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NO BANKING OR POST OFFICE STAFF PLEASE!!!

My 2nd bet was about 1967 at Feilding,Tramore,Danny Gower from Stratford trainer,paid 53 an 12 pound.A few races later,Aquarelle,Harold Webby trainer.Thought how easy was this new game.53 yrs later,wished I'd lost my 10 pound.But met some great people.

Lets not overlook the fact that National supported and voted for the bill as passed into law this week, so it has now gone beyond being a political issue. It is now the little person fighting against the law when resolving future venue and asset issues. Looks like nett transfer of cash from racing (clubs and code) to the lawyers bank accounts because from my soundings the clubs that are being targeted will fight right to the end to protect their property rights as set out in the NZ Bill of Rights.

Good luck getting their hands on Westland and Blenheim's land...those horses have bolted Mikie

It means the fun will really begin around the Asset Theft, it means you'll probably have some of the most under performing leadership not only wasting industry resources but local community resources in the future, it means you'll see decisions made that benefit about 20% of the industry with the rest forgotten about. It means fools from the Trainers Assoc to trackside presenters to stud farms to large stables believe it will resolve all of racings problems in this country.

Reasonable crowd here. Bloody cold day. Red wine helping

A self serving slug , now trying to distance himself from Labour just in case the Nats get close at the next election . I wonder if he gets up some mornings unsure of just who he's trying to cuddle up to at that present time . He's never done anything for racing that hasn't served W Peters needs first . Hopefully gone from NZ politics after the next election .

John Allen.

What monkeys/idiots are now running this RITA.Same monkeys,LESS? peanuts.Fancy a raceday with NO publication of fields to bet on.My local bookseller said he got emails confirming publication to resume,but didn't arrive.I don't know about others,but I'm not interested in Thursdays trackwork,can google it if wanted,nut not many horses do gut busting trackwork 2-3 days b4 racing.Load it with Tuesday trackwork,trials,and judicial reports, the rest to fit in.I buy it to punt,not breeding and tips from some so called tipsters,whom I wouldn't give $10 to punt for me.If you Don't provide the product,how can you expect to succeed.The house was NOT rattled hard enough.

What happened to Aaron Cross?

No I did not know that they met there, but thank you for that priceless information. I was more interested in Twitfords "success rates" in challenging roles and thought this might be a place for his talents

Dr David Clark and Phil Twyford will be looking for new jobs

Shame the trackside radio has gone as I’d have had the blue tooth headphones on all day while working . Would of put a few bets on , listened to trainer interviews tips etc .Listening to wall to wall simulcast racing doesn’t work unfortunately . Anyway hope all oncourse and those racing had a great day .

Good on them I hope they all do!

I'm referring to the clubs that have their own freehold properties.

We are going to have a board of 7 of which the racing codes have a conditional right to appoint 3 of those people; That board may change any form of betting and the rules without any consultation of the codes; Although TAB NZ determines the rules, the Gambling Commission signs everything off; Racing gets a proportionate percentage allocation from betting revenue but this may not exceed 2.67% of TAB NZ's betting profits rising to 4.0% of the TAB NZ's betting profits from 1 July 2021; Sport gets an undefined proportion of this; Sport also gets a sum determined through the establishment of an agreement between the sporting organisation and Sports and Recreation NZ and TAB NZ The race clubs/ courses issue is a minefield that is too difficult to explain succinctly

And just what do you think these people will do , one of them had 9 years to understand the implications . They are politicians , they understand implications and are very effective as it effects themselves . If they do happen to get back into govt at the next election they will do nothing more than follow thru with the process that is underway .

Beware of this theft of property. Forty years ago a philanthropic local gave a lot of money to the local branch of the Intellectually Handicapped Childrens Association. That has been taken over by Head Office in Wellington and they have resolved that the local children who benefit greatly from that building can be taken 34km by their parents to Hamilton and we can use those funds, from the sale of that donated building, to boost administrative salaries in Wellington.

