Freda

He's an incredibly focused young man, his success is very deserved indeed.

Thanks....she certainly deserved a decent trip - and, courtesy of Tina, she got one.

I'm no apologist for Saundry - but the notion that closing tracks would somehow bring us back from the brink has been the idea beloved of Allan Jackson for ages, long before Saundry appeared. Even Purcell went on record as stating ' we will NOT forcibly close tracks, but will work with clubs and support them if they wish to relocate.'.....or words to that effect...so Jackson's wish didn't get much traction at that point.

I don't think I put my thoughts very well..! I meant that, given the astronomical stakes in Australia, any downturn there will still [ to us ] be insignificant to the differential. They will still be considered the utopia for racing from our point of view. Given that our managing personnel haven't managed to comprehend that higher takeouts stifle betting, any correlation is likely to be missed.

Thick is the word...but, even when revenue is impacted, it will still be light years ahead of ours, so the problem won't be recognised as a 'problem' here, for quite some time I should think.

Pro punter Dr Nick exits Australian racing, says bookmaker Rob Waterhouse. Waterhouse blames increased taxes on bookmakers, for the decision. 'The flow-on effect for the industry could be a disaster ', he says, ' I suspect he accounts for about six per cent of Aus racig turnover, so that will be lost immediately. Sean Bartholomew has been a huge punter, but now concentrates on England and America. Zelijko still bets big, but nowhere near as big as he once did. It's all in response to taxes.' The concern is that the increased taxes of recent times could see many big punters abandon racing and turn to other sports. I think Mardi and Curious, in particular, have been indicating the likelihood of this result for quite some time.

Hope so too. Good to see the Riding for the Disabled given priority ongoing, too. Sad, though. Will be interesting to see who and how quickly follow suit.

Do you think, that the 'Royal DCM' will produce a slick, professional replacement ? ...or not....

My brother has a repertoire of awful jokes too....

You'd be one to avoid at a party.....

An update to the piggy problem.....knowing how, in this business, rumours fly everywhere gaining traction and embellishment along the way, I thought I'd better do some fact-finding. I rang the Hokitika president [whom I know well ] , she hadn't heard of the events described, but went over to Kumara and walked around the track. Very little grass in the area concerned, but it has been seeded and rolled, she said. Whether a sufficient grass cover can generate in the just over three weeks remaining before their meeting, remains to be seen.

Oh, they are - they want a thriving industry to frank the value of their stock...but don't comprehend that their demands have, in the main, contributed to the current state we are in, where stakes paid out have no relevance to what is earned on a given race.

If you compare NZTAB and our govt. with Aus state govts and their TABs and corporates, I dont see where our govt earns a great deal - if anything . Now, anyway. May have done once. Can you explain to a mathematically challenged person please?

We didn't have a Minister initially, did we? We were under the auspices of the D.I.A as far as I remember, and whatever structures we operated under, seemed to do very well ( by todays standards).

Terrible.....

Word is that the back straight at Kumara has suffered considerable depredation from wild pigs [ 27 apparently ] deciding to do a bit of gardening on the track. Apparently NZTR will send a representative to check out the damage. Hilarious, on the face of it - but, given the weather conditions on the Coast of late, it seems unlikely that the damage [ if as bad as I'm told ] can be remediated in a matter of weeks. With Hokitika now not a racetrack, this could mean two extra meetings at Greymouth ? what chance of that working if the weather pattern continues? Reefton, as it has before, may offer its facilities, but the likelihood of Kumara playing with that song sheet seems unlikely. The end sooner rather than later for the Coast, perhaps?

Ministers have little or no control over the codes and their [mis]management. We stakeholders have to be accountable for sitting on our chuffs, refusing to work together and get to a consensus, and allowing incompetence to govern us.

Perhaps the industry should give them 'clarity' then....show that horse welfare is being actively espoused instead of putting out 'mission statements' that sound lovely - but doing nothing.

That's what alarms - and saddens - me. Take assets from communities, completely disenfranchise local people from racing and the grassroots support base is lost. Then, when those funds go, what happens ? As Mardi has stated, there is nothing in place to change the overall structure and try to make it sustainable.

I have to wonder how the harness clubs that share facilities with the affected TB ones will manage ?

Look at the recent situation with Gore, Winton and Ascot Park....Winton not allowed to race on its own track, directed to run at Ascot Park which just happened to be unusable. So Gore, also down for closure, had to host the meeting. Ascot Park had to hold its own meeting at Gore as well, then poor old Gore had its own meeting to run after all that. Titanic is a good analogy, Chimbu.

Certainly not, in this scenario anyway. I'm glad the coffee was appreciated, I provided it, usually Kevin Hughes drops in a tin.

Yep.

The mare's demeanour, etc, is all relevant for sure, but that isn't the point of the headpost. Why no questions asked of the beaten hot favourite ?

But - why no questions asked .? I've had some very average horses vetted at stipe's request when supposedly performing below expectations., certainly not Grp horses, so....?