Welcome To BGP!

A note for newish members of the BGP Community

Over the past six months, the BGP audience has grown quickly and a lot of this can be tied back to our focus on The Karaka Million coupled with recent Punters Clubs and the content blitz over the COVID-19 lock down.

We are back to basics here with what BGP is, what to expect and how to get the most out of it.

The Covid-19 crisis has given BGP a really good opportunity to serve up both valuable and entertaining content amongst a bleak back drop of cancelled racing. Although our community is now in the strength of tens of thousands of people, at the heart of it we are a small group of lads who are passionate about their hobby of horse racing. As we’ve demonstrated our passion further, we’ve attracted more people into the same sport that captivated us a long time ago.

Near on 3 months ago, we were screaming home ninety six thousand on Probabeel at the 2020 Karaka Million with 452 people in one room and 1,350 people in a punters club. Today, we have uncertainty whether we will be allowed to gather 1,000 people at the Karaka Million in 2021.

The point of this quick note is to welcome our newest members joining us in a time of complete uncertainty. We want you to have a general understanding of what BGP is about and in some ways, a bit of certainty.

BGP is a community of like minded people who enjoy horse racing. We started off as a group of mates who would share their best bet on the weekend and pray the horse would salute. Fast forward 8 years and it’s still the same thing. However, now we have 17,000 people along for the ride and where we can, we get excited about New Zealand (and Australian) racing through text, podcasts, video and a few events.

During the lock down, we’ve seen our audience grow quickly across Facebook (Page & group), Instagram, App downloads and even our Paid Supporters Membership. As a result of this, our engagement has gone to record levels too. A lot of this will be exisiting members tuning in to the things we are up to and also some people just chasing escapism during a tough time.

If you’ve been in BGP for a while now (some of you are coming up 9 years!!!) you will be reading nothing new here so to you, this is a refresher. But if this is all new to you, you are probably still wondering what the fark BGP is.

Who BGP Are?

BGP – Boys Get Paid is a community of people just like you. Founded in 2011 by Duan White, he needed a way to share his best horse racing tip for the weekend. As we made more mates in racing, they all joined too. We had no idea it would turn in to what it is today. What started as people posting tips is now A LOT more than that. Tips sit at the heart of what we do but we have expanded into media, events, comps, punters clubs, memberships, a place of belonging, a voice and now we are a part of New Zealand Racing.

These days, Duan works in racing in Australia but still provides us with cryptic punting tips like he always has. A small group of us between NZ and Australia steady the ship and still try to work out what we are doing. As we got bigger we had to dig in to keep the beast going. What used to be accepting a few Facebook posts is now organising events & projects, figuring out how to build apps and how to respond to thousands of messages a month.

We want to provide content that will make people enjoy racing more. Bigger than that, we want to do things that make people’s lives better – that’s more than just racing.

We haven’t sold out to a book maker, a major corporate deal or approaches to be a part of things that will effectively see our voice quietened. Trust us when we say, we’ve had the chance. We’ve done this because we still want it to be fun and we don’t want to be told what we can and can’t say. We want to be ourselves – that is why the audience has increased, not decreased.

We aren’t trying to be anyone other than who we are. Sometimes we’ve been told we need to tone down our swearing. We never told those same people how to run their show and they still haven’t figured it out either so we’ve learnt to put that feedback to the side.

You know, it’s really frustrating being so passionate about a struggling industry because you just want good things to happen, and quickly. Unfortunately the whole industry does too and we’ve accepted that that’s not how life works.

A lot of people have volunteered a lot of time to make BGP work, to put events together, to make podcasts happen, to spread the word and to turn BGP in to what it is today. We aim to keep growing, to keep turning up and pull off more projects.

Last year we got brave and launched a Paid Supporters Membership and today, over 300 of them sit in a separate Facebook Community. These members all contributed to our work and the growth + enrichment of the entire community. We’ve been blown away by the response of these members and are privileged to have their support.

We can’t underestimate the impact that this has had on BGP and racing. We wouldn’t have an app if if weren’t for these Supporters Members. That very app is on over 9,000 peoples phones. That very app engages people in racing every week. Sometimes even daily.

