Doomed

So only those who have trained a Group 1 winner are entitled to an opinion? You will be quite happy with the way Racing is going at the moment then as it seems to be those Group 1 types that are calling the shots? Millions poured into stakes, but fields down in both quality and quantity. Turnovers down. Attendances down. Several major tracks closed for "maintenance". Racemeetings abandoned on a regular basis part way through the card. Not enough usable tracks left to conduct grass track trials meetings. $50m spent on three white elephants. NZTR so incompetent they are now bypassed by a betting agency when it comes to decision making. A couple of NZ Group 1 winners unable to keep up in an Aussie race that isn't even a Group 1 race. The Group 1 types don't seem to be going too well so far. Perhaps the grass roots types might have something to offer after-all.

I quoted Kelvin's comments on another thread and when I went to find his comments I thought they looked different to what I had read a few hours earlier.

I notice Kelvin Tyler complaining about Riccarton for the opposite reason. Hard to please everyone. Tyler hopes also to campaign talented galloper Lightning Jack over the autumn, however, indicated the Group One-performing seven-year-old has taken significant time to recover from Cup Week in November. “We decided to run Prince Alby yesterday instead of running over 1800m at Riccarton (this Saturday). The way the track has been up there is like concrete, Lightning Jack has taken almost six months to get over running there in the Coupland’s Mile (Gr.3, 1600m),” he said. “I love my horses, and it’s a long way for us to travel, and not cheap.”

I just looked at my original post. Of course it was The Twinkle and the Chalmers Stakes. I must have just had a boozy lunch when I typed it.

Ashburton seems to get a lot of use these days as it seems to be the only alternative to Riccarton. Canterbury would be in a spot of bother if Ashburton was out of action. We seem to operate with a bare minimum of racing resources these days and no margin for error.

I haven't seen anyone mention this and I only saw a few races from Trentham on Saturday, but there didn't seem to be anyone there. Am I correct in that assessment? This feature March day was my first ever visit to Trentham back in the very early 80s. I think back in those days there was a Group 1 mile won by Twinkle and the Charmers Stakes won by a horse called Benny something. I remember it was a massive crowd for a country boy and I watched the races from the top of the public stand. The club must be making millions from all the land they are selling. I hope they are using it wisely. It's a bit surreal seeing the overhead shot of the chute surrounded by houses.

Surely it shows an incredible arrogance by NZTR? They are basically saying to the trainers: "Fuck you. If you don't want to trial on the white elephant you can't trial anywhere." Is there a trainers assoc in NZ, and if so do they have any input into this sort of thing? Do they pass on their members thoughts to NZTR? Or are the members thoughts a bit risque to pass on? The numbers at Riccarton are a bit of a joke as well.

I bet Desert Lightning got a shock there. They don't go that quick in NZ.

There must have been something like this previously. I can remember someone on here once commenting that a certain track, I can't remember which one, was voted the second best track in the country. I have no idea what the best track was.

Very good point. Surely Riccarton should be in the provincial category?

Is that serious? Do you mean the Te Rapa day with a couple of Group 1s, one at $600,000, a group 2 and one of the new gimmick races? How on earth can that be sustainable?

It'll be one of those stupid set weights and penalties things I presume.

Good old Greens, full of great ideas, as long as someone else is paying for them all.

Sorry, didn't mean to be courteous.

And they appear to be happy to eliminate and ballot heaps of horses at Gore, 25 and 23 noms in a couple of races with no indication they intend to split either field. I do feel we don't allocate our stakes money in the most efficient fashion.

5 in the 3yo and 6 in the stayers maiden. Why on earth do Trentham keep running stayers maidens on feature racedays?

I saw a photo in the Herald and assumed the top tier of the public grandstand was closed on Derby day, which seemed strange to me.

I suppose we should just be grateful there are super intellects out there able to understand and respond to circumstances that are way beyond the comprehension of us mere mortals. Sort of reminds you of Blackadder. Field Marshall NZTR: "Tally Ho Chaps. Over the top. Follow me."

I wonder how many people actually watched the draw? Hardly riveting TV for most of us.

I wonder if it occurs to them that they might have a problem? You do get the impression they are continuing to force trainers to use the AWTs to justify the massive expenditure on them.

They possibly don't quite have the same aura about them as some of the earlier winners of the race.

Surely there are more than 12 decent jockeys in the whole NI? It would be quite interesting to know why trainers haven't supported it, or targeted it, in contrast to the Wingatui race. I notice there is only one trainer with more than one starter.

I wonder if the club would be slightly disappointed with the fields for Derby Day, especially given the stakes on offer? No capacity fields and only 4 races with more than 11 starters. Interesting to see only 12 in the much vaulted Rangitoto race. No need for ballots, unlike the ODT race at Wingatui for a similar class. Perhaps it is a good indicator that we really do need those top few trainers to maintain decent field sizes. Of all the new gimmick races it is probably fair to say this has been the most disappointing one so far, at least in terms of numbers.

The club that now seems to be getting endless meetings seems to be Taupo. I can remember many years ago when Taupo used to race a couple of times a year, now they seem to be going around endlessly.

We probably need to follow the Russian model, start getting some of our mothballed assets out of retirement.