Kumara?

[billy connolly]

11 hours ago, Pitman said:

I am inclined to agree IMO the Reefton track should stay and have two days racing. It is the best track on the Coast by far and has been for a very long time. 

Maybe better footing wise but Reefton is a "bull ring" and if it didn't have a prime holiday race date it's gone burger.

Whoever said Westport is "by far the best track on the coast" has obviously never ridden there.

All coast tracks are BAD and if they never had prime holiday race dates they're history IMO.

Mr. Pitman has the right idea though, he gets all the spoils on the southern Christmas circuit while the others wait for the usually heavy coast tracks with North Island competition !

Edited January 12, 2019 by billy connolly

[Reefton]

4 minutes ago, billy connolly said:

Maybe better footing wise but Reefton is a "bull ring" and if it didn't have a prime holiday race date it's gone burger.

Whoever said Westport is "by far the best track on the coast" has obviously never ridden there.

All coast tracks are BAD and if they never had prime holiday race dates they're history IMO.

Mr. Pitman has the right idea though, he gets all the spoils on the southern Christmas circuit while the others wait for the usually heavy coast tracks with North Island competition !

We reckon we will apply to the Provincial growth fund to extend Reefton to a 1600m circuit.  Tons of room and all we need is the money.

[billy connolly]

11 hours ago, Pitman said:

I am inclined to agree IMO the Reefton track should stay and have two days racing. It is the best track on the Coast by far and has been for a very long time. 

Maybe better footing wise but it's a "bull ring" and if it didn't have a prime holiday race date it's gone burger.

Whoever said Westport is "by far the best track on the coast" has obviously never ridden there.

All coast tracks are BAD and if they never had prime holiday race dates they're history IMO.

Mr. Pitman has the right idea though, he gets all the spoils on the southern Christmas circuit while the others wait for the usually heavy coast tracks with North Island competition !

[Reefton]

7 minutes ago, billy connolly said:

Maybe better footing wise but Reefton is a "bull ring" and if it didn't have a prime holiday race date it's gone burger.

Whoever said Westport is "by far the best track on the coast" has obviously never ridden there.

All coast tracks are BAD and if they never had prime holiday race dates they're history IMO.

Mr. Pitman has the right idea though, he gets all the spoils on the southern Christmas circuit while the others wait for the usually heavy coast tracks with North Island competition !

Well looking at the West Coast crowds and comparing them to Trentham yesterday it is bloody sight more sensible to allocate prime holiday dates to here than to that dump.  And the Matamata versus Reefton turnover on another thread doesn't alter that opinion. 

You lot with your superiority complexes about your own dung hills want to start proving the claims by actual attendance at meetings. Bottom line is people want to go to the country races and simply do not want to go to the same old same old fare the metro clubs provide.

[billy connolly]

Pleased to hear that Reefton is capable of extension. 

Judging by your posts on these forums you seem to be reasonably clued up and have the good of the industry at heart, maybe your energy would be better utilized at a higher level than club administration.

[Reefton]

8 minutes ago, billy connolly said:

Pleased to hear that Reefton is capable of extension. 

Judging by your posts on these forums you seem to be reasonably clued up and have the good of the industry at heart, maybe your energy would be better utilized at a higher level than club administration.

My issue is that I have no tolerance for wankers which is why I could never consider a position higher up the chain where I would have to deal with public servant types full of their own importance and determined to make it hard for the genuine blokes trying to enjoy what is merely a pastime(albeit a much loved pastime)for the majority of its stakeholders.

And besides which racing doesn't pay my mortgage.  I did though a month or so back see an NZTR circular announcing the resignation of a 'Roger Finlay' from their board and detailing all he had done.  Now I do not know nor have ever heard of Roger Finlay before but I do know he is not a household name in NZ Racing - so that tells me the powers that be are full of non entities whose only claim to fame is their lack of achievement in the industry(I do not claim to have achieved much myself to be fair).  I have no desire to have to try to get through to a bunch of Board Members with a heap of letters after their name but whose total racing knowledge could be written on the inside of an extremely small matchbox with an extremely large crayon.

