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Bit Of A Yarn

Freda

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Everything posted by Freda

  1. Thanks Heds.....but if the clock turned backwards I'd be much relieved.....!
  2. Certainly an interesting reaction to the article referred to.... methinks BdL will be gratified the sting was felt.
  3. They can't...and don't.
  4. Ffs.....
  5. Changes - either arriving or departing - are supposed to be notified within seven days...and yes, MM...sometimes I've had to give myself a shakeup because the seven days has been and gone. However, things such as changes of addresses of licence holders, new phone numbers, changes of employers in the case of apprentices, can be months out of date to the annoyance and inconvenience of anyone trying to make contact.
  6. That's an interesting point....whatever the employment conditions are, Jamie still is the one holding the trainer's licence .. so he should be the one to be paid in the first instance - surely?
  7. An outbreak of E.I just announced in England....what odds the Cheltenham festival and maybe even the Grand National are affected?
  8. It's in your genes, Reefton. By the same token, there will be other small club and/or admin personnel who feel the same, but they just won't be as eloquent. The ability to cut to the chase is not to be sneezed at.
  9. I'd like to know those figures too.
  10. Love Cheltenham....the creme de la creme....
  11. Agree...and while all kudos are due to the connections of this good mare for playing the system as it is, SW & P don't belong - IMHO. Handicaps shouldn't be in the 'pattern' system, handicaps are all about betting - and clever placing. No reason why a hcp can't be worth huge money, but a measure of the class of the breed, it isn't. Black type races - esp Grp races - are about determining the best of the breed, the best of an age group, the best filly or colt of their generation.
  12. so.....who the hell do they think they are going to meet with..in Westport..? ye gods....and they want to run our industry...ffs
  13. Ah.....possibly, yes. However, the cost of maintaining facilities for gallopers [ grass gallops, etc ] far outweigh that of a grit track for harness horses - and why should a trotting club pay for the gallopers? Make the galloping trainers pay for the upkeep, you may say... I have it on good authority that track fees/rents go nowhere near the real costs of upkeep - and many galloping trainers struggle with the level it is.
  14. Great result and wonderful gesture. I have heard nothing but good things about Haunui, the operation and its people....it's a great pity they don't always get the deserved results at sale time, but well done team.
  15. Thanks for the support - however, it's not the first time I've been held up to ridicule, no doubt won't be the last. One thing about free speech - you can't pick and choose it! If it came from someone whose opinion was actually valued, it might sting a bit...but.....
  16. I have always thought that the harness folk have managed their share of the 'pie' more fairly.
  17. Just to get back to the 'closure' topic....one thing that hasn't been touched upon much, if at all...those 'dual code' tracks that are down to be 'closed' will then be up to harness people to maintain if they are to be kept going at all. Do HRNZ or local trotting clubs have the funds to do this? The harness fraternity have been given a hospital pass in all this.
  18. I recall one of my first employers using a cattle prod on a particularly capable, but moody colt. He used to ride a smart galloper in company with this colt, and lean over and give the colt a 'zap' when his ears went back and he started to pull himself up. It was very effective - to the point that he then had to give the galloping mate a zap to keep up......
  19. Sad....and, as much as can be seen from the photos, it doesn't look as if it is being farmed, or..anything, really... Who owned it originally, and was it sold.? I
  20. Wouldn't that get their attention?
  21. It hasn't started out too flash, has it? How much is turnover down in the first weeks of the platform? People I talk to are, many of them, so pissed off they have gone elsewhere and likely won't be back.
  22. The 'nimby' syndrome - sure...I agree with that premise, if the club concerned is costing industry funds to keep going. Absolutely. But if a club can sustain itself for a community raceday, and comply with modern H & S requirements, without dragging funding, how is closing it going to help?
  23. I am aware of that! ...and 'taking land' or whatever, is not an ongoing and sustainable means. It is just providing more money to piss up against that wall along with what has gone before. Until the business model changes there is NO POINT in stealing money.
  24. Yep.
  25. Sadly - yes, you're right. I still live in hope that something can be salvaged..the whole point of the Messara land-grab concept was to realise sufficient funding to re-vamp a few specific tracks, and thus improve the racing/betting experience for the viewer and address the falling betting turnover. He's no dummy...but, I do feel he has been poorly advised, there won't be much - if any - capital coming from any potential closures and thence no funding for improvements ; and to improve the racing experience, integrity /jockeyship must be improved, exponentially. The RB and NZTR continue on their rampant way - if they were going to be replaced, surely they could have been prevented from spending precious funds in the meantime..? and MAC - with four members who could hardly be called 'impartial' - even Dean, who is very well respected, was on the NZTR Board that was responsible for this effing 'Draft Venue' document. Maybe, bringing a bit of colour and atmosphere to raceday, in the form of on-course bookies..? might give some incentive to have a dollar or two on - that is, if the TAB platform hasn't turned everybody off NZ racing completely.
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