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

TOM(the other Molloy)

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Everything posted by TOM(the other Molloy)

  1. The $15 a head is entry yes. They need a lot of tote staff because cellphone coverage is limited and what there is is taken up by all the 18 year-olds texting their mates 2 metres away.
  2. Yeah the catering comes in where I said maybe $150k. But remember the already spent costs of advertising and setup expenses It is one foot on a banana skin stuff financially for outfits like Kumara. They were broke after a raceday cancellation a few years back. If they want to persevere with racing they would be better converting the track to an all weather and running a harness meeting. The locals would have no idea of fhe difference.
  3. In the last couple of weeks we have had three abandoned racedays in the south and one postponed. I have started thinking about all this and wonder why any of the country clubs would bother? Just think of some other idea for a piss up and forget about racing. I have changed my mind about the Kumara decision. They made the right call(from their own perspective) abandoning early and in ignoring the offer of the alternative venue (to be fair they never even acknowledged the offer or said thanks, no thanks, or even stick it up your a....). Had they waited until today - and ignoring the cost and inconvenience to stakeholders - they would by now have had their 70 tote staff on the way @ $300 a pop ( they travel from Christchurch for Coast meetings so it is a very long day for them and the buses need paying for), 10 or so starting gate staff at a similar cost, their (local) entry gate parking and security staff ready for action, at least $10000 worth of race books printed and probably $30000 worth of catering at the ready. All up probably $90k of cost that could not be avoided if they waited till race one and the worst happened. Plus the already spent promotional and infrastructure (tents, portaloos etc) expense. Assuming all went well and they got a $300k oncourse turnover and 5000 paying customers at $15 a pop they would net say $100,000(maybe $150000 but certainly not an astoundingly large amount) in income. One has to ask the question why would they bother organising something they are going to struggle to make a quid on and where realistically they are going to be at dire risk each year of having to cancel? Why wouldn't they think of some other sort of unique West Coast (or Central Otago or Wairarapa or wherever) idea and run the thing without the vagaries of the NZ Racing modus operandi. I am not knocking the NZ Racing industry here but they do have standards and requirements that Clubs must live up to and to be fair Country Clubs,my own included, struggle to meet those and get quite irritated in having to do so where it is not directly related to the racing event. So assuming they were running pony races or a big screen Ed Sheehan concert or God knows what events their imagination might conjure up they do not have this overriding shadow of the requirements of NZ Racing. They can just carry on their merry way rain hail or shine. The locals would get their piss up and the club avoid the continual bleating that an abandonment like Kumara has created in people who know nothing and care even less about the health and safety risks inherent in racing. The ignorance of the general public where something like the Kumara thing occurs is astounding and quite tiring. You can talk horse and jockey welfare all you like - all they care about is missing out on their booze and their day out. None of them has the slightest interest in the racing game nor any inclination to develop interest. Racing could relocate to Riccarton Wingatui Wellington or wherever and we devotees watch it on telly along with the couple of hundred who might turn up on course. The TAB gets its product at a bloody sight less cost, the stakeholders their opportunity without having to travel so far and the industry does not attract adverse publicity through unfortunate abandonments. Surely everyone's a winner?
  4. sun shower I have said it before the Coast can handle it but tracks that have been renovated invariably do not handle a lot or rain well(or a little rain just before raceday). Invercargill, Wingatui, Ashburton, Riccarton, Kumara, Omoto, Rangiora, Trentham, Awapuni ....... Need I go on?
  5. I've seen it worse at the Kumara races. In the early jetbet days the lighting was ferocious and the rain pelting down and water was pissing into the bar but the show went on no probs. No H&S in those days
  6. You trying to take the piss? Being the proactive club Reefton is it didn't get itself into a situation whereby a track issue was likely to cost it the meeting. That is first it has never renovated the track, secondly it does not spray weed killer willy nilly on windy days, third it has guys(the O'Malleys) who know lot about pasture management, fourthly it does not deny the shortcomings with its track but works with what it has to try to get the best possible result, fifthly it has a committee of people who actually know at least something about racing and have some empathy for the stakeholders, sixthly when it is offered practical help it will generally accept it, seventhly it does not have a superiority complex about is own position in NZ or West Coast racing, eighthly(if that is a word) the only time in my memory it had to abandon it did so many days ahead so stakeholders were not badly affected(and had the TAB co-operated it would not have needed to abandon just relocate to Greymouth) and ninethly well I have no idea but there must be another reason why we are so good. Oh Lord its hard to be humble when you're perfect in every way! And having said all that under Murphy's Law no doubt we will now have to abandon next week as well! Seriously an alternative over the hill is not feasible. They are 150 - 200 miles away and may not necessarily be in a state to hold a meeting. If we had to relocate it would be Greymouth and it is much much wetter than we are. And the TAB would no doubt refuse again to co operate(whereas in the Kumara case the TAB is shifting to Reefton anyway.
