TAB For Ever

The much maligned Northern Racing 'Group' could help out. Following on the initiatives in recent years around Ellerslie , Puke and the ATR and talk of the Waikato Greenfields proposal the Northern 'division ' could sort it . Sell Avondale and divert ALL the funds back to racing .........start on purpose built Waikato Greenfields [ and the current facilities sales in the plan ] and produce two purpose built International Racecourses with Training centres . This includes one in CD in a flood free area that can grow grass ! Make CD racing 'worthwhile' again ...it ain't in good shape ,lets face it !

Who IYO are the country clubs who could step up and enhance the industry , and would be keen to rollup their sleeves more than they do now ??

Final Orders won a double at Trentham one year. Shudup was out of Natter [ a Riccarton horse from Tutton barn ] who won the NZ Oaks. Of course Bill rode a lot of Syd's horses and Syd had some very good ones. Daryl's Joy was stand out and trail blazer , along with Weenell ,Woodcourt Inn etc etc as the article states. The lack of people in photo would suggest the ride had not been a successful one and a post mortem in progress. 3 x piece suit ,maybe not the heat of summer, but around the early sixties when several of those CD meetings like Marton raced on their own track . I'd m\lead to one of the 'lesser' CD tracks tho dividend board looks substantial.

Don't worry champs.....plenty of good stuff happening out there in the NZ Racing scene. I still got plenty of great stuff to share with you when the occasion arises ! I'll cheer you all up....please no despair .

Seen two movies this week....oh the lifestyle of a Jaffa ! The Promised Land [Denmark] and Il Postino [The Postman] ...Italian Film Festival. Enjoyed both ......The Postman been around over 40 years ,nearly as long as many NZ racecourse facilities !

It doesn't seem to matter to NZ Post ! I'm looking at March results....will give the quicksand mob something to chew on !

And quite easily too ! Despite Betting being up in all 3 codes in March , Sports Betting is dong a La Mer and in a couple of strides putting lengths on em ! Sports Betting up + 17 % to $89 mil. Gallops up 21% to $45 mil, Harness up 6% to $18mil and Dogs up 7% to <$10 ...Total $73 mil. MHouse says betting up 6% but race numbers up 11% ??? But look at the posssitivvvvity here , not other stuff. A step in the right direction , gottacount for something ! Hopefully the Margins up too !!

What will happen in March 2025 ??

The messages on the posters for sale are inspirational.....essential reading ! What I can Control ! Problem solving . Q. If you think I am so terrible why are you talking to me ?

If they ban social media for Under 16's this site will lose a lot of South Island posters ! But more Jafas will bring a bit of balance !

Great to see Temu ads on BOAY...especially the poster sale...$2.37 including shipping..... Brilliant to see the poster showing Things I Cannot Control , things one shouldn't focus any time and energy on. And they give a list things one should focus on......I Can Control. Obviously the advertiser saw a captured market here who could benefit from these lists to help with their postings ! Absolute Gold !

Well its historical now ,nearly 5 years ago and you two are the first to heap the praise on and credit NZTR for such a game-changing document. Odd that the NZ Industry couldn't pay its bills and was close to insolvency ,yet had the solution to their predicament all along. And hard to imagine a hard-nosed Aussie with a sound leadership reputation would allow himself to be used in this way.

A totally NEW race on the calendar ...... Placed on the same day as some iconic NZ races ,not only did it attract phenomenal interest from Australia and abroad ,but in a soft and very competitive wagering environment it increased betting on those iconic races as well. And the total active betters in NZ on that meeting was a record ! And the good news is next year it is going to be bigger and better again ! Year one and all NZ betting records were either beaten or nearly beaten. Not that one day or one race proves anything ,they gotta keep repeating it ! But the alternative was obvious...keep doing the same ole , same ole and NZ racing would be back where we were.....unable to pay our bills and technically insolvent. A great time NOW to be involved !

Unhinged was hyped up to night. I think it fair to say he didn't expect a top3 finish let alone a win in a Group 2 race with his 2 yr old filly ! He was a happy chappy ....well done to him and his team. That horse only cost $16k .

