Welcome Stakes....A Group One?

[Walt]

 

In 1977 I drove from Nelson to Christchurch to see Royce's star Glide Time take on Motu Prince and Main Star in the Welcomes Stakes. He prevailed and it was a very pleasant drive home the next day. I've always looked forward to the race at Easter along with the time honoured Easter Cup.

The race has been won by some great horses. Lordship, Noodlum, Tuapeka Knight, Christian Cullen, Courage Under Fire etc but over the last decade or so it lost some of it's gloss for me. Mark Purdon has a great eye for picking up quality horses and owners with deep pockets to back his judgement. The All Stars have dominated the fields numerically and with the results year after year. I don't resent that but also don't enjoy seeing the same people scooping up all the spoils season after season. The Welcome Stakes almost became a game of musical chairs with the only question being which All Star would win?

I was delighted to see Katie Cox and It's Tough get over the top of the six horse field in 2023 and break a well worn routine. 

The timing of this race has been changed. It was traditionally run at Easter which many embraced. Now it's mid May. It's also been elevated to Group One status. That's a bit of a head scratcher for me. I appreciate it's been a G2 for some time and has been a G1 previously. It just doesn't look and feel like a G1 to me in the way the NZ Cup etc is a G1. 

Can't help thinking we are putting too much focus on races like this and not enough on the traditional time honoured races.

I'm incredulous at the scrapping of the Easter Cup. Our best race is and always will be for me the NZ Cup. When you look at who could win the two mile feature in November your best guide was the two mile Easter Cup. This was the Easter feature I most looked forward to. The race hasn't just been moved like the Welcome Stakes, it's been dumped despite it's significance to NZ Harness racing. WTF? Are we prioritizing the wrong races? Breeders and owners won't agree but they don't fill the infield at Addington.

 

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Easter Cup (Group 1)

