barryb 2,064 Report post Posted January 23, 2017 Went along to Woodville today, the team there did a super job trying to create an environment despite the horrid weather. Those calling for centralisation and track closures, pop along to a day like today at Woodville and see real NZ racing. Facilities were good and food and drink well priced for a rural venue. Well done to all concerned despite the appalling conditions, a great days entertainment. porky, Insider, Kent and 9 others 12 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shad 1,554 Report post Posted January 23, 2017 Just goes to show you don't have to go to the big city meetings to enjoy a great day out.In my experiences you can't beat grassroots racing, just has it all. Be a real shame to lose it. Kent 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turny 1,224 Report post Posted January 23, 2017 Its gone - live the memories Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chevy86 2,704 Report post Posted January 23, 2017 It's viability compromised by not having irrigation and demise of Woodville as major training centre a la Rophia and Brown days. I am sure the Club turns on a great day just like the folks at Te Aroha. rdytdy 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
barryb 2,064 Report post Posted January 23, 2017 51 minutes ago, turny said: Its gone - live the memories Similar to the South Island Turny its either dead or dying, great to visit but have you would have to be mad to live there unless you were over 65. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
L.J.Shannon 161 Report post Posted January 23, 2017 8 hours ago, chevy86 said: It's viability compromised by not having irrigation and demise of Woodville as major training centre a la Rophia and Brown days. I am sure the Club turns on a great day just like the folks at Te Aroha. I think the exact opposite Chevy when I look at all the irrigated tracks around the country falling to bits! The racing yesterday I thought was outstanding . Yes it would have been great not to have had the heavy rain that we did but The horses yesterday came from everywhere in front midfield and several winners and place getters were in last 2 600 out. They raced on the rail most of the day. With getting probably 3 inches of rain over the last few days I believe the times were a good indication of the quality of the track. I have seen a lot of tracks soon as it rains they head for they outside running rail immediately? One day last year I watched The first race at Awapuni Start at the 1400mtr and some horses immediately went to the outside fence 50 metres after the start. I think I seen the Oaks winner yesterday as well. It was a major training centre but there is a lot of reasons for the shift of training numbers to other centres not many to do with the quality of the track. I can't remember Mr Eric Ropiha or Mr Syd Brown or Mr Jock Harris etc demanding that their horses will only run on a dead4 They just got on with the job as horseman and trained their horses accordingly. Woodville has great training tracks we don't have a thousand horses slogging around and around everyday with little or no grasses to gallop on.I certainly would put my horses welfare first when it comes to selecting a training centre . Woodville has a very dedicated committee that puts in thousands of hours of FREE Labour a year to keep racing going . Most of our races are sponsored which brings many new people into racing that may continue attending races or even race horses all through the work of our hard working committee with very little gratitude from any level of racing . They have been very proactive to promote our club with New ideas to attract people to come to the races and enjoy themselves Woodville ran the Rural Expo day every year successfully also ran The Great Kiwi Sausage Festival which made us part of the Interisland Chistmas Racing . But they took that Sat off us and give it to a bigger club which appears to have proven to be a dead Duck! Now we are looking at next years calendar draft and they are taking another day off us and giving extra to clubs whose tracks haven't handled racing now?? go figure?? You would wonder if somebody at the top just doesn't like Woodville or have no interest in giving the Owners Horse a fair chance to stretch out properly and race to it's potential. . Kundalini, Crow, Shad and 10 others 13 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
L.J.Shannon 161 Report post Posted January 23, 2017 8 hours ago, barryb said: Similar to the South Island Turny its either dead or dying, great to visit but have you would have to be mad to live there unless you were over 65. It looks like South Island horses are batting well above their average at the moment considering that their is a lot less horse down there . Maybe we should send some of our irrigation systems down there to slow them down. Tinkerbelle, Kent and Insider 3 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
biff 2,158 Report post Posted January 23, 2017 4 hours ago, L.J.Shannon said: I think the exact opposite Chevy when I look at all the irrigated tracks around the country falling to bits! The racing yesterday I thought was outstanding . Yes it would have been great not to have had the heavy rain that we did but The horses yesterday came from everywhere in front midfield and several winners and place getters were in last 2 600 out. They raced on the rail most of the day. With getting probably 3 inches of rain over the last few days I believe the times were a good indication of the quality of the track. I have seen a lot of tracks soon as it rains they head for they outside running rail immediately? One day last year I watched The first race at Awapuni Start at the 1400mtr and some horses immediately went to the outside fence 50 metres after the start. I think I seen the Oaks winner yesterday as well. It was a major training centre but there is a lot of reasons for the shift of training numbers to other centres not many to do with the quality of the track. I can't remember Mr Eric Ropiha or Mr Syd Brown or Mr Jock Harris etc demanding that their horses will only run on a dead4 They just got on with the job as horseman and trained their horses accordingly. Woodville has great training tracks we don't have