happening on a Friday night where those new customers that we want where they currently are we know where they are so we just got to get them to our place morigi on Friday night I mean you can get people out on a cup night and a Derby night but we’re running a business 52 weeks of the year so that’s not going to be good enough to have a big promotion and get a big big crowd on course we need them there on a regular basis so the bright lights the big boxes and selling jugs of beer is not going to cut it you know we’ve got to look at what does a cocktail List look like you know what’s the range of champagne so we got to get to that level and that’s one of our Ambitions for the new year it sounds very positive Jamie really appreciate you coming on the box seed and for your support your Club support over the last four years to enable us to deliver what we have uh the platform certainly been essential to help promote the sport so without your support and the other clubs and other sponsors um you know we wouldn’t have been able to do it so thank you for that and thank you for your time uh today on the box seat to R if I can just say in parting um it’s been a pleasure working with you and Mick um we’re privileged as an industry to have two professionals like you two I know you had to work hard to keep this show going it was very easy for the club to support it and uh as I say it’s been great working with you and the the industry certainly is blessed to have you guys doing what you do and bringing your stories that you do to to the industry thanks mate so that was Jamie McKinnon Michael I thought it was important that we update uh particularly uh the Northerners but all harness the harness racing fraternity for that matter because um orland’s been in a bit of strife but it sounding like they’re heading in the right direction well financially there’s light at the end of the tunnel if the deal for the Franklin track is done and signed and they get the money from the new owners so that’s good I don’t think people in harness racing realize how close that was to Alexandra park closing which would have been a disaster for harness racing I can’t emphasize how much of a disaster it would be it is the center of the biggest city in New Zealand with the most punters and it’s under indexed badly it was close the bank had the option to foreclose the bank stood stayed the course with with the ATC they had a lot of help from Gran Harford the uh the lawyer who did a super job and a lot of people did really boring work on in paperwork and in little rooms and they’ll never get trophies for it but they kept it going now heading forward they need to find a training track we know that I don’t know anything about training tracks I hope the right people do this it’s gutting that it’s got to where it’s been it’s gutting what could have been $150 million windfall for this club will never happen and still part of me is really pissed off Greg that something I love dearly has been Savaged so badly Over The Last 5 Years particularly by people who aren’t going to be held accountable people who no longer at the club or people who own firms they then close down it pisses me off but we have to move on and inane have said they want ockland harness racing to be strong they said they want to make it a regular part of the Friday night platform for Friday Night Lights alongside Addington that’s good support and I’m glad to hear from Jamie they’re going to put more effort into making it a pleasant race not experience for people because it’s dropped off its Purge and they need to invest in that Greg because at the moment it’s just okay and if it’s going to be a premier track as Ina telling us it is then it needs to have a premier level of service so maybe light at the end of the tunnel but how the hell we ended up so deep in this tunnel still makes me shake my head it is one of the away from Human tragedy away from Human tragedy that’s always the most important it’s one of the saddest things I’ve been involved in in my 35 years professionally in racing well let’s hope that it is going in the right direction sounds like it is speaking of directions we need to take a quick break on the other side we’ll come back and uh catch up with John Dunn because last week he was in seven heaven [Music] and welcome back in to your box seat here it was Michael win number seven aboard dnasty a very smart Philly out of the Bob but Barn uh creating a bit of history there last Thursday night kicked it all off with bruntwood Brigade in the first and then frazzled in the second both two-year-olds getting the AME bonus as well but the previous week Michael John dun drove five winners for the first time at Addington Raceway a week later less than that six days he drives seven he now leads the driver’s Premiership by two over BL orange and quite clearly he’s Keen to have a decent crack at winning a title that his brother won 10 times and emulated what he’d done by winning seven races alongside the likes of the great AG hurle wonderful nice driving and look John has just improved and improved and improved and he’s put his own stamp on their horses and creates fear in other drivers because they know what he’s in front he’s not going to hand up to an inferior horse and they know he’s not scared to go forward and attack for the lead gez turned into a good driver he’s become a complete allround Horseman and one of the most important horse people in New Zealand to be the code because he’s a huge part of the training operation but he’s also driving now seven winners a night I take my head off to him because he grew up in Dexter’s Shadow when I’m talking about the early part of their driving careers because Dexter’s Shadow was so big and he may still be one of our