Special Agent

Leaving the photo finish gear behind is almost like getting all your raceday gear ready the night before and then come morning forgetting to load the horse on the float.

The more that happens highlights the need for an overhaul of all systems. That's a good starting point for the new CEO. As all the errors seem to be mind numbingly simply fixed it begs the question of who employed the people who are making these mistakes and what qualifications do these employees have in the first place?

Who is responsible for the photo finish gear? I'm imagining it maybe lives in the Trackside truck and travels from meeting to meeting, rather than go home with the judge who may not work at consecutive race meetings.

What a sad side story to an amazing Melbourne Cup win. I hope they sort it. As trainers they have done the job and deserve to be paid.

NZ Racing has got what it has been screaming out for ... better stakes. Like Wingman says, being played at our own game, and the better stakes have floated off shore.

A uniform irons a lot of that out. Odd outfits can be distracting.

Nobody said the process wouldn't have holes but, that is what NZTR have given us and work with. Maybe it's time for punters to band together and voice their opinion, rather than the trainers. It is stinking hot in Kapiti so rain affecting the track surface is unlikely. Otaki might actually get to the preferred "good" range as stated in the NZTR protocols. Tauherenikau, where no horses are trained, managed gallops on the track leading up to race day there. Foxton and Levin have the facility to use locally trained horses to gallop the morning of trials and jumpouts. Likewise Otaki has horses trained on the course so there are horses available to test the track out early tomorrow morning before scratching time. Of all the race tracks in the country I'd expect an accurate race morning read from Otaki. I agree it is not good enough to have upgrades after the first race.

1. Executive refresh? Isn't that underway with him coming in? Wouldn't he want to feel his way for a bit. 2. Venue rationalisation. Forget about this for now. What does everyone do when this doesn't work? What have the last few seasons taught us? 3. No one is going to stop an owner letting a horse go if the price is right. Horses go amiss at any time so, why would an owner risk this by turning down a lucrative offer? Is NZTR going to offer an insurance/guarantee should the owner turn down an overseas offer to race their horse here and for some reason it doesn't race again? 4. If ownership is going to be supercharged he will need to seriously look at costs and consider subsidising raceday expenses such as floating, farrier, entries etc. That may encourage current customers to race other horses or join other syndicates. We are likely heading for another recession so, he'll need to pick people who are already employed. 5. What is all the bullshit about the excessive manual entry draining resources? Trainers have been inputting their own stable returns and race entries for a long time. Studmasters enter their own stallion services. There are stuff all horses and people in the industry yet more and more employed at NZTR. I find this a stupid comment. Current staff at NZTR can't possibly be as lazy and incompetent as this article is portraying. Let's see what we end up with. I can't see any revelations arriving any time soon. New Zealand doesn't have a great track record with anyone coming here through a Canadian connection. Oh, I hope this man proves me wrong. It's hard to get excited though as we have heard it all before, many times.

I'm all for encouraging new ownership but, there has to be a little bit of reality involved.

You could say the money received from the Provincial Fund was mismanaged. We can only imagine how that money could have turned our turf tracks into what we all want ... safe, consistent surfaces. Plus better facilities for the horses and staff. Can the people who advised the Racing Minister please stand up? No, don't think so. They will be well underground. FFS. Flemington rips into their track immediately after each Melbourne Cup carnival. Half arsed patch up attempts are not going to cut the mustard.

Even when given evidence that the maintenance of the AWT's is woeful compared to overseas venues, and offered by the Trainers Assn, NOBODY CARES!!!! Is it a case of, close our eyes, cross our fingers, and hope for the best?

Their agenda looks pretty clear to me. Collect the salary for as long as possible. Will redundancies be on the cards too?

In the search for the useful ones you might have to try quite a few that don't provide the margins you talk of Trojan.

Did the CD trainers do enough? Well obviously not because the white elephant went in anyway. Only someone who did not do their own due diligence would ever dream the AWT's at Awapuni or Riccarton would be self funding. You only have to count up the number of horses in work and divide it into the amount given as required for maintenance over a set term. Then you'd know how much the owner/s of each horse working on the track would have to fork out in this self funding system. Anyone who could not do this simple equation had really been brainwashed by the suits who really really wanted those AWT's in. Many CD trainers were aware of these figures and gave their opinions. What should they have done to project this information? When pondering this question consider how many trainers trained for members of, and had an affiliation with RACE.

Not dropping but how much more affordable it is racing a horse in Australia. Stakes are higher, so are the costs.

Absolutely!!

Chief, quite often you say that the trainers don't make their voices heard and appear weak. I agree they are too weak for my liking in some situations but, you have just highlighted a prime example of how they are not listened to. Imagine if the money spent on the Awapuni AWT was used for turf tracks in CD how much different the last few seasons would have been.

It's not a good look. You'd think this could have been sorted by the industry equivalent of our Racecourse Inspectors. I don't know any trainer who would not kick up a fuss for not receiving their dues, let alone the Melbourne Cup percentage.

"Rising cost of racing" contradicts other comments seen about what it costs to race a horse in Australia. I suppose NZ should take what they can while they can.

Of the tracks where the meetings have been abandoned I'm surprised Matamata was one. I guess the jockeys have been given a directive around how they deal with riding or not riding. Possibly a unique situation where jockeys are self employed but also in the jockeys room are apprentices who work for an employer.

Bad luck if you ride a back runner on an "off" day.

I don't think the plural of dice is dices.

It would be nice if everyone here could enjoy her. Rob said she's the best horse he's trained. Money talks, and what do you do?

The plus is at least something is being tried. Unless the ideas evolve very little will be sustainable. Everything looks great at the pointy end. Book 2 at Karaka tells a different story. I hope someone bought a champion at a bargain price there.

I haven't watched the race either. There are two totally different opinions above on the ride. Sounds like Wiremu made a decision that neither won him the race nor put him under judicial review. It seems Newmarket's comments are influenced by the money invested.