cambridge

[the galah]

i was just having a read of the other channell and i see chris wood has commented cambridge has been placed under statutory management.

given hes from there,i suppose he would know. 

but how come its not been announced anywhere.

statutory management is only done when the finances are really bad or aren't being managed properly. 

so,will we hear more soon. 

[Brodie]

6 hours ago, the galah said:

i was just having a read of the other channell and i see chris wood has commented cambridge has been placed under statutory management.

given hes from there,i suppose he would know. 

but how come its not been announced anywhere.

statutory management is only done when the finances are really bad or aren't being managed properly. 

so,will we hear more soon. 

Chris Wood is a galloping trainer but you are right he is from Cambridge.

It can not be true surely, as Brad Steele advised us all that things were all positive?

Most of the TAB tote pools tonight were shockingly small but that isnt any worry as turnover is increasing apparently?

[the galah]

2 hours ago, Brodie said:

Chris Wood is a galloping trainer but you are right he is from Cambridge.

It can not be true surely, as Brad Steele advised us all that things were all positive?

Most of the TAB tote pools tonight were shockingly small but that isnt any worry as turnover is increasing apparently?

its just what he said on another channel.

barry lichter wrote an aricle about the club in november 2023.

i just had a look agian. he reported in 2023 they has an operating deficit of $733,138,but hey,after depreciation was factored in they only lost $491,970.Chump change really.

He reported  that year HRNZ had given them a loan of  $740,000 and members chipped in $220,000,to keep the club operating.

but the good news was,they were going to raise a few million from the sale of 34 sections.

but they couldn't sell the sections until they built a new stable block. I guess that meant the current stables were on the land being sold.

so that was 2023. I can't find anything about 2024 and whether their optimism came to fruition,which seems a bit odd.

 

But lets look at the positives.since 2023.

Their flagship,the Race,which  drained their coffers in 2023,instead drained hrnz coffers in 2024,with Hrnz contributing $150,000 to that one slot race...  what a relief,it would have been embarrasing to think cambridge were forced to run a slot race thatdidn't cripple them financially. after all,Those aussie millionaires need to have some spare cash to spend on their way home after they won our races.. 

and just up the road is auckland,and they're only a phone call away with some advice about how to get out of debt.ah hang on,they may not be the best people to take advice from.No instead they should ring hrnz,they tell us everything is rosey,so they must be doing a great job,so get their advice.

Oh,and lets never forget this factor in their favour. This is very important. You here it parroted by all the time.Hamilton,just 20 minutes down the road,have the fourth largest popualtion in nz. I mean ,just look at how well auckland is doing and of course theres cities like wellington,dunedin,tauranga,whcih like hamilton ,all with population numbers in the top 6 cities in nz .Its going great for them Hang on,all those cities closed down harness racing. How did hrnz let that happen with all those people there?.No wrong example,lets think. Ah auckland,thats the one,its doing great as it has a huge population.Thank goodness for the large popualtion base.

Oh and cambridge,forever the optimists(maybe thats a north island thing),said in 2023 they were budgeting on turning around that bad year,seemingly by a million dollars in 2024,as they were budgeting on a $218,000 profit.

Having read that,i'm going to give them a ring and get the contact details of their numbers man,as i could do with a turnaround in my finances like that.

Oh,and cambridge not only had a quick whip around that year amongst hrnz and its members,it also passed the hat to the tab who chipped in $793,000 from a rejuvination fund they dish money out from.Miserly bugga's as the tab had $15 million set aside to dish out to clubs.Seems cambridge were going to spend that wisely,with $393,000 planned to spent on a new in field indicator board. I'm sure the people in the packed stands will appreciate that.

Oh,and heres another reason they stated,was going to change for the better in 2023. Seems they lost income form the greyhounds not being run for 5 months of 2023. Thank goodness they have that income to fall back on in years to come. Whats that,they don't,scrub that.

oh dear,i need to stop now.My sarcasm is even becoming too much for myself. Its just there is so much material to pick from.

Anyways,i think the picture that i have painted,whcih i drew based on barry lichters article of 18 months ago,indicates ,well what chris wood has said on the other channel may in fact be true. His comments were,and about time.

but then again,who really knows. mr steele has assured us all is going just fine and everything is fine and dandy.