Year	Month	Distance		Horse	Hcap	Owner	Driver	Time
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2021	Apr	3200m		Self Assured	20m	Mrs J L Feiss	Mark Purdon	4-00.3
2019	Apr	3200m		Turn It Up	10m	J A Gibbs MNZM, L Pilcher, Mark Purdon, Mrs A Gibbs	Mark Purdon	3-58.3
2018	Mar	3200m		A G's White Socks	Fr	G P Hope, P G Laboyrie, P I Baken, Mrs V M Robertson, W R Stewart, Mrs C L Stewart, A R Pullar, Mrs B E Pullar	Ricky May	4-02.1
2017	Apr	3200m		Heaven Rocks	Fr	Mrs G J Kennard, P I Kennard, P J Creighton, Mrs M C Creighton, G R Chief Stipelas, K J Riseley	Natalie Rasmussen	3-58.7
2016	Mar	3200m		Locharburn	Fr	K K Chapman, Mrs B G Chapman	Dexter Dunn	3-58.9
2015	Apr	3200m		Christen Me	20m	C J Roberts, V L Purdon	Dexter Dunn	3-57.2
2014	Apr	3200m		Adore Me	10m	C J Roberts, P G Kenny, Mrs M L Kenny	Blair Orange	3-59.9
2013	Mar	3200m		Terror To Love	10m	T McDonald	Ricky May	4-02.2
2012	Apr	3200m		Hands Christian	Fr	D M Dunford, M D Dunford	Mark Purdon	4-04.0
2010	Apr	3200m		Sleepy Tripp	Fr	T D Taylor, Mrs A V Taylor	Mark Purdon	4-03.0
2009	Apr	3200m		Monkey King	20m	Cavalla Bloodstock Limited	Ricky May	3-58.2
2008	Mar	3200m		Monkey King	10m	Cavalla Bloodstock Limited	Ricky May	4-01.8
2007	Apr	3200m		Tuherbs	Fr	T McDonald, E C Griffin	Anthony Butt	4-03.9
2006	Apr	3200m		Baileys Dream	Fr	Cavalla Bloodstock Limited	Ricky May	4-03.6
2005	Apr	3200m		Alta Serena	Fr	J P Green, Mrs P C Green, Mrs M E Green	Brent Mangos	4-01.4
2004	Apr	3200m		Blue Chip Rock	Fr	W G Hill	Ricky May	4-07.0
2002	Mar	3200m		Gracious Knight	Fr	Happy Valley Syndicate	Todd Mitchell	4-06.9
2001	Apr	3200m		Disprove	Fr	L M Newman, A R Jack	David Butcher	4-10.7
2000	Apr	3200m		Facta Non Verba	Fr	L J Berger, G J Rowe, J G Poppleton	Todd Mitchell	4-08.2
1999	Apr	3200m		Homin Hosed	Fr	Mrs M A Macey, B L Macey	Todd Mitchell	4-05.8
1998	Apr	3200m		Anvil Vance	20m	Mrs K J Purdon, K J Riseley, G H Beirne	Tony Herlihy	4-04.0
1997	Mar	3200m		Bradshaw	Fr	S C Fisher, B E Rossiter	Ken Barron	4-01.9
1996	Apr	3200m		Master Musician	25m	R J Dunn, Mrs R M Dunn	Robert Dunn	4-01.2
1995	Apr	3200m		Matthew Lee	20m	R P Anicich	Patrick O'Reilly	4-01.5
1994	Apr	3200m		Desperate Comment	Fr	G E Pilkington, A R Campbell, J H Mullins	Jim Curtin	4-05.3
1993	Apr	3200m		Chokin	15m	Pacers Australia Syndications Pty Ltd, M Joyce, J Loughnan, B De Boer	Tony Herlihy	4-03.0
1992	Apr	3200m		Insutcha	10m	Parnell Syndicate	Mark Purdon	4-02.4
1991	Mar	3200m		Blossom Lady	15m	Polly Syndicate	Anthony Butt	4-03.3
1990	Apr	3200m		Inky Lord	10m	G M Saunders	Ricky May	4-04.9
1989	Mar	3200m		Microscopic	Fr	G R Bond, Ms R J McLeish	John Hay	4-10.1
1988	Apr	3200m		Luxury Liner	15m	R R Reid, Est L F Reid, Mrs J C Reid	Tony Herlihy	4-09.6
1987	Apr	3200m		Skipper Dale	10m	J A Howard	Patrick O'Reilly	4-05.1
1986	Mar	3200m		Skipper Dale	Fr	J A Howard	Patrick O'Reilly	4-10.9
1985	Apr	3200m		Our Mana	10m	Mrs J A Barron	Colin DeFilippi	4-13.2
1984	Apr	3200m		Norton	Fr	M W Anderson, L W Anderson	Kerry O'Reilly	4-10.4
1983	Apr	3200m		Hands Down	25m	W H McAughtrie, Mrs M F McAughtrie	Peter Jones	4-09.3
1982	Apr	3200m		Hands Down	25m	W H & Mrs M F McAughtrie	Peter Jones	4-14.1
1981	Apr	3200m		Hands Down	10m	W H & Mrs M F McAughtrie	Peter Jones	4-11.2
1980	Apr	3200m		Trevira	Fr	Mrs M V Hamilton & Mrs J R Marshall	Gavan Hamilton	4-06.9
1979	Apr	3200m		Wee Win	10m	Mrs J M & M L Thompson	Wes Butt	4-09.3
1978	Mar	3200m		Sapling	10m	G C Cruickshank & R Given	Henry Skinner	4-11.8
1977	Apr	3200m		Balgove	Fr	J P & W H Roberts	Robert Cameron	4-11.7
1976	Apr	3200m		Captain Harcourt	10m	E J Bennett	Tommy Knowles	4-10.2
1975	Mar	3200m		Robalan	35m	A T Devery, P N Hope & D D Nyhan	Denis Nyhan	4-07.4
1974	Apr	3200m		Vanadium	20m	E J Lloyd	Leo May	4-11.6
1973	Apr	2m		Manawaru	Fr	C J McLaughlin	Allan Harrison	4-12.2
1972	Apr	2m		Rauka Lad	12yds	J Hall	Bob Nyhan	4-15.8
1971				Not Run
1970	Mar	1m 5f		Torrent	Fr	D A & S E Harley	Jack Smolenski	3-28.4
1969	Apr	1m 5f		Chequer Board	12yds	A H Carmichael	Jack Carmichael	3-24.2
1968	Apr	1m 5f		Allakasam	18yds	C J McLaughlin	Allan Harrison	3-32.6
1967	Mar	1m 5f		Great Adios	12yds	Mrs P M Norton	Ray Norton	3-24.4
1966	Apr	1m 5f		Lordship	36yds	Mrs D G Nyhan	Denis Nyhan	3-21.0
1965	Apr	1m 5f		Jacobite	Fr	D E Barclay & R A Burnett	Doody Townley	3-23.4
1964	Mar	1m 5f		Lordship	36yds	Mrs D G Nyhan	Denis Nyhan	3-22.2
1963	Apr	1m 5f		Master Alan	Fr	C M & G R Hore	Bob Young	3-26.8

Edited May 16 by Walt

[the galah]

The welcome stakes is one of those races where they have bumped the stakes up for the 2 year olds ,throwing more money at them seemingly on the premise that it will encourage more peolpe to breed.

it doen't make sense,but seems to be HRNZ's thinking.

they have got it totally wrong in my view and so have the likes of the media personalitites who are always hyping up the successful players in one part of the industry as the role models..

