RaceCafe..#1...Tipsters Thread.... Share Your Fancies For Fun...Lets See Who The Best Tipsters Here Are.
Baz (NZ)

Ellerslie - Great Northern Day

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Did anyone else turn up???

I go past the place each day, along with 50,000 other cars and there is not even a sign up that tells me the races will be on this weekend.

I do see an overgrown hedge/bush which could be replaced with a prominent sign, but that would take effort and thought. There is a moss ridden sign buried in the bush that can only be read with some form of contortion of the body and I’m unsure if it is ever updated.

Racing lives in the old world, those that know the races are on, will continue to turn up... until they die and the attendance will drop. Which it is..

It’s clear that racing is its own problem. Stop blaming the world and blame yourselves.

 

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absolutely right phillipe ...,as you say free exposure to 50,000 plus people ,but yeah,nah  no billboards /no idea .. .i am one of those fossils that has gone to the track for years..but stupid changes of the program e.g. auckland cup  , the idiotic idea to stop the judges call  ,and no incentives to attract  new punters ,among many other dumb decisions has finished me off...great northern day and they have removed all of the betting terminals in public stand....the last straw for me

 

 

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I’m not sure that argument has merit.

The upcoming RWC will prove a point. Humans are creatures that like to congregate with other similar humans. There will be the homebodies but there will be large numbers who will attend a pub to watch each match. Essentially enjoying a togetherness, for want of a better word.

Racing is the same, without a place to gather, humans will drift to another place. The fact that the numbers are already dropping indicate that there are no new people being drawn to racing. At least not on a regular basis.

New young people have as much interest in watching trackside as watching the grass grow, they only want the live interactive event, a few times a year. Not enough to maintain the infrastructure or horse base we presently have.

Racing has had its day in NZ, in its current format. The radical change needed to maintain the current base of interested people, is not something that the present management would ever try as they lack the mandate and fortitude.

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Rugby....our No  1 religion has similar issues ,other than punting on it and other sports betting growing too [at racing's expense]

Today there were two pretty big games......Auckland v Canterbury and Otago with a home Shield defence.

Very few spectators at either game , not like the good ole days.Its so easy to make an excuse not to attend racing other than on a couple of 'cup' or group one days !

Melbourne probably similar.

Certainly steeplechase racing has very little appeal these days .

I went yesterday , picked up two friends after leaving home at 10.30 am and got home at 6.30pm. Quite a long day ,especially as a few races had tiny fields.

We spent a few dollars to ensure a decent feed...the food was excellent ....had a few collects and overall had an enjoyable outing.

But ,certainly, its not for everyone !

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Long day ? Sounds like a round of golf and a few at the Nineteenth:rcfe-happy-2:There is only 15 min max between parade ring and race start Tassie, if your there to make money you need every minute of that to organise your bets, factoring in potential queues (maybe not on sat) and getting to a position to watch the race. I collected off Lupelani last start but left it out (winning chance)  on Saturday until I saw her in the parade ring, I had this conversation with a few at New Plymouth on Thursday betting before the horses even came out...If your sitting on a couch at home you are reducing your chances of making a few quid, but given the wind chill factor out of the sun (but not as bad as Te Rapa on Friday )your warm at least :rcfe-happy-3:  

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6 hours ago, Gruff said:

Long day ? Sounds like a round of golf and a few at the Nineteenth:rcfe-happy-2:There is only 15 min max between parade ring and race start Tassie, if your there to make money you need every minute of that to organise your bets, factoring in potential queues (maybe not on sat) and getting to a position to watch the race. I collected off Lupelani last start but left it out (winning chance)  on Saturday until I saw her in the parade ring, I had this conversation with a few at New Plymouth on Thursday betting before the horses even came out...If your sitting on a couch at home you are reducing your chances of making a few quid, but given the wind chill factor out of the sun (but not as bad as Te Rapa on Friday )your warm at least :rcfe-happy-3:  

Motorise your zimmer frame......less than 8 horses average per race , parade ring ,totes and great viewing all within 40 metres.

Golf not exactly booming...especially when its rained 35 days in a row......Sylvia Park and Newmarket chocka , and warm !

Plenty of bargains too ! 

Treat the missus, the kids then home to watch the rugby , how often do the AB's play during day ?

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good points phillipe  and leo...leo you would agree that ellerslie needs a hell of alot more advertising and promotion...its a world class facility ..the times i have taken first timers there the response has always been positive ,followed by ''i never knew about this place before''....the first thing wilcox/baker need to do is get a giant billboard up in that spacious carpark ,to capture the captive audience driving past........of course the trackside tv argument is totally valid....i know that i am old school and actually love the horses ,not just gambling.

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11 hours ago, tasman man 11 said:

Rugby....our No  1 religion has similar issues ,other than punting on it and other sports betting growing too [at racing's expense]

Today there were two pretty big games......Auckland v Canterbury and Otago with a home Shield defence.

