General Yarn

You know you've said the same above  thing many times and its getting a bit silly now. Never once have i said i want north island harness racing or auckland racing to close.I don't think i've read where anyone has ever even  said they want that. when someone says a business needs to restructure and run their business  in a way which consolidates their ability to continue to operate a viable,sustainable business,that does not mean they want that business to end. I would have thought it obvious its the opposite to how you always interpret it. and i've persnally never said i don't want cheap cambridge tuesay racing.  Again,i've said the opposite,so many times.Since you've forgotten i will say it yet again. If they are to run cambridge meetings with such small fields they need to run them with lower stakes so they don't keep losing money on them.  i have said cambrisge racing is boring,some of the driving  is questionable,that the stipes oversight is below the standard seen in the south island,that the oversight of junior drivers by the stipes is particularly poor and inconsistent,that its not a good betting product mainlyn due to small fields and will turn people off betting on harness racing,But i've never saidi wanted them not not run the lower class meetings. again,what i have said is the stakes need reduced and those involved need to lift their game.. you didn't throw in i'm anti north island racing people like you often do. I suppose thats something this time. and by the way,i have advocated for a policy that means stakes paid to winning and placed connections are reduced from those programmed,with the level of stakes being based on a sliding scale depending on the number of runners. i have said this should apply in the whole of nz. and that rating penalties should be adjusted to reflect if a horse wins a race with a stkae reduced because of a small field.Thats just common sense to me although i realise it will never happen as it makes too much sense. anyways heres my thoughts on who should run hrnz. I would replace everyone on the board and move mr steele and mr peden on.and one of the handicappers as well. then i would put in greg o'conner in mr steeles job. And put people like ceemenow from the other channel on the board and also put the likes of mark jones and michael house into positions where they can influence decision making.I would take j mckinnon out of auckland and offer him a job where he focuses on canterbury and has no auckland input. I like the way hes fought for auckland all the way through.I would even offer to fly you over as the rep for the north island trainers and drivers as you would do your best to fight for their interests. Of course we would have brodie as a consultant as hes always on the money and get nowornever to fill in for brodie whens hes on his overseas trips. Then harness racing would prosper and get back on track.

Gamma, the thing is they should not be racing for the stake money they currently are!!! It should have been used far more wisely than they have and ultimately the buck stops with Brad Steele! The stakes they have put up they just can not afford, only being paid due to the Entain cash splash. There are going to be a helluva lot of owners and trainers give it away when they are racing for significantly what they are  currently racing for.  

I guess that is the only thing going for the horse, by Almanzor which is known to leave a stayer or 3, Manzoice

the more I watch it! it appeared as if Pinn's horse arched in! as they entered the straight, I thought the inside horse had the run down that path!   when does the stipes report come out?  

yes , it's one of those things. You put races on they cost money. It's very hard to do Brodster.  The Australian Turf Club in Sydney have been declared Bankrupt in December and will be lucky to survive having an administrator appointed.  VICTORIA harness has about the same horse and personnel (participant ) numbers as New Zealand. they were over 66 million in the red , because of operating costs , and the cost of running harness racing meetings when not many bet on them anymore . But What do you do Mate ? A lot of people are employed in different areas of Victoria. Do you just go eeny meeny minee mo ? and close some of them ? Which ones ? In NZ you say close the North Island . At least you're making your mind up I spose 🤣😂. ( I quite like the North and wouldn't do it myself but everyone's different 😉 ) Anyway the state Government have bailed the HRV out of the hole ( for a land acquisition)  for 100 million , and paying the stakes for this year and next . with the Low prizemoney they race for now.  YES, just like NZ they will run out of money again , but the money is allocated for all the racing for the 20-30 clubs for the next 2 seasons. If ENTAIN refuse to support you after the 2 years (as you claim) then the stakes money will  drop as you say unless they get great sponsors (like you and OZ have Garrards at the moment for example) who will prop it up a bit.  Ladbrokes (an Entain sub-branch)  still prop up QLD harness so can't see why Entain won't prop you with someone. It was a long contract they signed with NZ TAB. All will be good . they're invested mate . all good.   They won't RUN DRY mate. Don't Panic too much. People are trying hard to put races on still . Slots help the participants contribute so that is a SURE FIRE way to keep BIG prize races going. there are other ways . I've had discussions with David Brick who did such a spectacular job keeping QLD harness racing going through COVID and very trying times financially ,And he has now been poached by the galloping code accordingly, and is now Racing Queensland General Manager . A very high position. He is full of great ideas that keep the sport going.   We'll send him over to help The Galah get an answer out of Brad Steele? . 💪 the Brick rules the world.