Racing Matters by Matt Smith
Lacking a spark
So, the weather didn't exactly come to the party at Wingatui, but people seemed to enjoy themselves for the majority of the day. That is unless they were on the Network Formerly Known As Spark. This is the second year in a row where I have simply had to shrug my shoulders when my laptop's wireless stick loses reception just before midday. The phone follows suit, aside from some fleeting moments when I can receive a text or two and then I try a phone call only to get network errors.
In other words, I can't send a single story or photo through until 7pm.
Melbourne Cup day at Wingatui has been going for 10 years now. You would hope Spark would realise that and put contingency plans in place in terms of tower capacity for the day. Vodafone and 2Degrees users, by all accounts, were having a bit more luck, which made matters even more frustrating. To steal a line from Fair Go, ‘‘come on Spark - this just isn't good enough''.
Back to the future
The constant shuffling of big harness races in Australia has meant one notable change on the calendar - the Auckland Trotting Cup is heading back to New Year's Eve. Next year there will be the 2700m mobile version in March, followed by - wait for it - the old-fashioned 3200m standing start in December. That will please the purists, and it seems a good spot for it with not much happening on the Australasian Grand Circuit at that time of year.
Cup questions
Thoughts to ponder arising from the Melbourne Cup and some of the fallout over the unfortunate deaths of two horses following the race:
a Why was someone in the crowd waving an Australian flag just after the race? The Aussie horses were outclassed again, so what was there to celebrate? And how did security not notice this earlier?
Where were the activists complaining after Zuleika ruptured an artery and died during a race at Ashburton in March, leading to serious head injuries to Ashley Frye. Perhaps the race - a$7000 1200m maiden - wasn't high› profile enough for the activists to get up in arms about?
a On a semi-related note, if you were one of the idiots wandering through the birdcage at Wingatui as a shortcut back to your marquee, the area is largely empty for a reason. Stay out. Something for security to keep an eye on next year.
Lazy Fiver
I won't go overboard on the excuses for Zachary Binx's fifth at Kaikoura, although he did get held up briefly. Anyhoo. . .let's hold off until New Zealand Trotting Cup day and give Itz Bettor To Win a chance to clean up in the Get Out Stakes (race 12) on Tuesday.
