Reefton

more money(a lot more) in being the top rating radio show host I'm afraid Michael! Which is exactly why Jacinda and her lackey's hate him - he has the audience and he has their number and there is nothing they can do about it

Frightening. But it just reflects the collective thoughts of most on here. And its all starts with the total lack of accountability at the top - those NZTR and TAB Directors who are unknowns and have not one tiny little bit of interest in the future of NZ Racing or its participants. If we cannot control (via the ability to reappoint or not to as the case may be) the hierarchy we are rooted. This independent directors BS that is the corporate watchword these days doesn't work in racing and slowly but surely we are winding down because of that. And when you have the people with the power to change it (the Politicians) not interested then it just goes on and on in the ever decreasing circle. Combined with the useless pricks managing the codes and the big clubs there is an inevitability about it all. I said it on the other thread the other day 'they played the Ukelele as the ship went down'

Again (predictably) you are being a dick I am not trying to dictate what happens up there(other than to give them good advice about curing their own problems) but they insist on trying to dictate what happens to my course(and the other rural venues) They(and Riccarton) have had millions and millions and millions put into their venues and they are still a disgrace both in terms of attendance and the standard of facility and track presentation. And instead of looking inward they seize on the small successful(comparatively) clubs as the source of their problems. And insofar as Te Akau is concerned you want to get over your fixation with them. NZ racing would survive without Te Akau but Te Akau's racing operation in NZ would not survive without NZ racing

again exactly! In my view the best interests long term of NZ raicng would be to use the new Act to seize those big clubs assets(nobody ever goes to their venues), build new and superior facilities in cheaper locales and put the rest in the bank to use for stakes and upkeep

exactly. people with a broader view than just looking after their own clubs and interests and who are prepared (1)to stand up to the Waikato Mafia and (2) take the tough steps to sort out the mess the big Clubs are creating

Don't be an utter dick Why should Pitty speak out? He is an open fan of the AWT and also makes it quite clear he chases the better stake days(and both of those are at Riccarton - in general in the case of the better stakes) As he says travel to other tracks costs money for his owners so he is quite happy to race all the time at Riccarton. Whether ultimately his opinions are proved correct remains to be seen(personally I believe the demise of all the other racing venues will eventually kill the South Island Racing Industry and with it Riccarton but I am past caring). But there is no particular onus on Pitty to take up the cudgels on behalf of other racing centres. He may be quite happy to have no grass track racing for seven weeks(I have no idea) but why should he be expected to sort it out? The programming(dates) committee(as covered ad infinitum in the Wingatui thread) takes its cue from NZTR who make their own minds up before the draft is issued and clearly have the attitude that no correspondence will be entered into despite inviting submissions. Mills may have a lot of input but reining him in and monitoring what he is advocating is up to the CJC committee not to MR Pitman. Simply because those CEO guys have eff all else to do and accordingly plenty of time to get in the ear of the half wits at NZTR they are going to have a major say. NZTR even conduct monthly meetings with the big Clubs where the small are excluded(Clubs with less than 3 days have their separate monthly phone in but they will be treated like mushrooms while the 'big' mobs are no doubt being promised a land of milk and honey once the small Clubs assets are seized)

yep they are going through the motions all right 'They played the Ukelele as the Ship went down' Only thing if you don't submit they will say 'you had your opportunity'

Note of course also the savings available to individuals and the industry overall as detailed on page five. Saving money is a foreign concept to these chappies(that's what happens when you don't write your own cheques!) I did work put how they would slot in 2024 but buggered if I know how I did it. Suspect perhaps Reefton moving to the following week Tuesday or Wednesday. Greymouth the third(non holiday) Kumara 6th and Reefton 9th or 10th. That will leave them Waikouaiti, Gore and Riccarton as the features for the following Saturdays in January. Waikouaiti should never have been shifted from New Years Day - even if a reluctant venue shift they should be on that day as a feature. But you cannot tell these guys. I really don't know why they even invite submissions on the dates - I spend hours working it out for them then they ignore it anyway. Don't know why I bother

