Auckland Anniversary Day

[Trident 179]

Today is the anniversary day of New Zealand's biggest city. Around 1.6 million people now reside in Auckland. Most of them have today off work.

No Thoroughbred race meeting on in Auckland today.

No Harness race meeting on in Auckland today.

In New Zealand's City Of Sails has somebody missed the boat?

14 Greyhound Races however at Manukau.

Who's awake? Who's asleep?

[Huey 2,037]

19 minutes ago, Trident said:

Today is the anniversary day of New Zealand's biggest city. Around 1.6 million people now reside in Auckland. Most of them have today off work.

No Thoroughbred race meeting on in Auckland today.

No Harness race meeting on in Auckland today.

In New Zealand's City Of Sails has somebody missed the boat?

14 Greyhound Races however at Manukau.

Who's awake? Who's asleep?

I can see your point, but none of them go when its on anyway do they?

[crustyngrizzly 1,702]

Simple fact is that apart from a few meetings every year nobody in NZ goes to the races.Saturation point ,like the sevens has been reached.

[slam dunk 1,317]

When Auckland changed the Auckland Cup and Derby date which as far as the Derby was concerned had valid reasons but one of the reasons internally for the Cup change was that the Auckland committee mostly had beach cottages on the Coromandel or elsewhere and didn't want to be trekking back and forth. Similarly I would say for Anniversary weekend.

[Trident 179]

I appreciate fewer and fewer of us are going on course these days but it just seems crazy to have no horse racing on at all on a public holiday in our biggest city on a summers day. Everywhere I've been in Auckland today has been overflowing and teaming with people and that's a lot of heads in a city this big. It feels like the people who set the dates have conceded defeat before the contest even began. You have hundreds of thousands of people today organizing which activity they will get involved in. Not one single person out of 1.6 million people contemplated horse racing as an option simply because there was no horse racing on. 

Call me old fashioned but to my mind today is EXACTLY the sort of day you should be putting horse racing on people's menu. Wonderful opportunity lost on a glorious summer day. Oh well,if the decision makers don't care,why should I ?

[biff 2,158]

You're right with that comment Trident, The decision makers don't care...the eagle drops their money in and that's the end game......as for being innovative and enthusiastic, love to see that, let's see what the Aussie comes back with in the way of new ideas, after all he's been at a gabfest in Asia. We all know how articulate he is, I can't wait for the press conference about how well NZ racing is going, about how good all those export dollars are, yummy yummy......its all about perception you see Trident, reality passes them by, NZ's largest city, shoulda been a meeting at Avondale, picnic meeting, free admin and betting vouchers, a pop up bookie or 3, God alone knows but something.....

[Insider 3,982]

Generally the Karaka Sales are on this day hence the reason there are no races in Auckland. This is only the second time since the Sales have been in Auckland that they haven't been on Anniversary Monday. The previous time was when the Commonwealth Games were being held and the Sales moved to the beginning of January.

A better question is why did the Sales move this year anyway?

And because they did the whole Wellington Cup Carnival also moved a week earlier, for better or worse. The worse was because once again what was traditionally Marton Cup day [Telegraph Day] was once wet which it is two out of three, if my memory serves me correctly.

Liz 

 

[biff 2,158]

Petone is the dead end of New Zealand Insider [residents and a certain shop excepted!] Barnum and Bailey could set up at the top end of Jackson St and still not compete.

[N1MUE 1,877]

Petone is actually quite a nice spot - I've seen a lot worse.  Home of the best steak and cheese pie in NZ, best kebabs in Wellington, very nice Italian restaurant, nice Thai restaurant, great movie theatre, and of course the golden sands of Petone beach - doesn't get much better than that.

[barryb 2,064]

I was at Te Teko today, it was a great day out and a shit load of people there.

This meeting has been on this Monday for as long as I can remember.

To be brutally honest I would rather go to a meeting anyday at Te Teko than Ellerslie.

[puha 2,177]

Te Teko is where i first fell in love with horse racing. Used to clock in at Uncle Tassie at 8 am in morning then straight to the carp ark and shoot down to the Texas track and watch my first GG go through his paces. Te Teko has always had great community support and a fantastic country meeting. I might be wrong but I think those idiots down south are dropping them to one meeting a season. Bloody crazy if they do. 

[biff 2,158]

1 hour ago, N1MUE said:

Petone is actually quite a nice spot - I've seen a lot worse.  Home of the best steak and cheese pie in NZ, best kebabs in Wellington, very nice Italian restaurant, nice Thai restaurant, great movie theatre, and of course the golden sands of Petone beach - doesn't get much better than that.

Shame about the drop in centre gone wrong then eh? A drop in centre is meant for the needy, this joint is for ??????, well the top end, the rest just do what they're told and boy that must be hard, poor buggers need therapy at the end of each week I bet.

