Guerin Report - Matt Ballesty

[hesi]

Update on Avondale, Waikato Greenfields, Hastings, Awapuni and Trentham

 

[Chief Stipe]

Well as some of us with eyes wide open have been saying for some time the Champagne Turf is more like a flat bottle of Lion Red opened a week ago.

[Freda]

Sad but true. 

[curious]

1 hour ago, Chief Stipe said:

Well as some of us with eyes wide open have been saying for some time the Champagne Turf is more like a flat bottle of Lion Red opened a week ago.

That's true, though the track itself isn't too bad imo.

[Huey]

Guerin is such a patsy, it's that simple clubs just up & sell for the betterment of the industry.  

 

[curious]

6 minutes ago, Huey said:

Guerin is such a patsy, it's that simple clubs just up & sell for the betterment of the industry.  

 

Couldn't agree more. He tells Ballesty what he wants to hear and gets that. No hard questions from the other side of the argument or exploring the detail of what Ballesty raised. Not really a lot of use to anybody, least of all the industry as a whole.

Edited Monday at 11:40 PM by curious

[Huey]

Foal crop will never recover, once they starting chopping the provincial clubs at the knees it was the beginning of the end. I know so many people who like myself will likely never breed another.

[Chief Stipe]

10 hours ago, curious said:

That's true, though the track itself isn't too bad imo.

Really?  Based on what?  The rock hard shute?  The inconsistent irrigation?  Variable footing all round.

[curious]

7 hours ago, Chief Stipe said:

Really?  Based on what?  The rock hard shute?  The inconsistent irrigation?  Variable footing all round.

Don't you think those issues could at least be mitigated with a new contemporary irrigation system (though let's see if they've managed to get that right at Riccarton or not), and an appropriate aeration and renovation programme?

[Chief Stipe]

55 minutes ago, curious said:

Don't you think those issues could at least be mitigated with a new contemporary irrigation system (though let's see if they've managed to get that right at Riccarton or not), and an appropriate aeration and renovation programme?

They don't even have enough money to fix the electronic timing.  No doubt the soil structure is stuffed as well.

[curious]

42 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said:

They don't even have enough money to fix the electronic timing.  No doubt the soil structure is stuffed as well.

Yet they have the money to keep the now G2 Thorndon Mile stake at $500,000!

[Chief Stipe]

3 hours ago, curious said:

Yet they have the money to keep the now G2 Thorndon Mile stake at $500,000!

How much did the Club contribute to that?

[Newmarket]

Mick just sucks up to the bigwigs…..i wish he would not comment, his head is so far up his arse its amazing he can breathe…

[Chief Stipe]

40 minutes ago, Newmarket said:

Mick just sucks up to the bigwigs…..i wish he would not comment, his head is so far up his arse its amazing he can breathe…

That is a well thought out comment by you @Newmarket.  Perhaps by your standards you should apply for his job.

[curious]

5 hours ago, Chief Stipe said:

How much did the Club contribute to that?

10k

[Chief Stipe]

1 hour ago, curious said:

10k

Well $10k wouldn't fix the public toilets let alone the electronic race timing.  Trentham was doomed they stopped being a training centre.

[curious]

1 hour ago, Chief Stipe said:

Well $10k wouldn't fix the public toilets let alone the electronic race timing.  Trentham was doomed they stopped being a training centre.

But NZTR found 90k to enhance the usual G! 400k for that race. Wouldn't that be better spent on the toilets and possibly the timing system? I  fail to see why they continue to throw money at stakes at the expense of infrastructure. There is simply no case for it.

The only viable training centre in the country might be Cambridge? The rest all lose money from that.

Edited 2 hours ago by curious

[Chief Stipe]

14 minutes ago, curious said:

The only viable training centre in the country might be Cambridge? The rest all lose money from that.

You miss the point.

[Chief Stipe]

@curious does Foxton or Rangiora still have Electronic timing?