Doomed

The Cup is only Group 3. I doubt very much that it will be the worst Group 3 field we see go around this season. The Waikato Cup prelude this weekend has a rating 82 top weight and only one other horse higher than 78. I am actually in favour of the NZ Cup retaining its stake and group status. We need to give some weight to tradition. We don't have much else. It is the whole structure and pattern that is wrong, although the CJC must take a lot of responsibility for that as they dictate a lot of the pattern in the SI. I really do despair for the SI when the AWT is fully operational. The CJC will then run most the industry days and most of the feature days in the South. None of the other clubs will then have any incentive or encouragement to try anything new, and the CJC last showed any initiative about 40 years ago in the days of Dave Lloyd.

I must admit, I was just thinking back to the late 80s, early 90s when Empire Rose, Mercator and Double Take came back from running well in the Melbourne Cup to win the NZ Cup. It is probably unlikely, but I have been keeping an eye out in case Verry Elleegant or The Chosen One throw in a late entry for the Cup this year.

I remember the McLean Stakes well. Some good horses won and were placed in it. Otago also had a decent 2yo race on Boxing day. Now Otago and Southland can't even be bothered having a 2yo race on their cup days. They would rather run a maiden race. I don't really blame them. They have had the stuffing knocked out of them, no real leadership and no encouragement to try anything new, or even go back to something that has worked previously. There used to be a 2yo fillies race at Riccarton. Riccarton even used to have the SI Champion Stakes over 2,000m for 3yos, or a name like that. Somebody should tell the powers that be that syndicates are big these days and they quite like to see their horses race as 2yos and 3yos. If they showed some initiative they could have hundreds of excited owners sitting up in the public grandstand at Riccarton watching their youngsters race around on the AWT. I vaguely recall some pretty stupid sounding concept of bonus races, triple crowns or something like that being announced for the SI. They would be better off putting the money into 3 or 4 new races that people understand rather than some esoteric concept that no one will understand and will gain no traction. And don't get me started on four maiden races over the first two days of cup week. Have they given up on tiered racing? Riccarton is bloody lucky to have retained their two Guineas races, Cup Week would be stuffed without them. There is no logical reason to have them in the SI. Although to be honest there isn't really a decent track in the NI that could hold them at this time of year.

The SI doesn't have 2yo racing. Otago and Southland don't have spring 3yo racing. So not much opportunity to build to the Guineas. The pattern of 3yo racing in the SI is pathetic: after this week they stop, and then start again at Gore on 22 January 2022. Then they all follow the same races until it peters out around Easter at Riccarton with a $30,000 1,600m at best. After this week the highlight of the season is the Southland Guineas for $80,000. No more group races for males in the SI after this week, nothing further than 1,600m all season, nothing for sprinting 3yos, or staying 3yos, all season. What owner is going to be stupid enough to pay good money to race a 3yo in the SI? Who can tell me the last new 3yo race to be added to the pattern in the SI? I don't want to sound too harsh, for all I know they might be planning to introduce a series of rich 3yo races over multiple distances on the new $15m asset that is going to revolutionise racing in the South

It certainly doesn't look like one of the great 2000 Guineas. No 2yo form coming through at all. The most any of them has won is $81,000. None of them have won more than two races. I doubt it could be called a stallion making race.

I think the current philosophy is that Racing is to be purely an off course activity so on course facilities are no longer needed. The only day most of those tracks get a crowd is on "Cup Day", which is just a piss up for the youngsters who don't mind standing around outside with a few tents scattered around and have no need for betting facilities, let alone wanting to see races from other tracks.

Another interesting (frightening probably a better word) piece from The Optimist. With no Racing media these days he is the only person publishing anything comprehensive about the lack of management within the Racing industry. We are very lucky to have him. http://www.theoptimist.co.nz/

Very true. I never bet at Tauranga, its a horrible track at the best of times. I was looking at that horse that won the open sprint and the biggest field it has raced in in recent months was 7 starters. Incredible opportunities for some horses in the North who get to continually race for good money in tiny fields. Compare that to the South. Just look at the ballots that will miss starts at Ashburton and Wingatui. Back to the AWT though, it hasn't done anything to resolve the problems we have on days like today. What is its actual purpose? Just a trials facility really.

Nest Egg was given no chance in the 3rd at Awapuni, and that was Kozzi who is supposed to be quite good.

You are thinking of Watch Officer.

Bloody hell, those are shocking fields at Tauranga. A couple of 4 horse fields, one for $40,000, and a 6 horse field for $30,000. I thought the idea of the AWT was to stop this sort of thing? If a track looks suspect, quickly move the meeting to the AWT: never seems to happen. And look at the poor buggers eliminated and balloted in the SI all the time. Its going to be a mess when Ellerslie and Te Aroha are closed for a year or so and they are relying on Tauranga to fill the gap. What happens if this Counties meeting with 8 horse fields strikes a wet track? They could be down to 2 and 3 starters per race.

Interesting you should mention Romancer, I backed it. Wouldn't have touched it at 5s, but at $124 I thought there was a bit of overs there. I also got Chat when she won at Kembla at 50s a couple of months ago. Once again I wouldn't have touched her at 5s. You will never make money punting taking unders.

Red Anchor wasn't a bad Derby winner. Not many win the Caulfield Guineas, Cox Plate and Derby within the space of a few weeks.

That's a strange way of punting. Every horse has its price.

Trentham would make a very interesting case study. It has so many things in its favour but has been going backwards for 40 odd years now. Building members facilities and a public bar miles away from the track all those years ago was probably a sign of a lack of foresight.

Certainly keeping under the radar. Not going fast enough to register.

Sounds like a strange concept to me, but I don't have access to all the information and costings that NZTR have.

I largely agree, but a major track north of Foxton is just too far away from the population base. You would think that somewhere around Otaki or just south of there would be nicely central to access the major population areas, but is there suitable land that won't be a typical bog?

Will Ocean Billy be able to keep up? Persan is no mug.

It would certainly be very hard to justify spending millions to revitalise Trentham. It would probably take about $50m to clean the place up. The first thing they should do is follow the Ascot, Belmont model and only race there during the summer.

I think the view at the time was that the track was too big and the public was too far away from the action. The current track is pretty much modelled on Ellerslie, but seems to favour front runners. The old back straight used to be miles away. I remember being there one day when the trots still raced on the grass and Hands Down won the last race. The fog rolled in and you only saw the horses about 150 metres from the finish.

If a few of the qualified ones fall by the wayside through injury or lack of form they may struggle to have enough qualified horses for a full field. There certainly doesn't look to be the usual quality there.

And a bit frustrating when you have to do it all yourselves when you see the more favoured clubs being told "here, have this money". I see from the discussion paper there are quite a few developments planned for the next few years, quite a few tracks dug up and replaced, and sounds like a big spend on facilities at Trentham. Where the hell would you start doing up Trentham? And Riccarton still has its condemned public stand. Amenities have certainly been neglected over the last 25 years or so. I'm not sure what the rationale was behind that, but it was certainly a major policy change.

Any totally impartial and intelligent consultant would identify Timaru as a crucial track in the SI: being centrally located, with room for expansion, a good racing surface and better winter weather than either Christchurch or Dunedin. So the consultants conclusions regarding Timaru will show how independent and skilled they are.

Why has there never been any attempt to expand the Reefton track? It does look as if there is room for a longer home straight and a bigger track over all.