Too late I'm afraid, the Bill has had it's third reading in the house and the process of the Governor General signing it off has begun. The Bill is now the law of the land

If the industry leaders are trying to cut costs , why have they got two presenters in two different studios covering what is in principle a low key midweek meeting . Is that not a doubling up of costs ?

Nothing really. It has nought in it that will help increase revenue for racing. Just shifts a few deck chairs around.

Tasman Man quote "Using your 'footy' analogy thats like paying club players more while cutting back on the salaries of International/ Star players" No, you are incorrect. That's not a good analogy because the huge majority of Club players aren't paid at all. My analogy would be a NRL team and comparing the payments to journeyman players as opposed to International/Star players. In this case I think that the journeyman player is underpaid and the Star player is overpaid. Tasman Man again, quote: "Water down Group races and it may sustain the Industry for another 12-18 months but the breeding side of the Industry would soon collapse as would ownership / betting /stakes and speed up the demise of even more clubs ." So your solution is to keep paying exorbitant Group stakes and pay a pittance for the lower classes. Worked well so far hasn't it? Tasman Man again: "Your club has been very well represented at the decision-making level for a long time so surely the word got through , the frail nature of the Industry must have been so very obvious !" I think I have told you that it isn't "my" Club. Additionally when my area last had a representative on the Board that makes the important decisions it was called the NZRB, not the NZRIB or RITA, and things were quite good in that era. Tasman Man again: "Trying to get the answers/solutions out of Mikie who agreed the lower end needs more incentives." This statement really pisses me off. It implies that you have been trying to get answers from me and they are not forthcoming. For the record you asked me questions 14 hours ago, then post 13 hours ago implying that I am not prepared to answer you. FFS, I hadn't even read your first post I am quite prepared to reply to you. Firstly, to me, solutions and answers are 2 different things. A solution, to me, is something that can be done to fix matters, as in provide a solution, to make things better and for everyone to be happy. I don't have a solution, I have never said I have a solution. I don't think that after a decade of mismanagement and largess by the NZRIB, by 18 months give or take of inaction by Rita prior to Covid, plus Covid, plus the recent decisions of RITA that there is a solution. The corpse is cold so to speak. (HRNZ being the poor relation to the Thoroughbred vote don't appear to have done too much wrong, although I slate the Bulk Funding decision as stupid and the Ratings system as a shambles) Answers are a bit different. If we are to keep playing with the corpse then we have to cut the cloth to suit. Nothing too clever with this. Many other posters have said it and I've agreed with them. I did have some figures on hand previously and from memory cutting the Group Subsidies back would provide enough funds to add $2000 to every lower class race in New Zealand. I would be quite happy with a NZ Cup of $150,000 and every other Group race be $100,000 or less if it meant that maiden races were $6000 instead of $4000, or $7000 instead of $5000. I totally agree with you that the lowering of the top end stakes would have a negative effect. Any decision that benefits one usually affects another (handicapping for example). However the lowering of the lower end stakes would have a worse effect, and ultimately have the same effect on top end stakes anyway Tasman Man again: "The Earthquakes obviously hurt Christchurch for a while , while the ATC tried their own tragic path to try and future proof their future but what did the rest or the Industry as a whole do !" I'm not sure that the earthquake affected Addington negatively long term to be blunt. Enough has been said about ATC's path. You ask what other Clubs have done? I would say they have voiced their opposition on a number of decisions but the voting spread at Conference level doesn't give them much of a voice. Certainly Westport for many years have pointed out how much the Group Subsidies suck from Club's own Commissions. Tasman Man: "The big question is what can done to try and sustain the industry and give our young participants some hope for their future !Answers please !" What young participants? RITA's decision as to race tracks won't mean many young ones coming from the bottom half of the North Island will it? (Although I think this decision will be reversed somewhat) Help us out Tasman Man, what's your solution? Mikie

I thought the slapper was dreadful. No wonder she failed miserably with the RIB. The hard questions are being asked by society. Dogs first and lining up horse racing next. You don't think the horse numbers are any better than the dogs? The dogs screaming round those tracks at speed has always been a problem, but let's face it, some of the galloping tracks are no better but very little has been done over the past 20 years to REALLY improve it. What we lack is leadership to make sure our animals are looked after post racing. Wake up everyone. This is not a false start.

