Interesting reading on Te Akau website

[MrBigStuff 394]

Looking at council records in Waipa, the area that Cambridge raceway is situated on and the training centre is zoned equine reserve or something but the word is that it could be re-zoned residential in a flash if need be. Cambridge seems to have rapid growth so one could imagine that those parcels of land would be goldmines

[TurnipOrange 149]

Te Rapa has a terrible leaders Bias! We will all need to have front runners !!!

[rdytdy 5,341]

1 hour ago, MrBigStuff said:

Looking at council records in Waipa, the area that Cambridge raceway is situated on and the training centre is zoned equine reserve or something but the word is that it could be re-zoned residential in a flash if need be. Cambridge seems to have rapid growth so one could imagine that those parcels of land would be goldmines

Correct and as the land becomes more sought after in the surrounding areas more and more will be cut and subdivided so yesterday is the time to be looking at purchasing the land required. The populations of both Hamilton and Cambridge are certainly growing.

The Hautapu area would be ideal being very close to the Cambridge track, is flat and beside the new Waikato/Auckland motorway making it easy access from most places, another good reason to have other facilities alongside the race track.

From Auckland it will soon be motorway all the way and then a turn of 1km to Hautapu and as I mentioned above slap bang in the centre of Waikato.

I am pretty sure the Hamilton City Council would fall over themselves to zone the Te Rapa land residential also.    

[talk 308]

6 hours ago, Midget said:

Just another example of the sad lack of vision that we've come to associate with DE,

Given the number of owners Te Akau have attracted to the industry, David Ellis has been a positive influence on NZ racing IMO. Is there any other person that has had such an influence?

 

[Midget 4,489]

21 minutes ago, talk said:

Given the number of owners Te Akau have attracted to the industry, David Ellis has been a positive influence on NZ racing IMO. Is there any other person that has had such an influence?

 

No argument there, he does a great job attracting fresh blood, but that doesn't necessarily translate to him having a seminal vision for the future.

[Varro 244]

3 hours ago, rdytdy said:

 

Firstly it is only a twenty minute drive between Hamilton and Cambridge being only 20km between the two and Hamilton is experiencing rapid growth and fast expanding. 

The land that Te Rapa currently occupies would be worth a huge amount if zoned residential and if sold and they relocated nearby to the Cambridge training centre and developed a new facility encompassing tracks grass and a strathayr,  possibly catering for even all three codes at one super venue and also establish facilities such as a conference centre, dining facilities, shopping mall etc or whatever to ensure other types of income (they don't have the room at Te Rapa to do that) . It would be right in the heart of the Waikato with the horse population virtually on your door stop. The sooner something like that happens the better as it gets more costly to do as time marches on.  

 

 

 

excellent idea

[Guest 2Admin2]

1 hour ago, Midget said:

No argument there, he does a great job attracting fresh blood, but that doesn't necessarily translate to him having a seminal vision for the future.

Have any of our big breeders?  At the end of the day they are livestock breeders looking for the best price and I don't think they really see past that and certainly not the big picture nor the connection between our racetracks and their success.

[shaneMcAlister 1,425]

I personally would close sell Te Awamutu, Te Aroha and Te Rapa and build the super venue (with all weather facility) at Cambridge.  I would then race there every second Saturday. 

The stands would be built to accommodate what your crowd would be in your third biggest day. 

[MrBigStuff 394]

1 hour ago, shaneMcAlister said:

I personally would close sell Te Awamutu, Te Aroha and Te Rapa and build the super venue (with all weather facility) at Cambridge.  I would then race there every second Saturday. 

The stands would be built to accommodate what your crowd would be in your third biggest day. 

Right with you there Shane

[barryb 2,064]

4 hours ago, shaneMcAlister said:

I personally would close sell Te Awamutu, Te Aroha and Te Rapa and build the super venue (with all weather facility) at Cambridge.  I would then race there every second Saturday. 

The stands would be built to accommodate what your crowd would be in your third biggest day. 

So would we all if owned by the same entity, which they are not.

So reality kicks in and we have 3 clubs that are totally independent of each other, pulling in different directions.

 There are major renovations planned at Te Rapa so I doubt any of whats stated is even close to reality.

[chevy86 2,704]

1 hour ago, barryb said:

So would we all if owned by the same entity, which they are not.

So reality kicks in and we have 3 clubs that are totally independent of each other, pulling in different directions.

 There are major renovations planned at Te Rapa so I doubt any of whats stated is even close to reality.

Maybe the 3 clubs could form a consortium and progress from there. Oops, wasn't that the way RACE started?

[army 156]

7 hours ago, shaneMcAlister said:

I personally would close sell Te Awamutu, Te Aroha and Te Rapa and build the super venue (with all weather facility) at Cambridge.  I would then race there every second Saturday. 

The stands would be built to accommodate what your crowd would be in your third biggest day. 

Just apoint or two that I would like to make. A super venue in Cambridge and get rid of 3 tracks. How is this going to benefit racing beside perhaps a good surface. For racing to go ahead and grow you need punters on course. Cambridge has both Trots and dogs and now you want Thoroughbred racing too. Therefor you are trying to pull in the same punters for all 3 codes. Unless it is a big meeting people dont travel as much. Look at Te Rapa for instance on an industry day you are lucky to see more than just a few people in the stands. If you havent got people on course you havent got punters and no punters equals no income for racing. There is also the trainers that train at those other courses that you want to close. Therefor more than likely those trainers will have to find another career because who would want to travel 30 to 40 minutes a day to train the horses they have and thats not taking into account the extra  cost to an owner if the trainer had to travel. I not saying an all weather facility is a bad idea but we are NZ not Aussie and our areas are alot smaller in population than over there so race tracks in outer areas need to exist to get punters on course for the benefit of racing.