Edited yesterday at 12:08 PM by the galah

[Rangatira]

10 hours ago, the galah said:

but how come its not been announced anywhere.

given they were relying on the cat being securely in the bag they are probably now looking for someone to formulate a press release and now the weekend is upon us

[Brodie]

10 hours ago, the galah said:

its just what he said on another channel.

barry lichter wrote an aricle about the club in november 2023.

i just had a look agian. he reported in 2023 they has an operating deficit of $733,138,but hey,after depreciation was factored in they only lost $491,970.Chump change really.

He reported  that year HRNZ had given them a loan of  $740,000 and members chipped in $220,000,to keep the club operating.

but the good news was,they were going to raise a few million from the sale of 34 sections.

but they couldn't sell the sections until they built a new stable block. I guess that meant the current stables were on the land being sold.

so that was 2023. I can't find anything about 2024 and whether their optimism came to fruition,which seems a bit odd.

 

But lets look at the positives.since 2023.

Their flagship,the Race,which  drained their coffers in 2023,instead drained hrnz coffers in 2024,with Hrnz contributing $150,000 to that one slot race...  what a relief,it would have been embarrasing to think cambridge were forced to run a slot race thatdidn't cripple them financially. after all,Those aussie millionaires need to have some spare cash to spend on their way home after they won our races.. 

and just up the road is auckland,and they're only a phone call away with some advice about how to get out of debt.ah hang on,they may not be the best people to take advice from.No instead they should ring hrnz,they tell us everything is rosey,so they must be doing a great job,so get their advice.

Oh,and lets never forget this factor in their favour. This is very important. You here it parroted by all the time.Hamilton,just 20 minutes down the road,have the fourth largest popualtion in nz. I mean ,just look at how well auckland is doing and of course theres cities like wellington,dunedin,tauranga,whcih like hamilton ,all with population numbers in the top 6 cities in nz .Its going great for them Hang on,all those cities closed down harness racing. How did hrnz let that happen with all those people there?.No wrong example,lets think. Ah auckland,thats the one,its doing great as it has a huge population.Thank goodness for the large popualtion base.

Oh and cambridge,forever the optimists(maybe thats a north island thing),said in 2023 they were budgeting on turning around that bad year,seemingly by a million dollars in 2024,as they were budgeting on a $218,000 profit.

Having read that,i'm going to give them a ring and get the contact details of their numbers man,as i could do with a turnaround in my finances like that.

Oh,and cambridge not only had a quick whip around that year amongst hrnz and its members,it also passed the hat to the tab who chipped in $793,000 from a rejuvination fund they dish money out from.Miserly bugga's as the tab had $15 million set aside to dish out to clubs.Seems cambridge were going to spend that wisely,with $393,000 planned to spent on a new in field indicator board. I'm sure the people in the packed stands will appreciate that.

Oh,and heres another reason they stated,was going to change for the better in 2023. Seems they lost income form the greyhounds not being run for 5 months of 2023. Thank goodness they have that income to fall back on in years to come. Whats that,they don't,scrub that.

oh dear,i need to stop now.My sarcasm is even becoming too much for myself. Its just there is so much material to pick from.

Anyways,i think the picture that i have painted,whcih i drew based on barry lichters article of 18 months ago,indicates ,well what chris wood has said on the other channel may in fact be true. His comments were,and about time.

but then again,who really knows. mr steele has assured us all is going just fine and everything is fine and dandy.

Very negative Galah, but appears to be accurate unless David Branch can come out and state that what  you are saying is totally false?

I believe that we appear to have the wrong people making the decisions and to protect their careers, try to paint this rosey position!

We need people who actually do care for the future of racing rather than there to collect a big salary.

We apparently should all be very positive about the future but this is what is  continuing to downgrade our once great harness industry.

It is long overdue for those making these decisions to actually perform or walk and to tell us the truth if where we are at!

So many poor business decisions have been made.

 

 

[Gammalite]

11 hours ago, the galah said:

its just what he said on another channel.

barry lichter wrote an aricle about the club in november 2023.

i just had a look agian. he reported in 2023 they has an operating deficit of $733,138,but hey,after depreciation was factored in they only lost $491,970.Chump change really.

He reported  that year HRNZ had given them a loan of  $740,000 and members chipped in $220,000,to keep the club operating.

but the good news was,they were going to raise a few million from the sale of 34 sections.

but they couldn't sell the sections until they built a new stable block. I guess that meant the current stables were on the land being sold.

so that was 2023. I can't find anything about 2024 and whether their optimism came to fruition,which seems a bit odd.

 

But lets look at the positives.since 2023.

