Chief Stipe

Elucidate. Please.

Perhaps they are turning it into a girls day promotion. @Huey will be in.

I understand that the November 8 meeting at Te Rapa is now at Pukekohe!!!

So 90% of the Clubs don't trust NZTR and so dont want to fix their own problems that they themselves created? Why keep looking for scapegoats?

Do the sums. The operating cost of every track is the same. Assuming ZERO volunteer labour - most Clubs of any sport struggle to have anyone turn up regularly for a working bee. Hell we even had the President of one club washing the bird shit on the seats of their granstand every year on his own! Eh @Reefton ? So what is the cost of the following just to maintain the track and horse related facilities: Employees x 2 (minimum - no roses to prune) - track work monitoring (honesty boxes don't work); Machinery - tractors x 2, mowers, corer, sprayers etc; Irrigation - equipment maintenance, water use charges etc.; Fertiliser; Running rails; Stables and tie up areas; Training track maintenance; Photo finish and electronic timing equipment; Stewards viewing and TV stand maintenance; and so on. Oh and don't forget putting spare capital away for when the renovations are required. Multiply that by 52 and there isn't much left for stakes is there? Now go back and have a look at the annual accounts for the Clubs and see where any spare cash was spent. Yeah na it wasn't on track maintenance nor the rainy day renovation because the track pasture and soil would go on forever.

The point is @Freda even when they did have the money none of the Clubs spent it on their tracks or core horse focussed racing assets.

Seem to be getting on OK this week. CRANBOURNE Course Proper: Bellatrix Star (B Shinn) galloped over 1000 metres in 1.06.7, last 600 in 36.9. Damask Rose (B Shinn) and Crismera (M Hofmann) galloped over 1000 metres in 1.25.7, last 600 in 36.9. Azazel (L Winks) and Mcwoody (J Melham) galloped over 1600 metres in 1.43.7, final 600 in 37.8. Grass: Geegees Mistruth (L Winks) galloped over 1000 metres in 1.06.2, last 600 in 37.1. Jealous (H Jaggard) and Signoretti (E Wilson) galloped over 1200 metres in 1.26.1, home in 37.4. Koko (C Wilson) and Seven Oceans (H Jaggard) galloped over 1000 metres in 1.09.4, home in 38.2. Our Paramour (M Hofmann) and Lyrics ’N’ Song (L Winks) galloped over 1000 metres in 1.07.1, last 600 in 38.3. Exuberance (L Winks) galloped over 1000 metres in 1.05.6, home in 36.9.

Where disagree is about WHO is accountable. What did you do? Who do you think is accountable? My view is we are ALL accountable. Let's move on and fix it.

Thats great @jess but how often did you talk to your fellow trainers (your competiton) and say the track is fucked (i'm over being PC) and we need to get it sorted?

Not perhaps it's a fact.

Your blaming hasn't achieved what you want. So why keep blaming or looking for accountability? Why not act collaboratively and get real change?

There are no options left. We all backed ourselves into this corner. I didnt hear @nomates , @Special Agent or @Huey complaining 15 years ago that the tracks needed renovation. I did.

Or pour money into to bring it up to modern standards. You can't have a bob each way on this one. Far too late for that.

Well you are not setting a very high bar if you compare them to Trentham!!

Firstly I've been frustrated as well and I'm not in the CD. Have travelled a long distance two years in a row to Te Rapa to watch a horse race only for the meeting to be abandoned two years in a row. Not to mention the 750km trip to the Hawkes Bay Guineas last year to see it abandoned. The poor horse must be thinking - "here we go again today - heading to a dance that aint going to happen. Ho hum!" In terms of accountability - who has done what wrong? This problem has been decades in the making. Blame every Club committee, member and NZRB, NZTR employe for the last 30 years if you will but you can't blame ONE individual. Stop looking for a scapegoat. Stop blaming too much irrigation or not enough. Stop blaming the positioning of the running rail. Stop blaming the length of the grass. Stop blaming track managers past and present. The fact is every single one of us didn't stop to think that we needed to put capital into maintaining our racetracks let alone the buildings and other supporting infrastructure. Until we stop the blaming and accept the fact that we need to invest in the tracks nothing will change!!!!