RaceCafe..#1...Tipsters Thread.... Share Your Fancies For Fun...Lets See Who The Best Tipsters Here Are.
Value Bell

Forbury Park. 1971.

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1 hour ago, Dockers said:

They dont race for that much more so 50 years later. What could 2k buy you in 1971? 

Just the same as the win divvy, $7.gee today so many winners at trots paying $2 times have changed,that 7 bucks probably bought ya groceries for the week,as always when looking at past Forbury meetings,sad it has ended up as it has.j

How did the brackets setup work,horses bracketed in same race and they use to run two and I might stand to be corrected three division races.

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Cheers for sharing. Had no idea stakes were so good in those days. Would have been a bit easier to make some money from racing one back then. I wonder what the price of an average standardbred would have been. I think I read at article today that the average wage in 1975 was $125 and a house 20k. 

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And do you really think we are better off today with so many things at our disposal,internet,live sport,so many other things?

i use to love those Forbury books,studied them like a bible in the days leading up to Saturday night.

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44 minutes ago, mikenz said:

Just the same as the win divvy, $7.gee today so many winners at trots paying $2 times have changed,that 7 bucks probably bought ya groceries for the week,as always when looking at past Forbury meetings,sad it has ended up as it has.j

How did the brackets setup work,horses bracketed in same race and they use to run two and I might stand to be corrected three division races.

Pretty close with what could be bought in that era Mike--dozen beer at the City Hotel in Dunners in 1972 was $2-15, food kitty for 5 large, hungry students was $25 (steak and the works), rent in 5-bedroom mansion above the town belt was $25/week. income from 3 nights work in the Cellar Wine Bar at the Provincial was about $34/week and girlfriends were more than happy to just be kept warm! Plenty left for regular attendance at Forbury and beach parties out on the peninsula.( The Mini cost $2 to gas up!)

As for brackets, cannot remember any 3-division races but brackets were great, especially when the less fancied rolled home to save you when the favoured one bombed.

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10 hours ago, chevy86 said:

Pretty close with what could be bought in that era Mike--dozen beer at the City Hotel in Dunners in 1972 was $2-15, food kitty for 5 large, hungry students was $25 (steak and the works), rent in 5-bedroom mansion above the town belt was $25/week. income from 3 nights work in the Cellar Wine Bar at the Provincial was about $34/week and girlfriends were more than happy to just be kept warm! Plenty left for regular attendance at Forbury and beach parties out on the peninsula.( The Mini cost $2 to gas up!)

As for brackets, cannot remember any 3-division races but brackets were great, especially when the less fancied rolled home to save you when the favoured one bombed.

So given this Chevy what was stopping every man woman and dog owing a horse ?. I mean a 2k first prize would have been a deposit on a house for a lower class Forbury win. Were horse flesh and training fees astronomical or something ? How much do you estimate training fees would have been a month?

Say it was $100 and first prize was 2k and now I'm guessing 2k and first prize would be 5k. 20 times your training fees for one win as opposed to 2.5 times now. Wow. What a state of disrepair the industry is in now. Must have been some very happy owners back in the 70s. 

 

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11 hours ago, Value Bell said:

C. J. McLauchlan had three in brackets at a Forbury festival meeting. Manaroa, Manawaru and Royal Ascot.

WELowe was another that regularly had 3 x horses in bracket , ditto GBNoble ,ditto CSDonald who sometimes had 4 !

Soon after TMMay had brackets in main races and often at Canterbury tracks Jack Smolenski had brackets and won a host of the Country Cups.

Note these races both Standing starts ,mobiles quite new then.....Manaroa often refused to budge at start ,Lord Module v dodgy.

Also note handicaps..12 yd ,18 ,24  !

And horses numbered alphabetically , not by barrier.

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1 hour ago, Dockers said:

So given this Chevy what was stopping every man woman and dog owing a horse ?

 

Well from my recollection Dockers thousands did, or at least had a share but not the tiny increments present syndications offer.It was often difficult to get a start.