Have you seen how thick the people that still read it are?

I was looking at it more from a total turnover for the day. One meeting alone will always do better than sharing punter interest across two. A typical Sat should be doing $6-7m turnover - are they anywhere near that? They used to publish the stats but I can't find any so assume the worst.

Nothing I've seen in the last ten years to suggest there has ever been a 'marketing team.'

This weekend sees Group 1 action in Ireland with a quiet weekend in the UK. Saturday's Irish Derby has 15 runners which is a larger field than most years - normally, the race is run three weeks AFTER the English Derby rather than the week before. Aidan O'Brien sets us a poser by running no less than six. Top rated and ante post favourite is Queen's Vase winner SANTIAGO and the galloping 2400m at The Curragh will suit. ARTHUR'S KINGDOM was second in the King Edward VII but that looked a moderate renewal. IBERIA was third in the Derrinstown at Leopardstown but on the same card TIGER MOTH was a nice winner of the 1600m maiden and he might surprise for those looking for a Ballydoyle horse at a big price. Joseph O'Brien runs three and I like Gallinule winner CROSSFIREHURRICANE who accounted for GOLD HAZE but the second should come on a lot and isn't a lost cause at 10s. FISCAL RULES was a close fifth in the Irish 2000 Guineas - that was a scrappy race and I'm doubtful as to the quality of the form. There's lots of ifs, buts and maybes about this lot - it might be a vintage renewal but we won't know that for a while. There's the suspicion the better Ballydoyle runners will be at Epsom next weekend. SANTIAGO is the obvious choice if they go hard - he's a relentless galloper but give me someone else's tenner and I'd have a speculative punt on TIGER MOTH at 14s. We've not got the final decs for Sunday's Group 1 Pretty Polly Stakes over 2000m but it seems likely MAGICAL will run and if she does she will take a world of beating. This wonderful 5-y-o mare ran nine times last year - after three easy wins in Ireland including a romp in the Tattersalls Gold Cup she was runner up to CRYSTAL OCEAN in the Prince of Wales Stakes and then was runner up to ENABLE in both the Eclipse and the King George. After winning the Irish Champion Stakes, she was disappointing in fifth behind Waldgeist in the Arc before winning the Champion Stakes at Ascot. It's not her fault she's in the same generation as ENABLE - both are champions - and she has won connections £3.4 million prize money. 2000m on decent ground at The Curragh will be ideal. Meanwhile, it's Soft ground in Paris for the 2400m Grand Prix de Saint Cloud. Just five are entered so far and on a day which saw two British raiders win Group 3 races at Longchamp, OLD PERSIAN looks an interesting runner for Godolphin. He was disappointing in the Breeders Cup Turf after a nice win in the Northern Dancer at Woodbine but I get the sense he's a notch below European Group 1 class and I much prefer WAY TO PARIS who was a close second in the Ganay and will love the 2400m as he showed when an impressive winner of the Group 2 Grand Prix de Chantilly. Though he's a 7-y-o, he's improving all the time and I see him as a serious Arc contender.

Interesting story, I thought Glenda responded quite well to the interrogation questioning. I checked out the Facebook site to see what the responses would be and of course 99% are ban it now & the vast majority are women. I bet whilst they typed their abhorrence on Facebook they sipped away on there Latte, will happily pour low fat milk on there breakfast & have cheese and crackers mid arvo. There is nothing worse than a person with a hypocritical social conscience whom there virtuousness shows through a keyboard.

