Chief Stipe

So if you don't lower overheads who pays for the inflated costs?

Why don't you take up a new hobby like macrame. You're actually worse than @nomates and @Joe Bloggs except they have had more success in racing than you have. Hear me now - racing doesn't need you. Although now that Freddie Tibbles has gone I'm sure you could make a great Clerk of the Course!!!

So it's 50:50 @Huey. Wow you're the one talking shyte AND providing the proof.

Well @Huey I'm sure there is a Club out there that needs your executive experience and insight. Kumara needs you.

No it played worse.

But you havent watched any races.

Yes ENTAIN seems to be pissed off with NZ tracks too.

So basically you are agreeing 100% with me. Many of our tracks are shyte and lack consistency which turns off punters and frustrated Trainers and Owners.

Wrong again. Ellerslie DID have a meeting abandoned or was it two. But that was the new track and if you had been awake you would have read my posts about it.

For the time being yes. No alternatives as your generation has wasted lots.

Isn't that your criticism of the "boring Ruakaka track"?

I would have said the same but I had a beer recently with an ex-international cricketer. The insight I got on the level of sports gambling that goes on outside licensed agencies is that it's phenomenal.

If you weren't near the pace and in the inside two lanes you had no chance. Even Bevan Sweeney had to hold back his enthusiasm for the day and commented on it. The helicopter drying part of the track out earlier in the week wasn't a good sign either.

Are you serious?

Ellerslie - too much pure sand, grass root matting (due to the sand and irrigation) and insufficient camber on the home bend. Awapuni - too much pure sand - same issues with the grass as Ellerslie.

It isn't actually but you must attend the Colin Wightman school of facts - called The College of Hunches and Anecdotes! As you said in an earlier post if you buy well bred yearlings you are more likely to have black type success. LOL make your mind up! You spruiking Waipuk before now you are being derogatory.

Waipukurau didn't provide a fair surface. The track and facilities for horses - yes. Not the grandstands. You might want to race your horse on what are virtually paddocks that have inconsistent surfaces. But the majority of owners I know who have invested a considerable amount into purchasing and training theirs don't!

Does it work that well? Or is it something else? You can still have a centralised racecourse as an entry point - i.e. you mix your racedays aiming at different demographics. Waipukurau has a population of 4,700 people and is only 35min from Hastings. Put some free buses on like they do in Whangarei for Ruakaka which is roughly the same distance.

Yes however one begets the other. I imagine ENTAIN are frustrated with the lack of quality product being produced in NZ. NZTR need to focus their resources on improving that.

You can't help yourself @Huey . I know this will wind you up hence I'm posting it. I see Mark Walker (Te Akau) received an Award from Southside Racing (Cranbourne and Pakenham) for the "Best Strike Rate Trainer" for the last season! Plus the South Island Trainers championship! If you think the black type racing is New Zealand is weak then I guess you haven't tried to win some! LOL I must say that this comment has me uncontrollably laughing as it contradicts where you and others went with this thread. So are you saying the trick to racing success is "to buy expensive yearlings and place them well"?

I think there are some solid green shoots emerging (just not on renovated tracks) with ENTAIN efforts. The 20 to 30 demographic are where the money is now. I wouldn't spend a dollar on the perpetually cynical age group.

The only thing I would add is that the top class facilities should be focussed on the horses first!

What specific demographic are you referring to? The Corporate sponsors that held customer events at the races? Well they are normally catered for at Hastings. The family picnic group? Yes Waipuk catered to them but they don't actually punt much! You could just as easily catered for them on the lawn at Hastings. In the rest of the country they are well catered for over the summer months. The Hawkes Bay hanger-on's and racing elite? Which demographic? Misinformation - I've been to a few Grp 1's in the last 18 months and I assure you there was enough in attendance that I had to queue for a beer! You're so out of touch. Yes I agree "ignoring the foundation of racing" will result in its demise. But you and I disagree with what the foundation is. My view of the foundation is providing good, safe and fair surfaces for horses to run on. Also providing well maintained core racing infrastructure. I'm sorry but a picnic meeting at Waipukurau or Kumara isn't the foundation of NZ Racing.

Yet he has the best black type strike rate of any buyer from the Magic Millions sale.

FFS you seemed to be bored with life in general! If you are referring to Waipukurau it just shows you how silly you are. They ran essentially a picnic meeting on a very poor track that hardly anyone wanted to punt on. The crowd numbers have been exaggerated and were probably less than any number of Christmas at the Races at other Clubs. If you think that is where the future of NZ racing lies then you are losing it.