Afraid

[We're Doomed 4,855]

I'm afraid I really do struggle with how a twilight industry can be running $30,000 and $25,000 races at Oamaru with six horses and a $35,000 race with seven. The place is a total mess. The new stakes levels are doing nothing for field sizes. The problem is still structural and what little money we do have is being used totally inefficiently.

[barryb 2,064]

Isn't this a replacement meeting for the one abandoned last month? Its less than 2 weeks after a major carnival that was chocker fields.

The new stakes have only been in place 3 weeks and you are shitting on them already and stating they are not working. It takes a little bit longer than 3 weeks to change.

Yes agreed its not the greatest look, but there are a few things in play here and dismissing stake levels is very premature.

 

[Leggy 4,076]

I don't think the time-frame for the higher stakes nor the stakes level itself can be expected to have any bearing on field sizes or turnover. We have decades of evidence that it doesn't.

[Midget 4,489]

We've wasted virtually every cent the industry has ever earned on stakes......so why are you surprised that the amateurs who run this game continue to perpetuate the myth that ploughing industry money into stakes will help ?

As Leggy says all the evidence is to the contrary.

The sad truth is that the amateurs who run this shit show waste money on stakes to subsidise their own racing activities when the correct thing to do would be to invest in R&D or infrastructure. 

[puha 2,177]

Need higher stakes and  infrastructure not one or the other. To be fair it has been the wettest winter and theres plenty of horses waiting for the tracks to dry out. But then the next cycle takes shape and the tracks turn to concrete and the fields drop off again .

[Midget 4,489]

C'mon Puha, you must accept that NZ racing can never be strong without decent safe tracks and equivalent facilities.

We're competing on the global stage in this modern world, it follows that we need to produce an attractive product if we want to attract customers doesn't it ?

I'd have thought the global aspirational benchmark for tracks, facilities and media would be Singapore, and you won't be getting there anytime soon if you continue with this preoccupation with stakes.

We're in a somewhat impecunious position now because we've been betrayed by a lack of vision and leadership ex Petone, it's time we had the courage to accept the error of our ways and to initiate change.

Once we have the appropriate infrastructure / facilities investment it follows that we can expect solid sustainable growth, then you'll get your increased stakes.

I'm guessing you're a farmer Puha, so how about you start spending every cent the farm earns on holidays, piss, wild women, things you get no return on, but let's agree you won't spend anything on R & D, new equipment, buildings, technology etc.....then let's see how your farm is looking in ten years, and whether it's increased or decreased in value.

[We're Doomed 4,855]

I am all for decent stakes but I just believe the money we do have available at present is being used inefficiently. There was always going to be a meeting on this date, but it was going to be at Wingatui with lower stakes so the fields would have been even worse there.

The trouble is that we always get the dates and programmes wrong as the people organising them aren't all that clever.

I can't believe the jumps season has already finished in the South, straight after Southern horses dominated both hurdles on the last day at Riccarton. It is stll winter in most respects you know.

[Huey 2,037]

1 hour ago, We're Doomed said:

I am all for decent stakes but I just believe the money we do have available at present is being used inefficiently. There was always going to be a meeting on this date, but it was going to be at Wingatui with lower stakes so the fields would have been even worse there.

The trouble is that we always get the dates and programmes wrong as the people organising them aren't all that clever.

I can't believe the jumps season has already finished in the South, straight after Southern horses dominated both hurdles on the last day at Riccarton. It is stll winter in most respects you know.

I couldn't agree more. It's not the Industry day stakes that need sorting , its the silly stakes for so called Feature and Premier meetings. Look tomorrow $30k Spec Conditions Mdn at New Plymouth, what's the point of these types of races ? to give a horse that should be boosting the field sizes in R75 or R85 another start against R65 and maiden horses? Maiden and R65 horses are that poorly placed at the weights in those fields why call them a  Maiden?  and they wonder why they don't have a full field for their Premier race.

