Bloke

Yes, they have had that date for many years but in the past they have shared it with other clubs. The most recent was Te Rapa up to about 10 years ago and from memory Riccarton has also raced on that day in the past. Holidays are no longer the guaranteed windfall as many years ago. Trentham and Awapuni used to race on the Wellington Anniversary Day and they both dropped this day some time ago. On 3 January this year Trentham raced in front of very small crowd even though they were part of "The Grand Tour" On 2 January many thousands drove up the Hutt Valley past Trentham to attend Tauherenikau and had no intention of attending Trentham the next day. Hawkes bay used to race on 1 January, and their crowds dropped off so they moved to an earlier day.

They have more than their share of two-year races. November 9, December 10 race scheduled was abandoned due to insufficient entries, January 2 and February 6. Surely when you have a massive crowd you want as bigger fields as possible to maximise betting turnover. Thay get the holiday dates because they have shown that they can get the crowds. Several Clubs have tried Waitangi Day and all have failed except Tauherenikau.

I think that the statistics posted by Curious are interesting and it is no surprise to see my favourite track Tauherenikau at Number One. On their own you would not want to make major changes based on these stats, but some enhancements could be made. I note that for the two big Tauherenikau meetings, The TAB installed Wi Fi on course which would have helped boost on course turnover so that is a small positive. NZTR in my opinion would have the most to offer to enhance such days. Firstly, for the Tauherenikau January 2 meeting, in order to further boost on course betting, they need to replace the 2-year-old race which at that time of year attracts a paltry field (this year four runners). Then two days after the Waitangi Day meeting they allowed a similar meeting at Otaki which impacted on the Tauherenikau fields. The on-course turnover at this Tauherenikau meeting is always good but it could have so much better if Otaki was deferred I would also like to see Clubs that constantly attract large crowds and betting receive further incentives from NZTR as reward.

The Auckland Cup has been downgraded from one of our great races to just another race on the so-called Champions Day.

Titch won the Kumara Gold Nuggets and then the Auckland Cup

Yeh sure you are a self-appointed expert on everything

Wairarapa are trending well. I have not seen the financials for 31-07- 2025 but for 2024 they recorded a profit of $100k and $190k for 2023. To my knowledge they have not sold any real estate in the last 10 years. Working capital = $400k and with no term liabilities.

Will you certainly care you put up an incorrect equation re Darly's Joy purchase price, working on pounds so that it converted to a higher amount in today's terms.

Daryl's Joy was foaled on 01-09-1966. He was sold at the yearling sales in January 1968 for $1,100, not 1,100 pounds as Decimal currency came in on 10-07-1967.

Nowhere as many sheep and they are big supporters of Napier City Rovers. There is a beautiful cricket ground in central Napier, Nelson Park and they played their first cricket game of the season there last weekend. Where else in the country can they do that?

I stand corrected, I got the impression that they shut it down for all horse activity. It was 23 degrees today in Napier top temperature in the country as it is many times.

If you had a horse that you want trained, why would you select a Hastings Trainer if the track is closed? The track closure would have had a huge impact. Hasting is the right place for the Spring Classic because the weather is probably the best in the country.

The problem is that racing clubs are not experts on property development or even straight forward property purchases. In the case of Race, they were "know it all's" and should have at a minimum sought advice from experts in the property development field and for significant property transactions they should have always sought final approval from members. In the case of Hastings, it is pleasing that they are consulting their members something The Wellington Racing Club never did for the 20 plus years that I was a member. In the case of Hastings, I think that the proposal can work if they hire the right people and not try to be the experts on property which they are not.

Depends on what you would judge as a good crowd Mikey. Cup Day at Addington used to attract 20k plus but in recent years maybe 7k?

Playing numbers in Wellington have plummeted on what they were say 30 years ago. What were once large clubs are now a fraction of that size yet amazingly; I see that Wellington have won The NPC twice in the last three years. So what does that say about the remainder of the NPC teams.

I have told this story before but just in case, I will repeat it. A couple of years ago i went to my local at the Belle Vue in Lower Hutt and looked across at Hutt Rec where there was a Rugby game on with maybe 200 watching. It turned out to be Wellington V Southland, Ranfurly Shield Game. Wellington Rugby's home ground for their NPC games is at Porirua Park where they play in front of miniscule crowds.

Earlier this season we had no one at Ellerslie for Group One racing while there was a sellout crowd across town of 25kplus watching Auckland FC. Maybe Ellerslie should have changed the date of their racing?

The answer is simple Mikey. Football is the number one sport in Auckland by a country mile. Good on the Jaffas for seeing the light

Get the spelling right TAB. It's Jaffa! Just a further F----- Aucklander

Mate I do not follow rugby. Besides in Wellington, Football has been the dominate sport for many years and Football is now NZs largest team sport in terms of participation The Wellington Men's Rugby Team has to play their games at Porirua Park in front of maybe 100 spectators. The Hurricanes and the Wellington Rugby Union have major financial issues and with any luck they will fold.

Well, they did not help themselves by having a lamb as a mascot for a Rugby Team and calling their Basketball team The Rams. I also must give TAB some credit, usually anyone who comes from Christchurch is normally a pain in the arse parochial. Not only that he has turned Jaffa.

I do not agree with your comments that the Awapuni cock ups were beyond the prediction of most investors. Firstly, they had no experience with property development so should have sought advice. For the sale of the Awapuni land it was simple. They should have firstly subdivided, then sold the sections and finally built the conference centre. That way they would have removed the risk So far as Club Management goes, Race has been a chapter of incredible cock ups. Just look at recent years. They bought the land at Sherrif's Road Awapuni for $1.6M as they though it would be good for stables. Only problem was that once again they did not do their due diligence as there was a stream around the land with a bridge which they thought gave them access. But it didn't so the last I heard was that the land was back on the market for offers of near $1M. They started a Cafe at Trentham which has cost a fortune to set up and for the first 8 or months of operation lost around $70k. Then we find the CEO's brother in-law is the chef. Once again poor research as there is an excellent Cafe across the railway line which attracts the foot traffic. ]

Race's problem goes back to "The Awapuni Debacle" when they built a conference centre / grandstand without any money. The plan was to subdivide residential land at Awapuni, sell sections and then build the new centre. However, they decided to build before they sold the land and the $9M cost was funded by the Bank with the debt to be repaid from section sales. The building was completed just as the GFC hit and they could not find buyers for the sections. When they did sell a section well below expected price the proceeds were used to only repay interest to The Bank. So, Trentham has been sold off to repay interest and principal as well as to cover the many other blunders made by so called experts. The other issue they have is that each club has two directors on the board but some of the clubs are so small in terms of membership that it would be incredibly hard to find two members with the expertise to sit as directors. For example, Marton has about 20 members plus the committee. Rangitikei and Feilding are not much better.

Maybe but I don't fancy their chances be of surviving financially given Race's appalling history.

At the last AGM, Masterton members showed common sense and rejected a proposal to join Race. Some misguided fool in the club moved the motion. That is the only reason I can think of to give them an award.