You know,everyone seems to accept that  there will be a shortage of horses going forward and therefore to retain its market share and keep providing income to the majority of industry participants,there will have to be better use of their number one resource,the horses.

So what does HRNZ and the media always elevate and promote and say this is the blueprint for what everyone should be trying to achieve...The likes  of the purdon/phelan partnership or the all stars.

And what have the likes of those stables consistently said over the years,their focus is on only training the good horses,which is what they obviously are very good at...But there average horse don't last long and don't get to race and there is much less overall use of that valuable resource,the horses.

But it shouldn't take einstein to work out that there are far more valuable trainers to the industries viabilty than the aforementioned trainers. Thats not to undermine their achievements which anyone can admire,but its just stating reality.

Traiers like michael house,bruce negus,greg and nina hope,mark jones and even the dunns make better use of their use numbers and provide more product and then you have the smaller trainers like robbie holmes,jay abernethy,barry ward,john mcdermott who are doing good things.

So if your talking about the reality of who is needed most by the industry,its the latter group of trainers and that is who HRNZ should be focusing on incentivsing to keep doing what they are doing.

Edited May 16 by the galah

[Gammalite]

54 minutes ago, the galah said:

And what have the likes of those stables consistently said over the years,their focus is on only training the good horses,which is what they obviously are very good at...But there average horse don't last long and don't get to race and there is much less overall use of that valuable resource,the horses.

But it shouldn't take einstein to work out that there are far more valuable trainers to the industries viabilty than the aforementioned trainers. Thats not to undermine their achievements which anyone can admire,but its just stating reality.

The Welcome Stakes has always had some prestige and nothing wrong with having increase in stakes 💰🏆 if possible to maintain the quality and prestige.

Yes the good stables that race in ALL the Group races are the 'face of the industry' . You expect them to dominate these races with Billionaires like Shannon having 17 horses with Barry and phelan for example.  (Merlin and co)

Tonight the feature $140k 3 year old Fillies Sires championship at Aucland is dominated by 3 of the BIG 4 stables in New Zealand. Nearly the entire field.  A real shock Allstars are starting to show signs of the 'cutback' ?? with nothing in this race to battle against the multiple Dunn , Telfer and Barry Purdon runners. (Nat is driving a DUNN runner !! 🤣😂) the main rival on most occasions lol. Her standards are slipping? tongue in cheek 😅)

The smaller trainers are valuable to southland, west Coast, manawatu and the like , but the GROUP racing is the flagship , and as long as people are still buying the yearlings , they can pop them in these stables at a lower training fee, and Hope Like Hell , they can win a race or return a profit or even get to the races at All ? lol 😁😎. looonng may the industry run 👍

[the galah]

3 hours ago, Gammalite said:

The Welcome Stakes has always had some prestige and nothing wrong with having increase in stakes 💰🏆 if possible to maintain the quality and prestige.

Yes the good stables that race in ALL the Group races are the 'face of the industry' . You expect them to dominate these races with Billionaires like Shannon having 17 horses with Barry and phelan for example.  (Merlin and co)

Tonight the feature $140k 3 year old Fillies Sires championship at Aucland is dominated by 3 of the BIG 4 stables in New Zealand. Nearly the entire field.  A real shock Allstars are starting to show signs of the 'cutback' ?? with nothing in this race to battle against the multiple Dunn , Telfer and Barry Purdon runners. (Nat is driving a DUNN runner !! 🤣😂) the main rival on most occasions lol. Her standards are slipping? tongue in cheek 😅)

The smaller trainers are valuable to southland, west Coast, manawatu and the like , but the GROUP racing is the flagship , and as long as people are still buying the yearlings , they can pop them in these stables at a lower training fee, and Hope Like Hell , they can win a race or return a profit or even get to the races at All ? lol 😁😎. looonng may the industry run 👍

I thought everyone recognised the number 1 issue in harness racing is lack of horse numbers.

so for the well being of the industry,who deserves greater rewards or incentives?

