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puha

Over 5 yr olds charged gate entrance

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FFS!

And they wonder why people are turning off racing when they are charging kids barely out of nappies $30 for going to the races with their parents.

Seriously don't they want punters oncourse?

Obviously Not and I have been told that it wasn't very busy oncourse from a tote operator that went up from Chch.

Do they really think that the money they charged the young kids is going to be returned to the industry in the future.

No and the parents probably won't be back next year either!

 

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I've yet to see a bad pub or restaurant that's fallen on hard times, deserted by the masses, that has then fought its way back to viability and profitability by charging people to enter the premises.

Just another symptom of a delusional and dysfunctional club busy spinning their way into oblivion.

 

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22 hours ago, von Smallhaussen said:

General Admission:  

Early Bird pre-purchase online (until end of Friday 13 Jan)      $20 

Pre-purchase online (Sat 14th Jan-Thursday 19 Jan)                 $25

Standard Gate entry (On-line and at the gate on the Day) 
Friday 20th, Saturday 21st)                                                         $30


Children 5 and under Free when accompanied by an adult
Free parking available in Centre of Course. (see below)

There is no BYO allowed in public areas or Centre of Course parking for Wellington Cup Day. 

5 and under Free...??? So you pay $30 for a 6 year old...?? How do they check the ages anyway....???!

That should be Under 14-16 at least....they obviously don't want kids there, or future patrons either.....:rolleyes:

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Absolutely ridiculous. You have to back a decent-priced winner just to get square with the gate charge. This is Dark Ages stuff and the WRC are the worst offenders and have been since I was a kid and that's 50 years ago. I haven't been to Trentham in a dozen years and this is the main reason - exorbitant gate charges. Racing is on the slippery slope in this country and only has itself to blame by discouraging punters, owners and trainers alike. Too many racecourses. They need to centralise to 10-12 courses and sell up the rest and put it back into stakes.

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16 hours ago, puha said:

What's that got to  do with charging $30 for a 5 yr old. I personally would of said stick it up your arse and left . SL

People should not take young kids to Trentham on cup Day..next Saturday is family day and kids are free  It used to be today but they changed all that

my kids never went to Trentham until they were at least 12   have these  idiots never heard of baby sitters??

I saw 3 young kids in the committee room last Saturday  I bet they didnt pay  they should not have been there

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2 hours ago, Ohokaman said:

Children 5 and under Free when accompanied by an adult

What were the SIX year-olds paying for, the wiggles, free bouncy castles, free merry-go-rounds, free go carts, free lollies, free fizzy drinks or were they paying to see fashions in the field, fat men in suits, social climbers, rating 85 Wellington Cups or the $600,000 man, John Allen???

How farking stupid are they?

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Wellington Racing Club, what the hell,are you offering kids over 5 years of age that warrants charging parents $30??????

What clown or clowns decided that it was right to charge 6 year olds to enter a racecourse.

With all the bad publicity and obviously pissing off the punters plus socialites  you are really missing an opportunity to encourage people back oncourse.

Wellington Racing Club you seriously need a decent marketing person as the one you have currently got has certainly stuffed up majorly!!!!!

If you don't want people oncourse then you are going the right way of doing that!!!! DAHH!

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And did you say something at the time Rumpole. Na I bet you didn't. Just carried on drinking your freebies. No point parking the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff and come complaining on here. If parents want to take their kids who are you to tell them they can't.

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We should be encouraging people of all ages to attend the races, it's part of New Zealand people's heritage and culture and should be embraced.

 

We have little enough people with knowledge of our heritage and the Sport of Kings, as in Horse Racing as it is without this nonsense.

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31 minutes ago, rumpole said:

People should not take young kids to Trentham on cup Day..next Saturday is family day and kids are free  It used to be today but they changed all that

my kids never went to Trentham until they were at least 12   have these  idiots never heard of baby sitters??