Under Aviation industry & Customs regulations every person PRIOR to entering an aircraft/ sailing vessel is to disclose any medical matters that may be infectious or of concern PRIOR to departure or immediately it's known on an aircraft or sailing vessel. It's up to the Captain to report those things to a Medical officer at the border within 15 minutes. Anyone who is free from diseases / medical matters that are non reportable are free to go and should not be held in "Quarantine" as is in the Quarantine Act, Aviation and related etc Acts. There's an in depth MofH discussion document, dated 1983, detailing the current status & proposed changes that's worth while reading.In this document it stated a person could only be held in Quarantine for up to 6 days... Who dreamt up the 14 day Quarantine period? Who has signed off documents from the outset? Interesting NZ has now retracted it's testing on people with runny noses...hahaha. The original symptoms of this Corona virus was "pneumonia & a chronic cough" remember... It's listed as Pneumonia in the UK original documents so how has it changed so much?? It's called the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing and bullderdash has been spun to cover massive methodology muckups.

My recollection was having a bet on a horse called Numulous (by Hasty Cloud) at Te Aroha in probably 1973 and it won. Never looked back until now

Aaron Cross and his family have always been anti racing. Why? What is his upbringing that he is so against them & the industry? Does he come from background where his family went hungry bc daddy or a relation was involved in a random bet?

Whoever has a seat on this new board , they must have never had any association , past or present , with NZRB/RITA/TAB . We need completely new blood with fresh perspective and open minds , along with open and frank communication with all industry bodies and participants .

Glenda Hughes may be the person who needs to get her marching orders. Why has no one ensured the Board of Directors over the years been held to account for there failures? They have legal obligations to be fulfilled under various Govt Legislation including in relation to the disbursement of public monies.... Those who had roles in providing contracts to various Key role holders within Racing must be held to account as that's also where the buck lies. All those who had key roles who had banking backgrounds with no or minimal knowledge of racing should be paying back monies paid to them for "failure to provide contractual services". Some of those same names were involved in Share market speculation & crash era in the 1980's. Meanwhile the Racing industry suffers a bad rap because of those who get away scot free. Remember more recent names like Baylis, Cairns and co to. Same sewerage, different day

Agree with you Berri ! She got smacked !

Exactly but people of sound mind should remember come election time that like this government this bill has been bestowed upon us by Winston Peters.

We had heard that the bill was open for submissions until February. I have just checked on the govt legislation website and it is still showing as a bill, which means it hasn't passed into law. I read the bill yesterday for the first time and was horrified. Private property rights extinguished in one stroke of a pen. The code can confiscate private property with no compensation to the owner. It also prevents clubs from dealing with their property as they wish. I suggest that people make this an election issue. Write to ACT's David Seymour, he is very effective. Or try Judith Collins, she is a commercial lawyer and will understand the implications.

The make up of the new " Racing New Zealand " board will be defining as to whether real progress for the racing industry is an illusion . A continuation of the same type of pandering puppets will spell the end . Does anybody have a heads up on who may be a contender for one these board positions ?

Peter Earley's video tribute resonated with me, when he was a young boy he attended the racetrack and was tipped a horse to bet - it won and that started his love for racing (roughly the gist of it). The tipster would have never thought anything of it, but that information built a racing legacy, 50 years of content and contribution to racing. We live in a day and age where punters want more information than they can chew, to restrict it is the biggest mistake

Deluded prick.....

