Wellington Cup ....still a popular event !

[tasman man 742]

Wellingtonians sure turned out for their big day.

Despite the decaying facilities , some 12000 people attended.

They weren't put off by what many folk said were terrible fields....some said the worst ever , and the fact the track seemed off the actual Wellington Cup attracted the highest turnover of any domestic gallops race this season ...and the second highest on any gallops race in NZ since  2017 Derby.

Two other  NZ gallops  races have exceeded $1mil this season , the NZ Cup and the Karaka Million 3 yr olds .

Last season the top 4 races were Karaka 3 yr olds, Auckland Cup, NZ Derby and Railway.

Prior season the Wellington Cup was 5th with $846 k ,so this years $1.174  mila good result ,even allowing for Bonus bets etc

That season [ 2018-19]the Wellington Cup day was NZ's top turnover day.

Of course NZ's top race this season is comfortably the NZ Trotting Cup which many on here suggested was of little interest cos of one stables domination...over $1.6 mill was spent on this race.

Of course #1 for the season to date is the Melbourne Cup......over $11 mil , iI believe.

Good to see Wellingtonians still supporting their iconic day. 

 

[Trump 2,741]

9 hours ago, tasman man said:

Wellingtonians sure turned out for their big day.

Despite the decaying facilities , some 12000 people attended.

They weren't put off by what many folk said were terrible fields....some said the worst ever , and the fact the track seemed off the actual Wellington Cup attracted the highest turnover of any domestic gallops race this season ...and the second highest on any gallops race in NZ since  2017 Derby.

Two other  NZ gallops  races have exceeded $1mil this season , the NZ Cup and the Karaka Million 3 yr olds .

Last season the top 4 races were Karaka 3 yr olds, Auckland Cup, NZ Derby and Railway.

Prior season the Wellington Cup was 5th with $846 k ,so this years $1.174  mila good result ,even allowing for Bonus bets etc

That season [ 2018-19]the Wellington Cup day was NZ's top turnover day.

Of course NZ's top race this season is comfortably the NZ Trotting Cup which many on here suggested was of little interest cos of one stables domination...over $1.6 mill was spent on this race.

Of course #1 for the season to date is the Melbourne Cup......over $11 mil , iI believe.

Good to see Wellingtonians still supporting their iconic day. 

 

Even better to see the horse with the best lead in form, best weight drop, best ride, and fave at a good price- WIN ! 

[Tauhei Notts 1,412]

Could anybody tell us why the top deck of the public stand was closed on such an iconic day.

[mikenz 1,088]

What is the future for Trentham? Gee it's only used a few days a year.

[Huey 2,037]

In other news water is wet.

Best track in the country why wouldn't it be popular? 

[mikenz 1,088]

I do read some comments here that it should be dozed down and start afresh elsewhere,words of others ,not myself.

[Kingshill 233]

I've always said close Awapuni, Trentham and Manawatu trotting track ...... Spend the money and start with a blank canvas at Foxton..... Have all 3 codes there , Awapuni and Manawatu trotting track getting squeezed by house's being built...... 

[Insider 3,947]

12 hours ago, Kingshill said:

I've always said close Awapuni, Trentham and Manawatu trotting track ...... Spend the money and start with a blank canvas at Foxton..... Have all 3 codes there , Awapuni and Manawatu trotting track getting squeezed by house's being built...... 

And who would go?

12,000 like on Wellington Cup Day?

 

[Houlahan's Dream 535]

17 hours ago, Huey said:

In other news water is wet.

Best track in the country why wouldn't it be popular? 

I do like it.

Funnily enough my local track, Avondale, is a remarkably good racing surface. Pity the stand and facilities look like a set out of "The Wire". 

[Trump 2,741]

21 hours ago, Huey said:

In other news water is wet.

Best track in the country why wouldn't it be popular? 

I doubt that many of the 12,000 in attendance would have been there because of the track. It was Wellington Cup day, party time. It “should” be busy. Very few would have mentioned the track all day! 
The racing was good though. Quality may have been a bit thin but it was good racing and the Cup was won by the fave. That makes it an even better day! 

[scooby3051 10,869]

21 hours ago, Kingshill said:

I've always said close Awapuni, Trentham and Manawatu trotting track ...... Spend the money and start with a blank canvas at Foxton..... Have all 3 codes there , Awapuni and Manawatu trotting track getting squeezed by house's being built...... 

Why on earth would anyone want to drive to Foxton...lets be real....its in the middle of nowhere.

[Huey 2,037]

5 hours ago, Trump said:

I doubt that many of the 12,000 in attendance would have been there because of the track. It was Wellington Cup day, party time. It “should” be busy. Very few would have mentioned the track all day! 
The racing was good though. Quality may have been a bit thin but it was good racing and the Cup was won by the fave. That makes it an even better day! 

