I’d say Kevin Myers and Mark Oulaghan would be rubbing their hands with glee at this news. Complete waste of money in my view.  .  

From Love Racing - The RIB and Club have completed their afternoon inspection of the Rotorua track. It continues to rain, however the track is currently showing no signs of any surface water. There is more significant rain forecast throughout the evening followed by a fine forecast on Saturday. A further track inspection will be conducted after 6am on raceday morning.

Into $15's or you can still get $18 boosted. It's been tipped by some very astute tipsters.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/985011396953377 Mosquitos

There seems to be some concern about the Rotorua track and a bit of rain.  Obviously the Riccarton situation last week wasn't to be seen as a precedent, or else Rotorua would have already been moved to the Cambridge AWT. It is only about 50 minutes from Rotorua to Cambridge. What would be the chances of a late transfer in the morning?

I get the impression the trustees of the racecourse are pretty thick. They seem to waste money on things that have no upside.  Last season they pissed away $100,000 adding an extra bonus to the NZ Cup, which I doubt hardly anyone knew about as it wasn't included in the stake. Now all concerned have doubled the stake of the Grand National. What do they hope to achieve by that? Possibly increase the field size from 8 to 9. Possibly increase turnover by $2,000. Do they think the people of ChCh are going to think "wow the grand National is worth $200,000 this year, lets pop along." Do they not realise the value of a big stake like that is mostly in the way it creates interest in lead up races. But there are no lead up races at Riccarton or in the SI. What do SI trainers think of their so called premium club pissing away another $100,000 to help out Northern trainers? I doubt it is going to boost southern participation in the race. Perhaps if they had reintroduced the Homeby two weeks before and made it $100,000 it might have achieved something. I hate to sound negative, but what a waste of money. If they had put that $100,000 into The Stewards during Cup Week and made it $250,000 they might have lifted it up to a group race where it belongs and attracted extra subsidies. Makes everyone involved look pretty dopey.

Yes, steady for the past 2 hours.

We don't need one , they have no investment in the industry , let a govt dept oversight industry people running an industry that they ARE invested in and understand .

To me this is where everything goes wrong, where are the horses going to come from for this...there is NO jumps races in the SI any more it just seems to me a dying race...or am I wrong here???It has a long history but how long will NI stables fork out the cost to go down to support it...sorry but it looks another bad decision.

Yep 100% ... I really struggle to think of any politician that would be a genuine Minster of Racing. You know, actually giving a damn

, Friday 9 May 2025 MEDIA RELEASE $200,000 Racecourse Hotel & Motor Lodge Grand National Steeplechase The Canterbury Jockey Club is delighted to announce that in conjunction with New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing and the Trustees of the Christchurch Racecourse, the 2025 Racecourse Hotel & Motor Lodge sponsored Grand National Steeplechase will be run for a stake of $200,000. To be held on Saturday 9 August, this year’s renewal of one of Riccarton Park’s signature races will be contested for the 150th time, something that was not lost on the Trustees. Peter Cordner, Chairman of the Trustees of the Christchurch Racecourse said “In 1878 the land now commonly known as Riccarton Park Racecourse was vested in the Trustees of the Christchurch Racecourse. It is fitting that our Board supports the celebration of the 150th running of a race that is such an integral part of the fabric of this famous piece of New Zealand land that we administer”. Racecourse Hotel & Motor Lodge principal Nigel Butterfield said “Our hotel has sat opposite Riccarton Park Racecourse since 1883 and is honoured to be associated with one of New Zealand racing’s iconic events. The pub has hosted countless Grand National celebrations and welcomes this synergy with the Canterbury Jockey Club continuing.” The Grand National Steeplechase joins other iconic Riccarton Park races the New Zealand Cup and Canterbury Gold Cup as having reached their sesquicentennial.

Like 2 stablemates tomorrow at Trentham , R3 Pixie Caramel , mother loved a bog and this horse will be better for a race and a break , 2nd at Levin J/Os and the horse that beat it won at Hawera on Tuesday . Currently 12s . The other is R7 Hokitika Bell , I thought this horse would be close to favorite but opened at 26s , closing in now , still reckon that it will start in single figures , loves the wet tracks and has won at Trentham , a very promising horse .

Peters is Peters , his modus operandi has never changed , be loud , be brash , and if it can get you votes do it .  

Respect your opinion, but Peters is a disappointment 

And everyone lauded how good Peters is for racing. He cracks on about woke members of parliament. With his decision around greyhound racing, he has just proven he is no different, because of his ill-informed, utterly no understanding of, and obvious no consideration for the racing industry. He had only one reason and that was to give Swarbrick and others something to chew on ffs.

Thats the way i would read the tea leaves as well. Its plain illogical to see it any other way unless they were somehow not involved with sale in any way

Not sure what relevance it has to the entries here for the comp???

He has gone missing...maybe he will be at somewhere else soon...he obviously has some agenda, lets see when the report on the track comes out...if it ever does.