Just An Excuse
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Just An Excuse
Just An Excuse (4 December 1998 – 30 June 2008) was a champion New Zealand Standardbred racehorse, notable for twice winning the New Zealand Trotting Cup, in 2003 and 2004. Racing career Bred by Ollie and Irene Haines, trained by Robert Mitchell, and driven by Todd Mitchell, Just An Excuse won the following major races in New Zealand and Australia: * 2004 New Zealand Free For All, beating Mister D G and Jagged Account * 2004 New Zealand Trotting Cup, beating Elsu and Howard Bromac * 2004 Ballarat Cup, beating Sokyola and Double Identity * 2003 New Zealand Trotting Cup beating Elsu and Jack Cade * 2003 New Zealand Messenger Championship, beating Sly Flyin and All Hart * 2003 Noel J Taylor Memorial Mile, beating All Hart and Jagged Account Just An Excuse was also placed: * third in the 2005 New Zealand Trotting Cup behind Mainland Banner and Alta Serena * second in the 2003 Auckland Pacing Cup behind Elsu It was a testament to his class that he won the two New Zealand Cups ...
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Standardbred
The Standardbred is an American horse breed best known for its ability in harness racing, where members of the breed compete at either a trot or pace. Developed in North America, the Standardbred is recognized worldwide, and the breed can trace its bloodlines to 18th-century England. They are solid, well-built horses with good dispositions. In addition to harness racing, the Standardbred is used for a variety of equestrian activities, including horse shows and pleasure riding, particularly in the Midwestern and Eastern United States and in Southern Ontario. History In the 17th century, the first trotting races were held in the Americas, usually in fields on horses under saddle. However, by the mid-18th century, trotting races were held on official courses, with the horses in harness. Breeds that have contributed foundation stock to the Standardbred breed included the Narragansett Pacer, Canadian Pacer, Thoroughbred, Norfolk Trotter, Hackney, and Morgan. The foundation blo ...
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Gelding
A gelding is a castrated male horse or other equine, such as a pony, donkey or a mule. Castration, as well as the elimination of hormonally driven behavior associated with a stallion, allows a male equine to be calmer and better-behaved, making the animal quieter, gentler and generally more suitable as an everyday working animal. The gerund and participle "gelding" and the infinitive "to geld" refer to the castration procedure itself. Etymology The verb "to geld" comes from the Old Norse , from the adjective 'barren'. The noun "gelding" is from the Old Norse . History The Scythians are thought to have been the first people to geld their horses. They valued geldings as war horses because they were quiet, lacked mating urges, were less prone to call out to other horses, were easier to keep in groups, and were less likely to fight with one another. Reasons for gelding A male horse is often gelded to make him better-behaved and easier to control. Gelding can also remove lower ...
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New Zealand Trotting Cup
The New Zealand Cup for standardbred horses, also known as either the New Zealand Trotting Cup or the New Zealand Pacing Cup is a Group One (G1) harness race held annually by the New Zealand Metropolitan Trotting Club at Addington Raceway in Christchurch, New Zealand. It is generally considered the country's most prestigious harness racing event. The race is held during Show Week on the second Tuesday in November, three days before the Show Day public holiday. The New Zealand Free For All is held on Show Day. The public holiday in Christchurch is the observance of the Canterbury Anniversary Holiday (16 December in reality). The race meeting, along with the New Zealand Cup for thoroughbreds and greyhounds, forms part of Canterbury's carnival week, along with the Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Show. Until 1999, the A&P show was held at showgrounds adjacent to Addington Raceway. The New Zealand Trotting cup is considered as Canterbury's biggest day on its social calendar. ...
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New Zealand Free For All
The New Zealand Pacing Free For All is a major New Zealand harness race. It is notable as it is a Group One championship sprint race and has been won by nearly every champion pacer in New Zealand. History of the race Horses which have won the Free-for-all include hall of famers and champions who later shone in the United States and Canada like Cardigan Bay and Caduceus. The latter who won the Free For All three times. The race has also been won three times by Robalan, Harold Logan, Lordship and Author Dillon.New Zealand Free for All
Between 1942 and 1948 the race was renamed the New Zealand Pacing Sprint Championship. The race is contested at on th ...
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Elsu
Elsu (foaled 19 December 1999) is a black New Zealand bred Standardbred pacer who won the Australasian Pacers Grand Circuit Champion and was twice the New Zealand Horse of the Year. He was sired by Falcon Seelster out of Interchange by New York Motoring. Racing record He was trained by Geoff Small and driven by David Butcher. In 2002/2003, Elsu won the Great Northern Derby, the NZ Yearling Sales Series Open, the New Zealand Trotting Derby and the New South Wales Derby. During his career he also won the 2003 and 2004 Auckland Pacing Cups, the Chariots of Fire, the Noel J Taylor Memorial Mile, the New Zealand Messenger Championship, the A.G. Hunter Cup, the Inter-Dominion Pacing Championship and the City of Auckland Free For All. The 2004/2005 season saw Elsu crowned the Australasian Pacers Grand Circuit Champion, as well as being crowned New Zealand Harness Horse of the Year for the second time. Elsu was also placed second in the New Zealand Trotting Cup in 2003 and 200 ...
