TAB For Ever

Great effort by these two to nab the two most of the most Iconic races on same day ! Craig Grylls now has 3 x Wellington Cups ...Graphic [2400m] and Lincoln King. And carries on a great family tradition. His dad Gary won the Cup on Oarsman in 1985....a very good rider too ! Grand dad JF [ John] Grylls won the Auckland Cup on Kia Maia in 1960's and I think Gary did likewise. As for Thorndon ,I think Tara's Pride from Taranaki won that for JFG. So all 3 have quite a collection of big wins. Definitely all three have won the Easter Handicap which early on was the main Group 1 mile in NZ , Craig on Pasta Post in 2008 when only 15 years old. Top family of people as well !

Bluey's Chance went a huge race in Wellington Cup today...a huge 5th ,been placed in it previously. What other horses have travelled so extensively around NZ since Grey Way ? Blueys Chance has raced in many Group races including the big Cups even Auckland and raced in most South Island provinces[ possibly all of them ] plus several in North . What a trooper...he contested in inter-provincial race in Taranaki ,and his next race will be his 100th ! One achievement he has on Grey Way is he has raced , and won on a NZ Synthetic track. Well done to connections for having a crack !

Please stick to the topic Chief. The finances of WRC are of little interest to me ...not my concern ! Why are you so besotted by them ? I notice houses on either side of the shute ....and one of their Board was bit of a fiddler I seem to recall and I'm sure the Club has been the usual mixture of politics ,personal bias , bad feelings and bad decisions. A shame for such an iconic Club with great memories for my village ,my family and me !

Phone a friend , get them to put the phone by the tranny ! Or watch/ listen to it on your phone.....but keep your eyes on the road and obey all traffic signals. For a man who frequently says he has given up on Racing ,you still seem pretty keen and enthusiastic !

It's been well documented for years....Trentham track has been very inconsistent in a bad way ,usually too hard but sometimes faulty irrigated affected by wind has been a factor. Plenty of excuses given , but that of little consolation. One year half the horses who contested an iconic stakes race ,never raced again ! Plus Racing now is very much a TV sport/business.

I read where the Riccarton synthetic was a big factor in Lady Telena's turnaround in form. After some 25 starts as a maiden in the North Island she went South and picked up a couple of lowkey wins at Ashburton. She then raced on the Synthetic ,placed and won then went on to win 3 of her next 5 starts in South A new horse...appreciated the kind and consistent surface.

Welcome back Michael from the Top Of The South ! Did you pop out to the trots yesterday ? Does the flame still burn ?

Only a few more days then attention will turn to the PRESENT ! Karaka Million....please if you not booked to go ,then make an effort. Gonna be memorable. Best race day in NZ by a country mile......the only meeting better than NZ Trotting Cup day. A bit ahead of Kumara , Kurow , Kaikoura , Reefton , Nelson ....beats them all. The best Horses [ some Aussie ] ,the best jockeys [ some Aussie ,if Air Nz can process them qick enough and they get thru the traffic around the Malls ] the best track , and best facilities and BGP kicking up a storm. Young people punting big , the fillies looking gorgeous , the roses are out , new railings ! Just great !

Some horses have repeatedly tried to win the Cup ......Waisake is one who has won race and ditto Leaderboard who won on heavy track last year. I think outsider Bluey's Chance has placed before. A while back in the halcyon days the top Canterbury horse Magnet Bay was 3 x times placed in race .As was the McKee horse Ebony Honour 3 x times placed. Close but no cigar ! Ahhhh the memories !

