Chief Stipe

According to the Pukekohe commentator Northern Raceday Services Society Ltd and NZTR are working on contingencies to makes sure the broken truck scenario doesn't happen again. Note: NZTR lent NRSS Ltd money in 1977 to be created. 47 years ago.

You obviously are just a punter and have alternatives. Being a trainer in NZ is bit like the Prisoners Dilemma. At Riccarton it would only take one trainer to speak out to get changes but self-interest always prevails.

After the first two NZ races today it looks like a switch to Trackside 2.

Even a specific word. I only have to say "possum" to my rent-a-dog and it is on full alert - and I mean full alert. Don't mention the word "walk" either if you want a quiet afternoon watching the racing. I have actually been in the lounge of a Thorughbred trainer and seen their ex-rescue from the Blind Dogs doing this exact same thing. No training was involved for obvious reasons!!! Damn difficult to get a line on your horse when a dog is jumping in front of the screen!

You all seem blinded by the first image of someone holding a cellphone. The issue is someone playing a sound to encourage a dog to perform better. There are any number of devices that can do that much more efficiently and discretely than a cell phone. Who in their right mind would hold a cellphone and play a sound at the start? In the first picture provided it appears there weren't any dogs at the start. If so what was a young person dressed in pink doing behind the boxes? In the second picture one of those with a phone isn't anywhere near the boxes and the other person is supposedly an official. Is the latter in their right mind going to use their phone to play a sound with all those witnesses? Or do we have a conspiracy amongst all the participants? Nope it's an archaic rule that doesn't actually address what it is trying to prohibit - the playing of sounds to stir up a particular dog. Nit picking. I don't know why GRNZ have bothered with putting in the straight track as the usual suspects have moaned about every little aspect they can find. Including our resident trainspotter Chazza who hasn't trained a Greyhound in how many years?

Really? I guess Trainers and Float Drivers are getting up late on racedays now.