Yes the NZ Cup has been an iconic race for over 100 years and the sheepshaggers love to descend on Christchurch for the week. So for a new race to get anywhere near it in interest and turnover is simply staggering ! A totally new race and concept doing so well first up.......the highest number of bettors engaged on the day ! Sure it had a great supporting program so won't threaten Melbourne Cup day for bets but a grand start ! Plus Aussies got involved ...... With so much great sport in Auckland and so much to attend , its great that it got so much cut-through and so well supported by all of NZ ! I enjoyed the days's racing immensely.......And loved a lot of cup weeks too !

And I didn't even mention Auckland Reactor or Chase Auckland....didn't want to inflame the Crusaders , anti- Auckland faction. Galah seems to take Harness very seriously and follow it closely but I think he should get out more ! When he doesn't know stuff he just makes it up !

Not sure if you quoted me correctly.....you seem to be getting over intoxicated with your own exuberance. Mark Purdon had been a great trainer for many years , always looking to improve ..and he just got better and better and when he moved to Canterbury the owners flocked to him . Made some big mistakes but that seemed to drive him harder and he was always learning looking to get better. His work ethic and dedication was second to none . The big owners wanted their best horses to be with him , and in the big races he started having half the field ,certainly dominating age group stuff ,then trotting ,then the older pacers. Once he joined with the #2 X factor horseperson Natalie they were unstoppable. Some posters may have forgotten their utter domination of Group racing both here and in Australia. The duo made a few changes eventually deciding to ease back on horse numbers etc and their partnership waived. Nathan was weaned into the team initially in Australia....but whatever happened they cut back their numbers and OWNERS have started to drift away. Many of their prominent owners with one eye on the industry , started supporting other younger trainers ,and with Mark so obviously easing out of the day to day grind...he lives and trains gallopers in Matamata. His property in Rolleston with the iconic straight track has earned him more money than his horses ever had. Why shouldn't he ease back ? A lot ? Currently I doubt they have one Horse Of Year category winner...a couple of years back after Lazarus he had One Change, Ulimate Sniper ,Spankem ,The Fixer all category winners with Smolda , Have Faith in Me etc sent to Aussie to mop up. That was just after Princess Tiffany , ElleMac .Dream to be Me and Adore Me had been dominant mares among others. In 2021 True ,Fantasy ,Bettor Twist [8 x group 1] Amazing Dream ,Akuta and Self Assured fought for honours . Before Millwood Nike won 17 straight ! BTwist won $600k in a season, MNike $700k in short career, Spankem $900k in a season and Self Assured $931k in a season ,$2.4 overall In 2022 the stable started Self Assured , Spankem, BTwist ,Mach Dan in small Auckland Cup field then wheeled out Akuta and Amazing Dream the next week ! Currently the stable has about 1 or 2 Open class pacers and Oscar the great trotter and their young horses are chasing Todd ,Dalgety , Cullen horses ...and soon it will be brother Barrys turn to burn dust . Many of these horses at least partowned by All Stars ex owners. What was the question again ?

My take on the apparent lowering of All Stars standards and success is this.... The key to All Stars dominance was that the principal cog in the machine was the boss Mark Purdon. A great worker , dedicated to excellence , a great selector of young horses an eye for detail....real X factor ! The 'master ' horseman purchased and was offered the top horses around. Then he was joined by a another X factor horsewoman Natalie who was also , like Mike , a great driver ! These two ruthlessly sorted out their young stock early on to ensure they only filled their stables with horses who could race at the top level. Often they had 5 or 6 top horses per age group while most others had 1 or 2.. Their decision to split and some of 'interesting' partnerships that resulted have weakened the brand and reputation and with Mark obviously being less involved some of their bigger owners have placed some well bred horses with younger and rival trainers. So often now you see just one All Star horse in a Group race when years ago there was regularly 3 or 4. Examples of this in recent weeks have been plentiful. The Kennards have horses with R Todd and other young trainers, the Dunfords have 2 x horses who have moved recently to the Cullens and the Kennys of Adore Me etc family are with Dalgety . Sure the bigger breeders like Kennys [ Woodlands] and Breckons need to support trainers who support them but when Mark is based in Matamata with a couple of Harness horses plus training gallopers while the bulk of Allstars in Pukekohe Owners must be encouraged to invest in these other good young trainers !