Stick to the topic Chief and start a new thread....I just did......the Wellington Cup just excites me so much. Great Sensation used to be ridden past our house by Mick Brown after he finished work at the Scour Mill in afternoon. I knew his son and the village was just so wrapped up in his journey as an older horse . One year they scratched him at Trentham as a barrier 'rogue'...bastards. Listened to his 3rd win by transister by a Canterbury river [ intro by Wayne Andrews or Murray King for NZBC racing service] and my Dad then decided we had to go every year after that. As an older person I tried to carry on that trend until one day the crowd made it impossible to move [ maybe Rod Stewart's fault] I couldnt even thrust my Southern Chest out when Ed won ! Then when my old mate Neil Purvis's [RIP] Cluden Creek ,who went by an alias , won it was chaos.Then I went early one day and my horse was caught up by an accident on the pathetic road north and only just made the Course and I wasn't allowed to go and see it cos the RULES changed for H & S and dont think I been back ,bar once on Anniversay day when the place like Chernobyl. Tough now I don't go but can hardly afford to buy my lunch ,but that another issue. Or maybe I really feel for the horses I seen break down on the Champagne Turf....usually cos it too hard...and have their last race there ! Ahhhh the memories ! Of course Neil Purvis RIP ,not the only All Black to win the Cup. Joe Karem did too and WE Hazlett ....probably others !

Maybe not the crowds of the good ole days but still one of the biggest days on NZ's punting calendar ! And some here will remember some of the big upsets over the years ! Some here will have noticed the horse at bottom of field , a 9 start non-win maiden who to date has run 2 x thirds. But Trentham has earned it's reputation as the Punters graveyard and the Cup has produced some real upsets. In 1972 Simon De Montford stunned many when he won and paid $180. He was ridden by Brian Dobbs who started his apprenticeship in Christchurch [from Timaru family].It was quite a 'hot ' field particularly cos Silver Knight had recently won the Melbourne cup ridden by RB Marsh and was expected to win. KIWI is the only horse who has won the Melbourne /Wellington double. Then in 1999 Miss Bailey upset and paid $143. A 7 year old mare who had virtually been retired the year before and offered for sale for $400 , had been trained by Bruce Marsh ,joined the Lowry stable [I think] at Hastings and had a new lease and won the Cup as a 2 x race winner [$15k stakes]. The next season she raced 5 x times for 4 x lasts and had 7 x foals from which one won but one progeny sold for big money ] $180 k at Karaka. Miss Bailey ridden by Jim Walker ?? and I remember wondering why it had paid up to race ! In 1987 Rastes was rank outsider and paid $50 . It ridden by Lofty Taylor @ 49kg for trainer Danny Walker who now at Byerley Park but I think was CD back then. So it doesn't pay to disregard any horses chances at Trentham. Ive been in a few who have tried to win the race....one year the track was like concrete and the other year the irrigation went haywire and half the track was concrete and the other half was soft and cutting out ! Another historic race is the NZ Oaks...In 1980 a filly called Supreme Glory won as a maiden ridden ,I think ,by Jim Waker .She finished her race career of 38 starts with just this one win and a couple of placings. She didnt click on any other day and she had various great riders ,Peake , Childs, Cooksley and O'Sullivan but generally like to follow the other horses around. Will there be some big upsets there tomorrow ?

All big races and many Clubs are going to be under extra pressure now that the ATR have Ellerslie up and running and the stakes there likely to get away from the bulk of other Clubs. Summer Racing there is going to flourish . In past few days I had a tour of the place and tho it not Flemington or Randwick and still a lot of upgrade possible it going to help future proof racing into the immediate future at least....IMO Owners and connections should be keen to get and stay involved and hopefully punters will take up some slack too. Maybe if Avondale climbed on board it could really become a game changer IMO And some of the riches could overflow down to the Waikato and a fantastic track set up there too for back to back top class racing every weekend. Maybe wont match the big crowds of Kumara or Mot trots , but will be a start !

