The Centaur

Love it !!!! Grassroots racing. https://youtu.be/6f7VOK_LoZM

I watched the preliminaries and having seen Kaareraway several times before I couldn't work out why the horse was now a bay whereas I was certain it was a chestnut. Put it down to the sunlight playing havoc and actually backed the No.4 on the basis it looked different to what I thought it should look. What I can't understand if the two horses were a completely different colour why didn't an observer pick up the discrepency in the parade ring.

Compare opening day to Cambridge then Riccarton was non event. The trainers interviewed seemed lukewarm to the track and probably the small muster present as well.

They have put up a monstrocity at the 100 metre mark casting huge shadow over the track. Haven't noticed horses shying away at trials but off putting for viewers.

Discussion on location of offices has always been muted because of the secrecy. I would have thought racing participants would have a view but in 20 years of racing forums never any real opinions there.

AIR NZ are moving their head office to Auckland Airport. Apart from economical factors its also psychological. Racing having head offices in Petone is about the most absurd aspect of racing which has plenty of them. Ellerslie racecourse should be the location for NZTR and perhaps TAB head office as well. Quite frankley its a no brainer. There was talk moving to Cambridge but that seems to have gone by the bye. Yet the most obvious possibility not even a murmur.

The whole idea of races for jumpers is to satisfy that spending. So I agree with you there needs to be balance. Racing chiefs have to take a long hard look at jumping races. Its pretty obvious they are uneconomical and overall detrimental to the industry.

Yes you might be right not the best education. However there has to be a compromise. If jumping is uneconomical or impractical therefore in order to keep the personel in the game something needs to be put in its place. Tell me what advertisement is it for racing having exhausted horses jumping the last and most probably falling.

AS I pointed out its an incentive to educate horses for jumping to keep the transition into post race activities. Lets be frank. There is no punting or crowd interest in jumping except a few times of the year. With the hill gone at Ellerslie its just the diehards that keep jumping going.

When it comes to jumping races it must be done properly or not at all. In the UK they know how to do it with the infrastructure, population and crowd support. New Zealand clubs don't have the resources to do it properly. Therefore the suggestion is. Scrap all jumping races but have races for jumpers. At various meetings have organised exhibitions of individual horses whereby they can qualify as a jumper. It would mean far more horses being educated for jumping leading to these horses having a post racing life. Also fill in time between races for those wanting to see something going on.

I note on the other site Molloy has changed his post or rather had McKenzie change it for him by removing a name. If a person can't make a proper decision in the first place he shouldn't be running for a position such as mayor. In fact he was convicted of a criminal offence as well as paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for spur of the moment postings.

Freda, I've just as a matter of interest looked at the other site. Here we go again, NZ's number one social media abuser Leo Molloy showing his credentials. And the dreamer thinks he can run for mayor. I would seriously look at taking as a first step Leo Molloy to the Harmful Digital tribunal or whatever it's called.

Power down.

They all love racing at trials. Best solution don't offer any prize money?

Great publication. Each week you would get sent updates and attach to the end of the book. Had all the results with commentaries of how each horse ran. Excellent indexing system. Sort of publication you could carry to the races. Better than modern mobiles. Well very sad to hear of the passing of Stu McGrail involved in many areas of racing especially journalism including publishing the Form Record. Always found him receptive no matter what the query. Condolences to all family and connections.

Used to happen fairly often in NZ with my direct knowledge back in the eighties. The informal nature of jumpouts meant sometimes all that was disclosed was the stable nickname. Even nowadays I have doubts about the real identity of those participating.

Could not agree more. The problem as I see it is there no organisation grouping all the racecourses together and making efficiencies and initiatives around the nuts and bolts of the venues. NZTR is concerned with organizing participation in racing events. They do stray away from their brief but only in a slaphazard way. THe UK has a separate organisation for the purpose of maximising racecourse business activities. AS an example. Say a handful of racecourses wanted to expand into motor camping services then combining them into one marketing entity would make business sense.

THe way I understood it Nelson probably beat them all for length of straight.

What's that got to do with the question I asked?

Ashburton used to have the longest home straight in NZ. Could someone please refresh me why it was shortened and is there any possibility of re-extending it??

Disturbing program on radio this morning how the disabled are being forgotten during the pandemic. From personal experience I know there is a severe cut down in health services. Yet the Government thinks the only disadvantaged are Maori which to many overseas observers they are the most privileged on earth. Millions spent on consultants etc to set up another duplicated bureaucratic entity yet little at the coal face.

Don't know. There is a lot of connection between the two. If the Aussie pro punter can see value in NZ form and odds they will have a go. Some of those Aussie punters a pretty sophisticated with their info systems.

Did I hear right? Saundry saying NZ Racing has made agreements with 20 bookie outfits in Australia for them to have betting rights and also TV rights. Seems to me that doesn't bode well for Australian racing. Far too many corporate bookies each with own admin overheads. After all they are all parasites.

Cutting out the TAB agencies should have been accompanied by keeping radio. Even if radio was going to run at a loss it would have complemented the loss of remaining agencies. Another example of short sighted thinking by the TAB. Right now NZTR should get way from Petone where they are chummy with TAB on a personal basis and set up on Ellerslie racecourse. With that, racing (gallops/harness/dogs) should form a media company. Racing chiefs must get it into their heads that racing does not need the NZ TAB.

Yes there are numerous options. Having two TV channels obviously means one channel has to be muted inside the TAB. Therefore the muted channel should have had text captions or graphics describing what's going on. When it comes to entertainment a racing organisation should be responsible getting entertainment into bars with emphasis on silent TV complemented by livestreaming and internet data. Getting the package right would allow shopping malls, bars, restaurants, various travel lounges to expose racing to the masses. The racing organisation responsible for the advertising shown. Combining Lotto and TAB retailing worth considering.