In recent years his stable and wife hosted a couple of our Kiwi synd .horses and also drove them in races. Struck me as a real Industry role model....a dedicated ,modest ,friendly very genuine individual. I am stunned he has been taken so young ! RIP

Never underestimate our Harness horses Gamma. And YES we will claim Mister Smartee...raced a few times ,twice I think , before sale and on Cup Day 2022 it was a joint hot fav along with Sinbad. Looked a two horse race and so it proved. Sinbad roared around from a second row draw and the two cleared out from rest. There was a bit of contact and tho Sinbad was ahead at the line ,the siren sounded and the result was reversed. I think it was a Maiden 2 yr old and they ran 1.53 MR for the 1980m. Driver Tim Williams for Craig Edmonds. Gotta assume it was sold. PS Great night at Alex Park last night , 5 x group 1's and top Canterbury horses plus a couple of Aussies !

Surely you haven't forgotten one of the key Management essentials you would have learned during your MBA...ie gather your facts ! As I found out when discussing some parts of the Messara report with you , I suspect you did not read the full report / criteria for these Awards. You had such a dislike before reading ,you skimmed over it looking for defects.......I compare it with someone walking into an award winning garden. You [ and your cheersquad of the tight five plus one or two wannabees ] walk into the garden and step on the Flowers in the quest to point out any weeds !] The Criteria for judging is well thought out covers the essentials of a well run club in 2025 ...NO random plethora but rather Governance , Finance, Racing, Innovation, and Marketing . And it is a annual award...covers 12 months [ Masterton ran a 8 racecard on 24 March 2024] so defects from the past largely irrelevant in the judging except they could help if they have resulted in great improvements and changes. And ownership of Assets such as racecourses no big deal. Indeed clubs often better off if they cash up and lease another course . Certainly could be overall better for the Industry as a whole .And easier to upgrade a few courses than upgrade 50 ! Possibly a reason that countries / regions overseas with more land and /or less people than NZ have far less Courses and Clubs work better together in clusters . And who are these worthy clubs who failed to be nominated. Maybe they were not worthy . Maybe they didn't try or care ,made no effort .One Bloke on here gives huge raps to the Tauherenikau course and the clubs that race there and no one has ever suggested any other pearls ! One old fella gets excited about Washdyke and Woodville ,I'm not so sure ! In fact IMO many posters on here , including the tight five are very biased , I doubt if too many have attended Ellerslie of late and that course gets the most mentions and much of it negative. And I doubt if any at all have visited Avondale for many many years and it gets it's share of affection ! So if folk don't attend live meetings much , they don't read key documents in their entirety , they don't read the financials ,they don't read many articles and news updates as some of this behind walls then how do the get their info to form opinions. From their neighbours mother in law ? Or off anonymous social media where abuse is welcomed . Yes and yes methinks plus TV is huge. And how people long for the good ole days , when they got out and about a bit !

Unsure about this........ IMO Masterton Financials look OK....$200 k in the Bank and Total Equity ie This Cash and Freehold Land/Buildings recently revalued in books . Equity close on $3 mil ,NO liabilities of any note And they seem to be frugally run by mainly Volunteers , earning a positive cash flow from 40+ horses on training track ,plus some income from sale of farm products and lease of land. Yes they run their meeting at the well run and maintained Tauherenikau course. Their meetings the past few years seem to have gone ahead as planned ,hence their nomination in the 2024 Awards.....the 2024 Awards were based on the 2024 year ,as one would expect !

The track really was in amazingly good condition after the overnight rain and participants were blown away how well it played. But this is Horse Racing and most horses that run below it's connections expectations will reach , in the 'aftermath' , to the book of excuses. In my experience...and thats what I love to refer to , the most used excuses are the track conditions and the jockeys/drivers performance.

Gold indeed Chief....the trainer had used the 'unsuitable soft ground' excuse twice before so understandably not prepared to go for the Trifecta. One didn't have to be a rocket scientist to realise with the Easter rain , plus 34 m overnight.....it pissed down at times , the poor forecast and the verti draining .....a firm summer track was 100% impossible ! A bit of kick back......R E. A. L. L. Y. !

Well you could do with a 'indirect' telling off to for misleading the readers. Recently when asked why you were so negative toward NZ racing you gave a heart-warming story about how racing had been such a big part of your life and you wanted your own grandies to experience similar....or words to that effect , I cried for hours afterwards. Then more recently you mentioned you had 'left or given up NZ racing ' for a period ,which seems a total contradiction. Something good must have been happening in NZ Racing then for you to resume 'living the dream' . We must be drinking the same Kool Aid !