Thanks ,a 45 mins well spent listening to it twice. My Dad flew me up from South Island for many of those....Midge Didham was our next door neighbour and his Dad [Old Arthur ...Igloo ....] was two blocks away. The Didhams were going to be my next YARN ! They still current ditto the Andertons ! Peter Kelly ...magic , freeflowing but of course no vdeos etc to check his accuracy.He had Il Tempo coming late ! A lot of Southerners there ,I'd forgot Young Arthur Didham had Golden Sam there and one year the South was second third and 4th.Palisade [Skipper Wilson] and two Ted Winsloe horses Red Siren and Cassarook.Of course the great Anderton horses Trelay and Princess Mellay ran places as well. And several of my favourite Northern horses Duty Free , Whakamoa and Monastic[ Wanganui Ace ]. Peter got a few of his phrases from Dave Clarkson ....."putting in an appearance". The most memorable Peter Kelly moment to me was when La Mer put 4 lengths on the NZ Oaks field in 2 or 3 strides !And my favourite race was when Oopik beat Furys Order in the Hawkes Bay Guineas , I could do that race in about 1min 40.In 1980's I was riding my motor scooter overseas and the cops pulled me over for speeding ,chasing me down after they clocked me while hidden behind a bush.They asked me what song I was singing at the top of my lungs .I said 'that wasn't a song it was the Hawkes Bay Guineas ! Recent mentioned Canterbury horse Ribaldo was on that tape...he actually ran second in both Auckland Cup and lead up QE , behind Apollo Eleven. Peter Kelly.......ahhh the memories !

I'm not asking for a name......he wants to know who I am and what I up to.Early on my length in Racing questioned !!! I very ordinary ,and put my pants on the same way as the next guy. I just want to know from what angle he coming from....he could be a trainer , an owner , a club administrator. A regular race attender. Or a woman with hairy arms who smokes clay pipes out of a Catlins cave ! An easybet punter ! Surely you can let that info out of the box yet still remain anonymous . I mean I not a scammer asking for CC details. I add a bit of background to my YARNS by divulging I have horses and trainers which have shaped my views ...then the horses abilities get questioned , ditto the trainers. All three trainers are Group winning trainers, two considered among the best ever in NZ ...legendary.Just like the Aussie ones supporting Synthetic tracks in Australia as recently as yesterday ! Stick to the original thread Chief , and be fair !

My horses all fine. Personally I'd prefer my horses to be stars on the grass but few are that good , most horses are plodders who win ZERO to one race ! But we all dream. You were the one who mentioned the trials being transferred to an earlier date. You clearly didn't know the reasoning. I had heard but chose not to do your work for you !You had had few new threads started so it gave you something to do and something for us to read. Clearly there was a too big a gap between trials... synthetic racing doesnt start till winter months ,plus many folk are hoping to buzz their horses along at this time to get a good sale. And empty the boxes for influx of new young horses to work on . You will have noticed recent trials at Foxton.Several Waikato horses trekked South for a stern test to impress for SALE ! Get with the program Chief !

The Timaru race has been mentioned in my yarns. IMO it well rated as a hack handicap. It has a nice stake , a good date and well positioned between NOV - mid Jan as a good pipe opener for top Southern horses. The top ones rarely do the Coast , maybe sailing home and Titch [ North] excepted. Expecting the race to be promoted IMO , not likely ,not justified. Delusional even !

Interesting you won't even mention why you so negative about things and what your connection is to the conversation topic. Clearly just a 'keyboard warrior' ! And gather your facts ! Two of my 4 horses who raced and trialled on the Synthetic were premier day winners and one a listed big race winner !And for only one has it prolonged a horses career ,tho I did suggest to trainer to send it South where racing is much easier ,stakes are good and it a far cry from the Halcyon days I refer to . And my yarns are in relation to my personal experiences ,as working around stables/stallions you meet a few folk and visit a few behind the scene places .So sorry about that ! With the Wellington Cup around the corner....my favourite race ever.....a lot of YARNS are filling my head , most already recalled in recent YARNS . South Island racing folk really looked forward to Trentham racing.

