Taku Umanga 194 Report post Posted January 8, 2019 1 hour ago, tasman man 11 said: Clearly Mr Eljay , From my very recent experience ALL trainers I deal with like to see our horses in their colours be at least competitive in their races. If they can compete they aim to line up at Greenlane Road , or look at Group races at Cambridge. If they run a bit slower or prefer anti-clockwise or Junior driver or amateur driver they target Cambridge. If a bit slower and horse and trainer will enjoy a trip they go to Palmy. Finally ,the option is grass ....a good option for slower horses . Choice it is. Clearly you are anti-grass track racing - and clearly you are in the minority. Thejanitor 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stables 577 Report post Posted January 8, 2019 I for one agree with Tasman Man. When I give a horse to a trainer I intend that the horse will be good enough to compete at Alexandra Park or Addington. If it was only good enough to race at a grass track meeting at Te Aroha I wouldn't bother keeping the horse in work. I would sell it to Australia for as much or as little I could get for it LongOwner, Thejanitor and tasman man 11 3 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tasman man 11 979 Report post Posted January 8, 2019 5 hours ago, Taku Umanga said: Clearly you are anti-grass track racing - and clearly you are in the minority. Clearly you are deluded in your analysis of the situation. I love grass track racing.....for owners it provides some consolation re costs and provides a bit of entertainment often after a lengthy drive. In recent years I've been involved with two horses who have won 4 x races each at venues such as Rotorua ,Otaki, Wairarapa and Hawera. Plus I have photos on the wall of winning the Hawera Cup, Northland Cup, Kumeu Cup, Cromwell Cup and Te Awamutu Cup[ twice]. As I said during my speech at Te Awamutu ,that was the best day ever ! Gee I love Grass Track racing.....seems to suit my horses ! Oh ,and one photo on the wall of the Country Cups Final [at Alex Park ] Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taku Umanga 194 Report post Posted January 8, 2019 On 1/7/2019 at 2:18 PM, Taku Umanga said: I personally think both owners and trainers prefer a picnic style day meeting on the grass rather than a night meeting. The noms support that and the powers that be should be promoting these meetings in order to attract new interest rather than attempting to shut them down all together. On 1/7/2019 at 8:07 PM, tasman man 11 said: Sorry, I think you misguided in your thinking. It's obvious the meetings are complementary and the numbers OK. The grass track meeting has an Amateurs race and a Junior drivers race. Those two races add 20 horses. Cambridge has a Group 3 trot and a Group 2 pace ,plus a 3 yr old race with rating 60-75 made up of horses not interested in the grass track. Put these FACTS in the blender and one can conclude as they say in 'The Castle'.........I think you're dreaming ! 5 hours ago, tasman man 11 said: Clearly you are deluded in your analysis of the situation. I love grass track racing.....for owners it provides some consolation re costs and provides a bit of entertainment often after a lengthy drive. In recent years I've been involved with two horses who have won 4 x races each at venues such as Rotorua ,Otaki, Wairarapa and Hawera. Plus I have photos on the wall of winning the Hawera Cup, Northland Cup, Kumeu Cup, Cromwell Cup and Te Awamutu Cup[ twice]. As I said during my speech at Te Awamutu ,that was the best day ever ! Gee I love Grass Track racing.....seems to suit my horses ! Oh ,and one photo on the wall of the Country Cups Final [at Alex Park ] Ok - so at what point did I start dreaming? Racing on the grass at Te Aroha has been supported by owners and trainers with a 12 race programme and great fields. Clearly I am deluded! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tasman man 11 979 Report post Posted January 8, 2019 6 hours ago, Taku Umanga said: Ok - so at what point did I start dreaming? Racing on the grass at Te Aroha has been supported by owners and trainers with a 12 race programme and great fields. Clearly I am deluded! Yes , clearly you are....finally we agree ! I might see you at Te Aroha.....you will find it easier to find me than to find those horses racing except for a 20 metre window in prelim or around the finish line. I'm looking forward to the horses getting over the 'crossings' and the fun of the sliding mobile when the rain starts. And the soggy sandwiches.....of course ! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tasman man 11 979 Report post Posted January 13, 2019 On 1/8/2019 at 6:02 PM, Taku Umanga said: Clearly you are anti-grass track racing - and clearly you are in the minority. What was your perspective on the day T U? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongOwner 217 Report post Posted January 13, 2019 Te Aroha should never hold another Harness meeting until it knows how to prepare a track and fix the crossings . Horses breaking were too numerous and in fact dangerous for the man and animal . Discraceful track performance - if it was the gallops and horses were slipping around as harness horses were coming out of their gate for no other reason than the poor track the meeting would of been abandoned . Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taku Umanga 194 Report post Posted January 13, 2019 5 hours ago, tasman man 11 said: What was your perspective on the day T U? Good weather, good crowd, terrible track - shame because it used to be the best of them. Fartoomuch 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tim vince 985 Report post Posted January 13, 2019 Good crowd.really.not a patch on previous years.good day though.i would suggest the on track betting terrible,the club tried hard but need to do something to attract locals.maybe the tab could give a 5 dollar betting voucher delivered in every locals letterbox plus a voucher for a drink.i thoroughly enjoyed the time I was there shame if it falls by the wayside but they need a crowd to prove it's worth hanging onto. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
eljay 1,711 Report post Posted January 13, 2019 Of course we don't really know what the club did to promote the day Tim, not living in the area. Perhaps their endeavours were more focused on their own "Centenary meeting" which I suppose you can't blame them. May be a sub committee should be set up each year to concentrate on the three grass track meetings - may be even a small nucleus from the club plus 2 or 3 members from the particular area concerned to raise more awareness in that area. Shouldn't cost the club an arm or a leg and result could be of benefit to all. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
army 156 Report post Posted January 19, 2019 On 1/14/2019 at 11:33 AM, eljay said: Of course we don't really know what the club did to promote the day Tim, not living in the area. Perhaps their endeavours were more focused on their own "Centenary meeting" which I suppose you can't blame them. May be a sub committee should be set up each year to concentrate on the three grass track meetings - may be even a small nucleus from the club plus 2 or 3 members from the particular area concerned to raise more awareness in that area. Shouldn't cost the club an arm or a leg and result could be of benefit to all. I live in Te Aroha. Thames raced there the week before and there were sign up all over town and out in the country. The harness there were no signs up at all about their meeting. Thames gallops had a huge crowd so that tells the story. You have to take a bit of time and get signs up Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...