Huey

How have they been shat on? Certainly a lot less than alot of other clubs.

I thought he was going to Aus. ?

So true and still today many are ruining NZ racing as we speak. As you know its like a big club, this can be evidenced by the fact that certain clubs and certain administrators never get called out or critiqued , this has been the biggest problem in NZ racing and continues to be. The venue plan was a prime example of this, the M report also Te Rapa refused to sell up and move to a new facility nothing said, some smaller venues fight for their lives the industry labels them selfish or living in the past. Pukekohe is a disaster yet they still allocate race dates why? Other venues have something go wrong and they are isolated and excluded. It's not a level playing field that is for certain.

Not only that but a number of those proposing the track be installed at all costs have no skin in the game as Pitman puts it. Many can and will just walk away from the industry without a care in the world.

Exactly , it'll only take them to rejig the calendar to give it the kick to touch they want to. Many of us have seen this before, this is not just about an AWT its about the future of many venues and interest in the sport also. The current Administration have shown they don't care a stuff about any of the local country venues etc. this will only be hastened by the setup of this track, racing is dying off in the provinces at an alarming rate, due to poor policy and mismanagement and a CEO hell bent on looking like he is doing something. I wouldn't mind the track if it was financially feasible and didn't have a negative impact on any of the other areas that wish to race and prosper , but it will be used as the be all and end all make no bones about that.

Probably shows how disillusioned they are with racing more like it. Good on you for making the effort to go, but why apart from training do you think these AWTs are good for racing in NZ?

Plenty enough tracks available , just poor leadership and misinformation(i.e. they cost the industry a fortune to operate, complete and utter lies, if I had a $ for every time some misinformed fool told me that I'd be buying Savabeels at the sales) industry wide that has reduced the number of tracks available for use, one only has to look at the pathetic calendar that has been put in place , needs a total revamp and many a fresh set of eyes to look over it. We have an organisation like NZTR who are doing all they can to eliminate tracks, for what? For the sake of it, to make it look like they are doing something. I've never heard a single valid reason for this , has anyone else? The average racegoer in NZ loves what they had available summer race days on grass surface with a fun family atmosphere, so what do we want to do in NZ replace it with endless boring pointless race days by the looks of it on AWTs. These days are the industry shop window. They'll tell you they will be keep the odd days , but the AWTs will kill them all off , all the enthusiasm and hours of unpaid input from volunteers it'll all go by the wayside. I believe these tracks are only being put in so it looks like we are trying to keep up with the rest of the world. Meanwhile the rest of the world moves on.

And we all know where the extra money will come from to do all they can in an attempt to make them work. How can any sane person support this without a proper commercial analysis being completed and submitted for review? And we are supposed to wonder why stakes are so poor with decision making like this.

Exactly. AWTs are the new website of NZ racing!

Good for you I can cope with the grass but not the dirt.

Well thats exactly what is going to happen, within 3 years they will have moved the majority of racing onto these tracks, just wait and see thats the plan. I can't work out apart from better for training why a guy like Pitman would think these are good for racing in NZ, give us an explanation if you can? I can see them lined up 10 deep to watch AWT racing at Riccarton and punters falling over each other to get a bet on the thoroughbred equivalent of Harness racing. It's sanitised,mass produced,dumbed down racing that will do nothing for the sport in NZ apart from send it further into oblivion. I challenge anyone to sit and watch the US garbage on trackside for a couple of days in a row and report back.

How are they proposing to train racehorse there with all that going on?

They are there so they can say they communicated/collaborated with the industry, enough people in the industry have found out what a total waste of time they are and don't bother going now at any rate.

You can't expect them to make a plan for the future Freda, I would suspect they will expect you to work your horses around the local cricket ground and up and down country roads while they put this amazing facility in.

I'm not one bit surprised. He has not done a single positive thing for the sport since arriving from Aus. The sport is descending into a shambles under his leadership, the incompetency is being hidden by COVID and the chaos at the TAB. You cannot get a single answer out of them that makes any sense, because none of them have a clue what they are doing as they are not racing people! Surely someone like Pitman who is all for these AWTs wants to know that they will be sustainable into the future and won't negatively impact on his business model by asking NZTR these questions? Sorry I still can't see these working in NZ ,they will be forced usage and most punters will go off them once the novelty factor is over, they are dead boring!

Nothing guarantees a winner , but certain sires have a better chance of leaving them than others.

So what youre saying is everyone sending a mare to Savabeel ,Per Incanto or Darci Brahma are mugs and they should be sending them to $500 stallions?

You said you get the same from a 3k purchase as you do a 300k purchase, that's clearly not the case. If it was they'd all cost the same, there arent many shortcuts in this game but one of them is spending a lot if money on horses, statistically you're bound to get a few very horses particularly if you're buying up the stock of top sires.

If its a level playing field no matter what you pay then why do they pay so much for their horses?

And then you can speak to another trainer who hates them, getting consensus amongst trainers is like trying to get agreement between political parties. The point for me here is the very good point made by Freda, how will these tracks increase betting revenue? A few mishaps on these tracks early on and trainers possibly even you will avoid them like the plague.

I like you absolutely love Trentham favourite track in the country, but I agree an actual study based on fact and no bias is required to keep the industry going, some hard truths would need to be swallowed but its unlikely to happen with the current leadership. The current leadership are " pig and a poke" types and that unfortunately isn't something the industry can afford to continue with.

And therein lies the problem , a large part of the industry doesn't understand its irrelevance in the grand scheme of things. I'm a firm believer the industry could be saved if it accepted its position and rebuilt from there , but it won't happen as many have said on here too much self interest for that to happen, you only have to look at this AWT situation to realise that. Really if they were that good Aus. would run 90% of their meetings on them and its a lot of money to spend just to buy Pitman a training track.

I see your point, but I'm not sure it would matter much doping horses through the NZ winter given the surfaces we have to run on. But certainly those bigger spring/summer days who knows what goes on.

Unfortunately its a disease that can't be beat when it comes to NZ racing, imo its the disease that will end it all. Industry participants need to see the bigger picture with everyones participation in mind, that's never going to be the case when the governing body have such an insular bias view.

Where have I heard all this bluster before and more than a few times?? The novelty factor will wear out within 2 years, the genuis running nz racing think it will save the sport, lawn bowls will be more interesting to watch than synthetic racing.