Huey

$7.5k for El Roca

plenty of other underutilised CD venues to race at if required, however not a good idea when youre trying to kill them off I guess.

I think others have responded to this in kind many times before. However are you wanting to sell up land to fund clubs who have been operating inefficiently for years to enable them to continue to operate inefficiently for a few more years? Do you honestly think the larger clubs would utilise the funds raised from the sale of neighbouring clubs assets for the betterment of the industry? Cause I don't , they would continue to do what they do now and thats look after number one. So I don't see the point in doing this. Not to mention selling up small clubs that largely fund themselves and financially are probably in the best shape and sustainable would be disastrous in my opinion.What a lot of people aren't seeing are the peripheral aspects the smaller racing clubs are benefiting the industry by. i.e. providing an affordable alternative for horses to be trained at, providing jumpout and trialing facilities,a backup facility should something go wrong i.e. Pukekohe & Foxton,a rural basis for the development of horsemanship across the country, a platform for the Owner Trainer experience, in some cases 40-80 horses in work that probably wouldn't be in work anywhere else if these facilities closed... the list goes on. Selling up the assets of smaller clubs to fund inefficiencies that are being broadly overlooked in the industry as a whole is looking for a short term fix that will put the very survival of the sport in jeopardy in the future in my view. It is very much like the genius CEO that comes in an sacks half the workforce for a better looking P&L in 12 months time but some other guy pays the price for it a few years down the track when the loss of these employees and their skills and value to the industry are lost. Who wants to go to Stratford,Timaru or Gore on a Thursday? Well who goes to Ellerslie on Derby day or Queens Birthday weekend for that matter(without mentioning the turnover figures) and I'm certain there are a lot more people at these venues than there are the likes of the over capitalised clubs like Awapuni, Te Rapa etc on industry days where the rail is out as far as the carpark. Perhaps you should be asking why these facilities have been put in place for a couple of days racing a year and not questioning the value of the smaller venues?

Enlighten to me as to why it's necessary to get rid of tracks? Are they under performing or costing the industry extra?

Ok, seemed a bit the other way round on saturday, a bunch of winter horses going up to race summer horses trained on the track.

Be very expensive to got to Pour Moi at the moment.

He looks a bit scary when he learns what its all about.

Whats the point of having all that racing up there when the rest of the country are racing on winter tracks?

Slightly off topic but would Magicool previous positive have an impact on the result at all.

Te Akau Aus base?

Looked to me like Magicool had a bit in reserve on the line, I'm not sure Werther was going well enough to beat him .

I thought he was gelded?

Surely no need for personal assassination here? Be a tough enough time for those involved if what is rumoured to be happening is happening with out any of that going on.No one will have any idea what anyone in these roles has done , so a bit harsh saying they achieved nothing imo.

Nerula if you think what has come out of those strategy meetings will yield fruit then good luck to you sir. More of the same to me. The industry urgently needs a rejig of the racing administrative side of the sport to maintain particpation and in the distant future have any chance of survival in that respect. What I saw at the strategy meetings was white flag stuff and pie in the sky. At the very least: -Free racing needs to return in some format , whats the point in racing for 7k midweek winning 4k and then it costing more than what youve made out of that race to nom, accept pay for rider in the next few races over & above what it would be if you raced for $6k & these expenses were reviewed? You might as well race for $20k midweek and charge 10× the amount for noms & acceptances etc. Midweek . - there needs to be a review of all costs associated with administering your horse with NZTR I.e. naming, leasing, change of ownership the list goes on. These costs should be able to be halved at the very least using technology. In my opinion these aspects would have a greater impact on the sustainability of the sport and getting stakeholders on side than putting together pyramid scheme racing stakes and attempting to turn New Zealand racing into Singapore racing which is something that will never happen.

It defies belief such a result, why isn't there an uproar about whats going on at this place? Wasnt derby day down significantly as well? How long must this continue without change ?or now they understand the way people want to be entertained & when is that the change?

Great point. Especially in todays age where you can do the naming yourself via the website as you can noms and acceptances so difficult to see where the cost is in doing this? I know its there to prop up stakes but its never had the desired effect.

Two words - "Free Racing" even if owners had to only pay for the ride. It is quite simply beyond common sense that an owner pays to nominate and accept in a race nowadays.

Well yeah if thats what it takes. Their job is surely to promote and create interest in the local product , how does closing down for hibernation assist with that? You talk like the content isn't there, it is just go find it. Why are they supposed to rely on content from o'seas? Wasn't the transfer to Sky going to give more the channel more shows etc? Where are they? Weigh In when they feel like it and even then the racing population have been calling out for a return of this style show for who knows how long.

I haven't got a feel for the field this year but am hoping for a father and son battle in the Derby between Golden Horn (Cape Cross) and Storm the Stars(Sea the Stars). In the Oaks interest has to lie around whether Fastnet Rock can pick up a Northern Hemisphere classic.

Hong Kong stops cause there is no content or no stories that a journalist can seek out during that period??? At any rate why must we be like Hong kong or australia?

"Not a lot of content" and Didn't you used to call yourself a journalist? Sums it all up.

It's one of the(promised) improvements since Trackside went from Freeview to Sky.

Did he tell you that you'd have $45k more left over to race the horse with if you only paid $5k for the yearling?

Keep writing Tui Billboards

They might be buying the wrong Tavistock, maybe they should be diverting their attention to Werther.