Decisive in Victoria

[Doomed]

I was impressed with the quick action they took in Victoria this weekend, and perhaps some lessons for NZ.

Donald got a bit wet so they moved the meeting to Warracknabeal with about 24 hours notice. Handy having a track just down the road that you can use in such circumstances. And the fields held up really well. Not really possible in NZ anymore with most of the tracks "just down the road" being closed these days.

And today's Ballarat track got a bit wet so they changed that to the synthetic. A quick decisive move, but the fields fell away badly as usual with only 6s and 7s remaining, which does emphasise once again that the synthetic generally does appeal to a different type of horse.

[TAB For Ever]

Plenty of lessons from over the ditch Doomed , thats why we inevitably employ their folk for jobs in NZ and why when things got real desperate we defaulted to a guy called Messara to try and talk some sense into our clubs etc and maybe learn from their experience with a lot greater numbers of Clubs ,horses and participants in general.

Plus racing is still in their DNA.

Maybe not so in NZ where neighbouring clubs may not collaborate ,work together ,and generally have much time for each other possibly  ! Maybe see them as competition and tho some may share use of equipment etc .

Maybe see the demise of their neighbour as a chance to get some more racedays as opposed to putting on an outstanding day themselves and earning extra recognition that way.

I have a friend in that Donald /Horsham/Warracknabeal region and he tells me how some 9 Clubs ,including Ararat and Murtoa also work together and share resources such as Administration and equipment etc and tho each club has a Board/Committee they come under an umbrella of Wimmera Racing Club with a Board etc. These 9 clubs hold over 30 x meetings a year.

Of course some will say that RACE hasn't turned out so well and there are cetainly clubs in parts of NZ who operate as a Co-Op with common Administration.

Of course economies of scale need to be taken into consideration and tho I dont have exact numbers on hand from memory I think Victoria racing twice the numbers of Nz.

Victoria has 10,00 horses in training, 500 meetings on 69 tacks ( NZ has about 5600 horses ,287 meetins , 50 tracks. )

NSW has 12,000 horses in training ...nearly twice the breeders and owners that NZ has..

Messara tried to get some of these messages across ,but many doubters....as there had been for over 50 years. 

All spilt milk and hindsight now !

[Chief Stipe]

7 hours ago, TAB For Ever said:

Plus racing is still in their DNA.

Primarily because every community has access to racing.  In New Zealand misguided attitudes such as yours is denying access.

For example the Westland Racing Club which cost the industry annually about what it cost Ellerslie to run their joint for an hour was forced to close.  End result lack of local community access to racing.

7 hours ago, TAB For Ever said:

Victoria has 10,00 horses in training, 500 meetings on 69 tacks ( NZ has about 5600 horses ,287 meetins , 50 tracks. )

Your figures are wrong for Victoria and NZ however they are irrelevant.  It isn't about population numbers it is about access.  

[Chief Stipe]

Tell me this @TAB For Ever why did the administrators shift two autumn/winter race dates off the Whangarei Racing Club at Ruakaka?  Two very successful dates I might add which were well attended by locals.  One day had 19 pub teams competing against each other in a punting competition.  BTW they had to be oncourse to bet.

I bet those same administrators are not decisive when Pukekohe has to be abandoned.  Actually why don't they shift the Pukekohe meeting this Wednesday to Ruakaka rather than  racing in a cut up bog?

[Doomed]

38 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said:

Tell me this @TAB For Ever why did the administrators shift two autumn/winter race dates off the Whangarei Racing Club at Ruakaka?  Two very successful dates I might add which were well attended by locals.  One day had 19 pub teams competing against each other in a punting competition.  BTW they had to be oncourse to bet.

I bet those same administrators are not decisive when Pukekohe has to be abandoned.  Actually why don't they shift the Pukekohe meeting this Wednesday to Ruakaka rather than  racing in a cut up bog?

On a slightly different subject Chief, but you might have an opinion. Those were pretty poor fields at Ruakaka on Saturday. Good track, big stakes, but only seven races, a couple with 5 starters and one with 7. Only one field of more than 10.

Are there just no horses about or is Ruakaka not what they want? I suspect it might be too long a trip for many these days, despite the stakes on offer. I imagine locals would have made up a decent percentage of the starters.

Along with the appalling flat fields at Trentham this most surely be a concern for those running the industry.

[Chief Stipe]

38 minutes ago, Doomed said:

On a slightly different subject Chief, but you might have an opinion. Those were pretty poor fields at Ruakaka on Saturday. Good track, big stakes, but only seven races, a couple with 5 starters and one with 7. Only one field of more than 10.

5 of the races (after nominations reduced to 4) were sort of restricted entry.  You had to have raced in eligible ITM series races and earn points to gain preferential entry.  BUT there was a condition that any horse could enter the final.  Judging by the nominations received for the 2yr old race Final initially I'm not sure all trainers knew about the latter condition.  They made the 2yr old an Open which begs the question why have a Winter Series if you can just change the rules if you don't get any nominations.

