Reefton

You'd know

Really Chief? An 'old West Coast dairy farmer' you call him? Peter was never a dairy farmer(his son has taken the farm over and converted it) but he has achieved an effing sight more in racing than you ever will. Hard to believe looking at him but I think he actually won a race as a jockey(amateur to be fair), has probably trained 150 winners from very limited starters and owned most of them, worked long term for Brian Anderton(and even cradled the head of the great Mellay as the horse passed away), run his own stud and stood up(as Freda has pointed out) to the frigging experts who tried to turn his track into a skating rink and corrected the issues that another bunch of 'experts' created at another track. And he is not particularly old either. You really know nothing do you? For someone who bags shiite out of achievers like O'Malley and Michael Pitman your own achievements in the game are fairly thin on the ground.

Peter often did things he want supposed to(or didn't do things they wanted him too) The time the Trotters hammered it a week before in the rain - Peter got a twelve tonne vibrating road roller onto it next day - it might have had bare patches but they were flat bare patches. When one G Foskett saw the thing parked off the track he simply shook his head. Not that I ever had a cross word with Garry - he was always pleasant and accommodating but he knew the track would be presented as good as it could possibly be. I just can't see what there is to lose in ripping all these dodgy tracks with a mole plough like they did Grey - at the end of the day what have you got to lose? You are aerating it two foot down and possibly creating drainage channels as well.

Remarkable coincidence - all these places where 'the soil structure is stuffed' have all been in the past renovated by the same sort of expert he claims to be. So what conclusion are we forced to draw? Given every single one they have touched seems to be afflicted(at least in the early stages after 'renovation' and in some cases forever) I sorta kinda think it might be the experts who are the problem

What a dick. I thought of an analogy last night after a Cardigan Bay film somehow(unsolicited by me) tuned up on my FB feed. Using your logic you would argue that the worst horse in the Cup on Tuesday was infinitely superior to Cardigan Bay(based on times run). Or in turn that Winx was infinitely superior to Phar Lap.

It was when she won the first Telegraph I think Pam as I remember from the old racing annuals When she won the Trentham Stakes she broke the track record and had broken down 800m out. Broke her sesamoid for the second time! That was after being beaten a head in Wellington Cup the week before by Good Lord(dual Sydney Cup winner) when Ramage said she would have won but was so wide she didn't see Good Lord on the fence. And all that of course a coupe of weeks after the Dunedin Gold Cup/Timaru Cup wins in two days Utterly remarkable horse given the way she was treated.

Shows what an ignoramus you really are boy. Neither Winx nor Very Ellegant would ever have been asked to do a quarter(in terms of extremes) of what Show Gate was(nor were they asked to do anything like Kingston Town was either). Like Black Caviar they were and are beautifully and carefully managed but they comes from a much more cossetted world than the stars/champions of yesteryear were.

I reckon she would have won a Grand National Steeplechase if he had lined her up. Then backed up to win the open sprint on the last day(as the scheduling was then)

Yes that's right. She had come back form Aussie and been thrown into the paddock. Like a lot of tragic things about her it is a pity the Aussies never saw the best of her. They would still be talking about it.

Remember the immortal Show Gate winning the Stewards the Canterbury Gold Cup and the Churchill in a week. The year before she won the Stewards and the Churchill and a couple of years later only went down a head to the great Grey Way in the Stewards , won the CGC on the Wednesday and got beat by Tonic Time in the Churchill. And that was when NZ horses were well up to the best of the Aussies. What an astonishing horse

yes well the crowds love the dump even if the jockeys don't. She would be on the softer side of a heavy 20 right now I would say

We would rather do it ourselves in that we will not be subjected to the advice of the usual bunch of 'experts' inflicted on us by NZTR who will unquestionably cock it up. Could possibly go to the Racing Safety Development Fund for some assistance though. One issue is if you realign the bend out of the straight which is the tightest turn on the track you will either have the grandstand on the bend or have it at a strange angle to the straight. We can't afford to build a new Grandstand and do the track as well so that is a bit of a problem unless the Council closes the road on the eastern side of the track and lets us expand out there(a definite possibility if they are keen to assist) Anyway at the moment it has all got to happen and to be fair I am not sure I have the enthusiasm to be bothered

Uncertainty over our future I guess. And in days gone by our track was acceptable whereas now it doesn't cut the mustard(nobody is more aware of that than me) Expanding it is a bit of a challenge as there is a road there we would need to shift and the area we own is a bit of an odd shape(not impossible to sort but potentially a bit of a challenge). We would need a bit of cooperation from the local council(which I am sure will not be a problem - they are fairly racing sympathetic up Westport way) And cost of course - while we own area around the outside some of it is down a bank and will need building up. The local contractors help us(a lot!) where they can but the question is how far that help extends.

means we are all staying open from what I can read of it. We can now think about expanding the circumference of our track. Only logical anyway. Greymouth has ample stables - paid for out of the old amenities fund I might add - but is too small and flood prone(and I mean flood prone!), Kumara is big enough but has no stables and serious track issues if it rains. Our track is too small but is by far the best surface, we have stabling and we have room to expand. But it is that flood prone comment that makes the difference. They cannot in all fairness arbitrarily shut us down and save the other two - we are far from perfect but do not have the issues the other two do. If(and that is a big IF) we can increase the track circumference we will be infinitely superior.

From where I am sitting you are struggling to get things into perspective and are becoming increasingly irrelevant. Why don't you either acknowledge a remarkable feat by a South Island trainer or just shut up? By trying to belittle Michael's achievements you are showing yourself to be small minded and frankly a dick.