Attached our(Reefton) submission for next season and essentially the same emails I sent them on behalf of Kumara. They ignored it of course because they 'couldn't work out how to schedule it'. Not quite sure what the fourth and early part of the fifth pages amounted to if not detailing of how to schedule it(INCLUDING the effects on North Island meetings) Submission on the Draft 2022-23 Racing Calendar 4 Feb 2021.pdf

Surprisingly we seem to be a part of it but I would have thought Woodville contributes a lot more to NZ Racing than Reeton does

Little bit surprising that Woodville has not irrigation. We have it and had to drown the bloody track with a seven day 30degree plus run into our meeting. We would never have been able to run without the irrigation.

Just taking the Mickey out of them

That was the Audible/De Monfort problem - nobody checked the brands in those days and then the decree came down that each club had to have someone to check them. We make sure we do it - what the hell is Riccarton's excuse? As an aside(Bernard if you are viewing!) the fact we have volunteers to do the job(and very well too if I may say!) is another example of how our Clubs(and other country clubs) scraps and skimps to save money - that is how we survive - if not prosper. We dont stick our hand out for the industry to fund the position - we get off our arse and do it ourselves!

Riccarton has a disproportionately large amount of industry money poured into it so why don't they ensure adequate numbers of gate staff? The whole starting gates thing is a schmoozle in the country compared to (say) Aussie where regardless of the number of gate staff they do not seem to have the reluctant horses NZ does. I remember that bloody Kawi wandering around behind the gates for 2-3 minutes in G1s while others(like Consensus) stood there. Happened time and time and time again. It would not be allowed in Aussie so why here? Ditto barrier blankets - barrier blanket horses should go in first and so should known reluctant loaders so horses prepared to cooperate are not forced to stand there for extended periods. One notable stable in particular uses barrier blankets all the time to get favours in terms of late loading(I think it used to be worse a few years ago to be fair). Stop the late loading advantage and the use of barrier blankets would decrease markedly (barrier blankets aren't terribly prevalent in Aus are they?) They should be loading faster and closer to race time in this country. A horse standing there for five minutes knowing what is coming up is outrageous. Re the brand checkers our checking is done in the plate inspection bay with one on one side and one on the other - both have the sheet and compare the saddle cloth number to the brand for that side. The plate inspection bay is a logical place because most horses are required to stop, momentarily at least, there. In this case there were two mistakes with two separate horses. It defies belief. I did mention the gear carried but it was identical so can't blame the stipes but would have thought they and the checkers would be in the same general area of the outer parade ring. My understanding is that we are required to have those checking staff so why is Riccarton allowed away without it? At the start is far too late to be checking those things and as The Centaur said if you looked at the preliminary for the wrong horse then backed it only to see a number cloth change you would be pissed. Wouldn't mind betting it was Matt Cross who alerted them. He commented over the PA on the Reefton saddles/colours/jockeys debacle and that led to the sort out at the start

Just see the two Rae horses at Riccarton had the wrong number clothes. Everyone makes mistakes so no finger pointed at the stable BUT.......... The club is required to have someone checking brands and the stipes check the gear carried. How the hell did those two pass those checks especially the first? It is possible both horses carry identical gear but they won't have identical brands. Before anyone brings up the Harris debacle at our joint those two horses had the correct numbers just wrong saddles so our checkers(both mates of mine both volunteers and both top blokes)made no mistake. If anyone should be careful about horse ID it should be Riccarton given that was where the original Audible/De Montfort cockup occured. While the two number clothes were changed horses stood in the gates. And this the outfit Bernard and these people hold out as an example we should all aspire to????????