I think Northern Winter Championships concept is poorly constructed.

The fields weren't that hot at Trentham either.  The reality is it is possibly a sign of a dwindling horse population.  Although Ruakaka provided a G4 surface and Trentham a bottomless Heavy 10!  I think some trainers may have made a mistake with Ruakaka - especially if they prefer to go round at Pukekohe on Wednesday!

 

[Freda]

54 minutes ago, Doomed said:

On a slightly different subject Chief, but you might have an opinion. Those were pretty poor fields at Ruakaka on Saturday. Good track, big stakes, but only seven races, a couple with 5 starters and one with 7. Only one field of more than 10.

Are there just no horses about or is Ruakaka not what they want? I suspect it might be too long a trip for many these days, despite the stakes on offer. I imagine locals would have made up a decent percentage of the starters.

Along with the appalling flat fields at Trentham this most surely be a concern for those running the industry.

Be absolutely horrid without the jumpers going around. 

Edited July 14 by Freda

[TAB For Ever]

9 hours ago, Doomed said:

On a slightly different subject Chief, but you might have an opinion. Those were pretty poor fields at Ruakaka on Saturday. Good track, big stakes, but only seven races, a couple with 5 starters and one with 7. Only one field of more than 10.

Are there just no horses about or is Ruakaka not what they want? I suspect it might be too long a trip for many these days, despite the stakes on offer. I imagine locals would have made up a decent percentage of the starters.

Along with the appalling flat fields at Trentham this most surely be a concern for those running the industry.

Be careful Doomed , the Chief been going into bat for Ruakaka lately.

You are correct in saying that the Ruakaka fields at weekend were shocking particularly when the very good stakes are taken into consideration. They weren't a lot better last year either and only 25 horses in the first 4 x races on Saturday was dismal. Ruakaka with it's good footing in winter seems to be losing it's charm. Trainers like Ritchies ,Te Akau , Rogerson,Pike, Manning and Wallace usually take horses there while SCole,Clotworthy only took one each and the locals who often dominate CGibbs and Bradley just had 2 each.

Geez ,there were only 7 races as well ! Of course the main road has been closed over the Brynderwins[sp] has been closed with a windy detour in its place ,tho open again recently. But it a fair trek from Waikato !

And Chief bemoans Ruakaka only got 7 x meetings next season ,that brings it back to what it was a few seasons back before disruptions gained it a couple tho they were 7 x race cards. And it still retains 5 x Saturdays which gives it great exposure ....between Aug and Sept 2024 and two in June /July  2025.

In view of that its Turnover often disappoints ,and the mentioned ' Punting Comp' has been attracting up to 20 teams in recent years and will no doubt still be held. It largely competed for by various Bars and Clubs from around the region .The Club gets sizeable grants from their pokies !

The club does advertise ,but Northland a big area and Ruakaka quite a distance from anywhere. I used to attend the races there a bit and back in the day did a little job there on occasions.

Overall the on-course tote is low but may improve this year ,as well as 5 x Saturdays they have their  usual day in early January plus a new date for Xmas at the races  7 x days before Xmas Day.

[Chief Stipe]

16 minutes ago, TAB For Ever said:

Be careful Doomed , the Chief been going into bat for Ruakaka lately.

You are correct in saying that the Ruakaka fields at weekend were shocking particularly when the very good stakes are taken into consideration. They weren't a lot better last year either and only 25 horses in the first 4 x races on Saturday was dismal. Ruakaka with it's good footing in winter seems to be losing it's charm. Trainers like Ritchies ,Te Akau , Rogerson,Pike, Manning and Wallace usually take horses there while SCole,Clotworthy only took one each and the locals who often dominate CGibbs and Bradley just had 2 each.

Geez ,there were only 7 races as well ! Of course the main road has been closed over the Brynderwins[sp] has been closed with a windy detour in its place ,tho open again recently. But it a fair trek from Waikato !

And Chief bemoans Ruakaka only got 7 x meetings next season ,that brings it back to what it was a few seasons back before disruptions gained it a couple tho they were 7 x race cards. And it still retains 5 x Saturdays which gives it great exposure ....between Aug and Sept 2024 and two in June /July  2025.

In view of that its Turnover often disappoints ,and the mentioned ' Punting Comp' has been attracting up to 20 teams in recent years and will no doubt still be held. It largely competed for by various Bars and Clubs from around the region .The Club gets sizeable grants from their pokies !

The club does advertise ,but Northland a big area and Ruakaka quite a distance from anywhere. I used to attend the races there a bit and back in the day did a little job there on occasions.

Overall the on-course tote is low but may improve this year ,as well as 5 x Saturdays they have their  usual day in early January plus a new date for Xmas at the races  7 x days before Xmas Day.

Yawn.  You are so out of touch with reality.  Does NZTR write this stuff for you?

Please publish the tote figures that you appear to have inside information on or are you just making it up?

Of course no comment on the ill-conceived ITM Northern Winter Championship.  As long as the administrators flog the sponsors everything is OK.