Reefton

I know you MJ O'B! And I might add you are not a bad bloke!

the only significant problem the CEO's see is how to fund substantial pay rises for themselves and more staff to suck the juice out of the industry

You can deadset guarantee that the fat cat clubs will be constantly in Sharrock & George's ears demanding most of that $160m or whatever it is too. Never mind that a vastly disproportionate amount of the funds used to start the TAB came from the Country Clubs(and a VASTLY disproportionate amount of that from Southern Country Clubs - many now long gone - as well) Their(the 'Fat Cat's') troubles are never their fault they are always someone else's

that will be your well padded wallet weighing you down Michael!

Same applied when they closed Hutt Park for Harness. Per capita Harness spending in Wellington is NZ's lowest and per capita Thoroughbred spending in Nelson is NZ's lowest. That is my understanding anyway

In our case he might get $150k as our share(and then he would need to get the Trotting Club sold as well). Kumara is leasehold, swamp and worth jackshit and Greymouth is hugely floodprone, poor access and only really worth the gravel that lies underneath it. Sharrock might net $550000 - $600000 for the lot. Now if he had the brains(and the balls) to say to the ARC 'your real estate is too valuable for a racecourse we are cashing you up' there would be a couple of billion at least. Trentham $500m Riccarton(I know it is leasehold) $500m, Te Rapa $750m. then develop the likes of Matamata, maybe a course north of Auckland, one in West Melton/Darfield..... Now that would be wise use of industry funds(at the end of the day the industry funded an awful lot of those facilities way back when and it is made pretty clear to us that we(apparently) owe our existence to the NZ racing Industry so sauce for the goose... )

difference in the MC is probably the stakes, the quality of the horseflesh and the quality of the horsemanship plus it is on a track twice the size of our dumps

It wasn't just us SA it was the entire West Coast He was keen to stop Greymouth and dead set desperate to stop Kumara as well In fact you wonder if it is not a jealousy thing on the part of the bloke that here are three examples of where people actually want to go to the races and accordingly the nere do well attitude of 'we have to stop this' comes in. There was never any trouble until a certain person turned up. I could question why NZTR don't strive as well to give the Coast another day when it is clear that you are attracting potential new devotees to the game(and not just from the West Coast District either) It isn't great racing but it is atmosphere and it is easy to get very close to the action.

What do you mean 'one dimensional'? Clearly (and rightly so) at the time of our meeting the Ashburton tragedy was fresh in people's minds - mine included - so I can understand serious concerns about track conditions. However when I thought of it the recent two were both interference, Hewy and Rebecca Peters were both hurdle incidents, my understanding is the Rebecca Black, Jo McGartland and Ashley Mundy calamities were getting on heels and the other one was the tragic Sam McRae case were his foot went through the iron. I hate bringing those cases up lest someone close to one of those people is on BOAY so lets not dwell on them but the bottom line is track conditions did not cause any of them. If I had the slightest doubt that that track was not safe to race on I would definitely pull the pin of my own volition. The issue is that the track was unquestionably safe but these guys are clutching at straws trying to defend their stance that there was a safety issue. They do not have one tiny tiny tiny piece of evidence that the track was unsafe. What they do have is a video of a rider trying repeatedly to push his way out who's horse gets bumped back in and immediately appears to go offstride. They(the Stipes) elected not to consider the possibility that there was a breach of riding standards but focused on track issues. Despite being unable to find any evidence whatsoever of a slip or skid (and remember I was with them) they decided to abandon the meeting. Several vastly experienced riders, trainers and our Secretary an ex stipe himself all examined the area and not one could find any evidence of a slip or skid. And the BS they have made up in subsequent correspondence about the horse slipping more than once and there being multiple slips in the race...... How come none of that was reported in the initial stewards report? This is an effing joke

He responded - just said it was the RIB's problem(despite my complaint being that RIB officers, including the Chief Stipendiary Steward of NZ and the CEO of the RIB, had committed serious offences under the Rules of Racing(Rule 801(1) and Rule 802) by lying to Club officials). In the case of the RIB Chairperson she just turned the investigation over to the CEO himself. When he is the subject of the complaint that is simply ASTONISHING! The lies(well making up 'facts') of course coming when attempting to justify the decision to call the races off. All they need to do is acknowledge there was a serious error of judgment on the part of the Officiating Stipes and advise what steps they will be taking to ensure this does not happen again. Wishing for some monetary compensation is a pipe dream I guess. As part of the complaint process I have had reason to think of every fatality on NZ racecourses this century. I can think of all eight and, insofar as I know, not one was due to the state of the track(I have to admit the Lawson serious incident was but the others?? Not one as far as I know) Not that there was any track issue on our day anyway. That is the whole point!

