Doomed

It will be interesting to hear how many attended Trentham and what the turnover was. There didn't seem to be many in front of the public grandstand even when it didn't seem to be raining. The $50 entrance fee might be enough to put some off on a slightly inclement day. And to be totally honest, that was pretty ugly racing coming right down the outside fence. Never a good look having one "fast" strip like that.

The saddest thing was that there appeared to be hardly anyone there. They kept showing shots of the cars parked in front of the old public grandstand, which is obviously still there fully intact. There appeared to be literally 2 people over that side, and no one watching the horses in the bird cage from that side. So different to shots from that same perspective from Blenheim last week. I know a lot of people would have been in the remaining grandstand, but good to see people outside on a sunny day. I wonder if they kept a tally of how many Marlborough people attended. And I wonder if the Marlborough club thought it was good value to boost the Cup stake by $20,000. Just think, the Cup stake alone would have funded more than 4 races back in Blenheim. And the commentator was gleefully announcing they would be racing at Riccarton every two weeks for the next few months. I hope they can attract some people along, otherwise it does look a bit sad. On a positive note the track seemed to race ok and I thought Light Up went a great race, fought well.

And as I understand it the plan is to redevelop it and make it even smaller.

I just watched a race out of interest. Half handled it, half didn't. 5 of each I think. It appeared the jockeys on those not handling it just give up. Still, I would probably rather bet there than at Moonee Valley. My god that is a shocking track, probably a shorter straight than anything we have in NZ.

Not very often you see a maiden start in the Wgtn Cup. Interestingly, it is showing $41 on the fixed odds and $18 on the tote. Must either be a pretty good maiden or a poor field. I'm sure NZTR and the Club are hoping it doesn't win or even place: the race would struggle to retain even listed status next season.

And there isn't a race meeting anywhere near Auckland for several days around their holiday Weekend. Taupo must have been about as far away as they could possibly get.

I do find it sad that virtually no clubs are interested in racing on public holidays these days, certainly no major clubs. Wgtn Anniversary day and now Auckland anniversary day with no galloping meetings. Sad really. Labour weekend the same from memory. Sad that only minor clubs are interested. Riverton and Tauherenikau mostly. I can remember when Wgtn, Auck and Riccarton were all keen on public holidays. Now none can be bothered. Is it the clubs that have given up because of wage costs or has the TAB told them not to bother, or is it a NZTR policy? They really do appear to have no interest in on course attendance these days, which seems very short sighted, but who am I to know, incredibly well paid people have obviously figured all this out.

It looks to me like the Japanese pay out four places if there are more than 15 starters. There is no logical reason to halve the place divs for the dead-heaters in that circumstance so I suspect they were just the two hot favourites

I always used to pay to get in. Somehow makes it seem more important if you have to pay to see it. Admittedly these days I would feel ripped off if I paid to get into most meetings. I would never pay $50 to get into Trentham. I have been to Cup Day twice in recent years and it was incredibly boring with no atmosphere, despite hoards of youngsters.

I thought I was celebrating a job well done by Blenheim. For a small town to get a bigger crowd than a big city is surely a good effort. And I like to see decent sponsors for a each race, always a sign the club is trying hard. Incidentally, on Cup Day at Addington two races are worth $35,000 and eight others are worth $20,000 and $25,000 so perhaps any one of those races might not have more sponsorship than 11 races at Blenheim.

Do you think they got more people on-course than an equivalent Sunday at Addington might have? Interesting that they managed to get genuine sponsors for every race over the two days, more than Addington could have been bothered doing. A couple of $20,000 races on the second day as well.

I think they actually programmed a 2,400m for a particular rating type but there was no interest, so they ended up running about 5 identical races, distance wise, for all the horses who nominated for a really broad banded race. I really don't think the harness rating system works that well and the general public must have no idea. I have seen several instances recently where a horse with 5 or 6 wins and about $50,000 is rated much higher than a horse with 12 wins and $120,000 odd. And maidens can be rated higher than a horse with a couple of wins. Weird system. The gallops one does seem to work better.

I think it's fair to say the best horse won easily. Hard to make excuses for anything else.

I don't know why they insist on running all those 1,850m races. If you can't get handy you don't have much show. Surely a 2,400m start would allow for some mid race moves?

And ironically the 1 or 2 who made the big decision will probably be gone in a couple of years anyhow. When is the big shift scheduled for and do they have a site planned in Cambridge? The idea behind Wgtn always used to be that people could easily fly in from anywhere in the country for meetings etc. I suppose hiding in Cambridge that stops any of the unruly types from the South flying in to abuse them for cock ups. I doubt that Reefton even knows where Cambridge is, and they will never again have to deal with Southlanders.

Gets them further away from the SI and closer to the breeders. Probably consolidating for one last stand. Probably more of Custer's last stand rather than Dunkirk, as from Dunkirk they actually got to escape and come again. There won't be any escaping with this lot, except for individuals who get the golden handshake. I suppose they are desperately hoping that Winston gets in again and funds another 5 AWTs.

Beautifully written Galah. And very accurate.

We could certainly teach NSW a thing or two. Just wait until they start poaching some of our top administrators.

It happens regularly in Canterbury and often at Ashburton. I have no idea why. It just seems strange that 2 days earlier the trots will hold 11 races at the same venue.

Certainly not criticising the on course staff, who actually do some work, but it is amazing that absolutely no one knows why they can only handle 9 races regardless of how many horses have to be eliminated, but in the NI and at the trots there is no problem running several extra races.

This has always intrigued me. Some enlightened soul may be able to explain how it works. I note that they have added an extra rating 65 at Ashburton next week, which is hardly surprising as they had 28 noms for a 65 mile and 25 for a 65 1,400m at Wingatui this weekend. So lots of horses missed a start, but no worries about that, it's only the SI. The bit that interests me though is that there will be no splitting of races at Ashburton as the TAB can only service 9 races. Why is this? Is it part of a union agreement or what? If they have to finish by a certain time so workers can get back to chch for a piss up why not just start 25 minutes earlier or reduce the gap by 5 minutes between some of the races. I note the trots race at Ashburton 2 days earlier and they are running 11 races, potentially. I also note there is no problem splitting races to run 11 at Te Rapa next Wednesday, despite 6 and 7 horse fields today at Tauranga for big stakes. This has happened several times in Canterbury recently with never an explanation as to why. If the TAB can manage 11 trots at Ashburton why can they only manage 9 gallops?

It will all be neatly filed away somewhere.

Surely there were no committee members there?

I happened to watch the trots from Cromwell and Motukarara last weekend, big fields and massive crowds at both events. I have always said Racing's ability to take the events to the people is one of its greatest strengths, but they are hell bent on centralisation. Much more excitement about a multi million dollar AWT at Riccarton than massive on course crowds at the "despised" tracks.

It was a Saturday so none of them would have been working.