curious

Yeahh spotted that later! Was working on hearsay when I first reported.

Jmo JB but he relaxed beautifully. There was no pace and he had to go when he did. That's what good judges of pace do. There was nowhere else but 3 wide and he was a nostril short of good enough to do it that way. And the winning rider had to cop a charge of overuse of the stick to beat him even then. Top ride in my book.

Amazing what trainers can do when they have the cattle. Of course, getting them is part of the job but as L.A. O'Sullivan said in an interview a while back, anyone can train a good one.

Dead5 this morning and irrigating. 3.36pm Dead4. Must be hot over there or irrigating meant that Reefton went out and peed on the track.

Condescending is the word that comes to mind and it is not just folk down there that feel offended by that.

If I go, they won't have much chance. And I'll still get a little pie and and a free beer!

Well I've had nothing from NZTR either as an owner, trainer or punter. Only that from the NZTA. And, I won't be wasting my time rocking up sorry. Been there done that.

The meeting will be attended by Bruce Sharrock, James Dunne, Tim Aldridge, Neil Jennings and Tyler Tane. Note Amy Johnson will be attending the Wingatui and Riccarton meetings also. Monday, 17 January – Wingatui and Riccarton Thursday, 20 January – Awapuni Thursday, 27 January – Auckland (venue TBC), Cambridge Those interested in attending can email Mary.Burgess@nztr.co.nz by Monday 3 January This appears to only have gone to members of the NZTA.

That would be a good start to clarify in the first instance. Presumably it would be to improve TR wagering revenue but it seems there may be some other agenda here. First clarify that. Produce some sort of paper that provides the data, analysis, recommendations/proposals and some sort of projections as to how any changes in the two noted areas might effect that. THEN have some meetings to discuss. That would be standard business practice wouldn't it?

Exactly Chimbu. And imo a bit more than aside. That made my stomach churn. How any organisation could put out documents with that kind of gender biased language included in this day and age is atrocious. Another mark of the unprofessional level of performance that we are getting from Petone, aside from the disorganised, seemingly rushed and ill thought out documents presented on the licensing matters.

On another note, we were invited as follows: NZTR MEETINGS - INVITE TO TRAINERS Licence holders and participants are invited to attend a meeting to discuss: Proposed changes to Training and Licensing Structures - see the following link for details Handicapping and Ratings There are the consultation papers posted above on the licensing changes. I was curious whether there were any papers or proposals on the other matter and advised that there was "nothing that I'm aware of in circulation but will forward if something comes through in the meantime". Why would you bother going to a meeting which we had to RSVP to yesterday when the matters for discussion are not clarified in some detail beforehand?

Yes. It doesn't seem at all well thought out. Presumably, permit (currently Class B) trainers will have to apply for professional licences if they want to continue to take outside horses. That just means that they won't have the six horse limit anymore. If they are intending to revert to applying a rule that training must be your primary source of income in order to hold a professional licence, where would that leave someone like Lance O'Sullivan? He goes to the track 5 mornings a week and spends the rest of his time tending to his other businesses. Dairy farming, wedding venue and tourism. That would be nuts if he couldn't hold a professional licence.

They are certainly hard to find.

That's odd isn't it? And more odd they applied 7mms irrigation the day before the races. No track management recommendations I have seen suggest such a low application is a good idea, let alone the night before a race meeting. All very strange.