a thousand horses slogging around and around everyday with little or no grasses to gallop on.I certainly would put my horses welfare first when it comes to selecting a training centre . Woodville has a very dedicated committee that puts in thousands of hours of FREE Labour a year to keep racing going . Most of our races are sponsored which brings many new people into racing that may continue attending races or even race horses all through the work of our hard working committee with very little gratitude from any level of racing . They have been very proactive to promote our club with New ideas to attract people to come to the races and enjoy themselves Woodville ran the Rural Expo day every year successfully also ran The Great Kiwi Sausage Festival which made us part of the Interisland Chistmas Racing . But they took that Sat off us and give it to a bigger club which appears to have proven to be a dead Duck! Now we are looking at next years calendar draft and they are taking another day off us and giving extra to clubs whose tracks haven't handled racing now?? go figure?? You would wonder if somebody at the top just doesn't like Woodville or have no interest in giving the Owners Horse a fair chance to stretch out properly and race to it's potential. . We raced at Woodville yesterday, couldn't believe they could break 1-12 after all that rain, although we didn't run to expectation, no fault of the track, so well done Woodville, to take raceways away from you is small/narrow minded, or another agenda altogether. Huey, Crow, Kent and 1 other 4 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
biff 2,158 Report post Posted January 23, 2017 racedays! not raceways. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
puha 2,177 Report post Posted January 23, 2017 5 hours ago, L.J.Shannon said: I think the exact opposite Chevy when I look at all the irrigated tracks around the country falling to bits! The racing yesterday I thought was outstanding . Yes it would have been great not to have had the heavy rain that we did but The horses yesterday came from everywhere in front midfield and several winners and place getters were in last 2 600 out. They raced on the rail most of the day. With getting probably 3 inches of rain over the last few days I believe the times were a good indication of the quality of the track. I have seen a lot of tracks soon as it rains they head for they outside running rail immediately? One day last year I watched The first race at Awapuni Start at the 1400mtr and some horses immediately went to the outside fence 50 metres after the start. I think I seen the Oaks winner yesterday as well. It was a major training centre but there is a lot of reasons for the shift of training numbers to other centres not many to do with the quality of the track. I can't remember Mr Eric Ropiha or Mr Syd Brown or Mr Jock Harris etc demanding that their horses will only run on a dead4 They just got on with the job as horseman and trained their horses accordingly. Woodville has great training tracks we don't have a thousand horses slogging around and around everyday with little or no grasses to gallop on.I certainly would put my horses welfare first when it comes to selecting a training centre . Woodville has a very dedicated committee that puts in thousands of hours of FREE Labour a year to keep racing going . Most of our races are sponsored which brings many new people into racing that may continue attending races or even race horses all through the work of our hard working committee with very little gratitude from any level of racing . They have been very proactive to promote our club with New ideas to attract people to come to the races and enjoy themselves Woodville ran the Rural Expo day every year successfully also ran The Great Kiwi Sausage Festival which made us part of the Interisland Chistmas Racing . But they took that Sat off us and give it to a bigger club which appears to have proven to be a dead Duck! Now we are looking at next years calendar draft and they are taking another day off us and giving extra to clubs whose tracks haven't handled racing now?? go figure?? You would wonder if somebody at the top just doesn't like Woodville or have no interest in giving the Owners Horse a fair chance to stretch out properly and race to it's potential. . You have a great club and committee. Your efforts don't go unoticed by the industry participants. Insider, Kundalini, biff and 2 others 5 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBigStuff 394 Report post Posted January 23, 2017 Might be a decent surface but we dont need Woodville Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Varro 244 Report post Posted January 24, 2017 17 minutes ago, MrBigStuff said: Might be a decent surface but we dont need Woodville and why? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
L.J.Shannon 161 Report post Posted January 24, 2017 1 hour ago, MrBigStuff said: Might be a decent surface but we dont need Woodville Yes Big Stuff Why? Are you on the RACE EXE? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBigStuff 394 Report post Posted January 24, 2017 Industry should not have to fork out for facilities that are below parr. I have been to better picnic tracks in Aus than whats on offer at Woodville Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Varro 244 Report post Posted January 24, 2017 are you able to be specific? Ive never been to Woodville. But for example, you could say that about Avondale, and I have and been specific. But you clearly have a member of the racecourse (committee possibly) who has written about this track and the work that goes on, surely it would be constructive to be specific about what it is that is below par? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leggy 4,076 Report post Posted January 24, 2017 I thought the plan was that the industry would not be forking out anything other than stakes (which don't go to the club) for community clubs like Woodville? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBigStuff 394 Report post Posted January 24, 2017 That's what is wrong with racing here...people are to silly to wake up and smell the coffee that its all downhill unless this country scales back the number of venues! Bugger all of them are up to H&S standards and are run down shitholes! I recently went to Mornington in VIC - what a pleasure it was...compared to the last NZ venue I went to which was Thames - god awful. Its just amateur hour! Stop protecting your little patch and think of the bigger picture I say. To many of you live in the past. Gaf1973 and bazach 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huey 2,037 Report post Posted January 24, 2017 1 hour ago, MrBigStuff said: That's what is wrong with racing here...people are to silly to wake up and smell the coffee that its all downhill unless this country scales back the number of venues! Bugger all of them are up to H&S standards and are run down shitholes! I recently went to Mornington in VIC - what a pleasure it was...compared to the last NZ venue I went to which was Thames - god awful. Its just amateur hour! Stop protecting your little patch and think of the bigger picture I say. To many of you live in the past. and therein lies the problem , there are a multiple of fools who think the only thing that matters in racing is having swanking bars, posh catering and a piss up. Its still all about the horse and therefore about the track, Woodville is a very good track imo , one of the issues in NZ is there are few good race tracks worth being on course to watch the races that have great facilities. There is no reason why country clubs shouldn't offer up something different and unique despite being neglected and used by the industry for a many years. Have you checked out the facilities at most speedway tracks? Yet they manage to pack the crowds in , cause at the end of the day its surely about providing and entertaining product. At least its not one of these tracks that have multiple race days with the rail out in the car park , that present the most unappealing product imaginable to bet on. I thought it was good racing at Woodville yesterday and the track looked in great order despite the heavy showers. puha, biff, Insider and 2 others 5 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chevy86 2,704 Report post Posted January 24, 2017 LJS,irrigation issue is relevant. I believe a meeting at Woodville last summer was either cancelled or had trivial acceptances because the track was like concrete. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
biff 2,158 Report post Posted January 24, 2017 1 hour ago, MrBigStuff said: That's what is wrong with racing here...people are to silly to wake up and smell the coffee that its all downhill unless this country scales back the number of venues! Bugger all of them are up to H&S standards and are run down shitholes! I recently went to Mornington in VIC - what a pleasure it was...compared to the last NZ venue I went to which was Thames - god awful. Its just amateur hour! Stop protecting your little patch and think of the bigger picture I say. To many of you live in the past. Me thinks you have your name arse about, Mr Stuff Big, now that has a ring to it......who's we? when you mention ''we don't need Woodville''.....you don't speak for me, I thought Woodville produced a magnificent mat yesterday, and I'm used to training at Rosehill and before that Flemington, so bugger off. Pam Robson, Leggy, Insider and 3 others 6 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
biff 2,158 Report post Posted January 24, 2017 Oh, and to add, Mornington in winter is a shit hole as you so put it, most of us avoided it, Mornington trained horses would win more than half the program. The place was called little New Zealand, most of the pop were related or knew one another from a lifetime here, wet track paradise, good horses came from there, but NO champions. elbow, Leggy, puha and 1 other 4 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
L.J.Shannon 161 Report post Posted January 24, 2017 1 hour ago, MrBigStuff said: That's what is wrong with racing here...people are to silly to wake up and smell the coffee that its all downhill unless this country scales back the number of venues! Bugger all of them are up to H&S standards and are run down shitholes! I recently went to Mornington in VIC - what a pleasure it was...compared to the last NZ venue I went to which was Thames - god awful. Its just amateur hour! Stop protecting your little patch and think of the bigger picture I say. To many of you live in the past. 1 hour ago, MrBigStuff said: Industry should not have to fork out for facilities that are below parr. I have been to better picnic tracks in Aus than whats on offer at Woodville What money has the industry forked out? Woodville stands on its own 2 feet I have also been to Mornington several times and Bendigo but compare apples with apples I have also been to Warracknabeal and Hamilton and Berrigan etc . I think you should wake up and smell some Milo tomorrow morning . Woodvilles facilities are very adequate considering all the different funding policies that have been pushed onto small clubs over the last decade it has just about made it impossible to break even raceday and most training operations run at a loss and always have . So through the years it is upkeep facilities the size of Wooodville takes every last cent we have We don't get interest free loans or industry handouts . I believe Kevin Gray got on Trackside and gave it the big Thumbs up The bigger picture Have a look at the mistakes the bigger picture is making biff, Leggy, rdytdy and 4 others 7 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
barryb 2,064 Report post Posted January 24, 2017 I was in the sponsors area and it was very pleasant, the food was top notch and we were well looked after. Just a crying shame the weather was horrid. Today would have been outstanding and the crowd would have been triple the size. Huey, Insider, Kent and 1 other 4 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
biff 2,158 Report post Posted January 24, 2017 Yep. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
puha 2,177 Report post Posted January 24, 2017 3 hours ago, MrBigStuff said: Industry should not have to fork out for facilities that are below parr. I have been to better picnic tracks in Aus than whats on offer at Woodville Your not in Aussie so don't compare . All the main tracks are better in Aussie than here so what is your point. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...