Brodie

Only if they are losing punters Greg. Good punters are now restricted to amounts not worth the effort. New punters in their 20s are not being attracted to racing, they will be into the sports. TAB is killing off the racing punter, end of storey. Personally haven’t had a bet since the blatantly dishonest AML rule that the NZ TAB brought in,just not worth the effort for diddly squat. Overseas in Europe at the moment and enjoying the break. NZ has great living conditions in comparison apart from the NZ TAB!

What did I miss last night at Addington? Not a lot by the look of it! Just got back from a long day and looked up the results from Addington last night. Yeah, the AllStars won 4 from 4 last night, and such massive divs once again. Great to see and surely a sign of things to come! Harness Racing is seriously in decline going forward! Yes I know, you have heard it all before, but if you don’t want to believe the truth then don’t bother reading. The Darkside has been commenting about the decline in betting turnover and very poor stakes! You can blame the NZ TAB for the declining turnover!!!!! So many now just can not be bothered having a go for measly returns and being treated like a criminal money launderer! TABs loss! They need a total overhaul to improve things.

Go for it Happy, I am overseas at the moment so it is a free for all! She isn’t that hot anyway!

Don’t care who wins the Cup as long as it is not Purdon/Rasmussen stable. Time they let some other stable win it as it is an absolute borefest listening to the dribble before and after the cup! Hope the supporting races aren’t won by them either

The Courts were asked to change the name by HRNZ, however they wouldn’t which I agree with. Where do u draw the line

Prob not Hunter, but if all are no. 8 box all the 8s and you get the trifecta

At Least you would be able to back the winner if you could get on

Yes many that qualify for the final on Show Day are not going to be wanting to cough up with the $5k on a day when the fields tend to be pretty even and some horses won’t backup from Cup Day. Good way of getting punters who bet from home interested. Sham that not everyone is allowed to enter!!!!!,

Correct, restricted punters could not enter!

At the end of the day, all of the packages are a blatant rip off, we all know that. $75 for the Lindauer Lawn lol What do you get for that? Entry and an area on the grass where you can barely see the racing apart from on the big screen TV. You can not see the backstraight and you can barely see them coming down the home straight head on. Look, it is a one off day once a year that people go to, just like the Melbourne Cup where I am sure you get ripped off there as well. Is it over priced, yeah it is, but if you want to go, then “ Let’s Do This”.

Cup week in Christchurch is popular with a lot of people and hopefully it will always remain strong. Yes there are plenty of people,that pay the $45 on walk up rather than early possibly just to ensure that the weather is good, and yes it always is. Great that you have introduced friends to racemeetings, but to be fair you probably would’ve anyway without Cup Day. $45 is not a lot out of my weekly budget, However I still believe that amount is too much for entry to the course to spend money. If the entry fee was less the club would probably get it back anyway thru punting and food etc. The Met can charge what they like for the once a year event and clearly people pay it, my concern is for industry going forward as it needs to entice newbies into the sport year round CP!

Fair enough $25 but why do they hike it to $45,?? What do you really get for the $25 or $45? You pay for everything food and drinks wise and that isn’t cheap. You queue up for everything and general admittance you have a helluva hard job watching the races with the things in the middle blocking viewing. Yes there is atmosphere to a certain degree but is this really value for money? The small number of regulars or semi regulars don’t like the day and obviously their prerogative to boycott the course for the day. Just would,be great if the day could induce some at least to come back a few times during the year!

Cup Day is an experience but an experience that many of the regulars to Addington don’t want to experience, and they stay at home and watch on Trackside. Personally think that the $45 is a total ripoff as you have difficulty seeing the races due to the many marquees in the middle of the track nowadays. It is more just a social event for the younger ones to have a few bevies and perv at each other. The packages always seem to sell out so people pay the money regardless of the price and the Met must make plenty which is good for them. Anyway we will all have opinions on Cup Day, but hopefully it goes off well this year and the races are shared amongst different stables, rather than the one!!

$45 seems a helluva price for walk up entry fee, for what you get. Most that are paying that amount aren’t there to watch much of the racing anyway. I appreciate that this is a once a year event and it is when the Met make the most money to help out during the next year. Problem is that they need to capture a percentage of the crowd to become interested in harness racing, and by overcharging on everything is probably not the best way to encourage this!

More like John Travolta!

McLellan is a nightmare driver. As I have said previously would be better off sitting in the stand as his horses would be put into the race!!

Alexy, All Nuts And Bolts, Aveross Rustler and Danke all should be considered due to the no. Of wins as well for longevity and still winning and so loosely classed!

Think I must’ve overtrained her! Off to Mark’s this week for some blood Spinning!

Michael House has been a very good trainer over the past couple of years, but before that he had some good years and some pretty average ones. Good on him for upping his game and he has certainly kept Manawatu Harness meetings going or without him there would have been many cancelled thru lack of runners. His horses are now far more competitive at Addington as well. Positive fellah who has tried things at least .Just would like to know what has caused the major improvements in average horses.

Westview interview was very lighthearted, and he could have a career as an interviewer. Didnt really answer the question that needed answering, that being how does an average trainer whose horses were not overly good, now are performing so much better on the big stage over the past couple of years. If it isn’t Blood spinning or different way of training them, it has to be vet induced!!

Tote divs, not that I have bet tote for many years, have been very short so far. Haven’t had an investment this month since they brought the TAB TOTAL CONTROL ACT in. Have it on good authority that the Christchurch Casino are not enforcing the $1k collect, need to control clientele!!!!!! Quite enjoying watching the racing without anything on.

It isn’t that bad, if no one is posting then it gives us something to look at!! Some aren’t too bad, and I am straight!

To be fair there could be worse ads? And I thought I was the only one getting them! Good on a cold winters night. I have been offered 7 beautiful women, doubt whether I could handle all 7 at one time, one is enough!

Galah, you are correct that the domination does make owners sell overseas, and that is part of the reason that there aren’t enough horses going around in the higher classes, so yes no races and so the owners sell. Before the domination there were always plenty of 4 or 5 win races but not now as many of them are racing against one win horses. Yes there has been a retention of horses in the lower class races due to the points system as an average horse like All Nuts and Bolts who has probably won 10 races or close is racing against one win horses. NZ harness racing is a lot more fairer and honest than the Ozzie’s, due to the fact that we are Kiwis and the ones over the Tasman are Ozzie’s, so self explanatory!

Addington provides the best racing in NZ, and it is clearly our best track and has pretty good facilities. If we don’t get new people on track, then they won’t become enthusiastic and they won’t be betting!!!!! Does Thursday or Friday night give young working people the best opportunity to attend on course? Of course it doesn’t, as they have work the next day on a Thursday night and on a Friday they finish work and pretty much would be pretty rushed to get to the races! Saturday nights would be far easier to attend and bring their mates or family with them and laid back. I believe that a major reason that there are no Saturday meetings in NZ is because the hierarchy have become accustomed to the Friday nights and don’t want to work their Saturday nights. Is it worth another trial to see whether it is beneficial for harness racing? I say yes but then I haven’t got as much financial interest in it as may others!