Doomed

I take great interest in the Timaru situation as it is indicative of everything that is wrong with NZ racing. A really good meeting yesterday with horses going 1.09 and 1.10 for the 1,200m races. Winners coming from inside draws and wide draws. 11 races, but there should have been 12. 23 noms for the 65 mile, all six ballots scratched and others eliminated. Good luck any of them getting a start in the next few weeks. A perfect racing surface when the NI continues to race on bog tracks, and Riccarton is described as stuffed by prominent trainers. Talk about ignoring one of the industry's greatest assets. If NZTR had any integrity at all they would come out and say "Look, we stuffed up badly, we admit we were wrong. We should be supporting Timaru not trying to destroy it." Changes of that happening? Slim would be being very generous. They could also look at why Timaru had to run 11 races (and should have run 12) and Riccarton the week before 11 also. Bad programming perhaps? I stopped reading the Messara report when they said Timaru should go and Waikouaiti be retained. If that was the level of analysis that went into the whole report the rest of it wouldn't have been worth reading. If anyone was still interested in Racing in NZ this whole situation would be a laughing stock. Does Bernie know where Timaru is? Has he ever been there?

Put on your gang members patch and just stroll through the front gate.

He is probably advising other countries how easy it is to go wrong and how much other countries can learn by looking at the NZ situation.

Unfortunate if they end up moving from a potentially good track to yet another Awapuni bog. In Oct most trainers are probably looking for better tracks. Bring on the AWT.

Surely they don't service Tauherenikau from Hamilton? Doesn't sound very efficient.

There were some at HB who didn't show much initiative either. Most races were won off the front. Those who settled back didn't achieve much.

I notice six went around in one of the 3yo races today, after 3 last Saturday and 8 on Sunday. But not to be deterred they have split the 3yo maiden once again on Friday. Obviously there must be some value from winning a 3yo race, even if it is for maidens, which is why they are so desperate to keep running them regardless of field sizes.

Surely he isn't heading to the Cox? He would be a 100 to 1 chance. Be like Melody Belle and Avantage and stay and take the easy money. I suppose not being a mare he doesn't get the residual value that they did.

Could I be permitted to put in a nomination for the funniest comment of the year? After today's noms came out for this weekend's Riccarton meeting, NZTR comes out with "the club may divide the MDN 1400m providing there are sufficient numbers at withdrawal time." 40 nominations!!! Unless Canterbury trainers come up with a Matamata approach and 37 pull out, it is safe to assume they will need to split the maiden race. 10 will still miss a start as they only start 15 per race. And god knows how many others will miss a start because they don't run industry meetings in Canterbury at this time of year.

Auckland's big thing was that they were jealous of Cup Week in Chch, so they tried to set up their own cup week in Auckland. To do so they moved many of their major races away from where they had traditionally been. The exercise has been a total disaster, but no one is prepared to admit that. At the same time they have tried to fit the Karaka races into the schedule, which once again has destroyed their own racing schedule as well as the rest of the country's racing pattern. Auckland has been trying to destroy the Wgtn Cup carnival for about 40 years by taking over that last week in January, and gradually with ineffectual leadership (or lack thereof) from NZTR they have been allowed to do so. NZTR even helped them out by subsidising a sweepstake race: too stupid for words really. You couldn't make some of this up. Of course with the Wgtn RC being the National Party of the racing industry it hasn't been all that hard to push them aside. One lesson from all this, other than the fact that Auckland doesn't give a stuff about the rest of the country, is that tradition does have some value. Auckland doesn't care about tradition as we have seen from the Derby, the Auckland Cup, The Easter, the Great Northerns, the old Air NZ Stakes (I have no idea where that is or what it's called these days) and many of their other races. Sadly, while Auckland continues to shoot themselves in the foot, they continue to drag the rest of the industry down with them.

You are an optimist. 5years. It has already been warned so it might only last another couple of years.

