Wingman

The opportunity to have a long deep look at programming has been lost for another year. I had been hoping last Autumn for a serious shuffle but alas more of the same except some innovation from the newcomers Entain with bonus races. Those races also compete with black type races so it creates conflict with a decreasing pool of talented horses. Circuits are extremely important for the lesser talented and enable stables to try and place to advantage to the benefit of trainer, owner and punter. AWT should never have been part of the equation. How did a Christchurch City track qualify for funding from a 'provincial' fund? Entain has given the lack lustre NZTR executives more time to be dull however in three years Entain commitments change and benefactor becomes taxer. I find it very difficult to see the current executive doing anything remarkably different in 9 months time re programming so either the new chairman decides on a clear-out or the industry is another year closer to confirming it is a sunset industry. Tracks are a continuing deadly serious issue. There is no justification for the Ellerslie debacle. There is no justification for Hastings to continue to be a problem since the middle of last decade i.e. the last TEN years. Everyone in the NZ racing industry next month (except me, I will be overseas) will be holding their breath that all goes well with Ellerslie and Hastings. I truly hope all does goes well but if it does, the downside is the NZTR dullards will congratulate themselves on a job well done.

Last night UK's premier middle distance race King George 6th and Queen Elizabeth Stakes (named after the late Queen's parents) was run on a track (Ascot) officially described as good to firm, good in places. It was won by an outsider 25/1 Goliath in a quick time, 4th fastest last dozen years although helped by strong gallop by a rival stables pacemaker. The favourite Auguste Rodin failed to run a decent race. His champion trainer Aidan O'Brian blamed the ground saying "It was nowhere near good to firm anywhere. It was good to soft in places. It was cut up on the rails and full of sand". I watched the replay and agree, it was a true dead track, bordering on soft or actually soft in places. The clerk of the course defended his decision to water the course on Friday evening saying "I don't think the description is vastly inaccurate". Sound familiar? BS and spin to defend the indefensible.

Re handicapping in my view there should be no room for SWP races. They are an initiative by administrators who do not understand handicapping or gambling. The natural order from top to bottom is WFA, Open Handicaps, rating races, SW 2 and 3yo, SW maidens. The other area where administrators have lost the plot in the last decade or two is a fixation with the bling and glamour at the top and having no appreciation for grassroot racing. Most horses that win their first race find the next step up difficult, yet the current system immediately rates a maiden winner as R63. The argument is that the connections can decide if the next start in R65 is midweek or Saturday. (I am aware there is a sprinkling of R60 races in the calendar) My rebuttal is there should be regular 1-2 win races, both midweek and Saturday at R60 level. The 1-2 win means the older dropback horses have to focus on R65 races. Three things are achieved here. One; an owner gets a reasonable chance of another win with a battling/fair horse. Two; A younger, potentially progressive horse doesn't get the stuffing knocked out of it next start and can develop confidence; Three, some excellent betting fields will be created.

The main point here is there is continual pressure on the executive incumbents at NZTR. A decent clearing out is the only way we will see comprehensive action taken on pattern/programming and handicapping. I will steer clear of tracks on this post (for now) As Curious has stated above, another year passes and little change. I thought with the input from Entain re stakes there would have been a serious push from NZTR to look seriously at change. The calendar remains much of a muchness, the handicapping system does not work, yet next season apart from the new fad, slot races, will look very similar to the last.

The following is an excerpt from last weeks NZ thoroughbred breeders e-mail/bulletin to members. 'I’d like to draw attention to one particular page in the book and that is page 210, displaying the foal crop figures. In previous editions, we had displayed two sets of information, which led to some quite significant differences in the foal crop number. This is arguably the most referred to statistic worldwide when it comes to the size of a breeding industry, and this year I wanted to make sure we showed the most accurate statistic. So, we have used the foal microchipping figure as the best representation of the foal crop, which overcomes the issue of underreporting through paperwork. Encouragingly, this has seen the figure plateau to a level of just over 3,000 for the last five seasons, as opposed to some other methods showing it having dipped well below this. To make the statement that what we produce in terms of foals is ultimately what ends up on the racetrack is simplistic…but true. Field sizes are a vital metric in sustaining the wagering turnover at a level that will see industry returns able to carry on the current prizemoney levels beyond the five year minimum guarantee period. The foal crop level we are at now is optimal, and getting back to levels seen in previous decades isn’t what is required. But maintaining this level is vital, and that’s why some of the things I’m involved with in the background currently are all aimed at helping in this way. Breeders will also know that the paperwork side of doing things like mare returns and foal registrations are not as ‘user friendly’ as they should be right now. This is also true in things such as registration of owners on the racing side. The advancement of the NZTR computer system is something that is sorely needed. The abandonment of the SNS project - designed to radically improve this side of things - has been and gone, however myself and others continue to strongly advocate for the new solution to come quickly. One example of the need to do this is shown in the underreporting of the foal crop, caused in some way by the difficulty and time-consuming current paperwork process.' NZTR have woefully under achieved for many years and finally we have the breeders publicly stating the systems in place for them are not fit for purpose. SNS was an ego project with $5 million spent and nothing to show. The chair is moving on but the executive behind this mess remain. My opinion is without a comprehensive cleanout of NZTR executive the Industry will continue to struggle to achieve. The new chair is from the breeding sector. Is this the beginning of the start of a new progressive era?