I saw 3 young kids in the committee room last Saturday  I bet they didnt pay  they should not have been there

And I bet they have promoted the hell out of it too haven't they Rumpers....??! :rolleyes:

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I wouldn't want my kids stuck in a confined space with only one exit whilst the likes of Rumpole and his mates were loitering around.

Mind you my kids would sort those old codgers out in a flash, just as they do with their father virtually every day.

Please do not interpret this as condoning or supporting the WRC and their anti kid stance though, I think that policy is a disgrace, and you wouldn't see it at Ellerslie, in fact the ARC let my kids go pretty much anywhere, except into the stabling area.

The WRC could learn a lot from the ARC.

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1 hour ago, rumpole said:

People should not take young kids to Trentham on cup Day..next Saturday is family day and kids are free  It used to be today but they changed all that

my kids never went to Trentham until they were at least 12   have these  idiots never heard of baby sitters??

I saw 3 young kids in the committee room last Saturday  I bet they didnt pay  they should not have been there

I agree with you that cup day is probably not the best day to take young kids to however that doesn't justify the ridiculous charge for them. As a father of two young children I can tell you that it's not always that easy to find a baby sitter especially all day and particular during holiday times of the year. Often it is a choice of taking the kids along to the event or not attending at all. If I was running the racing club I know which option I would prefer people did but other people may have a different opinion to me.

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1 hour ago, Kane T said:

And did you say something at the time Rumpole. Na I bet you didn't. Just carried on drinking your freebies. No point parking the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff and come complaining on here. If parents want to take their kids who are you to tell them they can't.

I did complain and there were no freebies where i was  ...$6 for a small glass of beer............... there are rules and kids need not be at Trentham on Cup day  ban the lot of them

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3 hours ago, High Sparrow said:

Absolutely ridiculous. You have to back a decent-priced winner just to get square with the gate charge. This is Dark Ages stuff and the WRC are the worst offenders and have been since I was a kid and that's 50 years ago. I haven't been to Trentham in a dozen years and this is the main reason - exorbitant gate charges. Racing is on the slippery slope in this country and only has itself to blame by discouraging punters, owners and trainers alike. Too many racecourses. They need to centralise to 10-12 courses and sell up the rest and put it back into stakes.

You are a man/woman after my own heart!!!

NZ needs less tracks

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3 hours ago, High Sparrow said:

Absolutely ridiculous. You have to back a decent-priced winner just to get square with the gate charge. This is Dark Ages stuff and the WRC are the worst offenders and have been since I was a kid and that's 50 years ago. I haven't been to Trentham in a dozen years and this is the main reason - exorbitant gate charges. Racing is on the slippery slope in this country and only has itself to blame by discouraging punters, owners and trainers alike. Too many racecourses. They need to centralise to 10-12 courses and sell up the rest and put it back into stakes.

Put what back into stakes? And how are you going to sell them? They don't belong to NZ racing. You can stop racing on them maybe, but only the club and its members can sell any land that they own. It's then up to them what they do with those assets.

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38 minutes ago, rumpole said:

I did complain and there were no freebies where i was  ...$6 for a small glass of beer............... there are rules and kids need not be at Trentham on Cup day  ban the lot of them

Rumpole, with a name like yours I would have thought you would be a man of fair play!

Why should the adults who are paying $30 each for the pleasure of losing money at the gallops and also,wanting a nice day out with their kids whether it be 6 or 17 be charged for their kids?

It defies any sort of logic whatsoever that the Wellington Racing Club extort $30 out of adults who bring young ones to the races.

Surely it is in the racing indistries best interest to get the young ones interested in racing because without them coming thru it is doomed I say, DOOMED!!!!!

Brilliant marketing for the Wellington Racing Club though, but it is all BAD!

Whoever decided to charge this fee should take a good uppercut for their nilness!

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For mum, family & kids...see little, if any 'value', in that entry fee and aside from racing there is little but to stare round at the kiwi culture: get wasted and the younger set getting-it-on. Well, that's okay if that has the intention for turn-over but leaves plenty out of it.