[Guest 2Admin2]

Make them self funding training facilities.  We need some decent racing surfaces that can be raced on in most weather consistently. 

If Te Rapa are going to pour money into amenities rather than their crap racing surface then we are truly doomed.

You are not going to ever get the crowds of yesteryear on course again.  So we should focus on providing an exciting informative TV broadcasted product that appeals as entertainment and provides quality betting for those who provide the revenue - the punter.

[Fartoomuch 1,376]

1 hour ago, 2Admin2 said:

Make them self funding training facilities.  We need some decent racing surfaces that can be raced on in most weather consistently. 

If Te Rapa are going to pour money into amenities rather than their crap racing surface then we are truly doomed.

You are not going to ever get the crowds of yesteryear on course again.  So we should focus on providing an exciting informative TV broadcasted product that appeals as entertainment and provides quality betting for those who provide the revenue - the punter.

A simple but successful business strategy but one which the powers at be don't seem to understand. The predecessors were no better IMHO

[Berri 2,131]

On ‎29‎/‎05‎/‎2017 at 9:37 PM, shaneMcAlister said:

I was in the uk for a long time and loved the way it had two distinct seasons. Jumping winter, flat summer. However I don't think this model would work here due to mind set of many re jumping. 

Also in the U.K. I did not care for the all weather track at Wolverhampton, lingfield and kempton. Very poor racing. However the all weather turf track I think has a big part to play in future of nz racing. This is the track you see at monee valley, hk, Singapore. 

That's bollocks and short sighted. Given the right program and the right support with the right facilities, jumping in this country would achieve a renaissance similar to what is happening in Australia and the UK. Betting in the UK and Australia has never been bigger on a race by race basis and 6 of the top ten betting races in the UK are jumping races. Do you know why?....very simple really but its four fold. The first is that with jumping races the contenders are older horses and have been around a bit, so everyone gets to know them and they become characters in a bigger play. The second it that the event is more exciting and for a longer period of time making the event a better spectacle. The third is that WHEN you get fields that exceed 18 runners, betting goes up. The biggest betting event every year in the UK is the race with the most amount of runners...and its a jumping race. Of the top ten betting events in the UK, 9 of them have more than 18 runners. The last reason for jumping to be powering it is that the Arabs and the big breeding boys have not started competing against the horse purists. The day that happens, where the big breeder boys don't give a shit what they spend on a jumper is the day that jumps racing in the UK starts to take steps backwards. The flat owners in the UK don't believe they can compete against the Coolmores, the blue bucket and the Qatarians.

So if we're going to get a new race track, build it for the future. Also the training tracks, our current tracks are thrashed. We should have a couple of Newmarkets/ Lambournes to make sure the rest of the World thinks w care about our horses. Training tracks are where the damage is done. Why not get those facilities up to scratch. Any half brained horseperson who has seen the great training facilities around the World will all agree that having one in New Zealand would be a great step forward. So if we're building a brand new course, let's attach it to a World class training facility. There's a fortune in a real estate play.

[crustyngrizzly 1,700]

lMaybe instead of posting this on the Te Akau website he should have made sure Shocking Luck and Melody Belle had been accepted for their next races.36K a lot of money for late acceptance fees.

[shaneMcAlister 1,425]

1 hour ago, Berri said:

That's bollocks and short sighted. Given the right program and the right support with the right facilities, jumping in this country would achieve a renaissance similar to what is happening in Australia and the UK. Betting in the UK and Australia has never been bigger on a race by race basis and 6 of the top ten betting races in the UK are jumping races. Do you know why?....very simple really but its four fold. The first is that with jumping races the contenders are older horses and have been around a bit, so everyone gets to know them and they become characters in a bigger play. The second it that the event is more exciting and for a longer period of time making the event a better spectacle. The third is that WHEN you get fields that exceed 18 runners, betting goes up. The biggest betting event every year in the UK is the race with the most amount of runners...and its a jumping race. Of the top ten betting events in the UK, 9 of them have more than 18 runners. The last reason for jumping to be powering it is that the Arabs and the big breeding boys have not started competing against the horse purists. The day that happens, where the big breeder boys don't give a shit what they spend on a jumper is the day that jumps racing in the UK starts to take steps backwards. The flat owners in the UK don't believe they can compete against the Coolmores, the blue bucket and the Qatarians.

So if we're going to get a new race track, build it for the future. Also the training tracks, our current tracks are thrashed. We should have a couple of Newmarkets/ Lambournes to make sure the rest of the World thinks w care about our horses. Training tracks are where the damage is done. Why not get those facilities up to scratch. Any half brained horseperson who has seen the great training facilities around the World will all agree that having one in New Zealand would be a great step forward. So if we're building a brand new course, let's attach it to a World class training facility. There's a fortune in a real estate play.

I agree with your points.  I have said this many times the reason HK racing is such a success for punters is the same as jumping in the UK:

1. Big fields
2. No 2yo racing so horses are more mature and race longer and punters fall in love with them
3. Mostly geldings like jump racing so no stud pressures.  Race for fun.

[Kotare_Hunter 748]

23 minutes ago, crustyngrizzly said:

lMaybe instead of posting this on the Te Akau website he should have made sure Shocking Luck and Melody Belle had been accepted for their next races.36K a lot of money for late acceptance fees.

He is taking full responsibility which I assume means he is paying the 36K out of his own/companies pocket rather than out of the racing owners pockets.

[scooby3051 10,906]

5 minutes ago, Kotare_Hunter said:

He is taking full responsibility which I assume means he is paying the 36K out of his own/companies pocket rather than out of the racing owners pockets.

Yes it seems the stable is paying for the mistake... they were not the only ones I hear the Raynor's did the same...