Newmarket

Firpo did more for coast racing than he did.

Yes, i see where your coming from. But if the clubs are not keen to work together, well they cant complain when coast racing is gone forever. Would be a shame if they couldnt work together. Sometimes in life you gotta take a step back before taking two steps forward.

I understand that reefton, but why say kumara is staying, yet other tracks with towns more set up for the racing crowds are going, if all the tracks are on par? Hoki is turning into more of a tourist spot everytime i visit, its got that kaikoura, hanmer & akaroa feel to it. So looking at it from an investment, its better to spend money on getting hoki track & buildings up to spec, rather than kumara, which is a ghost town. Whichever track gets thumbs up, its gonna cost s bit to get up to scratch.

Not sure what that refers to, But yes, if somebody hadnt come up with gold nuggets format years ago, kumara would probably have gone a long time ago. It needs a mix of oldies & newbies, remember they are the future, like it or not. Bit like Kaikoura, they plan weekend around races, even now added a few races day before as well as usuall calcutta type events, which i love, its what makes it for me, the effort the locals give is the reason us townies support them. I think the so called circuit is gone, but racing twice in a week, for good money at the same track, will still appeal

Why cant all the clubs contribute to one, spread costs of keeping one track, eg hoki up to scratch, they can still run their individual club meetings. Maybe build some sort of function centre at course, or at least flash area that they could lease out for other events. I think as long as one track is kept, either hoki or greymouth, it can work. Especially with 5kg whitebait to each winning owner!! Im in ?

But i cant see the holiday circuit remaining. Somebody will tell us, but how many coast gallops meetings are run in the xmas season? Must be 6 or more in Jan, im not sure. Local harness guys will suffer too, usually have a couple of trot races held at some meetings

Been going to westport trots since mid 80s, never can remember gallops in that time. Someone a little older, or wiser may tell us

Spot on Freda & Cross codes, I have been to Kumara several times too, and have enjoyed it. But each time we stayed in greymouth, and everyone commented that after the races, by the time you got back to greymouth, there was little to do. Which is why i thought Hoki better option, a bit more to do, and im sure if they did run nuggets, you could have calcutta day before, meet n great trainers & jockey lunch, even a barn dance or whatever. The crowds would come, think nuggets would turn out even better

The more i have thought about this, the more annoyed i get. Kumara, well great, it has one meeting each year that gets good crowds. But thats it, the town has little, no acommadation, no shops, even the pub has closed. The track is crap, with this meeting called off several times recently. NO WAY SHOULD THIS BE THE ONLY COAST TRACK! Hokitika must be the best option. Has created itself as a tourist attraction in recent years, plenty of shops, pubs and accomodation. Give all the coast dates to Hoki, update track etc, and you have races 4-5 times a year. If Hoki not best option, maybe Greymouth, but certainly not Kumara. Hoki Nuggets has a ring to it! Most trainers that race on the coast, race at all venues on the circuit, which is why many nth island trainers target the circuit. Why would they gamble coming to kumara for one meeting, with a chance meeting might not even go ahead. Coast needs a few meetings each year, otherwise racing will be lost forever. Lets all fight for it

Trust me mate, that will be the first thing they do, make it just as easy to withdraw as it is to deposit. All aus operators offer bank deposit or credit card withdrawals. And wont charge you a deposit fee?

Its a shame, how many xmas holidays we all have around racing dates, the coast was a great place. What does it say to those that train horses in the coast area, bad luck? To close all tacks in an area is pretty arrogant. Timaru closing is crazy also, reading report stupidly said if it closed, trainers could race at winton, or even ashburton?? FFS, how stupid. I agree tabcorp running the puntin side, but they need to revisit the tracks closing. THE COAST NEEDS A TRACK!!.

Didnt go that bad sitting parked in a sprint home.

If Tabcorp takes over, you wont need tab agencies, thats a huge saving. Its happening all over nz, banks closing etc. But lets be realistic, tab agencies are old school, not needed, can do everything on line. I hardly go to them, most are depressing, stale workers behind counters that look like they cant give a stuff

Mardi, I see in that report somewhere, they want live betting options also. Not every state in aus allows live betting, do you think betfair may be more of a player here? Tab already spent $40mil on fixed odds platform, is this worthless now, or will new operator continue? If Tab was now Tabcorp, i would be likely to bet more with them, as i like the aus type of operators, their apps are good, systems quick, and for the regular punters, they look after them with promos, they have to as plenty of competition. So would this not be an increase of revenue, attracting many like myself to bet on nz racing again thru tabcorp (tab). I can certainly see an increase of account holders in nz, many nz punters will have all the options etc they require, so no need to go elsewhere. You also know, that tabcorp will do anything they can to increase betting. They will offer all sorts of promos to do this, i think its gonna be great

Reefton, So who owns the land that the west coast tracks race on? Talking to a mate the other day, was still dirty on how the Greymouth Harness track ended up. People got too greedy, everything pulled down, yet nothing is still sitting on that site, shame. Got an idea reefton, run your xmas races without betting? Get local business to sponsor say 6 races, 3 of each code for local horses. Instead of betting, sell raffle tickets or similair. Have a range of good coast food & drink,good band and entertainment. I bet you would get suppory. I always support country racing gallops & harness, especially xmas.

Hardly ever trots, so maybe a galloper?

Just flicking thru report, i find this quote intetesting. I knew it was hard making money on nz racing, even computers struggle ?

I see Motukarara is on list? Is this just for gallops, surely not. No mention Kaikoura, or are they not closing any harness tracks?

Has certainly galloped in many races. Did like Il Parata tonight, but Paynter usually makes wrong choices in races, same happened tonight. Any other top driver, certainly pays a div, quite likely wins. Saved my money. I factor drivers in to the equation far more than i did 20 years ago when i bet

Lets see if this link will allow everyone to view, i doubt it much.

Sort of agree, tab had no competition for so long, and when they did, they just sat back and put the white flag up. Mergers all over the world with betting companies, tab were never going to survive in a high tech world by themselves. On a positive, combine all tab and tabcorp accounts, makes a far stonger combination going forward, especially for tab, with fewer accounts. No more high priority customers getting rebates

Hedley, Dont think they will act on everything, why would they close kaikoura or kumara, both are run mainly by club members at little cost, cant really see many closing. I have always thought the tab should be run by with an aussie partner, but not sure about 100% giving them control, that seems a bit dangerous. I suppose thou, which aussie operator would be keen to even look at our racing the way it is, tabs outdated jetbet system? If tabcorp does take over, i can see less, if any agencies. Many questions, very few answers

Also, you cant even gamble there?

Trackside presenters might be a thing of the past? Tab outlets, pubs, tab terminals on course , how will that work? 57 tracks to 25? 600 jobs could be gone? Wonder which will be acted on?

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