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while on the promotion type thinking for that meeting. i think they need use the promotion of new zealands leading drivers being there. the point being,you've got a crowd ,many of who have probably never even heard of blair orange or zac butcher. what i would do is have hrnz fund the air fares of nz's leading driver,blair orange,new zealands leading woman driver sam ottley and new zealands leading junior wilson house. Then i would get 2 local classic car enthusiast ,with cars that can be driven with the top down. then i would have those drivers introduced,along with the leading north island drivers,zac butcher and leading north island junior harrison orange and leading new zealand female junior, crystal hackett and have them driven up and down the front straight.Maybe have a bit of music,say fly bye from blue playing over the speakers as they do that to add a bit of colour. Then i would have them go in front of the main stand and have a pre promoted as the biggest lolly scrambe in nz racing history,where they move around and throw lollys to the public. Amongst the lollies could be prizes of say 5 betting vouchers, inside a lolly papers.Get a nz candy company involved in providing the goodies and reward them with nameing the big races after their produucts. also i think the commentator could also be asked to highlight the horse who races on the day who has won the most money. For example romeo foxtrot could lead out the filed in his race and the commentator go through his record,highlighting how he has been such a good earner over a long period of time. Maybe the trainer  and owners could get introduced as they lead him out in front of the field.the commentator could also,only pre race,give a mention of what those drivers are driving. I don't believe a whites mentioning of drivers nick names throughout races is helpful at all. People want him to commentate a race,which hes good at,not tell tehm what someones nick name is. anyway,the point is,these type of meeetings need to utilised to create that spark of interest in the sport and its people and horses,that seems to be totally under promoted on unique racing days,like taupo could become.

$1.20

bump

psd $380,000

I think the racing at taupo has been a very good initiative by hrnz and the waikato club.  Good size fileds and it looks like a nice crowd aregood to see. just a shame the weather not ideal,but still you can see a lot more people and kids than a normal north island race meeting. That has to be part of the strategy for north island racing going forward. Provide a grass track circuit with dates coninciding with public holidays.its just about getting the right number of racing dates that still sees the public and owners and trainers turning up in good numbers. the crossing may ned a little bit of work but its not that bad. some horses break on crossings no matter how good they are. i really like the idea of having the rail out as far as they have.It means the horses are getting to run on the parts of the track that the gallopers won't have used as much and therefore it would be smoother.I'm not sure about right on the outside of the track as far as that goes .. and the fact that the horses are actually racing closer to the public due to racing wider on the track,really its that closeness to the public which is a major part of the appeal of grass track racing for the public.Thats where people can get a feel for the buzz the sport can provide when so close to you.Only thing would be maybe a passing lane,even if only for 1 horse,would help the punters. another positive for sure is the 25-27 minute intervals between races. these sunday meeting where there was 4 nz meetimngs and when they had some 40 minute intervals are a a real turn off for on course  patrons. today taupos got it spot on. My only  suggestion to promote that may help that meeting is to promote it as a bit of a market day,where you work with local authorities and interest groups to coincide with promoting their things. It would get even more people at the track I've seen where a club had a market day every month on course,then one day it just happened to coincide with a race meeting,and the number of people who attended was quite substanial. It just provided the meeting with an extra buzz even if those people weren't punters,you could capture the childrens interest with a kiddie tote or something.Even the likes of those travelling gypsy perple who turn up with there caravans and trucks and read palms and sell there goods and all that type of sttuff.I'm not into it but i've observedwhere a town where they turned up every  3 years or so,and half the town went for a look.Anyway,just a couple of ideas. But what we see at taupo i think is what the industry needs to capitalise on and the decision makers and club officials and track amnager who made todays meeting happen deserve much credit. Its just a shame the weather looks a bit dull.Still if i was young,a we bit of drizzle wouldn't stop me from having a good day out. 

When the fastest last 400m is 32.6 and worst 35.7 and they are running 2:17 MR it is definitely NOT a Good track even if they are two carts out.

