Chief Stipe

Na. @TAB For Ever was his own man. Never in any "Tight five"! Just extremely passionate about horse racing - both codes. Great sense of humour too.

Agree. You can't blame NZTR for that.

It is a valid question. For nearly four years the timing has been hand held! Not to mention the photo finish issues. If there isn't enough money in the kitty to fix those fundamental issues then maybe a cake stall would help!

My posts are not meant to be critical of the Levin Racing Club. Their provision of Jump Outs are excellent for the CD. However I do tire of hearing inaccuracies about their wealth and profitability. Trentham is decried for sell land whereas Levin is applauded (or overlooked). My long held opinion is that the CD Clubs needed to get round the table and thrash out plan to make racing profitable and sustainable. Many people will deride my next comment but... RACE wasn't a bad idea - it was a good idea but unfortunately it needed every Club to co-operate and didn't need some of the management stuff up's it had. Now we have a situation where everyone is entrenched in the fiefdom's and fighting every shadow. You now have a situation where multiple Clubs are selling off land to pay their way. The end result will be the capital will be pissed against the wall or fund operational expenses and some sizeable chunks of land could have been used or traded to create a profitable centre for racing. The way things are heading there won't be any racing left! We can get all nostalgic about the past but the Club model doesn't assist the running of a profitable business when the volunteers disappear and the donations stop. CD racing has some of the best assets in the country - but there is a reall possibility that they will lose them all.

If it is a one horse town here then how does @Comic Dog explain the need to bag @hesi . Although I guess BOAY could be a one horse town with one lap dog and one fish ( @Murray Fish ).

Yes it has. Most social media has declined in numbers. Mainly because they get hijacked by groups with one agenda and then they coalesce together into a back slapping morass.

Oh come on! Young Mick Guerin is at the cutting edge of investigative journalism!

Yes regardless of how it turns out. It wasn't too long ago that we all were highly critical of NZTR not being proactive in these cases.

Nope. Just don't slander V'Landys on here. I'd have to moderate your amusing posts.

Statement from The Thoroughbred Report Three independent racing publications, including The Thoroughbred Report, have recently received correspondence from Peter V’landys’ and/or Racing NSW’s legal counsel in response to reporting on governance matters within the New South Wales thoroughbred racing industry.https://bitofayarn.com We want to make one point unequivocally clear: responsible journalism must not be met with legal intimidation. Independent media exists to scrutinise powerful institutions and hold them to account, even if critical of leadership. That role is essential to the health and integrity of any industry.https://bitofayarn.com Australia’s implied freedom of political communication protects the media’s ability to discuss matters of governance and public interest. Trying to intimidate journalists through legal threats is fundamentally inconsistent with that protection. When this happens, the message extends far beyond the newsroom. It tells trainers, owners, breeders, employees, and concerned participants that speaking up carries risk. It creates fear and encourages silence. And it erodes the culture of openness on which trust depends. Governance is strengthened, not weakened, by transparency, independent oversight, and constructive conversation. An industry cannot function with confidence if those tasked with informing its community are suppressed. It cannot claim transparency while simultaneously attempting to intimidate its critics. And it cannot expect public trust if its default response to scrutiny is to threaten those who provide it.https://bitofayarn.com We remain open to receiving and incorporating all perspectives at any time. However, our efforts to engage and seek information have routinely received no reply. We will continue to remain open to dialogue from every participant, as open communication is essential to meaningful understanding and positive change.https://bitofayarn.com We will not be deterred and remain committed to responsible journalism.

So what Clubs are inhibited by race dates? I'm not sure you understand wagering. it wouldn't be of value to the industry as a whole and the Reefton track couldn't sustain 12 race days. @Huey you keep saying I don't know but you never post anything factual or of substance. Just anecdotal and generalised. At least the financial accounts of each Club give some facts. Unless Clubs are deriving revenue from other activities than just racedays they are not earning enough to maintain their assets. That's an immutable fact. What Club? Provide some evidence about the "NZTR Club" you refer to. Is this your mythical mafia? Provides some facts!!!

