Geez Balcombe surely you could come up with better spin than that for Taupo!!

[Trojan]

Infrastructure blues continue following Taupo abandonment

loveracing.nz

There’s growing frustration within the thoroughbred racing industry surrounding the sport’s infrastructure, with the abandonment of Taupo’s trials on Tuesday the latest in a long series of raceday and trial cancellations.

It comes just two days after the abandonment of Tauherenikau’s Sunday race meeting following a slip in the opening race of the card, adding to the growing track woes in the Central Districts, with both Hastings and Awapuni currently out of commission due to track renovations.

“I think we are starting to get to a point where we have got a bit of a crisis with our infrastructure,” New Zealand Trainers’ Association President Shaun Clotworthy said.

“The Central Districts have been under pressure for quite a while now, so we feel for them. In the northern area, with Ellerslie and Te Aroha coming back on board it has been a big relief to trainers up this way, but we still need to address these problems properly.

“We probably need to look at a complete review of our processes and get someone in to have a different look at it from a different angle because it’s not working at the moment.

“The cost is huge to the industry and especially to the owners, who are getting really sick of it, and trainers, who have to reorganise staff and pay different people and juggle things around, so it comes at a personal cost to them as well.

“Owners are frustrated. It is not cheap to race horses and they aren’t looking to have any extra costs added on.

“On the bright side, I think Ellerslie are going to take two trial dates next week on Tuesday and Thursday, so that is some relief, but that doesn’t alter the fact that horses have been carted to Taupo today for no result.”

New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing’s chief operating officer Darin Balcombe said the latest string of abandonments is frustrating for the industry, with a number of provincial tracks feeling the pressure of extra racedays, with a number of metropolitan tracks currently out of commission while renovations are taking place.

“We completely feel for the industry stakeholders that have been to these meetings that have been called off,” Balcombe said. “It is a terrible situation, and it is a big drain on the industry.

“The tracks are struggling with the weight of racing on them at the moment and that is causing issues.

“It is putting pressure on a number of our provincial tracks that generally are set-up to run three to four racedays a season and are being asked now to run seven or eight, and the stress is showing on those tracks.

“We need to ensure that we are getting these tracks up to speed as early as possible to make sure it doesn’t carry on.

“It makes it very difficult to be an owner when these things are happening, so we have got to get it right and we are working hard to get it right.”

Awapuni Racecourse in Palmerston North is currently one of those metropolitan tracks undergoing renovations but is set to resume racing on their turf track next month.

“It is very important that we get Awapuni back on speed, which is scheduled for the 25th of April, so I am looking forward to that,” Balcombe said. “We won’t be pushing Awapuni, so it will probably only run two or three meetings before we put it aside for winter and get it back because it is going to be an important venue next spring.”

With Hastings racecourse also out of commission, and Trentham set to undergo renovations in the near future, Balcombe said New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing have partnered with several provincial clubs to ensure they have the means to handle additional race meetings year-round.

“We are making sure every track undergoes a full renovation period,” Balcombe said. “Knowing that Hastings and Trentham were going to be out in the short-term, we did put irrigation in at Waverley and Hawera to ensure those tracks can be used because previously without the irrigation they were only available through the winter months.

“We are also looking at the possibility of having an irrigation system at Woodville just to allow that track to cover off as well because we are going to have Hastings out for a little period and on the back of that a decision has got to be made on Trentham and what needs to be done there with the track and facilities.”

Balcombe said meeting abandonments will always be a part of racing due to severe weather, particularly over the winter months, but acknowledged the number of abandonments of late is unacceptable.

“We are always going to have weather abandonments, there is no way you can get around the extreme weather, but we need to stop these track abandonments when the weather has been like it has been. The tracks need to be in a fit state,” he said.

[Freda]

A bit of a crisis?   has he been asleep for the last five years?

[curious]

11 minutes ago, Freda said:

A bit of a crisis?   has he been asleep for the last five years?