[rdytdy 5,343]

11 hours ago, Trident said:

Today is the anniversary day of New Zealand's biggest city. Around 1.6 million people now reside in Auckland. Most of them have today off work.

No Thoroughbred race meeting on in Auckland today.

No Harness race meeting on in Auckland today.

In New Zealand's City Of Sails has somebody missed the boat?

14 Greyhound Races however at Manukau.

Who's awake? Who's asleep?

What an insular view Jimmy. Whilst you are correct it is Anniversary Day in Auckland it is also Anniversary Day in Northland, the Waikato, Bay Of Plenty (Te Teko) and the Gisborne region as well as Nelson.

You are correct in as far that Auckland has a population base of 1.6 million people but how many would have turned up at Ellerslie today for any races? 2000 if you were lucky including those from outside Auckland.

Other than Boxing Day/New Years day it seems Aucklanders' have little interest in going to Ellerslie. if you recall they were struggling to get 2000 there for the Derby last year and how many of those were from south of the Bombays, from the Waikato etc. Cup meeting down to two days now with Cup day dropped and the race now on a Saturday.  And in New Zealand's City of Puddles it appears they don't punt when they are there anyway.

Let's compare the December 28th meeting at Ellerslie which was on a holiday Monday where they had 8 races with 93 starters and on-course turnover amounted to $87,746. As I obviously don't have today's betting figures for Te Teko, I have last year's. Last year they had 8 races with just 74 starters and the on-course turnover was $114,520. Obviously from an industry viewpoint more profitable. Looking at the TV today there seemed a good turnout, form stacked up and you would have to be a mental midget if you didn't make a profit on the punt there.

Ellerslie have plenty of racing, 5th, 9th,13th, 26th and 28th of December, 1st, 9th and 24th of January, go again this Thursday 4th, 20th and onto the March carnival.

You were better off staying at home, watching some good racing from Te Teko on the TV rather than clogging up streets in attempting to traverse Auckland thoroughways.

Everything points to it being more successful in having Anniversary racing at Te Teko today rather than Ellerslie.  Barry and Puha are on to it. As Insider points out Anniversay Day in Auckland usually coincides with the Karaka sales which was brought forward this year due to a closeness of with overseas dates and reverts back to norm next year.

Now, who's the one who is asleep??        

Perhaps you would be better off raising this on the harness forum, it appears you have little support on the thoroughbred one.     

       

[barryb 2,064]

Well Ted it appears I am a mental midget as I struggled to find a winner other than race 4 today.

I had 4 2nds and the only place bet I had was a decent each way on Maximum Heights, to frustratingly see it nosed out 4th.

Interestingly a large number came home from the back today which if I recall correctly is a struggle normally on a dry track there.

[Trident 179]

17 minutes ago, rdytdy said:

What an insular view Jimmy. Whilst you are correct it is Anniversary Day in Auckland it is also Anniversary Day in Northland, the Waikato, Bay Of Plenty (Te Teko) and the Gisborne region as well as Nelson.

You are correct in as far that Auckland has a population base of 1.6 million people but how many would have turned up at Ellerslie today for any races? 2000 if you were lucky including those from outside Auckland.

Other than Boxing Day/New Years day it seems Aucklanders' have little interest in going to Ellerslie. if you recall they were struggling to get 2000 there for the Derby last year and how many of those were from south of the Bombays, from the Waikato etc. Cup meeting down to two days now with Cup day dropped and the race now on a Saturday.  And in New Zealand's City of Puddles it appears they don't punt when they are there anyway.

Let's compare the December 28th meeting at Ellerslie which was on a holiday Monday where they had 8 races with 93 starters and on-course turnover amounted to $87,746. As I obviously don't have today's betting figures for Te Teko, I have last year's. Last year they had 8 races with just 74 starters and the on-course turnover was $114,520. Obviously from an industry viewpoint more profitable. Looking at the TV today there seemed a good turnout, form stacked up and you would have to be a mental midget if you didn't make a profit on the punt there.

Ellerslie have plenty of racing, 5th, 9th,13th, 26th and 28th of December, 1st, 9th and 24th of January, go again this Thursday 4th, 20th and onto the March carnival.

You were better off staying at home, watching some good racing from Te Teko on the TV rather than clogging up streets in attempting to traverse Auckland thoroughways.

Everything points to it being more successful in having Anniversary racing at Te Teko today rather than Ellerslie.  Barry and Puha are on to it. As Insider points out Anniversay Day in Auckland usually coincides with the Karaka sales which was brought forward this year due to a closeness of with overseas dates and reverts back to norm next year.

Now, who's the one who is asleep??        

