curious

3 weeks later ... Still getting: "We have not received "Stewards' Vision" for this race as yet Under normal circumstances this will be available within 5-7 days of the race"

https://loveracing.nz/News/45460/AwapuniTrackUpdate.aspx Does it not seem a bit odd that they have to get a contractor in to mow the new grass because the club does not have the correct machinery to mow it themselves? And what are the big wheel marks down the straight? It looks like they've gone on there to fertilise when the ground was too wet.

I was as far as funding is concerned, but you get my point. NZTROF is self funded. Their primary objective is: "We provide connectivity with the community of thoroughbred racehorse owners" but as an owner, I have never been contacted by them in the last decade. Nor have any of the thousands of small share owners in the likes of the Te Akau syndicates that I have spoken to. How they think they can be effective in any way with only a small percentage of owners as members, is beyond me. To be of any use, a proactive membership drive would be a good start. New owners are unlikely to have ever heard of them and a $60 membership fee for someone with a 100th share in one horse is unlikely to appeal if there is no benefit.

In the TA case, because not enough trainers were willing to pay a membership fee to support it, so now they have little say at all.

I wonder how many of the likes of Te Akau's owners are members of the Owners' Federation?

85,760 Salaries 59,517 of that FY23

The other significant problem with the TA is it is funded by NZTR, so any critical comment from there would in essence be biting the hand that feeds it.

Exactly. Smart thinking.

Meeting News Riccarton Trials Cancelled Due To Insufficient Nominations Meeting News Cambridge Trials Cancelled Due To Insufficient Nominations - 45 Total Nominations

Ellerslie doesn't really have anything to sacrifice does it?

Might be a good idea for gallopers too. That sort of self-handicapping would certainly be an improvement on the current system so far as creating competitive and attractive wagering races is concerned.

Yes. Seems to have gone quiet on producing any evidence to support his claim that any ex-racehorse ever ran in a pony scurry here.

Yes. The award is for rising stars, not established ones.

They can work turf miracles down there in 3 days, so don't be surprised.

I thought it was an innovator. Apparently it's one of these but why you would use that on a perfect track 2 days out from a race meeting is beyond me.

If the track is already perfect with no concerns, why would you then put the ground breaker through it? And as an aside, what exactly is a ground breaker anyway? Meeting News Wingatui Track Update On Tuesday 28 May, four pairs of horses were galloped over the Wingatui track in front of NZTR and Club representatives, and an external Regional Track Advisor. Horses covered the full width of the racing surface, galloping from the True position, out to the centre of the track. Comments from senior riders Corey Campbell and Shankar Muniandy were all positive. Corey commented that “the track is perfect, and there are no concerns heading towards racing on Sunday”. To provide extra assurance for riders, Otago RC track manager Wayne Stevens will put the ground breaker machine through the surface.

The good old Racecourse Hotel is still there!

I've gone on about this before, but just went to look at that for a couple of runners at Riccarton tomorrow which ran at the meeting there on the 16th, that I was thinking of backing. All I get is "We have not received "Stewards' Vision" for this race as yet Under normal circumstances this will be available within 5-7 days of the race" Obviously, normal circumstances have not prevailed. It beggars belief that with today's technology, they can not get this up the same or perhaps the next day. No idea whether the problem is on the RIB end or the NZTR one, or has the move to Cambridge meant that the pigeons carrying the video need extra rest stops? 2 weeks and still not there. Something's wrong when they claim to be supporting Entain's efforts to improve punter information and build turnover and revenue. That's a couple of bets they won't be getting.

68 left in for Awapuni tomorrow I see.

Maybe there is no-one there who can read aside from knowing how to use a spell checker?

The RIB?

Be interesting to know how they fixed the track in 3 days.

Good morning, A R65 1600m race ($35,000) has been added to the Otago meeting on Sunday 2 June. Kind regards,