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

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As a “bean counter” by profession I would really be interested in what $ savings the racing industry will achieve by closing courses that are largely run by enthusiastic locals. I’m sure the industry can come up with other benefits of rationalising tracks, eg health and animal welfare, but what cost will be avoided by this action?

in Australia they seem to have an operational track in nearly every town, sure they run non-tab racemeetings, but they keep the tracks going. Such as Tabulam, in NSW, one meeting per year as I understand it.. Rough as guts but cleaned up b6 the locals for their annual go.

I know there has been plenty of discussion on this part of the Messara recommendations, but what is the real financial or operational benefit of rubbing these tracks and people out?

 

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7 minutes ago, Peter R S said:

As a “bean counter” by profession I would really be interested in what $ savings the racing industry will achieve by closing courses that are largely run by enthusiastic locals. I’m sure the industry can come up with other benefits of rationalising tracks, eg health and animal welfare, but what cost will be avoided by this action?

in Australia they seem to have an operational track in nearly every town, sure they run non-tab racemeetings, but they keep the tracks going. Such as Tabulam, in NSW, one meeting per year as I understand it.. Rough as guts but cleaned up b6 the locals for their annual go.

I know there has been plenty of discussion on this part of the Messara recommendations, but what is the real financial or operational benefit of rubbing these tracks and people out?

 

You are quite correct. I have always struggled to understand how the industry will benefit in any way from wiping out courses like Waimate. I think it is just a matter of administrators who are largely incompetent in most respects trying to look like they are actually doing something.

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Unless clubs drop out through natural attrition or general lack of interest I tend to favour letting them continue. We can't really afford to lose enthusiastic contributors. No other clubs appear to have benefited from the demise of Westport and Nelson many years ago. Businesses in those towns don't sponsor races at Blenheim and Greymouth. I don't even really think Canterbury has benefited from the demise of the Christchurch Hunt Club. No Homeby Steeplechase any more; no Haldon Plate. I quite like some of the traditional races. I think we tend to under-value their worth in NZ. We don't have the respect for tradition that Australia has. It may be a pathetic shadow of its former self, but at least the Auckland RC has retained the Cornwall this weekend. It will probably still give the winning owner a bit of a thrill.

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The usual argument with track closure is save some money and the club can use resources at another track in another town.

Closing a track isn’t closing a club, but the will to continue to volunteer for your local club must wane when the racing is many kms up the road.

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11 minutes ago, We're Doomed said:

And it's not really as if Waimate has been told: "shift to Oamaru or Timaru and you will experience fantastic facilities and attract much bigger crowds".

They did it up themselves , never been there but been Timaru fair few times  , I think you might find Waimate is better . It looks very tidy from photos I've seen but I stand to be corrected . Have a look at Les Landes on Jersey , small racecourse by sea few meetings a year  on  small island but got character , people like character . Racing always seems competitive each year  at Waimate .

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14 minutes ago, Chris Wood said:

Have to agree, then we have the Cornwall Handicap, run today for $35,000.

Not that many years ago it was $100,000.

Not knocking the ARC, just the state of affairs here in NZ!

$80,000 back in 1988 when won by Gatcombe's Pride. Of course that same year the Nescafe Northern was worth $200,000. Who would have believed 31 years ago what stakes we would be racing for today, especially considering how all costs have escalated. To give them credit though the maiden jumps races were $10,000 back then, so at least they have held their stake. Of course they did do well over $600,000 on course on Cornwall day back in 1988 and almost $3m off; probably won't touch those levels this year.

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On ‎5‎/‎31‎/‎2019 at 8:32 PM, Pam Robson said:

None that I can see, and a real negative in that racing is removed from the community concerned. 

I cant see any positive advantage at all , You have to wonder how many Passionate Club Members, supporters, committee people , locals etc. that have some sort of ownership in racehorses and will feel aggrieved about this situation and finish their association with NZ Racing?

The Messarra Report : I'm not exactly comfortably taking business advice from an Australian whose own business in Aus. is based around selling his produce to the same clients NZers  are selling to and need to sell to to survive , Surely We are competing for the same market! 

To Me that like DOMINO'S PIZZA having PIZZA HUT as their business Mentors or consultants! 

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On ‎6‎/‎2‎/‎2019 at 6:48 AM, L.J.Shannon said:

I cant see any positive advantage at all , You have to wonder how many Passionate Club Members, supporters, committee people , locals etc. that have some sort of ownership in racehorses and will feel aggrieved about this situation and finish their association with NZ Racing?

