GOM

I would love to hear Roso answering a young person interested in getting into the sport. It would sort of go like this, it is easy peasy stuff junior get some dogs then some big monied friends and just buy up all the local then as many imported bitches from proven families. After that it's just a matter of numbers, keep breeding and only keep the best of each litter, I'll tell you  about the others later. just keep going and keep spending and eventually you can force all the mugs out and hello you have no opposition. Only one thing though junior, CHCH and CD are already covered so best you go for the Northern area

You don't, you do as stables suggested, that is leave Simon there ( he deserves better than this though) and go to the election. prepared to lose.
What kind of person would want to cut their teeth as PM in the mess that is about to follow. It seems like an ideal time to be opposition

Politics and party leaders is all about " cult of personality " now . Not just here but all around the world , same as social media , all hype no substance the majority .

The election is only 4 months away, not enough time for National to re-create itself with a new leader. Better to stick with Simon, loose the election, then reconstuct with a new leader who has a bit of charisma

I just don't like the way he talks about his preferences in a race, not informative and his commentating style is slow and unresponsive

I would love to hear Roso answering a young person interested in getting into the sport. It would sort of go like this, it is easy peasy stuff junior get some dogs then some big monied friends and just buy up all the local then as many imported bitches from proven families. After that it's just a matter of numbers, keep breeding and only keep the best of each litter, I'll tell you  about the others later. just keep going and keep spending and eventually you can force all the mugs out and hello you have no opposition. Only one thing though junior, CHCH and CD are already covered so best you go for the Northern area

I would love to hear Roso answering a young person interested in getting into the sport. It would sort of go like this, it is easy peasy stuff junior get some dogs then some big monied friends and just buy up all the local then as many imported bitches from proven families. After that it's just a matter of numbers, keep breeding and only keep the best of each litter, I'll tell you  about the others later. just keep going and keep spending and eventually you can force all the mugs out and hello you have no opposition. Only one thing though junior, CHCH and CD are already covered so best you go for the Northern area

Have a look at gg's forum, Blood on the floor posted by Barry Lichter. Trackside have dumped many of their long time commentators and presenters, yet Trevor Wilkes and Peter Early seem set to remain. Unbelievable both are so far past their use by date it's not funny. What is funny is listening to either of them call a race on my car radio then watching a replay when I get home and you would think they were two different races .Mark Roso to do all CD which Is enough to put you to sleep and in the meantime the most accurate and entertaining of the lot Jason Teaz gets the axe.
Madness, I'd like to see which the ones that wrecked it in the first place got the boot

And the gravy train of mass participation rolled on again today. 47.91% of the runners at Palmy were from the Cole kennels and I think they won 11, had 5 seconds and 6 thirds. So I think that's 61.11% of the entire prize money on offer. The stats are impressive in and of themselves but one has to ask (along with J McInerney's big numbers down south) does it encourage people to get into the sport or encourage punters to keep betting on them? I don't think so.

It seems the greyhounds here have caught up with (or should that be descended to?) overseas fields as far as lack of comment and in some cases even form goes. Tokyo's big race the other day had the horse's number, a jockey and trainer but nothing else. No previous runs - Nada. Hopeless. How can you expect people to bet blind like this and profess to be a betting agency? Pure and simple - they don't care about the bettors, who are in fact the lifeblood of the racing industry and have been treated like mugs for decades. We're being served up rubbish and expected to eat it and say "Thanks" and this contempt for the punter has been even more starkly revealed since the $50 million John Allen wasted on the real racing "dog" (the new website). I love having a bet on the dogs and the horses and supporting the industry but I'm not wasting my hard-earned betting blind when they can't even be bothered to do the basics.

Glad I missed it. Let's all breed 200 dogs a year? Wouldn't that be a hoot? I'm surprised you made it to the end of the interview, Lowdown. I'm also very surprised Roso still has a job.

Grandad47 (Ray)

Based on what I know and what I have read, I don't believe racing has much of a future when our only solution to this crisis is to reduce costs clubs and tracks. To continue on the same path in this environment, an environment saturated with hundreds of attractive alternatives competing for the same dollar, that is suicidal behaviour. The racing industry has always been the domain of those who see no further than their backyard, clinging to their boundary pegs for dear life. When they should have been looking to amalgamate and consolidate, they built higher fences instead. More tracks will close by the end of next season. More should have been closed now.

Avondale sits on an absolute goldmine. If sold up the money could be used to build a state of the art training facility elsewhere. A facility attached to an existing non-racing track. It would give trainers the opportunity to relocate into one of the designated centralised areas. There is so much that the proceeds could do for racing in general, but because the club now has the hump, all we hear is slash and burn. Just one of many examples of industry shortsightedness. Woodville I believe sold of their track for a dollar so after years of punters, trainers, and jockeys supporting their club, they threw any possible benefit to those people away.