Very few spectators at either game , not like the good ole days.Its so easy to make an excuse not to attend racing other than on a couple of 'cup' or group one days !

Melbourne probably similar.

Certainly steeplechase racing has very little appeal these days .

I went yesterday , picked up two friends after leaving home at 10.30 am and got home at 6.30pm. Quite a long day ,especially as a few races had tiny fields.

We spent a few dollars to ensure a decent feed...the food was excellent ....had a few collects and overall had an enjoyable outing.

But ,certainly, its not for everyone !

Not sure about steeplechases having little appeal these days there TA.

Jumps racing is certainly thriving at Te Aroha with excellent on-course attendance. We have the last day of the jumping season on Sunday 29th September known as National Jumps Day and it will be a great day of jumps racing with plenty in attendance for sure. One group have already advised they are bringing down a busload from Auckland.  

We are tweaking it each year to make it bigger and better. Both the open hurdle and open steeplechase are for $30k stakes and will close off what I believe to be a very successful jumping season overall with very good field numbers indeed.

Hope to see you there.    

 

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ted , i have always thought that your track should have money spent on it to be the main racecourse in the area..there is plenty of room to work with ...it is perfectly situated ,even for the few of us in auckland...nz racing should spend money to get the track surface pristine ,and also build a nice little grandstand on the hill..then race on a regular basis along with ellerslie     .e.g.  rosehill/randwick   is that too simple ??? am i barking mad ??

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Berri, You may well feel the coverage was poor, however that is from a “racing mans perspective” to any other Aucklander, it was a winter racemeeting of horses at Ellerslie. There would have been hot chips and hot ham and cold bread rolls and a queue for a beer.

The best looking woman there was one of the 70 year old tote staff..

why would anyone want to go?

its about time a consortium of suitable people (F&B, wagering and use of assets outside racing hours) made a play For Ellerslie to operate the racing with a business model that seeks to use the basic racing entertainment and existing clientele to grow a successful outcome.

NZRB should support the move by funding a track at Ellerslie, suitable for racing on 30/50 times and year and close tracks from Taupo North to ensure the success.

the AB’s don’t play at Waikato stadium and would not even train in Taupo, so why should racing go to those areas?

I suggest it would also be good to drop any stakes for maidens and 1 &2 win races and use the money to build a stronger base of racing at an “interest level” 3/4 win and above.

So what if you race for nothing at maiden level? Does $4500 as a win stake keep you in the game?

Would you not rather race for 100k each week for 3win and above?

I maybe mad, but something constructive would be better than the nothing that is currently been done, and has been done for not months, but years.

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8 hours ago, rdytdy said:

Not sure about steeplechases having little appeal these days there TA.

Jumps racing is certainly thriving at Te Aroha with excellent on-course attendance. We have the last day of the jumping season on Sunday 29th September known as National Jumps Day and it will be a great day of jumps racing with plenty in attendance for sure. One group have already advised they are bringing down a busload from Auckland.  

We are tweaking it each year to make it bigger and better. Both the open hurdle and open steeplechase are for $30k stakes and will close off what I believe to be a very successful jumping season overall with very good field numbers indeed.

Hope to see you there.    

 

Good luck for your big jumps day , I guess 3 of the 5 jumps races will be for a stake of $10k hardly an incentive to own/train jumpers.

At your last meeting on Sept 1 only 3 of the 7 races were for jumpers and of the 25 horses there at least 6 failed to finish.

Small fields of jumpers with many non-finishers seems to be the norm since the Grand National meeting started.

Jumping seemed doomed 10 years ago when betting on them dwindled and higher stakes were 'promised' but aside from the premier races it hasn't been successful in increasing  interest ....but stay positive Te Aroha obviously thriving if you can be believed and the busload of Auckland folk may work the oracle.

I may go.......although last time we took a jumper there we left with a broken horse and it was a $1.70 favourite ,couldn't lift its feet out of the mud and slid into several jumps !

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As far as owning a jumper 10k race after percentages etc I'm picking less than 5k to owner.in  this day and age at a top Saturday jumps meeting that is pathetic.come to the darkside.harness get paid to start no nom fees can race 30 times a year 3asily cheaper training fee. No brainer really.

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53 minutes ago, tim vince said:

As far as owning a jumper 10k race after percentages etc I'm picking less than 5k to owner.in  this day and age at a top Saturday jumps meeting that is pathetic.come to the darkside.harness get paid to start no nom fees can race 30 times a year 3asily cheaper training fee. No brainer really.

I thought it was very poor that the maiden jumpers went around for $10,000 on our biggest jumps day while 5 or 6 ordinary types went around for $30,000 in the rating 82s. Even Riccarton managed $15,000 for their maiden jumpers.

