TAB For Ever

In your rush tomput a negative spin on everything NZ Racing you don't seem to understand the concept. But I guess it NZ's first galloping slot race...Big Dave was the slot holder for the Te Akau synd horse ,therefore he was the 'owner' for that race...hence he the winning owner as well as running the syndicate that owns the horse ! He seems to be a huge contributor to NZ racing !

I used to have a car like that ! ps..it actually less if you close to an on-ramp for Southern Motorway !Hobson or Symonds St

Yes possums so much happening in Auckland this weekend.....but with so much on and the cone boys never resting , you need to add a bit of travel time. Not only is NZ's most impressive ,amazing race day happening at NZ's only International racecourse but there is a ton of other stuff on too to suit all budgets.....much of it free too! And something for everyone so the missus or family has NO reason to keep you away from Champions Day , which gotta be the greatest day ever ..and only 8 min drive from CBD. Get up up here on Friday , Southerners can leave their raincoats and winter woolies behind. Auckland Arts Festival getting into full swing....SIX the Musical is 90 min great entertainment while Tammy Neilson among many others has shows on ,plus so much live music around the City ,much of it free. Friday night cross code Racing fans can attend Alexandra Park ,no bookings necessary..free parking ,free race book and free water supplied ! A few mins away the Blues Rugby team will be trying to show why they the current Super Champs. Come Saturday and so much on ...add travel time ..the Pasifica Festival usually huge and these events go into Sunday. For the kids ,there plenty happening.....a great Zoo and a some kids stuff at the races too....kids karts on display at trots , and free entertainment at Champions Day. The missus needs to enter the Fashion event while Dad joins the BGP room and competes in free picking Comp with huge cash prizes . Free shoe shine and comfortable seating wherever you on course. The afterparty at Ellerslie gonna be something special ! Great music and DJ's. If this South Islander can enjoy it you can too....gumboots and jandals OK in public stand with great viewing but if you want to mix in with the Jaffas try to bring a little decorum....and leave the envy and cynicism at the gates. Warning..Parking at a premium ,and bet sensibly !

Why are you so fukkin stupid ? Please answer that !

Dunno where you drum up your figures and doubt they accurate ,as you seem in such a rush to point out something negative. Didn't the Rangiora race have a full field of some near-Cup class horses competing for Rangiora's main race of the year while the other two races were pretty much weekly 'run of the mill events with 5 or 6 starters . Where and why do you dig up this shit.....both races probably run at a loss . But the owners/trainers get paid ! Why do you worry about this ...have you any skin in the game ? Your numbers often wrong.....FYI I have a friend who had a single $5k bet in at least one of the Addington races ...and it won @ skinny odds . The TAB had a great weekend...made heaps.....one of best weekends in Sport betting ever. The Warriors got smashed by big score and other Sports events very profitable for TAB. Dunno who died and made you Chief of the Tote and programming police !

Nah , just another fun element to get people on course.......otherwise we'd all just stay at home and watch the tele and look for faults in the presenters and revert to the keyboard. Expecting folk to pay over $200 for 15 min of horses running in a circle while spending over 10 hours out and about just doesn't cut it ,even with a bit of music to look forward to ! Years of watching boring horse races causes anti- social behaviour , cynicism and severe depression leading people to revert to anonymous abuse on-line......in other words it ducks ya !

Exactly.........,.Derby , Cup , Group 1's , Aussie horses , Aussie jockeys ......gotta be the best day of your life ! Best 'value' definitely looks to be a ticket in the BGP room where you can mix with racing people from all over NZ.....sure the price gone up to $195 in past week but with lunch , a few drinks , comfortable surroundings with the added twist of winning some Cash in the picking contest . Pick one horse in each race and the most points earned picks up $10 k Cash, $2500 for second and $2500 Bonus bet for 3rd. Plenty of stuff happening over the weekend to make it memorable ! The price seems very comparable to many of the popular hospitality spots at Wingatui today....in a tent at ground level , some cheap champagne and a snack for $250 per head !

RIP Big Mike .....very popular , friendly person and successful trainer. Thoughts go out to his family and friends. I was lucky enough to meet him at his Stable day just last Cup week in Melbourne.

Me thinks his first two words were a friendly greeting ......Kia Ora Tatou . ' Hello Everyone ' Came out Koro Tata !