No real crux....just a bit of a YARN. When I see or hear certain names or things mentioned I immediately are reminded of word association games I played when young. For years I have read these racing sites and the constant reference to 'stuff of little consequence' actually wore me down and as its something I enjoy cos I do it in both codes I thought i'd tell a few yarns about my experiences and try to keep the personal bias , out of it. I want the future of NZ racing and breeding to be secure and prefer to talk about the bright future because a lot of Kiwis are employed in it for starters. The 'good old days ' really were the 'bad old days' but many look on the 1960's thru 1980's as the halcyon days of NZ racing and I can handle that era quite well...I say modestly. Certainly the South Island racing back then was often very memorable ,with some great horses and personalities. But its a nonsense to keep trying to build up the Southern's performance of late....for various reasons. I try to YARN about my experiences.I used to love going to heading Washdyke , both codes too . Then the thread turned to Mister Pompous who I know a little about , ditto LJ Molloy who I see around time to time . Mister Pompous [by Rapanni] was bred by Sir Henry Kelliher ,a prominent beer baron who provided a retirement home for Cardigan Bay on his Island in Auckland harbour. Washdyke had some great horses associated with it..of course Phar Lap and Grey Way were two of the best. From memory I remember 2 x good stayers Fieldmaster [NZ Cup] and good performer Royal Dell . Trainers included MJones,BT Jones , A Cowan , E Corboy , JacK Daly [Gay Doctor a favourite] K Hampton .Harness personalities included GD Shand , Paul Gallaher and many more .Plus at nearby Geraldine ,Orari there were many others both codes. Brosnans [Kerrytown] Sam Henderson [a good man at forbury] and the Pratts who I think had the good sprinter Flying View. Makikihi was close to and Clem Scott produced great trotters Le Chant and Stylish Major. S Edge [ NZ Cup] Washdyke used to have a lot of things it seemed to drift away from ..it had 2 x meetings between Xmas and New Year and it held some very early Grand National steeples .Its current Timaru Cup has a nice stake and usually attracts a couple of the Souths best horses and a fairly average field ,so often these good horses win as topweights and a few 10 year olds have won recently eg William Wallace and Gallant boy [topweight]. Other recent topweights been Who Dares Wins, Tommy Tucker ,El Chico .Final Touch [class mare] The Meista Tittsgittin., Eel Win . This year the race had more depth ...half [ 7 of 14] were horses trained in North Island or imports from North. One Co-winner had won 4 x races on Synthetic [ 3x Cambridge, 1 x Riccarton] and the otherwas a horse that has progressed thru grades quickly. Not surprisingly the topweights couldnt hack it but as top horses they won last week ! And you Special Agent seem to want to trip me up on Syntheic track facts...they have little history other than there are more going in as training tracks especially in big Aussie venues plus Cheltenham and Newmarket in UK.Yesterday Warwick Farm ran 7 of its 20 trials on syntheitic. All top trainers [ and jockeys] participating incl Chris Waller. So Cambridge has NO FACTS re its longevity os only opened less than 3 years.I've had 4 x horses trial and race on them , 2x horses have won ,the trainers like em. I really like the consistency of them. My young mates like betting on them .I really like the fact trainers arent charging hefty transport costs carting my horses all over to find variable traks. I think they part of the future ,a big part especially for training and trials. I'd support higher track fees to future proof them. Just my experiences ....and a bit of a Yarn ! Tell me ... what is your connection to racing, should you really even be concerned about the improvements , plans and upkeep of racing infrastructure ? PS I usully slip in a couple of small errors....in a recent YARN you may have noticed I associated Eiffel Tower with the sire Bellborough...of course it was Kurdistan, who stood in Riverton initially as private to Hazlett /Hillis Stable.Another one of the champ horseswas Loch Linnhe who was by Lomond who also did well in South.

