Calendar

[Wingman]

Tauherenikau on Sunday may not go ahead. Noms left open for as at present they are as follows

Open 2050m 7 noms, Open 1400 3, R75 1600, 2 R65 1600, 8 Mdn 1600, 13 Mdn 1300 4, Mdn 3yo 1400, 6 noms. Total 43 for 7 races.

The calendar has the following low grade meetings over a 11 days in peak summer in CD. Sun 9th, two days ago at Otaki. Fri 14th New Plymouth, Sun 16th Tauherenikau, Fri 21st Wanganui. 

A glaring example of the racing calendar no longer being fit for purpose. The new CEO needs to be all over this and the pattern. 

 

[Huey]

But they've moved some of the big races and things are going great!

[TAB For Ever]

Seems to be plenty of CD horses at trials and jumpouts etc .

Are Clubs in general doing enough to promote their meetings etc or sitting back and thinking Entain will just produce a miracle ?

[Huey]

2 minutes ago, TAB For Ever said:

Seems to be plenty of CD horses at trials and jumpouts etc .

Are Clubs in general doing enough to promote their meetings etc or sitting back and thinking Entain will just produce a miracle ?

Only so many ponies to go around in this industry T4eva and on February tracks as well.

[Bloke]

35 minutes ago, TAB For Ever said:

Seems to be plenty of CD horses at trials and jumpouts etc .

Are Clubs in general doing enough to promote their meetings etc or sitting back and thinking Entain will just produce a miracle ?

This is the old Wairoa meeting which was switched to Hastings when they closed Wairoa and switched to Tauherenikau now that Hastings is out of action. When it comes to promoting racing Tauherenikau is one of the best. Look at their attendances for the January 2 and February 6 meetings.

They do not have a fortune spent on them by Entain and NZTR promoting the annual piss up at Ellerslie and the Wellington (disaster) Cup. 

[TAB For Ever]

16 minutes ago, Bloke said:

This is the old Wairoa meeting which was switched to Hastings when they closed Wairoa and switched to Tauherenikau now that Hastings is out of action. When it comes to promoting racing Tauherenikau is one of the best. Look at their attendances for the January 2 and February 6 meetings.

They do not have a fortune spent on them by Entain and NZTR promoting the annual piss up at Ellerslie and the Wellington (disaster) Cup. 

Exactly Bloke , I realise Tauherenikau has  a couple of boomer days in summer on their holiday dates and is very proactive and a well run Club with good use of their facility etc.

But it is a reminder that some Clubs who do a great job on one , two or three days a year may not be able to or be interested in running more meetings.

I was at a 'committee racing meeting' last night and there was some discussion about whether Clubs in general were pushing hard on promotion etc OR just sitting back thinking ENTAIN would have all the answers .

[curious]

27 minutes ago, TAB For Ever said:

I was at a 'committee racing meeting' last night and there was some discussion about whether Clubs in general were pushing hard on promotion etc OR just sitting back thinking ENTAIN would have all the answers .

That's a good question.

[Chief Stipe]

48 minutes ago, TAB For Ever said:

was at a 'committee racing meeting' last night and there was some discussion about whether Clubs in general were pushing hard on promotion etc OR just sitting back thinking ENTAIN would have all the answers .

You can blame Mackenzie for the marketing debacle.  He pushed it off TABNZ's balance sheet and devolved it to the Code administrators (national, regional and local) who have largely dropped the ball in all three racing codes.

NZTR don't have a budget for it and you can't expect the Clubs to run with something that is expensive to do and requires specialised talent.

[Wingman]

With the cash currently available the incoming CEO should be quickly able to rectify that mistake

[Chief Stipe]

1 minute ago, Wingman said:

With the cash currently available the incoming CEO should be quickly able to rectify that mistake

You'd hope so BUT with Greyhounds gone burger they need to save costs by forming a partnership with Harness and save costs.  