Their flagship,the Race,which  drained their coffers in 2023,instead drained hrnz coffers in 2024,with Hrnz contributing $150,000 to that one slot race...  what a relief,it would have been embarrasing to think cambridge were forced to run a slot race thatdidn't cripple them financially. after all,Those aussie millionaires need to have some spare cash to spend on their way home after they won our races.. 

and just up the road is auckland,and they're only a phone call away with some advice about how to get out of debt.ah hang on,they may not be the best people to take advice from.No instead they should ring hrnz,they tell us everything is rosey,so they must be doing a great job,so get their advice.

Oh,and lets never forget this factor in their favour. This is very important. You here it parroted by all the time.Hamilton,just 20 minutes down the road,have the fourth largest popualtion in nz. I mean ,just look at how well auckland is doing and of course theres cities like wellington,dunedin,tauranga,whcih like hamilton ,all with population numbers in the top 6 cities in nz .Its going great for them Hang on,all those cities closed down harness racing. How did hrnz let that happen with all those people there?.No wrong example,lets think. Ah auckland,thats the one,its doing great as it has a huge population.Thank goodness for the large popualtion base.

Oh and cambridge,forever the optimists(maybe thats a north island thing),said in 2023 they were budgeting on turning around that bad year,seemingly by a million dollars in 2024,as they were budgeting on a $218,000 profit.

Having read that,i'm going to give them a ring and get the contact details of their numbers man,as i could do with a turnaround in my finances like that.

Oh,and cambridge not only had a quick whip around that year amongst hrnz and its members,it also passed the hat to the tab who chipped in $793,000 from a rejuvination fund they dish money out from.Miserly bugga's as the tab had $15 million set aside to dish out to clubs.Seems cambridge were going to spend that wisely,with $393,000 planned to spent on a new in field indicator board. I'm sure the people in the packed stands will appreciate that.

Oh,and heres another reason they stated,was going to change for the better in 2023. Seems they lost income form the greyhounds not being run for 5 months of 2023. Thank goodness they have that income to fall back on in years to come. Whats that,they don't,scrub that.

oh dear,i need to stop now.My sarcasm is even becoming too much for myself. Its just there is so much material to pick from.

Anyways,i think the picture that i have painted,whcih i drew based on barry lichters article of 18 months ago,indicates ,well what chris wood has said on the other channel may in fact be true. His comments were,and about time.

but then again,who really knows. mr steele has assured us all is going just fine and everything is fine and dandy.

My goodness . you're getting more like the Brodster every day. you can decide if that's a smart thing or an aging thing .Chief seems grumpy ALL the time lately too. 😂 cold weather NZ ?

you have Moved from Auckland to Cambridge now to give them a hammering 😁

Betcha race and TAB trot are excellent and I enjoy them , and they pull a crowd for that event . and the Participants PAY a HUUGE chunk of the modern sized (deserved) Prizemoney on offer to the Best horses. so quite good 😉

My question is What the Hell happened to Hutt Park ? What happened to Forbury Park ? Wellington and Dunedin have large populations and were unable  the clubs were unable to keep trading , long before ALL the perceived 'Ailments' you and Brodie come out with all the time in recent times,  blaming the Tab, HRNZ, CEO aussies and others that seem to be the ones that actually keep the Sport going IMO lol 😎 

so seems to me with places like New Plymouth Paceway 'gone as well into Oblivion'  for example, that I really enjoyed racing at . all your ailments have been Happening for A LOT longer than what you guys make Out. JMHO

[Brodie]

2 hours ago, Gammalite said:

My goodness . you're getting more like the Brodster every day. you can decide if that's a smart thing or an aging thing .Chief seems grumpy ALL the time lately too. 😂 cold weather NZ ?

you have Moved from Auckland to Cambridge now to give them a hammering 😁

Betcha race and TAB trot are excellent and I enjoy them , and they pull a crowd for that event . and the Participants PAY a HUUGE chunk of the modern sized (deserved) Prizemoney on offer to the Best horses. so quite good 😉

My question is What the Hell happened to Hutt Park ? What happened to Forbury Park ? Wellington and Dunedin have large populations and were unable  the clubs were unable to keep trading , long before ALL the perceived 'Ailments' you and Brodie come out with all the time in recent times,  blaming the Tab, HRNZ, CEO aussies and others that seem to be the ones that actually keep the Sport going IMO lol 😎 

so seems to me with places like New Plymouth Paceway 'gone as well into Oblivion'  for example, that I really enjoyed racing at . all your ailments have been Happening for A LOT longer than what you guys make Out. JMHO

Gamma, no point burying our heads in the sand and believing that all is rosey with the future of harness racing in NZ!

