john legend 735 Report post Posted April 4, 2020 It looks like the brains trust is to reduce racetracks to 5 or 6 in nz .The ideal spread would be (to cover the most trainers and geographics) say Auckland,Cambridge,manawatu. Addington,forbury, ascot park and say ashburton. but my pick they take the easy way out as follows Auckland/Cambridge/addington/forbury/ascot park. and stuff everybody else.Manawatu could have a condition north island only. the NI, travel would be same whether taranaki/manawatu horses travel or others come south.The gap between the Cambridge winning post and the addington post is the majority of nz without some regularity of racing there will be no owners left outside those areas.I appreciate we are all in a nightmare but lets not make moves that are easy but will ultimately destroy a large part of harness racing. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stables 577 Report post Posted April 4, 2020 Forbury won;t get any meetings, how many horses are trained in Dunedin Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivanthegreat 1,123 Report post Posted April 4, 2020 NO but they have cycle tracks evidently arjay and Value Bell 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
2Piper 404 Report post Posted April 4, 2020 I must say that Rangiora does have the best dual grass/all weather course combo in Canterbury. It also gets the race day crowds like most of the country meets . Midget, Overcheck and Taku Umanga 3 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
eljay 1,711 Report post Posted April 4, 2020 15 hours ago, ivanthegreat said: NO but they have cycle tracks evidently tasman man will be delighted JJ Flash 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taku Umanga 194 Report post Posted April 4, 2020 13 hours ago, 2Piper said: I must say that Rangiora does have the best dual grass/all weather course combo in Canterbury. It also gets the race day crowds like most of the country meets . ..... and the North Canterbury horse population should be pretty healthy Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stables 577 Report post Posted April 5, 2020 It is also surrounded by houses and is extremely valuable as a residential subdivision. It is 60% owned by the Harness Racing Club and 40% by the thoroughbred unit based at Riccaton. The thoroughbred people have banned the track for racing due to track safety problems and they are keen to sell up Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tasman man 11 979 Report post Posted April 5, 2020 7 hours ago, eljay said: tasman man will be delighted You on to it eljay ! Cycling...tho I don't pass too many these days is my big addiction ,and sadly many of my other addictions are gone or going fast ! Doctor told me I had to give up half my love life ! I asked what half....thinking about it or talking about it ! Plus I'm off Ice cream now...my household went so crazy at the supermarket last week we were tipping Ice cream down the sink to make room !....true. No chocolate , no hot chips , no sport to go to or watch on TV , no church.....and Harness trainers giving up.It will be next ! Not a lot to do......and all day to do it in ! JJ Flash 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
2Piper 404 Report post Posted April 8, 2020 On 4/5/2020 at 12:21 PM, Stables said: It is also surrounded by houses and is extremely valuable as a residential subdivision. It is 60% owned by the Harness Racing Club and 40% by the thoroughbred unit based at Riccaton. The thoroughbred people have banned the track for racing due to track safety problems and they are keen to sell up i heard that the Gallops wanted to race there again and were organising a meeting to be held there in the near future . Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam Robson 1,536 Report post Posted April 8, 2020 9 hours ago, 2Piper said: i heard that the Gallops wanted to race there again and were organising a meeting to be held there in the near future . You heard wrong. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam Robson 1,536 Report post Posted April 8, 2020 There has long been a section of the galloping fraternity which has supported racing at Rangiora, but that is nothing recent. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterEd 323 Report post Posted April 8, 2020 I would assume the five tracks would be a temporary measure over winter months. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
john legend 735 Report post Posted April 8, 2020 I don't assume anything with hrnz and co. .it may be a short term fix so small clubs suffer just for a while.(and trainers and owners) BUT...… I HAVE LIVED LONG ENOUGH TO NOT TRUST decisions made in difficult times that are unrelated to the matter in hand . lets face it the rationalisation of tracks is still a policy in the background. Thank heavens there is a race café .to expose them. Huey, dock leaf and Pam Robson 3 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stables 577 Report post Posted April 8, 2020 Racing will be controlled by HRNZ and they will pay the costs of clubs to run a meeting and stakes. Programmes will be set by HRNZ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterEd 323 Report post Posted April 8, 2020 1 hour ago, john legend said: I don't assume anything with hrnz and co. .it may be a short term fix so small clubs suffer just for a while.(and trainers and owners) BUT...… I HAVE LIVED LONG ENOUGH TO NOT TRUST decisions made in difficult times that are unrelated to the matter in hand . lets face it the rationalisation of tracks is still a policy in the background. Thank heavens there is a race café .to expose them. It would be bordering on trump level stupidity to close grass tracks like Methven, Motukarara and others that have double the noms of Addington, Invercargill etc Hunter the punter 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stables 577 Report post Posted April 8, 2020 I doubt there will be any grass track racing, at least in the short term Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterEd 323 Report post Posted April 8, 2020 Well definitely none over the winter months as per usual but one would hope racing would be back to some sort of normality by December when grass racing starts to ramp up again. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tasman man 11 979 Report post Posted April 8, 2020 20 minutes ago, MisterEd said: It would be bordering on trump level stupidity to close grass tracks like Methven, Motukarara and others that have double the noms of Addington, Invercargill etc That appears the case , but assuming Funding to Harness from TAB is cut significantly then allocations will need to be made. Obviously the biggest clubs with the most meetings will get more.......to me ,the question is how much will be there to go around. The cloth must be cut to suit ,so some will need to close unless they have funds to fund themselves. Do they ? Can they get enough sponsorship and local support to carry on......time will tell . Its not a case of the number of nominations , but that is encouraging .....it comes down to money. Is there money for stakes and how much does it cost for TAB to run these meetings compared to the bigger clubs which may be closer to horse population as well ,saving owners money. Others could race for bags of kumaras and ribbon as prizes , maybe run a equalisator with no trackside......like the good old days ! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJ Flash 2,114 Report post Posted April 8, 2020 This all leads to one outcome - the blame game. Its been going on for decades between codes and NZRB in subtle ways but this will bring it to a potential head. Gloves off time is fast approaching. Greg Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lamour 663 Report post Posted April 9, 2020 On 4/5/2020 at 12:21 PM, Stables said: It is also surrounded by houses and is extremely valuable as a residential subdivision. It is 60% owned by the Harness Racing Club and 40% by the thoroughbred unit based at Riccaton. The thoroughbred people have banned the track for racing due to track safety problems and they are keen to sell up Rangiora is an interesting one. The Harness club appears to be losing around 50k per year which is obviously not sustainable. You are right that it is becoming valuable land as subdivisions have been creeping closer to the track. I am not sure of the exact footprint of the land owned by the clubs, but having been there on a regular basis I have the impression there is a lot of surplus land that could be sold while still retaining the race course. Could the track & stables be retained as a training centre for young trainers trying to get established while selling off access land to fund investments to help fund stakes for the club? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam Robson 1,536 Report post Posted April 9, 2020 On 4/5/2020 at 12:21 PM, Stables said: It is also surrounded by houses and is extremely valuable as a residential subdivision. It is 60% owned by the Harness Racing Club and 40% by the thoroughbred unit based at Riccaton. The thoroughbred people have banned the track for racing due to track safety problems and they are keen to sell up The CJC hold 7/12 of the ownership [ made up of North Canterbury and Amberley galloping clubs' shareholdings ] and harness have 5/12. For a long time, the CJC were very keen to 'cash up ' as the perceived value appeared attractive. However, a very significant proprortion of the 'spare' land is actually flood plain, and more is set aside for Transit NZ roading. The amount subdividable is not a great deal. The CJC are, for the moment, not now pursuing sale options. We're Doomed 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tasman man 11 979 Report post Posted April 9, 2020 2 hours ago, lamour said: Rangiora is an interesting one. The Harness club appears to be losing around 50k per year which is obviously not sustainable. You are right that it is becoming valuable land as subdivisions have been creeping closer to the track. I am not sure of the exact footprint of the land owned by the clubs, but having been there on a regular basis I have the impression there is a lot of surplus land that could be sold while still retaining the race course. Could the track & stables be retained as a training centre for young trainers trying to get established while selling off access land to fund investments to help fund stakes for the club? Your post triggered my interest , so I had a look at their website and quite impressed with what I see. I'd say one of the few smaller clubs who show their Annual report so prominently and it seems quite a well organised ,professionally run club. With 10 / 11 racedays a year this reflects that. Their bottom line loss last year should be tempered by the fact that there was $52 k depreciation as part of that loss . So they cash flowed just. Plus they have some reserves with $350k in bank and $169k waiting in wings for a joint land sale to be finalised. A few years since I been there but I'd say it will be a venue being utilised for racing. Good info on website ,check it out and I see they had a few decent dates ,like Jan 3 ! JJ Flash 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam Robson 1,536 Report post Posted April 9, 2020 Rangiora is a tidy and pleasant facility, and well managed as you say ( although I have nothing to do with the harness side of operations. ) There has long been a section of galloping stakeholders which have supported the prospect of galloping again being held at Rangiora, and with the plans of NZTR to rationalise and reduce tracks, it seems to be a no brainer to us that Rangiora, used as a complement to Riccarton, would supply racing very satisfactorily to greater Canterbury. It is close at hand and an easy commute, and residential development is proceeding apace in and around the area. Decisions of the past I won't dredge up at this point; but to leave a facility like this unused (although trials are, and have been for years, held consistently and safely on a regular basis) makes no sense at all. Patiti 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stables 577 Report post Posted April 9, 2020 That could be said of many race courses around Canterbury, such as Motukarara, Ashburton, Washdyke, Methven Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lamour 663 Report post Posted April 9, 2020 19 hours ago, Pam Robson said: The CJC hold 7/12 of the ownership [ made up of North Canterbury and Amberley galloping clubs' shareholdings ] and harness have 5/12. For a long time, the CJC were very keen to 'cash up ' as the perceived value appeared attractive. However, a very significant proprortion of the 'spare' land is actually flood plain, and more is set aside for Transit NZ roading. The amount subdividable is not a great deal. The CJC are, for the moment, not now pursuing sale options. I see the almost half share of the land is valued at 550k on the Harness clubs balance sheet. I thought it would have been worth much more in market value, but perhaps not given the info in your post. I expect what land that can be developed will increase in value exponentially in the coming years as development increases in the immediate area surrounding the course. Might be wise to hang onto it for a while yet. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...