eljay 1,719 Report post Posted May 12, 2022 I have had a cursory glance at next seasons calendar and as far as the North Island goes there appears to be no change with the contentious issues conveniently passed over. Auckland cup for example scheduled for mid winter, no changes to grass track racing despite these matters supposedly to be reviewed after this years season. Well it hard to review a race that not yet run. The calendar is out very early perhaps hoping such topics will be overlooked by clubs and participants. Of course our scribes wont ask the questions, not wanting to upset their bosses. Lets hope someone does find out why HRNZ appear to have completely pushed the clubs and their wishes aside. Value Bell 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tasman man 742 Report post Posted May 12, 2022 7 hours ago, eljay said: I have had a cursory glance at next seasons calendar and as far as the North Island goes there appears to be no change with the contentious issues conveniently passed over. Auckland cup for example scheduled for mid winter, no changes to grass track racing despite these matters supposedly to be reviewed after this years season. Well it hard to review a race that not yet run. The calendar is out very early perhaps hoping such topics will be overlooked by clubs and participants. Of course our scribes wont ask the questions, not wanting to upset their bosses. Lets hope someone does find out why HRNZ appear to have completely pushed the clubs and their wishes aside. Join the dots eljay ! If you look closer , you will notice many more Thursdays for your Club.....they don't want that. Plus there are still several Thursday/ Friday back to back meetings for Cambridge / Auckland ....surely self defeating. Add in the well documented shortage of horses in the North , and the small fields that result in very poor turnover and one concludes the relevance of the North and it's bargaining power must be at an all time low. And what is the Club doing to reverse this trend which appears to be in free-fall ? Meanwhile Addington can do OK with Fridays to themselves and the Southern grass track circuit doing well . A starting point for the North's clubs would be to get together and try and improve their dilemma while HRNZ and Sires Stakes are still funding a lot of group races up North ! john legend and Thejanitor 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nelli 432 Report post Posted May 12, 2022 Having the Rowe and Auckland Cups so late is bound to reduce the number of SI horses coming up. It reduces the time to refresh and prepare horses for Cup Week and when one adds on the costs and the stress the travelling may have on the horse, many trainers and owners may think not worth it. This would be accentuated when there is a very dominant favorite. It will be interesting to see how many come up to take on SS in the Rowe Cup this year. Thejanitor 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nelli 432 Report post Posted May 12, 2022 I also see the "innovative" idea to tackle the problem of back to back Cambridge/Auckland races and low horse numbers is just to reduce the number of races/meeting! Surely if there is going to be two night meetings in a week, at least programme a wider gap to provide the potential for horses to race twice. Also no sign of any northern grass track picnic meetings to capture new participants and maintain wider community ties/good will for harness racing (our future freedom to operate). Cambridge is doing well at this on course (there was a busload from Rotorua last night) but it is also good to take 'holiday' racing to the larger population centres in Waikato and BoP. john legend 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
eljay 1,719 Report post Posted May 12, 2022 It appears there is a "bugger the North" attitude in HQ. Even having a Northern based "boss" doesn't appear to have helped. Would be interesting to know the proportion North/South in dollars invested - not per meeting but origin of the investor. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikenz 1,088 Report post Posted May 12, 2022 21 minutes ago, Nelli said: I also see the "innovative" idea to tackle the problem of back to back Cambridge/Auckland races and low horse numbers is just to reduce the number of races/meeting! Surely if there is going to be two night meetings in a week, at least programme a wider gap to provide the potential for horses to race twice. Also no sign of any northern grass track picnic meetings to capture new participants and maintain wider community ties/good will for harness racing (our future freedom to operate). Cambridge is doing well at this on course (there was a busload from Rotorua last night) but it is also good to take 'holiday' racing to the larger population centres in Waikato and BoP. Do the galloping people want harness racing on their tracks?j Those harness races at new year appear to be reasonably popular. What would be wrong with some duel code Sunday meetings up north, it's not like the gallopers are overrun by numbers too sometimes. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