To survive the next 10 years we have to work and think smarter;
-provide a product that appeals to more people,
-provide a product that is more socially acceptable,
-level the playing field with reliable income,
-provide more employment opportunities,
-partner up with other mainstream providers,
-introduce wagering competition,
-but most of all, we need to change the mindset of all who participate. If we are not willing to change, racing is doomed. It's like watching the Titanic circle the iceberg.

A champ in producing top horses and jockeys.Condolences to all family,RIP Jock.
 

Please give us the name of the executive recruitment firm that appointed this muppet to such a seemingly responsible position.
When he was CEO at NZRB he thought Te Rapa was a museum with a spelling mistake.  Yeah, that's right.  More "R's" than class.

Not at all Jack, that was the bully apparently. I’m in Northland mate, no racism up here.....

I was on the NZGRA Executive when the Racing Bill was formed and discussed so was not really privy to the what, the why and the whatever. I had to relinquish that position when I was appointed to the TAB and at that point it was assumed that the Bill would become the Act within weeks or at most a couple of months. 
Things can take their time in Parliament and Racing is rarely a high priority. (It never ceases to amaze me that the politicians are so unaware of the amount of money that racing puts into the Government's coffers, for very little input, as well as boosting the pay packets of some thousands of employees. And their tax take).
I do remember that the RIB did not seem as tight a group as the TAB certainly was. More than twice the number of people and some personality clashes. Maybe a code disagreement or two as well. But none of that would have suggested to me that Racing was necessarily going to be "improved" by the abolition of the RIB and the TAB Boards.  The old adage, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" comes to mind.
There was a period when merging and amalgamation became the new norm - remember the Local Councils? - and I suspect Racing came into this category. 
The resulting RB (Racing Board) bore no resemblance in personnel to what had gone before and that was Mistake Number 1. Add some awful appointments and then some wagering decisiona including taking Trackside off Free-to-Air and the downward slide was underway. Somehow it became a scree slope.
 

Don't think that is correct, however if so that's fine, my current flip phone will not cut the mustard and it's 3 years old. I admit I'm old school and only want a phone to text and call.

I think people are deluded if they think any new tracks will open up in the interim. I see most tracks closing with one down south, one in the CD, and one up North.

Breeding centres would focus on best practice rather than a quick buck. They would be looking far beyond just a parent. Anecdotally there appear to be patterns emerging in retired greys. Anyhow those in power are determined to hold on to an outdated model. Eagerly awaiting tomorrows dates calendar. I wonder, is the TAB running odds on which tracks are to close? 10 TB tracks gone, possibly harness and greys will share another 10. If Winston is true to his plan of centralisation, Auckland, Otago, Manawatu, and Southland will be gone, although the latter two may get a lifeline.

It is correct that we are  breding from dogs with genetic issues.
Brett Lee is a good example, with one testicle. Brett has left a legacy in the greyhound world by leaving the very best of dogs world wide, yet with that legacy went another and a negative genetic issue went worldwide as well.
If you were the manager of the National stud and had all the information on Brett Lee's huge results of his offspring on the track would you have allowed him to be used.
I believe the answer that should be no but it would take a brave woman to say no.

It is correct that we are  breding from dogs with genetic issues.
Brett Lee is a good example, with one testicle. Brett has left a legacy in the greyhound world by leaving the very best of dogs world wide, yet with that legacy went another and a negative genetic issue went worldwide as well.
If you were the manager of the National stud and had all the information on Brett Lee's huge results of his offspring on the track would you have allowed him to be used.
I believe the answer that should be no but it would take a brave woman to say no.

How far are we now away from dispensing entirely with any semblance of physical racing options in pursuit of a virtual race reality on which to wager?  No courses, no horses, no trainers, and no jockeys or attendants etc etc.
Cannot do better with costs savings than to eliminate all the costs.
 There surely must be some method in the madness they have pursued in appointing/promoting a succession of people to the level of their incompetence.

Pete is as knowledgeable as anyone in the industry Jo and if you follow his picks he is seldom far from the money. Saying a dog can't win and that dog does win goes with the territory. I think he was a good choice for the position and should be reinstated immediately

Pete is as knowledgeable as anyone in the industry Jo and if you follow his picks he is seldom far from the money. Saying a dog can't win and that dog does win goes with the territory. I think he was a good choice for the position and should be reinstated immediately

Well I will never go any race meeting again after patronizing all three codes for years , I may as well sit at home and get my grandson to click through the bets when he is available.
That is probably where we are going actually level two racing where we all sit at home and bet while no one attends a racecourse.
I have attended racemeetings since I was 10 years old on a regular basis, there is something about the whole atmosphere that appealed to me, just not the betting. That is not the case anymore and fini for me and I'll wager many many more.