Perhaps you would be better off raising this on the harness forum, it appears you have little support on the thoroughbred one.     

       

I've been coming to this website for about 20 years and your response to this thread I started with sincerity is the most pathetic I've ever read. You have serious small man syndrome and strike me as a totally inadequate man who spends his entire life trolling Race Cafe in some sad sorry attempt at gaining recognition and to give meaning to an otherwise pointless existence. Is your life really that pathetic?

I didn't start this thread to gain support for anything. I was simply using Race Cafe exactly for what it was designed to encourage. Communication on racing subjects among people with an interest in the sport. Why you'd belittle that is completely beyond me. I have just noticed that I appear to have more likes on my previous messages than actual contributions I've made which seems to be the exception rather than the rule so clearly some Race Cafe members felt I made a worthwhile contribution while on here. It's not something I pursued or motivated me.

People make contributions on this website for all sorts of reasons. Most all have two things in common. The first is their love of the game and secondly their desire to make a good thing even better. 

I'm so over your constant petty snipes referring to me as Jimmy. You're not in the least bit funny.

The phrase "Get A Life" applies more to you than any other individual I've ever encountered on my life journey.

Congratulations on successfully turning me off Race Cafe.

 

[rdytdy 5,343]

A typical response from you, attack the messenger not the message. 

You raised the point about no racing in Auckland today and asked who's awake and who's asleep? After considering the question you posed, I gave you a pretty thorough overview from a thoroughbred perspective. I provided figures and historical data, including questioning why there is poor attendance of racing at Ellerslie and going on and explaining today was a one off re the sales being a week earlier this year and going back to normal next year as well as providing information as to how well the Te Teko meeting does. As I have little knowledge from a harness perspective I suggested you raise it on the Harness Forum for their viewpoint.

Your failure to acknowledge or respond by debating any of the points I put forward and instead attack me personally speaks more about you than me. Sorry to have woken you up.  

     

[Trump 2,741]

Trident, you probably aren't going to read this message because, as you say, you're turning off 'cafe. I can't see where Rdytdy has "belittled" you? He said you were being a bit "insular" in your comments and then returned your own question, "Who's asleep?". The facts he stated were not intended to make you look like a goose. You'd already done a good job on that yourself ! 

[Midget 4,489]

Back to the topic.

Didn't NZTR decide to do away with virtually all Sunday dates a few years ago ?

They were handed to the gypsies en masse I what would arguably be described as the biggest fuck up since Dunkirk.

Sundays happen every week, Anniversary day is once a year.

Sunday is a day of rest and relaxation, with time for discretionary activities like racing.

Kids don't have sport on Sundays so the punters aren't distracted.

Aucklander have a lot to do on a long summer's weekend, ask Cubes, they're simply preoccupied and too busy for racing.

98.7% of Aucklanders will start the day with a double shot soya latte, with butterscotch, followed by a Thai massage, with a coriander and kale facial moisturizer, gently applied by a 16 year old ( boy if you're from Ponsonby, a girl if you're from Remuera, and a transgender if you're from Herne Bay ), then they'll have their weekly colonic, some with a fire hose, followed with a rest in a hemp hammock watching the bronzed pool boy lazily tidy up the magnolia flowers floating on the marble pool, then a designer salad with nasturtiums and pansies, all by the water watching their friends glide by in the new 85 foot Riviera, with two jet skis towed behind, then they'll be off to the Ferrari or Porsche shop to sup coconut water and fig cocktails whilst inspecting the brand new soft top with carbon fiber blue tooth hair dryer and rear mounted mountain bike rack ( not the only thing that's rear mounted in Auckland ), after using the platinum card to buy three new motors, one for the missus, for her pool boy to borrow, one for the girlfriend who drives up from Hamilton to get a new tattoo and meet in a cheap motel ( under $480 plus per hour ) for an hour once a week, and one for the spotty faced teenage daughter, who is about a 33% chance to actually be sired by the father in residence, and who just has to have a brand new soft top on her first day back at St Cuthberts, with a secret glove box to hide the E tabs and vodka in, then once that's all sorted your Aucklander will typically do a bit of trading on the market, make about 12 million by three o'clock by selling what the Salt Group is buying, especially Veritas, then retire to the club for a late organic sushi and sashimi lunch, made by an authentic Japanese geisha girl, with skin the colour of putty, followed by a game of tennis, three sets, against a bloke who's booked into Fred Hollows next week, then celebrate the victory with a bottle of a good big hairy red from a Waiheke vineyard that uses grapes crushed using naked nymphs from the islands, with their skin rubbed gently with almond butter, you'll of course be having a short rest now, before it's off to Les Mills to bench press about two pounds of butter whilst checking out all the solo mothers in the cafe drinking carrot and ginger juice while they nibble a heirloom tomato, spray free organic tomatoes of course, hand picked, then it's into the showers, communal showers, and a generous lathering of coconut and fig body butter, applied by the other bloke in the communal shower, who is either a Shortland St barrister or a judge, one leads to the other anyway and they both wear pink cardigans and grey shoes, then it's back into the soft top, off to the course for nine holes, and sometimes a bit of golf too, after which it's home time, to check if the missus has finished with the pool boy and remembered to get the designer takeaways for the two spotty kids, and their friends named Charlotte and Sebastian who're staying over, and who brought the E's, freshly made in a designer loft on K Rd by a Ph D chemistry student from somewhere exotic like underneath the Mangere bridge, then it's time to slip into the Gucci loafers, the Versace smoking jacket with the brand new Andrew Martin cravat over the silk double cuffed off white pleated shirt from Crane Brothers, and now, as the sun goes down it's time for a little theatre, in house of course, in the private 12 seater, and tonight your garden variety Aucklander will be watching the Hateful 8, with Quentin Tarantino or Zoe Bell popping over, while sipping a nutty cognac and smoking a fine 15 year old Cuban, and having a cigar afterwards, then finally, just before midnight, dropping a couple of quaaludes and laying his/her weary head down on a goose down pillow, stacked two high, between Egyptian cotton sheets and slipping into a deep slumber whilst reflecting on what a lovely day it's been in paradise, what you're going to do with that three million you made today, to stop your bank balance swelling like the front of the pool boys canary yellow budgy smugglers, they're the budgie smugglers with the double gusset, the same as Dan Carter wears, speaking of which I must Skype Dan and Honor when the quaaludes wear off and I can speak English again, and Bill Cosby goes home, and why the fuck is Bill Cosby giving me a colonic at midnight anyway ? geez these quaaludes are good, thank God the spotty face daughter bought plenty of them on her first day back at school.