After watching Sherwood Forrest struggling to keep up at Sandown perhaps the Derby was very lucky to keep its Group 1 status. Just from memory I don't think any of our last four Derby winners have managed to win a race in Australia, and they haven't won many in NZ either. It could be argued that the last two editions of the Derby may have been the worst ever. Everything must be ok though as I don't think the pattern committee has does anything to fix the "pattern", so it mustn't be broken.

There are a lot of lower grade horses in Canterbury who probably won't get a start until close to Xmas. Trainers will keep charging to go to trials and owners will think WTF. Then you look at 3 horses racing for $30,000 in the Waikato. Too stupid for words really.

Things are looking up though. 3 AWTs soon, and they have closed Waimate. We are on track...

Poor bloody South Island trainers looking at that. 3 going around for $30,000, 4 for $40,000, 4 in the 2yo. And after three 3year olds go around today they get another chance in a small field tomorrow and then on Wednesday they split the 3yo just to give them plenty of choice. They could have run a meeting at Timaru tomorrow for lower grade types and filled 10 races - based on the numbers at trials and the numbers being eliminated recently. Absolutely crazy. Stakes increases haven't achieved much so far.

Incredible price really. Won one group 3 in Aussie from memory. Obviously NZ Group form is nowhere near as bad as many of us thought. Worth miles more than Melody Belle and she won a group 1 in Melbourne.

The Auckland Racing Club probably wouldn't mind that, as long as they get to keep the Karaka millions.

I must say, I watched some of the jumps races at Te Aroha last Sunday and I thought it looked like quite a good jumps course. And I agree with the stakes increases for the maiden and 0-1 win jumps. I thought it was an embarrassment last week when the maiden jumpers raced for $15,000 and the amateur riders raced for $30,000.

Sadly, I just don't watch enough NZ racing closely enough to have an opinion. I pretty much do all my betting on a Saturday in Aussie. I have a few that I don't rate for historical reasons, often just on the basis of one or two shocking rides.

"The NZPC acknowledges that NZ has very few non-tote races and a large number of competitive trials relative to most other jurisdictions." I didn't think we had any non tote races. Obviously we have numerous trials that are much stronger than all those Group 1 Horses that trial in Sydney. Heat 1 (8.30am) – Verry Elleegant, Stay Inside, Kolding, Icebath, Selino, Brandenburg, Riodini Heat 2 (8.40am) – Dreamforce, Hungry Heart, Forbidden Love, Adelong, Four Moves Ahead, Nancho, Prime Star, Taikomochi Heat 3 (8.50am) – Embracer, Fituese, Glistening, Mamaragan, Matchmaker, Mazu, She’s All Class, Vulpine, Xtremetime Any number of trials at Foxton and Ashburton today would be stronger than those ordinary Aussies

Everything will be ok. A sub-committee will solve everything.

The key word in all this is "pattern". There is no pattern to our feature races at all. There are random Group 1 miles and fillies and mares races scattered all over the place. The poor old Bayer Classic as was has been destroyed by giving it to the WRC. And that Group 1 race at Otaki is hardly a good look.

This is the interesting bit. They have several other races they are desperate to promote. So don't think they are suddenly showing some common sense and want to rationalise things.

The Canterbury Jockey Club won't mind, they have their AWT and no one can downgrade that. I'm surprised more races aren't listed. Races like the Auckland Cup, Herbie Dyke, Waikato Guineas etc must be pretty shaky. What's going to happen to the group 1s this season now we no longer have Melody Belle and Avantage? There are going to be some pretty ordinary types winning big races who won't be anywhere near competitive if they go to Aussie. We have far too many group and listed races anyhow; more group 2s and 3s than we had 7 or 8 years ago despite a lot fewer races.

21 heats today at Ashburton, and good numbers in each. Must be the biggest trials meeting I have seen in the South for a while. No idea where most of the maidens and 65s are going to get to race. There is only one low key meeting in Canterbury in the next 41 days. They don't seem to have got the concept of tiered racing quite right. Add those horses to all the maidens and 65s eliminated and balloted last weekend and there will be heaps looking for starts. Contrast that to the NI where there are heaps of opportunities to race in small fields every week. They just don't seem to be able to get the basics right. Hard to accept that the industry is being run by anyone with any real competence.