Huey

All very well in hindsight Weasel, they probably thought they'd get their own races back at their course as well. I don't get the thinking behind building the stand either.

That's great that they get to engage in a feasibility study unlike the likes of Avondale who are just being told they are unwanted.

Yeah wasn't Te Rapa supposed to sell up a while ago and contribute to a new facility near cambridge?

I think we have been down this road a few times before but anyway...why should clubs (most of which have been treated very poorly by the industry and in particular the governing body) have to sell up and invest in the Ponzi Scheme that is now NZracing for the sake of a few favoured clubs , to watch those funds be squandered by the same people that have taken racing in NZ to where it is now? Anyone that takes the M report seriously with regards to the selling up of clubs assets needs to get some fresh air, there was absolutely no analysis done on venues it was yet another report to benefit a favoured few at the expense of many. I could see it generating some support if some decent analysis(with no emotion or typical NZracing style bias) with a plan for the future in mind was done , because if that was the case the recommendations of the M report as to which assets should be sold up or venues raced at would have been vastly different imo. There are a number of racing clubs in NZ who have squandered away the better years of NZracing for their own selfish interests with no regard to the future that now want yet another leg up to continue to do the same for the foreseeable future. I applaud the likes of Avondale for taking a stand , they have done nothing wrong and all they want to do is be a racing club but they are not part of the cool kids at the back of the NZ racing bus so they and some others are being exposed to bullying and a total disregard for their efforts.

Probably no one does. You can't be surprised regarding your example , with the amount of changes over the years in terms of leadership is it any wonder there has been inconsistencies such as that? I think before it was a nice to have , but giving the AML coming in that should bring some consistency to it because the government will be demanding it.

I believe you'll have to do something if/when you have a decent collect, so either way they'll be getting you to do it depending on your betting activity.

You can blame the TAB for many things, but this isn't one of them . Its government bureaucracy being forced upon them , they are only doing what they have to to comply with the bureaucrats.

Are there many horses trained at Waimate?

Let me gets this right, you think the bottom i.e. Industry days etc are being propped up by Saturday racing or Group Racing or are you saying the bigger clubs are propping up the smaller clubs?

They have to be seen to be doing something, that is the only explanation as there is nothing to be gained by it.

Thats NZTR though isn't it, very small minded in their approach to everything , thinking not funding a race is saving them money when in the long term its doing the complete opposite, if splitting a field isn't going to cover the cost of that race then might as well not have jumps races,2yo races the race the field is split from because that also won't fund itself I'd have thought. Then they argue about the drop off in horses racing ,being breed etc etc whilst they are worried about saving a few thousand here and there, if they are that worried about it race for $5k see if they still get entries I bet they would cause despite what they think owners,trainers and breeders want to race their horses. At some point racing in NZ needs to front up and take a risk and just see if holding more races might create a better environment for racing horses in this country, people with horses are sick of being shut out of races , told to travel 5 hours down the road in the hopes of getting a start when there are races on their back doorstep. We are so backward in moving forward in this country we only ever tread water.

Not only that youre also pumping horses through the system to move on to the next stage i.e. up grades , up in distance out to the paddock etc the entire calendar and programme should cater for this but it doesn't and its a huge problem.

But thats it isn't it, its a TV based product in most cases so why not take that approach, racing does everything backwards imo

Or maybe those races are just better patronised in a country location which has been proven to be the case on numerous occasions, I love Ellerslie and particularly the hill for the jumps races but it doesn't need two meetings over QB weekend, the awful decisions made around the calendar defy belief.

The real answer WD is that it depends which club, if youre Ellerslie,Te Rapa,Trentham,Taranaki,Awapuni,Hastings,Ruakaka and a few others you can get away with this unfortunately that is about as logical as it gets.