greatest if not our greatest driver Dexter but John has never let that bother him he’s just gone about doing things his own way he drives different from Dexter but still thoroughly supports his brother and jumps on the Midlands website to see how Dexter’s going what a wonderful toome theyve been uh from a wonderful harness racing family I don’t think there anybody in harness racing who spent any time with John is an incredibly proud of not just what the stable’s doing but what he’s become as a man so and he’s been through some tough times off the track in the last five years he’s been for some bloody tough stuff um without trying to sound condescending I think myself yourself and a lot of people people in this game are very proud of him and our apologies we couldn’t get an interview on the night of course that was uh Thursday at Addington and then we tried to get him on Friday but um he had a lot of obligations on the track and he was covered in Alexandre park by the time the last race came around but John congratulations to you yeah absolutely that driver’s Premiership uh now sees him on top 80 wins there ahead of Blair orange had Blair on the radio yesterday and I put it to him is this motivating you to drive yourself to uh make sure you win another Premiership he said it’s probably what I need it’s probably uh a very good motivational Factor he said I’d love to see John win a driver’s Premiership but I don’t want to see him beat me that’s that’s pretty much it Michael Tim Williams driving great Sam otley Nathan Williamson some pretty important names just below them too well and when you consider it it goes hand in hand with the stable also leading the Premiership for the trainings as well it’s a as I said it’s a hell of an achievement so um it’s not many people can say my brother once drove seven winners in a day so then I went out and did it too and technically I think Johns was better cuz it was at Addington yeah the only time I know of someone driving seven at Addington you spoke of that trainers Premiership so here it is and Diamond racing well they won seven on the night as well ironically Blair orange drove Andy Hall uh to win for them 21 in front Michael 21 in front there now do30 favorites to beat Team telfa and because of the numbers as they’re racing over winter they could be 30 maybe 40 in front by the time the spring comes around and team telfa really far up well team telfa obviously have a lot of horses in the north and there’s not a lot of racing opportunities here in the north over the winter smaller Fields um yeah I think the premiership’s there’s to lose just on the Premiership both the drivers Zack butcher courtesy partially of merand but a wonderful season having won the most money and har pin and Scott feland there again having won the most money now yes Mand helps that I get that but it’s also become from a lot of other horses too so they are two of the strike rate and financial stars of our premierships albeit both the stable and Zack will have less opportunities in the next three months because Northern harness racing doesn’t stop GRE but it’s going to go into a pretty big hibernation and there’s virtually no major races for the next three months leaving Alex Park on Friday night I think there’s a few people pretty happy about that Greek that Autumn Carnival was fantastic and everybody loved it but yeah took a lot out of people I reckon there’s a lot of a lot of Northerners thinking about the Gold Coast or Fiji or wherever they go y exactly Michael uh junior drivers Premiership Carter delgetti $2 240 Wilson uh house and Sam Thornley at 450 who I thought was almost bable let’s go Across The Tasman with gards here is the reigning IR New Zealand Cup winner in suy returning to the track 1521 beating Simply Sam Max light and Nano uh he’s kept up to his work here by cam har but he was impressive and he makes his way to Queensland now Michael yeah the key here 2300 meter mobile was whether they would go forward or not so whether they would drive him cold or drive him hard and as you can see from cam driving him hard look he didn’t beat a hell of a lot I mean Nano was back in the field but we all know how good he is he’s a wonderful horse and if he gets in front of leap to fame during the carnival in Brisbane leap to fame will need to be awfully awfully good to beat him so that’s going to depend on barrier draws as it pretty much has so far in their careers but yeah look if he comes back for the New Zealand cup he’s going to bring a lot of eyeballs with him and if leap to fame comes with them Gregory that’s going to be a real promotional bonus not so much for drawing people from Addington or from chry to the Races they don’t care about that stuff but others well eyeballs on Sky yep really that’s how it’s going to be turnover all the stuff that comes with it some media coverage so yeah let’s hope both of them or one of them comes back but first they got a few baries to get down to during the Brisbane Carnival and it’s really good he’s going to the Brisbane Carnival because if he wasn’t Gregory it’ be very much the Larry show and pretty hard to to get rocked up about yeah exactly these horses we’re about to show you send it uh these are just the next level down the reason I’m showing you this is albian Park’s going to be a key Focus over the winter uh cind it winds one Kelly Dawson for Shane Graham turn it UPS very good uh northv Hustler right down the outside we know him well smithy’s Tia gets itself into fourth position and Miracle moose finishes fifth so it was almost like an xack kiwi’s race uh Michael but um yeah albian Park is certainly going to be a focus going there is this horse the Lost storm uh beats Yen Bucky in here first up in a Wei while he was uh 153.7 the mile