No , I'm well aware of that, but for those of us that do enjoy watching the racing its an excellent track imho.

[Kingshill 233]

22 hours ago, scooby3051 said:

Why on earth would anyone want to drive to Foxton...lets be real....its in the middle of nowhere.

In a perfect world the rail lines would be reinstated to Foxton, from Palmerston north and Levin, then you could have a train trip to the races on carnival days, drink all you want and get home safely - It's good enough for Flemington in Melbourne and Ascot in England, so why not little old NZ?

Not a lot of forward planning (20-30 years ahead) here in NZ - our population keeps growing and Foxton is on State highway 1 afterall.

I realise my suggestion is Pie in the sky stuff - but just putting it out there 

[Kingshill 233]

1 hour ago, Kingshill said:

Not a lot of forward planning (20-30 years ahead) here in NZ - our population keeps growing and Foxton is on State highway 1 after all.

Further to my post above - With our population and housing expanding, Rail lines from Palmerston North to Foxton could serve Foxton if it were to become a Transport hub.

Palmerston north expanding....Levin expanding, Foxton on State Highway 1, close to Ohakea......the possibilities are endless.

There was once railway lines between Palmy and Foxton.....hence the wide road shoulder between the two.

 

P.s - I am not a resident of Palmerston north or Foxton or a memebr of any racing club.........just a casual observer.

[fermoy 226]

On 2/8/2021 at 2:50 PM, Kingshill said:

I've always said close Awapuni, Trentham and Manawatu trotting track ...... Spend the money and start with a blank canvas at Foxton..... Have all 3 codes there , Awapuni and Manawatu trotting track getting squeezed by house's being built...... 

Unfortunately the powers that be at Foxton have not wanted to cooperate with any one else but especially Awapuni and RACE in regards to track sharing ,amalgamations etc but have wanted to do their own thing and now dont have enough money to replace their burnt down  grandstand rendering their Racecourse useless for anything other than trials and jumpouts.

[Kingshill 233]

12 hours ago, fermoy said:

Unfortunately the powers that be at Foxton have not wanted to cooperate with any one else but especially Awapuni and RACE in regards to track sharing ,amalgamations etc but have wanted to do their own thing and now dont have enough money to replace their burnt down  grandstand rendering their Racecourse useless for anything other than trials and jumpouts.

Fair comment Fermoy - I wasn't aware of the politics between Foxton and Race - Just a pity that a higher power (NZTR, Government?) couldn't step in and have a 30-40 year plan which includes a Tri code "Racing mega centre" somewhere between Wanganui and Wellington. For every year they debated and  argued over building Transmission gully the price snowballed

[Al Feilding 292]

8 hours ago, Kingshill said:

Fair comment Fermoy - I wasn't aware of the politics between Foxton and Race - Just a pity that a higher power (NZTR, Government?) couldn't step in and have a 30-40 year plan which includes a Tri code "Racing mega centre" somewhere between Wanganui and Wellington. For every year they debated and  argued over building Transmission gully the price snowballed

Then with Transmission gully, and Pekapeka to Otaki near complete and Otaki to levin on the drawing board.Foxton will be an easy drive in less than an hour.

[Insider 3,947]

1 hour ago, Al Feilding said:

Then with Transmission gully, and Pekapeka to Otaki near complete and Otaki to levin on the drawing board.Foxton will be an easy drive in less than an hour.

Your electric car may need charging to get back though!  

t

[Kingshill 233]

1 hour ago, Insider said:

Your electric car may need charging to get back though!  

Two electric car fast chargers in Foxton, Shannon and Otaki....... Palmerston North and Levin dragging the chain with one each 

[We're Doomed 4,855]

Where do you get all those turnover figures Tasman? They don't seem to be readily available anywhere. I would be keen to know turnovers on quite a few meetings. There didn't seem to be many people at the Wingatui meeting last week, based on what I saw on TV, and it is their biggest day of the year. I am particular keen to see how Waikouaiti went at Wingatui and how Banks Peninsula go at Riccarton this weekend, compared to racing at their home tracks, especially considering stakes have nearly tripled, so one presumes turnovers should nearly triple as well.

[mikenz 1,088]

3 hours ago, We're Doomed said:

Where do you get all those turnover figures Tasman? They don't seem to be readily available anywhere. I would be keen to know turnovers on quite a few meetings. There didn't seem to be many people at the Wingatui meeting last week, based on what I saw on TV, and it is their biggest day of the year. I am particular keen to see how Waikouaiti went at Wingatui and how Banks Peninsula go at Riccarton this weekend, compared to racing at their home tracks, especially considering stakes have nearly tripled, so one presumes turnovers should nearly triple as well.