When the world settles down and racing returns to normality, we plan to have a ‘BGP Apprentice’ to help us do even more good for the community and in turn, racing. Again, this will be our Supporters Members making this happen through their financial support.

Racing is about to go into a further state of distress and BGP is going to be rock solid through that, finding new ways to enjoy the sport and shine a spotlight on it.

It would be completely unfair of us not to acknowledge the support we’ve had from racing businesses that have wanted to get in behind what we are doing, they know who they are and we do to. Our whole community knows and we will continue to support them in return.

If you are still reading this, you are probably thinking, holy sh*t this thing is deeper than the few Facebook posts I thought it was – you are right. We’d love to have you deeper in our community and a part of something unique that we coined ‘The Movement’. The best way to do that is to ensure you are in the Boys Get Paid Facebook group, have the app, follow us on socials and get involved in something we have a crack at over the next 12 months.

We aren’t trying to sell you tips, a get rich quick scheme or a polo you don’t want. We are happy if you just sit in the back ground watching. Maybe you want to read up on what’s happening in racing, you can do that. Maybe you want to back a winner, we hope we can find you one. You might want to make some mates, we can definitely help with that. See the beauty of getting to 20,000 people is that there isn’t much we can’t do. As a community we can decide, and get in behind it. We value our community, it’s members and at the heart of that is positivity.

If you are here to be a hero, you’ll find that BGP disappears for you, see ya in advance.

We are stoked to have continued growth of BGP and in particular, our Supporters Members. It’s been a rocky few weeks for a lot of New Zealanders and we see this continuing. We feel like we’ve done a lot to contribute to New Zealand racing in a time where New Zealand isn’t even racing.

Over the next few months, racing will look different and so will New Zealand. BGP might too, but we will continue to show up and do our bit for an industry and sport that we are still as passionate about as we were in 2011. The best bit now is that we have WAY more people to share it with.

We might have had to go away from New Zealand tips which are effectively our roots. We know that what ever we do, we won’t always please everyone. But isn’t that the fun of it, to learn? One thing we won’t do is go away from listening to you guys and what you want to see, hear and be a part of.

Thanks to you for being a part of BGP, you know what this is about. For those stumbling across us, we hope to surprise you and make you wonder how you never knew about this.
If you have any questions or suggestions, we respond to every single e-mail (sh*t we need that apprentice): themovement@boysgetpaid.com

BGP!!

BGP Colour In Competition

We heard that some of the kids are getting a bit itchy around the house and might need something to do.

We also know that some of the big kids (looking at the jockeys here 👀) are bored so they can have a crack too.

Save the below photo and colour it old school or via a tablet.  The artist must sign their masterpiece with their name!

Enter the BGP colour in competition and be in to win BGP Merchandise packs thanks to The BGP Foundation. Winners will be announced in May.

To enter, send your completed colour in competition sheet to themovement@boysgetpaid.com by 30th April 2020.

We don’t suggest sending physical copies, we would don’t have a letterbox to accept such entries.

We will be uploading completed entries to Facebook and Instagram.

There are two categories 0 – 99 years & jockeys.

 

Colouring In Comp

Transparent ⬇️

BOYS-GET-PAID!!

 

Terms and Conditions:

  • BGP judges decision will be final, no correspondence will be entered into
  • Send your completed colour in competition sheet to themovement@boysgetpaid.com by 30th April 2020
  • Prizes are non-transferable and not redeemable for cash

 

Community | BGP!!

For The Optimist (.co.nz)
✍🏼by Luke Kemeys
Published 26 July 2019

Last week I ventured to Blenheim to catch-up on some family time and then headed over to see some of the BGP faithful in Nelson. A group of 10 of us went out for dinner where we snuck in the last couple of races from Belmont and a few money bags off the starters menu.

These boys had previously attended the Captain Cook Stakes when Kawi was big, bold, black and back when claiming his final Group One. Before that weekend ended, I mentioned that a good mate of mine, Mark, was looking to move to Nelson and if he did I’d get them in touch with each other as he knew no one in town.