eljay 1,719 Report post Posted May 12, 2022 I think you know the answer to that (LOL) - in the north the gallops wanted harness closed down although in a couple of areas the two codes do work in harmony. For the South Island I wouldnt hazard a guess - perhaps you can answer that. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tasman man 742 Report post Posted May 13, 2022 2 hours ago, Nelli said: Having the Rowe and Auckland Cups so late is bound to reduce the number of SI horses coming up. It reduces the time to refresh and prepare horses for Cup Week and when one adds on the costs and the stress the travelling may have on the horse, many trainers and owners may think not worth it. This would be accentuated when there is a very dominant favorite. It will be interesting to see how many come up to take on SS in the Rowe Cup this year. It will be interesting , but being the first year and starting with a small base of horses , 2022 not a good indicator to what is a longer term plan. Certainly won't be many coming up from South this year as the pool quite bleak at top and Muscle Mountain not staying up. Of course ring fencing that period on calendar gives some Aussie Horses some rich NZ races to chase , starting with the RACE. This near winter period was created after consultation with participants in Industry and I assume most want the pool of good horses to increase and the sales overseas of talent to slow down. It may not work , at least give it 3 to 5 years to be judged on. A lot of challenges ahead for North , but with the continuing lousy stakes on offer for the majority the question remains how long will resilient owners etc put up with this. And what will ATC minimum stakes drop to ?? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
eljay 1,719 Report post Posted May 13, 2022 Two comments TM - They tried the Auckland Cup in winter before - and we all know the results there. Give it 3 to 5 years - will harness in the north last that long? Oh yes - why worry about Aussie - they dont worry about us. Inters proof there john legend 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAJESTIC 182 Report post Posted May 14, 2022 I may be missing something but is the harness seasons now January 1st to December 31st? Where are the dates for this period January 1st 2023 till December 31stst 2023? john legend 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nelli 432 Report post Posted May 14, 2022 16 minutes ago, MAJESTIC said: I may be missing something but is the harness seasons now January 1st to December 31st? Where are the dates for this period January 1st 2023 till December 31stst 2023? Its just the horses' "birthday" that's changed, not the racing year. Hopefully though we'll see more juvenile races shifted to later in the calendar year. E.g. most juvenile trotting group races historically been April & May as it was recognised trotters take longer to get the necessary racing skills. I'm sure the 2yo Trotting Stakes would have had more in the field if held Oct-Dec. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAJESTIC 182 Report post Posted May 14, 2022 Are the premiership tables i.e. drivers, trainers etc now based on Jan 1st to Dec 31st? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tasman man 742 Report post Posted May 14, 2022 1 hour ago, MAJESTIC said: I may be missing something but is the harness seasons now January 1st to December 31st? Where are the dates for this period January 1st 2023 till December 31stst 2023? You'll find the whole NZ Racing dates to August 1 2023 on HRNZ website. Click on NEWS and a couple of pages back on 5 May there is an article headed....Cromwell gets new dates. Click on that and it will lead to the link.. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikenz 1,088 Report post Posted May 14, 2022 Four less days in the north, I assume they are all in the Auckland Waikato region? Auckland having more Thursdays, worked a treat for Forbury, not, spose the experts know best. I note a meeting on monday Jan 30, at Waikato, that's a holiday ain't it ? Forbury race at Wingatui, Oamaru and Wyndham, interesting. In some ways the winter circuit in Nelson, Marlborough going is a bit sad. Geraldine had a sunday last month , next year it's a friday. It is what it is. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAJESTIC 182 Report post Posted May 24, 2022 All these answers have merit but why is TAB offering odds on premiership winners ending December 31st 2022. Is this not the end of the season i.e. January 1st tiill December 31st??? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thejanitor 1,219 Report post Posted May 24, 2022 On 5/13/2022 at 10:13 AM, Nelli said: Having the Rowe and Auckland Cups so late is bound to reduce the number of SI horses coming up. It reduces the time to refresh and prepare horses for Cup Week and when one adds on the costs and the stress the travelling may have on the horse, many trainers and owners may think not worth it. This would be accentuated when there is a very dominant favorite. It will be interesting to see how many come up to take on SS in the Rowe Cup this year. Worse, there is a strong likelihood that races will be adversely affected by wet weather. It happened last week Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...