Maybe some of those smaller clubs racing at home have been short changed .Waikouiti had big stakes last month just as BP tomorow 

[We're Doomed 4,855]

35 minutes ago, mikenz said:

Maybe some of those smaller clubs racing at home have been short changed .Waikouiti had big stakes last month just as BP tomorow 

I find it very interesting how two one day clubs have been bribed with big stakes to move to under-performing city tracks nearby.  In contrast, poor old Timaru with seven race-days doesn't get a single feature race-meeting. The other one that interests me is Riverton on New Year's day. They boosted normal stakes for that class of meeting by $50,000. If that was all their own money it was an incredibly generous gesture; also seems very unfair considering other clubs get dished out heaps of money to run feature meetings and don't have to dip into their own funds at all.

[tasman man 742]

3 hours ago, We're Doomed said:

Where do you get all those turnover figures Tasman? They don't seem to be readily available anywhere. I would be keen to know turnovers on quite a few meetings. There didn't seem to be many people at the Wingatui meeting last week, based on what I saw on TV, and it is their biggest day of the year. I am particular keen to see how Waikouaiti went at Wingatui and how Banks Peninsula go at Riccarton this weekend, compared to racing at their home tracks, especially considering stakes have nearly tripled, so one presumes turnovers should nearly triple as well.

Like many on here I have a neighbours friend who's sister used to be married to someone who works at a TAB ! They tell me !

No ,seriously , any I quote are usually from clubs and organisations reports such as NZTR , HRNZ or NZTAB annual reports and /or press releases on their websites.

Any recent ones will have been from the monthly operating report that the NZTAB puts on the websites.....they do try to 'amplifly' their success by comparing figures to budget which were set quite low IMO .....maybe understandable cos of covid uncertainty etc . Compared to last year is generally best guide IMO , but even then maybe not always apples with apples.

Another recent source is Bernard Saundry's media articles such as his column in weekly Raceform book eg 4th February.

Raceform was  printing all Harness turnovers on a regular basis.

Garrick Knight was on to it for a while there ,but  ain't seen him for while maybe he disappeared .....his cat may have eaten him !

Field size and number of races obviously a big influence in turnover ,while the 'big' iconic days ,incl the smaller tracks like Kumara still very strong. 

But I guess most meetings lose $ when the stakes on offer and costs to run the meeting is taken into account .

 

 

[We're Doomed 4,855]

54 minutes ago, tasman man said:

Like many on here I have a neighbours friend who's sister used to be married to someone who works at a TAB ! They tell me !

No ,seriously , any I quote are usually from clubs and organisations reports such as NZTR , HRNZ or NZTAB annual reports and /or press releases on their websites.

Any recent ones will have been from the monthly operating report that the NZTAB puts on the websites.....they do try to 'amplifly' their success by comparing figures to budget which were set quite low IMO .....maybe understandable cos of covid uncertainty etc . Compared to last year is generally best guide IMO , but even then maybe not always apples with apples.

Another recent source is Bernard Saundry's media articles such as his column in weekly Raceform book eg 4th February.

Raceform was  printing all Harness turnovers on a regular basis.

Garrick Knight was on to it for a while there ,but  ain't seen him for while maybe he disappeared .....his cat may have eaten him !

Field size and number of races obviously a big influence in turnover ,while the 'big' iconic days ,incl the smaller tracks like Kumara still very strong. 

But I guess most meetings lose $ when the stakes on offer and costs to run the meeting is taken into account .

 

 

Thanks for that Tasman. Always interesting to see how some of the popular meetings go and how far down some of the city clubs have dropped. I wonder what sort of crowd Tauherenikau got on Monday: better fields than usual. Although I suspect there are quite a few who bet on their phones now at the busy meetings. 

[mikenz 1,088]

1 hour ago, We're Doomed said:

I find it very interesting how two one day clubs have been bribed with big stakes to move to under-performing city tracks nearby.  In contrast, poor old Timaru with seven race-days doesn't get a single feature race-meeting. The other one that interests me is Riverton on New Year's day. They boosted normal stakes for that class of meeting by $50,000. If that was all their own money it was an incredibly generous gesture; also seems very unfair considering other clubs get dished out heaps of money to run feature meetings and don't have to dip into their own funds at all.

Riverton fields were better than Waikouiti were getting in recent years yet Waikouiti 2 weeks later were pretty good as well,Riverton have raced at new years before,not jan 1 but a day or two later,weather the turnover figures were better or worse comparing the two clubs it would be nice to know.