Fast forward two years and these boys all now play footy, cricket, and the odd pokie machine together. With their partners, they have had plenty of good times and have supported each other through some challenging times on a personal front. They’ve bumped into a fellow BGP member who is now training them a trotter which they’ve snapped up 50% of after having too many or too few jars.

This is BGP and it’s community aspect in full flight. If that wasn’t enough, one of that same crew has organised a 10-person syndicate to head to the Victoria Derby in October with the BGP tour group and stay on for the Melbourne Cup. The intangible benefit that BGP is having on the entire industry is not always visible and realistically can not be measured, but as the smart clubs understand, you never know if one of these people will become your biggest sponsor and equally for the on-to-it trainer, your next owner.

It’s what BGP is all about. It brings people together, like-minded people. Something that was missing when a few mates and I first took an interest in racing. I know that some people on the outside think that BGP is just punting & ‘lads’, and whatever other negative bullsh^t spin they put on it to feed their own insecurities or lack of action, but for all we have achieved in this struggling industry, the above types of story are ones that have instilled us most, with pride.

During the week, we also said a big welcome to the BGP family to ‘Boys Get Paid’ – an exceptionally well-named greyhound who will be blazing around the tracks soon. We’ll keep you posted before his debut – congratulations to everyone that got involved in the syndicate to make this happen, Ben is pumped to have pulled it off with so many of you taking a share.

Something that always intrigues me is that when I talk to a lot of smart people outside of the racing industry, they are completely unaware that racing is struggling and almost on its knees. It always fascinates me as I wonder if it goes back to that mentality that it is, or was, ‘the Sport of Kings’ or whether the game doesn’t receive enough widespread coverage for it to be at the forefront of people’s minds. I suspect it is the latter.

The older and wiser generation of these people always have a connection back to racing, so they are themselves are intrigued about what happened. Where do you start? Well, they are also far too wise than to take 3 hours of their life and hear me explain how I think it all went wrong. For racing to prosper, I think we are going to need to get a lot more people in on the journey of revival so that they can feel a part of it, and have their own story to tell others.

That’s effectively our grand plan with the Karaka Million night – in 2020 it will be to give 600 people who attend, their best-ever race day experience which will then lead them to another form of involvement in racing, whether that be by returning, attend another race meeting or telling a mate they have to come the following year. The same with the Punters Club and those that can’t be on course – the same formula but from a punting perspective.

In 2022 when over 20,000 people attend the Karaka Million race day, we are going to look at each other – then the people that are there for the first time and we will have known that this was going to happen. Better still, we’ll all have been a part of the journey.

Trust The Process – Expect The Results.

BGP – From Theoptimist.co.nz

With The Informant sadly announcing that there will be no comeback, we thought we better pull finger and get an article out to those of you who provided feedback to The Informant that you liked reading what we are up to and our take on some of the industry complications and matters.

Brian has offered to host this as part of The Optimist, so hopefully, you enjoy reading it, and we can continue to add a bit of energy into a battling industry we all love.

For me, it’s personally been pretty sad to see so many people want to help The Informant in some way, but the offer has come when it’s been too late. A good reminder for us to support the things we care about while we can.

An interesting dynamic from our end is the amount of advertising spend that The Informant would have had. Where does that money go now? Does it get spent at all? Do those readers and users of The Informant turn away from racing?

As always, plenty of activity is underway behind the scenes with BGP, and when winter racing kicks in, it gives us a bit of a breather to figure out what we want to achieve next and where we should direct our energy. One of those things is whether we pull the trigger on building a mobile APP and what it will involve – that’s before thinking about how we’d fund it.

We don’t have the luxury of falling back on corporate bookmakers to fund our activities through affiliate systems like our mates over in Australia. Tell you what, we’ve had countless conversations about where we’d be if we did!

BGP bought a 50% share in a Savabeel weanling which we’ve already nicknamed Savage. He’s had the once-over from the vet and has given the all clear.

Next week he heads home from the dusty pastures of Australia for that real clean green Masterton grass. Here he’ll be nurtured into a sales topping colt (shit we are optimists) by the team at Little Avondale. We are looking forward to updating everyone with Savage’s progress and taking people along the journey of weanling to yearling.