Just a few final reflections from me on Royal Ascot 2020. An extraordinary event bereft of crowd and atmosphere if I'm honest but the racing was high quality though perhaps a notch down on normal years. Credit to all who made it happen but the stark truth was Ascot and British racing had too much to lose by it not happening in terms of worldwide exposure (especially for the bloodstock industry) and money coming in to the world pools operating on the main races. Juveniles: Ascot normally takes place 10 weeks into the season and some form lines are established. With just two weeks since the resumption, it was guesswork. As I said above, QAADER and SACRED ran very well in defeat but the Albany winner DANDALLA looked special for all she relished the soft ground. 3-y-o: Again, very early days. GOLDEN HORDE won the Commonwealth Cup but whether he's ready to go against the older sprinters at Newmarket I'm not sure. Among the classic milers, both PALACE PIER and ALPINE STAR had swerved Newmarket and The Curragh and this possibly paid dividends. Both look very nice prospects and I hope we get a clash later in the year. The Newmarket Guineas form looks a little shaky after Ascot though in all fairness KAMEKO and LOVE were always going elsewhere. MOLATHAM and MONARCH OF EGYPT dominated the Jersey and both look viable Group 1 contenders in the future. SANTIAGO looks a nice staying prospect though not a Derby horse to my eye. FRANKLY DARLING was impressive in the Ribblesdale and is on course for a clash with LOVE at Epsom early next month and while it may be heresy at this point I do think the Oaks is a more interesting race at this stage. The King Edward VII told us nothing and it may be the 3-y-o middle distance colts are nothing special (probably should give KAMEKO and ENGLISH KING a chance before writing them off). Older Horses: BATTAASH dominated the King's Stand and I can't see one to bother him at Goodwood over 1000m or in the Nunthorpe (unless Wesley Ward runs CAMPANELLE). TEREBELLUM gave a good account in the Queen Anne but CIRCUS MAXIMUS is a wonderfully tough horse and while I'm not convinced the sharper Goodwood track will suit, he'll lack nothing in courage. MOUNTAIN ANGEL emerged as a nice prospect when taking the Wolferton which is often a key form race for the season. The strength of the Gosden team in the older horse ranks was evident all week (Sir Michael Stoute was shut out). In FANNY LOGAN and LORD NORTH he was two wonderful prospects. LORD NORTH's plans are unclear but I'd love to see him in the Irish Champion or the Juddmonte while FANNY LOGAN's impressive win in the Hardwicke adds yet another layer to a potentially crowded Arc pack for Mr Gosden. Another element of that might be STRADIVARIUS who produced the performance of the week routing the Gold Cup field by 10 lengths. The Coronation Cup run, which drew some criticism at the time, was the perfect prep race and he ran here at the top of his form. Owner Bjorn Nielsen has long expressed his desire to have a tilt at the Arc even if that means taking on ENABLE and John Gosden is diplomatic enough to know the Owner pays the bills but it may be a harder call for Frankie Dettori. The circus rolls on as the more normal calendar starts to re-assert but it will be a busy early July with the Derby/Oaks and the Eclipse over the first weekend swiftly followed by the three day July Meeting at Newmarket.

A bit like wages at rita

Couldn't agree more and have said the same for years Mikie

If funding is reduced by 25%, as indicated by Holden, it is imperative that this reduction should be made at the top level. For example, the New Zealand Cup could be run for $150,000 rather than $600,000 and still have the same field. Stakes at the lower level are already way too low. If you win a race you would be lucky if the stake won would cover 2 months training fees. If racing is going to continue there must be incentives at the lower end to at least give owners a chance of covering costs

The numbers world wide have proven to be unreliable. Tell us all why Covid is more dangerous than common flu.

The problem is that elite punters were once small time punters who maybe got into it through channel surfing the radio dial or reading form in the herald or tuning into Action TV on free to view ...

If racing is to thrive it really needs the TAB to have its own voice. A radio station. My car is locked in Radio 4TAB in Qld. I’m listening to interviews, previews, racing - all the time. I can’t imagine a business like the TAB not having its own broadcasting/news/outlet.

You sure its not your PC causing the issue? Have you tried clearing the cache?.

My smartphone cuts out when watching ,listening and in lots of cases surfing on the tab site,the lack of radio is the one turnoff that irritates me most.

They also lose money if you deposit and win.

Anyone involved with racing management should be reading Racecafe daily and some of the other forums. Dosen't take long but employees seeing the shortcomings of their managers I believe were banned from accessing these forums at work. When it comes to forums and there are faults Racecafe is still the most informative. These managers, directors etc must wean themselves out of their little bubbles which they consider oh so very important and communicate directly.