Hastings Track

[All The Aces]

Another beauty day here in Hastings with the temperature in the low 20s. Follows a fine day yesterday with very strong winds and with a pretty good week weatherwise we should have a good track on Saturday. 

[Chief Stipe]

The question is will they be inclined to irrigate?

[Murray Fish]

2 hours ago, All The Aces said:

we should have a good track on Saturday.

yes please! wouldn't it be great if we look back on this seasons G1's that they played out on true tracks! I live in  hope....

[All The Aces]

They irrigated today. 

 

[Doomed]

I've just been reading about the Grand Tour and how they are going to attract the next generation of youngsters with DJs. Bloody depressing really. When I was a young punter I went to see the racing not the DJs.

What has this got to do with HB you say? Well I am planning to be at HB for the second day and the promise of DJs was about to make me change my plans. However, I now see the grand tour doesn't start until the last day at HB. So I suggest people get along and enjoy the first two days.

[Chief Stipe]

13 minutes ago, All The Aces said:

They irrigated today. 

 

It was forecast to rain heavily on Wednesday.

[Chief Stipe]

5 minutes ago, Doomed said:

What has this got to do with HB you say? Well I am planning to be at HB for the second day and the promise of DJs was about to make me change my plans. However, I now see the grand tour doesn't start until the last day at HB. So I suggest people get along and enjoy the first two days.

The Grand Tour doesn't interfere much with anything else.  It is a quite self contained bar - a bit like a mobile bar come TAB.  Friends requented it during the Matamata Breeders Stakes Day at Trentham earlier in the year.  The DJ's and music wasn't too bad.  Surprised more didn't frequent the place - got a great leaner table and seat in front of some big TV screens.  Food was good too and the bar prices not too bad.

They could see the parade ring from where we were sitting.  

[All The Aces]

1 hour ago, Chief Stipe said:

It was forecast to rain heavily on Wednesday.

Where do you get that from. Only some showers forecast.

A brief shower or two in the morning; otherwise, cooler with some sun, then turning cloudy

[Chief Stipe]

3 minutes ago, All The Aces said:

Where do you get that from. Only some showers forecast.

A brief shower or two in the morning; otherwise, cooler with some sun, then turning cloudy

Earlier forecast on Metservice had 15mm falling.

Metvuw still has a dump.

 

[curious]

1 hour ago, Chief Stipe said:

It was forecast to rain heavily on Wednesday.

Met still has 20mm Wednesday during the day.

[Chief Stipe]

41 minutes ago, curious said:

Met still has 20mm Wednesday during the day.

Yeah I didn't add all of it up.  I'm not sure why they couldn't wait until Wednesday but a hot Nor West day tomorrow.

Perhaps they should have taken another tracks recent approach lately and miscalibrated the .moisture meter.

[Chief Stipe]

A G4 this morning after 5mm of irrigation.

[Bloke]

11 hours ago, Doomed said:

I've just been reading about the Grand Tour and how they are going to attract the next generation of youngsters with DJs. Bloody depressing really. When I was a young punter I went to see the racing not the DJs.

What has this got to do with HB you say? Well I am planning to be at HB for the second day and the promise of DJs was about to make me change my plans. However, I now see the grand tour doesn't start until the last day at HB. So I suggest people get along and enjoy the first two days.

I attended the Livermol race day last year and sadly it was a joke. They had no one on the gates to take our money so they let us in for free. The sound system was screwed and when the main race was being run, they had a DJ pumping out "Bang Bang" music in an area full of young people who had no interest in betting. 

It was very disappointing because from a racing purists' viewpoint the fields were great.

[Chief Stipe]

2 minutes ago, Bloke said:

I attended the Livermol race day last year and sadly it was a joke. They had no one on the gates to take our money so they let us in for free. The sound system was screwed and when the main race was being run, they had a DJ pumping out "Bang Bang" music in an area full of young people who had no interest in betting. 

It was very disappointing because from a racing purists' viewpoint the fields were great.

What was the track like?

[Chief Stipe]

43 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said:

A G4 this morning after 5mm of irrigation.

Moisture meter 39.4%.

I have this uneasy feeling that the moisture has been let go too low.  Noting though that there is a correlation between soil type and optimal moisture readings.  

[Bloke]

51 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said:

What was the track like?

From memory it was OK

[Chief Stipe]

56 minutes ago, Bloke said:

From memory it was OK

Looking OK for this weekend too.

[Huey]

15 hours ago, Chief Stipe said:

The Grand Tour doesn't interfere much with anything else.  It is a quite self contained bar - a bit like a mobile bar come TAB.  Friends requented it during the Matamata Breeders Stakes Day at Trentham earlier in the year.  The DJ's and music wasn't too bad.  Surprised more didn't frequent the place - got a great leaner table and seat in front of some big TV screens.  Food was good too and the bar prices not too bad.

They could see the parade ring from where we were sitting.  

So basically they could go to a decent pub TAB for same experience.

[Huey]

15 hours ago, Doomed said:

I've just been reading about the Grand Tour and how they are going to attract the next generation of youngsters with DJs. Bloody depressing really. When I was a young punter I went to see the racing not the DJs.

What has this got to do with HB you say? Well I am planning to be at HB for the second day and the promise of DJs was about to make me change my plans. However, I now see the grand tour doesn't start until the last day at HB. So I suggest people get along and enjoy the first two days.

Great point, its what I find most fascinating about the young hip PR & marketers in the racing game, they are going to attract new racegoers to the races for everything but the races themselves!

[Chief Stipe]

3 minutes ago, Huey said:

So basically they could go to a decent pub TAB for same experience.

Nope because when you are oncourse you get a good ten minutes of watching the horses in the parade ring and galloping onto the track.  You don't get that in "decent pub TAB".

[Huey]

4 hours ago, Bloke said:

I attended the Livermol race day last year and sadly it was a joke. They had no one on the gates to take our money so they let us in for free. The sound system was screwed and when the main race was being run, they had a DJ pumping out "Bang Bang" music in an area full of young people who had no interest in betting. 

It was very disappointing because from a racing purists' viewpoint the fields were great.

and a club with that level of enthusiasm and racing IQ is allowed to hold the NZ triple crown.

[Huey]

4 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said:

Nope because when you are oncourse you get a good ten minutes of watching the horses in the parade ring and galloping onto the track.  You don't get that in "decent pub TAB".

That of course depends on the course and where you sit.

[Chief Stipe]

7 minutes ago, Huey said:

Great point, its what I find most fascinating about the young hip PR & marketers in the racing game, they are going to attract new racegoers to the races for everything but the races themselves!

Yes it is a good point BUT once they are there then you can capture them.  If they aren't there you have no show.  So the key will be the follow up on the day to engage them.

Of course I'd be interested to hear of @Huey 's alternative marketing strategy.

[Chief Stipe]

2 minutes ago, Huey said:

That of course depends on the course and where you sit.

Dear me it has been a while since you have been to the races!  If you go as a group then you always have someone to mind your handbag (in your case) while you go for a 2 minute walk to the parade ring!

[Doomed]

A slight thread drift, but I was just wondering when the "I'm here for the piss up not the racing" actually started. I know there has always been a tiny element more interested in the piss up, but certainly not to the same extent as on the big days over recent years.

My first big race-meetings were Cup Week and the National meeting in ChCh. Riccarton was all about the racing in those days. Cup Day at Addington might have been the first to swing more towards the piss up. 

Even Trentham was still about the actual racing during the 80s.

I'm wondering if they tried to attract the young non-racing crowd once punter numbers started to drop away, or whether punter numbers started to drop away once the big days became more about the piss up than the racing.