Actions following Trentham Abandonment 4 December 2021 Introduction and Summary NZTR is responsible for allocating race dates and for setting industry policies and processes. Racing clubs are responsible for preparing a safe track surface in line with their obligations. On 4 December 2021 the Wellington Racing Club’s Group 1 day at Trentham Racecourse was abandoned due to the track conditions being unsafe after several jockeys reported horses slipping at the barrier, 1000m and 800m marks. Following the abandonment, NZTR: • obtained an independent assessment of the track surface by New Zealand Sports Turf Institute (NZSTI); • requested incident reports from RACE (on behalf of the Club), the Racing Integrity Board, and the NZTR Tracks Advisor; • convened a meeting with representatives from major racing clubs, track managers, trainers, jockeys and the Racing Integrity Board to discuss and review the current track preparation policy and abandonment protocol; and • prepared a report to the NZTR Board incorporating the feedback above, and on which RACE and the RIB had been invited to comment. Actions The NZTR Board has considered a report and recommendations from NZTR Management. One of the major issues identified in the report was the lack of a clear shared understanding between NZTR, the RIB and Clubs about each organisation’s respective responsibilities and accountabilities to prepare a track surface, and the consequences for those entities where non-compliance is identified. This is no longer acceptable and the NZTR Board has agreed to a suite of changes to the track preparation and management process so that it is clear what the obligations are and who is responsible for them. The agreed actions going forward are: • NZTR to review and update the Track Preparation Policy and Abandonment protocols by the end of January 2022; • NZTR to determine, in consultation with Clubs, an investment plan for track equipment and resources for the next three years by the end of March 2022; • NZTR and NZSTI, in consultation with Clubs, fast track the implementation of and compliance with mytrackmanager.nz – an online portal for all clubs to regularly monitor track performance, build data comparisons, provide training tools and real time access to track maintenance planning by the end of June 2022; • NZTR to implement a more robust compliance program for Clubs that do not adhere to track preparation procedures and annual maintenance plans, including consequences for non-compliance with policies and procedures, by February 2022; • NZTR to investigate and arrange a whole-of-industry weather service, with decisions made by March 2022; • NZTR, in consultation with Clubs and RIB, to set a communication process to enhance the sharing of track surface information to all participants by the end of February 2022; • NZTR, in consultation with clubs, to set a plan to ensure that track renovations are aligned with the annual race date allocation process by the end of February 2022; • NZTR, in consultation with RIB and Clubs, to determine a process to manage queries/concerns from participants before and after each race meeting by the end of January 2022; and • NZTR to implement a reporting and action framework for clubs to notify track performance issues during race meetings by the end of January 2022. [ENDS] ACTIONS Trentham Abandonment.pdf

Dead5 this morning. My reference to a device was the hypothetical suction device that I'd referred to earlier. Coming back a point or 2 a day in this weather is quite believable. However the met service reported 21mm on Friday and 14mm on Saturday for Ashburton during which time the track came back from a H11 to a Slow7 by Sunday morning?

Pitty's back in charge down there isn't he? Might as well bet on a Fast1 to a Good2.

That's arriving tomorrow isn't it?

That device must be deployed. H11 Friday, H10 yesterday, Slow7 this morning, Dead 6 this afternoon?

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/racing/90632412/racecourse-bent-into-shape-in-time-for-palmerston-north-gold-cup-festival

They built the inside bend in use today as a temprary measure while they redid the outer bend whis apparently unuseable.

Wasn't the new outside bend supposed to be a fix for the old one and the inside bend an interim measure while that work was done? Where's the AWT in all this? Meeting News Manawatu RC Saturday 18 December – Inside bend to be used Following recent, heavy rainfall in the Palmerston North region, the outside bend at Awapuni is not fit for purpose. To provide a more consistent surface for the entirety of racing, the decision has been made to use the inside bend for Saturday’s meeting. This decision was made following an inspection of the track on Friday afternoon by Club representatives, the RIB, and Jockey & Trainer Representatives. Two distance changes will be required. The R74 1600m race will now be 1550m and the OPN 2300m race will now be 2250m.

17 December 2021 RACE has made several proactive changes to its operations at the Awapuni and Trentham tracks in the wake of the abandonment at the latter venue on Saturday, 4 December. “While we wait for the final report and outcomes from NZTR’s investigations into the abandonment, we have already implemented a number of internal changes to ensure the interests of clubs and stakeholders are at the forefront of all decision making within the group,” RACE Chair Paul Humphries said. Drainage at Trentham has also already been partially addressed via a full air injection of the track on Tuesday 7 December, and a keenly awaited Verti-Drain machine is due to arrive in the country this month. Once in commission this implement will be able to be utilised at Trentham and Awapuni, to the ongoing benefit of both venues. RACE has also implemented additional processes to assist with team-based decision making in track preparation, with a wider sweep of key stakeholders involved via the distribution of a standard information template. The packaging up of the weekly track operating plan, weather forecasts and subsequent observations or changes has proven to be an immediate benefit and is now being rolled out across both tracks. “We are also committed to implementing any recommendations that come from NZTR’s investigation into the circumstances that arose at Trentham to ensure the chances of a repeat event of this nature are slim to none,” Humphries said. “It is important that the entire industry learns from this situation as we can ill-afford to lose any raceday, let alone a Group 1 premier day on one of the biggest weekends of the year.” A new track supervisor at Trentham will be recruited in the new year, with the reluctant acceptance of the resignation of long time Track Manager Mark Biddle. “We wish to publicly thank Mark for his great work and effort over his 30 years of service at Trentham, and we wish him all the best with his future endeavours,” Humphries said.

If that's the case, I might send them the bill for Monday's airfare as well. Fortunately, I hadn't quite got round to re-booking car and accommodation for that journey.

Stuff all is working in Petone I don't think