Just shows you how screwed the Pattern is: Only five starters in the time honoured Wakefield Challenge Stakes!

[Chief Stipe]

54 minutes ago, Huey said:

Like most things In nzracing, a significant few have a huge influence over matters of programming whether good for the industry or not.

Who?  The trainers I've talked to have zero influence.  Hell @Pitman and @Reefton bailed when I asked them what were they doing.  One of them was the chair of a regional programming committee.  So WHO is determing the programme?

It's not a conspiracy it's a cockup.

[curious]

2 hours ago, Special Agent said:

Just on this, in and around times of Covid the programming committees met on Zoom.  This was hardly ideal.  I remember a trainer representative telling me how difficult it was working through the races and meetings whilst juggling spreadsheets, and then the focus moving onto the next meeting before everyone had fully digested and discussed the previous.

Does anyone know if these meetings are now in person in all regions?

Certainly not in Canterbury. They can be in person but most attend by zoom as there are reps from clubs and TA reps from around the SI + NZTR etc. It would cost a fortune for all to fly to Christchurch for  one 90 minute meeting and you would still need to juggle spread sheets etc. when there.

[Doomed]

13 hours ago, Freda said:

 

NZTR needs to seriously address the programming/ handicapping issues and take note of area-specific field sizes.

 

 

I think NZTR is a bit like God. On the sixth day they invented the slot race, on the seventh day they said "that's us, we have done all we can do, we can sit back and relax now."

[Chief Stipe]

4 minutes ago, Doomed said:

I think NZTR is a bit like God. On the sixth day they invented the slot race, on the seventh day they said "that's us, we have done all we can do, we can sit back and relax now."

But they didn't INVENT the slot race.

[Doomed]

27 minutes ago, curious said:

Certainly not in Canterbury. They can be in person but most attend by zoom as there are reps from clubs and TA reps from around the SI + NZTR etc. It would cost a fortune for all to fly to Christchurch for  one 90 minute meeting and you would still need to juggle spread sheets etc. when there.

One of the big problems is that they are told they can only programme 7 or 8 races. How the hell do you create a pattern of age group races if you are allowed 8 races max.

[Doomed]

12 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said:

But they didn't INVENT the slot race.

Bugger. Did they invent the sweepstakes?

Perhaps they sat back and relaxed too soon.

[curious]

31 minutes ago, Doomed said:

One of the big problems is that they are told they can only programme 7 or 8 races. How the hell do you create a pattern of age group races if you are allowed 8 races max.

To add extra races, you have to get NZTR approval for the extra funding which for the most part is not available. Same goes for upgrading meetings to feature level. The programming committee is limited to asking for those, but NZTR finance holds all the cards. They can't just add extra 40k races willy nilly. For the most part if they add one somewhere they have to take one out somewhere else.

[Special Agent]

These poor 2yo and 3yo races don't help anyone.  I wonder if the weekend's race hadn't been the Wakefield whether it would have been scrapped.

One thing NZTR should be looking at from a professional and transparent perspective is the number of runners that are obvious throw-ins so the race goes ahead.

[curious]

21 minutes ago, Special Agent said:

One thing NZTR should be looking at from a professional and transparent perspective is the number of runners that are obvious throw-ins so the race goes ahead.

I agree but I can't think of any way that can be prevented. Scratching fees are already high for horses that don't run for very good reasons.

Edited yesterday at 07:21 AM by curious

[Doomed]

58 minutes ago, curious said:

I agree but I can't think of any way that can be prevented. Scratching fees are already high for horses that don't run for very good reasons.

They don't always scratch. The $50,000 stayers race at Wingatui had only 4 noms, the top 4 in the weights. The other 4 jumped in when noms were left open.

[Huey]

It shouldn't be rgat hard to put a programme together,  industry days should largely have a set of races that are standard fir the programming followed by some sort of natural progression following from this at other meetings in tge region.

The other stupid think I find us places have 2 racemeetings in the same region over 2-3 days , then a desert of opportunity afterwards.

[curious]

4 hours ago, Doomed said:

They don't always scratch. The $50,000 stayers race at Wingatui had only 4 noms, the top 4 in the weights. The other 4 jumped in when noms were left open.

Fair point. Actually thought about putting an R75 in there. Would likely have been running for 3rd or 4th but $750 for getting round pays for the start. I still see that as more of a programming and handicapping problem though. If a lightweight like that in that field got a fair suck of the sav in the weights, then it would be way more attractive in the first place.

[curious]

And it's only an R82.

The solution might be to just never extend nominations in which case that race for example would have  been canned.

Edited 23 hours ago by curious

[Doomed]

5 hours ago, curious said:

And it's only an R82.

The solution might be to just never extend nominations in which case that race for example would have  been canned.

It was an open race before the top acceptor was an 82. They do that so a lower grade horse isn't severely rerated for placing in or winning an open race.

That race shows up the incompetence of the programming. There have been no open stayers races in Canty since Cup week. Not everyone can train a stayer to go first up over 2,200m on a heavy track.