mikeynz

Interesting idea, Friday night trot channel , worth a go, will it catch on, who knows. info on harness site.

I don't really believe the southern area is too badly treated regarding dates, basically from the big pissup meeting at Ascot Park before Xmas, until Easter at Riverton there are a good number of Feature meetings on Saturdays to boot before and after that the numbers tend to be a bit thin, just the way it is, hard to know if they could justify any more days. Once again the old Timaru situation crops up regarding their starus, Riverton , Gore Ascot Park, Wingatui 5 or 6 times Cromwell and Oamaru all have feature days so why not Washdyke, there is something for the decision makers to work on, just my thoughts.

I'm not near a tv, so anyone watching can you tell me if they are still frothing at the mouth at this great modern invention that's going to revive the racing industry in NZ ?

So what is the present track rating for Reefton😀 nothing wrong with a early reading..

I watched that clip, and the name Regal Flyer was mentioned, now there was a horse who did the hard yards, often starting from handicaps of over 100 metres, sadly when he won he just went back further, the old guy racing him had a few good ones , he just liked racing his horses I guess, certainly today would have enjoyed the new ratings, that was one of the negatives of the old system, lots of southern horses just got sold after they ran out of the classes, still a lot stuck around too, some jus got trained further north.

Even though it's free in ter course television has saturated our appetite to make the effort, it's not just racing, how often do you see a big crowd at a one dayer or 20 20 in cricket or in any rugby game except maybe a ABs match. The depth of good horses racing in past years was better, sure Self Assured and Sundees Son would hold their own against the best, remember the days when they started to break the 2 minute mile, now on some of these tracks a 1 52 or 1 53 time in not uncommon, are they better than yesterday's stars, hard to know sure the times they are running beats the past horses, its evolution, probably better tracks, better training methods, dont think many horses of today could outdo a horse like Lord Module when he was on his game and Scotch Tar, was exceptional as a trotter, that mile race when he got run down by Locarno who had a exceptional finish says it all As for racing as a whole, what does it have to excite or stimulate interest as in winning money like lotto offers, I tell you , nothing, no one can deny that the lure of a million or more will get even people who may not gamble much to spend their 20 bucks or whatever on the off chance they can win big, harness racing or the TAB as a whole need to get pro active in getting interest back, a weekly big prize maybe on Saturdays only I reckon is a start I note that the normal lotto division one pool seems bigger every saturday, the weekend is the time for people to engage with sport, lotto and racing, interesting how the turnover on Melbourne Cup day, noted that it is tuesday is massive,why not something at the weekend ,every weekend to create same level of interest,cant be that hard or is it ?

Now that Southland has finished will there be a mass exodus up to Canterbury for the AWT racing ? Robert Dennis, is he giving up completely, i read somewhere he was going to just have 1 or 2 and do something else, as in a job someone will know. The Taplins moving to oz and the Tyler's reducing numbers, it's going to be a very challenging time for racing in the south, I'm sure it will continue but in what capacity, who knows. Kind of funny how people dislike AWT tracks for gallops yet they have been the greatest asset to harness racing in the south, racing right up to July, 2 different codes aye with different setups.

My only criticism of Hoskings, is he spends most of his time talking knowledgeably about everything, has the number one show in NZ so people follow his words so why not firm a party and run for government, not to forget the 6 or 7 week holiday at xmas , words are worth nothing without action.

Seems you are never gunna please everybody all the time, we all see things differently, the calandar has always had some hiccups with the way the days fall, sometimes the administrators make calls that might not please everyone but that's the way it is, they changed that Hawkes Bay Jan 1 day forward a day, that was always a very poor meeting, probably wouldn't have mattered if they scrubbed it completely, maybe if they scrubbed those 2 meetings in Tauranga and Rotorua could have a couple of days at Gisborne, a popular holiday spot but what do I know. Reefton quite rightly stands up for his own area, everything revolves around Kumara, he always wants 4 days, no reason why that can't happen and Wingatui still have that weekend date as well, few horses that go west go to Wingatui anyway, On another note it seems a bit odd that Riverton don't race again this year, Gore has. 6 month break, racing again in September, yet the tracks often look in good condition,Gore are a enigma, they want their track to stay open but don't want the harness racing, Riverton yesty looked good even though heavy yet Riccarton race often, yet often looks badly beaten up, maybe there is a simple reason for that, the climate in the South especially late winter can be fickle, sharing the load regarding venues makes sense, closing some venues and overworking those left don't. My thoughts but what do I know?