And tomorrow, well you know how it works now, wake up to a hot sticky rip snorting BJ, a couple of liney linesys, or whatever Mitchell Pearce was on, and so life in Auckland goes on .....and meantime Cubes goes home, back to CHCH, happy with his two new fillies in his life.....

There's the reason Aucklanders can't quite fit in a day at the races.

Hold on, hold on, breaking news, that's a day out of Cameron George's diary, no wonder we haven't got time for races in Auckland .

 

 

[Blue 1,099]

Regatta on the water, music at Whitianga and the rest of Auckland heading north if you see or hear the traffic report so there's nobody home to go to the races, especially if they were on the Monday.

[biff 2,158]

What Leo said!

[elo 106]

looking forward to chapter 2 - how Rangiorans fill in their day 

[Midget 4,489]

Can do.

The bloke will be called Richie, Richard, Hamish or Moose, with one really queer bastard called Colin, he who drinks alone with all his friends.

The birds will either be Pam or Vicky, maybe a couple of Charlottes or a Sarah.

We're talking utes aren't we, pickup trucks, rusty Holden Kingswoods in the front paddock, and Massey Fergusons or John Deere tractors ( for the wedding party to travel in )

I see Airtech shirts, moleskin trousers covered in crusty DNA, broad brimmed leather hats, Swandris, and the best boots you can buy at PGG Wrightsons.

I'm seeing goats, tied to a fence usually, but sometimes the twin brothers from up the valley, Jethro and Arlo, will have a goat on the spit roast BBQ, but without the BBQ if you know what I mean, and with Colin waiting to help out if required.

There'll be sheep, many sheep, merinoes and Chevots, and 37% of the sheep will be on first name terms with the farmer, who just happens to wear lanolin aftershave, and shares common DNA with half his flock.

And I'm seeing big nights out, fine dining at Pizza Hut, or baked beans & sausages at the diner, at the local trailer park, all washed down with classy cocktails like double Coruba and Coke, & exotic beers like Lion Red quarts, in crates.

Nights at the movies, watching re-runs of Country Calendar while letting off shots from the 308 and whoopin' the missus in the back seat, after she's been dagged.

There'll be live music at the local pub, with Slim Dusty and the likes, playing banjos, actually that's not live music, that's dead fucking music.

Am I getting the pulse of Rangiora here ? Come in local residents, give me a lead and I'll write a story, and I'll even find room in the story for a cricketer and a rugby player, plus a bit of match fixing, well someone fixing a match between Colin and a gummy ewe maybe.

[Guest 2Admin2]

Lion Red is not drunk in the South.  Speights is the legendary drop with those who think they have a bit more class drinking Monteiths.

[Midget 4,489]

Roger that, should've known, Midget's wine cellar is full of Speights.

[Trump 2,741]

Midget, you forgot the framed photograph of JFK.