Message to CJC & NZTR

[newbie85 94]

I feel sorry for Banks Peninsula Racing Club.

They are forced away from their own racecourse and made to hold a meeting on a track that is cr*p !!!

Middle of summer and jockeys have one goal as they leave the barrier and that is getting to the middle of the track.

CJC.....Instead of spending 15 + million on an All Weather track spend some money on your Course proper

[We're Doomed 4,855]

Bit sad to think that Banks Peninsula has a better track and  a public grandstand and yet they are forced to move. Any other sport there would be calls for a public inquiry into the some of the decision making going on.

[newbie85 94]

Just watching the 2000 m race and see all the work being done inside the track, presume it is the new AW track. 

Why not keep digging and take out the course proper aswell.

[Red Rum 1,833]

4 hours ago, We're Doomed said:

Bit sad to think that Banks Peninsula has a better track and  a public grandstand and yet they are forced to move. Any other sport there would be calls for a public inquiry into the some of the decision making going on.

The Banks Peninsula shaved ice and coloured liquid on top dispensery  alone could buy Riccarton 10 times over the money they rake in on a hot day . 

My advice if you take young kids in any great numbers there on a hot day  , take them to pat the little sheep and goat area and avoid the shaved ice if you are on a normal persons wage. I've done some dough there over the years on the stuff  . 

Good on them though they are  a nice old couple who run it .

[We're Doomed 4,855]

4 hours ago, Red Rum said:

The Banks Peninsula shaved ice and coloured liquid on top dispensery  alone could buy Riccarton 10 times over the money they rake in on a hot day . 

My advice if you take young kids in any great numbers there on a hot day  , take them to pat the little sheep and goat area and avoid the shaved ice if you are on a normal persons wage. I've done some dough there over the years on the stuff  . 

Good on them though they are  a nice old couple who run it .

I don't have the faintest idea what a single word of that meant.

[Red Rum 1,833]

5 hours ago, We're Doomed said:

I don't have the faintest idea what a single word of that meant.

If you ever head there on a hot day check out the van with the huge queue , they shave lumps of ice into a paper cup and put multi coloured colours on top bung a straw in and the kids love it  , must be a 1000 pc profit for the owners and they never stop all day . A great fun track to be at , plenty on for the families and loads tote windows .

[stodge 1,940]

I don't know the ins and outs of this but if the Trotting races are continuing at the same venue, I struggle to see why the gallops cards should be moved.

If the whole site was being closed and redeveloped, I could understand it.

As for all-weather racing (which isn't as we've seen over here), there's nothing wrong with it and I don't quite understand the bias against it. Most jurisdictions use some form of artificial surface for no other reasons than consistency and cost. 

We'd have had no racing at all this week without artificial surfaces and by harrowing them deeper it's provided opportunities for jump horses to have a run.

[Huey 2,037]

46 minutes ago, stodge said:

I don't know the ins and outs of this but if the Trotting races are continuing at the same venue, I struggle to see why the gallops cards should be moved.

If the whole site was being closed and redeveloped, I could understand it.

As for all-weather racing (which isn't as we've seen over here), there's nothing wrong with it and I don't quite understand the bias against it. Most jurisdictions use some form of artificial surface for no other reasons than consistency and cost. 

We'd have had no racing at all this week without artificial surfaces and by harrowing them deeper it's provided opportunities for jump horses to have a run.

Thoroughbred racing has a plan to significantly suck the life out of certain venues and pump up other venues (mostly in a fabricated manner) the plan is called the venue plan or something like that.

It has very little if any justification behind it, as has been pointed out here on many occasions the rationale behind it is flawed (as you've also rightly pointed out with regard to the trots ) , its probably going to assist in really giving the sport a knock out blow from which it will never recover . some say its so NZTR can get their hands on clubs assets as the enthusiasm at certain venues adversely affected by this plan wanes all in all any real business looking to perform wouldn't have a bar of it, however this is thoroughbred racing in NZ for ya!

[We're Doomed 4,855]

2 hours ago, stodge said:

I don't know the ins and outs of this but if the Trotting races are continuing at the same venue, I struggle to see why the gallops cards should be moved.

If the whole site was being closed and redeveloped, I could understand it.

As for all-weather racing (which isn't as we've seen over here), there's nothing wrong with it and I don't quite understand the bias against it. Most jurisdictions use some form of artificial surface for no other reasons than consistency and cost. 

We'd have had no racing at all this week without artificial surfaces and by harrowing them deeper it's provided opportunities for jump horses to have a run.

The difference with All weather tracks here Stodge is that in the SI especially they aren't needed as there are already tracks available to use throughout the winter that can offer dead conditions most weeks.

I think it would be fair to say that a typical mid winter meeting at Asburton, Timaru and Oamaru on a dead track would offer better racing conditions than the heavily watered dead track dished up at Riccarton yesterday. I don't recall horses racing down the outside fence at any of those three tracks I mentioned.

And you need to remember this is a $16m extravagance for a struggling industry that runs for $10,000 stakes most days, and where many horses are balloted each week because the industry can't afford to fund any more races in the South.