Huey

Hadn't seen this before. JULY 2012 Trainer Bart Cummings "has applauded the stance of Racing NSW chief executive Peter V'landys in dismissing the introduction of synthetic racetracks, which are in place in Victoria & Queensland" reported The Sydney Morning Herald. Cummings declared: "I agree entirely; follow American racing & you'll end up like Wall Street - broke. US tracks were bought by accountants, they introduced dirt, could only run on grass 30 times a year but they wanted to race 90 times a year. They couldn't give a toss about the horse. In America they race on bute, anabolics, all types of drugs, synthetic tracks aren't worth two bob, they break horses down." Cummings "is no fan of synthetic training tracks either & believes the Strathayr grass surface (which is in place at Moonee Valley) has stood the test of time". He noted: "Coarse river sand is the best training surface. When it rains it expands; other sand doesn't, it turns into slop, washes away & won't expand."

Fairy Flash and Scooby a match made in heaven! Hey Fairy Flash , sorry I can't respond to the greatest poster in Channel X history - You are currently restricted from posting content

So what you're saying is it wouldn't be Foxton?

The real issue is numbers have dropped by either design or incompetence, alot of that via the alienation of tracks. Only going to be worse with the AWT being the main focus of everything over the next few years, before its too late. Total ignorance from that trainer, there are races for all horses they just have to graded/grouped correctly(not really happening here at the moment), thats why we have Highweights etc. I'm of the opinion Punters will punt on them commeasurate to the competitive nature of the races.

Track is leased , so NZTR know there is no pesos in isolating that one.

Yes they will, as it's a glaring example of how incompetent their programming is. The you could still race on the AWT will soon be the mantra .

Oh and Fairy Flash loves it as well.

No not in an industry run by NZTR they don't!

Surely not , trainers, punters and owners love them!

Of course it would have been had had he done so, but surely an industry such as racing can expect its governing body to take care of matters such of those in an adeqaute manner... no such luck here though.

Exactly and some trainers who have threated to go over but haven't , have not gone for that very reason.

Agree , it would be in Wallers best interest to send a team to the Picnics in Aus rather than waste $ setting up in NZ.

Only 1 R65 horse in the field, in NZracing these days that amounts to a fairly decent field ; 0

Looking through the Tauranga fields I see the Kiwifruit Cup a once fairly decent winter staying race now racing for $35k and the R65 Benchmark stayers racing for $30k, half the field in the Kiwifruit cup are R65 horses , I know we can get thin for quality in NZ , but why would you bother. At least the F&M race has maintained some status.

Yes it does & as much as they try to convince everyone it was a great idea it's been nothing short of a disaster for the industry. I don't know why a trackside telecast can't just be beamed to a frequency, surely a massive savings without studio, presenters etc It's created a massive disconnect for many who follow the industry since it's absence. But as we know they don't care.

I'm afraid this is now the country you live in.

Unfortunately the entire SI is being treated like an Industry Day, that is simply what they think of the SI. CD will be next, their entire focus is on the nirvana northern racing they think is the future of racing, ironically the Northern horses of any ability seem more likely to go to Aus anyway.

They are cleaning up the industry ! 🤣

But that in itself shouldn't matter, as horses being nominated for a Heavy 10 abandoned meeting are likely to be horses who need the Heavy ground and are therefore essentially in the same boat racing on the AWT (fields kept same and transferred to the AWT) re being able to run those times. Unless of course it was a safety issue for them , which I can't understand why. I also thought the transfer of meetings was the actual main selling point for these tracks from what I can remember.

It's a bit of a nothing article really isn't it, well if you know even a little bit about racing. Not sure why the horse needs to win up there though to become commercially viable, clearly Aus has the best turf sprinters on the planet at any rate and it doesn't seem to have inhibited Brazen Beau up there after his 2 runs.

NZ Govt. aren't gonna speak out when they are in on it.

That's a great point actually, I can't recall a single meeting being transferred.

Seeing as you know so much about them hit us with the startling turnover figures on them, must be up by 20-40% surely and well and truly outperforming grass surfaces?

Without delving into the details that create the profit i.e. takeout margins , field sizes etc then Wagering turnover is one of the metrics to measure the success of the things by surely? I stand by my opinion , they are an absolutely awful look for racing, if they are so good the industry should be begging for racing on them, but that is not happening. I still believe the surface ARC is putting in was/is the best solution for the industry, given participation and horse numbers something like that will quickly make the AWT very insignificant . As for training solutions , there are many other options that could have been created for the money thats been spent.

What you mean a trainer who won a race on the track got asked if he liked it and he did , I'm astounded!