Counties Transferred

[Dissident 155]

1 hour ago, slam dunk said:

Worth examining. Shift NZTR from Petone to Avondale Racecourse.

Would be a great idea to get them out of Wellington and anywhere closer to the bulk of the horse population. Easy way to address some of this disconnect, as well as providing admin oppurtunities for those passionate about the industry who might need to transition to a less physical job. On a racecourse to get plenty of exposure to actual racedays would be ideal. Might be difficult in Auckland with its cost of living issues though, but like your thinking. 

[tasman man 11 979]

3 hours ago, chevy86 said:

So, TM were you there on Wednesday? I was. Weather was beyond shyte but not their fault, crowd larger than I have seen at Te Rapa recently ,excellent (as usual) winter racing surface, very acceptable fields.As for the facility, it will only get a makeover to a reduced capacity stand etc if the Club has some fixture certainty with acceptable stakes.(Plus a governance shake-up of course))

Notwithstanding any of these factors the MOST important is a suitable racing surface that gives punters security and horses safety.

As usual, called by for a couple of races........pleased you had a good time ,and can see the potential !

Look out for me on Saturday when I check in .....round the coffee cart !

[Mr Spyro 408]

You hear ad nauseam about the facilities,  ARC has plenty of those and most Saturday meetings David Berkowitz could fire off a few rounds  and hit fresh air.    Probably not many more there than at a Avondale mid - weeker.     The old stand is a shocker and getting rid of it would be in future plans anyway ,  but no one need use the eyesore. The member's stand and owners trainers stands are open to anyone , unlike on some other race - courses.  After being to race meetings up and down the country over the last 4 or 5 years, I'm  scratching my head to figure  out how the facilities on those stands are somehow less than say Counties or any other race course. 

 

[Maximus 429]

15 hours ago, chevy86 said:

So, TM were you there on Wednesday? I was. Weather was beyond shyte but not their fault, crowd larger than I have seen at Te Rapa recently ,excellent (as usual) winter racing surface, very acceptable fields.As for the facility, it will only get a makeover to a reduced capacity stand etc if the Club has some fixture certainty with acceptable stakes.(Plus a governance shake-up of course))

Notwithstanding any of these factors the MOST important is a suitable racing surface that gives punters security and horses safety.

too late ow to try and address the issue of that god-awful 'grandstand' better to just refer to it as a stand cos it sure aint grand and only just standing. Avondale administrators have had literally decades to tear it down and build something more worthy for the 21st century..

A Strathayr at Ellerslie makes sense to me. What makes no sense at all is maintaining three race tracks and related facilities within a 50km radius for a population base of 1.5m people, 95% of whom couldn't give a rats arse about horse racing.

Adapt or die.

[Mr Spyro 408]

12 minutes ago, weasel57 said:

too late ow to try and address the issue of that god-awful 'grandstand' better to just refer to it as a stand cos it sure aint grand and only just standing. Avondale administrators have had literally decades to tear it down and build something more worthy for the 21st century..

A Strathayr at Ellerslie makes sense to me. What makes no sense at all is maintaining three race tracks and related facilities within a 50km radius for a population base of 1.5m people, 95% of whom couldn't give a rats arse about horse racing.

Adapt or die.

I could see the sense in tearing it down but build a new grandstand . with Wednesday meetings allocated ,  who for ?    Why waste money when all the other stands are open to anybody anyway and there isn't much wrong with them.  Just throwing money down the gurgler .     Ellerslie have their fancy public stand and apart from major days , you could fire a gun off and  hit more seagulls than people.    A new stand isn't going to bring along anyone that isn't there now.

[berzerk 107]

I am not sure a Strathayr is the answer. The Kensington track and Tasmania as recent examples, the latter particularly given climate similarities.

But then again it would be hard to see a more biased track than was served up Wednesday. Let's hope the rail movement Saturday evens things up.

[Maximus 429]

14 minutes ago, Mr Spyro said:

I could see the sense in tearing it down but build a new grandstand . with Wednesday meetings allocated ,  who for ?    Why waste money when all the other stands are open to anybody anyway and there isn't much wrong with them.  Just throwing money down the gurgler .     Ellerslie have their fancy public stand and apart from major days , you could fire a gun off and  hit more seagulls than people.    A new stand isn't going to bring along anyone that isn't there now.

I am not advocating they build a new grandstand now, MS ... as I said, they had their chance to do so ...now they need to merge with ARC and form a strong, innovative mega-club to maximise their opportunities and serve the industry through the 21st century

[Archer 296]

5 hours ago, weasel57 said:

 ... now they need to merge with ARC and form a strong, innovative mega-club to maximise their opportunities and serve the industry through the 21st century

Fk off  ... We can see which tracks in the Auckland area are useless   ...       

Avondale has always been a superior track surface. 

[Archer 296]

and the grandstand doesn't need to be knocked down,  just cleaned up and refitted.  The concrete structure is sound as, the glass ? windows at the western end need replacing with a more up to date product. The roof needs some work, but nothing drastic and the rest is basically a bit of elbow grease.

Renting out some of the extra spaces would earn extra bucks and even bring back one of the smaller bars (with a tote) for the westies, who like to sink a few, go out watch the race, yell at the little people and go back and carry on enjoying the relaxed conditions and maybe bring back the nightclub !!!