Few years back, I recall Punchestown (Ireland) at its racing carnival for 25 euros entry per person. 

Now, that was a day out. Great exhibitions, quality 'trades', retail, art/craft, song & theatre, bars and eateries for all tastes - it just didn't stop and then their was the racing and the crowd. Brilliant the whole experience.

Can't figure why racing clubs can't/won't turn their hand to 'go' entrepreneurial and think outside of the box like above, to get more people (outside of race goers) on course. The side-line attractions don't have to be near the stands or horses. Enough room, surely.

 

 

 

 

 

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20 minutes ago, Leggy said:

Put what back into stakes? And how are you going to sell them? They don't belong to NZ racing. You can stop racing on them maybe, but only the club and its members can sell any land that they own. It's then up to them what they do with those assets.

Good question Leggy. The idea would be to have the same clubs (in name) but have them race at under-utilised bigger venues, such as Trentham, Ellerslie and Riccarton. The price of that would be that they sell their land (we have a shortage of housing and so perhaps the land could be used for affordable housing) and put the money from the sale back into raising stake money, which let's face it hasn't kept pace with the cost of racing a horse by a long chalk.  Racing is quickly pricing itself out of the market on many fronts, in my humble opinion. Stakes need to rise significantly to make it attractive for owners and trainers and I think we are kidding ourselves thinking that having once-a-year race meetings is going to add anything to racing's growth. The South Africans did it about 20 years back - they reduced it to 12 racecourses in the whole of the country - what a shame we didn't take a leaf out of their book at the time. With centralisation the location of the courses could be equally-spaced so that traveling is not such a great issue for most trainers and for those traveling the furthest then my idea would be to give them greater travel subsidies. The idea would be to have Wingatui, Canterbury, one course on the West Coast, Trentham, Hastings, New Plymouth, Arawa Park, Taupo, Makaraka, Pukekohe, Ellerslie, Whangarei - something along those lines. I think we're getting past the point of no return with racing and we need some radical thinking as a lot of these smaller clubs aren't making ends meet financially anyway and some tough decisions need to be made if the industry as a whole is to remain viable. But that's just my opinion....and I respect that others may feel differently.

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Tauranga would be better than Rotorua, bigger population in that area.

but agree with all the others, maybe Ascot Park being multipurpose.

also ONE central Waikato course. Sell off Te Rapa, land would be worth megabucks and make a multipurpose venue in Waikato elsewhere 

 

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1 hour ago, High Sparrow said:

Good question Leggy. The idea would be to have the same clubs (in name) but have them race at under-utilised bigger venues, such as Trentham, Ellerslie and Riccarton. The price of that would be that they sell their land (we have a shortage of housing and so perhaps the land could be used for affordable housing) and put the money from the sale back into raising stake money, which let's face it hasn't kept pace with the cost of racing a horse by a long chalk.  Racing is quickly pricing itself out of the market on many fronts, in my humble opinion. Stakes need to rise significantly to make it attractive for owners and trainers and I think we are kidding ourselves thinking that having once-a-year race meetings is going to add anything to racing's growth. The South Africans did it about 20 years back - they reduced it to 12 racecourses in the whole of the country - what a shame we didn't take a leaf out of their book at the time. With centralisation the location of the courses could be equally-spaced so that traveling is not such a great issue for most trainers and for those traveling the furthest then my idea would be to give them greater travel subsidies. The idea would be to have Wingatui, Canterbury, one course on the West Coast, Trentham, Hastings, New Plymouth, Arawa Park, Taupo, Makaraka, Pukekohe, Ellerslie, Whangarei - something along those lines. I think we're getting past the point of no return with racing and we need some radical thinking as a lot of these smaller clubs aren't making ends meet financially anyway and some tough decisions need to be made if the industry as a whole is to remain viable. But that's just my opinion....and I respect that others may feel differently.