We are going to be in dire straights in under 3 years if not sooner unless we see the TAB and HRNZ wake up to what is currently happening!

as we repeat, you just can not be running things the way they are and expect it to be financially successful!

The money is great for owners and trainers at the moment but that is only due to the money being gifted by Entain, and we all know that is going go stop!

Personally believe that the industry is not being managed well and that is clearly proven by Winnie needing this committee to be formed.

Is Cambridge financially stuffed like Auckland is?

I would say yes and yet HRNZ are very quiet on the topic.

Anyway those from the sideline have no control over what is happening at the moment but it is our prerogative to question what is going on, despite what is coming out from HRNZ.

At the end of the day, hopefully HRNZ is telling the truth about everything being positive for the industry, but wouldnt be betting into that one!

Interesting times!

 

 

 

Edited 17 hours ago by Brodie

[the galah]

3 hours ago, Gammalite said:

My goodness . you're getting more like the Brodster every day. you can decide if that's a smart thing or an aging thing .

i'll run with the "smart thing". i haven't started saying,always on the money like brodie, just yet,but i'm tempted.

3 hours ago, Gammalite said:

you have Moved from Auckland to Cambridge now to give them a hammering 😁

 

i like to spread my positive thoughts around.

3 hours ago, Gammalite said:

 

My question is What the Hell happened to Hutt Park ? What happened to Forbury Park ? Wellington and Dunedin have large populations and were unable  the clubs were unable to keep trading , long before ALL the perceived 'Ailments' you and Brodie come out with all the time in recent times,  blaming the Tab, HRNZ, CEO aussies and others that seem to be the ones that actually keep the Sport going IMO lol 😎 

so seems to me with places like New Plymouth Paceway 'gone as well into Oblivion'  for example, that I really enjoyed racing at . all your ailments have been Happening for A LOT longer than what you guys make Out. JMHO

yes the industry has been shrinking for some time,like a lot of other sports.

hutt park,forbury,new plymouth all had the same financial issues back in the day ,due to similar reasons,the most important being mainly given poor racing dates but also reducing horse numbers locally.

So that crippled them financially and because they had to rely on their own finances to pay appropraite stakes,they couldn't carry on.

So,as i understand it, there is a difference in how things work these days.

The clubs for the last few years,now get bulk funded

So clubs who would never be able to keep going,under the old system,like cambridge and auckland currently,,now can because hrnz props them up with the way they fund them.

In other words,clubs like cambridge and auckland can keep on losing millions as long as hrnz continue to keep them going.

Hrnz  chose to let forbury close,even when they managed to survive to the bulk funding era,as hrnz wanted to get their hands on money and they saw forbury as a way of getting that due to forbury owning their own land not far from the middle of dunedin..

and of course,lets face it,hrnz did the right thing closing forbury, as it wasn't financial enough to keep going,even though it was asset rich its day to day cash flow wasn't enough.

But of course,within a couple of years of forbury closing,we have hrnz leadership telling us the thinking that sawm forbury close does not apply to cambridge or auckland.

And of course that means currently the profitable clubs are cross subsidizing the non profitable clubs. In other words the profitable clubs are being told,you must keep your stakes down as we are going to take the extra money you generate and give it to clubs like auckland and cambridge so they can keep their stakes up.

the one thing which to me is as clear as day,but seemingly only a small majority can see it,is population size of cities has absolutely no impact on whether harness racing is viable or not in those areas.

In fact,i have argued previously that the decline in harness racing is to a large degree related to increasing population and have gone into the reasons why that is.History shows what i say.

 I personally think anyone who argues auckland should keep going at alexandra park based on aucklands population,well i think thats very stupid thinking on that matter.i have noticed its only aucland people who think like that. And hey,i can understand them clinging to any reason,no matter how irrelevant it is,to help keep racing in that province. But i think there is no reason for the mugs  in charge and the media ,who parrot the same silly thinking.If they can't see its not a relevant factor,then should they be in charrge?

Edited 15 hours ago by the galah

[Rangatira]

3 hours ago, Gammalite said:

Betcha race and TAB trot are excellent and I enjoy them , and they pull a crowd for that event .