Yeah I did expect he would have other things on his mind just now

Well I got a reply on Friday but they are arse covering. I complained to the Minister but he washed his hands of it too. It's a bloody joke It ain't over yet and I am itching to get it up on BOAY but I have one more shot to fire

Not sure if this was true but a story I heard about Gullery He drove through road works on Epsom or Racecourse Road and proceeded to clip every road cone(yes apparently they had them in those days but I don't think they were every two inches like now) Might have done it more than once. So anyway the irritated road workers filled one up with concrete. Needless to say the result was fairly spectacular

Didn't someone tell me that the Riccarton track staff all had the day off on the Friday(admittedly Show Day) before the Cup Day? They must have been bloody confident that their track was hunky dory! Strange given the number of horses who 'blundered' at the starts on days one and two. There is a simple(to my way of thinking) fix here. NZTR should have an independent panel of ex jockeys to inspect each track the day before the races. You only need to look at our debacle to realise the stipes leave a bit to be desired but the likes of JW Walker MJ Skelton RJ McCann and DM Walsh were in the area for the meet(that's about 6000 winners I would say) . I am sure a $100 payment for a quick look the day before and an opinion would be most welcome. Instead of that we got DM Walsh and TR Moseley saying the track was perfectly OK pre-races but a stipe who was utterly determined he was going to shut the meeting down(and did so despite being able to find not one bit of evidence that there was a slip or skid). People like them know what it is like to hit the deck and they know the characteristics of a safe(or unsafe as the case may be) track. It is pretty apparent that in the days before Cup Day there were ex jockeys who had grave concerns about the state of the track and the long grass in particular.

Quick fixes are what the 'Experts' do to make sure they are called in again on a regular basis so it wouldn't surprise me if it is a 'quick fix' yes If you want it fixed properly give O'Malley a call Oh that's right he hasn't got half the alphabet after his name

I have no real idea on that stuff but wasn't that what was happening back in November/December? It would strike me that pop up irrigation fittings in a place prone to wind like Riccarton would be a bit of a silly idea. If you have k line you can place it to ensure that the area you want watered gets watered(under monitoring for wind dropping or increasing of course)

Not sure a ten year suspension would be any solace to the Taylor family. Just a tragedy that's all.

It could be but lets not prejudge the way the tracks are presented Oatham did that at Reefton and he hasn't heard the last of it(and nor, they tell me, is he too happy about the Club's reaction and continual chasing the topic). Fingers crossed for all concerned at both venues that there are no further issues. NZ racing does not need it.

now we're talkin!

Well when they get the dosh from this the first thing to do will be employ some more admin staff in nothing jobs and pay substantial bonuses to those already employed.. Then they will refurb the Presidents room - for nobody to use - at a cost of several million. Next will be some overseas trips to here there and everywhere for no justifiable reason Oops time for some more admin staff and bonuses plus a new pie warmer. Oh bugger its all gone!

And a worthy recipient of several millions of dollars from the NZ racing Industry. At least you would know it wont be pissed up against the wall

Well Reefton would be a good example

I do have to make it clear Oatham was not the stipe in charge that day - Veronica Algar was But it was pretty clear who was pulling the strings

Yes that is one thing that Clement did say in one of the letters. They should call that the Molloy rule. The whole point is the stipes discretion, in my experience, was where a horse lost a plate on the way to the start and replacement was impractical. The stipes could allow it to run, perhaps with the other plate off as well. NOT when a horse presents at the brand checking and plate inspection area without a shoe as happened here. How the Chief Stipe of NZ allowed that horse to run minus a plate is beyond me

Interesting! The NZTR guys have been kept in the loop with the various correspondence and they know our track was OK. There were no less than four inspections in the few weeks leading up to it, including by their track man and Garry Foskett(and also by one John Oatham), and there is a very notable NZTR employee who was oncourse and knows tracks who was disgusted. We await the results of the Chair's enquiry and the Minister's but as far as ongoing communication with Clement you might as well talk to a rock. The guy is clearly out of his depth. Head of the RIB(either CEO or Chair) is no place for a person who seems to have no idea about racing.