barryb 2,062 Report post Posted December 29, 2021 From the 1st race today there will be a bit under 12 hrs before Taupo moves to Orange, what a complete f--k up to have Taupo racing today under Red (& minimal crowd) when tomorrow they could be running with no crowd restrictions. Taupo gets a massive crowd of race goers every year, NZTR have known for 3 weeks now, surely they could have swapped the dates with Hastings which can run with a full crowd today. Dumb just dumb. Baz (NZ), Breeder, We're Doomed and 2 others 4 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Memphis3 1,222 Report post Posted December 29, 2021 Yep and I would have been one of them. Instead I’ll mow the lawns. barryb 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
barryb 2,062 Report post Posted December 29, 2021 6 minutes ago, Memphis3 said: Yep and I would have been one of them. Instead I’ll mow the lawns. Yep me 2. Normally spend a few hundred on food & drinks for the family, we also stay over in Taupo and spend stacks on Accom, Dinner & Breakfast. Oh well, I have lawns & windows to clean outside today. Memphis3 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TurnyTom 1,519 Report post Posted December 29, 2021 Barry, it simply beggars belief with Taupo being a tourist Hotspot each Summer and a huge raceday crowd simply guaranteed. Nothing surer. What the fcuk is wrong with NZ racing management, or what is right. Just unbelievable Taupo Race today, incredibly bloody dumb Baz (NZ) and barryb 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tasman man 742 Report post Posted December 30, 2021 15 hours ago, barryb said: From the 1st race today there will be a bit under 12 hrs before Taupo moves to Orange, what a complete f--k up to have Taupo racing today under Red (& minimal crowd) when tomorrow they could be running with no crowd restrictions. Taupo gets a massive crowd of race goers every year, NZTR have known for 3 weeks now, surely they could have swapped the dates with Hastings which can run with a full crowd today. Dumb just dumb. Seemed to be a 'nice' crowd at Taupo today enjoying the racing....Taupo seems to be a progressive Country club who market their meetings well and promote their races to trainers etc Todays Cup run for the excellent stake of $65k attracted a very good field and one trainer with a horse in Cup won a $4k Holiday prize. Seems likely the nice crowd was made up of registered owners and members .....so big barry have you considered becoming a member to fit with your holiday plans.The Club is actively trying to grow its Membership and has reciprocal rights with several other clubs ?They have an impressive 370 members. I'm not convinced the swap with Hawkes Bay would have been that that easy....NZTR and the TAB would have had many logistical issues at the most frantic time of year plus HB may not have agreed. They already have been moved from their historic Jan1 date to NY Eve. Hawkes Bay are also a very progressive club , who run at minimum 12 x meetings a year [ Taupo x 4 ] and run Group and premier jumps meetings. And what would be the point ...other than give you and family a day at races at a preferred holiday spot . Overall Hawkes Bay would appear to attract a higher average crowd , much higher betting and sell more food etc. So two busy days may have slighty more one-off race attendees....on here we ,incl you , are critical of the swept up days of one-off party goers that swarm to our main race days. 3 x days ago ,it was Boxing day.......less than 1000 went to Ellerslie cos of Red light. Last year over 15,000 attended and over $400k went thru the bars.....very little this year. Maybe Boxing Day should have been moved to NYDay , and the lesser NY Day races moved to Jan 4th . It could get kinda messy ...again ,what would be the point. ? With more disruptions possible becoming a Club member could be a help ! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
barryb 2,062 Report post Posted December 31, 2021 TM, maybe this is lost on you but racing survives on punting t/o, like the other 5000 whom didn’t attend this meeting I spent far less than if I had of attended, my guess is the vast majority of that 5000 spend zero. Racing is a sunset activity and your comments suggest it’s all too hard to be nimble & the interest isn’t there anyway to bother trying. & to your point on membership, the club system in NZ is a crook of shit and one of the driving reasons racing is near deceased. Membership should be universal in NZ & it should be to NZ Racing not a club, it should allow you access to all venues & privileges. Radical re-thinking on this & many other matters are needed in 2022. Aaron Bidlake, Pam Robson, TurnyTom and 3 others 4 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stodge 1,912 Report post Posted December 31, 2021 7 hours ago, barryb said: TM, maybe this is lost on you but racing survives on punting t/o, like the other 5000 whom didn’t attend this meeting I spent far less than if I had of attended, my guess is the vast majority of that 5000 spend zero. Racing is a sunset activity and your comments suggest it’s all too hard to be nimble & the interest isn’t there anyway to bother trying. & to your point on membership, the club system in NZ is a crook of shit and one of the driving reasons racing is near deceased. Membership should be universal in NZ & it should be to NZ Racing not a club, it should allow you access to all venues & privileges. Radical re-thinking on this & many other matters are needed in 2022. That's an incredibly good point. Over here, membership at one track in one of the racecourse owning groups as ARC or Jockey Club Racecourses, gets you entry to any meeting at the others in the group. The initial outlay might be pricey - say $800 - 1000 but it soon pays for itself if you're not forking out $40 for each meeting - the whole thing pays for itself after 20-25 meetings. ARC for example includes Brighton, Lingfield, Fontwell, Southwell, Wolverhampton, Doncaster and Newcastle so that's three all-weather venues so the total number of meetings covered would be in the hundreds. For NZ, you could have a "National" membership as well as cheaper "North" and "South" memberships perhaps. The membership could include harness races and perhaps even greyhounds. You might want to exclude the really big days with the Group 1 events or discount the admission by 50-75% for membership holders. You could link membership of the New Zealand Racing Club to other promotions and products including on-track food and drink and perhaps other merchandise. barryb, Breeder, Aaron Bidlake and 3 others 4 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TurnyTom 1,519 Report post Posted December 31, 2021 Great comments Stodge, I fear a bridge too far for our lot. Excellent advice tho Pam Robson 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...