Freda

Yogesh Atchamah is out of his apprenticeship now.

The policing of riding is awful and that's why there is no improvement. Sit a few more on their butts for a decent amount of time, the reducing bank account will soon improve their outlook. But the ability of stipes to read races is poor and that may also mean some riders are penalized unfairly. A can of worms. Not a new situation though. A former apprentice of mine, a leading rider here, went to Sydney when his apprenticeship ended and started riding work for Gai. Got a ride, drew wide and ended up in behind the leader. He was very proud of his effort, until he got back and was told firmly ' you're not in the Sth Island of NZ now, boy' .....he got six weeks for taking another's line. Probably tightened a few as well.

Ffs....what a waste of time.

I wasn't aware it was the job of breeders' groups to delve into track management.

Even if only a few develop a real interest it has to be good value. Great idea IMO.

Definitely agree with rotation to allow track renovation. The right sort of guidance,leadership, call it what you will, could have facilitated a more desirable outcome than what we have now.

Technically, probably correct. But the threat of arbitrary closure has produced enormous ill feeling. As said by a former very astute poster, the only reason to close a track is an economic one. If people dont want to come and horses dont get nominated, then we'll put up the white flag. The much maligned Purcell said, in my hearing, I'm not in favour of forced closure of tracks, but we will offer support and work with any club which chooses to race at another venue. That was the way to go about the issue IMO.

WTF....? I've been on the wrong end of Leo's acerbic criticism, many a time. But this, if not a piss-take, is disgraceful.

That I can concede is a valid point.

" ...I gather you approved of what the Westland Racing Club did when if a fit of churlish pique they gave their assets back to the local community. Racing on the West Coast lost to parochialism and an inability for the four clubs to work together..." They worked together perfectly fine. Greymouth gladly held the Westland day for them, as well as their own, continuing the four-day circuit. Buses were put on to take the Hoki locals to 'their' day at Omoto. So NZTR refused the permit for the 4th day from then onwards. Churlish? absolutely.

That has been the case for the last two decades. And has been discussed ad infinitum on several forums. In the 90's - and earlier - most clubs did pay their way from racing/ betting revenue. That has gone west in a big way, the smaller clubs lose less, that's all. The fact that small clubs are then held up as unnecessary and a drain on the industry is astounding, and shows how out of touch the administration is.

Well, I think Reefton - for one - provides its own maintenance and has a positive balance sheet. I can't imagine Mr Molloy tolerating debt. Hokitika was another that had plenty in kitty, enough to undertake any works determined to be necessary. Not given the chance. Gone.

A few more small shares taken.

Field sizes ( all tied up with programming and dates) is something that you and a couple of other enlightened sorts have been trying to get attention on, with little interest from management. As has been pointed out many times, the exodus to Aus isn't totally stakes driven. The Chief has made reference himself about the lack of opportunity for sprinting fillies, for one, hence the need to send those types over the ditch. There are heaps of other examples. The revitalizing of racedays from the viewpoint of young people is important fot sure, as well as stable open days and other initiatives to get a different demographic involved. But the industry as a whole has to be sustainable and it hasnt been without top- ups from other than betting revenue. I've held stable open days ( in a modest way) as have Kezia Murphy and Anna Furlong more recently, and all very well received. But getting tracks renovated properly and in a timely fashion is vital to getting back some punter confidence. No good taking pot shots at me, Chief, smarter people than me have been trying for years - decades- to get some traction, to no avail.

Yeah. One trainer recently discovered an Asian couple, complete with pram and infant, pottering around taking photos of the horses.