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

The " Dress" code

Recommended Posts

If ever there was an instance of troubles we have running our industry surely the bloody dress code would stand head and shoulders above all else.

      When I first got involved anything was OK , you could wear shorts and jandals  Shortly after that a white doctors coat was mandatory. Obviously with the advent of Tote racing that had to be administered a bit better so a tidy standard was expected. At this same time by the way if you raced at the Auckland club you went through gate (a) kennelled your dog and left the track and entered again through gate (b) where you had to pay to get on the track just like members of the public did in those days. The doctors coat was still the preferred option

   I remember a race meeting at Auckland where a number of us stayed back and had few free drinks for the making of a Thayne Green arranged TV clip that was about the first of it's kind to represent the dog code to the racing public. Following that there was a call for neater appearances and many clubs started to insist on certain levels of appearance such as ties that Chch seem unwilling to abandon many years after the rest saw the light.

All sorts of styles followed with some clubs trialling the appropriate box colour of the  dog to the handlers coat. and a common one was for the clubs to wear the corresponding colours of their rugby franchise, but eventually it was decided to have uniform colour of black and white as standard dress for all clubs, this is not the norm in the other racing codes but they don't get the chance to parade for three hundred meters in a straight line following the orders of an official with a bucket of shit yelling to them when they step out of line, have the dog on the wrong side or halt while the bucket of shit is added to. OF course different levels of dress were called for in different conditions. Auckland thought they would just about always just need whIte shirts but in Chch The three options all worn at once barely kept you from hypothermia.

       This seemed to always cause consternation amongst the handlers as the young and foolish were adept at strutting their stuff and to show either their physical attributes or how tough they were and us old fogeys had our teeth chattering trying to his out physical demise.

      Eventually as evolution had it's way and after 3000 meetings , emails , official statements and amendments an official dress code was decided upon ion 2015. One year later I am at a race meeting when a fine lady is asked to take her black jacket off because everyone else was either wearing vests or shirts. My immediate reaction was hold on we spent three years getting this sorted so she should be OK. The  day although fine was cool and it appeared quite reasonable to me to be wearing a jacket.

 However on going to the NZGRA site I see that there many variations to the original decision.  I am bewildered as to what most of them mean.

      After all the talk, the meetings, the rule passing, the amendments to those and the money spent we have come full circle to the same position we had before we started.

    If this is the best we can do trying to make a workable dress code heaven help us if we try for a national selection policy or anything else of importance

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I think we have got that hung up on the image prior to the start that it would not surprise me if they wanted the Mamaku marching team leading them out. I keep checking the minor infringement fines table to see if they have introduced a fine if your dog stops for a pee on the way, or the maximum table if it stops for number two's

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

12 minutes ago, WhoKnows said:

At least those up this way can fit into their jackets etc......some of those South Island handlers seem to struggle, do they make club jackets in XXXXXXXL?

So now even the handlers are getting criticised by you... you really are such a sad individual...if you hate everything about all of the codes why bother... can you tell me that???

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, WhoKnows said:

At least those up this way can fit into their jackets etc......some of those South Island handlers seem to struggle, do they make club jackets in XXXXXXXL?

Lol what a low shot , what size are you it doesn't really matter mate coz you can't punt . 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.