Apparently Addington raced yesterday, I must have slept right through that one can anybody tell me if I missed anything.

Just to add some here have suggested Timaru should have got Jan 1 a feature meet, Waikouiti was definitely fucked at that day, whether Riverton on jan 1 is exactly the right day not sure after all Omakau always raced jan 3 and Tuetapere have a sports day on jan 1 that must attracts a lot that might otherwise have gone racing, no easy answers, I say Timaru should get a feature day, maybe more than 1 , a Saturday in spring leading up to cup week would make them more relevant, would also take the weight off Riccarton.

If Kumara goes back to say January 13 in 2024, Greymouth in all likelihood lose the holiday day they have had last couple of years just after Jan 1 or maybe Grey race sat 6 ,Reefton wed and Kumara the sat, even room then for a day 4 maybe.

There is a lot of same old same old almost non event meetings, I think if you over do the same product you switch off,(lose interest) over time, yet the hierarchy tell us alls well, turnovers wise etc etc. The old C1 C2 system seemed to work well to a point but should a winner at Manawatu winning a 5 horse race get the same penalty as a horse winning at Addington or Auckland, I'm not up with a lot of this now, so maybe they dont now but with the drop back system as it is a lot must be going around waiting for the dropdown so they can pick up another win, dont think there is any easy fix really, most of the racing is as you say stale Alexy was one who the system suited perfectly.

Was listening to Magic and Trudy Nelson was reading the news, she was at senz, might have left after seeing ratings, maybe didnt like talking to herself.........or am i just being sarcastic ?😤

Good noms for Ascot Park.

Another anomaly in the calandar, next month Oamaru race thursday june 23, Riccarton the saturday yet the sunday before has nothing, another sunday in july has nothing, maybe a day Timaru could take, I dont race horses, the ones I bet on if I raced them I'd probably beat them. That's just a observation.

There are a lot of things I dont understand at times, southern harness race mainly midweek before xmas and mainly saturday after Easter, maybe because the gallops dont as for why anything happens at times hard to know.

Here is a question, someone must know..............has a horse trained in Southland ever started in a Melbourne Cup.

I think the Tyler's are involved in dairy farming too , I think and Taplins getting out of it so in reality the horses are or were probably an xtra which probably mostly come second to the farm, which probably sums up the southern scene, lots of small trainers. But if the Tyler's stopped would still leave a big hole, will they, who knows, still moving to Queensland would certainly be big difference from Southland, not just the racing.

6 runners at Riverton.

Are the Taplins really going to oz or just speculation ?

Fair bit of rain in Southland this morn, I assume Riverton wont be exempt so I'm taking that tracks gunna get a decent hammering, maybe shift up to Riccarton, im sure the locals will all be keen, (or maybe not).

Waikouiti at Wingatui dont help the Coast situation, but what will the next calandar be like ?

Noms for Riverton not bad bar the Open race, some from Canterbury, Wairio 4 days later might help yet very few from Wingatui, not that there is many left there anyhow, 5 to be exact.

I think covid was a convenient opportunity to restructure, maybe trackside failed perhaps because is was on a lot of times when probably no one was bothering, and radio sport started to decline once Telfer was replaced by Devlin then they started playing music interludes, sadly the music was shit as well, it probably turned people off, only time I listened was the cricket, cricket on radio is interesting. i think senz when broadcasting live sport, I think the commentators are watching on a screen lots of times, and they actually compete in the broadcasting division with the ABC in Australia who I think are commercial free so probably they have the share of the listeners, adds are a irritation, but for some a necessity . i don't even think the TAB advertise on senz now, I don't really listen much, Ian Smith is good, the others I can take or leave, mostly leave, now and then I will take in some commentary. The app they have seems a good idea but it seems racing just doesn't tick the boxes for them , i often wonder why the TAB don't run a online radio station on Saturdays and some of the main holidays and relay it some of the time through senz, shutting up shop before 5 o clock on some Saturdays, seems to me it's just filling in time until the cricket or the league starts. Do I care, yes and no, racings becoming less and less relevant to many today but you do also have to ask the question about the management of racing and the media if the people in charge are fit for purpose to be in the job or not. ,