Huey

List them , simple question , if there are so many it should be easy .
Why was the listed race not run there , your argument is empty , your a punter not a horseman .

I don't really think people are being negative Scooby. I like to think we are having a healthy discussion about whether the windfall is being spent in the best way possible. As mentioned above many of us remember Winston's million dollar races. A lot of people thought that was a good idea at the time and many disagreed. I think everyone realised afterwards it was a total waste of money.
It isn't as if NZTR has done anything to earn the $20m bonus, they were just handed the money and told to spend it. I don't know if they did any significant consultation with the industry before making their decision, possibly not.
The people who contribute on here mostly have fairly strong opinions on most things involving racing  so there are going to be robust discussions. I think it is very healthy that you are providing a forum to allow diverse industry views to be heard. At the end of the day we all have a common desire for the industry to do well.

I think a $1 million race for 4yos is a good concept. I do wonder why it's on Karaka Millions night when it's not a race for Karaka graduates. It seems like a lost opportunity to give this new race it's own identity and you could even do something like they do for the All Star Mile and have it at a different venue each year rather than concentrating everything on Ellerslie.

You need to just appreciate as an owner like I am that what has happened is a hell of a lot better than last week..stop whinging and move on whinging aint gonna fix anything..what the industry needs now is to all get behind it and make it bloody work!!!

I am with you Scooby, I can only see positives from the stake increases. So many of our good horses were sold overseas, owners and trainers will have another look at targeting those glamour races and perhaps we won't  lose them. Having good horses racing here has to be good.
I have a share in a good one that's probably heading to Oz for future racing, yes it's good for the stakes but do you want to fly to Australia for every raceday.?
The stakes increase has to be a win win, all stakeholders will benefit,  with better racing, turnover will increase,  perhaps some Aussie horses will target that 4 yr old million race..
Let's get on board and embrace our industry, we have all experienced the thrill of a winner,for me it's one of lifes " puffed up moments "  right up there with the birth of your children, and the day you were married.
Give me more of that!

Scooby, Scooby, Scooby.  You use the word "many" so maybe there are a majority of your contributers who think a repeat of what Winston Peters did with a lot of money going into a few races is not a good idea, and they instead support more participants getting the chance to cover training fees for six months rather than two.
Is it negative to suggest more stake money for more people?  Is it negative to suggest the addition of more staying events?
I think maybe it depends which debating team you are on.

Geez so much negativity from many here...just because you don't have a horse that the race suits does not mean it is a bad thing for the country...and so what if there are now 2,3 and $yo million $$$ races...how can that be a bad thing...why not have the showcase meeting at the showcase track in the country.It's never possible to please everyone but its a bloody great start I would say and one hell of a lot better than we were aa week ago. JMO.

I have been a bit slow, I blame it on old age and the booze.
It has only just occurred to me the cunning plan behind the $1m 4yo race on Karaka day. 
I imagine NZTR said to the breeders, "look, the natives might get upset if we pour more industry money into the sweepstakes, why don't we give you another $1m race on the day, totally funded by the industry. It will effectively be another sales race as 86%, or even more, of the starters will have come from the sales, but the owners won't have to pay the sweepstake fees. A win all round."
It won't be long before the breeders are promoting the fact that sales graduates can aim towards $1m 2yo, 3yo and 4yo races all on the same day.
The interesting thing will be whether Trentham has to move their Group1 mile the previous week. It certainly won't be the first time Trentham has been shafted by Auckland over the years at this time of year. I imagine Wgtn might be told to shift their race and NZTR will boost it to $500,000. I notice Trentham has already been moved to the week before Karaka day, last year the Wgtn Cup meeting was the week after Karaka.

This week I completed the forms to change the ownership and name my horse. I paid the required $240 fee. But … I stuffed up the racebook name. My intention was clear on the form, but the racebook name and ownership didn’t match. Unfortunately, to correct this, I now need to pay a further $120. Is this normal practice? For my previous horse, NZTR incorrectly entered the ownership percentages. This was corrected without further payment - or refund, for that matter.
A bit of a moan. My mistake and no doubt I will pay the fee at some point.