On the event front, we can finally take a breather, or can we? We are having a day out at a low-key Wanganui day which is on Jewels Day. Our harness man from the south, Fitzy, has sorted a day out at the Jewels on course in Christchurch. It’ll be good to get down to the South and link up with some of our Southern brothers for what will be the first time for many.

Further to this, we are getting pretty serious about nailing down exactly how many ‘events’ we have each year to avoid dulling the flavour of the BGP experience. This will mean that we have to have some pretty frank conversations with clubs – if they can’t deliver ‘x’ back to BGP we won’t be coming. There’s a lot of admin that goes into making a BGP event happen, and clubs need to sort their offering out rather than looking to BGP to bring them a crowd.

One of the boys has backed way too many Greyhounds on a Friday night and now reckons he is going to put a syndicate together to race a dog so that should be fun. Some of the early BGP family will remember a great bitch called Zipping Tay that was part-owned by a BGP syndicate and won a couple of races to get the boys paid. Greyhounds are a bit different – less on-going costs – so it makes it a lot more affordable for younger people to get involved.

Our Paid Supporters Membership has been well received early on, and we’re starting to look at grabbing a percentage of a lease in a horse to give the members a taste of the horse racing experience. Our membership cards turned up and are multi-purpose; they not only open bottles of beer but you can use them to rule a line through scratchings or one of your mate’s selections – the ones that tip like a cat!

The BGP Foundation auction for the Redzel silks finishes on Friday, and someone is going to pick up a great piece of history so if you are a Redzel fan get to the first post on the Facebook page and throw in a bid. We were tempted to throw them on Jakkifromthenaki on the weekend for her debut – it was good to see the big ginge finally have a hit out down in the Taranaki.

All going well, she may head to Hawera next start where some of you will be surprised to know I spent some time on the committee trying to learn more about this sport. This Johnny-come-lately can sympathise with some of you stalwarts about shifting a rail – tedious, especially when hung over.

Look after yourselves,
Luke

Boys Get Paid!!

Young People In Racing | Te Rapa 4th May

At the bottom of this page you’ll find an e-mail I sent to a small group of racing participants on Monday 27/08/2012 8:19 PM

The 2012 date is not a typo but will probably give you an insight into a problem I could see 6 years ago and how I thought we might be able to solve it. I don’t really know what had me sitting down typing this at 8.20pm on a Monday but it’s probably the same thing that has me sitting here on a Sunday typing this one too. For some reason I care.

When The Informant announced they will have to cease publication this week I was really hurt for them and also surprised at the amount of people who suddenly want to support something they could have been supporting during it’s publication. Hopefully they get the support they need.

I find it interesting when I hear some people throw around chat that young people need to put their hand up and start helping out more. Not just in racing but other areas of the community too. That’s a great idea but will they be listened to or taken seriously? What happens when they do put their hand up? Should they care enough to keep chipping away like the 24 year old firing off e-mails at 8.20pm on a Monday evening?

Back to this 2012 e-mail. My favourite part of this story is to let you know that I didn’t get a response nor have anyone enquire about my genius plan. What an idiot. Me, not them. Thinking that it would be that easy.

When I sat with Te Akau’s David Ellis at Te Rapa on the 18th of August 2018 and he offered Boys Get Paid, two paid up 5% shares in their 2yo fillies, he wasn’t talking to me. He was talking to the 24 year old lad sitting as his laptop typing, trying to make a difference in an industry that’s probably made minimal progress in that same 6 years. David suggested I take 24 hours to think about it and whether we keep 5% for the group and 5% for BGP admin. I only needed 24 seconds to explain the 10% would be raced by anyone in the community that wanted to be involved and that any prize money would be reinvested into the group in the form of content and events.

Like everything racing, it’s a long game and unfortunately neither have hit the track yet. 1,000 people have however loved getting the updates and an insight into what a horse is doing in the background. For most of this 1,000, it is their first exposure to racing a horse.