The weather forecast says it will and it is raining as predicted in most places. Rotorua was going to be a Twilight meeting and the weather forecast has 40mm plus thunderstorms right in the middle of when the weather was hitting. At least they made a decision early.

Who is on this Committee?

Meeting News Rotorua Meeting Postponed Until Friday A heavy rain warning (Metservice) has been issued for Rotorua and surrounding regions for tomorrow, 3 December. As such, and after support from the Club and RIB, an early decision has been made to postpone the meeting to Friday 5 December. All scratchings have been re-instated. The meeting will no longer be a twilight meeting with an estimated new Race 1 time of 1pm. This decision has been approved by the TAB NZ Dates Committee.

A myth. What specific rules stop Clubs from generating enough revenue from their assets to enable them to maintain them? Are you saying the likes of Reefton should get 12 racing dates a year so they can be profitable? Lovely generalisation - would you care to elaborate? Not that I'm lecturing or anything just asking for some detail rather than anecdotal rubbish. The way I see it there is a negative group (getting smaller) in racing that are feeding off myth, consipiracy and misinformation. To make it worse they are wallowing in nostalgia about how it used to be.

That's where you theory falls down. You assume that the Clubs were ever earning enough to pay their way or put enough in reserve to maintain their assets. These Clubs looked financial on their balance sheets as their assets valuations increased but the reality is the operating revenue was never enough for the rainy day that was inevitable. I'm not talking about a fair return on capital I'm talking about generating enough revenue to maintain the assets. Volunteers, donations and sponsorship helped build the assets (often even the land has been gifted) but as that source of assistance has dropped away so has the ability of clubs to maintain what they often have been given.

No Levin only have $1.2m in the bank. The irony of course is that cash came from selling off a large chunk of land. Then there was some creative accounting involving the three Trusts. The sums involved jumped between cash in the bank and Trust loans. Operationally they run at a loss. Even though they pay a peppercorn rental for the use of Otaki on raceday. Levin has done the exact same thing that you all point the finger at other clubs for doing. Yes Levin has done a wonderful job at providing a jumpout venue.

Finally you get it. However I suspect you think that there was some other magical way of finding the capital to maintain or restore the core racing assets. Where was the cash coming from? The taxpayer?

Amazing how much traffic you supposedly get in an Anti-Racing echo chamber. Have you run a raffle yet to fund the fixing of the electronic timing at Trentham?

Uh? Try the Premier Anti-racing site for that behaviour. BTW its called debate. If you look at BOAY rules they are pub school rules.

Yes it was innovative of the Club at the time. But that's what happens with Clubs from time to time you have an Executive that goes "What the hell lets give this a go"! It works for a while and then politics creep in - committee members change and the new idea people can't get a look in. I remember on a much smaller scale a similar committee at the Westland Racing Club came up with the Miss Scenicland Stakes. Worked for a while and then the energy left. I still don't understand how for a very small amount of money someone can sponsor a race at a country race meeting in memory of grandad. Clubs now have no idea about marketing and rely on the administrators or ENTAIN to do it for them.

Yeah - the Twilight Christmas at the Races hospitality packages are sold out. People are really starting to enjoy these poly tracks! I see free entry for common folk on Mufthasa Day. Hasn't been sold out the last two years. Pain to get to the races as the trains weren't running the last two years. Anyone interested in a fund raiser to get @Huey to the races?

It's a bygone era. The key to the Bayer Classic was the HUGE sponsorship from Bayer and their links to the farming community. That huge sponsorship attracted the best horses. Even in those days Trainers and Owners chased the big dollars. In 1985 when Bonecrusher won the race was worth $122,000 which is about $450k in todays money. The NZ Derby that season was worth $200k so the Bayer was very attractive. In fact it was worth more than the Grp 1 2000 Guineas. From my perspective it was those top horses that got me rushing to the TV on a Thursday.

Show me the analysis.