RaceCafe..#1...Tipsters Thread.... Share Your Fancies For Fun...Lets See Who The Best Tipsters Here Are.

Gofta

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Everything posted by Gofta

  1. I will put my hand up as a lifelong National voter and someone who dislikes Winston for his usually self serving hypocrisy. He has done more for racing in a year than Nationals Guy and Bennett did over a decade. I think based on recent events he should be given the benefit of the doubt until he proves otherwise.
  2. PVL: The biggest challenge facing racing is to attract the next generation. There is now significantly more competition. We need to find ways to take on this competition and have the next generation engaged in racing. It’s not simple but we have to make every effort otherwise we may become an industry of the past. Racing has to continue to evolve to remain relevant.  Finally someone speaking with clarity about the future of this sport, The next generation, and how much more competition there is for their dollar. To many on this site who want things to go back to the good ol days, that is what will extinguish this industry. we need fewer but better facilities, higher stakes, re-branding of the industry from a sport to an entertainment spectacle. If your not on board, step back and let those with this shared vision take us forward
  3. Can we agree we we need to attract young people to the sport. How else do we increase punting revenue and owners numbers. This has been the key to the Australians relative success. The other thing Australia ha,d was a supportive government which for once we also have. This growth sure isn't going to come from the old curmudgeons who would rather see the industry die than merge with another club. To attract the next generation we need a product that is on a different level to what the old curmudgeons are used to. I'm so sick of the whining and negativity these relics of the industry spout as they try to drag the industry back to the glory days of the 50's which is just an unobtainable dream. If your not part of the future, then do the rest of us a favour and join a bowls club so you can destroy that industry rather than this one.
  4. What is it you are in fact fighting for? Is it the memories of a bygone era, when racing was the only form of entertainment and/or gambling in this country. It is clear from the discussion on this thread that many clubs and participants are happy to take the industry to the edge of collapse and possibly beyond to save these memories from the 60's and 70's. These clubs want their last actions on this earth to be the total annihilation of the the racing industry in NZ, so they can keep a track open that is a shadow of its former glory and in may cases in total disrepair. What happens in 10-20 years when the 30 or so members of each of these clubs making this last stand are dead and buried and the industry is also gone. Will people remember them as visionaries, forward thinkers who loved our great game. .....or will they be remembered as sad remnants of a bygone era that put the final nail in the coffin at the last opportunity they had to save the industry. It is sad to see the self interest that is driving the thinking of many who cant bear to let go of the last remnants of control or power they have. You should be ashamed
  5. To keep Avondale you would need to blow up the stands and pour 50 million into building new facilities. I would rather sell it and take the $200million. Its called business. Its thinking like yours that got us into this predicament
  6. You seemto look at the 3-5 large breeders/studs and think all breeders are on the pigs back. look a little deeper and understand what you are recommending would be the final straw for many of them.
  7. I understand It is difficult when you are working in the grassroots of the industry 7 days a week, to come up for air and see the big picture. In the simplest of terms, the industry needs to engage with the 18 - 40yr olds with money as they are the group that will be racehorse owners in the future.....without owners, the industry is dead. Attracting this group through syndication has been paramount to the vibrant growth in racing Australia. The industry needs to compete with the multitude of sporting codes and other forms of entertainment/gambling. To do this racing needs to provide facilities and a package that gets this group to the races rather than the other sporting and entertainment events trying to get their dollar. Most of the comments I have heard from the "grassroots" of the industry in this thread seem to think the answer is people bringing a chillybin to their local track twice a year. I'm afraid these once a year punters are not the answer. The answer is the 18 - 40 yr olds who expect a great experience at a course with 2018 facilities. These are the potential racehorse owners we need to attract.
  8. Ha ha ha , so your not happy with the racing industry going down the tubes, now you want to destroy the breeding industry. Jacinda would be proud of your tax and spend ideas.
  9. You cant be serious, facilities are a tip it would need tens of millions poured in to bring it out of the 1970's. At best it is a trials and training track which is crazy when you look at its value and terrible traffic problems.
  10. I realise there are winning punters and I have been lucky enough to meet two in my life, both living in Australia. The discipline required is something I have yet to see in New Zealand. In my experience these very few professionals keep a low profile. I am surprised as one of these global elite, you make a big song and dance on this website.
  11. You guys who talk about punting and how much money you make crack me up. If any of you kept proper records of betting history you would all be down the tubes. The mind has a wonderful way of tricking you into thinking your a winner by forgetting the bad times and remembering the endorphin producing wins. Read a few books on the psychology of gambling some time and you will realise the trackside team are probably above average in their prediction abilities, the difference is their results are recorded for everyone to see.
  12. Gofta