On the 4th of May 2019, we are heading back to Te Rapa for a party and a celebration. A celebration of an idea that took 6 years to pull off. A party because why farking not. It’s been a huge last 6 months for both Te Akau and BGP. As racing starts to slow down for Winter, we’ll be busy behind the scenes working on our latest ideas, events and the ultimate goal of seeing those BGP silks pick up a Group 1 race.

Let’s make it a good one.

See you there,
Kemeys

SUBJECT: Young People In Racing
To whom it may concern, 

I hope this e-mail finds you well and you have the time to read it. 
Without getting into every detail, I would like to outline a plan to get young people into the New Zealand Racing industry and would value your opinion, thoughts and hopefully; support. 
As a young person (24) relatively new to the industry, I have heard many times that racing is not what it use to be and it is just not getting the support that it used to. Obviously there are a number of factors behind this including political and economic issues. However, I believe that racing is still an attractive sport and has many draw cards. Therefore, we need to be getting people of my generation involved so that we can find the next set of leaders of NZ Racing
In a nutshell, I am proposing a 500 member ‘syndicate’ where by every member contributes $100 at the start and in turn receives access to a website. This website will be content rich with details of the horse that would be purchased for $30,000-$40,000. Without getting carried away, any winnings of the horse would be returned to the industry in form of event days at the races where members would be paid for a day at the races etc.
As you know, there are a number of costs in racing and this is where we would require the support of people like yourselves. We would appreciate ‘sponsorship’ where by a stud could for instance sponsor the horses travel expenses for the year in return for advertising on the website initially and in the media once attention is gained. You will of course too, feel satisfaction that you are contributing to the overall goal that is enriching New Zealand Racing
This idea is about getting people to the track, increasing spending, gaining an interest and planting a seed to get the next generation of racing enthusiasts involved now.
I have tried to keep this e-mail relatively short and to the point. There is a lot more detail to be worked on and if you would like to get in touch with me then please find my cellphone number at the bottom of this e-mail.
There has already been a large amount of support from industry participants, including trainers offering free training etc. This has given me the encouragement to go further and talk to yourselves. I truly would value any feedback in the form of ideas, re-direction, support or even an expressed opinion that this won’t work so that we can hopefully prove you wrong!
Thank you for your valuable time. 
Regards, 
Luke Kemeys

GET THEM BETTING EARLY AND THEY’LL BET ALL DAY | From The Informant

The TAB has done well to embrace a very simple strategy that the Australian bookmakers use around promotions in early races.

The theory is that if punters are encouraged to bet early, they’ll end up betting throughout the day. That certainly worked for me and no doubt hundreds of other punters taking part in the March madness offer refunding you (up to $20) if your runners finished second through to fourth.

This should see turnover increase so the results will be interesting. The general feel I get from our group is that people haven’t been betting as much in March though; maybe a little bit of racing fatigue after the high of the Karaka Million and resulting come down.

I read somewhere that the TAB was $18million behind in turnover on last year, which I’d be worried about as a CEO and if reporting to my Board, but I imagine there will be some sound reasoning as to why. The frustrations of the TAB’s new platform would have been music to the ears of a lot of Australian bookmakers picking up Kiwi customers for the first time.

If we keep the status quo of the current racing administration, we really better hope a competitive product and promotions like March madness are good enough to bring punters’ dollars back, because I don’t think we can expect new people into the sport.

I’m attending a business course this week with 25 business owners and the interest or knowledge of the racing industry in the room is next to nothing, which is staggering for a racing nut.

Back to the exciting stuff, we managed to pull in Tom Waterhouse from Australia to take part in our 10-week punters’ club last weekend. As our guest selector he had four horses for us to back and even with his expertise, we couldn’t land a profit. Hopefully the tide turns because it’s my turn to spend the $10,000 this weekend. Falling on my birthday and one of my favourite racedays centred on the Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes, it’s almost like it’s meant to be. Bring it on!

Around 100 of the BGP community are off to Awapuni to take in the Group One action. The BGP silks will be represented too, with a couple of runners giving our people a look into ownership, so hopefully they end up in the birdcage after the race.