What are you trying to say? Or is it just your inferiority complex coming out again

hear hear Pam!

Since I have been named in this thread I will jam my oar in. Firstly Victoria Park is now a waste land and I stopped a few weeks back and took some photos(below). In the right hand picture the smaller tree to the right was the one behind the grandstand in a photo pasted earlier. It was sheer bloody mindedness from the Mawhera Incorporation not to decrease the rent and they claimed to have big plans for the site but, like a lot of the property they have had given back to them, they are always 'gunna' do something but never ever do. They really are holding the town back. As far as relocating to Omoto went we suggested it but the lack of enthusiasm from the GTC committee and potential flooding made it all too hard. For a brief time a few years back I sort of explored the possibility of re-forming the GTC but I am not a harness man(though I did love Addington when I was a Varsity student in the early 80's) and I needed more help from those with more knowledge and enthusiasm and it was not forthcoming. I imagine now HRNZ would simply say no anyway given dwindling field sizes. Mikie you mystified me a little with the claim of being the Secretary of all those clubs when those clubs reinstated the harness events as at the time I was the Greymouth JC Secretary but then I twigged who you are. Good to hear from you again, thanks for the help you gave the Coast Clubs for many years and I hope you are keeping well? Equally thought CS I remember when I was a kid in the very early 70's the galloping clubs running trots(even Kumara did it - God those old trotters must have been tough bastards dragging carts though that swamp!(a it was at the time)). I also remember days with three division maiden gallops at Reefton as well. And vaguely(could be wrong) the McLaughlin(?) horses Royal Ascot, Manaroa, and Manawauru being bracket mates at Victoria Park. And another name to add to the good ones that raced at Victoria Park - of course Our Mana won the West Coast Bonus there and went on to win an NZ Cup? Its a bit like Dalray running at Omoto though - those days are long long gone

the big profile guys(in the main) are quite happy with the prospect of grabbing all the little men's hard earned assets and pissing the money up against the wall. Once that is gone they will find some other way to squeeze the last of the juice from the orange. David Ellis assured us a couple of years ago that stakes were going to double didn't he? Where other than from the proceeds of the small club's properties was that going to come from? Cost cutting in Parnell Petone Riccarton and Ellerslie perhaps? Not bloody likely. We will rape the Dargaville's, Timaru's and Reefton's to fund our reverse Robin Hood strategy.

problem with that is they won't distinguish and (as they do) they will use as another reason to try to shut the lot down. A very fine line to walk with those animal rights chappie's. Not unlike Jacinda's little quandary with the Chinese.

'Riccarton is AOK'? What the hell are you talking about? I have never heard Pitty saying Riccarton is 'AOK' in recent times other than three days last spring(the earlier one with the fast times you whinged your guts out about and the first two days of Cup Meeting). Michael constantly rails against the irrigation policies there and I had a gutsful of hearing that horses in which I have shares(or others for that matter) got trapped in inferior areas of the track caused by inconsistent irrigation. He is excited about the possibilities of the AWT but at the same time there will be limited big stake days on that if any so I personally doubt he will have that many runners on it. I guess having it available for training may be to his advantage but the proof in the AWT pudding remains to be seen. I have heard rumblings already that it might not be the saviour it was held out to be but will await developments. So since Riccarton gets all the money(feature day wise) and cannot produce a decent track it all gets rather frustrating from the perspective of someone looking for a combination of good stakes and reliability in track surface in the South. But then again why should I care? Why not just cull my interests in horses and walk away? Bernard, Cameron and the Track experts know everything so not much point in trying to tell them anything

'Pitman won't go there'? He also won't go to Greymouth or Invercargill but they race there You have a unhealthy fixation with MRP just because he disagrees with you. The reason they wont race at Rangiora is because they(Riccarton and Petone) extracted themselves from legal action by the skin of a dogs proverbial and they do not want to risk it again. Nothing to do with Michael.

I had a 10% share in one with Te Akau that I brought just over ten years ago. It won a hundred thousand all up and I paid out over three years and five months $15,076.37 so the overall cost for three and a half years was (say) $250,000. From deduct the purchase cost and cost of a Singapore transfer and it comes back to $182k or $52000 a year. Melody Belle went to Aussie several times so I would be extremely surprised (given inflation, Te Akau's charges increases and Fortuna being in the middle) if it cost her owners less than $100,000 a year to keep her. For example they used to charge $5 to use the colours(be it a trial or raceday). Now I think it is $25 I could tell some stories about it but I won't. All I can say is it is expensive owning good horses(not that he was particularly good) and when they start traipsing to Aussie regularly it gets effing dear

I guess that is like being an owner and the trainer downplays the horse's chances then it opens up at $4. They're not telling you but clearly they are telling someone(and that someone is not the billpayer) For all that I don't really think Emily Bosson has a responsibility to broadcast Opie's thoughts all over the TV not was it KFE's job to relay Te Akau's(at the end of the day they might be piss poor judges - in terms of tipping I mean - anyway)

Bottom line with Allen is he should not have been even considered for the NZRB job given his lack of empathy with Racing. Every effing one of these blokes(including Saundry George and McKenzie) fails to take into account the fact that the vast vast vast majority of the stakeholders are NOT there as a business proposition but as an enjoyable pastime where they no doubt dream of owning a Winx or a Show Gate but invariably ultimately end up pouring a heap of hard earned down the drain. Sucking up to the 'business' side of the game or thinking about attracting the 18-40year olds once or twice a year is all good but if you don't look after the grassroots you do not have a hope.