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New Zealand Messenger Championship
The New Zealand Messenger Championship is a Group One event for standardbred pacing horses in New Zealand, run at Alexandra Park. Race scheduling In recent years the race has been held in late April or early May. It was previously raced on the same race-night as the Rowe Cup and Northern Trotting Derby for trotters and the New Zealand Sires Stakes Championship. The New Zealand Messenger Championship had traditionally been restricted to 4 year-old horses and was the most prestigious race for that age group in New Zealand, and a key guide to feature races in the following season like the New Zealand Trotting Cup and Auckland Cup. This is evidenced by New Zealand Messenger Championship winners and subsequent Cup victors such as: * Lazarus * Auckland Reactor * Monkey King * Mainland Banner * Elsu * Just An Excuse. For the 2013, 2014 and 2015 years 5 year olds were also eligible to compete in the race. However, from 2016 it reverted to 4 year olds only. However, in 2022 the N ...
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Noel J Taylor Memorial Mile
The Noel J Taylor Memorial Mile is a Group One race for pacing horses in New Zealand. It is currently held over the distance of 1609 metres (one mile) once a year at Alexandra Park, Auckland, New Zealand. From 2007 to 2018 it was raced over 1700m. Traditionally the race was only for 4 year old pacers. However, from 2013 to 2015 the race was also open to five-year-olds. For the 2022 event it was opened up to all pacers. As well as being a major event in its own right, it is also the key lead-up to the New Zealand Messenger run the following week. Winners list Other major races * Auckland Trotting Cup * New Zealand Trotting Cup * New Zealand Free For All * Great Northern Derby * Dominion Handicap * Rowe Cup * New Zealand Messenger * Inter Dominion Pacing Championship * Inter Dominion Trotting Championship * Miracle Mile Pace See also * Harness racing * Harness racing in New Zealand Harness racing in New Zealand is primarily a professional sport which involves pacing ...
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Mainland Banner
Mainland is defined as "relating to or forming the main part of a country or continent, not including the islands around it egardless of status under territorial jurisdiction by an entity" The term is often politically, economically and/or demographically more significant than politically associated remote territories, such as exclaves or oceanic islands situated outside the continental shelf. In geography, "mainland" can denote the continental (i.e. non-insular) part of any polity or the main island within an island nation. In geopolitics, "mainland" is sometimes used interchangeably with terms like metropole as an antonym to overseas territories. In the sense of "heartland", mainland is the opposite of periphery. In some language a separate concept of "mainland" is missing and is replaced with a "continental portion". The term is relative: in Tasmania, continental Australia is the mainland, while to residents of Flinders Island, the main island of Tasmania is also "the ma ...
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Auckland Pacing Cup
The Auckland Pacing Cup which is sometimes referred to as the Auckland Trotting Cup or merely the Auckland Cup is a race held at Alexandra Park, Auckland, Alexandra Park in Auckland, New Zealand for Standardbred horses. It is one of the two major harness races, along with the New Zealand Trotting Cup, New Zealand Cup, held in New Zealand each year for the highest grade (Open class) pacers. It is a Group One, Group 1 championship race and has been won by many of the champion pacers in New Zealand. Cup History For most of its history the Auckland Cup has been raced in December, however at times it has been moved to other calendar dates such as: * March, from 2006 until 2015, when it formed part of Auckland Cup Week, a carnival which includes feature Thoroughbred and greyhound racing. As well as the March 2015 race (won by Christen Me) there was a second 2015 Auckland Cup raced in December (Have Faith In Me). Neither Christen Me or Have Faith In Me competed in the other race that ye ...
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Harness Racing In New Zealand
Harness racing in New Zealand is primarily a professional sport which involves pacing and trotting competitions for Standardbred racehorses. The difference is the horse's gait or running style: * pacing is where the two legs on the same side of the horse move forward at the same time, and * trotting is where the horse moves its two diagonally opposite legs forward at the same time. In New Zealand the majority of standardbred races are for pacers and the most lucrative races are in that gait. Pacers are generally faster than trotters. However, harness racing is still often called trotting as that was the sport's traditional name. History Trotting races were held as part of the programme of some of the galloping meetings in the Otago Southland area as early as 1864. The first totalisators were introduced about this time. They faced opposition from a curious alliance of bookmakers and anti-gambling factions but were approved by the Clubs and licensed by the Colonial Secretary. ...
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1998 Racehorse Births
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently shadowed craters near the Moon's poles. * January 11 – Over 100 people are killed in the Sidi-Hamed massacre in Algeria. * January 12 – Nineteen European nations agree to forbid human cloning. * January 17 – The ''Drudge Report'' breaks the story about U.S. President Bill Clinton's alleged affair with Monica Lewinsky, which will lead to the House of Representatives' impeachment of him. February * February 3 – Cavalese cable car disaster: A United States military pilot causes the deaths of 20 people near Trento, Italy, when his low-flying EA-6B Prowler severs the cable of a cable-car. * February 4 – The 5.9 Afghanistan earthquake shakes the Takhar Province with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII (''Very strong''). With up ...
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New Zealand Standardbred Racehorses
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 Songs * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1999 *"new", by Loona from '' Yves'', 2017 *"The New", by Interpol from ''Turn On the Bright Lights'', 2002 Acronyms * Net economic welfare, a proposed macroeconomic indicator * Net explosive weight, also known as net explosive quantity * Network of enlightened Women, a conservative university women's organization * Next Entertainment World, a South Korean film distribution company Identification codes * Nepal Bhasa language ISO 639 language code * New Century Financial Corporation (NYSE stock abbreviation) * Northeast Wrestling, a professional wrestling promotion in the northeastern United States Transport * New Orleans Lakefront Air ...
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