Out The Gate 🫤

[Newmarket]

Oh dear…..

Thats been a painful watch tonight…. I had to mute. Think BP was a little embarrassed by it all, other 2 seemed at home in the goon show. 

[Newmarket]

Anyone watching this tonight…. would love to hear others views….

[the galah]

i watched it at times.

i quite like it as its entertaining enough. Once a week about right.

the unfortunate thing is these blokes are backing at cambridge meetings and they are sometimes betting on favorites who settle at the back. 

its a shame cambridge is such a front running,advantageous track to be on the inside in the first 2.it lowers the appeal of the racing.But it is ,and combine that with north island drivers who don't show much positive initaitive even at the best of times,in the lower stakes races nad you get--- boring,do you think that driver was even trying,a lot of the time.

Last night they had some $20,000 races and you got some movement but the week before,on the normal $8000 stake races, the only driver to move up all night was an imported south island driver,s ottley. 

so what i'm saying is the presenters may be entertaining enough,but the racing product is not very entertaining.

actually i did like the wee fella with the glasses the first week as a couple of times he said,well that driver left it  too late to make a move. It was very obvious what he was saying was correct,anybody could have seen that. But  the fella poppewell beside him quickly tried to move him on from stating the blatantly obvious ,as if poppewell didn't want to come across as a sore loser. I thought that was a shame,because whats wrong with stating an opinion,which anyone could see was true.

It reminds me of when jason teaz was commentator. He always used to make comments about drivers tactics and whether they were good or bad. Thats why i always thought he was one of  the best. he would be far better than aaron white as the north island commentator. Aaron white is a good commentator but he doesn't say things about tacticss which accurately describe what punters can see on their tv screens.. Punters like it when a commentator makes comments about tactics as the race unfolds.

anyways,i don't mind the thursday night crew,just the cambridge racingproduct needs better drivers with more intent and that aint going to happen.

Edited Thursday at 10:56 PM by the galah

[Rangatira]

7 hours ago, the galah said:

Aaron white is a good commentator but he doesn't say things about tacticss which accurately describe what punters can see on their tv screens..

Gets more lawn bowlers in his box than other commentators.

[the galah]

On 29/08/2025 at 6:40 PM, Rangatira said:

Gets more lawn bowlers in his box than other commentators.

did you see about an hour after you posted, they had on trackside aaron white and 2 bowlers,one gary lawson, in the commentary box. Looked a bit like a golden oldies front row. 

actually i don't mind a white giving his bowling mates a plug  leading into races.

The reason i say that is,mr white is linking in his own subtle way,the sport of outdoor bowls and the sport of harness racing.And there are definite links which the racing industry these days does nothing to foster. A white probably the only one that seems to be at least trying. 

you may say,so what.

well i will explain why i thinks its relevant. 

firstly ,it takes me back to the days when one of the 3 clubs at addington(before they amalgamated into 1) recognised the link between harness racing and certain sports and to foster that relationship, they dedicated race nights to each sport.It may have been the canterbury park trotting club,although i stand to be corrected.In my mind i seem to associate those type of nights with names like brian hastings,who was a president of the club and who had been a well known nz cricketer.

The club had a bowls night,where they would have selected members of each club take part in a roll up/sudden death /next to kitty in the birdcage.It used to have a grass bit back then. 

the golf night they would have the same concept with the promotion being chipping  closest to the pin.

the rugby night they would have the fastet men from all the rugby clubs have a 200m sprint down the hme straight.

The same with the rugby league clubs.

they had a cricket night.

i can tell you from having been to many of those meetings,it really gave the race nights a boost in attendance and in sense of occasion and entertainment.You would remember them as well i think ranga.

thats why people say,those were the days.

It wasn't just the racing,it was the people you met on course,it was the administrators who fostered relationships with the whole community in a way that linked everyone.

i've said it before and now say it again. 

for racing to prosper,you have to get racing into the psyche of new zealanders,to get them to subconciously view and accept racing as part of the fabric of their community.

and you do that through subliminal messages via visual exposure of the sport.

anyway,back to the link between bowls that started my post.

i will quote the figures from a nz bowls study from 10 yearsago.I'm sure the figures i quote would still be relevant today.

 

85% of people who play outdoor bowls do so for enjoyment and they value the socail aspects of the sport.Fitness and sport performance were the next 2 main reason.but the social side was just under 4 times more important to most.

playing in teams,groups of friends and for clubs is very significant part of bowls.

lawn bowls is played outdoors at facilities based around man made club rooms.

52% of out door bowlers played 1-2 times a week and another 31% played 1-2 times a month.

64% walk eegularly,32% fish,31%play golf and 31%swim.

84% first started when over 35.

79% are european

67% are 55 and over.

67% are male.

 

.........the similarities between bowls and harness racing is there for anyone to see.

now i can give you my own anecdotal experience i've observed with bowlers. i also have  observed the same with golfers.

they like to gamble.

so my point is,if the people at hrnz reallyn wanted to spend there money promoting ownership through syndication,they need to be directing some of their attention to bowling and golfing clubs as these are the sports which have participants who fit the profile of who is likely to become interested or involved in a small way in the sport.

these bowling and golfing clubs are fertile ground for planting the seeds for future participation.

hrnz should have some in each of the populated areas specifically designed to promote and liase with this clubs and even have a policy which they can formulate ,which is mutually benefical to both sorts national organisation.

its not just harness racing that could benefit fom the relationship,it could  work both ways as the sports could boost their numbers by fostering participation from harness people.

anyway,its a sunday,so thats my sermon for the week.

Edited 16 hours ago by the galah

[Rangatira]

2 hours ago, the galah said:

did you see about an hour after you posted, they had on trackside aaron white and 2 bowlers,one gary lawson, in the commentary box.

wish I could predict race outcomes as well

[mikeynz]

On 8/21/2025 at 8:48 PM, Newmarket said:

Oh dear…..

Thats been a painful watch tonight…. I had to mute. Think BP was a little embarrassed by it all, other 2 seemed at home in the goon show. 

Havnt watched it, bar 5 minutes when flicking chanels, do they start of with a Betting pool and punt away until it's all gone ?

[Newmarket]

2 hours ago, mikeynz said:

Havnt watched it, bar 5 minutes when flicking chanels, do they start of with a Betting pool and punt away until it's all gone ?

Sort of… TBH i only watched when i had to when race about to start…. think they got most of money back last thursday… a dog won🫣

Then they jump up and down hugging… too cringy for me

[mikeynz]

9 minutes ago, Newmarket said:

Sort of… TBH i only watched when i had to when race about to start…. think they got most of money back last thursday… a dog won🫣

Then they jump up and down hugging… too cringy for me

What I was thinking though is if the money they are punting isn't their own then they will naturally throw it around willy nilly, not like their own, and if the money is Betchas/TABs then all they are doing is giving on one hand, taking on the other so what is the point, might make sense if any winnings went to charity but as Entain are in this game to make money they would be so tight that in human terms they wouldn't give ya the steam off their shit.

[Spatchcock]

few old grouches in here afraid of change.

Newsflash: Thursday night harness turnover is garbage so next to no-one is watching/punting.

So why not try something different?

Pots both weeks have been over 10,000. One made 30% and the other took a minor loss (maybe 10%?).