Chief Stipe

Lazy.

There is a pool at Awapuni.

Based on the criteria she used for going to Level-4 the first time. Then Auckland will be in Level-4 lockdown tomorrow evening. If it isn't then she once more confirms she is duplicitous.

Very good point.

Mmmm now the story has changed again. Two sites - one a finance company - 130 people being tested some displaying symptoms. Another site 160 people being tested.

Somehow I don't think so. I did see a report that the number of ICU beds have been increased but not by much. No trained staff anyway. From recent interactions with the hospital system it seems to me that the constraints aren't buildings or room for beds but certain pieces of equipment and trained staff at the hard end. For example a friend of mine was in hospital just this last week - had to wait two days for an ultrasound!

Now it appears to be small firm that imports goods from overseas.

Mind you that was Stuff and NZ Herald is reporting something completely different.

Might all be moot anyway. The latest is that an Auckland Finance Firm has been shut down. 150 employees over four sites being tested. Some have symptoms. Having recently worked in that industry these third tier lenders are focussed on the South Auckland polynesian community. I would say that they will have trouble containing this now.

Under Level-2 hospitality can be managed and the protocols are clear. I see no reason why they can't go ahead with what has been planned at Riccarton. I wouldn't imagine that they have been booked out. Why not move groups to bigger rooms? You would only have to do that if the groups were bigger than 10.

Makes good sense. Now just ban Auckland trainers from Ruakaka and request an exemption for horses from the Waikato to be transported through Auckland on the motorway and no stopping between Pukekohe and Wellsford. Easy peasy.

Not necessarily. Winnie and the industry's great leaders on the phone and some good rationale arguments and you could do it. Surely our industry leadership was prepared for this eventuality and had strategic plans in preparation? Why should Ruakaka take one for the team AGAIN? When they have already given an arm and a leg. It is simple. Is transporting horses on a horse float any different to transporting potatoes and onions from Pukekohe to Northland?

We could never completely close down our borders. International law prevents it. For a start what would happen to diplomatic travel? That is constant and necessary to keep New Zealand operating in the world. What about the export and import of goods? The last time I looked aeroplanes and ships need people to operate them and load and unload them. Unfortunately the Government has sold us (well not all of us) a line that was never ever sustainable. A bit like RITA really. New Zealand cannot function as a completely isolated island nation waiting for some miracle Covid-19 cure. The first Level-3 and Level-4 lockdowns have to date cost us over $100 billion! To put $1 billion in perspective. One billion horses nose to tail would circle the earth 59 times! We are borrowing $77 million dollars an hour! $2 billion a day! As a country our only way of paying that back is to trade be it produce based or human based (e.g. tourism and education). At $2 billion dollars a day you can't keep our borders closed for very long. No our only option now is what we should have done in the first place. Take a non-isolationist approach and MANAGED the pandemic. Not put our heads in the sand. The 80,000 deaths prediction was a lie and has proven to be one. In Sweden the same model said 96,000 (even though they have twice the number of people as us!) and they have had under 6,000 deaths. If they had managed aged care facilities better then that toll could have been conceivably half that or 250 fatalities/1 million people. That would equate to 1,250 deaths in New Zealand NOT 80,000. That would have taken our yearly death toll from 45,000 to 46,250!

Why not apply to the Government for an exemption? Afterall horses from south of Auckland are just going to travel on the motorway through Auckland and not stop. Your plan will be another nail in the Ruakaka coffin - if you move the meeting south of Auckland AND there is no travel exemption granted then Ruakaka based horses/trainers are stuffed. Another issue of course will be trainers that are caught inside the Level-3 area - from south of Pukekohe to north of Wellsford. However I'm picking it will all be moot by Friday. I can't see how this latest outbreak can be contained. Racing should be preparing to follow the Victoria Racing's protocols to allow racing to continue. NZ Racing cannot sustain a countrywide Level-3 lockdown. If our code administrators are on the ball they will putting in new protocols ASAP AND lobbying Government. Get Winnie on the hotline and tell him unless he gets some new protocols and exemptions approved then he will be needing to find another $100m to get the industry alive. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

I'd have to agree. Now we have no money in the bank as a country. I doubt the Government will be able to enforce Level-3 effectively this time round certainly Level-4 won't be received well at all. Time to take on a modified Swedish strategy.

You are not listening. I agree the two races are good what I dont agree with is them being funded by the industry. They are not available to all to race in. Thinking about it a bit more it isnt NZB nor the breeders that part fund it but the buyers who buy the ticket in the sweepstake.

If Covid-19 takes a hold in South Auckland this time round there won't be any new AWT's. Won't be anymore bailouts either.

Yes. Anyone can enter those other races but not the Karaka promotional sweepstakes. There is a difference.

The issue I have is not with the races but the industry subsidising the stakes. Why should they when they are restricted to those who purchase yearlings at NZB's sales AND pay up the entry fee on purchase i.e. a sweepstake race. Why can't NZB, the breeders and the purchasers fund it themselves? What do the breeders actually put back into the industry from their sales earnings? Meanwhile the rest of us still keep the industry going by maintaining the revenue gathering races that fund the largesse of a few. Including it seems yourself. They even want these races to be Group races when in my opinion because of their restrictions they shouldn't even be Listed races.

Actually what is annoying about Cambridge's AWT is that they could have funded it themselves WITHOUT any Government assistance.

I wonder if they paid for their hotel quarantine? Not exactly related but there are lots of inequities around Covid. A friend of mine has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease and has deteriorated quite quickly. His daughter, a New Zealander, who lives in the UK has come back to see him for a few weeks as the prognosis is not very good. She has to get a Covid-19 test before being allowed back into the UK. As there are no longer any community testing facilities available in this region she has to go to a lab and pay $250 for one.

https://www.racenews.bitofayarn.com/nztr-regional-roadshow/

Rule Number(s): 869(2)-Whip Regulation (b)Following the running of Race 7, the Trackside Dining At Addington Mobile Pace, an Information was filed by Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr N Ydgren against Licensed Junior Horseman, Mr K Newman, alleging a breach of Rule 869(2) in that he used his whip on more occasions than permitted by Clause (b) of ... (Feed generated with FetchRSS)View the full article

Rule Number(s): 870 (5) (Instigating a Protest)Following the running of Race 2, the Hydroflow Trot, an information instigating a protest was filed by Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr N Ydgren, against CODY BANNER, driven by Mr R Close, placed 4th by the Judge, in that CODY BANNER broke in the final stages and was lapped on by 5th placed ZSAHARA as the ... (Feed generated with FetchRSS)View the full article

Rule Number(s): 638(3)(b)(ii)Following the running of Race 6 (Foster 2100) Information No. A13379 was filed with the Judicial Committee. It was alleged that Mr Montes de Oca used his whip excessively prior to the 100m. Mr Richards on behalf of the Respondent said that the Rule was understood and confirmed that the breach was admitted. ... (Feed generated with FetchRSS)View the full article