    TE RAPA

    Sounds like Turny just had a bad day on the punt. Te Rapa lounges about the best in the country now and most other tracks would have been underwater, not soft/slow.
  13. There are many tracks which should go before Te Rapa. Namely Avondale, Te Aroha, Thames, Te Awamutu,
  14. The clubs which are no longer financially viable give up these dates as they close down. I am sure 5-10 have been earmarked already. Sounds like a huge benefit of the synthetic track, the ability to close down these tracks.
  15. That's exactly what I am saying. It is up to the Members and Board of Avondale to take the course forward to where it is a commercially viable proposition. If this is not possible, then to make the hard decision to close down the course and use the funds elsewhere. If they are not able to do this then perhaps a new board and executive is needed. If younger people want to get involved that's up to them. I would suggest the first step to getting young people involved though, is getting them to a race day at a venue that does not create the impression of going back in time to the 50's. I think you will find the track is becoming less and less popular with trainers and owners as the traffic issues become more of an issue. I wont go to Avondale again after my last experience with traffic and facilities so that means my trainer will also not be racing my horses there.
  16. That final comment just shows how out of touch many people in the industry are. The public don't owe you or the club a damn thing. You are providing an entertainment product just like every other sporting code in NZ who is competing for that same dollar. If people such as yourself cannot grasp this fundamental difference from the 70's then the industry will continue to flounder. You are living in a time when there was only rugby, racing and beer. There are hundreds of new products out there trying to get that dollar and I'm afraid the racing industry is light years behind everyone else.
  17. That's all well and good if the club has done a good job with the funds on hand. It doesn't change the fact its infrastructure is a disgrace. I am sure the members love sitting up there in the same surrounds for the past 30-40years. The problem is people under the age of 40 expect better and just won't turn up. The course is in fact slowly dying as the existing members pass on. With no thought to regeneration, they are in fact sealing the courses fate. The members need to look outside the next 1-3 years and see where they are leaving the course for the future. Selling off chunks of the property is the only way forward. If that is not possible, then the only way is to close it down completely, rather than it dragging the industry into further embarrassment.
  18. Travelling to Auckland frequently from the Waikato, I am yet to have a free run anywhere past Pukekohe at any time of the day. I am glad to hear the tunnel is expected to help the issues, but I stand by the comment that a track in central Auckland ( I view Avondale as central), is always going to have traffic issues, there are choke points everywhere. Maybe I shouldn't have turned this into an Auckland traffic discussion as it takes away from the real issue, which is the appalling state of the Avondale racecourse, and its inability to attract future race participants. I am heading towards middle age but I still remember what young millennials look for in an entertainment package, I can assure you, Avondale is not it. The future for racecourses is around businesses and events people can network at, hence the huge success of "xmas at the races" and Melbourne cup days etc. Te Rapa is already seeing the benefit of their revamp with huge numbers booked for corporate events and this is flowing down into lesser racedays through the calendar. These people get a taste for the atmosphere and the industry and very often become owners or at the very least, punters and participants at other race days around the country. Their are only a few courses in the country that can attract this growth and if racecourses are not prepared to make the changes required to attract this future growth then they are part of the problem and not the solution.
  19. You would need a tunnel from Pukekohe I'm afraid
  20. The worst aspect of Avondale, apart from the decrepit facilities, is getting in and out of central Auckland. I was there a couple weeks ago when many participants arrived late due to the Auckland Traffic. I arrived only just in time to see my horse run, and it was in the 2nd race. Coming from the Waikato as many in the game do, it is an absolute nightmare, and I for one vowed never to go to the track again. As for trainers being happy to go there, I suggest you talk to them now, after that traffic fiasco. I am sure many long standing members and stakeholders have great memories at Avondale but if we don't bring in young blood the industry will die along with these participants. Avondale is not conducive to achieving this.
  21. Avondale is another whole can of worms. After going to Avondale a couple of times in the last few years I am truly amazed it is still a going concern. It appears to be the racecourse that time forgot. It must be sitting on land worth $100mill plus and it is truly a blight on the game in NZ. At least Ellerslie and now Te Rapa have the facilities to bring in the new generation of race goers. Avondale and a few other courses only perpetuate the feeling that the industry is dying a slow death.
  22. I wouldn't say I was close to David, but he knows I am an advocate for the industry and he lets me chew his ear when our paths cross. I am pretty confident that if the analysis is not freely available under the freedom of information act, then he will not provide it to myself. I just thought, with the high level of pessimism around the industry right now, it was important that participants knew there were positive changes being pushed at government level.
  23. The Racing Act amendment is not the onIy iron in the fire. I know David is working hard in the background for the industry. I am hearing this may culminate in a positive announcement from the National Party in the next few weeks. Stay tuned.