Chief Stipe

You can't have made the point very well if you have to explain what the point is you made.

EntainNZ is spending millions on advertising at the moment. Big TV and Radio campaigns. But I thought Bill Nighy did the song better:

Doesn't running the lure down the middle of the track make the dogs run out or in depending on where they start from? I imagine some dogs take a while to adapt as they expect the lure to be on the rail.

LOL FFS will they hire hawkes or shotguns with silencers to get the sparrows off the track first?

How will Ashburton move into the future? Will take more than a nod.

If there are inconsistencies in the penalties delivered then there is injustice. It is worse if the rationale for the different penalties is not explained. At the end of the day it leads to the undermining of the integrity of racing.

Where GRNZ and you both go wrong is neither of you seem to understand data. What is considered the Greyhound Racing Industry benchmark for injury per starter? In my opinion racing Greyhounds has an inherent risk factor I.e. as with any high performance sport involving animals there is a standard rate of injury. Not to mention what happens if you increase the sampling rate.

It's not fraud.

So you agree there is inconsistency in penalties?

That's not the benchmark I was looking for.

Exactly.

I always walk them if I have an ownership interest in a horse. This year I've walked 4 tracks. Ellerslie 3 times. None of those are really necessary. A good heel and a strong thumb can give you a good idea. I focus more on other factors than the "give". Within the Good 3 to the end of the soft range it doesn't matter what the rating is as all horses should handle it. Depends on the distance that I'm interested in. I'll walk a whole round if I can and at least the distance of interest. I'll walk different parts/lanes on the track from the point where horses will make their runs from e.g. wider on the final bend and home straight. I'll check for consistency across those lanes. Factors I'll focus on are surface evenness I.e. is the surface rough, showing wear and tear, broken and or shifty. Most horses hate it shifty and tend to hold back to protect themselves. I pass the information onto the trainer or racing manager of the horse I'm interested in. Once I recall telling the track staff at Ellerslie (2006) of a serious problem in the straight. A four foot deep hole about 15cm in circumference. Shoved a tree branch down it at about 8 am in the morning. What I have learnt is very very few Trainers or Jockeys walk the track prior to racing. Those that do have an advantage over those that don't.

I'm surprised @Pete Lane has asked you to name the trainers! I wouldn't keen on buying a horse on the basis of a synthetic track.

Ok get the grandchildren to do the research for you.

That may not be possible. Where is the industry benchmark data for Greyhound Racing? Also if the number of inspections increase then previous rates need to be normalised to account for the change in testing criteria and or sampling rate.

It can't be fraud if it was an honest error.

Thinking about it a bit more - Pukekohe has been the sacrificial lamb for Ellerslie. Much like Ashburton is for Riccarton. As @Special Agent pointed out - don't we need all the tracks we can to spread the impact around? Auckland further suffers from the moth balling of Avondale. As Ellerslie has shown selling the assets to build a new track doesn't always give the desired result.

So basically 99.4% of dogs race without major injury. Interesting the correlation between the number of inspections and the injury rate. Unless the data is normalised there is the possibility of bias skewing the results.

There is the pop-up Trackside channel 64 which we get for the big raced days like the Karaka Millions. But the coverage is a bit cheesy and largely advertorial. The Ozzies know how to do it more punchy.

What information are you looking for that hasn't already been published in the media?

How many tracks have you walked on race day this year? Or even looked at from over the fence?

The ones I've spoken don't mention safety issues per se. Some have concerns with consistency in terms of daily grooming. But generally most trainers I've spoken to don't like training or galloping young horses on them. As you know it is hard enough educating a young horse and keeping them sound on traditional surfaces. I'm not sure it is partly because trainers haven't adapted or it's the inherent hardness of the AWT's. Either way Trainers up north would rather travel to Taupo or Rotorua than trial on them Given the fact that most CD trainers didn't want the Awapuni one built I can't see how it will pay its way.

Classic. You fire shots but don't back up with substance.

Of course I'm not going to list the people I have spoken to specifically about these issues. They all have considerable skin in the game and as was evident after the Karaka Millions night the majority are not willing to speak publically. Whether it is a valid fear or not they don't want to make earning a living harder than it already is. They are also in between a rock and a hard place where they have to keep owners and investors happy. That's not waffle that is fact. Who have you spoken to who have a contrary opinion?

Yes you are the master of the art of obfuscation - this post being a classic example.