Pretty much agree...racing now seen as a televised sport and people now find a day at the races too boring and their time/money spent better elsewhere. Ellerslie does well on the 'big days' when much of the hospitality is sold out. Certainly more money made in the food and beverage than in the on course betting. PLus with 20 plus meetings a year , cant go back to the well every couple of weeks .Flemington makes most of its money in Cup week. The bigger crowds are generally around iconic meetings[ Kumara] and traditional holiday dates [Tauherenikau ].......give us your list and over next few weeks I'll take a peak at their key numbers. The Grand Tour numbers have been good , with the gate charge being paid by young folk for a day out at the races followed by well known musicians performing ! Certainly Grand Tour events I've witnessed have seemed successful , particularly NZ Cup day at Riccarton , a couple at Ellerslie and one at Pukekohe .. Christmas at the Races and Summer Racing are two successful promotions which seem to have stood the test of time ! Anyway ,please list the Clubs that attract the large crowds .

Well Murray , first you hurt my feelings , then you double down on your bullyboy comments then you welcome a confrontation and some sort of debate ! What the hell on ? I was trying to be polite with my choice of word....tosser . Are you gonna prove to others on here your superiority in what field ? Or is yours bigger than mine ? etc ....You appear to have returned to live in Dunedin , seems very odd at your age .I assume you not a scarfie . Most people join the 3 x best things to come out of Dunedin ASAP. 1] The road to Christchurch 2] the road to Central Otago [Cromwell , Clyde ans Wanaka] or even 3] The road to Invercargill. You move there ...ha,ha Racing almost completely lost its soul and participants in Dunedin and surrounds .If the Andertons and Kennedys left there would be ZERO Racing. Harness training ceased and Forbury Park closed , and most of the galloping fraternity left too. Doomed can explain that Wingatui only survives thru favourtism. what else can you debate and bully me on ! Career and work. You claim to have 100,000 horse photos. I have 6 , but they all Group 1's plus 150 at the beach and 150 travel ! And the photographers I know are mainly wimps who couldn't pull a sailor off their sister who hang around race meetings with their hand on it ...the clicker. And they have the personality of postage stamps or worse still dead fish ! I guess Tom Llloyd rode a 100cc motor bike and drunk gin , and Taylor Strong doubled up on print ,ditto Jack Morris who trained a bit. I even did a bit of stuff for a few papers so picked a few more winners than you ! So dunno how you gonna confront me....you keyboard warrior you ! Dreams are free....I realise Cherry farm closed in 1990's but did Ashburn Hall take you back to Dunedin ?

As a regular attendee ,this often a good option. Afterall Racing now mainly a televised sport , and you see more and hear more watching on TV. The marketers are convinced that attracting new and younger people to Racing at least starts with the on-course experience which is enhanced with hospitality options , gimmicks and music/bands !

The aftermath......such a great weekend for NZ Racing ! And Too Darn Hot here at present. Reading story about Dunedin man who tore head off seagull....used to be nice people down that way !

Whoever is second is a long way behind !

Tosser !

Nepotism ? Don't think this word has reached the South Island. For decades 'everyone in NZ Racing ' agreed there were too many tracks but no-one could decide what best for future and certainly didnt want to lose their own. Eventually some 'centralisation ' took place to save many of the wasteful duplication of expense etc. Many clubs just rusted away and the racing DNA of areas rotted with them. From the 80's everyone called for two things.....better track surfaces and higher stakes. Even tho you don't seem to get out much and/or too actual tracks/meetings you must know all this . So we are where we are today. NZ racing has long punched above its weight and has provided an amazing springboard for our best horsemen and horses ...we have never had the betting power to match Australia or even maintain our infrastructure. But Ellerslie doing their best to keep up...kudos to them . The exemplar....and Pukekohe as a back up and within 2hrs of biggest NZ horse population. Just look at last Saurday......Ellerslie tick ,a good competitive card.... Mr Brightside , Jimmystar , MMoroney ,Waller ,Busuttin /Young ,I Wish I win , Per Incanto ,Mickey Dee , James Mac in Dubai. NZ racing , so much to be positive about ! A great time to be involved . Pessimism is for liteweights ! PS....read the Boy who cried Wolf !

A sensible post from you Chief , and one worth considering. Personally experienced a trial abandonment a while back thru lightning and threat of more but not for slips ! Maybe the trials take less costly preparation , so much easier to call off in advance . Maybe horses and jockeys going slower and a lot more care taken . Definitely many horses just there for an outing/ fitness so much less urgency !