Exactly Ravioli.....Ravioli wasn't even a known word in NZ back then ,tho there was a good Harness horse called Giuseppe ! It would have been a Coup to have Ray around back in the day...he has been a fantastic part of Southern racing with ownership,sponsorship etc and runs a good business.Those square race course pies with the solid sludge passing off as meat filling was special out of those wafer thin heating cabinets which lost heat as the day progressed. At least the soy sauce was free. Ray's pies would have been welcome with lashings of Watties Tomato Sauce. Remember Jim Wattie....fed NZ from his Hawkes Bay base .....but moreso remember his horse Even Stevens. Went to Aussie at Cup time and thrashed the field in the Caulfield Cup and then easily won the Melbourne Cup then returned to NZ and fought out the finish of the Auckland Cup. Amazing. Jim kept most of NZ going with his Baked Beans and Sliced Peaches and Frozen Peas. The other business/racing man who I admired in Dunedin was George Barton , prolific owner ,firstly in Harness where he Number 1 and then after a squabble moved to gallopers and soon he raced Ark Royal ,who featured in big Cup races as well as Desert Chief ,Astra etc top Otago stayers. He often had RJ Skelton in saddle or RNMarsh or Deni Hadfield. That stable also had AJ Tweedie and AK Robinson as apprentices and both of these I have seen at the races in recent weeks so this yarn has some current interest ! Directly over the road from them on a sharp corner was Bob Heasley who in 1970 with businessman Stewart Falconer who drove a Rolls Royce and smoked huge cigars took their grey Kurdistan gelding over to Melbourne and snared the Melbourne Cup. In July BN had been slogging thru the Trentham mud , winning but gaining a reputation of being a mudder..That a story for another day ,cos it will lead on to Kumai [ owner TKS Sidey ,rider BJ Anderton of current day ] and that yarn takes a while. George Barton ,and his son Reg , were one of Dunedins top Butchers and their big store in CBD Dunedin famous for the illuminated pigs which raced around the facade of the building. They fed my family our meat , more like mince for us tripe for Mum. Another Dunedin butcher Wattie Latimer stunned many when his 10yr old Watallan [ Brian Anderton trainer] won the NZ Cup. His 21 st win for horse...its other owner was Allan ! its sire was Bellborough the Invercargill stallion who sired winners of 650 races. Watallans dam was a half sister to Baghdad Note ! Very close , a few paddocks along road there was the supplier of the excellent fast-food caravan at Forbury Park trots and other events in Otago...the best hot chips in town. Hot was needed as Forbury built on the windy beach only one sandhill north of the South Pole. Jim Brown trained many horses but in 1965 he sent one north to jockey WD Skelton in Levin and after picking up 3 x wins in CD towns they slipped up to Ellerslie and won the Auckland Cup .WD was a top jockey ,didnt train but he won with Lucky Son anyway.Thats what the Southern men did to the Northern folk back then...not only men cos Miss Edgar Jones did similar with Sailing home ! Jims other lucky son was Sydney who helped Jim sell hot chips , furniture during the day and played on wing for Otago. Jims brother Joe , who ran Miss NZ show , John Hore, Howard Morrison and Eddie Low also trained a bit in between his weekly town hall dance slipped up to Wellington and won the Cup with Reformed plus 3rd in Melbourne Cup. They no relation to Mick Brown who lived nearby andwon 3 x Wellington Cups with Great Sensation ! That another yarn for another time. Sydney still current in harness breeding from top mare Foreal and family and racing stars like Field Marshall in recent years ! Phew...this yarn gone too long.......when I typed the word Bellborough the Eiffel Tower flashed before my eyes.Now that Southern steed and his Hillis ,Hazlett whanau caused a lot of pain to the Northern wannabees.. Those really were the days of Southern racing !

Haha...not enough pennies for that place ,but got to play on their sports field a bit. Christ' s preferred fathers in tweed jackets who drove BMW's and kids keen to be Doctors and Lawyers not Cost Accountants ! A correction to my yarn.....It appears Mister Pompous did not win Tulloch Stakes but Asgard [PCook] did that year . Possibly got second then won elsewhere. A google search mentions DAPeake in the Tulloch Stakes photo. As a side yarn my TAB friend saw 5 x times champion jockey DA Peake looking very fit and dapper at Ellerslie on Sunday then a little later one Leo Molloy who has been mentioned earlier. Leo once told me he was the only unbeaten jockey on Showgate , but he hadn't allowed for one Nick Harnett Also one for one ! Watch this space on Inca !