With the rugby season now in full swing, you lose a large audience of potential racegoers and it really makes you realise how summer racing probably needs to be our focus in terms of driving on-course attendance. Unfortunately, I can’t be there this weekend as I head off to Melbourne to get through a couple of meetings and spend some time with the family.

They aren’t impressed I booked a meeting for a Saturday but I don’t like turning down opportunities to learn and it’s my birthday so they can deal with it because we’ll be off to the pub after to watch what ever I whack $10,000 on.

By the time you get to read this column, our video from Launceston Cup Day should be floating around the internet somewhere (first stop the BGP Facebook page) so check it out. It was an entertaining day hosted by Tasmania Racing.

Last week we launched the very early stages of our paid subscription membership for supporters of BGP. I’m rapt to say the first 100 slots went very quickly so my mind is already turning to giving them value exceeding the cost and whether we could soon have a BGP employee.

That person had better like a day’s work though, because as you’ve probably figured out, we don’t muck around and we don’t sit still. See you all on the other side of the Sires.

 

As featured in The Informant
Written by: Luke Kemeys

Karaka Million 2yo Runner by Runner Preview and Teds Tips

This is the richest race for the 2yos in New Zealand earning some nice money for the winning connections. The winning jockey will earn $400.00 for every second he rides in the race. The winning trainer will earn $800.00 for every second he watches and the winning owners just over $8000.00 for every second they watch.

The barrier draw yesterday has had a major influence on the runners and how this race may now play out. Without doubt the big winner from the draws was the horse that has now come into favourite in Whiskey Neat. With the two gate he can either lead or trail and if there a lot of early speed pop into the trail. The former favourite and now second favourite Probabeel is now more than likely be taken back from the outside gate and as such going to end up further back in the field than if she had drawn better.

The two inside gates will go forward to make use of them plus they are both forward runners anyway. Beauty Diva has blistering early speed and from gate six could she zoom over and look to take the lead. If so, then will Leith Innes try and keep her out on Whiskey Neat or take a sit behind Beauty Diva. Both Louis Luck and Challa are drawn handily at four and five are also both likely to go forward which means there could well be plenty of early pressure in the race as they look for positions and if that pressure is sustained throughout then something back in the field can come over the top of the leaders which is what Probabeel will be looking to do.

Unlike last year when the race looked pretty easy to work out with Avantage drawing nicely at gate five and the race going to plan for her, this year’s race is a bit of a conundrum unless you think Whiskey Neat is unbeatable from the draw. In his two wins he has had it pretty soft in front without any pressure but I feel he won’t get that luxury on Saturday. He did wobble about under pressure over the closing stages of that win here last start and I did see him run off at the Te Aroha trials when going right handed before his debut. They have brought him up here a couple of times for gallops to help him but if he does come under pressure early I do wonder how he will react. He could also bolt in but I have enough concern that he could get rolled.

Opie has had the choice of five of the Te Akau horses as I mentioned and has chosen the filly with 54.5kgs and for Opie to get down to ride at that weight then he must feel pretty confident she can take the race out and give him and Jamie Richards a remarkable run of three wins in a row in the race. He has had to make the same decision over mounts the last two years and chosen correctly and that will be good enough for me on Saturday. I think this is a smart filly and will more than likely make a better 3yo but still capable of taking the race out. If Opie can go back, get some cover and then have her moving into the race turning in she can then sustain a strong run to the line and get up over them in the final meters.

 

1   12   Aotea Lad        (12)     56.5kgs

James McDonald

Trainer: Jamie Richards

2g Savabeel – Corsage

Purchase Price $200,000   Two starts: Won the G2 Wakefield Challenge Stakes at Trentham over 1100m on debut last month. Finished second behind Whiskey Neat here on New Years Day in the G3 Eclipse Stakes with Exuberant third. Got back that day before running home strongly. Drawn out and likely pattern again. Looks a nice type with James Mac to ride and with the right run hard to beat. Visor blinkers go on. $7.00FF

