Special Agent

Yes. Why not? Money is great and very much necessary but, some of racing's participants are in it for the enjoyment. Surely many in syndicates are not trying to become millionaires with their small ownership investment. Many trainers in the top end of the premiership still relish winning on industry days and appreciate those wins adding to their overall tally. When horses reach their mark, what is wrong with prolonging their competitive life?

As the title of this thread suggests the Timaru Cup has had some top form come out of it, a prerequisite of the Pattern Committee to retain Stakes or Group status. Chief asks what needs to be done. It may be as simple as an attitude change. It doesn't matter what you submit to the Pattern Committee to protect your Club's races, as they don't even follow their own protocols. If the likes of the Timaru Cup continue to keep their stake at a reasonable level, and it's position on the racing calendar lends itself to assist a trainer to programme a decent campaign, field quality can only improve. Connections of horses from far and wide are forever looking for Black Type opportunities. If a club has worked hard to improve their race/s they should be rewarded with Black Type if merited.

Yes, I would like to know too. I was under the impression most of the 1200 were working on the AWT. I suppose Cambridge have alternatives unlike Awapuni.

If not, why not? TAB man might know because his horses are trained there and he is prepared to subsidise the track by paying higher training fees. I wonder if there are others like that.

And Levin years before that. It will be interesting. I hope they achieve their objective of less injuries.

What on their ensemble says "Trackside"? Nothing!! I agree, there needs to be some form of uniformity. It screams "we are all individuals, and so important".

Good luck with your lesser grade neddies on the synthetic TAB fan. Your trainer/s must be doing a good job. It's great too, at your age, that you still have a recall of southern racing albeit not your own experiences in the industry.

What a terrible photo. Are they still dressed by a Stylist? I'd say not as it looks like a school mufti day. I too am asking the question, what has Maryanne Twentywoman got to do with it? Is she Mrs Entain? If there is so much dissatisfaction with the channel, and turnover is not on the increase, surely the people who have been making decisions must go. There might be quite a few who are sitting in an unsafe seat. Bad luck to those who have already gone. I hope they find something better soon.

When is greyhound racing finishing here?

And the crux of that story was?

Trackwork riders, for example, are in hot demand here. There must be some worth importing. May I suggest you put your question/s to NZTR for their Road Shows. They were calling recently for questions to be submitted as it looks as though questions from the floor may be prohibited this year.

I don't believe submissions make a blind bit of difference to the committee decision.

Were you intending to joke with this comment? Surprised?

If you are hell bent on facts check how many years the synthetic track surfaces have before it is necessary to replace them.

That being the case why were trials scheduled?

Fact, not fiction. We can only dream about such professionalism.

You have no idea what I know. I'm not sure why you need to be aggressive about opinions that differ from your's. Chief has not banned me from his site yet, and as far as I am aware, anyone has the right to contribute on whatever subject they see fit. Maybe as a person of racing significance and long time employee or fan of the TAB you can fill in the gaps that others are struggling with. Have you factored in the replacement surface after the short life of the original? Where do you think that money will come from? Did you read the paper submitted to the Provincial Growth Fund by Alasdair Robertson which stated the financial benefit to the community when horse numbers trained at Awapuni increased to 400 once the AWT went in? How many more than 100 horses are currently in work at the CD's premiere training venue? Have you walked or ran on the Awapuni synthetic surface? Have you seen the thin layer of top over the tarseal? Have you studied the injuries out of training on the track? If Cambridge as the largest training centre in New Zealand has posted a loss, what hope have any other tracks got of being saved from the NZTR hatchet?

There is nothing hazy about the maintenance expense. They cost truckloads to maintain.

Unfortunately all this talk will do nothing to keep Tony's job. The decision has been made not to renew his contract like others before him. The TAB would not win any awards for Employer of the Year and it looks as though Entain may be tarred with the same brush. Something will turn up for Tony somewhere but that doesn't make how the situation was handled right. What a prick of a job when every decision is so public!! I bet it hurts like hell but one thing about Tony is he has broad shoulders. Good luck Tony.

Exactly. I'm not sure why the TAB person thinks crowd size is irrelevant. Probably thinks oncourse turnover is also.

As pointed out brilliantly by others the TAB Rep is talking tripe. In addition to what has already been commented on, if so many are excited by stakes increases why are the fields so light on? And if you are talking race quality I challenge you to find a more sad looking Queen Elizabeth than this year's version.

It is very poor form but, not unexpected from NZTR. There should be black armbands tomorrow at New Plymouth at the very least as a mark of respect from industry participants. Peter's racing interests began in Taranaki.

I wonder how many of racing's pro bono clients will be there to send Peter off tomorrow. No doubt he never contracted a fee before helping.

I like the way you think Dollars.

Never a truer phrase!!!!!