Freda

I'm afraid so. I'm staggered that road-shows up and down the country can be justified when there is nothing specific to say..? If that doesn't ring alarm bells for those who attended.....oh dear.

Petone.

I'm not negative either, nor against AWT's. But the cost, both initially and ongoing, the requirements of manpower, expertise and machinery and the reduction and/or elimination of pretty fair training facilities as they stand, is hard to justify against a background of dropping revenues and interest with absolutely no indication that returns will be increased significantly - as well a loading extra costs onto trainers/owners.

Not to mention the difficulty of getting permission to take as much water as is needed...and Chief mentioned 28 deg temperatures here in Canterbury...we have can week after week of more than 32 deg in the summer as well as howling nor'westers..ffs...how does the water permit look then?

My understanding is that RV is limiting the Aw's to just two.

Ngai Tahu are smart operators, they'd see that lot coming a mile away.

I also understand, that the then Housing Minister, Nick Smith, who was also the Minister of Conservation, was only able to swing the sale of the portion referred to by ensuring that Ngai Tahu were in the frame first...and that housing as opposed to commercial developments were specified. National needed housing. Of course, Ngai Tahu are under no such constraints, with the on-sale to Ryman Healthcare of a nice chunk of the property.

Racecourse Reserve Trustees administer it. I think [ but don't hang me if I'm wrong ] ownership is vested in that Trust, from the time that the Founding Fathers of Christchurch City donated the land for the recreational use by, and support of racing and breeding for, the people of Canterbury.

50k annually, with any top-up to be met by the club. That seems to me to be so far away from reality as to be mind-boggling.

Balanced comment, as we have come to expect, Reefton. A couple of trainers are very 'pro ' , a few others haven't considered ramifications of cost, provincial racetracks, availability of other surfaces both during and after construction, etc. going forward - but think that it will be great for trackwork. Most of the others don't want it, but for whatever reason, won't commit openly to being against it. So, if the money [ 10 mill ] appears, and doesn't get held up by being a political football as a result of Winston's lies and chicanery, it will go ahead. Where the additional funds will come from aren't clear, and there seems to be a huge disparity between the maintenance costs factored in by NZTR, and those published from other sources.

Timaru is destined for closure, Mikey, I don't know anyone who thinks that is either fair, or a good idea, but there it is. The only show of 'saving' Timaru is if the allweather doesn't go ahead.

Thomass- pull your head in. You have a valid presence wrt holding some to account. No problem with that,but give up the dog-and-bone stuff or you'll get squashed. And that would be a shame.

Oh dear.

Anyone see Q & A with Jack Tame?

Ye gods, you guys...Walker is guilty of stupidity, not much else - IMO - and he's got plenty of mates drawing big salaries. Weir, for all his supposed ability, abused horses- also IMO - so no comeback from that. Moods may have broken the rules, but as far as I am aware ( and I may be wrong ) he loves his charges...so apples with apples. There are times when rules must be obeyed and times when they are ridiculous.

The cynic in me says what drainage? H 11 for weeks ..... However, the engineers involved have also done the Cambridge track, under direction from the Australian company, one assumes the expertise is both up to date and up to the job.

Eff all losses from abandoned days, after all no stakes or tea ladies to pay. Inconvenience and costs to stakeholders, but until very recently they weren't compensated. I had to retire a horse when his owners pulled pin after two abandoned days at Oamaru, a few years ago now. Only a maiden, and the two float trips and associated disappointment finished them. That gelding later appeared on the local dressage/event circuit as M.G., and showed good style and potential. Sold on to Jock Paget he then competed as Angus Blue, won in Sth Aust, and then went to the Uk where he did well . Repatriated back home to train with Jock's Olympic hopes. So not always a bad ending!

The AWT's have been funded [ partially ] by the taxpayer. It is wrong [ IMO ] to be continually bolstering up a business that can't run itself... and won't be happening again.

Nothing, as yet..because no asset has been realised, has it?

Absolutely. BUT - the money to fix the main centre tracks was to come from asset sales. There is no other source of funding to do that.

Aus has the gambling culture too.

As below...don't know what happened there...

As has been pointed out before, other jurisdictions [ UK,Aus ] have a larger pools of horses, some have shown that they cope with the allweather well, others don't. But those that do race on them regularly, will have their own following betting-wise, because there are enough of them to make a 'third' pool of horses - as opposed to here, where, generally, we are looking at firm-trackers or mudders, on turf, with a few who can dovetail between both options. There simply won't be enough horses to supply a consistent allweather 'product' going on current numbers....but, of course if permits are taken from provincial meetings to make it all work, there will be a pool of unfortunates who can't perform but have no other choice. IMO. As an aside - Sheikh Obeid will not allow any of his horses to race on an allweather. Strathayr, great, and overall the best option, but they are not internationally installed as training grounds, only racetracks.

The absolute bottom line in all this, is that to increase the fortunes of racing and its stakeholders, punting revenue [ punters' losses, to pinch a phrase from one more learned than moi ] must increase. Some punters won't touch allweather racing, others do...but statistically I don't think there is evidence that there is less betting overall, given similar status meetings, as a result of having these tracks. But neither is there proof that there is any more. That is the modus operandus of our management - same as the 'these tracks are costing us money ' wild statements and running with the result, without taking time to do proper analysis to correctly determine process. So, if punters' losses do not increase as a result, a complete and utter waste of time and money to install, as well as destroying the fabric of provincial racing as we know it.

Spoke to starter yesterday. Yes they do have a stipe at the start, but he doesn't have specific knowledge of the exact points. Apparently the markings for the relevant starting points were very indistinct. That has now been remedied. The usual tractor driver was absent ( and he would have known ) so the tractor was driven by the assistant starter. So there you have it.