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1 hour ago, tasman man 11 said:

Good luck for your big jumps day , I guess 3 of the 5 jumps races will be for a stake of $10k hardly an incentive to own/train jumpers.

At your last meeting on Sept 1 only 3 of the 7 races were for jumpers and of the 25 horses there at least 6 failed to finish.

Small fields of jumpers with many non-finishers seems to be the norm since the Grand National meeting started.

Jumping seemed doomed 10 years ago when betting on them dwindled and higher stakes were 'promised' but aside from the premier races it hasn't been successful in increasing  interest ....but stay positive Te Aroha obviously thriving if you can be believed and the busload of Auckland folk may work the oracle.

I may go.......although last time we took a jumper there we left with a broken horse and it was a $1.70 favourite ,couldn't lift its feet out of the mud and slid into several jumps !

Nothing like a bit of negativity TA.

2 of the 3 jumping races had fields of 9 and 10 which was a week out from the Great Northern meeting held last Saturday. 10 in the hurdle and 9 is the Steeplechase, hardly what one could call small fields. 

Perhaps you should have noted some of the numbers in the flat races where you were on Saturday.   

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1 hour ago, tim vince said:

As far as owning a jumper 10k race after percentages etc I'm picking less than 5k to owner.in  this day and age at a top Saturday jumps meeting that is pathetic.come to the darkside.harness get paid to start no nom fees can race 30 times a year 3asily cheaper training fee. No brainer really.

it is for this reason, if i venture into ownership again, it will be with trotters and pacers.  For all the points you mentioned above.

It seems trotters and pacers can race, week in week out just about.  And, its almost a mission to get a thoroughbred to race 30 times in its carreer, let alone race 30 times in 1 year.

i agree, given current circumstances no brainer. 

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1 hour ago, rdytdy said:

Nothing like a bit of negativity TA.

2 of the 3 jumping races had fields of 9 and 10 which was a week out from the Great Northern meeting held last Saturday. 10 in the hurdle and 9 is the Steeplechase, hardly what one could call small fields. 

Perhaps you should have noted some of the numbers in the flat races where you were on Saturday.   

I already noted the tiny fields at Ellerslie....pathetic but I guess the day is solely about the country's top two iconic jumping races where the usual Browne runners sorely missed.

Saying jumping is thriving is far from the 'truth' and many races made up of horses that fail to complete the journey.

Betting on these races tends to be dismal hence clubs can only put up $10 k total stakes.

Thats the main issue.

Your main jumps race used to be $40k.

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10 hours ago, tasman man 11 said:

I already noted the tiny fields at Ellerslie....pathetic but I guess the day is solely about the country's top two iconic jumping races where the usual Browne runners sorely missed.

Saying jumping is thriving is far from the 'truth' and many races made up of horses that fail to complete the journey.

Betting on these races tends to be dismal hence clubs can only put up $10 k total stakes.

Thats the main issue.

Your main jumps race used to be $40k.

Prior to 2017 both the open hurdler and steeplechase races were both $20k. In 2017 we had the open Hurdle at $20K still and put the open steeple to $40k with the hope of getting the open hurdle to $40k also in 2018. Unfortunately we couldn't get that across the line so we decided to make both races $30k last year which is the case also this year. We still have every intention of getting both races to $40k stakes in the future. 

 To have two jumps races for $30k each on an industry day rated meeting at present in the current environment isn't too bad I would have thought.      

BTW Jumping numbers are up this season (again). 

 

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I see that 9th place in the Steeples at Ellerslie got $1250 in stakes.  I seem to remember that some of the well beaten horses took the short cut to the birdcage after the race in that they did not walk as far as the winning post, but waited for the winner to return to scale and left the course behind the winner at that gate about 100 metres before the finish.  Did the owners of those  horses that did not cross the finish line get their stake money?

I hope they did as the horses were totally buggered, and the jockeys involved showed care for the horses' health by taking that short cut.

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9 hours ago, tim vince said:

I was there.2 long between races.

Seems like you agree with Tassie Tim, the time between parade ring and race start is required, Tassie just throws darts so it’s not a consideration. So that just leaves Stabling area / parade ring lag between races, can this be shortened? I met one of  your Junior driver students and his father watching Fannin get a little conservative on Laekeeper at the last fence in the big hurdle, very nice people the Armstrong’s and they rate you highly. If you love your racing any day is a good day at the track regardless of the periphery, otherwise the main requirements are good weather , friendly service and fairly priced food and drink .... Te Aroha was very laid back, good vibe and the weather was spot on ,  the letdown on Sunday was minor, no Tab sheets set up in the public bar and after politely asking the woman on the machine there nothing was done , and her manner was negative. The Lady on the left window outside was lovely , and she was equally as good when working at Matamata the week before. Employing Tote operators that are hard of hearing isn’t a good move unless you have slip only windows ,but sourpusses are less conducive for a good experience regardless of results:rcfe-like: 

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