Ellerslie tomorrow have an R65 Amateur riders race running around for over $20k, is that race going to attract much betting interest? Same could be said for the Jumps as well I guess as much as I love them.

It's not that the people organising the dates and programmes aren't that clever , they are. It's the prime problem for NZ racing compared to most other racing jurisdictions you have people involved who aren't really interested or passionate about the sport or personnel who have been part of the decline of the sport for years but have managed to hang on in there for some reason or another and don't really care where its all going so long as they can maintain their present state of affairs.

[berzerk 107]

It is a simple equation - increased turnover will lead to better prizemoney.

Proportionately, our biggest market (Oz) bets less on gallops than they do on harness and hounds, and if you look at the product served up in recent months it is easy to see why.

Better tracks, including an all-weather, is an absolute no-brainer.

[puha 2,177]

47 minutes ago, Huey said:

I couldn't agree more. It's not the Industry day stakes that need sorting , its the silly stakes for so called Feature and Premier meetings. Look tomorrow $30k Spec Conditions Mdn at New Plymouth, what's the point of these types of races ? to give a horse that should be boosting the field sizes in R75 or R85 another start against R65 and maiden horses? Maiden and R65 horses are that poorly placed at the weights in those fields why call them a  Maiden?  and they wonder why they don't have a full field for their Premier race.

Ellerslie tomorrow have an R65 Amateur riders race running around for over $20k, is that race going to attract much betting interest? Same could be said for the Jumps as well I guess as much as I love them.

It's not that the people organising the dates and programmes aren't that clever , they are. It's the prime problem for NZ racing compared to most other racing jurisdictions you have people involved who aren't really interested or passionate about the sport or personnel who have been part of the decline of the sport for years but have managed to hang on in there for some reason or another and don't really care where its all going so long as they can maintain their present state of affairs.

I would of thought they went hand in hand . Recreational farmer  Midget but your correct my business that supports my bad habit would be dead and buried if I didn't continuously  upgrade my equipment and embrace new technology. Have to work smarter and more efficiently to stay ahead of the competitors.

[MrBigStuff 394]

5 hours ago, Midget said:

C'mon Puha, you must accept that NZ racing can never be strong without decent safe tracks and equivalent facilities.

We're competing on the global stage in this modern world, it follows that we need to produce an attractive product if we want to attract customers doesn't it ?

I'd have thought the global aspirational benchmark for tracks, facilities and media would be Singapore, and you won't be getting there anytime soon if you continue with this preoccupation with stakes.

We're in a somewhat impecunious position now because we've been betrayed by a lack of vision and leadership ex Petone, it's time we had the courage to accept the error of our ways and to initiate change.

Once we have the appropriate infrastructure / facilities investment it follows that we can expect solid sustainable growth, then you'll get your increased stakes.

I'm guessing you're a farmer Puha, so how about you start spending every cent the farm earns on holidays, piss, wild women, things you get no return on, but let's agree you won't spend anything on R & D, new equipment, buildings, technology etc.....then let's see how your farm is looking in ten years, and whether it's increased or decreased in value.

And speaking if Singapore, they have just announced a major restructuring of their racing and international races are back on the agenda.

New CEO with fresh ideas and wanting to make a difference. However class 5 races getting chopped from $35k to $20k, but that looks to be a no brainer

http://www.turfclub.com.sg/MediaCenter/RacingNews/Pages/LocalDetails.aspx?intNewsID=16492&spListName=Local News&Year=2017#.WZ9zOtFGShB

a Singapore type facility has to be the benchmark for NZ

[puha 2,177]

8 hours ago, puha said:

I would of thought they went hand in hand . Recreational farmer  Midget but your correct my business that supports my bad habit would be dead and buried if I didn't continuously  upgrade my equipment and embrace new technology. Have to work smarter and more efficiently to stay ahead of the competitors.

Sorry Huey was meant to be a response to Midgets post.