Brodie

Geez that is disappointing for harness , as used to have full fields. Yes cost of travel, accommodation costs and general cost of living as well as other things in play! Harness NZ has been asleep at the wheel for the past few decades and it is going to hit harness racing hard, as well as the recession that the Labour Government has caused and wants!

Yep there are just so many in authoritive positions that really should not be. No success in business but they somehow keep getting into these positions even though they are not flash. It is so important to get new people into racing whether it be punters or owners otherwise racing is stuffed. Charging a couple $20 is madness should be incentivising people to drive out to Rangiora race course not the other way around!

You are correct Ranga. Crowd never flash when it is wet snd the fact that they want to charge $20 to get in For nothing extra is very puzzling indeed. Hope Rangiora club do well today but know it is a dumb idea to charge when we need people to attend on course. We have lost a generation and dont think we are doing enough to attract newbies, eithout them industry is stuffed. What happened to the brainstorming?

Not knocking Sarah’s amazing achievements at all Gamma. I maintain that Carter has started off better than Sarah did, and doesn’t go to Manawatu that boosts a UDR. Carter will possibly go to the U.SA. Following Dexter in the next few years where he will be the goods over there. Carter is professional and grounded just as Sarah is. Great to have these Juniors around but we really fo need s lot more coming thru as they are pretty non existent in the North!

I posted awhile ago that I thought Carter Dalgety was the best junior we have had for a long while. Well Brodie is on the money! Yes Sarah o’Reilly is a top junior but I maintain Carter is every bit as good and even better. He is very professional for a young fellah and if he stays in the industry has a massive future. He has been very lucky to have learnt from the best!

Auckland I believe always goes up before Addington. Yes the odds should be up earlier as the NZ TAB will need as much betting now as I can guarantee that the turnover is going to drop off massively next year. So many will have no money to punt with after paying their mortgage and living costs due to having voted in the most incompetent bunch of muppets ever. Racing is going to come under even more pressure than currently they are. Cambridge race 2 with 4 minutes to go and there is just over 3k in the win pool. Situation is pretty dire

Do not want this to turn into a personal matter, and yes the ones that have left have spent a bit of time at the AllStars, before leaving! Have they all left on good terms, do you think?

Why would I like a leak from the stable Kane? Doesnt affect me whatsoever now! Does seem a wee bit puzzling Kane doesnt it? Talented horsemen having success at the stable and then all of a sudden they are gone?? Blair Orange, Tim Williams, Hayden Cullen and that Canadian fellah! Greg Payne and Ross Payne also left fairly quickly as well. You will be able to throw some light on it surely Kane? Dont shoot the messenger Kane, it was published on the HRNZ site with no reason for the dissolving of the partnership!

Very interesting this! Brodie knew that Cullen would not stay long being an employee at the AllStars stables! I wonder if he has picked up all the secrets that they use there and take them to the Telfers? This is going to make the Telfer/ Cullen partnership even stronger. Interesting that Tim Williams and Cullen have left AllStars and gone to Telfer’s. I do not believe that Purdon/ Rasmussen will be training in 2 years time!

Pretty sure it was trained by Graham and Paul Court. Did go some really good races in NZ, Paleface. To be fair most horses that can win 8 races in NZ and arent past their best are going to be winning races in Oz. It always had plenty of speed so sitting in the trail doing nothing was always going to be very tough!

To be fair most are pretty cunning lol

If true, he would probably do better out of it!

That is the point Davis. If they dont charge during the year. What is the extras that you get for this Xmas at the races for the $10?? Hopefully the weather is good for the Rangiora Club who do a good job. Just do not agree with charging money to get thru the gate, so that you can wager on horses and most lose. Personally can not see that many going to make it worth while putting people off going out, whereas we need as many as possible going on course .

Equivalent of our Caring PM!

No Brylcream now?

The difference is there will be a very large crowd at Mot due to it being after Xmas and most people sill not be working snd more relaxed. Rangiora is a week before Xmas when people are busy and the crowd will not be as large. How much are they going to take at the gate and how many will not go to Rangiora cos there is a gate charge, the week before xmas with peoples finances stretched? reality is that people will not go due to the charge and that $20 charge for s couple wouldve gone through the tote many times over!! Many of the decisions being made by people are not in the best interests of harness racing in the future, and that is what has got it to the poor position it finds itself!

Reality is, that it is Xmas time and people are generally busy trying to get things done before Xmas relaxation. Yeah Rangiora is hardly a course with that much going for it! If you feel that you aRe overpaying for what you get, then you do not go back! Having to drive out to Rangiora, then having people at the gate taking money off you for nothing, does not really feel like it is beneficial for harness racing in the future, when it is really struggling! I do believe that harness racing is definitely shooting itself in the foot continuously with some poor decisions. It needs to be looking to the future, or the future is dire.