I think its just logical to say the trainers and owners who line up the horses in the races which generate  the profits from turnovers that are used to subsidise the higher stake,loss returning races.

Of course you need those big races and of course the likes of the pudons are very important.

But you lose me when you say Dean shannon and all the other rich owners deserve more incentives and rewards to0 keep them interested, than the bloke down the road who works  2 jobs so he can have a half share in a racehorse that hes happy to see line up most weeks without setting the world on fire,simply because he sees his horse more than just in a materialistic way.

Increasing the stake of the welcome stakes by $70,000 is such a stupid decision when you consider the good it could have done at the coalface.How many extra runners would it have attracted. zero would be the answer if people were honest.

The likes of a michael house or a robbie holmes are very important to the industry. $70,000 could have gone into many series races like the one running tonight for the lower grade at addington. Thats where your grass roots can see an incentive that they could relate to. Not the welcome stakes.  

Harness racing needs leadership that don't live in an echochamber. Thats the problem with harness racing,the decision makers are thinking ..what can we do to encourage more poeople to participate and they ask those in the same circles and think of what would help them continue,then push forward those policies thinking they are doing everyone a favour.

Well to the contrary,the vast majority live outside that echo chamber and HRNZ focusing on 2 year old racing is not helping one bit.

Edited May 17 by the galah

[Gammalite]

2 hours ago, the galah said:

I think its just logical to say the trainers and owners who line up the horses in the races which generate  the profits from turnovers that are used to subsidise the higher stake,loss returning races.

Of course you need those big races and of course the likes of the pudons are very important.

But you lose me when you say Dean shannon and all the other rich owners deserve more incentives and rewards to0 keep them interested, than the bloke down the road who works  2 jobs so he can have a half share in a racehorse that hes happy to see line up most weeks without setting the world on fire,simply because he sees his horse more than just in a materialistic way.

There are owners on different agenda's . Of course the big owners are prepared to pay up for yearlings and then race them from the Big stables . Dean Shannon a prime example lately. Merv Butterworth racing 'Copy That' and 'Arden Rooney' could of just used Aussie trainer at home , also the Fiess  lady of Mark Purdon , but they are rich enough to support the NZ harness scene and Pay up for the slot races, etc. and enjoy the BIG Glory they strive for.  There's a good way forward being taken on board in NZ. real progress with those events past 3 years (slot trot and Pace). The racing has improved to go with it. And indeed you still have the Aussie raiders there tonight to have another go a few weeks later . excellent stuff. real progress !!! 

multi millionaire Kevin Seymour (Leap to Fame owner) and Brissy local the amazing Chris Garrard , and Dean Shannon have poured heaps(millions) into the local QLD harness scene , and now the Nz scene,  and they deserve every incentive and reward going as far as I'm concerned. many winners for them is greeeat. If we relied on your 'bloke with 2 jobs to race half a horse' the game would of collapsed in NZ and some states here in Oz long long ago too. that's just the dreamers mate.   

Manawatu nearly closed? like Wellington did, and Dunedin . Manawatu possibly saved by Michael House and Doody? . No Big trainers or owners or good 'Group class' horses there mate. So no interest either from most. Brodie and I are very keen harness racing supporters but wouldn't get too enthused over Manawatu (or Redcliffe to be fair 😅) and therefore it's just those BIG KEEN owners like Seymour , Boots, Butterworth, and Shannon and those millionaires that 'Keep It All Running ' at the main tracks. Bless them heartily I say.   

[the galah]

2 hours ago, Gammalite said:

if we relied on your 'bloke with 2 jobs to race half a horse' the game would of collapsed in NZ and some states here in Oz long long ago too. that's just the dreamers mate.   

   

 

the people i know in the sport are mostly as i've described so obviously i move in different circles.

theres a place for everyone and if incentives are to be applied then they need to be directed at the area which gets the most positive effects.

If it takes another $70,000 for one 2 year old race or $12,000 bonuses for every 2 year old winner,for anyone to stay in the sport, then they are defintely targeting the wrong people. 

i think the people you descrbe have a genuine passion for the sport anyway so will still participate.

Edited May 17 by the galah

[Brodie]

We need to retain and have new owners entering the industry!

Without a new generation prepared to shell out big money for monthly training, then harness will be doomed!

We need big paying owners as well but they need to be introducing new participants as well!

All Punters need to be given a fair go as well!