Freda

Meantime....sad business. I've just added a rehomed grey to my own canine family, he's such a lovely kind dog....I hadn't really taken much notice of the greyhound world until now, and I'm appalled at the apparent goings-on in the industry. Having said that, the GAP programme seems to work well and is ( apparently) funded by GRNZ...which is more than the galloping lot can manage.

What reserves? Have some savings been discovered under a mattress somewhere? I am guessing that the loan has been rolled over for another year [ don't loans have interest to be paid as well.....? ] until the BIUC and POC windfalls come rolling in to save us. And they can't 'live within their means' because Winston has instructed RITA to maintain stakes at their current levels. I'm told - gleefully - that stakes will definitely go up next season. I should have thought that debt servicing would take care of a fair chunk of any realised extra income.

Yes, agree - and better brains than mine have suggested same. Successive Ministers from either persuasion have indicated ' racing, get your house in order ' first, before approaching with the begging bowl. That said, a Minister does have the prerogative to intercede with the R.B on certain matters. Not the codes, which - IMO - are as big a problem as the runaway R.B.....but the last few R.B appointments have been dire, as was the last Minister. I was told , by a very experienced administrator, that he once had a conversation with the then Racing Minister Annette King. She said ' how do you deal with these people? I would gladly help - if I could - but there are so many factions, all wanting this and that and no-one can agree. It's like herding cats . '

What's happened in this sorry saga ?

To get back to the Weir biso - I was trying to work out how to put my thoughts, but Thommo had it in a nutshell. The ' torture' aspect is all to do with the horse's confinement. Many legends of the training ranks have used 'jiggers' or 'prodders' to get a specific response. You would be surprised at the great names in the list...my former boss used jiggers on the odd occasion ...there's an amusing story connected to one incident but I won't digress just yet..! How does a human train an animal to modify its behaviour ? a horse should ALWAYS be confident, relaxed and happy to be with you, he should understand [ if handled sensibly ] that a rub around his head and ears is what he can expect if he brings his head to you. He should NEVER be handled roughly around the head. But how does one explain to a horse what is wanted outside of that? write him a letter? put him in the naughty corner ? The best operators present the horse with options. The preferred option should always result in a pleasant experience for the horse, the not -wanted option should be less pleasant. Whether that is a firm tug on the headcollar / chifney if ignoring the leader, hand pressure becoming a dig in the ribs if moving over is required; or a stronger leg aid, or a reinforcement of the leg aid with a whip or spur - the horse has the OPTION . He can remove the stimulus he doesn't care for by responding - in this case, go forward - or ignore the request and receive a stronger command. His reward is the cessation of the stimulus. The hammering of horses with whips raceday is an extension of that principle. The whip is applied to [ supposedly ] galvanise greater effort by the animal. But, if the horse is already doing its best, and the whip continues to be applied, what message does that give? it can't remove the annoyance by going faster, and eventually, it has to slow down...at which point the encumbrance on top sits up. That horse has now been taught to give up when hit. To think that a professional horseman could confine a horse and repeatedly apply a stimulus that it cannot answer is torture indeed. Nothing to do with electric fences. Any smart horse won't touch one after the first lesson, and I've seen clever ponies carefully listening for the pulse of the current and diving through to greener pastures at the right moment. No fear there, just [ again ] a conditioned response.

That's pretty much what I meant, but obviously didn't express it very well. If a club hands its licence in, surely, in that case, it's assets would be unable to be touched? ...and sadly, yes, I'm aware of the Plunket scenario described above..

Many of the rural areas are National-held electorates, I have spoken with Andrew Falloon for one, I can't see how Winston will ever get the support for this. And another thought just occurred to me; if a racing club de-registered itself [ or whatever is the appropriate action ] and then ceases to become a racing club, NZTR /NZRB can whistle Dixie, they will have no authority over the land even IF the unthinkable legislative change occurs.

Yes, of course it is..most of us concur there...but, again, as I pointed out to Reefton, you'd be staggered if you knew who and how many think that course is perfectly reasonable. A must-do, in fact.

That's the point though, if the legislation to support that stance ( and I can't see how that will happen, but still. .) is enacted, it will be legal to take the land and assets. Not moral or ethical, but legal.

Agree absolutely. That is, however, how the process will be justified.

And some here as well.

You'd probably be surprised to realise who and how many think that nicking land assets is the way to go....as well as swallowing the notion that small clubs are costing megadollars.

That is how I would interpret things. The mantra is that ' assets have been accrued as a direct result of industry funds ' ....but if a club is NOT licenced, and its land assets have been acquired through a direct gift, or leased from a community, I fail to see how NZRB/NZTR can dictate.

Nope.

I can see a lot of time spent in the Courts over this land grab...again, no one will win out of this scenario - IMO.

I'm surmising that Reefton is alluding to RITA with his reference to Sir P V..... but the land grab is specifically targeted to galloping clubs and therefore, I would have thought, been in the province of NZTR. Jackson and Saundry had track closures on their hit list long before the Messara report saw the light of day.

Is NZTR a statutory body then?

Interesting observations from Nomates....racing may indeed be in decline in the UK , but I bet the starting point for the slide was a bloody sight higher up...!

Yes, I thought you were meaning the new platform, not FOB in general. To be fair to B.d L, he was very very critical of the RB and J.A. and the cost blowouts. But he was/is so wrapped up in Winston and Messara that any alternative to THAT report never got any traction with him. My repeated assertions to him that NZTR also needed the big broom didn't get much attention from him in his writings, and, as has been demonstrated by others here with good racing knowledge, there is much that can/could have been done at code level that didn't cost much at all. Market forces will determine which tracks stay in use without arbitrary decisions by folk who have no feeling for local needs - and no financial nous either.

Agree..

Special, all right.

Yeah....I know most of us had little faith in Winston, but I - along with others - still dared to hope that something might be salvageable . I'm really surprised that someone J.M's supposed acumen and racing industry smarts would allow himself to be so badly advised.

I [ stupidly ] had the notion, at the beginning, that Racing NZ would take over the functions of NZTR...obviously that isn't the case. So we will be looking at yet another layer of 'management' with all the attendant costs - as I see it. Tell me I'm wrong.

Yes.

At present, we have RITA which has taken over the RB mantle - although the staff are still there in their numbers with a new CEO to be inaugurated in due course. Eventually it is planned to have RITA morph into Racing NZ and Wagering NZ. It has just occurred to me that instead of having the RB and the 3 codes, we will now have two leading bodies and the 3 codes. This will mean yet another CEO with his/her underlings, won't it ?