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

Grass Track Meetings in the North

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Tauherenikau now Otaki today.     Just watched race 1 at Otaki.     What a great sight - lovely sunny day and crowd building.    Why dont the clubs/national officials want to promote this spectacle.    OK they say they could not make money from them - well they dont make money either from their night meetings either.      At least these day meetings with their picnic settings get interest of the sport out to the future generations.     Too many big owners/breeders controlling the sport these days I suspect.     

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Totally agree with 1st paragraph. Not only good PR but also many older horses "grow another leg" when on the grass. In the Waikato I suspect current management at Cambridge think it too much effort to do the legwork required with local businesses  and clubs in Morrinsville, Te Awamutu, Rotorua and Tauranga etc to run successful and profitable meetings.

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Both eljay  with his big owners comments and Nelli with the Cambridge management comments are making statements that are well wide of the mark.

Nelli ring the office and apologise for your uninformed and incorrect statements 

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On 1/5/2022 at 11:17 AM, eljay said:

Tauherenikau now Otaki today.     Just watched race 1 at Otaki.     What a great sight - lovely sunny day and crowd building.    Why dont the clubs/national officials want to promote this spectacle.    OK they say they could not make money from them - well they dont make money either from their night meetings either.      At least these day meetings with their picnic settings get interest of the sport out to the future generations.     Too many big owners/breeders controlling the sport these days I suspect.     

Maybe, eljay , the crowd was getting there early to secure some shade for the main event , the gallops.

In past years , the early start has not helped turnover figures.

Galloping tracks obviously not over happy about Harness using their tracks.

You will have noted the aftermath of the Cup race......big nominations and fewer races available to satisfy all horses saw the Club change the conditions of the main race, change it from a handicap ,stand start to a mobile PLUS they changed the advertised distance.

Plus some trainers not advised of this....the shit has hit the fan. Some taken to social media which will test the latest Harness 'rules' on behaviour !

Another blow for North Island harness !

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On 1/5/2022 at 11:17 AM, eljay said:

Tauherenikau now Otaki today.     Just watched race 1 at Otaki.     What a great sight - lovely sunny day and crowd building.    Why dont the clubs/national officials want to promote this spectacle.    OK they say they could not make money from them - well they dont make money either from their night meetings either.      At least these day meetings with their picnic settings get interest of the sport out to the future generations.     Too many big owners/breeders controlling the sport these days I suspect.     

This is exactly how I got the bug as a late teen going to the once a year Arawa Park meeting on Jan 2

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The absence of any grass track racing in Waikato and BoP since 2019 indicates difficulties. A downside of amalgamating the clubs across the 2 regions is the loss of local contacts in those towns with suitable grass tracks. That makes it far harder to get agreements with the galloping fraternity and the sponsorship and local promotion to run protfitable meetings. Of course I'm not privy to the efforts made by the Cambridge team, so apologise if I've offended you, but the fact remains northern horses have to travel south to race on grass. However, the Cambridge team should be congratulated for its efforts to create a family-friendly picnic atmosphere for its twilight meetings. It has been good to see big family groups enjoying themselves on the lawn areas this summer.😊

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