Some of that crowd "went overboard" (New York Motoring x Zenover) in 2024 and indirectly cost the club 50K

[Gammalite]

1 hour ago, the galah said:

the one thing which to me is as clear as day,but seemingly only a small majority can see it,is population size of cities has absolutely no impact on whether harness racing is viable or not in those areas.

Great tracks like Harold Park , right in Sydney closed 2010 after decades of fine tradition (50,000 went along to see NZer Caduceus win the Interdominion. and so NSW Metro shifted to the Bush and Menangle with the 200 person crowd. People don't need to go on-course these days. All of us at the forum 'Do it from home' lol.😂😉

Vic trotting got chucked 40 kms out of town from Moonee Valley to Melton. They are currently trying to get back in to there as they are going broke, just like NZ harness. no one betting on them much. 

So  you are right the Population is irrelevant.

People don't bet on these things much now. The cost of living has greater priorities. Mortgages and rent are really expensive these days. 🙄. only the fairly wealthy bothering to race a horse these days.

so Really if ATC sell Alexandra Park , and develope Franklin with the excess , and have it like Menangle or something, crowd and population figures don't matter.  Those attending these meetings are friends and family of horses racing like unhinged Nigel and that. No Big time punters. they're at the gallops. 😆 or using their computer at home. so look after the participants, like they do in NSW and VIC. don't shut the buggers down. Help them out . 

The ATC already own that asset at Franklin Pukekohe,  so selling it will NOT achieve the best outcome,  as it won't cover the entire debt.  plus a lot of trainers and horses lose their home.

Game OVER as they say .

[Brodie]

1 hour ago, Gammalite said:

Great tracks like Harold Park , right in Sydney closed 2010 after decades of fine tradition (50,000 went along to see NZer Caduceus win the Interdominion. and so NSW Metro shifted to the Bush and Menangle with the 200 person crowd. People don't need to go on-course these days. All of us at the forum 'Do it from home' lol.😂😉

Vic trotting got chucked 40 kms out of town from Moonee Valley to Melton. They are currently trying to get back in to there as they are going broke, just like NZ harness. no one betting on them much. 

So  you are right the Population is irrelevant.

People don't bet on these things much now. The cost of living has greater priorities. Mortgages and rent are really expensive these days. 🙄. only the fairly wealthy bothering to race a horse these days.

so Really if ATC sell Alexandra Park , and develope Franklin with the excess , and have it like Menangle or something, crowd and population figures don't matter.  Those attending these meetings are friends and family of horses racing like unhinged Nigel and that. No Big time punters. they're at the gallops. 😆 or using their computer at home. so look after the participants, like they do in NSW and VIC. don't shut the buggers down. Help them out . 

The ATC already own that asset at Franklin Pukekohe,  so selling it will NOT achieve the best outcome,  as it won't cover the entire debt.  plus a lot of trainers and horses lose their home.

Game OVER as they say .

Gamma, you say no big time punters?

There are still some that want to wager larger amounts, but the TAB say NO!!!

They have driven many people away from racing snd attending on course.

Very few punters are going to meetings in Canterbury nowadays as there is not much at all to attract them!

You can not get decent amounts on due to the AML limit of $1k that the NZ TAB has adopted, even though they are actually breaking the law by adopting this amount, and they know it!

At the end of the day, if they think their policies are the correct ones then we will just have to wait and see!

personally believe that there is going to be more personnel changes coming through after the Committee discusses what is going on!

 

 

[Rangatira]

7 minutes ago, Brodie said:

At the end of the day, if they think their policies are the correct ones then we will just have to wait and see!

I am not aware of anyone issuing a legal challenge to them.

[the galah]

2 hours ago, Gammalite said:

Great tracks like Harold Park , right in Sydney closed 2010 after decades of fine tradition (50,000 went along to see NZer Caduceus win the Interdominion. and so NSW Metro shifted to the Bush and Menangle with the 200 person crowd. People don't need to go on-course these days. All of us at the forum 'Do it from home' lol.😂😉

Vic trotting got chucked 40 kms out of town from Moonee Valley to Melton. They are currently trying to get back in to there as they are going broke, just like NZ harness. no one betting on them much. 

So  you are right the Population is irrelevant.

People don't bet on these things much now. The cost of living has greater priorities. Mortgages and rent are really expensive these days. 🙄. only the fairly wealthy bothering to race a horse these days.

so Really if ATC sell Alexandra Park , and develope Franklin with the excess , and have it like Menangle or something, crowd and population figures don't matter.  Those attending these meetings are friends and family of horses racing like unhinged Nigel and that. No Big time punters. they're at the gallops. 😆 or using their computer at home. so look after the participants, like they do in NSW and VIC. don't shut the buggers down. Help them out . 

