Ascot Park,Saturday.

[mikenz 1,090]

Heavy rain coming tonight,I suspect heavy track coming Saturday,summer racing,maybe,maybe not.

[Gruff 2,800]

43 minutes ago, mikenz said:

Heavy rain coming tonight,I suspect heavy track coming Saturday,summer racing,maybe,maybe not.

Whats the state of the track before tomorrows forecast Mikey?  

[napier 339]

Is it not a shit track regardless of the weather ?

[mikenz 1,090]

32 minutes ago, Gruff said:

Whats the state of the track before tomorrows forecast Mikey?  

It's a dead track,have to say that watching on tv last few meetings,track has looked in top order,always had issues in the past.

[mikenz 1,090]

6000 people turned up on Saturday,180000 bet on course,that averages am I correct $30,so heaps probably punted on smartphone but a lot of once a year race goers,but why once a year?

Riverton,jan1,any reason why it cant do same,it does that at Easter now.

[We're Doomed 4,865]

5 hours ago, mikenz said:

6000 people turned up on Saturday,180000 bet on course,that averages am I correct $30,so heaps probably punted on smartphone but a lot of once a year race goers,but why once a year?

Riverton,jan1,any reason why it cant do same,it does that at Easter now.

It would probably be interesting to compare those figures with the two northern meetings on Saturday.  A bit of a milestone slipped by without anyone noticing on Saturday. The lowest winning stake in the Waikato Cup since 1985.

[nomates 3,605]

2 minutes ago, We're Doomed said:

It would probably be interesting to compare those figures with the two northern meetings on Saturday.  A bit of a milestone slipped by without anyone noticing on Saturday. The lowest winning stake in the Waikato Cup since 1985.

Considering the financial state of NZ racing i would suggest it should be lower still along with a raft of other " big " races , it's unsustainable .

[dock leaf 142]

22 hours ago, We're Doomed said:

It would probably be interesting to compare those figures with the two northern meetings on Saturday.  A bit of a milestone slipped by without anyone noticing on Saturday. The lowest winning stake in the Waikato Cup since 1985.

The two northern meetings received a one hour preview on Trackside TV on Saturday morning. First I heard of Ascot Park was three minutes before the first race? Unfair comparison?

[Huey 2,037]

22 hours ago, We're Doomed said:

It would probably be interesting to compare those figures with the two northern meetings on Saturday.  A bit of a milestone slipped by without anyone noticing on Saturday. The lowest winning stake in the Waikato Cup since 1985.

It was difficult enough to know it was the Waikato Cup let alone look at the Stakes.

[Huey 2,037]

5 minutes ago, dock leaf said:

The two northern meetings received a one hour preview on Trackside TV on Saturday morning. First I heard of Ascot Park was three minutes before the first race? Unfair comparison?

Maybe the speed maps don't work in the SI?

[Leggy 4,085]

1 hour ago, dock leaf said:

The two northern meetings received a one hour preview on Trackside TV on Saturday morning. First I heard of Ascot Park was three minutes before the first race? Unfair comparison?

No the NI meetings need the extra promotion.

[We're Doomed 4,865]

4 hours ago, Leggy said:

No the NI meetings need the extra promotion.

They certainly split fields at the drop of a hat in the North. In the South they do their best to ensure as few races as possible with ugly programming. Must be terrible to own a 2yo or 3yo in the South. In most racing jurisdictions they celebrate age group racing, especially in these days of big syndicates, but not in the South.

Interesting the Tapanui Cup is back to $25,000 this year. It has been $40,000 with club input for the last two years, but they have obviously decided "why bother", and who can blame them.

[Huey 2,037]

1 hour ago, We're Doomed said:

They certainly split fields at the drop of a hat in the North. In the South they do their best to ensure as few races as possible with ugly programming. Must be terrible to own a 2yo or 3yo in the South. In most racing jurisdictions they celebrate age group racing, especially in these days of big syndicates, but not in the South.

Interesting the Tapanui Cup is back to $25,000 this year. It has been $40,000 with club input for the last two years, but they have obviously decided "why bother", and who can blame them.

Well when youre dealing with the current lot running racing why would you bother. Good on them if they have.

[mikenz 1,090]

Only 8 races at Ascot on Saturday,seems to be about the limit they can run to make a day of it but Ashburton tomorrow only has a smallish turnout as well,be interesting to see how numbers stack up over summer.

[mikenz 1,090]

13 hours ago, We're Doomed said:

They certainly split fields at the drop of a hat in the North. In the South they do their best to ensure as few races as possible with ugly programming. Must be terrible to own a 2yo or 3yo in the South. In most racing jurisdictions they celebrate age group racing, especially in these days of big syndicates, but not in the South.

Interesting the Tapanui Cup is back to $25,000 this year. It has been $40,000 with club input for the last two years, but they have obviously decided "why bother", and who can blame them.

Strange thing is that there are 3 high stake 3 year old races in the south in the new year yet very few locals have a starter,be better to reduce stakes and put it into other races,maybe even a new 4 year old series might be better for South Island horse.

[We're Doomed 4,865]

3 hours ago, mikenz said:

Only 8 races at Ascot on Saturday,seems to be about the limit they can run to make a day of it but Ashburton tomorrow only has a smallish turnout as well,be interesting to see how numbers stack up over summer.

It is interesting that they have different rules for the NI and SI. 18 3yos nominated at TeRapa this Saturday so they split them into two fields of 9, despite 4 or 5 of those horses also being safely in the fields at Counties today. Tapanui on the other hand has  one field of 18 horses with 6 ballots and other horses eliminated. Total inconsistency.

Any illusion that the SI is short of horses because they can only run eight races is totally wrong. They can only run eight races because of incompetent programming; of dates and individual meetings.

I hope the Parsons get appearance money at Awapuni this weekend for providing two of the class horses on the day; and the class jockey.

[mikenz 1,090]

30 minutes ago, We're Doomed said:

It is interesting that they have different rules for the NI and SI. 18 3yos nominated at TeRapa this Saturday so they split them into two fields of 9, despite 4 or 5 of those horses also being safely in the fields at Counties today. Tapanui on the other hand has  one field of 18 horses with 6 ballots and other horses eliminated. Total inconsistency.

Any illusion that the SI is short of horses because they can only run eight races is totally wrong. They can only run eight races because of incompetent programming; of dates and individual meetings.

I hope the Parsons get appearance money at Awapuni this weekend for providing two of the class horses on the day; and the class jockey.

I know what you mean,number of races should be determined my number of nom/acceptors,after all the TAB gets the betting on the extra race and if the extra race ain't profitable then fair to say the other 8 ain't either,maybe it's something to do with tv scheduling,as in trying to fit the extra race in around 6 dog races and 2 gallops races from Asia just a thought.

[mikenz 1,090]

What is actually wrong with having extra race for maidens putting the best in the race for the higher stake then putting the balloted in another for a lower stake and maybe make it penalty free,bearing in mind some of the starting limits are sometimes 12,it does shut a lot out the door.