Leggy 4,007 Report post Posted January 23, 2017 3 hours ago, Midget said: 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. Do you think they have an affinity for swamps that need draining? That may be a key criteria for a number of things. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdytdy 5,335 Report post Posted January 23, 2017 Leggy, The list you put up. Where did you get the list from and did it have a date? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leggy 4,007 Report post Posted January 23, 2017 1 minute ago, rdytdy said: Leggy, The list you put up. Where did you get the list from and did it have a date? Yep, it's straight from the 2016 NZTR funding policy. I don't have the 2017 one but you must being on a club committee surely? I should be able to get it but I don't think the track tiering has changed. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdytdy 5,335 Report post Posted January 23, 2017 1 minute ago, Leggy said: Yep, it's straight from the 2016 NZTR funding policy. I don't have the 2017 one but you must being on a club committee surely? I should be able to get it but I don't think the track tiering has changed. Thought it must have been an old one. Te Aroha was upgraded from Supporting to Significant last year. Midget will be pleased. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leggy 4,007 Report post Posted January 23, 2017 OK, they've upgraded another swamp obviously Please post the updated list. Thanks. p.s. how much do the upgrades cost? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdytdy 5,335 Report post Posted January 23, 2017 I don't have the list here Leggy otherwise I would have already done so. I do recall advising about the upgrade in this Forum last year. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
puha 2,177 Report post Posted January 23, 2017 16 hours 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 hope your attitude is a pisstake? If not you and cronies are exactly one of the reasons why people are deserting this industry in droves. Time to moved forward a few decades . gary1, Aaron Bidlake, Irishbay and 1 other 4 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 2Admin2 Report post Posted January 23, 2017 The under 5's got in free. Big punters those kids! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
richie 1,025 Report post Posted January 23, 2017 1 hour ago, 2Admin2 said: The under 5's got in free. Big punters those kids! And the 9 year olds ,their punting and drinking is out of control. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
We're Doomed 4,824 Report post Posted January 24, 2017 21 hours 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. An interesting idea for discussion but it wouldn't work. Wingatui is only usable about three months of the year, and Trentham four. And the West Coast has about one good month if it's lucky, and you would keep that ahead of Timaru? Timaru is one of the more strategic tracks in the SI, in that it is probably the only track in an area of reasonable population that is usable every month of the year. elbow 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rumpole 483 Report post Posted January 24, 2017 Charge 5 to 12 year old kids $50 to get in then the parents might leave them at home with a baby sitter kdt and Insider 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
barryb 2,062 Report post Posted January 24, 2017 31 minutes ago, rumpole said: Charge 5 to 12 year old kids $50 to get in then the parents might leave them at home with a baby sitter Seemingly a funny piss take. Hopefully no one takes a lunatic suggestion seriously and actually ever implements it. elbow 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
barryb 2,062 Report post Posted January 24, 2017 13 hours ago, puha said: I hope your attitude is a pisstake? If not you and cronies are exactly one of the reasons why people are deserting this industry in droves. Time to moved forward a few decades . Its a piss take Puha. Otherwise can just imagine the silly old coot in a grey suit talking wankery shit with his cronies in the members about winning nags in the 1960s. puha 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leggy 4,007 Report post Posted January 24, 2017 1 hour ago, rumpole said: Charge 5 to 12 year old kids $50 to get in then the parents might leave them at home with a baby sitter They should also charge the over 70s the same so their kids might leave them at home with the nurse for the day or put them in day care at the resthome. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midget 4,489 Report post Posted January 24, 2017 1 hour ago, rumpole said: Charge 5 to 12 year old kids $50 to get in then the parents might leave them at home with a baby sitter Anyone who can't use a toilet properly, who smells of leaking urine, dribbles out the side of their mouth, can't articulate themselves clearly or speak English correctly, they should all be banned. That's all you demented, senile, pale, stale, old loonies gone.....now let the kids in because they're the future..... gary1, Huey, puha and 3 others 6 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
