Houlahan's Dream

Well said. So in Aus Cup, 400 m further, twice the straight to catch a leader in....is he a moral? Cascadian? Is Jenni racing?

Trentham. R5. 1/7 Trentham. R6. 6 Trentham. R7. No. 3 Trentham. R8. No. 1/11 Caulfield. R8. No. 1/2 BB Caulfield. R9. No. 1/4 Rosehill. R3. No. 3 Rosehill. R4. No. 7 Rosehill. R6. No. 3/8 Rosehill. R7. No. 11 Rosehill. R8. No 9/16 Rosehill. R9. No. 2 BB Something of a throw at the proverbial today. Thanks for the comp guys, and good luck Team Avantage!!!

I reckon I could do a better maketing Job. The arse is falling out of NZ Racing... How about catering more for the Public ? Oz do it well, as hard as it is to admit ! I watched the cup as usual, But yeah the absence of Public numbers & Glitz & Glamour was obvious. Speaking of catering, I wonder how many hot dogs on a stick they sold at Cheltenham? How many NZ race courses have sushi, or Ramen for example. Tacos? Anything remotely modern, as in from this century? Last time at Te Rapa (mid Jan) I had perhaps the WORST veggie sandwich in history - not the end of the world but predictably bad. I know there is more to going to the races than getting a decent snack but to me it is symbolic of the lack of care at our race tracks. It is a great experience watching the horses, but getting bird shit on your pants, and then having soggy chips, bad sandwich and disinterested hospo staff really adds to the experience. I suppose we can look forward to trips to Aussie, decent food at Caulfield, nice hospo experiences at Randwick and even, God forbid, percentage quinella bets or this AMAZING product called a Duet. Way too fancy for NZ punters, of course......

Look, I get they are in a situation. But I cannot see how reducing our punt options, works for them as a model. They need to do better.

What a bunch of losers, honestly. Exactly. On BET365 there are soooo many options for my punting dollar....so why would I bet with TAB?

Think Cascadian is a shot here too.

Not a big punter at all. Used to be a member, got sick of the broken seats and birdshit in members stand. My point which you so surely misread was, what do we get for our $20. In other jurisdictions there is more of an incentive to part with your hard earned. In public stand down stairs we have hot ham rolls (not bad to be honest) but other than that you have pretty dire sandwiches, pies, chips etc. I do bring my own food to the races. You are right to say Ellerslie is better than most tracks in NZ...but that is a VERY low bar.

Exactly. Not much change in offerings for the punter. AUS sites have % quinella, exacta, you name it. What has been added here recently? Exacta? Big deal. I would normally go to Akl cup but...$20 entry, poor food, music blaring, invasive security etc. Stayed home. How about $20 entry gets you $10 TAB voucher?!??. Radical.

1. Ellerslie R6 4, 10 2. Ellerslie R7 4,11 3. Ellerslie R9 10, 16 BB 4. Flemington R4 9 5. Flemington R5 1, 12 BB 6. Flemington R6 4,6 7. Flemington R8 6,7 8. Randwick R3 1,6 9. Randwick R5 4,5 10. Randwick R6 2 11. Randwick R8 1,4 12. Randwick R9 4 Thanks for the comp folks. Good luck everyone.. Lets go Team Avantage..!!

Fair enough. El Soldado@ 130/1, Roger That @ 40/1, even last year, Plat Invader @22/1 suggests in recent years it has not exactly been a favourites paradise. Lack of true staying contests means that for 70% of the field this is their first time over 3200. Always finds a few well favoured runners wanting in last 6/700 m.

Auckland Cup looks a reasonable puzzle on the new track. Quite partial to Mark Twain, finishing off hard over middle distance races lately, Asterix they seem to have worked him out a bit more, got to be a shot, Dionysus last summer went well in Wgtn Cup, then tanked in Akl Cup, this summer more relaxed programme - he is a danger. And Waisake - yes, old bones. But 2 m proven for sure, been ticking along, Sharrock knows his stuff. I hope it rains a bit more. I worry about the older horses on the firm surface.

Looks odd for sure.

