TAB For Ever

I'm sure a one-eyed Cantabrian will leap in and correct any errors in my recollection of the Riccarton Turf Club. The name Viv Jack was mentioned ,he was the long serving President of the club for over 20 years as it passed along its journey. In the late 70's the Riccarton Turf Club was introduced with others around NZ to cater for the excess horses about by running On-course only meetings ie Equalisator meetings. The Club was drawn up with the Rules being it would run these along with trials . At some stage the equalisator idea wore off and the club was just running trials. The rules were changed around 2000 and the general purpose was widened to promote and conduct gallops meeting. At some stage it must have struggled getting recognised as the company records state that only Motukarara would allow them to run their trials [ 4 x times a year !] Pressure must have been applied for the Club to just merge with the CJC , and their bank account of $66k was given to the CJC as a loan and all their members joined CJC. Currently the Riccarton Turf Club still has a sizeable committee , as do other former clubs like Amberly and maybe Hororata ...someone will check and these are known as Wards ,and the Chairperson of the Wards are on the Board of CJC. It certainly gives the CJC a lot of committee people to help out around the Club .

Money well spent.....for June [ winter ] after a lot of rain that track on Saturday was OUTSTANDING ! Not just IMO but a view endorsed by Owners , trainers , punters , jockey managers , media folk , the Clerks of Course , employees and the shoe-shine man ! Not by George Simon .....live anyway.....he owned a repeat winner but was seen live at Belmont Stakes [USA] with Wheels , FRitchie and other Kiwis !

Good post Gamma....gotta admit I never been to Tassie. They got a team in Australia NBL league now and breed the odd good horse and cricketer . Actually played against them at cricket once !

Obviously this current years /two years calendars are have been pencilled in for a while and after the scratchy start to the new tack they erred on side of caution PLUS other tracks who are in OK shape [ eg your fav Ruakaka ] regularly have meetings at this time of year. Plus all tracks are planned to have a 'rest period' of at least 6 x weeks ....surely you know all this ? And Avondale race surface obviously OK again and the tie-ups for trial still OK for trials....and trails even !😀 Q...when was last time you attended Avondale trials or races ? Some of their committee still attend AGM's etc and they do run their main races at ATR.

You a funny man Trojan.....pleased I squeezed your 274 th post from you. Chief will be pleased someone other than the 'tight five' plus cave boy from the deep south is bothering to post !

Who wants this ? Name em ?

Not entirely......but the Northern region looks well placed with ATR [ Ellerslie ,Pukekohe ] PLUS Ruakaka , Te Rapa , Matamata ,Te Aroha , Tauranga , Rotorua and Taupo PLUS Cambridge Synthetic giving the region and very versatile selection of tracks to suit all types of racing and all preferences. But to really future proof the Industry the JEWEL would be the talked about Waikato Greenfields racing /complex. It not crucial to the plans but if proceeds or part proceeds of Avondale sale went toward the Waikato dream then NZ racing would be in good shape with infrastructure , a big concern at mo. I'm sure Ellerslie [ATR] would approve too and maybe flick some of their $200 mil equity toward the cause. Yes, incredible amazing indeed ! And Huey ,what Area are you in ? Maybe you like me and lived in a few areas where the local community has just let Racing in the region fritter away or worse , just die !

So sorry if you upset that someone else started a thread......but no intention of threatening your dominance ,and especially on track surfaces ,your EXPERT subject ! You will always be Number 1 Champ !!!!

What ?? me contradictory ??? I used to be indecisive , but now I not so sure ! As a Mentor I required to give both sides , and of course I bat for both sides ! A recent poster Harness4 All makes some valid points as well , but still gives Harness 25 years life so lets enjoy it while we can !

Tracks a popular topic on here , so let's give credit where credit is due. The track for the winter raceday on Saturday was IMO opinion , Fantastic ! Yes ,I'm only one voice but I heard it mentioned by dozens of regular participants including trainers and punters alike...100% used superlative words to describe it. On Friday ,both day and night there had been significant rain and it was the 'suit all horses' fairness of it that drew the universal compliments !