Mr Ballin owned some good horses ,the ones mentioned were extra. When his horses won he used to give me and my family some of his softe drinks from Ballins Breweries. Yes Gary Lee trained every Every Post and took Mister Pompous to Australia , along with himself and did well over there too ,from memory winning a race called Tulloch Stakes. Mister Pompous twice beat Fury's Order at Wellington ,once over 1600m in Wellington Stakes when FO resuming after winning GN Derby. Then maybe more of a surprise to beat the top dog FO in the Wellington Derby. The soft drinks really flowed...Fury's Order was a special horse. But at that time South Islands top horses really did race ,challenge and beat the top Northern horses....as did our jockeys , jumpers , owners and even Stallions like Kurdistan and Bellborough while Gatekeeper and Mellay were emerging. Unlike now where an enthusiastic bunch of Southerners try to talk up the scene and grasp to any smidgeon of fantasy to exhort the achievements of the South. Very optimistic considering many of the horses in South are Northern rejects seeking an easy kill or too slow to compete in North. Of course the odd exception. But that for another post , but I surprised the past /breeding of two top trainers , Lisa Latta and Peter Didham not linked back to the South , not to mention Jamie Richards ,Jelly Williams etc .And of course the Colletts ! Jim Collet won a Southern Classic on Little Brown Jug standing in for Pablo. LBJ cleaned up in the South , the soft drinks flowed , and went north to clean up so my family went north too to enjoy the show...sadly LBJ could not do it up North but still won NZ Horse of the Year l, which Southern Queen Showgate won twice from memory. Showgate came about because GBT his owner/trainer went to Trentham Sales and paid good money for well bred fillies .Minglow herself won at Trentham , my family had followed her there as well. GBT's other inspired purchase was a filly called Subtrist who was dam of Middy [ NZ Cup] and several other winners. Minglow produced several horses with talent incl Showkeeper , Going Some , Troilus . Ultimately the breed was 'halted' by a dud stallion Honey Crepe [ by Crepello who had several good sires in NZ incl Crest Of The Wave] When Showgate won her races ,GBT gave my family free eggs ,as he had a lot of hens as he the only 'chicken sexer' in South. Plenty of Eggs and Ballins soft drinks ..the days when the South racing was great !

Quite possibly Chief but should you or I be worried about this, does this concern us. I assume Chief that you 'love' racing and want it to continue and flourish. As Taxpayers we should be happy to pay for things that we really need to enjoy life.Like water ,power , health education ,roading ...all infrastructure. Think of the chaos if we contacted Government and Councils on every thing our taxes used for. Wasn't it the Government/Taxes who bailed out the TAB when it couldn't pay its monthly creditors and gifted us the Synthetic tracks to help future proof the Industry.Winston saw how desperate racing was .Historically NZRacing has paid a lot of taxes over the years , when I trained as a Cost Accountant with free tax-payers Education ,Taxes from NZ Racing always mentioned as a good source of funds for Government along with PAYE , Sales Tax , Income tax and then GST etc If we gonna get all woke and morally concerned we should have been refusing to live off the pokies ,like racing did for years . The poor folk of South Auckland were funding many of our biggest races and racedays like the Harness Jewels.Earlier it was the booze and tobaco industries.Non racing must be getting pissed with the new barrage of Ads during sports events and ads on Facebook etc . Bet responsibly ! Dunno why horse racing lovers so averse to selling up the excess racecourses and land if they deemed to own them ! As for Accounting and Financial results...often just smoke and mirrors .Easy to manipulate ! Revalue , accrue , timing decisions etc The odd poster must be reading my contribution , I'm actually surprised a few more aren't attacking my 'over positive views' but I guess they want to just give their oxygen to the negative posts toward NZ racing , or trying to convince us their racing district of interest [ South Island ] is actually doing pretty well. Which is nonsense of course....but thank the Lord for NZCup week. It is without question the top week for betting and attendance in NZ and nicely placed a week [ usually] after the Melbourne Cup. Many post comments on on-course attendance.It fell away years ago , various attempts like Summer Holiday promotions,Xmas at races picked numbers up but generally meetings between Feb and November have been dwindling in attendance.Today is example of this..for years only Wellington Cup day has mirrored Trenthams halcyon days .15 years ago I flew up from South for Monday Anniversary day , I was only person in Public stand and the place resembled Chenobyl. I had been going to Trentham since I was a foetus ! Repeat....racing is now a TV sport/business. Folks encouraged /paid to bet on phones and folk prefer the TV courage , even tho they moan their arse about it. I enjoyed today, interesting to see a few all-weather tracks to bet on..USA racing most of morning , Darwin , Glen Inness ,Korea during NZ racing . And Telegraph winner a previous Synthetic winner as was 4th horse ,and Times Ticking used Ricc Syn Trial to fit itself for Trentham stakes . Reading the other Channel geez they moaning their arse off about Trentham ...racing was good [ Telegraph a little rough] so why worry about the other stuff. They let it rust away before their eyes. Its an all-in moanathon...Misery loves company !