Racing Frustrating week for thoroughbred industry Joshua Smith, LOVERACING.NZ News Desk 20 July 2024 It’s been a frustrating week for the thoroughbred industry, with four race meeting abandonments in as many days. Pukekohe’s Wednesday meeting was abandoned and transferred to Sunday following issues with transporting the starting gates to the South Auckland meeting, while Hawke’s Bay’s meeting on Thursday and New Plymouth and Rotorua’s meetings on Saturday were abandoned due to deteriorating track conditions as a result of adverse weather. An investigation is currently underway into the cause of Wednesday’s abandonment at Pukekohe, with Northern Raceday Services looking into a contingency plan around vehicle breakdown. “The disruption on Wednesday was due to an unforeseen issue with a fuel pressure valve on our towing truck en route to Pukekohe Park,” Northern Raceday Services said in a statement. “Despite our rigorous maintenance schedule, the fault could not have been anticipated. In our 47 years of operation, covering hundreds of race meetings and trials, this is the first time breakdown has prevented us from fulfilling our duties. “We are acutely aware of the impact this has had on all stakeholders and an investigation is underway to clearly identify the cause and to implement measures to prevent such incidents in the future.” New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing’s chief operating officer Darin Balcombe said Wednesday’s abandonment was an extremely rare case, but it has prompted the industry to further investigate their starting gate delivery protocols. “I know the starting gates have been operating for 47 years and it is the first time that (vehicle breakdown resulting in meeting abandonment) has occurred,” Balcombe said. “They are a specialist vehicle that tow those gates, so you just can’t hook on a truck and move on. It is very unfortunate with that one, we have asked them (Northern Raceday Services) to look at their contingencies and see what they can do and whether there is a possibility of delivering the gates the day before just to make sure we don’t end up in the same situation.” Balcombe said the industry has progressed to having starting gates permanently based at the major tracks in the country to help mitigate transport issues. “We have got them (starting gates) at all of our main tracks now, so they don’t have to travel,” he said. “With the Te Rapa gates, we might move their other set to Matamata, which would be another track then which doesn’t have to travel.” Severe rainfall led to the three other abandonments this week and Balcombe said the silver lining of each situation was that decisions were made early on, prior to most trainers transporting their horses to each venue. “At Hawke’s Bay on Thursday, more rain than forecast fell the night before and there was surface water on the track, so the decision was made nice and early so people didn’t leave home, in the main,” Balcombe said. “We had about three horses that were on track from Auckland, other than that the rest of them hadn’t travelled. So that was pleasing that the decision was made nice and early. “Rotorua (on Saturday) was fairly straight forward. There was surface water on the track, so an early decision was made to call that one. “At New Plymouth, we had a horse gallop around there this (Saturday) morning. The Stewards rang me just after 6am and were very concerned that the track was water-logged, and the horses were getting in really deep into the track and it was forecast to rain through to lunchtime. “The prudent call was to call the meeting off at that stage for horse and rider welfare, and the high possibility of visibility issues through the day. “There is no greater drain on the industry than sending horses to the races and then everyone having to pick up and go home without a race. It costs a lot of money for the connections and for the industry, as we pay compensation to all of those connections. “The good thing was that the decisions were made very early prior to anyone leaving home that hadn’t gone the night before, which was the best situation for us.” New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing are currently working with the TAB to reschedule both of Saturday’s abandoned meetings. “We are looking to reprogramme those next week and we are just awaiting on TAB approval,” Balcombe said. The synthetic tracks at Cambridge, Riccarton and Awapuni were developed for such weather-related meeting abandonments, however, Balcombe said transferring the turf meetings to the polytracks still requires time and would also come at a detriment to field sizes. “Logistically, it isn’t quite as easy as changing the track, there are a lot of contractors and other things that need to be in place to do that,” he said. “We can do that (transfer) with about 24 hours’ notice. A lot of the time it hasn’t started raining until that point, so you would be making a decision before the weather hits. You are never going to get that 100 percent right, so it is very hard to predict that. “Especially for Saturday race meetings, when you go to the synthetic you will pretty much be decimated with scratchings. I have spoken with two or three people this morning who said they wouldn’t have run on the synthetic. I just looked at Ballarat the other day over in Australia that moved their turf meeting to their synthetic track on the Saturday, which was to be run on the Sunday, which were fields of 15 to 18, and they ended up with five to seven going around. “The horses that go around on the synthetic go on them because they like the synthetic, and the other ones are generally looking for a heavy track, and they don’t tend to mix between each other.” Balcombe said the outcome of abandonments this week has been unfortunate and frustrating for the entire thoroughbred racing industry but it is something that has to be expected at this time of year. “It (meeting abandonments) is frustrating, but we can’t beat the weather,” he said. New Zealand Trainers’ Association National President Shaun Clotworthy said it has been a frustrating last few days for trainers, but horse and jockey safety must come first. “It’s not ideal, but it is out of our hands with the weather conditions, it is not safe for the riders or horses,” he said. “Trainers are very frustrated at the moment, but I am sure NZTR are going to do their best to reschedule things and add races in where they can. “It is just one of those things that you can’t control and hopefully we can work through it into the better weather patterns coming up. “It has been a good winter up until now, but it (abandonments) is something that you have got to expect at this time of year.” There is light at the end of the tunnel for northern trainers, with Pukekohe’s transferred meeting set to go ahead on Sunday, with the track rated a Heavy10 on Saturday morning. Clotworthy will line-up half a dozen runners at the meeting and is hoping a couple of his chances can feature prominently. “It will be deep no doubt, so there are a couple of chances in there like Aqua Man, he has been looking for this sort of track. He is a chance back in that (rating 60) grade,” said Clotworthy, who trains in partnership with his wife, Emma. “Quill got on a better track at Ruakaka last time and he might be looking for a bit wetter ground as well.”

Bullshit. There is no evidence that NZ's weather is getting more extreme. This autumn and winter have been exceptionally mild so far. FFS are you going to use alleged climate change as an excuse now! Well therein lies a connundrum for you as the majority of trainers don't like racing on Synthetic. Check out the Fish post: Which "horse-areas" - Pukekohe? You still have to travel to Ellerslie where the NZ Racing universe appears to be centralising to and they don't have ANY training facilities!

That was AFTER the Mess-ara report. What's changed?