Seriously Doomed , people in authority should not spend their time on Social media...may learn the odd thing , very odd ! IMO Posters need to gather their facts and not just guess about things and repeat gossip and mother-in-law research ! I do wonder about you utter faith in the Timaru Cup and the fading club that hosts it....gotta say I enjoyed both codes there back in the day but like Grey Way , they didn;t last forever !

Come on champ........many tracks should have been closed over 50 years ago when it was first talked about ! Money wasted on tracks with NO future and relevance has slowed down considerably the move into the modern world, with higher expectations , greater and intense competition , strict health and safety rules etc OK ,bemoan the past but look to the future , that more important ! Do yourself a favour ,book a ticket north to Champions Day at Ellerslie in March. Take you grand daughter too they having a Kids area . Something for everyone ....at acceptable modern standards. Never been a better time to be involved !

Come on champ.....we all know better stakes were essential to even keep the industry afloat.

Well its great we have one heading in the right direction ! And 3 x synthetics my slow slugs and open minded trainers are happy to race on !

Most never read the M report ,they just were anti it ! Some definitely missed the paragraph where he said NZ didn't have one decent track...not one ! At least since then Ellerslie have forked out their own money to get their track up to standard.....seems to be getting better by the month ! Good on em ! NZTR has track improvement 'top of mind ' in their strategic plan. The Waikato Greenfields project would be great for the future......hopefully a sale of Avondale will see some dollars go that way ! Overall some fantastic racing around the world at weekend. Ellerslie of course...come on admit it .....don't focus on the price of hotdogs or the stop/start tactics of jockeys ,Ellerslie better by the month ! And there was Mr Brightside , Mike Moroney etc showing their stuff in Melbourne. And the Saudi Cup ...with kiwi content....world's richest race. No doubt they had a choice , and run the race on Dirt in front of Winston too ! He heard murmuring ......Maybe i'll give the perennial keyboard warriors some ammo by building a couple of them Dirt tracks. Maybe climate change etc will demand it ! Some of the worlds best horses and horse people racing on dirt / synthetic tracks. Now there is an idea.....no doubt he saw the South Island horses running around for $50 k on a Sunday and states the Doomed logic....would get the same field for $20k.

Maybe Baghdad Note. Then the very next year Igloo ! Both these horses were from Otago stables quite close to each other , along with the jockey too ! A bit more recently 'young' Hecky Anderton took a few horses to Aussie and won races in Victoria , at least a listed race with Native Monarch. Also a Group race with The Jewel for Dennis Brothers , plus two placings in Group 1 Oaks/ Derby in Queensland. All above from the same Wingatui 'block'. Hecky is Grandad of the promising apprentice doing well in Victoria ...Taylah Kennedy ! Her other Grandad Mouse Kennedy was private trainer at one time for Joe Brown who took Reformed over to the Melbourne Cup and ran third...to a Christchurch horse Dalray. A bit of history for ya ,Sunline ...also the odd good golfer from down south...John Lister and Greg Turner for eg !

The Harness figures/comparisons etc etc are currently fairly up to date on the HRNZ website. Under Official Information....Raceday performances. Fill your boots..... Times have changed since Turnover was the key to progress...now GBR , but businesses generally don't update margins to all in sundry on a weekly or daily basis. Too much reporting of individual GBR's and analysis of it , will just do one's head in. And creates nothing but negativity as easy to put a slant to results etc.....Most of the racing folks I know enjoy their involvement in racing without constantly worrying about things outside their control. The folk who know all the answers need to be at the heart of the business , if they not we only have ourselves to blame .

Well I'm not one to gossip but I do know the Turnover increases have been steady with the stand outs being the Karaka day [ incl World Pool] and the eleven Premier meetings around Boxing Day New year up to Kumara...Thats 2 x Ellerslie , 2 x Trentham and Kumara included up 22%. The 2 months Nov/Dec combined saw Gallops + 10% , Harness +8% , Dogs +7%. Sports betting +10% and nearly matching Gallops and Harness combined ! Active accounts +30k up to 200k.. Field size for both main codes were down which doesnt help , and many will say the key figures are the the GBR or profit ! Methinks bonus bets etc can skew things. But its not disastrous . I'd mark it ..... Racing needs to do better , to justify increased advtg and promotion etc. So possums , spend ,spend, spend ......don't sit on the sidelines , racing may be a televised sport but it needs your money thru the tote !