barryb 2,062 Report post Posted January 24, 2017 1 minute ago, Midget said: Anyone who can't use a toilet properly, who smells of leaking urine, dribbles out the side of their mouth, can't articulate themselves clearly or talk English correctly, they should all be banned. That's all you demented, senile, pale, stale, old loonies gone.....now let the kids in because they're the future..... Yep bang on Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Crucible 632 Report post Posted January 24, 2017 10 hours ago, Midget said: can't articulate themselves clearly or speak English correctly, they should all be banned. there goes half the Trackside team (not sure if they smell of leaking urine as well) von Smallhaussen 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
High Sparrow 702 Report post Posted January 25, 2017 On 1/24/2017 at 3:04 PM, We're Doomed said: An interesting idea for discussion but it wouldn't work. Wingatui is only usable about three months of the year, and Trentham four. And the West Coast has about one good month if it's lucky, and you would keep that ahead of Timaru? Timaru is one of the more strategic tracks in the SI, in that it is probably the only track in an area of reasonable population that is usable every month of the year. Yes I would keep one West Coast track and ditch the others. There's too many tracks period (nationwide). My point is that we can't go on with the same failed recipe and expect better results by doing the same thing we've been doing for decades. So Yes it is an interesting discussion and I suspect one which needs to be had immediately, instead of the industry staggering on to an eventual demise as the younger generations are less likely to be as interested as their fathers and grandfathers - and that shows with on-course attendances dropping (except perhaps on the heavily marketed days like the Cups meetings). Your point about Timaru (and don't get me wrong here Timaru may have considerable merit of being in the final dozen or whatever if the crowd running racing at present ever pause long enough to get their heads out of the sand and truly act in the interests of the industry as a whole) raises an interesting dilemma with this whole discussion - that people have their own agendas and want to keep "their" favourite tracks but we need to look at the bigger picture, not individual feifdoms and Old Boys' clubs, which struggle year on year to break even. My 12 tracks are just an example of what might work - and maybe Timaru or Pukekohe or Avondale could make good cases - but the fundamental recipe for boosting the industry is to raise stakes and if reducing the number of tracks could do that then I'm all for it. The other thing we need is a Punters' Association - we're poorly treated within the industry and yet, collectively, we have the most clout - our betting dollar. Take, as an example, the dead-heat rules that the TAB have on the Jockey's and Drivers' competitions at each meeting - often making for a less than $1 payout. I remember one time there was a quadruple dead-heat in a jockeys' challenge and three of the declared dividends were resultantly under $1 - one being 35 cents. How is getting less than your money back encouraging new bettors? The term "mug punter" is apt. Thanks for all your feedback. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
We're Doomed 4,824 Report post Posted January 25, 2017 48 minutes ago, High Sparrow said: Yes I would keep one West Coast track and ditch the others. There's too many tracks period (nationwide). My point is that we can't go on with the same failed recipe and expect better results by doing the same thing we've been doing for decades. So Yes it is an interesting discussion and I suspect one which needs to be had immediately, instead of the industry staggering on to an eventual demise as the younger generations are less likely to be as interested as their fathers and grandfathers - and that shows with on-course attendances dropping (except perhaps on the heavily marketed days like the Cups meetings). Your point about Timaru (and don't get me wrong here Timaru may have considerable merit of being in the final dozen or whatever if the crowd running racing at present ever pause long enough to get their heads out of the sand and truly act in the interests of the industry as a whole) raises an interesting dilemma with this whole discussion - that people have their own agendas and want to keep "their" favourite tracks but we need to look at the bigger picture, not individual feifdoms and Old Boys' clubs, which struggle year on year to break even. My 12 tracks are just an example of what might work - and maybe Timaru or Pukekohe or Avondale could make good cases - but the fundamental recipe for boosting the industry is to raise stakes and if reducing the number of tracks could do that then I'm all for it. The other thing we need is a Punters' Association - we're poorly treated within the industry and yet, collectively, we have the most clout - our betting dollar. Take, as an example, the dead-heat rules that the TAB have on the Jockey's and Drivers' competitions at each meeting - often making for a less than $1 payout. I remember one time there was a quadruple dead-heat in a jockeys' challenge and three of the declared dividends were resultantly under $1 - one being 35 cents. How is getting less than your money back encouraging new bettors? The term "mug punter" is apt. Thanks for all your feedback. You make this assumption, which many have in the past, that eliminating some tracks will help boost stakes at those tracks that remain. There has been no evidence of this happening