rate so pretty quick time doesn’t get there by much and he’s heading to feature racing in Queensland too the Rising Sun question of him is how much he’s developed I mean very good 2-year-old very good three-year-old look at him there is there’s not a lot of them so yeah how chesty and big and how strong he gets um it’ll be interesting because they’re they’re a team which has had great two and three roll success but haven’t always had those horses progress on to four five and six so that can’t what nor is going to be really interesting because we know how good leap to is we know how good suy is what’s going to be interesting is who emerges out of the Lost storm and Frankie ferocious and extreme C to be the new Challenger here is Extreme sea this is the State final in New South whale so they have Heats then they had four finals last week and then this was the State final and this is a very very good horse wins by 25 M um I think he’s in the top five or six horses at australasia potentially speed wise for David huitt and his son Brad down the outside’s foxy D getting second he’s just darn good and he versus Frankie ferocious in the Rising Sun could be one of the races of the carnival Greg I think it’s going to be an excellent Carnival there in in Queensland maybe the one thing it might lack is a little bit of trotting fire power but call me the breeze maybe if he heads there he could add a bit to it and of course beton win from over in New Zealand’s going to add something to it with not big numbers heading across Greg but because we know swy and leap to fame and we have seen extreme sea on this show I think there’s going to be enough kiwi interest in at Greek to give people some reason to tune in on a Saturday night which Saturday Saturday night harness had sort of died off in this country because we had no coverage of it but I believe I’m not sure of this because I’m outside the family but I believe there’s going to be a push here to have regular Saturday night coverage with somebody in the studio in New Zealand and I think that’s really good I think it’s a dormant product that can be regrowing and can also keep us interested in harness racing year round rather than really dropping off during the winter so I think it’s a positive move yep Frankie is $250 to one that $3 for extreme sea the Lost storm $6 pet tra at $8 uh we keep mentioning the it New Zealand cup and a key ingredient to that leap to fame going away from a standing start here he is at the trials Michael he takes a couple of strides to hit his hobbles he wins this trial we don’t need to show you that it was more importantly there he just thinks about it and well he was away pretty comfortably there that’s very important leading into the redcliffe cup and then ultimately for him to make the trip to the it New Zealand cup yeah well he needed to trial I’m not sure that trial showed us anything but it’s qualified him so so we can go to the redcliff cup and that’ll be interesting but yeah I mean everything he does now is is a case of you know is he happy and healthy because more often than not in those situations he’ll win or I can’t imagine he’s going to be a bad standing star H because he’s such a well gated and good man at horse grig but yep maybe may maybe there’s some light at the end of the rainbow there for people hoping that if he bobbles away a Merin or don’t stop dreaming can get in front of him but tell one thing I’ve really noticed over the last six weeks there used to be a real Trend tasmin thing in harness racing dating back maybe 15 years where we wanted to beat and they wanted to beat us and people got really excited about it I think people now have matured a little bit in that regard I think people just like good horses like if leap to fame come and won the New Zealand cup I don’t think anybody would go oh darn the Aussies beat us I really don’t and you definitely wasn’t any of that was just belief no there was no you know oh you know I don’t the I think this trans Tasman Pride but I don’t think there’s any I don’t know maybe but it’s also helped Michael by someone like GRE sugar no arrogance nothing Grant Dixon and Grant Dixon absolutely and Nathan Jack they’re good talkers they’re good exactly right they been so I just I haven’t seen that angst which you sometimes get um yeah which is great because the horses don’t care where they’re from no absolutely I hope he comes to the new Ze cup Le to fame he’ll legitimize the race this year not that the Cup itself needs legitimizing but what would happen is if he doesn’t go then whoever wins that people can go well leap the fame beat and to be perfectly honest they’re probably right yeah they probably are short break for us in our home straight on your final box seat of this season it is brought to you by our stable of sponsors [Music] [Music] he [Music] welcome back in to your box seat where can you go harness racing this week very important race meeting on Sunday it’s the last of the features if you like for ash Burton they got the $40,000 Helen Pope for the 2-year-old Phillies the $60,000 sapling Stakes for the 2-year-olds and the champion Stakes for 30,000 kicks off with Addington on Thursday night they have a 10 race program there 452 the first of those Cambridge the white B plenty harness racing club race Friday night 5261 there I mentioned the ash Burton meeting 12:00 on King’s birthday weekend on the Sunday and on that Monday in the Carle race uh with their 10 races so plenty of harness racing action for you to get involved in about a month ago maybe five weeks ago I had to have a game of golf against a friend of the shows AJ Berry often provides us with photos um he bollocked his way into getting a handicap that allowed him to win the game I wanted to show you