Five? Maybe 20?

[Chief Stipe]

12 minutes ago, Freda said:

A bit of a crisis?   has he been asleep for the last five years?

Well he was obviously when he was at Hastings.

[Freda]

1 minute ago, curious said:

Five? Maybe 20?

yeah....but it has become more startlingly apparent now that more tracks have been closed.   Many had been in support of reducing tracks with overseas data showing how other jurisdictions had fewer.

However those who had been in favour of reductions didn't take into account the appalling state of the remainder.   And although Messara keeps getting the blame, the axe had been out before he came along.  

[curious]

22 minutes ago, Freda said:

yeah....but it has become more startlingly apparent now that more tracks have been closed.   Many had been in support of reducing tracks with overseas data showing how other jurisdictions had fewer.

However those who had been in favour of reductions didn't take into account the appalling state of the remainder.   And although Messara keeps getting the blame, the axe had been out before he came along.  

He shouldn't be getting the blame, not that I agree with everything he recommended. But the crux of his recommendations was close some tracks, but make significant investment in the remaining ones over a 6 year period. One thing has happened, not the other. Any tweaking to those recommendations aside, the implementation has been woeful

[Wingman]

I think the telling statement from Balcombe is him saying they are considering (what is to consider? DO IT) an irrigation system for Woodville. This is on the back of a few years ago, Woodville being a track that NZTR considered surplus to requirements. People like Balcombe would have been down the road years ago in the corporate world. They lack vision and love driving ambulances to low lying areas and then pausing to wait for the casualties to arrive.

[Chief Stipe]

Just now, Wingman said:

I think the telling statement from Balcombe is him saying they are considering (what is to consider? DO IT) an irrigation system for Woodville. This is on the back of a few years ago, Woodville being a track that NZTR considered surplus to requirements. People like Balcombe would have been down the road years ago in the corporate world. They lack vision and love driving ambulances to low lying areas and then pausing to wait for the casualties to arrive.

Why would they fund Woodville when they decided to put Riccarton's on hold?

[Freda]

1 minute ago, Chief Stipe said:

Why would they fund Woodville when they decided to put Riccarton's on hold?

Did they?  I haven't heard one way or another.

[Wingman]

How the fuck would I know what muppets think. They do tend to say great, Excellent, well maybe needs further investigation

[Chief Stipe]

25 minutes ago, Freda said:

Did they?  I haven't heard one way or another.

If was in the last annual report.

[Bloke]

1 hour ago, Chief Stipe said:

Well he was obviously when he was at Hastings.

Was he not the CEO at Hastings when they spent $7M on two blocks of land only to find later that they had not done due diligence as the land was zoned for Horticulture / Viticulture, not a racetrack?

[Special Agent]

Some of the tracks the suits want to close are of little value.  It doesn't take much intelligence to work out selling the small tracks to fund the bigger tracks is a recipe for disaster.  The funds would go into a big hole and take out the current saviours of racing (i.e. actual courses to race on, and note how grateful all are to have somewhere to race even if substandard).

The puppets on Sesame Street make more sense.

[Chief Stipe]

11 minutes ago, Special Agent said:

Some of the tracks the suits want to close are of little value.  It doesn't take much intelligence to work out selling the small tracks to fund the bigger tracks is a recipe for disaster.  The funds would go into a big hole and take out the current saviours of racing (i.e. actual courses to race on, and note how grateful all are to have somewhere to race even if substandard).

The puppets on Sesame Street make more sense.

The capital value of the tracks is and always has been a red herring.  The key issue is operational costs of maintaining a track to todays standards which include health, welfare and safety standards for human and equine that are more onerous than in years gone by.

Very few tracks if any in my opinion have enough resources to maintain tracks to the requisite level.  More tracks in play just offer a buffer and alternatives in a lower cost model that probably isn't sustainable long term.  You can only hammer a paddock for so long before the system collapses.  It has taken 30 years for some tracks to reach that point but they have reached that point.