Programming

[goldilocks]

Surely the running of the Harness 5000 at Ashburton  and Invercargill Cup day on the same weekend was the biggest blunder HRNZ has made.Tha available  horse pool was badly split between the 2 meetings.

 

 

[mikeynz]

33 minutes ago, goldilocks said:

Surely the running of the Harness 5000 at Ashburton  and Invercargill Cup day on the same weekend was the biggest blunder HRNZ has made.Tha available  horse pool was badly split between the 2 meetings.

 

 

I'm not alone in thinking that it seems, also Westport are slowly being squeezed out by some weird programming, Nelson ain't helped by Timaru 2 days earlier but also ain't helped by day 2 being mile racing, still no good complaining, the people in charge know what their doing, so they think.

Edited December 22, 2025 by mikeynz

[Brodie]

31 minutes ago, goldilocks said:

Surely the running of the Harness 5000 at Ashburton  and Invercargill Cup day on the same weekend was the biggest blunder HRNZ has made.Tha available  horse pool was badly split between the 2 meetings.

 

 

Definitely a programming blunder without doubt, but they have made much bigger ones!

When Entain was brought in by the TAB, signed off by McAnulty and Dean Shannon and Brad Steele brought in, many had a lot of optimism!

How wrong it has been proven, and things are not looking at all good, unless someone can come on and tell us that things are going good??????

 

[mikeynz]

My issue with Westport is they produce one of the biggest turnover of any Harness day yet the money they generate gets squandered elsewhere, bumping stakes for their main pacers race and readjusting Motukararas main race might help, just demoting their main races seems a simple cop out.

Interestingly Cambridge this week, the only meeting in the North are good fields numbers wise, I wonder if the penny will drop with the  hierarchy, Cambridge are heading the same way as Forbury, more and more poor meetings with poor fields, running half the days with better fields would make more sense.......Forbury once had  the best racing there, when they stopped and started running below average meetings  it just died a slow death, see how the interest returned in Rugby in Dunedin when they won the Shield and most of the NPC games as well, lesson is sell the public a good product, they will get on board.

[Shad]

4 hours ago, mikeynz said:

My issue with Westport is they produce one of the biggest turnover of any Harness day yet the money they generate gets squandered elsewhere, bumping stakes for their main pacers race and readjusting Motukararas main race might help, just demoting their main races seems a simple cop out.

Interestingly Cambridge this week, the only meeting in the North are good fields numbers wise, I wonder if the penny will drop with the  hierarchy, Cambridge are heading the same way as Forbury, more and more poor meetings with poor fields, running half the days with better fields would make more sense.......Forbury once had  the best racing there, when they stopped and started running below average meetings  it just died a slow death, see how the interest returned in Rugby in Dunedin when they won the Shield and most of the NPC games as well, lesson is sell the public a good product, they will get on board.

Yes turnover very high, be interesting this year poor fields, and weather forecast not looking great, hopefully it changes.

[mikeynz]

2 hours ago, Shad said:

Yes turnover very high, be interesting this year poor fields, and weather forecast not looking great, hopefully it changes.

This meeting is being demoted in some ways and more than likely it does affect the turnover, better fields better betting.

[Shad]

35 minutes ago, mikeynz said:

This meeting is being demoted in some ways and more than likely it does affect the turnover, better fields better betting.

Yeah bloody shame as always a popular meeting, looking through the fields be a struggle to find a winner, Ultimate Counsel tad unlucky last start, no champ but handy draw will help, old boy evidently pick something up over the circuit, let year the Mitchell's bought horses to Westport I think for the first time, I got on to Sinai Sermon, 25s Westport 40s Reefton, done the double, although was the March meeting, always seem to have a win at Reefton, Sinai now been exported to China, was a half brother to Lazarus.

[mikeynz]

Have said it before New Years eve is not the right date for the Auckland Cup, only 2 southerners  nominated, Omakau on Jan 2 is better for southerners, me thinks Auckland Cup should be in March leading up to the slots meeting, Auckland stuffed things up moving in the first place.

[mikeynz]

It looks like only 2 South Island trained horses at A Park on Wednesday, the Dunns, Telfers and House runners are all trained there, no doubt the increase in stakes is driving the numbers, it is a business so you do what's best for it so  Omakau don't have any impediments regarding numbers for their 2 free for alls, whether they get many that remains to be seen, sometimes they just ain't there at times for various reasons.

[mikeynz]

A rather strange quirck of the programing at Westport, day 1,  4 trots, day 2 just 3, 11 races, now 10 on day 2 which is good as opposed to many of the gallops but 2 small fields of non winners strange.

Also listening to zb sport review of the year, fuck that Scott Robertson waffles a lot of meaningless shit.