Entain still says fine and track good at Taupo after Race 5 yet it has been raining and times suggest dead at best. Which clowns are running the show today.  

Greenwich Village (c, 3, Quality Road–Houtzen {Aus}, by I Am Invincible {Aus}) not only got his blinkers off and switched surfaces, but also completely changed tactics Sunday in Santa Anita's Baffle Stakes, eschewing his pace-setting and pace-pressing past while opting instead to drop back to last down the hillside turf course. While he caboosed the field, 25-1 Track Tiger (Sharp Azteca) and 5-2 Later Than Planned (Ire) (Cotai Glory {GB}) battled up front through :22.41 and :44.25 fractions. The first half-dozen runners stayed tightly packed as Greenwich Village continued to trail by multiple lengths. He unfurled a sharp turn of foot, thundered wide down the course, and reeled in favored Hey Nay Nay (Ire) (No Nay Never) in the final sixteenth to win by a neck. “After I broke a little slow, I said, 'Okay I'm going to stay here and make one move,'” said winning rider Juan Hernandez. “Crossing the dirt, he crossed like a professional and he was passing horses. I was like, okay let's win this race. It was a really big effort for him because he is a really big horse, heavy, but he has a really good turn of foot.” Greenwich Village, a $350,000 yearling buy signed for by SF Bloodstock/Starlight Racing/Madaket Stables at Keeneland September in 2024, debuted Dec. 6 at Los Alamitos with a front-running, 6 1/2-furlong score on the dirt, then tried the GII San Vicente Stakes Jan. 10 at Santa Anita, pressing the pace after a slow break and tiring late to finish last. Sunday's Baffle Stakes marked his first try on the lawn. The winner's dam, a multiple group winner in Australia and group placed in England, sold to Stonestreet for $1.5 million at the 2020 Keeneland November sale. The mare has a 2-year-old colt by Charlatan, who sold to Paul Neatherlin for $25,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale, and a yearling colt by Not This Time. She was left open for 2026.   BAFFLE S., $101,000, Santa Anita, 1-25, 3yo, 6 1/2fT, 1:12.63, fm. 1–GREENWICH VILLAGE, 120, c, 3, by Quality Road               1st Dam: Houtzen (Aus) (MGSW-Aus, GSP-Eng,               $1,599,872), by I Am Invincible (Aus)               2nd Dam: Set To Unleash (Aus), by Reset (Aus)               3rd Dam: Leash (Aus), by Redoute's Choice (Aus) ($350,000 Ylg '24 KEESEP). 1ST BLACK TYPE WIN. O-SF Racing, LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, LLC, Stonestreet Stables, LLC, Bashor Racing, LLC, Determined Stables, Golconda Stable, Waves Edge Capital, LLC and Catherine Donovan; B-Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC (KY); T-Bob Baffert; J-Juan J. Hernandez. $60,000. Lifetime Record: 3-2-0-0, $91,000. 2–Hey Nay Nay (Ire), 124, c, 3, No Nay Never–Travel, by Street Cry (Ire). ($300,000 Ylg '24 KEESEP). O-Hronis Racing LLC and Iapetus Racing LLC; B-Lynch Bages, Camas Park & Summerhill B/S (IRE); T-John W. Sadler. $20,000. 3–Later Than Planned (Ire), 124, c, 3, Cotai Glory (GB)– Asking Price, by First Defence. (€8,000 RNA Ylg '24 TATIRY). O-Little Red Feather Racing, Sterling Stables, LLC and Marsha Naify; B-John P. Mangan & John S. Mangan (IRE); T-Philip D'Amato. $12,000. Margins: NK, 3/4, NK. Odds: 4.50, 1.00, 2.60. Also Ran: Track Tiger, Bust Out, Won for Lou, Cal's Goal. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV. The post From Last to First, Quality Road’s Greenwich Village Takes the Baffle appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article

Usha became the first grade 1 winner bred by Kristen and Matt Esler of Thirty Year Farm, and also became a source of inspiration for Kristen as she recovered from spinal surgery.View the full article