Ellerslie R5 5 Ellerslie R6 1 , 7 Ellerslie R7- 2,7 Ellerslie R8 2 Ellerslie R9 2,3 Randwick R5 2,3 Randwick R6- 1,3 Randwick R7- 2, 9 BB Randwick R8- 3 Flemington R7 7 Flemington R8 1,2 BB Flemington R9- 5,14 Thanks for the comp. Good luck to all of you, especially the superstars of Avantage...

Speaking for only me here, but if my team (Avantage) nudges over $2k and loses.....might have to push the inquiry button!!!

1. Matamata R8 2,9 2. Otaki R7 1,5 BB 3. Caulfield R3 1 4. Caulfield R4 3 5. Caulfield R5 4,5 6. Caulfield R6 6,7 7. Caulfield R8 14 8. Caulfield R9 14 9. Rosehill R5 13 10. Rosehill R6 11 11. Rosehill R7 1,2 12. Rosehill R8 7,11 BB Let's hope Avantage can continue its solid run of the last two weeks. Thanks for the comp guys.

Any thoughts on Ascend the Throne for the derby? Ran on pretty well once extricated from a bit of a pocket on the weekend - 7 lengths from the winner but doing really good work late. Decent win in Waikato Guineas. Savabeel so....should get the trip. Currently at 10s. Or is Orchestral over the line already......

1. Ellerslie R5 5/11 2. Ellerslie R6 15 3. Ellerslie R7 3/14 4. Flemington R2 1/9 5. Flemington R3 1/3 6. Flemington R5 1 BB 7. Flemington R6 1/12 8. Flemington R7 7 9. Flemington R9 1 10. Randwick R7 1/2 BB 11. Randwick R8 2 12. Randwick R9 5/12 Thanks for the comp guys. Let's hope Avantage can sustain the form from last week!

Not just punters clubs, surely? I had a winning bet on Opaewa Jack yday, first bet of day, snared $16s for my trouble, $6 becomes $50. Two more bets, $50 becomes $60, so parked it for the day. I think that at times they go for the big grand slam bets, the headline grabbers, where most of us realise any return between 25/50% over the longer term is doing really really well.

No track expert here. However, given the massive investment and disruption from closing the joint for two yrs....they have to get it right. Give them a chance, as you suggest. Fair enough. Lets wait and see.....

You are not going to hear anything critical from the racing media, of the moves made at Ellerslie. Guerin et al act more like PR merchants than journos. I get that they are partly there to sell the product, but the lack of transparency around what is clearly a significant issue is alarming.

1. Te Rapa R4 1,3 BB 2. Te Rapa R6 2 3. Te Rapa R7 2,13 4. Te Rapa R8 2,3 5. Randwick R2 1,2 6. Randwick R6 2,3 7. Randwick R7 7 8. Caulfield R4 4,7 9. Caulfield R6 1 10. Caulfield R7 1,8 11. Caulfield R8 4,14 12. Caulfield R9 1,6 BB Let's go Avantage! Thanks for the comp guys.

Agreed. Surely the other plots of land could have generated revenue sufficient? All this aided by our pliant racing media, too close to the clubs, jock, trainers to rock the boat. Cheerleaders, not journalists.

By way of money where mouth is vis a vis another thread: I think No Compromise is a chance tomorrow in the Herbie. A whisker away from Campionessa at Puke, should get a good sit behind the speed, they may not go that fast* so Legarto might have some work to do. Decent place money at $3.50/$4 at the moment. *I mean, its a NZ G1 over 2000m - of course they will walk the first 1200!

False equivalence. What if the quality gap between DL and Legarto is less than that between Pendragon/Orch? In which case a winning break could be gained by front runner. Many variables as we know

It is actually never easy. I agree with you - bringing people on course and into the game is tremenous. But let's say Houlahan bets up to his weekly limit of $50 this Saturday and does the lot - none of those bets are public knowledge, but also neither is it other people's money. Without disclosing my yearly win/loss, I would be pretty disappointed to lose half my stake of a weekend. I think when you put yourself out there as they have done and garner a LOT of people's hard earned, you are accountable for the performance, or lack thereof. That is all.