Indeed Gamma.....all around the world Horse racing is struggling and inparticular Harness Racing ! To own a horse is particularly expensive.....if you own land to graze and house them decent land is very expensive and needed for the essentials Food and Housing ! To own a horse to race is a very expensive hobby ....chances of getting a good one are slim and the average return has almost double of late but it still less than 50%. As a punter , 95% of those lose ....overall people don't have spare cash to waste and most would rather spend it on boats ,holidays ,booze and wild woman. If desperate for a punt there are thousands of options ,more on-line casinos and sports that most people can easily follow. Not like the 1950's to 1980's when Racing was one of the rare things to have a flutter on and most workplaces had some sort of Weekly Betting Synd with a Xmas pot at the end...kind of compulsory savings ! As to the 'negaholics' with the record stuck , the aversion to talking to the folk they criticise like TAB boss and HRNZ boss they should read the nursery rhyme of the 'Boy Who Cried Wolf'. If there is no library close to their Southern cave I'll recall a brief story of a neighbour of ours ... Our hard working neighbour ,we called him Colonel had a nice little 'takeaway/dairy' on the main highway. He worked long hours to keep his family safe/fed and clothed etc and saved a little with a plan to send his oldest son to the city for Uni Education cos his boy considered very clever. Colonel had signs erected on nearby lamposts , farmers fences and in farmers fields for which he paid a fee ! This advertising made him well known and prompted passing traffic to pull-in for some food. His business went from strength to strength and he had to take on some staff to handle the growing Volume. Business was very good ! The time came when he sent his son at great cost to the City for University......after the first year his son came home and told his dad[ Colonel] He said ,..I major in Economics and Business and I've learned that things are DIRE out there. Inflation is raging,GDP is dropping ,Kiwisaver is losing ground ,the sharemarket is heading for a record low ,Trump [First time] has just got in ......things are very bad and will only get worse as we head into recession. So the Colonel immediately laid off his staff and worked his store alone and took down the signs to save money and shortened his opening hours.........the recession is coming ,and things will be bad ...my son has warned me and the daily News confirms it. After a couple of weeks he looked at his weekly sales and concluded.......Yes his son was right ,things had gotten very bad ,his business had gone down the toilet ! Mentor note....8 June 2025

The record is stuck ! Remove needle ,turn off power and give it a rest ! Reset ......change the way you think about things and the things you think about will change !

Ross Coles , a terrific contributor and outstanding horseman. Can attend the Harness a bit more and follow his interests ! Will be missed ,I'm sure from Ellerslie racedays !

As you say Gamma, Dean has been a positive influence in Harness racing and certainly likes to spend his own dosh on some nice horses. But I'd say he is naturally quite a shy character who in company prefers to sit quietly in the corner. One night at Alex Park his horses won 3 x races and he quietly slipped away and avoided the high fiveing and back-slapping often involved in the Winners room. And he was visibly moved when his horse won a big one on Show Day last November....he wrote 'leadership' columns when Entain got involved in NZTAB and set out some of the intended strategies.Noticeably he left the top NZ Administrators to release statements and get themselves a 'profile'.

IMO Gamma you can add Harrison Orange to your list of very promising drivers....maybe with the X factor as horses seem to really run for him . Also Wilson House can get them running on well when the others stopping thru impatience ! I see both the above repping NZ , with two others in the upcoming Junior series !

John Muirhead was the Head Stipe for Auckland Harness until he retired about 5 or 6 years ago. Len Butterfield was the legendary Head Stipe in South Island Harness for over 20 years up to 1978. He was much respected by many tho feared by a few. Back then the 'officials' were required to wear hats which added to the mystery. Len when young was a Canterbury cricketer and played one game for NZ...he presided over a great period of NZ Harness and did most of his job without film or video. He used to scribble notes on his pad while watching the race. He managed many controversial incidents eg when Jack Litten and Cecil Devine whipped each other down the Addington straight and champion Lordship's driver whipped all around him to get some racing room. Then in 1969 he disqualified NZ Cup winner Stella Frost....that was a biggie ! He took a strong interest in learning about Drugs which were emerging more and more. One of his successors was a Neil Escott.

My money was on the Colours being located and returned. In my experience most people are honest with a sense of fairness , and people who find things of some value will make an attempt to return or hand them in. Most people in racing are trying to do their best and do a good job , and chip in and help others !

Gee Thomas....two recent posts and you make a lot of sense , the other re JKR view of Wanganui track. Yet your posts seem to contradict the boss.....the guru of free speech ! Tread softly ,these pages don't want to see you banned !