The Messarra Report : I'm not exactly comfortably taking business advice from an Australian whose own business in Aus. is based around selling his produce to the same clients NZers  are selling to and need to sell to to survive , Surely We are competing for the same market! 

To Me that like DOMINO'S PIZZA having PIZZA HUT as their business Mentors or consultants! 

Haven't we been taking advice/employing Aussies for the last couple of decades  , That didn't seem to have been that successful ?  

Some of these small clubs that are going to be closed have proven very successful at attracting some Very good sponsors that now I would say would also be lost to the Industry , I don't think the Suits actually realise the true loss to the industry in the closure of these smaller country clubs.

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On 6/1/2019 at 10:44 AM, Chris Wood said:

Have to agree, then we have the Cornwall Handicap, run today for $35,000.

Not that many years ago it was $100,000.

Not knocking the ARC, just the state of affairs here in NZ!

Wasn’t that long ago they dropped the parliamentary and  Whyte handicaps to 25k. Now back to 40 k .

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On 6/1/2019 at 11:06 AM, We're Doomed said:

$80,000 back in 1988 when won by Gatcombe's Pride. Of course that same year the Nescafe Northern was worth $200,000. Who would have believed 31 years ago what stakes we would be racing for today, especially considering how all costs have escalated. To give them credit though the maiden jumps races were $10,000 back then, so at least they have held their stake. Of course they did do well over $600,000 on course on Cornwall day back in 1988 and almost $3m off; probably won't touch those levels this year.

Bet you could buy a Best Bets or turf digest on the Sunday also to do study and circle your fancies.Fast forward 30 years you have Zero printed form the day before.

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If they intend to close racecourses then horse racing must be on Freeview.

Article in paper today say that the way to kill a sport is to have it exclusively behind a paywall.

It then goes on to describe how audiences for formula one and the ashes series have dwindled.

Also mentions how rugby crowds have dropped  since rugby has been behind a paywall.

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Disappointing to see a relative lack of support from trainers for the meeting, although admittedly the programming was poor. Sad to see only four horses front for the $25,000 Cup. Trainers don't seem to notice decent stakes sometimes. Good to see the horse all the way from Riverton win the Cup: well worth the five hour trip.

Just imagine if there was a track in the NI that could race on a good 3 in the middle of winter; where they could run 1,200m races in a tick over 1.11. They would be racing there every week. In all seriousness, I cannot see how anyone could justify spending millions on an all weather track in the SI when we already have tracks like Waimate. It is less than three hours from Chch and about two hours from Wingatui. It seems to be ideally placed. Why not spend a few dollars developing a couple of different start points? Much more economical than spending millions on the bottomless pit of an all weather track.

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1 hour ago, Peter R S said:

Last race there - no one seems to be able to explain what is being gained by closure of the track for race meetings.

A bit sad really.

They have to be seen to be doing something, that is the only explanation as there is nothing to be gained by it. 

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On 6/1/2019 at 11:06 AM, We're Doomed said:

$80,000 back in 1988 when won by Gatcombe's Pride. Of course that same year the Nescafe Northern was worth $200,000. Who would have believed 31 years ago what stakes we would be racing for today, especially considering how all costs have escalated. To give them credit though the maiden jumps races were $10,000 back then, so at least they have held their stake. Of course they did do well over $600,000 on course on Cornwall day back in 1988 and almost $3m off; probably won't touch those levels this year.

How much more proof do you need that restructuring is imperative , one of the reasons stakes have fallen is the bottom has been propped up at the expense of the better grades , money down the drain .

Racing must change , it's in a similar position to where movie theatres were when home video were all the rage , they restructured , went upmarket , comfortable seats , coffee and food delivered to your seat , they turned going to the movies into a desirable experience and have never looked back , it can be done but not with crap facility's in the middle of nowhere , it's time to wipe the board clean and rebuild . Do nothing and failure is guaranteed 

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4 hours ago, tripple alliance said:

How much more proof do you need that restructuring is imperative , one of the reasons stakes have fallen is the bottom has been propped up at the expense of the better grades , money down the drain .

Racing must change , it's in a similar position to where movie theatres were when home video were all the rage , they restructured , went upmarket , comfortable seats , coffee and food delivered to your seat , they turned going to the movies into a desirable experience and have never looked back , it can be done but not with crap facility's in the middle of nowhere , it's time to wipe the board clean and rebuild . Do nothing and failure is guaranteed 

Let me gets this right, you think the bottom i.e. Industry days etc are being propped up by Saturday racing or Group Racing or are you saying the bigger clubs are propping up the smaller clubs?

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