I'm not sure that what you propose is far removed from the current NZTR policy though it doesn't go quite that far because the belief is that small community clubs, if self-sustaining other than stakes both have a right to exist and probably are necessary to help sustain a wide geographical interest base for racing.

The current policy has already identified those tracks - 15 not 12.

Venue Category
Ellerslie Strategic
Riccarton Park Strategic
Te Rapa Strategic
Awapuni Strategic
Matamata Significant
Pukekohe Significant
Hastings Significant
Otaki Significant
Trentham Significant
Wingatui Significant
New Plymouth Significant
Tauranga Significant
Ruakaka Significant

A number of the clubs you want to sell up don't own their land anyway, but if you are suggesting that any capital raised be frittered away on stakes, I don't agree with that. It should go to capital expenditure, i.e. tracks, and otherwise investment for improved revenue some of which might be used for stakes. Remember we are not South Africa, nor NSW.

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Awapuni, Pukekohe, Otaki, Trentham !!! as John McInroe would say, " You cannot be serious ".....don't they have a decent expert jockey advising them, and or an animal welfare consultant ?

Sometimes you can't help but wonder who does advise them though, or who decides on the criteria for these important lists.

I mean is there a single person in the racing industry who doesn't think Avondale is of more value as a racing facility than Counties  ? ( other than those directly affiliated to Counties ).

And one single track south of CHCH, what's that about ?

Some of those tracks don't even have G1 or 2 racing, yet some that do have G1 racing, e.g. Ted's joint, aren't there, how does that reconcile ?

Still this is the same crowd who thought we should abandon free racing, that Monday Tuesday racing was a good idea, that relinquishing our weekend dates to the gypsies made sense, and that anyone can be the handicapper, even a crooked accountant, or the tea lady !!!

 ......

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24 minutes ago, Leggy said:

I'm not sure that what you propose is far removed from the current NZTR policy though it doesn't go quite that far because the belief is that small community clubs, if self-sustaining other than stakes both have a right to exist and probably are necessary to help sustain a wide geographical interest base for racing.

The current policy has already identified those tracks - 15 not 12.

Venue Category
Ellerslie Strategic
Riccarton Park Strategic
Te Rapa Strategic
Awapuni Strategic
Matamata Significant
Pukekohe Significant
Hastings Significant
Otaki Significant
Trentham Significant
Wingatui Significant
New Plymouth Significant
Tauranga Significant
Ruakaka Significant

A number of the clubs you want to sell up don't own their land anyway, but if you are suggesting that any capital raised be frittered away on stakes, I don't agree with that. It should go to capital expenditure, i.e. tracks, and otherwise investment for improved revenue some of which might be used for stakes. Remember we are not South Africa, nor NSW.

What are the other two Leggy - I hope they are South Island based - West Coast ??

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OK, I can't count. I maybe should apply for a job at somewhere like NZTR or the RB? Yes, I mis-typed that. It's a baker's dozen.

Here's the full list.

Venue Category
Ellerslie Strategic
Riccarton Park Strategic
Te Rapa Strategic
Awapuni Strategic
Matamata Significant
Pukekohe Significant
Hastings Significant
Otaki Significant
Trentham Significant
Wingatui Significant
New Plymouth Significant
Tauranga Significant
Ruakaka Significant
Wanganui Supporting
Avondale Supporting
Rotorua Supporting
Te Aroha Supporting
Te Awamutu Supporting
Ashburton Supporting
Invercargill Supporting
Timaru Supporting
Foxton Community
Woodville Community
Gore Community
Waverley Community
Motukarara Community
Tauherenikau Community
Hawera Community
Te Teko Community
Oamaru Community
Stratford Community
Riverton Community
Taupo Community
Winton Community
Waipukurau Community
Cromwell Community
Waimate Community
Thames Community
Wyndham Community
Omakau Community
Gisborne Community
Kumara Community
Blenheim Community
Dargaville Community
Kurow Community
Hokitika Community
Wairoa Community
Omoto Community
Waikouaiti Community
Reefton Community

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