jess

Hi Doomed - I left the other channel because it too often descended into toxic nastiness & combined with issues of integrity - ultimately it was no longer something I enjoyed or wanted to be a part of. I suspect I am not alone. But those basic facts aside - I don't feel the need to bag them constantly - I simply withdrew & left them to it - & I'm sure, tbf - they probably barely noticed I'd gone, let alone missed my presence! Now & again even here, ppl can get carried away & inclined to play the man & not the ball (topic). I'm all for robust debate but when it turns into sniping & personal jibes - it turns me off - I abandon the thread - & sometimes the site for a while too! This community could potentially be quite a strong lobbying force - it certainly includes some smart, knowledgeable, experienced & well reasoned people whose opinions & thoughts I enjoy & value (& at times wish the industry "leaders" would tune into). You are right Doomed - the ppl running the channel do put a lot into it & we appreciate that & most of the time, we enjoy participating. It can be a fine line between between censorship & free speech. Like the rest of us - the forum bosses have their own opinions - which of course they are free to air - & sometimes their own allegiances - which they sometimes try to conceal/deny I imagine sometimes it's not easy to balance it all for the good of the forum - especially bearing in mind the boss ultimately has the power (over all of us) - & effectively, the loudest voice in the room. But the culture or vibe of the forums does come largely from the top - so if the forum bosses do descend into the sort of behaviors I've described - one or two may enjoy the bitching that ensues - but for 90%+ of us - we are the losers when things take that turn. J.

Things are getting desperate. Tracks dropping like flies (for various reasons) - and as the few remaining options do their best to soak up the racing programme - and winter approaches - I expect some of these will fall victim to the increased frequency of racing. There are race-days scheduled for the Awapuni AWT starting this month - will these go ahead? If so, how well patronised will they be? I don't know the answers. It feels like we're playing musical chairs on the Titanic -whilst chairs are being heaved overboard one at a time - and the players are increasingly desperate to find a chair with fewer & fewer available. And a feeling of impending doom pervades the deck, with the fear that the whole ship may shortly succumb to the stormy seas & sink without trace. Something I wondered about in terms of a short term measure - where we have some serviceable & safe tracks currently used for training - could we use these for racing? I don't know enough about all the venues but I imagine it would be a bridge too far to invite the public to attend some of these where the public facilities have long since fallen into disrepair. But would it be possible to accommodate the essential participants(& steeds) at some of these venues - sans public entry? So at least provide racing for the TV audience, the punters, the trainers & the owners. It may not be feasible but don't we have to start at least considering some options? To the executive team & the CEO who tells us he is so "excited" to lead us all into the future - now would be a good time to show some leadership, initiative, innovation - & start earning those handsome salaries doing something other than just talking their talk & issuing spin via the Corporate Communications Team. Much more of this & I reckon a lot of CD owners will start thinking of just cutting their losses & turning their horses out. Cometh the hour - cometh the man? Haven't seen it yet but ever hopeful ....needs to happen soon though ... J

Thanks for posting that Chief - listened to it despite my misgivings about the host. Perhaps an appropriate host though (the in-jokes & innuendo man-to-man, bonding over sexual exploits etc - whatever floats your boat, fellas). And with some considerable effort I was pleased the host finally got his head round why he was called Opie ... Anyway - good luck to OP. Hope he enjoys reflecting on his huge success on the track - his retirement & whatever comes next. J.

I struggled to make sense of of this or follow the logic of the explanations - but it could just be me. Someone please remind me what was the last official word re the "enquiry" into the Awapuni synthetic? If the report is overdue as someone suggested, that doesn't bode well. Maybe bad news to come? - or bad news being spun into not-so-bad news so it "lands" better with the stakeholders ( don't ya hate the corporate bs-speak). Would be a tough pill to swallow to have zero racing options at the track after all this. Poor old Central District. Have a look at the programme & try to chart a course over the next few months for a galloper who's currently in work. The options are not plentiful ....

Prescient comment Special ...

Spot on. Great point re Kate - straight with the camera + microphone in her face immediately after a race when her horse has nearly fallen on the turn. I note the CEO of NZTR had the luxury of several hours & the services of the corporate comms team to craft his response .... and it was in writing (so no questions from the floor - control the narrative & all that ....)