You have been defending all these descisions at least since you were wined and dined and blinkered at the Karaka Millions. Good to see you are finally starting to see the light.

Have you tried using your Smart Phone to listen to the TAB while working? Then trying to get a bet on? Most times you miss out because of the time delay. Online Trackside radio ISN'T realtime. No I don't have a transistor radio but when I did I didn't need a high speed broadband connection!

Comment here:

CENTRALISATION ISN'T WORKING! Those tracks that they want to get rid of keep saving the day!!! Centralisation to ELLERSLIE is that what he means? Does he know that there isn't ONE horse trained at Ellerslie!!!

Would you still be rushing out to breed to Belardo? Cracks me up @TAB For Ever the Suits are going to transfer the Taranaki meeting to another of those unwanted tracks - Hawera!!!

MEETING NEWS Rescheduled - Taranaki/Rotorua/Trials Tuesday 23 July Taranaki will now race at Hawera due to a prior booking at the New Plymouth Racecourse. Fields and stakes will remain the same with the exception that the two 1800m races will now be over 1900m. All scratchings will be re-instated. There will be new race times provided by Entain for this meeting. It is important for this meeting to takes place no later than Tuesday given there are horses planning to go to The Winter Cup meeting at Riccarton Park 11 days later. The trials scheduled for Cambridge will remain on Tuesday. While this is not ideal given the Taranaki races there will be riders available that were scheduled to ride at Rotorua on Saturday 20 July. Wednesday 24 July WTR@Cambridge Races as per programme. Thursday 25 July A new meeting has been scheduled for Rotorua. The programme will remain the same as that for the abandoned meeting however new entries will be required. Nominations close at noon Monday 22 July and withdrawals close at 10am Tuesday 23 July. Horses that were originally in the fields for Saturday 20 July will be given preference. ManawatuRC@Awapuni races as per programme. Friday 26 July Foxton will now trial on Friday, a transfer from their original day of Tuesday 23 July. Nominations close at midday Thursday 25 July. CJC@Riccarton Park races as per programme

Is there a pattern? @Reefton would say there was. Brady Jones was the Stipe February 3rd at Taranaki.

@muzenza365 I suggest you do a ring around and arrange to hole up at a pub somewhere between Cooks Beach and New Plymouth. There are a few on the road from up north heading down or already at NP so if you put a banner on your car you might be able to arrange an impromptu punting comp. Thinking about it if I was the NP Committee I would have got on the phones real quick and organised the punting comp to go ahead - just change the meeting to one of the 13 or so OZ meetings. Would save refreezing the sausage rolls.

There is something not right about this descision. Again I refer back to the February meeting which went ahead in similar circumstances. Arguably worse given I think there was 15mm of rain in less than two hours just before track inspection. Who were the allocated Stewards today?

Do Mediatech/NEP still have the contract here? I still don't see why we are so constrained. Surely modern technology can make broadcasting cheaper and more flexible than the current model. Do we really save that much money by having Stewards, Presenters and at time Commentators sitting in a Studio relying on real-time broadcasting?

Get on now @Newmarket - dog racing started in OZ at 8am Adelaide time. 10:30 am NZT. Quick fire betting - a race from there every 17 mins!

They're still unpacking.

There are 13 Gallops meetings in OZ today - all broadcast. Another 5 non-TAB meetings - not sure if they are broadcast but they are probably videoed. Plus 5 Harness meetings - all broadcast. Plus 8 Dog meetings - all broadcast. How many broadcast vans do they have? I'm increasingly convinving myself that NZ has bought into a high cost broadcast model that was signed up to during the "We Will Be The World Leaders in Racing" regime. When is MIA Sharrock going to address the issue!! (BTW @Newmarket if you want to start betting in OZ there are dogs races in South Australia on now! Started an hour ago at Angle Park, Adelaide.) Do we really want High Definition broadcasting when the majority of us don't have the TV's, smart phone bandwidth or reception to watch them? Meanwhile I can't listen to racing on my Transitor Radio in the man cave!

Is it performance enhancing? Can you please list the cites? Or are you taking the @Seeyounexttuesdaytrainers approach to presenting facts?