Me thinks you the confused one cos the record is stuck and you on a continual loop ! You start this thread saying this Committee asked to help steer the future is " GOOD TO SEE " and maybe it should have been set up two years ago ! Then when HRNZ boss comments on it being pivotal you do an about turn and revert to the same ole songsheet ! Then you link me with saying that I thought the TAB was operating well.....dunno where I said that .Entain have certainly lifted the profile ,poured millions into promotions and marketing ,brought racing back into most newspapers etc and hammered TV which has the best cut-thru ! Certainly its a great time to be involved in racing ,with extra races , stakes and incentives for owners ,Trainers etc The TAB certainly provides many more betting options than in the past and the racing people I mix with are happy with the options etc. On Friday a punter at the trots showed me a $5 all up place bet which netted him $425 ...I asked 'Is your name Brodie '. Elite punters too seem happy with their relationship with TAB In the past I have encouraged you to at least meet the TAB and HRNZ to ask questions and voice concerns. Either you or Galah said you like to watch from a far......snipers , throw grenades and run. These people are easy to talk to ,easy to recognise and approach. At Alex Park last Friday I was speaking with 2 x of the high-powered folk mentioned.....no big deal ! You are deluded if you think you will meet them for ideas sharing on Social media and/or they will engage in 'negative' nonsense ! Get with the program Brodie and get on the money ! TAB Forever Mentor Memo ...2 June 2025

Exactly , when this happens at Trentham , these Boards go crazy. It doesn't add up......the stipes report confirms many horses were unsuited to the HEAVY conditions !

I think the most well known Racecourse Inspector was an ex-police character JB McKenzie . He was the #1 for many years !

Just passing on some feedback I received , and from observing a few races....the 1200m times seemed quick and the leaders won several races ! I taking my mentoring role seriously !

Of course you have ...no doubt ! But the world is full of educated derelicts ! IMO attitude is everything....is yours worth catching ? You been getting a lot of heat on here recently ,personally I haven't taken a lot of notice cos I do find some of it unnecessary ! IMO basic decency and fairness are non-negotiable ! Mentor memo....2 June 2025

Get with program Doomed ! You old buggers are from a previous era and thru natural attrition , competition [from all sides ]and the realisation among us younger generation that Horse Racing is a dying industry pretty much all round the world but especially in NZ....Horse racing cannot sustain itself ! The younger generation finds racing boring ......very boring , and very expensive too! Why would we bother. You old buggers enjoyed racing ,back in the day , when there was little else to do. It became part of our lifestyle our DNA ! But you went to sleep at the wheel and Clubs and Racing Admin didnt future proof their facilities and build up Reserves or a Trust bank. Most towns were given a Racetrack and facilities but run by volunteers most were only used a few times a year. People then learned to enjoy other things and put their time and money into travel , boats and buying property to protect their future. Raceclubs boxed on , lay mainly dormant , didnt build reserves. Lotto , Casinos ,Pokies came as did on line gambling and Sports betting.....all more fun and better than a few horses running around in a circle. Clubs remained open ,doing their own things...Costs ,health and safety and governance exploded. We all talked about Grey Way , Kiwi and Cardigan Bay ....great times ! Recently Sports Betting has subsidised Racing , the Govt has given handouts galore and OWNERS have existed on meagre returns but on the verge of INSOLVENCY more recently an Independent Aussie Messara was asked to present some home truths. Still inertia prevailed ...a fire sale [Kind of] saw Entain handed the reins with the promise of a huge Cash injection. Reading Messara They saw racing stuffed without Owners and Wagering. They started advertising ,like crazy and giving huge rewards to owners compared to previous. They saw that looking ahead...not your generation.....they needed to attract young people , not only to attend racedays but to wager more and into the future. So its music ,lollipops and candy and ballbits on course ,free horse ownership interests and plenty of wagering promotions. Its called BETCHA , to distinguish young people from the others...the old stale pale males ! But its not that easy.....racing doesnt stack up beside the music ,entertainment ,fashion ,travel alternatives . So now a group of 'high profile ' folk including Chris Waller and some knights and breeders are being brought together for a rap session to see if they can think up something that hasn't already tried....some thought starters ! Gotta give them points for trying ! Mentor memo ...2 June 2025

Not a good aftermath.......don't try to be a clever dick Chief......you not suited , MBA and all. MBA.....Major Bullshit Artist !