I saw those two races at $35,000 and thought the same as the rest of you. I am pretty sure I was there to see Grey Way beat Coobers Queen in the NI Challenge Stakes. And it was actually a stakes race in those days. I also seem to recall Show Gate winning it. Certainly not a winter bog race in those days.
Incredibly sad the way they don't seem to care at all about some of the great race names. Wellington is probably the worst club in the country for showing total disrespect to some of the great races.

2023 edition has only attracted 6 nominations - a crying shame for what was once a prestige winter handicap.

Bloody hell! I had forgotten it was the Jackson Stakes. I was there in 1986 when Bourbon Boy beat Bonecrusher. Bourbon Boy was a fixture in the race for several years. Axeman beat Prince Majestic a couple of times. I think Horlicks won it. All the top horses raced in it.
I just did some rudimentary research, I see it was worth $60,000 in 1989. $65,000 this year. How sad is that?  
Perhaps it is time that races like that are finally put out of their misery. Doesn't it just show how far this industry has fallen?
Oh well, we still have the Karaka millions. Unfortunately I don't think we will have anyone come back and race in them five years running.

It will all be ok very soon. Sharrock wants to increase saturday stakes rather than maidens, so next year there will be 5 horses going around at Wanganui for $80,000. Good to see a light at the end of that tunnel.

Shocking when you consider that the Track Manager at Hastings is the NZTR appointed Track Advisor for the CD. I believe he receives an extra 30K plus for this appointment. If he can't get his track right how can he advise the other Track Managers on what they should be doing. 

That was also the case in the Riccarton Cup meeting cock-up.
 

Well done NZTR , they have now activated the Raceday Abandonment Protocols after the debacle at Hastings today .
Do they know how Naff this all sounds , amateurs playing at professionalism .

As I said in another thread what a crock of shyte...I hear someone from one of the big northern stables made a bit of noise so they get looked after but the poor buggers from Hawera get shafted...they could of easily run Hawera Monday or Tuesday but no they dont matter as not many northerners there...rules for some and rules for others it seems.

Contrary to the NSW situation  [ is it sustainable? ]  I note that there is a drop in funding inherent in Victoria.   Measures have been put in place to ameliorate that, as much as possible. But assurances were made that bottom-tier races would not be affected.
Here?  of course, the practice is to chop the wee people off at the knees.  Who needs them?

And yet 10 weeks out from the start of our next season and we still have no indication of what we will be racing for , absolute amateur hour again . I'm sure they said that they would clarify the situation by the end of April , that's been and gone . 
Who likes kumara .

I remember a horse in Ireland testing positive for nicotine. When he won his next start media asked the trainer what he thinks of his horse….Trainer replied and said “he is a good horse, and if I can get him off the cigarettes I think he might even be a Cheltenham horse”. 

Trackside programming is a total joke. Cutting away one minute after the Golden Slipper to go to some nothing race in Western Australia. And following that still no Slipper aftermath because they're off to Doomben. They can't move these races on Trackside 2 because they've decided to programme the Sapphire Coast, Singapore snd Pingrup in the ten minutes after the Slipper.
Now it's onto the All Star Mile. Surely we'll get some post-race coverage of this race we've been building up to for months? Nope, almost no post-race coverage because Trackside have decided Kembla Grange is more important.
It really is an insult to racing fans, but Trackside don't seem to care. it's all about cramming in as many races as possible.
 
 
 

I was surprised no one mentioned Rodley's interview with Roger James after the Bonecrusher last week. James treated him with virtual contempt.

Be careful though - a new code of conduct has been written to look after people like A Rod.

If I was Ben I would of said well I put 12 months work into getting her ready for this to run last..they are absolutely hopeless..and the person doing the totes does my head in 5.4 to 2.5, speak English its $5.40 into $2.50...and Popplewell with his the runner cant even say or learn enough to know anything about the horse he is talking about...they should look at good coverage from racing.com and see how its done properly...oh and I never even started on Sweeny with h...i..s long p..a..u..s..e..s ...on one of our biggest days is this really the best we can do...really???
 

Hope he’s “ shopping well” tho. 
 
Interviewing seems like something they are not good at and it’s their job. Unusual.