Reefton

With apologies to you CS I really think it is overdue for Thomass to be sent back to the dark side for a little bit(well a lot!) of re-education. There a fella over there who specialises in dealing with plonkers and I feel that a sparring session over a thread or two with him is just what the young bloke needs. For instance it is quite frightening to think what the reaction to Thomass' initial post on this thread would have been had he posted it over there. I remain gravely concerned at the clearly unhinged state of Thomass' brain (if he has one - of which based on his postings,there is considerable doubt) and am confident that a trip across to the other side will see him return a changed man - I guess it is a lot to hope for but he might even develop some common sense.

cuckoo cuckoo cuckoo

It ain't a great racecourse CS - actually every racecourse in NZ has shortcomings of one sort or another and ours is no exception. I have been looking to get out for several years but lack of someone putting their hand up has stopped me doing so. I suspect this time they will be all fire and brimstone right up to the point where the election is called and will suddenly go quiet. Doesn't worry me one way or the other.

Is he that successful in Aussie? Why did Brendon Lindsay shift Age of Fire(and I wonder how long it will be before Embellish is shipped off to Waller or someone)?

You're an idiot Tom arse but be aware there is as much show of a volcanic explosion dealing to your Aucklanders as an earthquake getting us(and wouldn't we hear the squealing then!) As we showed when Inangahua happened - we don't cry out for help because the public service is full of dickheads like you who are incapable of helping themselves let alone any one else Winston is a plonker who kowtows to his puppet masters and the fact that you can't see it tells us all something about you And you better make sure your mate gets his 'big announcement' out before Jacinda loses patience with his prima donna bullshit otherwise it will be back to the dole queue for Mr 3%(and it will be a disaster for NZ Racing as well - Allen and co will be laughing)

Nothing personal about David Ellis or Karyn Boxie - you have to admire the guy for his salesmanship and confidence in buying all those horses(if not for the bullshit hype they continually spew). But at some stage in most of our lives we all have to realise we are not going to be Tim Hanks or Chris Waller, James MacDonald, John Key or Hugh Fletcher and make the best of what skills and talents(and most importantly limitations)we have got. Re Reefton would you believe there is a mutiny under way in the little old town - somehow some of them think the President has come up with this idea of giving the course to NZTR and is not capable of acting to stop it - I have offered the Presidency up to anyone who wants to take it on so the AGM in a few weeks may signal the end of my battle with Winston and involvement in NZ Racing administration. Funnily enough the main ones kicking up are not even members but I struggled to explain to them that while the Club remains in the ownership of the RJC they do not have a say. I am fighting the battle from both sides!

Much as the industry is badly let down by the governments take take take mentality people like Ellis Tony Pike and Chittick have to realise that racing has become global and we have to accept our place in the global scheme of things. Punters can be watching Royal Ascot one minute Sha Tin and Kranji the next not to mention Randwick or Flemington, Winx, Enable, Stradivarious, Frankie Dettori Ryan Moore Zac Purton, Moriera or James Mac. Much as they might like to fantasize we are never going to be able to compete with those places because they have a punting culture and most importantly they have massive populations (the same reason the best golfers, athletes tennis players Rugby league and to an extent rugby players leave). We are never going to have a field of Winx's ridden by a range of Dettori equivalents here nor are we going to have a Galileo or Frankel shuttling here - it is just not going to happen. Sure we need to address the returns we get from wagering and sure we need to sort out tracks but none of that is going to elevate NZ racing to the International elite level and nor is it going to stop people selling horses when they get a huge offer. Its life - either accept it and get on with it or head over or up there and have a go to see how easy it is. AND the one thing we are at the truly elite level at internationally being Rugby - well how often do you see a chocka stadium except for the All Blacks????? Virtually never unless they take the teams to the provinces(which might be something worth thinking about for one WR Peters) Lets kick the TAB, NZRB and NZTR's arses and get that side sorted but otherwise guys make the best of what we have. Dream if you like but eventually you will wake up to reality.

one suspects this whole thing could easily turn into a disaster. Especially with the involvement of the idiots in Wellington and the idiots in Petone However since they intend to rip my club off I will not have one ounce of sympathy

You may as well forget about significant government assistance for the racing industry - they are not going to give racing dosh while they have nurses teachers and other public servants squealing for money. Contrary to the rosy picture everyone seems to paint of Aussie racing there is an awful lot of Government assistance involved in the boom going on racing wise. And when National inevitably get back in here they are going to have to tighten the belt considerably to get the economy sorted out again so no hope there either(and they are hardly going to have a sympathetic ear for Winston's cronies are they?)

Well the press in the last couple of days has made it clear - no CGT

they have indicated it is off the table but if it came in and you made a dollar on a horse you would be up for it(assuming you breached thresholds of course - they are not going to chase you for tax if you sold at a $1000 profit - might be different if you made $100000) Not entirely sure what that has to do with the Messara report?

