fitzy

If it was related, then You’d have to close “most” tracks. First priority is to get the betting situation sorted. That’s the source of the funding. Playing favourites with tracks won’t work. Imagine if Bulls, Foxton, Feilding, Levin, Ashhurst tracks we’re still being used? Awapuni, Otaki And Wanganui can handle that area. The crowd issue is not going to be a factor in proposed track closures. There’ll never be a consensus on track closures because there’s always going to be losers. If NZ wants to keep its tracks that have one or two meetings a year then the only way to have this is to eliminate waste (the $ kind of waste) and grow the revenue side. You can only do this thru betting. Personally, I’ve never liked the idea of charging people to go on to a racecourse. Casino? Pokies, TAB etc don’t charge so why the races? Can you Imagine being charged $10 or more to sit down in a restaurant? Doesn’t make sense. Save gate staff costs, ticket checking mafia, printing etc. The punters will spend it on food n bev and betting anyway. Unrelated, I once closed 9 businesses down in order make the remaining 14 stronger. They thrived. A hard decision but a necessary one for the growth of the remaining 14. Think about it.

Oceanex wins G2 Matriach stakes at Flemington today. 
Point at least partly proven I think.
 

Pathetic remark. OP is leaving top horses all over the place.

Omn do you really think the horse is going to be relegated because a jockey hit him too often? The rules are that the jockey gets the penalty, not the horse. You can even offer an argument that the horse would've done better without the flogging.

What about Ocean Park ? 
He looks on track to be a hugely influential sire 

What you mean you are going to ride her .....  

What you mean you are going to ride her .....  

In saying that...IMHO I don't think the Toorak HCP is worthy of its Group One status....Group Two maybe.

Mmm..last year Land of Plenty beat Hartnell, Shilleagh, Black Heart Bart. Tosen Stardom won year before and followed it up with a win in the G1 MacKinnon Stakes. Past winners incl Galilee, Gunsynd, Tauto, Mufhasa, Red Dazzler, Alamosa, Show a Heart, Regal Roller etc. I think it’s far more worthy of G1 status than you think. If that race was downgraded then most of NZ G1 races would have to have a serious look at. Far better for NZ if The Toorak stays at G1. 

Well done Melody Belle, clearly the best horse going around here in NZ.
You have to wonder about the form though when a 96 rater and a 94 can run 2nd and 3rd. The 2nd horse has generally failed when tried against the best here in NZ, though is having a great run at the moment.
IMHO this was the weakest field I have seen in this race over the years. 

To have a large number of foals unregistered suggests that he has served a number of owner horses

But I have to bring in the UK form because we can frank the ratings. Shame we don't have the system fully set up in NZ but the NZTR are bone slow in making sense of our industry. You've just got to keep the feet on the ground. Endless Drama is a good horse on his best rating but one has to concede that his  best days should be behind him. That makes anything behind him slightly exposed when you consider today's race  probably ran to mid 90's. TAS needs to be 20-25 pounds better to be competitive in the Cox Plate (average rating 123). Do I see  that improvement? Not sure but maybe I simply can't get past the Rip Van Winkle part of the equation. 

Each year someone asks when it is being held:
 

 

What a horse, and what a race.

What a horse, and what a race.

Not sure I make great sense of what you are trying to say here - The subject line is - "Volksraad as a broodmare sire". The fact is that Volksraad was a champion New Zealand stallion on numerous occasions and did a great job for our industry. He's proven that the could leave a top horse and has done so as a broodmare sire. I think the main thing is that horses with his blood are at an advantage to have rather than a disadvantage ...... Interesting  where I Am Invincible has come from. Not sure too many worry about his timeform at the moment.

Interesting comments Berri which clearly must be taken at face value.
Obviously one of the vagaries of horse breeding that a horse with such limited ability plus soundness and temperament issues could prove to be such a successful stallion. Thankfully he didn’t seem to pass his unsatisfactory traits to most of his stock.
Stallion selection is clearly a lottery.

Berri with your knowledge of English racing I am staggered by your comments.
Volksraad was purchased by Pat Connell who had close connections to the Henry Cecil stables. They knew full well how much ability he had but due to injury he wasn’t able to show this on the track. No doubt lightly raced horses like this are always a risk but Pat was prepared to take the gamble. He is one of only 2 or 3 stallions in the past 40 years who genuinely started at the bottom and became Champion sires.
i have heard suggestions that his partners in the horse weren’t that impressed but clearly changed their  minds later 

We used to have qualifying trials once.... before you could get a start race day!

See Peter Jenkins pedigree comments below from a few years back. MF a superior racer with strong pedigree. Service fee very reasonable.
Rock of Gibraltar:
Overall SW/named foals - 6%
SW/named foal with mares by Green Desert or his sons - 20% (none involve Cape Cross)
Danehill Dancer has 37.5% stakes horses to named foals with mares by Green Desert or his sons while his overall average is 11.4%.
Gold Mine program shows a VGS score of 1.83 for the Danehill-Green Desert cross (in that order). For the uninitiated this score predicts the number of SW a certain cross is likely to produce given the overall stakeswinner production of the individuals involved. The cross is expected to yield 7.63 SW but has yielded 14.

And if RITA don't work their magic ,then we all have to adapt to life without racing in it.

that's because he can't reach the top of it 

Surely they can afford a paddock with actual grass?

Surely they can afford a paddock with actual grass?

Not surprising really even Epsom Derby winners struggle to be commercial stallion prospects unless they have been top 2yo’s or have won G1 miles.
The fact that Crown Prosecuter paid over $100 in winning the derby should tell you enough about his 3yo form.
Expect his temperament as a colt was the main issue.