The ATC already own that asset at Franklin Pukekohe,  so selling it will NOT achieve the best outcome,  as it won't cover the entire debt.  plus a lot of trainers and horses lose their home.

Game OVER as they say .

harold park must have been a great viewing venue in its time ,with the crowd being so close to the action.

i actually thought forbury(dunedin) was the best track to view harness racing, in nz.

their main grandstand was only abou 30m from the track and was positioned about 100m from the finish and with it being only a 1000m track it was great.

i remember near the end there,jumping over the taped off areas in the stand as it was deemed unsafe,and watching the races,but often you had someone from the club come along and tell you,you can't sit there. seemed ok to me.strangely the toilets in that grandstand were considered ok to use but not the other parts of that grandstand.  And of course if you took your car there you got to park in front of that stand ,only about 20m from the action in a great viewing spot. My parents used to enjoy going there because of that.

personally i thought it sad that hrnz didn't give forbury better dates so they at least had a fighting chance financially.They used to have good food,but that went to the pack in the end as well.

hutt park,(wellington)i  think they gave up their long term lease or something like that in return for the local council wiping their rates debt about 20 years before they were shut down.. I remember mr mckenzie paid for a new grandstand after that,but then the council decided they didn't want the harness people there and without a lease agreement,harness had no come back.

actually the grandstand there was also in an ideal position for the public to view from.The only problem was the new grandstand was glassed in quite a lot,especially on the sides,so if it rained then you struggled a bit to see the horses as the glass was covered in rain and the lights being on the rain made it hard to see .

Acrtually the lack of a well positioned grandstand is the main reason we never go to the races these days. i don't like sitting at or past the winning post and virtually all the tracks have their grandstands there  these days. The well positioned grandstands have all gone from tracks all over nz. banks peninsula grandstand is ok,but its still such a big track that your a long way from the horses and the drivers and being close to the action.Southland have a couple of better positioned grandstands,but their tracks are inside galloping tracks so they too lack atmosphere and are also too far from the action unless you have binoculars.

Edited 12 hours ago by the galah

[Chief Stipe]

52 minutes ago, the galah said:

i actually thought forbury(dunedin) was the best track to view harness racing, in nz.

their main grandstand was only abou 30m from the track and was positioned about 100m from the finish and with it being only a 1000m track it was great.

You obviously have never been to a meeting at the mighty Victoria Park Raceway in Greymouth.

[Rangatira]

30 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said:

You obviously have never been to a meeting at the mighty Victoria Park Raceway in Greymouth. 

Claudelands pretty cosy too.

[the galah]

29 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said:

You obviously have never been to a meeting at the mighty Victoria Park Raceway in Greymouth.

no yuo r right about that. that looks a top track to view races from as well.

i did once stable a horse overnight at victoria park, after it was shut down,but quite a few years ago now..

i remember pulling into the car park and saying to the wife,we had better be careful and park in a spot that we can get out of,because itlooked like it had rained.. Well the only other horse floats we spotted were about 4 others,next to each other and backed up beside them. But ,blow me down,it turned out that area was too wet to get out of. So,being unsure what to do,we decided maybe the cheapest thing to do was to call a taxi and ask him to tow us out if they had an appropriate vehicle.Taxi turned up,towed us out and i gave him a $20 tip on top of what i said i would pay him. But he then gave the $20 tip back and said,no worries you don't need to do that and left.Mayber he thought we needed the money more than he did.

actually i have a cousin whos an accountant whose lived in greymouth for decades.He told me a few years ago how the land where the track was,had become overrun with weeds and the whole area was a bit of an eyesore..Weren't the maoris given the lease by the crown (as some sort of more recent treaty settlement),then when everyones lease in the area came up for the 100 year renewal of the lease, the maoris rasied the amounts all the people with houses in that area and the trotting club,to levels that people and the trotting club couldn't afford. In effect the maoris kicked everyone off  and then just did nothing with it and it just became overgrown. Many locals were very upset about how they were treated. but that was the end of night trots.

thats my memory of what happened to greymouth night trots,but hey,thatw as a conversation i had about 10 years ago so may  be wrong about some details, so you being from there may be able to clarify some aspects if i got bits wrong.