coro fan

Huge blow for older punters Despite a massive migration of punters using the internet to bet, axing the phone service will be a huge blow to many people.  While the TAB stopped taking phone betting through an operator on August 1, 2016 (except for VIPs and people with medical conditions) the TouchTone service continued to prove popular with millions of calls logged. It has been a happy place for many of the mostly older people who like to bet small amounts - when the TAB earlierraised its minimum phone bet to $10, traffic through TouchTone doubled. But the number of people betting through TouchTone has steadily been shrinking - in 2016 only 10,000 of the TAB’s then 250,000 customers regularly used it - and it, too, is now on its death bed. Can anybody tell me if the shrinking use of phone betting started when Trackside got taken off Free to air TV?

Hunt Club hasn’t raced there for years........

Weight problems I believe......

And it doesn’t help when the club is given Wednesday or Friday for a race day, when they used to get Sundays. At least on a Sunday the club stood a chance of getting people on course.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/news/118505389/crowds-enjoy-christmas-races-at-timarus-phar-lap-raceway

On ya Baz - I had $20 a place on Dr Hook.......

Yes I realise numbers of horses, jockeys, owners are needed, but you aren’t going to get any if there are no races for them to run in.

I’m involved with a club in the SI that is more than happy to support running jumps meetings. Riverton was another one......

The penny might have dropped that if jump racing goes in the SI, Riccarton stands a good chance of losing the GN meetings.........

Evening All OPEN LETTER TO THE SOUTH ISLAND RACING COMMUNITY Last Thursday, 8 August, during the Grand National Festival of Racing a jumps forum was held at Riccarton Park Racecourse. It was strongly attended by a wide cross section of people from around the country interested in jumps racing. A number of other people participated by teleconference. The major item of discussion was the desperate state of jumps racing in the South Island and the impact that will ultimately have on the Grand National Festival of Racing. It is a simple case of not enough participants and it will reach a time, unless that is reversed, when New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing will no longer be able to justify funding jumps racing in the South Island. There is no magic wand and the racing people in the South, if they want jumps racing, must help themselves. The meeting has requested that the South form a steering committee to rescue jumps racing and the purpose of this letter is to seek interested volunteers to join that Steering Committee. The Steering Group would need to collate initiatives that will be implemented, in a proposal to NZTR / NZ Jumps Inc, by late September. Time is of the essence so please forward this email on to your members, colleagues and friends that maybe interested in activitely participating in this steering committee. The wider the spread of this invitation the better the chance of getting enthusiastic people to participate. Those interested need to respond by noon on Friday 23 August if you wish to be included. Who should it go to: Racing Clubs Racing Club members Owners Associations Trainers Breeders Associations Any others that you can think of. Kind regards Paul ‘PC’ CLARIDGE NZ Jumping Coordinator PH 021 322 300

The rail at Timaru is out three metres - when it is true they start 14.

Hi Shad I searched the exported horses list for April, May and June, and didn’t see Dee and Gee, so I don’t think so. I could have missed the name though - sometimes I need to go to Specsavers

It doesn’t help that whoever does the programming in the South won’t card high weights alongside what jumping races that are carded, I’m sure it would be easier to attract more riders if more high weights were carded - even if those riders are visiting North Islanders. Remember when the ‘approved’ jumping venues were announced years ago? Timaru, Wingatui, Riverton Riccarton and Oamaru were the approved venues. Oamaru stopped running jumping races, not sure why, and Riccarton only hosts the Grand National meeting with no lead up jumps meetings. So a less races coupled with the uncertainty of being able to engage a jockey on race day leads to a reluctance from owners and trainers to school horses,. This in turn has lead to a lack of SI jumps jocks as well as horses. I’m not sure on a way forward, but with Timaru and Riverton tagged for closure, that is two venues that will potentially be gone. Riccarton only hosts the GN meeting, so you are down to Wingatui and possibly Oamaru as venues. Perhaps more jumps races should be carded in the SI, it might attract more owners and horses and hopefully jockeys - dreams are free

There are a few trotters - not sure of numbers, and very few gallopers. Stephen Blair-Eddie owns a property near the track and bases himself there in the winter.

She is a show jumper and he fancies himself as a horse chiropractor.