[barryb]

By the same token Reefton, you don't want an board or leadership of an industry whatever it is full of people from inside the industry. There has to be a balance of both, people within racing right now haven't exactly done much to advance it to any great degree, so stacking with them isn't exactly going to change much. 

Its like great Rugby Players don't always make great coaches, administrators, leaders etc.

The biggest issue with racing is its so fractured and there is no one collective group or response to anything, until thats resloved then its going to continue backwards.

I very much doubt racing in NZ will exist outside of a few small pockets in 20yrs, this years yearling sale in book 2 and 3 will convey the future confidence or lack of.

[Reefton]

19 minutes ago, barryb said:

By the same token Reefton, you don't want an board or leadership of an industry whatever it is full of people from inside the industry. There has to be a balance of both, people within racing right now haven't exactly done much to advance it to any great degree, so stacking with them isn't exactly going to change much. 

Its like great Rugby Players don't always make great coaches, administrators, leaders etc.

The biggest issue with racing is its so fractured and there is no one collective group or response to anything, until thats resloved then its going to continue backwards.

I very much doubt racing in NZ will exist outside of a few small pockets in 20yrs, this years yearling sale in book 2 and 3 will convey the future confidence or lack of.

Agree entirely BUT ....

The issue with outside Directors is the have no genuine enthusiasm for the game and no appreciation of the fact that 95% of the participants are in it for love not purely business.  Given that fact a straight business model does not fit and even if it did then I have said it before the first call(from a strictly business perspective) is to cash up the very valuable and non returning assets being those big city tracks with their massive bureaucracies and minescule crowds.

Ouside directors the likes of Julie Christie(who for disclosure purposes is my sister) who have admin histories but also skin in the game would be more suitable than a bunch of people nobody knows.  She made her name producing popular programmes which the critics regularly panned but the general public liked (and that meant the advertisers loved them and the TV channels wanted to play them).

Sound familiar? Events the superior pricks who think they are God's gift to NZ racing hate but the public love?

[barryb]

Yep, agreed.

& yes I think Julie would be outstanding, she spoke brilliantly on TV yesterday after the win.

She just might be too smart for those clowns I feel.

[curious]

23 minutes ago, barryb said:

Yep, agreed.

& yes I think Julie would be outstanding, she spoke brilliantly on TV yesterday after the win.

She just might be too smart for those clowns I feel.

"Might be"? I think it's more than evident that she would run rings around them.

[Newmarket]

57 minutes ago, Reefton said:

Agree entirely BUT ....

The issue with outside Directors is the have no genuine enthusiasm for the game and no appreciation of the fact that 95% of the participants are in it for love not purely business.  Given that fact a straight business model does not fit and even if it did then I have said it before the first call(from a strictly business perspective) is to cash up the very valuable and non returning assets being those big city tracks with their massive bureaucracies and minescule crowds.

Ouside directors the likes of Julie Christie(who for disclosure purposes is my sister) who have admin histories but also skin in the game would be more suitable than a bunch of people nobody knows.  She made her name producing popular programmes which the critics regularly panned but the general public liked (and that meant the advertisers loved them and the TV channels wanted to play them).

Sound familiar? Events the superior pricks who think they are God's gift to NZ racing hate but the public love?

Yeah, Julie spoke really well, seems a nice lady. You sure she wasnt swapped at birth? 

[Reefton]

1 hour ago, Newmarket said:

Yeah, Julie spoke really well, seems a nice lady. You sure she wasnt swapped at birth? 

Don't think so.  Julie is the dead spitting image of our great grandmother (in fact her Facebook profile picture is of that particular lady).

The speaking well is a reflection of the relief I believe she was feeling.  I didn't hear or see it but it has been a little bit frustrating with that horse this season. Really thought she was looking for the broodmare paddock but what a ride CWJ.

[Rusty]

The Kumara meeting is my highlight of the racing calendar every year (when it's not washed out). 

It is the best raceday experience with good food on offer (reasonably priced), plenty of tote staff on, good views of the track and birdcage area and it just has a good vibe in general. 

