The Centaur

Can't remember any previous business deal along those lines. Maybe because the Labour racing minister rather naively insisted on no loss of jobs with election looming.

What I can't fathom is the retention of existing TAB staff. Surely any takeover or arrangement can only succeed with big cost reductions.

If they don't they should group together and invest into portable wifi or as its also known popup wifi. Something I'm a bit green on perhaps some one could give us the gist of it as well as cost.

Oh well lawyers now have to take a course in tikanga. Politicians have done it for years learning allegiance to Israel.

Maybe things have changed but last time I looked Westbury was consistently losing money.

So far this website is worse than the previous one which was a disaster compared to the previous again. It just so slow and cumbersome putting a tote trifecta or similar bet.

Why do most clubs run their main race as the second to last. If its 10 races on the programme then its Race9. By that time most patrons are tired and want to go home. Also by that time the track is in worse condition than say race 5. Lets be logical. Have the main race mid afternoon before Australians get engrossed in their features and not late afternoon. Too many feature races are falling by the wayside unnecessarily.

I've said it many times NZTR Head Office should be located at Ellerslie Racecourse. With the racing industry owning so much real estate the new location will probably be rental. Although the distance to the airport is quite short international travel will still be through Auckland. Auckland has a far greater pool of potential staff and it has to be queried the staff relocation costs to Cambridge. NZTR at Ellerslie would have had a much higher profile than Cambridge and closer to corporate head offices. Like to hear why Cambridge was chosen and if Ellerslie racecourse was ever considered.

Todays events are shocking for New Zealand racing industry. OK its bad news but it should be making it to TV news as news. What the hell is wrong with those running Avondale Jockey club. I have been trying for weeks to get in contact with someone from there and I do have there their numbers. The main number has been disconnected and Manny Boyack the CEO is not answering his phone or messages. There was a time some 50 years ago that the plan was to run one meeting either Saturday or Wednesday in Auckland every week. I don't think Pukekohe can take much more racing. Its all f**k*d.

Clearly the Ellerslie track is not up to scratch. Maybe they could send someone over to Avondale to supervise preparations for meetings there for the rest of the year.

"namely that penalties are designed to punish offenders for their wrongdoing but are not meant to be retributive in the sense that punishment is disproportionate to the offence." Someone should send this to those rubbing out Darren Weir. How much has the jigger thing cost him? Millions lost. Horses such as Nature Strip, Verry Eleegant etc his whole complex gone or sold off and still they can't get enough.

The missing link is the demise of second tier racing. My suggestion is combining 6 tote races with 20 trial races. Each tote race with $10,000 stake money. Budget costs. No glorified photo finish costs, no tote machines or operators, stipes by remote link plus a few other cost savers.

Fifty years ago I won a race at Tauherenikau. I would have preferred starting at Feilding on the same day but was ballotted out. I think there was also a division race at Feilding meaning extra jockeys. Those dual meetings happened Saturday and Monday. Both meetings had a huge influx of Wellingtonians it was treated as a ritual getting out of the capital. The crowds were huge.

I do a bit of golf on a sports field. Last spring perfectly smooth surface etc. Now quickly taken over by some weed type grass looks terrible. So it seems turf culture is not that easy.

Good to see Mathew Eales get good win with horse he owns at Trentham. I vaguely recall reading Noel Eales learnt his trade with Syd Brown but wonder what were the horses at that time. Was it Redcraze or later Daryll's Joy?. Also early on Brown had an awful suspension of 2 years from training. What was all that about?

Interesting that the Warriors with Cameron George at the helm have invested in a sports bar complex near Eden Park. Now to keep racing interest out west perhaps a farm property to rehome ex horses, spell and break in racehorses. A place where enthusiasts can visit and meet other like minded racing followers. Somewhere suitable between say Helensville and Orewa.

Looks like you have stumped everyone. the "TR" most likely is Trentham. Take a guess Tall Poppy or Calm Harbour. Jockeys Damon Smith and Jim Cassidy.

No two year old race and neither on Saturday. Yet 14 2yo heats last week trials at Taupo (over 100 horses). Just what is the strategy?

Stupid.. Stupid.. Race 1 only a few starters therefore best to run it after race 10 and leave everything else the same.

Introducing some new is not easy. You can't even get thru to TAB by telephone. What gets me is that new technology should make operations cheaper and easier. Instead they spend huge capital and get themselves into a total tizz. People now are far more au fait with scanning with their phone. Its ridiculous paying and collecting after each race. Transfering money into a temporary account doesn't require any operators. The problem is TAB only thinks in terms a normal account with extensive ID requirements for money laundering laws. Thats rubbish. Temporary accounts are the key to oncourse betting.

There is nothing difficult about oncourse betting. 1. No machines or operators required. 2. Patrons establish temporary account on the day receive card with id i.e. bar code. 3. Bets placed through qr codes bringing up the race and temp account linked to phone. Customers need no pre education how to bet online. Use of qr codes for access makes betting easy. 4. Payout end of day cashing up card with bar code etc. Simple.

Assange, you must be getting quite nervous. The expected appeal decision expected before March 10. Al least Albanese is now in your corner. Be lovely to see you at the races this year.

The General Admission charge of $30 is a negative. Previously just turning up at the gate still had the advantage of knowing ones mates or friends would be in attendance. Nowadays that is a rarity. The on the day gate charge is simply there as a backstop to encouraging function or social group bookings. The dismal looking "crowd" on Derby day will probably be worse on Cup day. Promotion by showing splashy looking 20 year old models is a discouragement for middle aged women to attend. Certainly attendance by Mr Average or family groups on a budget won't happen.

Chief, based on my 54 years IT experience (1st tertiary qual for programming in NZ) the above what I have written is my take.

Two principles that should be followed. 1. If it ain't broke don't fix it. 2. Don't reinvent the wheel. Legacy software quite often is perfectly OK. It's just that young programmers want to learn the latest fad in order to get the big pay. No one wants to learn the old way so businesses are sucked into needless "upgrades" where only minor tinkering is required. A good example is the Western Australian website. It used to be satisfactory. Then they changed it but obviously the people doing it had no idea what punters wanted. Its actually a total joke now. Seems knowledge of IT and also racing is a rare commodity.