Thx Special. That 100% accords with what I had heard from ppl much closer to the action there on a day to day basis than I am. Yet the CEO said "I trust that, while understandably frustrated, all participants will continue to show respect towards the track staff and club management. A significant amount of effort, resources, and consultation from track management, consultants, and officials has gone into preparing the track for racing, and the recent setback was entirely unforeseen." Please note the last 2 words - "entirely unforseen" Either 1. You & I are making things up, Special about all this talk of track issues - or 2. Ppl have had concerns but no-one has spoken truth to power - or - 3. That press release yesterday is utterly disingenuous. You choose which ...

Special - not sure who you were hanging out with - but being on course - did you hear murmurings before Race 1? Even the hosts were talking about nervousness ... seemed a little unconvinced ... Bevan when he talked about having walked out there said something about how it LOOKS good - with a bit of an emphasis on the "looks" part of the statement - which I wondered at the time whether he was implying it might look better than it actually was ... Just interested because the NZTR Corporate Comms release said it was a real surprise what happened - but was it?

Something I wonder about is how they are always talking about applying "foliar sprays" to keep the grass growing nicely. Track manager mentioned this again in the chat before the day was underway. Wouldn't we want the grass to be getting what it needs from the soil - urging those roots to go down to get the nutrients & water to grow strong & thrive? Or is that not possible when the grass (of a type not naturally adapted & bred to grow at the beach) is largely being asked to grow in sand? - there's not much of anything down there for it so it has to be constantly fed "from the top"? If this is the case - won't we end up with shallow roots, pretty, but fragile grass on top of a friable & unstable substrate liable to break apart? Or perhaps this is just something required in the early stages when the sward is new? I just wonder what will encourage the sward to have a strong base (root structure) & not just a pretty "top"? If there is a lot of sand - what else is going to bind it so if doesn't fall to bits? When I watched Kate's horse on the replay - you could actually see the hoof hit the ground & a massive divot was released & went flying - so suddenly the horse's foot was no longer where it had placed it - the earth had moved (so to speak) - and it lost its footing. As I suspected - not the classic skid or slip marks to evidence a "slip". And the report didn't mention chunks of earth & pretty grass missing (which I guarantee was there to be seen ...) (full disclaimer - not an expert in the field by any means - feel free to put me straight if I'm talking rubbish .. nicely if you can 🤣 ... )

I'm glad we have moved on from criticisng what Kate (or any other jockey) said yesterday. They picked her out to be interviewed (appropriate given what occurred, I'd have thought). She can comment on what she wants - & ppl can take it or leave it. As far as I'm concerned - the REAL issue is about what happened yesterday with that track - how we got here - and where we've going from here.

Yep Curious - seeing all those clods flying on a Good 4 was a surprise to me - and not a pleasant one .... that in itself suggested all was not well.

I think what that says is - it's disappointing, deeply disappointing and extremely disappointing (did I get all the disappointments in that bulletin or did I miss one 😜 ) Further translation: We've spent a ton of money, it's taken bloody ages, we've had more experts than you can shake a stick at - (even overseas experts - who every one knows are more expert than NZ experts) - & it's no-one's fault - and it's a huge surprise. And now we are going to spent more money, get more experts and see if we can get a different result. Couldn't even blame an act of God. I've been watching the forecast there and it's been pretty darned favorable. A small bird had chirped to me there had previously been slipping reported on the surface in recent weeks - I didn't want it to be so - and didn't want to contribute to gossip or nay-saying without first-hand proof. But as the bird does frequent the environs on a very regular basis - and today their chirping has become a squawk from the tree tops for all to hear - I might pay more heed next time they open their beak. It's all a real shame.

NZTR Statement: Awapuni Abandonment New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing (NZTR) acknowledges the industry’s disappointment regarding today’s abandonment at Awapuni following a slip in the first race. The meeting was to be the first in 19 months following a full track reconstruction. While the outcome is extremely disappointing, the Club followed a robust process in presenting the track that included jump outs and trials. Positive feedback from senior jockeys was given throughout the return to racing process and Australian experts were engaged to ensure the surface was progressing properly. “This is undoubtedly a deeply disappointing situation for both the club and the wider industry," commented NZTR Chief Executive Matt Ballesty. "However, the safety and well-being of both horses and jockeys must remain our top priority in making this decision." "I trust that, while understandably frustrated, all participants will continue to show respect towards the track staff and club management. A significant amount of effort, resources, and consultation from track management, consultants, and officials has gone into preparing the track for racing, and the recent setback was entirely unforeseen." RACE Awapuni General Manager Brad Taylor expressed his disappointment but was eager to review processes to prepare for future racedays. “We will examine the process leading into today and learn from it and hopefully resolve this issue to be back racing here in three weeks,” he said. Further investigation will also be made into the rail placement and irrigation of the surface. The Listed Anzac Mile programmed for today will be transferred to Wanganui as an additional race on Sunday 27 April. Corporate Communications New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing nztrcommunications@nztr.co.nz