Saturday's racing was very competitive and another great day out. IMO it beats Flemington's Cup and Derby days, the Valley's Cox plate day and Royal Ascot's carnival. Keep them all, give me the nuggets at Kumara over the others any day. I've witnessed Black Caviar meeting the Queen, Winx making history in the Cox plate, the Diva winning 3 cups, I enjoyed watching racing history unfold, but the nuggets is where it is at for me. 

Big congratulations and thank you to the hard working staff behind the scenes at Kumara.

Also I thought the Trackside TV coverage with their differing camera angles on the coast circuit made for great viewing. Especially at Hokitika today, with a camera down the back straight. 

[Freda]

Love the Coast....but it's a pity the steering was so sub standard for the circuit.

[Thomass]

15 hours ago, Freda said:

Love the Coast....but it's a pity the steering was so sub standard for the circuit.

Surely that's what D Walsh is there for??

And he was there...did he get the Apps in the room and knock into them how to ride these tight courses?

If not, does he drum it into them in Apprentice school?

Racing Victoria have a very intensive graduation course for Apprentices now...

...the standard is almost as good as the Sth African system...

We need all 3 areas duplicating these type of systems...there must be benefactors ready to support such a thing?

[Freda]

8 hours ago, Thomass said:

Surely that's what D Walsh is there for??

And he was there...did he get the Apps in the room and knock into them how to ride these tight courses?

One or two who clearly wanted some advice - noticeably Kate Cowan and Rohan Mudhoo at Kumara -  got walked around....but no,  not as a consistent practice which I think is pretty poor.  It should have been mandatory.

I got Mouse McCann to take one first-timer round at Greymouth.

I think that the standard of riding overall was woeful,  and something  needs to be done about the 'system' before northern riders are too scared to come down...and some of them are by no means perfect either.

CWJ commented to me that the kids need to drop their irons a few holes and shove their feet right home for starters.

...and my opinion,  for what it's worth,  is that the long-rein,  soft hand style which is lovely to watch and is perfectly fine on a roomier track and where the pace is consistent ,  is totally inappropriate for these tight circuits.    

The old-fashioned style of the riders of a few years ago, with the horses held firmly on a shorter rein and feet 'home'  in the irons, was safer and suitable for the conditions....considering that most of the apps around are from Mauritius or Asia, not surprising that things are a bit messy.

A few years ago,  Lisa Cropp - in the peak of her career - was brought down to ride at Hoki for promotional purposes.  She had perfected the riding-on-the-buckle technique to such a degree that it became her trademark style - but again,  not suitable for the tight corners.

She had one ride,  packed herself up and left.

8 hours ago, Thomass said:

 

 

[Pitman]

10 hours ago, Freda said:

One or two who clearly wanted some advice - noticeably Kate Cowan and Rohan Mudhoo at Kumara -  got walked around....but no,  not as a consistent practice which I think is pretty poor.  It should have been mandatory.

I got Mouse McCann to take one first-timer round at Greymouth.

I think that the standard of riding overall was woeful,  and something  needs to be done about the 'system' before northern riders are too scared to come down...and some of them are by no means perfect either.

CWJ commented to me that the kids need to drop their irons a few holes and shove their feet right home for starters.

...and my opinion,  for what it's worth,  is that the long-rein,  soft hand style which is lovely to watch and is perfectly fine on a roomier track and where the pace is consistent ,  is totally inappropriate for these tight circuits.    

The old-fashioned style of the riders of a few years ago, with the horses held firmly on a shorter rein and feet 'home'  in the irons, was safer and suitable for the conditions....considering that most of the apps around are from Mauritius or Asia, not surprising that things are a bit messy.

A few years ago,  Lisa Cropp - in the peak of her career - was brought down to ride at Hoki for promotional purposes.  She had perfected the riding-on-the-buckle technique to such a degree that it became her trademark style - but again,  not suitable for the tight corners.

She had one ride,  packed herself up and left.

 

That was at Kumara the year they ran 2 meetings