  7. an alternative what? Reefton has had about 2 inches of rain and is still dead6/slow 7 insofar as i know. Kumara and Co have had about 8 inches and heavy 11 AND knew they had a problem days ago Barring a major weather event Reefton does not need an alternative as I t is a very well managed course(O'Malley's - top farmers - know what they are doing)
  8. $30k open 2000m added to Reefton Tuesday. Thanks to NZTR and fastrack insurance - I have been critical of them(NZTR) in the past but they were bloody helpful this time. Needless to say they had no idea Kumara had been offered an alternative venue.
  9. Too big a risk of really bad weather, snow on the passes etc at that time of year
  10. Well Kumara certainly didn't think of the Owners Trainers and Jockeys. We were desperate to make sure that they had opportunities but the KRC only cared about the crowd they would miss out on.
  11. Three of the four aren't and in any case every club in NZ is inflexible in their own way. It is not unique to the Coast
  12. An expert in Coast weather are you? I've been here 54 years and I don't look at the TV forecast or a computer screen - I know
  13. suspect some will but we are working on an upgrade of the programme and hopefully to give all those who want a go an opportunity For a brief time this morning we were shifting the day forward to Saturday(at NZTR's suggestion) but impractical with catering, liquor licencing, race books and staff etc plus the weather forecast still being dodgy. If I had known yesterday that they would abandon and refuse to relocate I would have had time to get it organised
  14. told you there would be no contingency and in turning down the Reefton offer no consideration to stakeholders whatsoever
  15. They won't have a contingency plan(despite us offering them Reefton). I have not heard a peep since making the offer yesterday and I would think if they do not run at Kumara they will not run at all (and to be fair given the amount of rain we have had if they did go to Reefton they would only stuff our track for Tuesday) I very much doubt the interests of the stakeholders will be considered and(assuming that the worst happens) it is now far too late for Reefton to step up themselves. 34mm in Reefton in the last 24 hours. I imagine it would be close to 120mm here in Greymouth
  16. All the best to him but I think he issued the same statement at the same time last year.
  17. Well there were very few but..... Of course Health and Safety was not such a focal point in those days
  18. If it is dry in the period before a meeting and it rains close to the day then the meeting is stuffed - I have said it a hundred times. It was not just bare patches at Hoki there was surface water as well and, according to the report inconsistencies in the going(which says to me parts of the track were better than others and maybe the going improved or deteriorated in a very short distance - which would make it very difficult for the horses) Of course if they irrigate and do not monitor it very carefully then there is a greater risk of inconsistencies a la Omakau. Remember Riccarton irrigating the outside in the middle of winter to stop them using that wide strip? Irrigation is a thorn in the side of NZ Racing(though not able to say what they should replace it with but Pitty says no irrigation should be applied in the week before a meeting.)
  19. Yes I appreciate that. No offence taken but those poor farmers are in trouble. It has rained in the last couple of hours but they need lots more.
  20. Just hear that when they sprayed the inside of the Hoki track it was windy and the spray went over parts of the track itself. Just a cock up and not the first time it has happened at Hokitika
  21. That is not really too funny kdt(though I appreciate what you are getting at). Up the Grey Valley and through Reefton up the Inangahua Valley it is bloody dry. They need a hell of a lot of rain to get the grass growing again especially those without irrigation, The Reefton track is OK because it has been irrigated leading up the Trotting meeting but the surrounds are burnt off badly. There has been an inch or so of rain in the last two weeks up there but the farmers need a lot more than that. The Coast is equipped to deal with a lot of rain(not that you would know it given the perilous racing situation) but it is not equipped to deal with the dry.
  22. extremely unlikely I would say. First thing is they have to abandon early, second they have to get the TAB's co operation(easier said than done in my experience), third they have to elect to relocate and fourth they have to decide on Reefton not Greymouth(which is subject to the same weather pattern as they are so will be a bog as well). I imagine Kumara would rather not race at all than relocate. If they made the call right now we might be able to cobble together a meeting for Saturday. And all of that presumes that the stories I am hearing about the state of Kumara are true. It might be perfectly OK to race on for all I know and it would be really tragic for the Club if there is another abandonment.
  23. You are the one who said Reefton was inconsistent Admin and now you are asking me to define inconsistency? I don't like people insulting my track and I am inviting you to put up or shut up. So where is an example