2   11   Whiskey Neat   (2)  56.5kgs

Leith Innes

Trainer: Tony Pike

2g Denman – Ouija

Purchase Price   $220,000 Two starts: Unbeaten. The first of them was at Otaki when winning by ten lengths creating a big impression and following that with a win at Ellerslie on New Years Day in the Eclipse Stakes beating Aotea Lad and Exuberant. Led in both starts and had drawn the best of the better backed runners in gate to. Will go forward and lead or trail and if he does things correctly right handed is right in this. $2.70FF

3   12   Neptune’s Spear (11) 56.5kgs

Johnathan Parkes

Trainer: Liam Birchley

2c Super Easy – Hestolemyroses

Purchase Price $140,000    Two starts: Australian trained galloper who won on debut at Doomben in November over 1050m. Second start, also at Doomben earlier this month over 1110m he finished second beaten three and a quarter lengths. Not knowing the Australian form around this horse it is difficult how to rate him against the NZ runners. Trainer has won the race twice previously so knows what is required to win.  $21.00FF

4   13    Exuberant    (15)      56.5kgs

Jason Waddell

2c  Savabeel  –  Merrily

Trainer: Stephen Marsh

Purchase Price  $160,000 Two starts:  Won the Listed Wellesley Stakes over 1000m at Trentham late October beating Last Sight and Appellant. Nearly ten weeks later he lined up in the G3 Eclipse Stakes at Ellerslie on New Years Day finishing a good third behind Whiskey Neat and Aotea Lad. He will be improved for  that run but the disastrous draw makes it very difficult for him now. Will need luck,  probably go back and look to run on.  $15.00FF

5   12   Yourdeel    (13)    56.5kgs

Matt Cameron

2g  Dundeel  –  Miss Zapper

Trainer:   Jamie Richards

Purchase price   $100,000  Two Starts:  Won easily on debut at Te Rapa  last month by over five lengths beating Flaunting. Then lined up at Ellerslie two weeks ago and just went down to stablemate Probabeel in the last two strides, beaten a head after sitting outside the leader. An awkward draw to overcome and not sure how they will ride him from out there. Has to be one of the main dangers in the race with the right run.   $13.00FF

6   1   Louis Luck    (4)    56.5kgs

Shafiq Rusof

2g  Dissident  –  My Option

Trainer:   Jamie Richards

One start:  Won well on debut at Trentham  two weeks ago beating The Fugitive who is held in some regard by a length over 1200m in 1:08:61. Has a very good draw to operate with. Shared the pace on the inner in that Trentham win so most likely will be sent forward again to make use of the draw. He didn’t shirk the task in that debut win and if able to back up quickly can go well again.   $12.00FF

7 Challa (5)  56.5kgs    

Johnathan Riddell

2g  Dissident  –  Are There Any

Trainer:   Jamie Richards

Purchase Price   $100,000   Four starts: Three seconds in a row, all at Riccarton, with the third start behind Miss Federer in the Listed Welcome Stakes in November. His fourth start was  at Ellerslie two weeks ago when finishing seventh of eight some seven lengths behind Probabeel and Yourdeel. He had the run of the race in the trail but found little in the run home. Hard to see him turning the tables on those two even with a better draw. Look elsewhere. Blinkers go on.  $91.00FF

8   42×1   Tappy’s One   (7)    56.5kgs

Samantha Collett

2g  Proisir  –  Tappy Lee

Trainer:  Stephen McKee

Purchase Price  $20,000  Three starts: Finished fourth at Counties over 800m behind Beauty Diva in late September and followed that up with a second behind Last Sight at Ruakaka early October. Freshened up he came out at Tauranga eight days ago and won by two lengths. Backing up quickly here but trainer has won the race previously. Not a bad draw to operate from, likely to settle about fifth or sixth but this is a big step up for him and looks held.  $51.00FF

9   33   Blackrocksdetox    (3)   56.5kgs

2g  Rip Van Winkle  –  Dominique

Vinnie Colgan

Trainer:  Bruce Wallace  &  Allan   Peard

Purchase Price  $26,000            Two starts:  Finished third in both starts, the first at Counties in the Listed Splice Construction Stakes over 1100m behind Bavella. Start two was at Ellerslie on Boxing Day behind Appellant on a wet track that day running on strongly from last over the 1100m. In both starts he has been slow away from the outside gate of seven.  He has drawn beautifully in gate three but if slow away will get back in a very awkward position and make it difficult.  $51.00FF