Chief - I was typing while you posted & have just seen your last - so no intent to reprise your comments - if this was in fact the sort of thing you were meaning?

Yep it looked pretty clear & the pair did well not to go down. Not being able to find the applicable slip marks isn't too relevant I'd have thought - when the slip was so apparent and deemed free of interference. I think of "slipping" like skidding - like when my boot goes out from under me, slipping on a slimy boardwalk ... I wonder if these slips we now see on these tracks are not quite that classic slip/skid due to slipperiness - & won't necessarily look like that either, when examining the ground? Rather than a hoof skidding across the surface - maybe what we're seeing is more like the substrate not staying intact - so the hoof lands and then some of the upper part of that substrate parts ways with the subsoil - hence the horse losing its footing, becoming unbalanced and appearing to slip. End result for horse & rider is pretty similar though - it's unsafe.

Brilliant.

Huey - both funny posts but possibly just ... "too soon"? ... for us sensitive types who started the day so full of hopes n dreams .... and that's from someone who is not on-course and doesn't even have a horse there - so plenty of others will be feeling it more .... BUGGER!

Unaccustomed as I am to foul language .... F#$k ..... how gutting ....

Was thinking the same watching it on tv Chief - accustomed to old school tracks - I'm not used to seeing that kickback of loose particles - and even the odd clod flying - when the track's rated Good 4 .... The intro from Bevan S was quite guarded, I thought - theme being don't expect the track to be at its best yet. Also interesting to hear the track manager talk about learning a lot from the trials (couple weeks back) & making some changes after that ...

Hear hear Chief - I've been to jump-outs at Levin - they are well organised, the track is presented in workmanlike order and they are extremely well patronised. They also have recently upgraded infrastructure in the form of good, new tie-ups on-course (rather than horses having to cross the road from the old tie-ups area). From what I can see, selling this paltry piece of the family's silver would be folly. I'd be keen to sign the petition, for sure. Think it's worth a scrap, if they are trying to can it. There's plenty of merit in the arguments to keep it - and no more than a short-term, meagre & quickly spent gain if it was to be sold. The money would disappear without trace & either opportunities to ready horses to race would be lost - or undue pressure put on local racing surfaces - or horses forced onto the synthetic (chances are - actually all of those negative impacts would result). NZTR - get a grip. Have any of you big salary earners from HQ even been to jump-outs at Levin? J

Long awaited race-day debut for the new track. Weather's been good & the sun's out there. From time to time, we all have our grumbles & criticism here on BOAY - but 99% of us are here because we love the horses & the racing. And it's pretty important this track proves to be the goods. Especially amidst reporting of rumored closures - pending announcements re the future of Hastings etc So all the best to everyone for today - officials, track staff, workers, punters, trainers, riders , owners & of course the horses. Wishing all those competing, a swift & safe path to the finish line today. Jess

Precisely.

Well it's an opinion based on way more info than I have so appreciate your account. It may become a track where there is a real pattern of racing that emerges - eg. crazy dash to get to the front early - whatever your draw. And it also may become quite horse-specific. Shiftiness in a track can produce that IMO. I had a big long striding horse a few years back - would gallop well on a range of going from goodish to heavy - but the one thing that would slow her down was a shifty track. It was as if she lost confidence in that bold big long stride, if when her hooves struck the surface - she didn't know where they'd end up - because the ground was literally moving under her.

Thanks for that Chief - I've never walked it & I found that a very interesting & easy to understand description of that track. Enlightening. Cheers, J.

Interesting SA - some jockeys will be more politic than others I guess - but surely nothing in the rules for licence holders precludes them from offering an opinion on how they felt the track rode? If that was the case - the TAB presenters might as well stop asking them that inevitable question that they ask (especially early on in the card)- and opt for something less tricky/controversial - like - what did you think of the rose gardens around the parade ring .....