Freda Posted October 2, 2023 Share Posted October 2, 2023 1 hour ago, billy connolly said: The all weather Polytrack could (and should) have been placed at Rangiora anyway and at a much lessor initial cost. At 1600m and cambered and with 1200m, 1600m and 2000m starting shutes already in place Rangiora was the ideal setup. Quite a few of us thought that was the best option. However, don't forget about the harness club who also held an ownership interest in Rangiora. They might not have been so chuffed about a Polytrack taking over their grass racetrack. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted October 2, 2023 Share Posted October 2, 2023 5 minutes ago, Freda said: Quite a few of us thought that was the best option. However, don't forget about the harness club who also held an ownership interest in Rangiora. They might not have been so chuffed about a Polytrack taking over their grass racetrack. Were they asked? Wouldn't a polytrack be a better all weather track option than their current crusher dust options. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freda Posted October 2, 2023 Share Posted October 2, 2023 3 hours ago, curious said: It seems to me that the sensible option would be to set Rangiora up as a training/jumpout/trial facility capable of running 10-12 trial meetings a year. This would be very similar to what they've done in the CD with Foxton, so there is a successful model for that where the trial revenue is sufficient for a primarily volunteer organisation to remain viable. It's similarly a well drained track with irrigation and forgiving grass surface proximal to the bulk of the Canterbury horse population. It would also serve as a venue for grass gallops for Riccarton based horses when none are available there in the same way that Awapuni trainers use Foxton for that purpose. That's what it has been for 15 years or so...since the accident that nearly claimed the life of Judy Lawson. The topic has been done to death..but racing ceased from that time. Some intrepid locals decided to run trials off their own bat and did very well [ financially] out of them. Their aim was always to prove that the track was safe under appropriate management conditions and trialling went ahead. However, once NZTR decided it was surplus to requirements, the desire to sell up the asset was revisited and that's where things are at the present. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curious Posted October 2, 2023 Author Share Posted October 2, 2023 2 hours ago, Doomed said: I just noticed Timaru is a good 3 for this week's meeting. You can see why they don't want to race there. They have the AWTs for good track racing and Riccarton turf for heavy track racing. No place for old fashioned good track turf racing in the modern environment. 200 + noms I see. The demand is obviously there. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curious Posted October 10, 2023 Author Share Posted October 10, 2023 At the request of the Trainers’ Association the trials originally scheduled for Riccarton on Tuesday 17 October will now be at Ashburton on Tuesday 24 October. Entries will be on Monday 23 October at noon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freda Posted October 11, 2023 Share Posted October 11, 2023 Races 14th, 22nd Oct, 5th Nov ; trials 24thOct, 9th, 28th Nov. Talk about Ashburton getting hammered. Common sense would reinstate Rangiora for obviously needed grass trials. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doomed Posted October 12, 2023 Share Posted October 12, 2023 On 10/11/2023 at 1:45 PM, Freda said: Races 14th, 22nd Oct, 5th Nov ; trials 24thOct, 9th, 28th Nov. Talk about Ashburton getting hammered. Common sense would reinstate Rangiora for obviously needed grass trials. The idea of being able to hold heaps of racing at Riccarton by using the AWT hasn't really worked. I find it quite sad to see the same horses eliminated and balloted every week in Canty because there are only limited suitable opportunities for them. Good to see them split the 65 1,400m this weekend into three races, but they had no option as most of those horses had been balloted and eliminated several times over recent weeks. And really, having to split a race into three and continually eliminating the same horses shows there are big problems with dates, venues and programming. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted October 12, 2023 Share Posted October 12, 2023 50 minutes ago, Doomed said: The idea of being able to hold heaps of racing at Riccarton by using the AWT hasn't really worked. I find it quite sad to see the same horses eliminated and balloted every week in Canty because there are only limited suitable opportunities for them. Good to see them split the 65 1,400m this weekend into three races, but they had no option as most of those horses had been balloted and eliminated several times over recent weeks. And really, having to split a race into three and continually eliminating the same horses shows there are big problems with dates, venues and programming. Must be hard to place a horse as a Trainer. But what do you expect when NZTR is run by a sports manager. Same old same old. Those with real skin in the game are either too scared to rock the boat or they've bought into the hype of nirvana is coming. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.