this though here is AJ on the 11th the ton Golf Club I’ll you take on the 11th and as you see in front of him we just go a little bit further that’s the ladies T just in front of us here so he didn’t really perform on this hole he didn’t perform on that hole Michael but we made him famous around kaiora cup time of course the lobster eating a lobster um I got beaten on the golf course Michael after making a statement that if he beats me I’ll give the game away um but he told me he hadn’t played any golf and he hit one drive about 300 meters so he lied to me it’s nice of him that he was um being protective of our female golf was by not getting it to the female team just in case anybody was standing there look just talking about AJ and we mentioned Chanel Lawson earlier on um Trish jelle was someone I spent a lot of time with our racing photographers right around the country do a wonderful job it’s largely a thankless task and they do a wonderful job sometimes coming up under bloody cold circumstances so to all our photogs thank you as a racing editor myself I know without you particularly for me with Trish in the north um we would struggle to get coverage into papers on on HR andz so to AJ and all those people are the shooters out there thank you Michael it’s been four years four years and when we started this off and for people at home they don’t really understand that we do it out of a temporary studio if you like that actually is only designed for Greyhounds uh but I felt the need for the show to continue to to spread the harness racing uh word without our family of sponsors just massive massive support from them uh over that entire time many of them just coming on straight away saying yep no problem at all uh you know the likes of of breens and it and New Zealand bloodstock and the list goes on and on it’s not fair if I just uh uh individualize them but also the clubs heavily getting involved but the team here in choss church have put it together to Britney everard Wilner Shay James Daryl um to Patrick Chapel who changed the schedule weekly for us Michael because we needed to make it work to get the absolute maximum out of our friends from entan and the TB who’ve been great supporters giving us the odds uh to Jason Patterson and Craig the whale Thompson Who provided the footage over the last month or so to the Matts pedon and cross who’ve also been on the show um without them it it just simply wouldn’t be possible without your input and people at home they know you get paid by the word that’s fantastic that’s why you say more than me and to Glenn Bourne who’s based in Hawks Bay so we do it out of a chit Studio that’s not designed for a show like this it’s produced out of hawks Bay and it arrives on your TV uh each and every week um it’s been been a massive effort and something that I’m immensely proud of and proud of the people that have been involved so it should be Greg um so basically the TB stopped making shows four years ago during Co that’s entirely their right um heading forward in Tan Loves making shows and they will be the right people to make shows like this and we and and everything else they do but if you hadn’t started this show I know that we wouldn’t have got off the ground either so we would have had no magazine shows in New Zealand for the last four years so mate well done to you um you went out and did this which enabled David Ellis to do the idea of making way in come back and therefore it came back and the tab helped a lot and they’ve helped a lot more in the last year under their new bosses but now it’s time for this show which will come back next year next season sorry to be taken over by Anan because that better resourced because this really has been put together on the smell of an Oly rag um so and it needs a kick in the backside Michael it needs a refresh no question you can’t you can’t run a television show with any TV ceras which is what we’ve been doing for 4 years so look it’s been fantastic congratulations to you mate to everybody who’s helped out to all the participants um and also been massive because it’s their show Michael and without them and their input to the show and you mentioned John dun before God like him who never says No in fact I don’t have anyone who says no to helping us out also Alexandra Park helped out Gary and the team at Alexandra Park and Niger we helped out too at doing a job which they do professionally Emily who took a lot of the photos much reduced rate so look at that’s that’s the end of the current box seat I don’t know what it’s going to look like in the new season that’s ‘s job to find out because they resource and this is what they do among other things they make shows but mate well done to you you did this and if it wasn’t for this show getting off off its ass in 2020 and coming back which then rolled into way and doing the same thing there would have been no magazine shows in this country for the last four years it’s been fun to be part of looking forward to seeing what comes up and I hope that viewers who have enjoyed the last four years at any capacity come back and join us September October when it comes back again all right that wraps up the 2324 season of the box seat once again a massive thank you to everyone for making it happen but to you Michael uh have a great we break over the winter period we hope to both be back in about 3 months time but until then it’s bye for now the box seat brought to you by our stable of sponsors harness link for all your worldwide harness racing coverage bre and Farms New Zealand blood stock standard bread IRT it’s your horse and our passion gard’s Horse and Hound Lincoln Farms Renwick Farms harness racing New Zealand the clubs Oakland Cambridge Addington and ash Burton and the tab [Music]