Chief Stipe

I sense a hint of sarcasm in your posting. It isn't parochialism it is called niche marketing. How does the moving of the Guineas north help the industry? If you are not being sarcastic please explain.

A rough back of the envelope calculation has the top 130 staff at RITA taking about $15m out over 12 weeks AFTER assuming they took a 20% pay cut and subtracting their proportion of the subsidy. Of course the pie and sausage roll warmer being turned off has reduced overheads.

Well two of provincial racing's stalwarts don't give a stuff about the Guineas being ripped north. You two may as well hang your bridles on the wall.

The HKJC is more a rich old boys club than a socialist entity.

LOL you're kidding aren't you? Have you ever done business in China?

I think you are doing the wrong comparison. Start from the basic metrics and work upward. How many licensed participants do we have in each code? How many official trials and race meetings do we have each week? How many people do we need to service those meetings working on a 40 hour week? Don't worry about travel.

Na I disagree Freda you are buying into the marketing bullshit and spin we get delivered. Marketing is about connecting the dots and providing reference points. We can't afford to overlook any part of our population if we are trying to attract new participants to the industry. Many people have their first experience Cup week. Look back at the winners of the 2000 Guineas and what they went onto. The people who remember their day at the Guineas are largely not the people who remember their day at the Derby and vice versa. If you look closely at the demographics they haven't changed that much.

Not quite a fair comparison. Victoria has nearly 2 million more people. 70 thoroughbred tracks, 40 harness tracks and 14 greyhound tracks.

We are not Wailing! We are standing up for what we believe! Don't let them get away with it! Can you imagine what would happen in Melbourne if their Cup was transferred from Flemington to Rosehill? The magnitude of the comparison is the SAME! Put a stake in the ground and fight for it! Dream Freda that you finally have got that super 3 yr old!

For me - YES. No not to the piss heads, wannabes, and good looking women in fuck all (it's hard betting on these days....looking at the horses that is! That's a double double entendre!). BUT for the enthusiasts that travel from all over New Zealand - YES it will fuck it. If Reefton feels the same as me we'll go stuff it we've finally been totally gelded. DON'T bring Covid-19 into the argument because that will impact regardless of where the races are. Think about history and tradition. There are still heaps of people that see Cup Week as the peak of racing enjoyment in NZ. I would bet my last donut that I could take a group of young folk on a Cup week tour and they would be addicted to racing!

So if we exclude the clubs.....total employees and subsidies for those that "manage" the industry: 786 employees! Total subsidy: $5,191,371 Note these figures don't include club employees!!!! Nor contractors who have all been left to find their own subsidies (fair enough).

Takes a lot of management to run greyhounds.....

I thought they had 33 full-time workers. Are their part-time workers more full-time than we thought? That is a subsidy of over $5k per person.

Interesting article here: https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/11369330/coronavirus-mutated-three-distinct-strains-spread/ Ok "The Sun" is only marginally above Tucker Carlson in credibility but interesting to see that Covid-19 Type A has infected USA and Australia. However it's impact in Australia is a lot less than USA - is it seasonal? Plus Type A evolved into Type B in China which targets Asian people more than Type A. If you want to go to the source of The Sun's information the link is here: http://www.sci-news.com/medicine/three-variants-sars-cov-2-coronavirus-08313.html

Well if this website and Tucker Carlson are your sources I'm willing to take a bet. What odds are you offering that it isn't how "it" happened?

All sorted. They've been told if they don't perform they will be sent home to mum in South Auckland.

Warriors set for remote north coast NSW base as NRL push ahead with May 28 start GETTY IMAGES The Warriors could be in their bubble close to the Queensland border. The NRL is pushing ahead with plans to start the competition on May 28 despite high-level broadcast discussions on Friday, with the Warriors set to apply for a federal government exemption from the mandatory 14-day quarantine policy for international arrivals. Lake Ainsworth at Lennox Head, a recreational facility on NSW's far north coast, will be put forward as part of a proposal to the Australian government for exemption from the strict hotel lockdown rules in place for offshore arrivals. ARLC chairman Peter V'landys, who remained tight-lipped about the details of Friday's video link conference with Nine chief executive Hugh Marks and Foxtel boss Patrick Delany, will resume negotiations with the game's broadcast partners early next week about an end-of-May comeback. Momentum is gathering around a potential 20-round competition that will see State of Origin played as late as November, however all three parties involved in Friday's meeting have been sworn to secrecy. It's understood the NRL executive team hasn't even been told about the events that transpired, although the Warriors are forging ahead with plans to arrive in Australia on May 3. The Kiwis, who are about to finish a month-long isolation period in New Zealand, are hoping their recent lockdown stint will see the Australian government relax its restrictions to allow them to train during the 14-day quarantine. The Warriors want to lock themselves inside a cabin facility on NSW's north-coast away from the community at the sport and recreational base at Lake Ainsworth. The facility includes a training field, gym, indoor centre, tennis courts, basketball court and swimming pool.

Oh and didn't one of the biggest clusters of Covid-19 in New Zealand originate from a Stag Party in Matamata? Probably from them all sharing the same joint or P pipe.

Why not? They don't have to swim across the channel. FFS - we have the same population as Melbourne! It's not about where the horse's come from - it is about tradition. The Guineas have raced at Riccarton for 47 years! They were compensation for shifting the Oaks to Wellington and the Derby to Auckland (look what's happened to the latter!). We kill tradition in racing at our peril. Another nail in the coffin. While you are at it shift the NZ Cup to Auckland or the NZ Trotting Cup. While you are at it kill off the entire Cup week in Christchurch. They'll handle it - earthquakes, mosque shootings. You mention how many of the respective fields are from the North Island - look at it from a glass half full perspective - they still traveled!!!!

Tell them to get stuffed. We need to think outside the square. The danger full all of society is that Covid-19 will be used as an excuse to bring about change for the wrong reasons. The problem is the same for every region - but only if you have district restrictions. So will the districts be "Waikato", "CD" and "Canterbury"? I didn't know we had Federal and State Governments in NZ! How big will the "Waikato" district be? End at the Bombay hills? Or Te Aroha? The key is implementing protocols that reduce infection rates and ensuring business to continue. So for the Guineas to remain at Riccarton we need 15 volunteer senior jockey's who will be flown down in the same plane (Air Nelson and Air Chathams would love the business), housed either on track or at nearest empty hotel. Pre-tested for Covid-19 along with drug testing. Then flown back to the Waikato afterwards and pre-tested for Covid-19 (and drugs) before they ride in the Waikato. Easy peasy.

Then why shift the Guineas races?

I would say that the odds are that the number of infected and recovered people is much much larger. Hence the scramble now by NZ bureaucracy to get a handle on it. We are now in a double bind for the Government - if the virus is more widespread than being reported then it follows that it isn't as bad as they are promoting. My prediction is there will be a bounce. What will the Government do then? Shove us back into Level 4? The populous will be better educated by then and I doubt it will support going back as everyone will see we can't eradicate it. I for one don't want to live in a Police State. Freedom comes with a cost. I may or may not directly pay that cost but I'm sure as hell willing to take the risk. I for one will be refusing to sign up to the $100m Covid-19 tracking card! This Government does not understand small/medium sized business or rural businesses.