mikeynz

It's conceivable they may lose punters if they don't allow choice as to where they can bet, many casual punters mostly won't worry, bigger punters do, and the notion that they will clawback all this money supposedly bet elsewhere is just baloney

Maybe sometimes the TAB should just run a tote for some things, maybe just sports betting for fixed odds, it may not drive turnover up but maybe profit. Out of interest they must have restrictions on what you can win on place, top 4 and also on sport, I've no idea about such things. Northern Southland on Saturday have 5 first starters nominated for 2yo fillies race for 40000.

Good noms for Gore.

They never display the fixed odds betting figures, they are all general interest and I always thought the maximum you can win is 2 grand on fixed odds. Must have got TAB on a day when he was in a bad mood lol.Sometimes his love affair with Elerslie or Auckland grinds my gears and it will be interesting in light of all the talk about Saturdays big day how many members of the public show up, as in reality on a per capita of population Westport on Friday will more than likely do better.

No.

Does anybody think that for the money on offer why not a 3yo and over race may have been smarter ,?

Fields of 5 and 6 for 2yo races at Auckland, really, and Ascot Park Saturday has 40000 2yo fillies race scheduled, yet main pacers race for 18000, weird to say the least.

Don't say how many people attended, nor the turnover, it still looked to me that those grandstands were empty or as good as.

Main race at Rangiora has tote pool just under 14000, much better than two free for all at Addington both under 5.

It still didn't look like a massive crowd, more than normal but still not massive, Matamata looked really empty.

Personally I think rating 45 should be the lowest point for winners , rating 40 for maidens who go to 45 or 6 if they win and rating 35 for maiden strugglers who would race for half stakes and would be reinstated to rating 40 if they win a b grade but once they win a a grade maiden race and reach 45 they can't go lower. You could also run races in the 45 to 50 grade for less stakes for those who havnt finished in first four in 5 or 6 starts, only difference is if they win they get less of a penalty. Make rating 80 or 90 the maximum top rating.

I guess the club hopes the ducks don't use the stand as I imagine if they did there would be a fair bit of duckshit left behind on the first Saturday in may🙂

Not much in tote win pool for both races, normally with small fields fixed is the more popular, you know what ya getting but these types of races need bulking up numbers wise, not by throwing in some rating 54s etc etc but where strangely under the new handicapping system is plentiful. Even if you have more top class rated races there will still be some who will go to Aussie for the bigger races.

Another mind boggling idea is running the Derby and Oaks on same programme, why? And of course the other issues are the CD area, Hawera appear to have lost that date from last month, which if nothing else did produce good numbers, there are still good numbers in the CD, but how many racedays is optimal ?

The issue ain't really about 2yo racing, it's just the money pumped into stakes which is in contrast to what it's earning, some of these 5 or 6 horse races have tiny turnovers, how they just magically pull 70000 out of the hat for a 2yo fillies race at Winton bearing in mind the Cheviot race that been around for years is only 40000 seems weird, gee even many 3yo races ain't flash numbers wise either. Interestingly those four 100000 races they has Addington back late November for 2YOs it seems have been canned, maybe they added 2 and 2 together and only came up with 3, throw in the mind boggling handicapping system and now the clutching of straws with dates allocation, the draft calendar for next season has a heap of southern meetings now maybe Sunday, it's probably not yet proven if 4 or 5 meetings on same day is good or bad. Rangiora have a 35000 handicap on Sunday, looking like a good field, putting stakes into these races is where the emphasis should be, build the numbers, better for turnover than races with 5 or 6 which usually has a dominant favorite thus producing poor turnover. Personally I'm surprised that the slot race for Ellerslie next week is for 3yos only, would have made more sense if it was 3yo or over, the type of field for that sort of race is limitless.

Out of curiosity one wonders if the breeding of Greyhounds has stopped due to no more racing soon, more than enough now needing homing.

My comment about the birdshit and dust at Wingatui was based on the fact that in pictures of one of the grandstand there is never anyone in it, not unique to Wingatui but if the crowd they are talking about does turn up then it will need to be up to standard, not that I'm not suggesting it ain't now but the birds must love it. As for Ellerslie how many could they handle, plenty of space. Interestingly they go on about the Warriers getting better crowds than the Blues but they fill a small stadium where as the Blues half fill a bigger one.

Gee if they think they may get that many they better get someone to wipe all the birdshit and dust of the seating in the grandstand , this is a litmus test for Wingatui. Question is how many will turn up for Ellerslie next week, you often hear them waffling on about being a sellout, maybe thats the hospitality tents yet drone footage seems to indicate plenty of space, at the course in general.

As you would expect good noms, 24 for the Southern mile, someone will know, do the ones missing the cut just get shifted elsewhere, even if they do looks like some of the noms will be staying home.

Better to spend on older horses, fix the handicapping and have better fields for rating 60 + I think I'm correct in thinking nothing has actually changed regarding 2yo, shifting the seasons has only meant they turn 2 or 3 or 4 six months later than what it was, irrespective it seems numbers just ain'tthere probably the complete domination of some stables has put many off.

Winton Thursday, 2 2yo races scheduled, 2 noms in total, races canned, at least Wyndham have races with both sexes combined programmed for next month, for what I'm seeing it's got worse since they changed the season to Jan 1 or is it just me thinking that ? Add to that Winton have a 70000 2yo fillies race in April, for more than likely half a dozen runners if they are lucky, this ain't good business sense. And of course one or two early birds will cream it, but as I've said before best to make hay while the sun shines, it can't be sustainable.

They've also employed a heap too, they are on trackside.,

It's looking increasingly awkward for harness clubs, re grass track racing, Hawera may lose end of Jan dates, Otaki and Hawera now possibly same days as Marlbourough nterestingly they now are thinking most Southern meetings in Spring autumn and Winter now moving to Sundays, seems to me the guys setting dates are just clutching at straws as it's only since Xmas has Sunday have the busier days so how will they know if they are financially successful, will they ever settle or just keep guessing ?

That's probably the average crowd at Alexandra Park, might look better if they just shutdown most of the public area to make the crowd that is there look better😃

I note the 4 races for 2 year olds Addington ran in late November are canned and funding will go elsewhere, maybe they woke up to the fact that 16 young trotters chasing 200000 is not smart, maybe they might just run for 15 grand which makes sense and chase the bigger stakes when they grow up. That was poor business sense but maybe Mr Shannon had a few prospects , hence the stakes lol.