Trainers are pretty hard things Hesi - they want everyone dragged into the 21st century(including pinching land that belongs to the clubs not the industry) but do not want to adapt themselves. They could always set up stabling and maybe accommodation in the middle of Avondale anyway and keep the horses there. If they do not do something to make racing more attractive in terms of timeliness(ie at night) then they will be stuffed regardless. Why build all these facilities everyone is wanking on about if there will be nobody there to use them?(which there will not be if you do not have them close to the people and at convenient times)

I'd argue about that but even more reason to abandon the West Coast totally

You have to have the major racing in the vicinity of the people Curious. Otherwise Messiah would be shutting and selling Randwick and Rosehill and shifting Sydney racing out to Penrith or somewhere. The horses might be in the Waikato but they have to come to the people regularly if you want new interest in the game. Otherwise you are never going to get John's 18-44 year olds hooked(and who will Thomass be able to fantasize about if there are no 18 year old girlies about in short skirts?)

I wouldn't trust Winnie and Bernie as far as I could kick either of them. And as far as Messara being helped by Winnie's 'minder's' - well they are another two non entities who have turned up (like the faceless mob on the NZRB and NZTR) You would be better off getting my brother who(much as it pains me to say it given my relationship with him) at least has a modicum of intelligence, a tremendous amount of experience and an imagination and can put a coherent sentence together(albeit using a lot of big words that nobody can understand) . It would sure be an interesting report!

you'd be a great one to talk. Getting a grip on yourself is one of the things you do too much of.

What about the 18-44 year olds who are going to deadset flock to the races very single day according to John? We can't have them having to travel for God's sake! I don't reckon you are far away except I would not sell Ellerslie but turn it into a Commercial property portfolio that will never stop dropping goals for the industry(financially). Ditto Alex Park then develop Avondale (unquestionably the best track surface in the Auckland area) or find another site with rail access and a good surface so you can train them in and home again. Put a trotting track inside(depending if there is a trotting industry in existence of course) and lights for night time fun for the 18-44 year olds - after all they are our saviours. Regardless of the fact that they only turn up three or four times a year you do need somewhere very close to Auckland City so the 18-44 year olds can have their fun. In the south Cromwell is a lot more logical than Kurow(which is North Otago) for the central Otago region. Closest to Queenstown and run races in conjunction with that summer concert thing or other huge Queenstown summer events. And under that scenario why keep one on the Coast? There is no longer an industry here and why is the Coast more important than say Auckland or Timaru?(there are only 30,000 people here and it would be bad form to make a special case of us - the rest of the NZ regulatory bodies are desperate to shut us down - why should racing be any different?) For me Ruakaka, Avondale, Greenfields site, Hastings, Awapuni(if they can get an all weather sorted) or Kapiti Coast, Riccarton(Darfield by the railway line would be a lot better), Oamaru,Wingatui(though they need to support it!) Cromwell and Invercargill(maybe but they need to support it too). Perhaps Trentham so the Wellington 18 -44 year olds can get their fix

Had Weigh In played my full interview from Saturday I would have said virtually the same thing Curious. Consultants consultants consultants! Sick of hearing the opinions of ill informed consultants! Instead Sheldon seemed to concentrate on whatever disharmony there may be between the Coast Clubs.

I seriously think he got to the third stage and thought 'this is too hard I'll turn it over to the NZ Boards'. It is virtually the same report as 20 years ago.

I did a fair bit of work on it myself Pam and spent God knows how many hours on the phone with Laurie. Not to mention winding the hell out of the likes of David McCarthy(Press racing editor at the time). I had a simple economic model of why it could never work and asked the RIB dicks (among a lot of others) to tell me how it would work. The silence was deafening. Gary Chittick's finest hour (not!). He needs regular reminding of that. He had a plonker of a CEO called Alexander who went on to almost break Eden Park before (I think) skulking back to South Africa.

Should be Closing Tracks not Closng Tracks. Effing illiterate West Coasters

J Messara advocates closing tracks wholesale around NZ assuring us peasants that the situation in Aussie and Ireland is much better managed. He then goes on to say that both those places themselves have too many tracks but they cannot close any in Aussie 'for political reasons'(wtf does that mean?) and in Ireland 'it is easier to close a hospital than a racetrack' Why is he seeking to impose on us the very thing that they cannot achieve in the places in the world he thinks are the racing mecca's? And how does he think it is going to be accepted here when he can't get it across the line in his own land? And another thing - I am a bit suspicious of that report - It says it is Messara's but is full of 'we recommend...' and 'We believe...'. Has this bloke suddenly become the queen of England or is there more than one person involved in the writing of this report?

so can you tell me what these misdeeds were that Robert Dunn was convicted of(and I am not talking about the Nelson positives) From where I am sitting unlike Fallon Piggott and co the man has never been found guilty of a criminal offence so what you guys are talking about is hearsay(not to mention character assassination).

wouldn't know anything about that. As I say I don't know him but he has fashioned a pretty fair record in the industry

what do you mean 'related to'?