Yeah I appreciate the Clubs need to operate profitably and the gate charge helps on the day to make things work. There will be some that go out for the day for a picnic etc. and may nave the odd bet. The $20 from a couple would be spent either thru food or the tote anyway and that is what harness needs, people attending oncourse. The gate charge I believe is detrimental in enticing people oncourse!!! Chances are the people that do not go because of the charge will not be wagering off course . i personally believe that we should be enticing people oncourse by offering patrons bonus things, rather than taking money off them before they are even in the gate! surely We need large crowds so that at least we have a chance of retaining some?

I note from an advertisement that Rangiora has a Xmas at the races on December the 18th. They are charging $10 to get in, so I imagine this is per person rather than per car? What do you actually get for this $10? I appreciate that people decades ago were charged to get into the races, but in this day and age I question this at the moment! So we are charged a $10 fee for the right to bet on horses? With it difficult to get people oncourse is it a great idea to charge people to get in when many peoples finances are going to be very strained. I would think that the Rangiora club would get more money out of the punting than by charging people. Surely best to get people oncourse and to keep people coming back to harness racing . Some will say if they can not afford the $20 for a couple then they won’t bet anyway but personally believe we should be doing everything we can to get people interested. Rangiora’s decision to charge and they will do ok out of the admission charge, but really what is it that the people actually getting for their money?

To be fair Kane, you are part of the reason harness is in trouble. Stick your head in the sand and make the most of it while it is still going! Can you honestly say why you think things are promising for harness for the ones that are not plundering the major stake money?

A lot of very good points Galah. Without people attending races on course the future of harness is limited! Not allowing people on course during to the total over reaction for this Covid-19 thing has wiped out a lot of the small number of regulars that attended Addington. Addington crowds now are generally pretty poor and no sign of increasing. Even the Premier meeting the other day appeared extremely poor. Personally do not go to Addington very often now and prior to Covid was a regular attended. Unfortunately I believe it is going to be extremely difficult to get the people back on course and entice new ones as well. The recession that this incompetent bunch want us to get into, is also going to be another nail.

What many of us do not understand Gamma is just how one stable is so much better than all the others. Yes professional, plenty of owners with the money but just the performances of their horses is light years ahead of all other trainers apart from Telfers and Dunns. Why hasnt Ken Barron won so much more when Blair Orange went there? He is an intelligent guy and must know how to train from spending years at AllStars?

Mostly correct Gamma. never said too many drug cheats, but there are plenty who are trying things to try and be competitive to keep owners so they do not go broke! Never said people in charge are corrupt either! There are some making decisions that are not in the best interests of harness racing, and are very easily led! Yes the RIU are doing a very poor job on the whole. Some very dumb decisions made from RIU and Stipes. Many have no record of being successful but somehow get appointed. Anyway If they can not see that they are doing damage to the industry then Brodie can not change things, it is up to them. There are plenty of people who read BOAY but do not make comments. People need to speak up and express their opinion as complacency and going through the motions over the past few decades has seen the industry deteriorate, just like NZ has suffered the past few years due to a totally incompetent Labour Party that over 50% voted back in for a second term when they were useless first time around. That decision is going to plague those voters in the next year majorly.

You are correct Blackie. We need punters or there is no stakes so no need for horses! As you know TAB agencies is where people used to gather and wager, now there are next to no agencies. Try going to a pub TAb to get cash or betting vouchers if you have over a measley $1k. The control that the NZ TAB has and wants is plain sickening and certainly not getting better. Personally can not be bothered at the moment, they can keep the remaining punters interested by giving away free bets to them, which is the only thing that maintains turnover figures. Have had a look at the TAB figures for meetings over the last few months and does not read very well! Think there needs to be a total rethink as to how the business is being run currently or it is going to be history here unfortunately.

The problem is that there are several issues at play all to the detriment of racing. Firstly there has been so little effort in attracting new people for decades and this is going to be the thing that kills racIng here. No new punters coming thru and the ones still around are being stymied by the NZ Tab. The ones in Perone are being paid big salaries and not performing, we have a very poor RIB and HRNZ are very poor and not performing satisfactorily with some very poor decision making. It is far too expensive now to race a horse for the benefits and is going to get far worse. Existing owners aren’t going to breed or buy to the same extent in the future and many of us know why this is! As I asked yesterday does anyone actually see a lot of positives for this once great industry?