Well thanks, that much better a comment than your previous one ....it was very flippant and contained no FACTS at all. Sarcasm....a person of racing significance , no way . After years of reading this site I decided to post of my racing experiences with a little bit of opinion. Never been to the synthetic track at Awapuni so what would that prove if I ran on it.....I am an gelding of declining pace so certainly wouldn't run on it ....rarely do you see people running on horse tracks. But at least some horses I have an interest in have run on them ...all 3 ....in both trials and races ! Plus these horses have had a couple of wins and possibly extended one horses career. So far none of these horses have suffered injuries and the trainers are supportive of the tracks. Actually very supportive ,and one trainer still rides work on them. Yes I have walked on the Cambridge one and very impressed. In my opinion the Cambridge one , probably Riccarton too was a much needed addition to NZ racing especially for training and especially when weather is bad. As a small time owner....not a person of significance.....I also pleased my horses don't have to be carted all around our vast country to get a race on OK track eg Ruakaka . Cambridge ideally situated among horse population , and Riccarton heading that way too in South IMO. As for running at a loss..no real surprise...most businesses run at a loss first few years. Again I know this from personal experience , and in early years can't spend your time worrying about how you gonna replace your main assets before both you and them have started earning their keep. A quick check of a couple of my accounts from Cambridge show the most recent track fee was $150 plus GST a month per horse I note 5 years ago it was $135 plus GST. In the scheme of overall cost this is a very low charge IMO. The reason so many clubs rusted away has been the lack of investment in infrastructure. And to date Cambridge is chipping away at improving their facility .I've watched as too many Clubs /courses have put unnecessary strain on the industry.Many should have been closed and more regionalisation happened years ago...they been talking about the need for this since 1970's. And if the axed clubs wanted to maintain their status they should have done more to attract members , and connected more with their local communities and not become irrelevant. I used to live in a place that must have had 50 x trainers made up of full-timers ,part-timers and O/T.Most gone.And another place that lost their meetings thru lack of local interest ,but thats another topic.And JMO. I read a bit about NZ racing , but again why would I get my knickers in a twist about the hardness of a training track or whose going to replace it in 20 years. It doesn't concern me ....and I guess it shouldn't concern you. Why not concentrate on things you are responsible for and can do something about. If I was involved in the decision making , I certainly wouldn't be pounding out rubbish on an anonymous internet site thinking I was making a difference ! I watched a few races today ,had a horse run second , one a pleasing 5th .Will watch a few tomorrow on TV and most likely attend one meeting live over the next week.Have a few bets . Enjoy racing. Reading chosen and known negative stuff about racing is a waste of time. All above is my experience with a little bit of Opinion. I actually like the Cambridge Synthetic track .I guess that obvious by now ! And remember ,we all put our trousers on the same way. Just watched a race from Pau...like many of the overseas races on TV ...they run on clay ,dirt , synthetic all-weather...some of best racing in World , someone must know something !

Special Agent Mr Smart , I'm surprised you would see fit to contribute this to this forum. Clearly you don't know shit from clay on the topic.....truckloads is not an amount than can be quantified ,it could be a Tonka Truck of Venezuelan bolivar ! I have reviewed Cambridge financials...the only one that have completed a couple of years trading. Any Cost Accountant cold tell you that even tho they may had had a $million loss for year ,about $1.4 mill was Depreciation and this is a non cash item. I'd guess you are one of those who had pre-conceived ideas about the track before it was even introduced therefore seriously biased . And not good with numbers !

And a few more dabblers......Mike Stormont of Delightful Lady fame , legendary Cantab horseman Marty Larter and 'newish Harness trainer 'Sheryl Wigg.