10   331  Appellant    (9)     54.5kgs

Tommy Berry

2f  Showcasing  –  Royal Appellant

Trainer:  Stephen Marsh

Purchase Price   $30,000 Three starts:  Finished third on debut at Counties in September over 800m behind Beauty Diva when finishing strongly. Then came from last at Trentham to finish third behind Exuberant in the Listed Wellesley Stakes over 1000m. Came to Ellerslie on Boxing Day to win over 1200m on the wet track. I think there is upside to this filly and from gate nine can settle about sixth and look to finish strongly. Good chance at nice odds. Side winkers on.  $21.00FF

11   211  Probabeel   (16)    54.5kgs

Opie Bosson

2f   Savabeel  –  Far Fetched

Trainer: Jamie Richards

Purchase Price  $380,000  Three starts:  Just beaten on debut at Te Rapa over 1000m she won her next two starts, both at Ellerslie .In the first she got back before sweeping by to win by four and a half length over 1100m. Two weeks ago she got back on the inner before finishing widest and getting up the last couple of strides. Opie had the choice of five and is wasting hard to ride this one. He and the trainer are looking for a three peat. Horror draw but is smart. Visor blinkers on. $3.70FF

12   154  Beauty Diva  (6)   54.5kgs

Winona Costin

2f  Showcasing  –  Ketchme

Trainer:  Clinton Isdale

Purchase Price  $11,000 Three starts:  She won impressively on debut at Counties over 800m showing plenty of speed beating First Rock and Appellant. She then finished fifth in the Wellesley Stakes at Trentham over 1000m battling the last part. At Ellerslie on Boxing Day she finished fourth but some thirteen lengths behind Appellant. Has a handy draw and plenty of speed to make use of it but probably to be found wanting over the closing stages on last two runs.  $101.00FF

13   24   Aalaalune   (10)   54.5kgs

2f  Reliable Man  –  Viva Girl

Trainer:  Jacob McKay

Purchase Price  $230,000 Two starts:  She finished second on debut in the Listed Splice Construction Stakes at Counties late November behind Bavella and then lined up at Ellerslie in the G3 Eclipse Stakes and ran home nicely to finish fourth behind Whiskey Neat, Aotea Lad and Exuberant. It was a tidy enough run to suggest with the right run she could get some of it and is not without a show.  Side winkers go on.   $35.00FF

14   21   Flaunting    (1)      54.5kgs

Sam Spratt

2f  Showcasing –  Acapela

Trainer:  David Greene

Purchase Price $40,000  Two starts: She finished second on debut at Te Rapa albeit just over five lengths behind Yourdeel last month and then went to Matamata where she won over 1200m after getting the run of the race in the trail popping out at the 300m and winning by three quarters of a length. This is a big step up but does have the coveted one draw, so successful in the past in this race. That is a big help and likely to take advantage of it but likely to find a few better here.  $35.00FF

15   1  Rainbow Dash   (8)   54.5kgs

2f  Showcasing  –  Sarsourti

Trainer:  Jenna  Mahoney

Purchase Price  $14,000 One start:  This filly made her debut at Matamata two and a half weeks ago and won really nicely after sitting outside the leader and coming away in the straight to win by a length and a quarter beating a nice horse in Minnallines. She does need a scratching to get a start but if she did she could be a worth a gold coin or two at big odds.  $51.00FF

16   2  Qiji Swordsman   (14)   56.5kgs

2g  Shamexpress  –  Flowing

Trainer:  Nigel Tiley

Purchase Price  $40,000  One start:  Finished second on debut behind Tappy’s Star at Tauranga and didn’t get all favours that day when in tight quarters at the 400m. When out and with room ran on strongly two lengths behind the winner. Second on the ballot and probably not going to get a start.

SELECTIONS:

11 PROBABEEL

10 APPELLANT

12 AOTEA LAD

2 WHISKEY NEAT

Good luck.