Always partial to a bit of Monty Python

They are clearly pissed about Hokitika still. It is a popular circuit and they could have(I did the work for them) fitted an extra day in no trouble but no go they said. I have said before - there were eight NZ meetings that week and three of the top four oncourse turnovers were on the Coast. Reefton on a workday Wednesday(with a frigging sight less industry financial input to stakes as well) had a higher turnover than Ellerslie on a weekend Sunday! People want to attend those meetings and that is how new devotees are obtained but you can't tell these Petone mob.

Waikouaiti being jammed in is the problem all right but I don't blame that Club. Just the reshuffle created an issue when New Year's day is the wrong day of the week. When I am back in my office I will post the submission where I told them exactly how they should reschedule it but they came back with 'we can't fit it together' Doh! I just did it for you you half wits. And yes the next calendar will be a challenge but I think there is an extra Saturday in January so we will go out a week? Not sure but there is a way around it as I recall. Will have to check that.

I think we are Ok but they have compressed the circuit into five days (Tuesday Thursday Saturday) with us in the middle Too tight and they refused another day which I guess shows they still have a snitch over the Westland thing. The big issue here is Kumara - for all the 50 years I have followed racing Kumara has always been the second Saturday. Next year they have plonked it on the first Saturday. That would be all very well but it gives them very little time after New Year to organise their day(few working days I mean - it is a bloody big day to organise). The other thing (and this is big) is that people book the Coast out for that meeting and they know it is ALWAYS the second Saturday. So currently every Coast Hotel/Motel will be booked chocka for the second weekend when the races are the weekend before. There will be some pissed off people when they find out and cannot get accommodation the week before. Do you think I could get that through to Bernard and co? Not effing likely! We(Reefton) have some very loyal supporters like Pitty and K Myers and a heap of other(lesser number but no less important) trainers who I hope will get us through but I say it often enough and will say it again - it gets harder and harder to remain motivated when you are dealing with numbskulls!

foik a 1200m chute at Reefton would be starting in the Inangahua River! A 1600m track would go down a treat though if you have a couple of mill in readies to lavish on us Mr Doomed!

Deeply and disturbingly ironic thing is that those rural clubs were sacrificed to ensure the success of a city facility funded via the provincial growth fund - which(as its name indicates) was an NZ First Initiative supposedly to help the country areas. Winston charged into Reefton in 2017 telling them how he was going to save the little Town then promptly as Racing Minister endorses shutting down their racecourse! Sort of like a sick Robin Hood scenario in reverse

You make a very valid point about Timaru missing out on any feature meetings at all Mike but these guys in Petone are absolutely set in their ways and incapable of seeing that Clubs like Timaru are the thing that keeps racing going by providing product at what might otherwise be unattractive times(mid week or mid winter) Timaru definitely deserves a feature day and the time for it is right in that nine week period between Cup week and mid January when there are only three Southern Feature meetings every one at least two hours south of the Waitaki River. Being able to run their Timaru Cup mid December with a feature support card would let them promote it as a Christmas season day and try to engender some more enthusiasm locally. Instead they are jammed into the post Christmas busy season with race days two ahead and two after them and only Industry day stakes save for their Cup. It is wrong wrong wrong I had a huge crack at them about the calendar(they have buggered up our circuit next year) a couple of months back, told Bernard exactly how they needed to reschedule things though that early January period but they came back with essentially 'we couldn't work out how to schedule it'. I'VE JUST DONE THAT FOR YOU YOU EFFING IMBECILES! In fact when they came back with that response I told him if his people weren't up to it let me know and I would redraft the entire SI calendar for them. It wouldn't be hard but up there you have a genuine lack of any sort of nous for the job.

I don't think AWT's are designed or intended as a spectator sport are they? Just fodder for desperate off course punters to blow their dosh on Even if it were designed for on course you would be half a bloody mile away (at best) from the action at the CJC. The grass track is bad enough without being another 40m away

Isn't reducing participation not enhancing it the(unstated) aim of the NZ Racing hierarchy? They are doing a bloody great job if it is!

Final 2022-23 Racing Calendar - TAB NZ.pdf final has been issued