previously. Opaki's demise does not seem to have had any benefit to Tauherenikau, Westport hasn't helped Reefton, nor has Nelson, Orari hasn't helped Timaru, Tapanui and Beaumont have hardly turned Gore and Wingatui into superstar tracks. elbow and puha 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Insider 3,875 Report post Posted January 26, 2017 10 hours ago, We're Doomed said: You make this assumption, which many have in the past, that eliminating some tracks will help boost stakes at those tracks that remain. There has been no evidence of this happening previously. Opaki's demise does not seem to have had any benefit to Tauherenikau, Westport hasn't helped Reefton, nor has Nelson, Orari hasn't helped Timaru, Tapanui and Beaumont have hardly turned Gore and Wingatui into superstar tracks. Better still, closing Marton, Feilding, Bulls and Ashhurst hasn't helped the beleaguered RACE group has it? And that was before they took on Otaki and Trentham! Now Otaki want out and Trentham is their cash cow! What do you say now High Sparrow, is your idea still the right one? Leggy, elbow, von Smallhaussen and 1 other 4 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trump 2,741 Report post Posted January 26, 2017 Insider - you get the cake! How do you think things would be going if Ashhurst, Feilding, Bulls and Marton were still operating? Get real will you! They were all within about 30 minutes of each other. Then there was Foxton down the road and Awapuni. Fair dinkum, you are a worry. Maybe RACE group wasn't managed properly? Isn't Feilding a cashed up Club ? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
porky 900 Report post Posted January 26, 2017 On 1/24/2017 at 7:42 PM, rumpole said: Charge 5 to 12 year old kids $50 to get in then the parents might leave them at home with a baby sitter Your a hard man Rumpers...I thought you would just give em $50 ea., drop em off at an amusement park,gaming parlour and pick em up after the races... I never paid or parents/grandparents were ever asked to pay for under 18 at Hastings for myself, or us for our children in the last 20 years...My boy paid for himself and attended a $120 Marquee New Year work function...So HB RACING marketing has done a good job, and a new generation of educated punter on board. Should be free entry to all meetings, Adult and Children...Unless listed / group / premier... (IMHO) only Grego, jasonmccook1 and elbow 3 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leggy 4,007 Report post Posted January 26, 2017 11 hours ago, Trump said: Isn't Feilding a cashed up Club ? Cashed up alright Trump. They own an IOU from RACE in the amount of about 1.5m and are co-guarantors for 12m of RACE debt. I'll leave you to assess what that means as far as being "cashed up". chevy86 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
High Sparrow 702 Report post Posted January 27, 2017 On 1/26/2017 at 11:33 AM, We're Doomed said: You make this assumption, which many have in the past, that eliminating some tracks will help boost stakes at those tracks that remain. There has been no evidence of this happening previously. Opaki's demise does not seem to have had any benefit to Tauherenikau, Westport hasn't helped Reefton, nor has Nelson, Orari hasn't helped Timaru, Tapanui and Beaumont have hardly turned Gore and Wingatui into superstar tracks. You misunderstand my friend. The examples you give were not targeted closures as I am suggesting. They were brought about by losing money hand over fist, which meant their inevitable demise. Racing is undergoing a death by a thousands cuts as far as I can see. The stakes are basically the same as when I was a kid and that's a very long time ago. But expenses have skyrocketed. I think it's worth a go as nothing else seems to be getting stakes boosted. The Racing Conference or Racing Industry Board or whoever has never been game to go there and neither has any Racing Minister, although I know for fact that Winston Peters had advice to centralise racing and cut taxes for the industry (he did the latter) but wasn't game enough to tell the Old Boys it was time to shut up shop on clubs that were struggling to make ends meet financially and which now face ever-burgeoning maintenance costs, costs for new stalls, track upgrades etc while the stands are empty. Racing needs to learn to cut it's cloth accordingly in my opinion. Anyway, this is just one idea - possibly one more than the Racing Industry Board has had in the last decade. I've been in this industry for 50 years as an owner and trainer and in other capacities and it's time we got real about it and stopped making excuses and took some hard decisions for the benefit of the industry as a whole. I love racing but I don't go anymore because of the gate charges and I don't own or train anymore because there's no money in it. The only people making money are the syndicators taking it off the mugs who buy a 1/200th share in an over-priced horse that was passed in at the sales for a third of the money they paying for it. Not for mine.... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
puha 2,177 Report post Posted January 27, 2017 Stakes are pathetic as we all know so trainers / owners and a fair amount of jockeys are struggling . Can someone explain why no one from the NZRB or NZTB or to a lesser extent vets farriers feed merchants are ? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...