My first horse had it's first start on Easter Monday at Hawera after a trip of nearly 600kms to get there. Club secretary had said if the horse in town by 5pm of the Saturday fixture he would guarantee a Monday start. That is the sort of commitment/risk taken just to get to the barriers but the trip/motel/beer/conviviality was all part of the package in an era of true social, sporting immersion.

As for George Noble, what a wonderful list of horses he raced at Auckland regularly.

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14 hours ago, Value Bell said:

Sydney James was owned by the Brown family of Mosgiel. Could be same owners of Field Marshall. 

Same family but different generation. Sydney James was owned by Joe of Miss NZ fame. He also had the 2nd hand furniture place in town which was very popular with Students

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Looking at those fields none were trained in anywhere near Forbury. Think of how slow trucks would have been in that era and why many stayed at local pubs, especially Frank O'Driscols one on Andy Bay Rd

Giving away my age a bit now😀

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What a great thread. Brings back great memories. Great horses all of them not like the pretenders that run around today😉

 

Oh and yes hard to get starts with up to 150 noms for a maiden race was the norm. 

 

Money well $7,000 would buy you 10 acres in North Canty close to Kaiapoi another 9000 to build a 3 bedroom house and on a Friday night fish and chips to feed 2 adults 3 kids 70 cents. Wages 25 cents an hour. 😄😄😄

 

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4 hours ago, JJ Flash said:

Same family but different generation. Sydney James was owned by Joe of Miss NZ fame. He also had the 2nd hand furniture place in town which was very popular with Students

Correction.....Sydney Brown was son of Jim Brown who was a gallops owner/trainer with several horses incl jumpers.He O/T Lucky Son who was transferred to jockey Bill Skeltons care and won the 1965 Auckland Cup. Sid Brown became a successful O/T in Harness having many good horses incl SJ ,Regal Light [I think] , Foreal, and more recently Field Marshall and had one running from Tony Herlihy's barn last year.

They owned /ran a furniture store in Mosgiel and Jim/James ran the fast food stalls at Forbury Park.

As well as Sid ,Jim had a son Trevor and a couple of daughters ,one at least married a jockey.

Sid played several games of rugby for Otago on the wing...early 70's .

Jims brother Joe was of Miss NZ fame ,John Hore label etc and ran town hall dance in Dunedin.

In 50's he O/T a good galloper....Reformed who won Wellington Cup and 3rd in Melbourne Cup.His son Denis helped him run his businesses and a good cricketer.....fast bowler. Later Joe had his gallopers trained by jumps jockey BP[Mouse]Kennedy.

He had another son ,Peter who tragically died at rugby practise ,early 20's.

I visited both stables...Jim and Joe's ...and played sport with some of above so 100% on this.

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2 hours ago, JJ Flash said:

And lets not forget the 70s version of money laundering. Certain green grocers/ restaurateurs standing behind tote at payout windows buying winning tickets at a premium. Naughty naughty.

So you win and then you get paid a premium on top of your winnings  wish I was alive in those days. 

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4 hours ago, tasman man said:

Correction.....Sydney Brown was son of Jim Brown who was a gallops owner/trainer with several horses incl jumpers.He O/T Lucky Son who was transferred to jockey Bill Skeltons care and won the 1965 Auckland Cup. Sid Brown became a successful O/T in Harness having many good horses incl SJ ,Regal Light [I think] , Foreal, and more recently Field Marshall and had one running from Tony Herlihy's barn last year.

They owned /ran a furniture store in Mosgiel and Jim/James ran the fast food stalls at Forbury Park.

As well as Sid ,Jim had a son Trevor and a couple of daughters ,one at least married a jockey.

Sid played several games of rugby for Otago on the wing...early 70's .

Jims brother Joe was of Miss NZ fame ,John Hore label etc and ran town hall dance in Dunedin.

In 50's he O/T a good galloper....Reformed who won Wellington Cup and 3rd in Melbourne Cup.His son Denis helped him run his businesses and a good cricketer.....fast bowler. Later Joe had his gallopers trained by jumps jockey BP[Mouse]Kennedy.

He had another son ,Peter who tragically died at rugby practise ,early 20's.

I visited both stables...Jim and Joe's ...and played sport with some of above so 100% on this.

I Stand corrected. Thanks TM

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