TAB For Ever Posted May 5 Share Posted May 5 2 hours ago, Chief Stipe said: It apparently looked super Karaka Millions night. Did you try slipping on it? Did you have our umbrella penetrometer? And you will never let us forget that Chief ! Certainly Orchestral , Master Fay ,Desert Lightning , Velocious and myself will always remember it as a fantastic day at the races ! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAB For Ever Posted May 5 Share Posted May 5 2 hours ago, Wingman said: You are away with the fairies TAB for Eva. Tracks that are continually overwatered and under maintained will become dodgy. Punters in particular dodge them. You may well be Peter Pan looking for the next fix with a few dollars bet here and there but the serious punters like myself who create turnover are more and more walking away. There is nothing more depressing reading after the event about horses who refuse to let down because of shifty track conditions. Ellerslie who you keep harping on as being in magnificent condition is a disgrace. Massive money spent on a fool proof track and it is only fools like you who are amazed by its condition. Remember the industry were assured it would handle whateva weather...yeah right. You probably right Wingman...May be the Chief can change my name to Wingnut ! I bow to your superior credentials as a 'punter' , I but of the small mug variety ! But I learned many years ago that the Te Rapa track has it's own 'make up' and it is often referred to as a 'horses for courses' track. And many punters I know would study a track ,certainly watch the first race of the day and maybe be cautious before unloading on a 2 year old race there . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAB For Ever Posted May 5 Share Posted May 5 3 hours ago, Doomed said: Arguably the best track we have seen in the country over the last few weeks has been Timaru. And yet they are a totally despised club, only just hanging in there while some of the greatest intellects the game has ever seen are desperate to move all their meetings to the Riccarton AWT. Strange old world. I always liked Washdyke myself Doomed. Do you live near Timaru as you often talk of it glowingly. Especially as it bats for both sides having all-weather Harness as well . Maybe it needs it's own thread as to why it dropped so much in it's rating.....it used to have 7 or 8 meetings a year ! 7's Rugby final just started...of course South Canterbury held the Ranfurly Shield briefly at one time...another Timaru pearl which has drifted down the scale . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murray Fish Posted May 5 Share Posted May 5 9 hours ago, TAB For Ever said: Messara said .... You do know! Especially 'in the South', that many were discussed by the way Messara swept into town, Never engaged! (read Gutless) then he put on his Pope hats and claimed..... 10 hours ago, TAB For Ever said: You will be pleased to know Chief ,Alex Park looking good but more importantly Ellerslie track looked amazing and the grass surface looked superb. By spring it will perform brilliantly .2024-25 season gonna be a cracker ! Good to see that the Pollyanna society continues to champion the company line! Meanwhile, Rome burns and you still have no clothes... 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murray Fish Posted May 5 Share Posted May 5 9 hours ago, Wingman said: Tracks that are continually overwatered and under maintained will become dodgy. Punters in particular dodge them. You may well be Peter Pan looking for the next fix with a few dollars bet here and there but the serious punters like myself who create turnover are more and more walking away. There is nothing more depressing reading after the event about horses who refuse to let down because of shifty track conditions. Ellerslie who you keep harping on as being in magnificent condition is a disgrace. Massive money spent on a fool proof track and it is only fools like you who are amazed by its condition. Remember the industry were assured it would handle whateva weather...yeah right. You are 1000% correct. I feel your punting pain/frustration!!! I've been a better for 50 years, first 10 = right mug! most driven by subjectivity! next 10: I then got in a position (I started taking the F Flash turn for home shot) and that allowed me (access to the like of the J's room) to slowly bring more objectivity to my punting. During that time I became very privileged with 'access to info from X jockeys' thoughts on how their horse had just run, learning how so many horse were not able to perform at their best because of the moisture level of said track! That was energised by being privileged to the reality of how much Mr N Eales put on the state of a track! Introducing a rule of 'the cure goes back in the rack' when there is rain of the day.... Going through that slow process of 'learning' taught me the skill of Not Betting! I share that background, as like you I am (was) a serious punter, who has found out that the more and more prior watering has become the norm, the less and less I now bet! You might recall a few years back some propaganda was coming out from Head Office or Tab? around some sort of 'Halo Effect', (I think it was around picking 3 tris in a row!!!!! with a Massive Take out btw) Well once, there was a H,E around me! I was always be badgered with "got a winner' and sometimes I might! Now a days, lol, I think I've become a 'black hole', more than likely now that if you ask for a winner! You will get a strong lecture about WHY the F would You bet into pool$ on that track! Way to hard! and I recon that form from those meetings are rather questionable going forward! ps. don't get me started about filming of prelims!