Edited December 27, 2025 by mikeynz

[Shad]

6 hours ago, mikeynz said:

A rather strange quirck of the programing at Westport, day 1,  4 trots, day 2 just 3, 11 races, now 10 on day 2 which is good as opposed to many of the gallops but 2 small fields of non winners strange.

Also listening to zb sport review of the year, fuck that Scott Robertson waffles a lot of meaningless shit.

A few more trots if ya cant find a winner, was heading that way myself, till samvasa got me out of a pickle.

[paleface adios]

On 12/22/2025 at 1:21 PM, Brodie said:

Definitely a programming blunder without doubt, but they have made much bigger ones!

When Entain was brought in by the TAB, signed off by McAnulty and Dean Shannon and Brad Steele brought in, many had a lot of optimism!

How wrong it has been proven, and things are not looking at all good, unless someone can come on and tell us that things are going good??????

 

Good fields today  Brodster  at the mot hope your on course  take advantage of the  good  cellphone  reception i see the mare of doyleston got live chance or 2 old biff

[Brodie]

15 minutes ago, paleface adios said:

Good fields today  Brodster  at the mot hope your on course  take advantage of the  good  cellphone  reception i see the mare of doyleston got live chance or 2 old biff

Yes good punting fields to make money today!

Reality is the TAB don’t want the bigger wagering punters!!

TAB wanting  to increase turnover is bollacks!

[mikeynz]

Being a work day for some, be interesting to compare turnover as opposed to last year a Sunday........the figures I read from last year's Taupo and Kurow gallops dropped notably when they lost a weekend day, just the way the days fall sometimes...........Westport did more than 1.4 mill on boxing day, will Auckland match it on Wednesday?

[mikeynz]

In 2020 Westport set the record for a grass track meeting, not far from getting to the 2mil, ii races but notably 13 ran in the Westport Cup, recently they have struggled for numbers in the main race  through bad programming and the turnover has dropped accordingly, HRNZ need to address this anomaly or has the horse already bolted?

Nelson next week will be affected by Timaru racing 2 days before them, I note Nelson objected in the draft calendar but HRNZ didn't take notice.......also Omakau objected to Auckland Cup returning to  new years eve, that was thrown out too, only one southern horse has ventured north this time, if HRNZ are keen to boost stakes then bulk up Westport, Omakau and Nelson's main races, Auckland new years eve, no issue with that but the Cup should be in march, and try and get co operation with Oz too, I thought Auckland Cup might be good in January but their is a circuit of racing in Oz leading to the Hunter Cup but in March, leads in nicely to the slots and you can attract ozzies over for while, mind you if they keep winning everything then maybe the locals might not want them at all lol.

[the galah]

1 hour ago, mikeynz said:

In 2020 Westport set the record for a grass track meeting, not far from getting to the 2mil, ii races but notably 13 ran in the Westport Cup, recently they have struggled for numbers in the main race  through bad programming and the turnover has dropped accordingly, HRNZ need to address this anomaly or has the horse already bolted?

Nelson next week will be affected by Timaru racing 2 days before them, I note Nelson objected in the draft calendar but HRNZ didn't take notice.......also Omakau objected to Auckland Cup returning to  new years eve, that was thrown out too, only one southern horse has ventured north this time, if HRNZ are keen to boost stakes then bulk up Westport, Omakau and Nelson's main races, Auckland new years eve, no issue with that but the Cup should be in march, and try and get co operation with Oz too, I thought Auckland Cup might be good in January but their is a circuit of racing in Oz leading to the Hunter Cup but in March, leads in nicely to the slots and you can attract ozzies over for while, mind you if they keep winning everything then maybe the locals might not want them at all lol.

blaming poor programming for westports small numbers seems misplaced to me.

Isn't it obvious,the reason you the bigger fields in canterbury and the numbers are dropping off in westport,is because people are just racing where they prefer to race.Thats the way programming should work. Provide races where the demand for them is.

then,isn't accomodation very hard to come by over the coast.Of course  theres other other factors as well.

so the small fields just reflect the supply and demand thing. 

as to saying nelson wasn't happy with timaru.

What were you wanting,another methven/kaikoura type thing where they don't hold a canterbury meeting so as to get more horses running at nelson.Suggesting that suggests you want owners options limited so as to encourage them to spend big bucks  travelling to race  where they don't want to race.That just makes no sense to me.

the mares races that hrnz have been promoting for nelson.big deal,so they may get another 1 or 2 starters in those races. What a waste of sdtakemoney that could have been distributed to more needy industry participants in canterbury racing who provided the horses that resulted in the big turnover at motukarara.Maybe nelson having a moan about the dates like you mentioned was why hrnz came up with the mares races thing. Thats the way hrnz seems to work.Through money at whoever it is having the latest moan to placate them.