Racing is not front of mind for Entain, sports is their long term focus. Do not be surprised if a 'deal' is done well before the 5 year guarantee is up separating racing and sports. As to the blame game; that goes back a generation, to senior executive who at the time had no issue with sports aligning itself with the TAB which was set up as a monopoly for the benefit of Government and racing..IN THAT ORDER. The 'not so new' website is not nearly as impressive as I was led to believe it would be and is deliberately anti tote, which is bookmaker 101. Will pays are not there so as to enable Entain to avoid arbitrage and the final pool figures are blatantly displayed late. That enables them to keep the bigger punters guessing to a point that it is too late. Last Saturdays feature at Tauranga a good example as any. Malt Time, fixed odds $3, Tote $6, with the win pool showing 28K, approx 1 minute out, then seconds before the off, tote win pool now just shy of 50K and odds now the same, i.e. both $3. The final pool figure is also deleted very quickly after the field has crossed the line. They can bullshit all they want but with todays technology the dividends should be reasonably close to real time, updating at least every 20 seconds in the final 180 seconds before start time. If Entain were genuine they would not be shy about providing the best and most update information for form commentary/lines and dividends/pools at ALL times.

suggest you look up the meaning of malapropism, mentioned in Fish's post

Lead the way and we shall precede

Tsk Tsk😅

old school standards, todays standards.. that's why old people huffed and puffed when we were young and now we are, if we choose to be, now the huffers and puffers. Don't be surprised, if you are still around Curious, that presentation will go up a significant notch in another decade or so, as what you deem to be unacceptable presentation, is seen as just that by an emerging generation. Full circle.

Most New Zealanders have been raised in a working class environment where clichés and phrases/words like aftermath are common. So we parrot them and being an isolated country did not have a lot of people around us, better educated, particularly re language, who would correct us. Yes there are many of us who have improved our language skills but now we are in the digital age the younger generation do not care. Much discussion is no longer face to face, just like this forum. So roll with the punches "Cos nxt year Rodney' we'll all be willionaires.

Flemington do not scrimp on maintenance and are generous with the time set aside each year for scheduled maintenance

The cannibalization of the tote will eventually be to the demise of racing but will also, by going back to tote only betting for horses, be in the future its savior. Look no further than HK and France. Sports betting belongs to the bookies and despite all the rhetoric it is not hard to see that is where Entain's real interest lies. The best thing that can happen is their parent company realizes they have backed a real outsider and cut their losses. That will probably happen sooner than later. At that point a total clear out of NZTR/TAB executive will then have a back to the future effect. In the meantime I look forward to spring racing on properly renovated tracks

If the spillover gets too messy borrow one of TAB for ever's (akaOscar's) Bibs

Dovetails nicely into Mr Fish's Q in Exciting Racing topic

The intriguing aspect of NZ involvement with Entain is that the parent company of Entain is reviewing its commitments as to what is or isn't their core, (read profitable) business. They may well decide that waiting to make a profit In four years time and beyond in a small market has little appeal. As to the comments re negative, critical and realistic, I would point out that being critical is too judge with severity whilst being negative typically lacks in constructiveness. Given the assurances and promises from NZTR over the years of this decade regarding tracks and their poor condition I would state strongly that most on this site re this particular subject have been realistic in their views. A realist is one who tends to view things as THEY REALLY ARE!

Very pleased to read he is OK. With My Sky I can rewind and review. The first thing I look at is how the jockeys hit the ground. Why? Because I do not like falls in any shape or form. I am hoping to know they are OK (ish) asap. I couldn't see with the actual footage how McNab hit the ground as he was nearly out of the picture. Moving on; So why do we have to wait for an agents update on his condition and why do they edit out the incident. My take on this is that he Industry executive really does not care for the participants and would rather we all live in horsewashed lala happyland.

True blue punters always have a 'spit the dummy' moment. You wouldn't be human if you weren't. Some time back in an earlier iteration of the FUBAR track that it was I swore I would never bet again at Awapuni. Years later I had at the time my biggest ever win bet on a horse running at, you guessed it, Awapuni and it won. Shallow as a puddle.

Got through to a very helpful lady at TAB help desk. This lag is normal for now but she will pass on my concern and we shall have to wait to see if it improves

OK. I'm patient and thought give it time to sort but now it is time to call the help desk.

IT question. My Android phone connects to new TAB app instantly but on my laptop via ultra fast fibre broadband I get the spinning wheel for ten to 15 seconds then once connected no problems. Any ideas why the initial delay?

Agreed with one exception and that is Cambridge. That would still have left $20 mil for existing tracks. Looking at how NZTR did a u turn on Woodville yet refuse to give them any assurance beyond this decade says they have learnt sfa and most tracks will not be ungraded and properly maintained

A clarification. The dedicated ch 62 for NZ racing was always going to be for G1 and Premier days which generally produce the most turnover. I don't have a problem with saturation racing outside those days as we shouldn't expect that type of attention every Saturday. To cover the rebuttal that the pop channel is exclusive on the really big carnival days. Yes but they are are talk fest and on those days I think all channels are MIA. Finally last decade there was some surveying done on punters needs but new incoming executive knew better and ignored feedback

Again CS everyone to his/her own. There was a professional punter in the UK who went into the last leg of a hard to pick scoop 6 with what looked like the obvious winners. Unbeknown to him there was a little old lady 'literally' who scooped the pool with one live winning ticket on a real roughie. When asked how she had found the winner "it had the word blue in its name and I like blue sky's"

When Trackside went to two channels the premise was ch62 would fully and properly focus on NZ Saturday racing and bring in Sydney/Melbourne later in the day. Ch 63 wall to wall. Well we all know how that has turned out. If you want to see a decent prelim afraid you will have to be on track. Watching the back end of a horse briefly or an artistic close up does not cut it but they could not care less. I can recall an Uncle bleating about this twenty years ago so I guess the current camera operators and Managers are following their predecessors