Is it easier to get horses ready in OZ than in NZ to target NZ Features?

[Chief Stipe]

Looking at the tracks and opportunities in OZ recently alongside the issues NZ has been having.  With the disrupted pattern and limited lead up races (and horses) for many of our feature races would it be easier to prepare your horse in Australia and ship them here to pick off the features?

At least in OZ you would be guaranteed high quality training facilites, trials and high stake value lead up races on high quality tracks AND more options if Plan A comes unstuck.

Of course now with the increase in stakes should we be surprised if OZZIE raiders head this way?  

Perhaps that was the real Messara plan.

[Freda]

After the recent Hastings debacle which inconvenienced many horses, but NONE more than the poor Aussie representative,  I'd be  surprised if too many would bother.

And Entain wasn't around when Messara did his report.

Edited October 5, 2024 by Freda

[Chief Stipe]

3 minutes ago, Freda said:

And Entain wasn't around when Messara did his report.

What does ENTAIN have to do with it?

[Chief Stipe]

10 minutes ago, Freda said:

After the recent Hastings debacle which inconvenienced many horses, but NONE more than the poor Aussie representative,  I'd be  surprised if too many would bother.

In a way you are agreeing.  What about all the NZ horses that have had their preparations inconvenienced?  However the Hastings debacle is only one of a number of issues.

Even though the Aussie rep didn't get a chance that time it still had what most NZ horses are struggling to get - opportunities on good tracks with far better stakes than here.

I think quite a few OZZIES will be bothered to target all that money at Ellerslie in the summer.  Especially when their NZ competition is still going to be beset by a lack of pattern leading into the races and no doubt more track issues.

[Freda]

27 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said:

What does ENTAIN have to do with it?

Entain has everything to do with the huge stake increases that you surmise some Aussies might wish to target.

[Chief Stipe]

1 hour ago, Freda said:

Entain has everything to do with the huge stake increases that you surmise some Aussies might wish to target.

Surely they just provide the revenue.  

Doesn't NZTR manage:

1. Programming;
2. The pattern;
3. Handicapping; and
4. Track maintenance (so we are led to believe).

 

[Freda]

18 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said:

Surely they just provide the revenue.  

Doesn't NZTR manage:

1. Programming;
2. The pattern;
3. Handicapping; and
4. Track maintenance (so we are led to believe).

 

Yes, of course they provide the revenue.   There wasn't much of that before their arrival. 

Messara wouldn't have been needed to give his opinion if Entain had arrived already.  But the crux of his advice was to partner or outsource our abysmally-performing TAB.

Which is the ONLY reason an Oz horse would bother looking this way. 

 

 

[Chief Stipe]

9 minutes ago, Freda said:

Messara wouldn't have been needed to give his opinion if Entain had arrived already.  

Well we don't know how well ENTAIN are performing at the moment.

10 minutes ago, Freda said:

But the crux of his advice was to partner or outsource our abysmally-performing TAB.

So the rest of the Messara report about track consolidation and everything else we should have ignored?

10 minutes ago, Freda said:

Which is the ONLY reason an Oz horse would bother looking this way. 

I don't disagree.  The point I was making is that because of all the other things that are poorly managed (which I thought were mentioned in the Messara report) is that OZZIES now have an incentive to target NZ Stakes probably with horses below the elite level.  NZTR or NZB or whoever it is has made it harder for the NZ horse to actually pick up the big plums.

The way things are heading it would be easier to train your horse in OZ and target the prize plums or cherry pick in NZ.  For most owners it is cheaper to fly to Melbourne, Sydney or Brisbane than get to Hastings!!  In that regard it is easier to get to Auckland than it is to get to Hastings!

[Freda]

Nah, if I had the resources to have a horse in Aus, I would not be wasting my time or money returning. 

I'd enjoy pottering around the smalls enjoying the company of like minded horse lovers.

[Murray Fish]

12 minutes ago, Freda said:

I'd enjoy pottering around the smalls enjoying the company of like minded horse lovers.

I recon with some of those rather nice Motor Homes, and with economic$ in that back pocket! to park it safely, it makes that sort of option well worth looking at!