[Doomed]

1 hour ago, TAB For Ever said:

Exactly Bloke , I realise Tauherenikau has  a couple of boomer days in summer on their holiday dates and is very proactive and a well run Club with good use of their facility etc.

But it is a reminder that some Clubs who do a great job on one , two or three days a year may not be able to or be interested in running more meetings.

I was at a 'committee racing meeting' last night and there was some discussion about whether Clubs in general were pushing hard on promotion etc OR just sitting back thinking ENTAIN would have all the answers .

This hasn't really got anything to do with the way Tauherenikau is run.  It is about NZTR moving a meeting 5.5 hours away from its own track. Going to the well once too often at a track that is primarily a holiday venue. And most importantly, expecting trainers to travel to a distant track with low stakes that trainers never support anyhow. Especially when they have numerous opportunities much closer to home with similar or higher stakes.

To be honest, its a bloody shambles. In any other industry heads would roll.

[Mardy]

Gee those numbers don't sound good. I for one will be hoping the meeting goes ahead,as 1 of my syndicate horses is meant to be lining up.I guess time will tell.

[Wingman]

Last chance saloon guys n gals. We have had incompetent, poor or decidedly average leaders at NZTR for a long period. If this latest appointment genuinely has racing as his prime focus than it is well within his brief to rip up the programme and start again. My following comments are focused on the very top, there is a huge amount that needs to be done through middle/lower layers but one must get that top echelon right. We would be naive to think that the changes that now see ARC dominating the calendar will change. Yet there is so much more that can be done to create a different flow from Ruakaka to Riverton and all in between. Big paying novelty races have their place but so to, and surely, more importantly from a breeding/sales perspective, do long term, group races that follow a logical PATTERN. 

The concern for mine is that the focus will be only towards strengthening the North and that would be a killer blow for NZ racing diversity. Look where racing started in Newmarket England and how today hundreds of years later there are still Group 1 carnivals to both the South (Ascot, Goodwood) and North (York). Riccarton must IMO retain a G1 race and for mine that is the Oaks. Easy to set that up in March and connections can easily fly from there to Sydney if they consider they are good enough.

Awapuni has the Sires Produce for 2yo and should also get the 1000 guineas. Te Rapa, I suggest gets the 2000 guineas, which will keep the North reasonably happy re travel. Ellerslie do not need any more Group 1's and if they argue show them what happened to Mr Creosote when he was convinced to have 'One more morsel.'   

I notice that Ellerslie have also 'nicked' the Thoroughbred Breeders stakes off Te Aroha and I like my idea (I would, wouldn't I) of them getting the Captain Cook stakes in December as compensation. 

The sharp eyed will have noticed that I am suggesting the Oaks go South , the Captain  Cook North and what about Trentham. I deeply regret that this once great track is in its death throws. Everything points to it being swallowed up for residential development. So what about the Telegraph. I don't have all the answers...over to you.

 

[Huey]

33 minutes ago, Wingman said:

Last chance saloon guys n gals. We have had incompetent, poor or decidedly average leaders at NZTR for a long period. If this latest appointment genuinely has racing as his prime focus than it is well within his brief to rip up the programme and start again. My following comments are focused on the very top, there is a huge amount that needs to be done through middle/lower layers but one must get that top echelon right. We would be naive to think that the changes that now see ARC dominating the calendar will change. Yet there is so much more that can be done to create a different flow from Ruakaka to Riverton and all in between. Big paying novelty races have their place but so to, and surely, more importantly from a breeding/sales perspective, do long term, group races that follow a logical PATTERN. 

The concern for mine is that the focus will be only towards strengthening the North and that would be a killer blow for NZ racing diversity. Look where racing started in Newmarket England and how today hundreds of years later there are still Group 1 carnivals to both the South (Ascot, Goodwood) and North (York). Riccarton must IMO retain a G1 race and for mine that is the Oaks. Easy to set that up in March and connections can easily fly from there to Sydney if they consider they are good enough.

 

 

 

 

Your concerns well founded , I can only see it getting worse. I see nothing in the new appointment that should give any hope that will not be the case.