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingman Posted May 5 Author Share Posted May 5 Yes, similar betting backgrounds. The only difference I have always been lucky so in those early years would get out of self dug holes time and again with jam not skill. Triple trio was the promo, the suits back then thinking what works in Hong Kong will work here. Reminds me, what have they tried to replicate with the Ellerslie track? The way forward for serious punters is too wait for the track upgrades to be completed and bet where you feel you can trust the track. Downside is many will find other things to do. I have always been loyal to NZ racing but again find myself thinking where else to focus... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doomed Posted May 5 Share Posted May 5 12 hours ago, TAB For Ever said: Do you live near Timaru as you often talk of it glowingly. Surely everyone talks of Timaru glowingly? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAB For Ever Posted May 5 Share Posted May 5 6 hours ago, Murray Fish said: You do know! Especially 'in the South', that many were discussed by the way Messara swept into town, Never engaged! (read Gutless) then he put on his Pope hats and claimed..... Good to see that the Pollyanna society continues to champion the company line! Meanwhile, Rome burns and you still have no clothes... You South Island folk seem so bitter about racing these days. Yet back in the day South Island not only held its own but often stood out. What went wrong ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeynz Posted May 5 Share Posted May 5 I think Messara gave out some rather odd ideas, Waikouiti stay open, Oamaru, Timaru, Gore and Riverton to close, odd to say the least. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freda Posted May 5 Share Posted May 5 14 minutes ago, mikeynz said: I think Messara gave out some rather odd ideas, Waikouiti stay open, Oamaru, Timaru, Gore and Riverton to close, odd to say the least. Messara was advised by some to keep Waikouaiti as it 'attracted a different crowd and had a lovely view' . Hard to blame the man for the shambolic approach that ensued wrt tracks. Waikouaiti didn't stay open regardless. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAB For Ever Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 15 minutes ago, mikeynz said: I think Messara gave out some rather odd ideas, Waikouiti stay open, Oamaru, Timaru, Gore and Riverton to close, odd to say the least. I'm sure Messara got some things wrong...the last person who was perfect ,well?.....his report got thru to those in charge of NZ racing including Winnie who welcomed MR that action was necessary ,afterall NZ racing was damn near bankrupt. NZ Racing had known and talked about 'too many tracks' for over 50 years and most had agreed that many should be closed ....Close some but not ours ! Waikouaiti track closed but races at Wingatui , I could never work out after 20 years of attending why it was open. A little rain made it a skating rink so it was far from safe .It was a very small town with no horse population .It was close to the big horse centre Wingatui and Oamaru and not far from Central Otago which had a swollen population over Summer. Waiikouaiti held a prime race day..New Years Day ,often had small fields and betting ! Plus I knew a few families living there among the tiny population and they had no interest in the local race meeting. I was very surprised that an area like GORE with a horse population , was at one time a big horse population ....it got the chop. They didn't cry ,they created...rolled their sleeves up and called to action. Their Harness Club had 3 x very successful meetings and are now back up and cooking with gas. Well done Gore Harness. Having lived a lot in South ,I've witnessed first hand how the Racing lost its connection with and relevance to the local community and I think many of the bitter posters on here have experienced the same. They woke up one day and racing was on way out and thought 'what the hell just happened ?'. Quick to blame the suits and powers that be , but maybe should look local and maybe in the mirror ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special Agent Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 8 hours ago, TAB For Ever said: NZ Racing had known and talked about 'too many tracks' for over 50 years and most had agreed that many should be closed ....Close some but not ours I wouldn't agree that "most" agreed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doomed Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 8 hours ago, TAB For Ever said: .It was close to the big horse centre Wingatui Surely you are going back a few years there TAB. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAB For Ever Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 2 hours ago, Doomed said: Surely you are going back a few years there TAB. Yep ,most likely ...I lived further north for a while so not exactly sure when the horses left there cos there were still Andertons and Kennedys. But they left in droves ! 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.