 

Edited December 31, 2025 by the galah

[Taku Umanga]

1 hour ago, the galah said:

then,isn't accomodation very hard to come by over the coast

Accommodation over the Xmas period on the coast is a nightmare - I think most people rebook every year meaning for someone new to the circuit trying to secure something is very difficult

[Taku Umanga]

1 hour ago, the galah said:

blaming poor programming for westports small numbers seems misplaced to me.

Isn't it obvious,the reason you the bigger fields in canterbury and the numbers are dropping off in westport,is because people are just racing where they prefer to race.Thats the way programming should work. Provide races where the demand for them is.

then,isn't accomodation very hard to come by over the coast.Of course  theres other other factors as well.

so the small fields just reflect the supply and demand thing. 

as to saying nelson wasn't happy with timaru.

What were you wanting,another methven/kaikoura type thing where they don't hold a canterbury meeting so as to get more horses running at nelson.Suggesting that suggests you want owners options limited so as to encourage them to spend big bucks  travelling to race  where they don't want to race.That just makes no sense to me.

the mares races that hrnz have been promoting for nelson.big deal,so they may get another 1 or 2 starters in those races. What a waste of sdtakemoney that could have been distributed to more needy industry participants in canterbury racing who provided the horses that resulted in the big turnover at motukarara.Maybe nelson having a moan about the dates like you mentioned was why hrnz came up with the mares races thing. Thats the way hrnz seems to work.Through money at whoever it is having the latest moan to placate them.

 

Nelson programming mainly mile races on the second day is a turn off - long way to travel to race just the first day ... and like the coast, accommodation options at this time of year are scarce unless you rebooked the year before.

Edited December 31, 2025 by Taku Umanga

[Brodie]

13 hours ago, Taku Umanga said:

Nelson programming mainly mile races on the second day is a turn off - long way to travel to race just the first day ... and like the coast, accommodation options at this time of year are scarce unless you rebooked the year before.

Taku, you are correct, just an absolute turnoff is the mile racing!

Why on earth do they continue to run them?

Happy New Year to all!

[mikeynz]

1 hour ago, Brodie said:

Taku, you are correct, just an absolute turnoff is the mile racing!

Why on earth do they continue to run them?

Happy New Year to all!

I do think Nelson being once a year is silly racing miles, as for the accommodation one pointed out in regards Westport was it a problem pre covid when they would run 11 or 12 races and have 15 in the Cup, my beef with Westport Is  one, they have the biggest turnover and 2 the stakes in the main race is poor, if you bump up the stakes for the main race, which has been reduced from a rating 56 to a rating 46 that would make a difference, the reality is if the rating 56 has been replaced by a rating 46 due to lack of numbers dosnt that somehow suggest the ratings system as it is at present isn't right?

[the galah]

On 31/12/2025 at 7:03 PM, the galah said:

What were you wanting,another methven/kaikoura type thing where they don't hold a canterbury meeting so as to get more horses running at nelson.Suggesting that suggests you want owners options limited so as to encourage them to spend big bucks  travelling to race  where they don't want to race.That just makes no sense to me.

the mares races that hrnz have been promoting for nelson.big deal,so they may get another 1 or 2 starters in those races. What a waste of sdtakemoney that could have been distributed to more needy industry participants in canterbury racing who provided the horses that resulted in the big turnover at motukarara.Maybe nelson having a moan about the dates like you mentioned was why hrnz came up with the mares races thing. Thats the way hrnz seems to work.Through money at whoever it is having the latest moan to placate them.

 

so hrnz came up with yet another bright idea that in reality was just dumb..

Hrnz thought they would get  extra numbers racing at nelson to qualify for a $35,000 race  at addington. A race in which the extras they were hoping for,would have to race against much higher graded horses.

Only hrnz could possibly think that would work..

so they end up with  just starters in the $35,000 final on friday at addington.

pointing out how out of touch wuith reality hrnz and their clever people are is like shooting fish in a barrel.

Edited 5 hours ago by the galah

[the galah]

6 minutes ago, the galah said:

so they end up with  just starters in the $35,000 final on friday at addington.

 

that should read 6 starters for that race.

 

[the galah]

while i'

41 minutes ago, the galah said:

so hrnz came up with yet another bright idea that in reality was just dumb..

Hrnz thought they would get  extra numbers racing at nelson to qualify for a $35,000 race  at addington. A race in which the extras they were hoping for,would have to race against much higher graded horses.

Only hrnz could possibly think that would work..

so they end up with  just starters in the $35,000 final on friday at addington.

pointing out how out of touch wuith reality hrnz and their clever people are is like shooting fish in a barrel.

while i'm at it ,i may as well point out another example of "do not believe what you read in hrnz press releases"

this  week they not only have the nelson/addington race failing to get any support,it was only a few weeks ago they were promoting the $100,000 young guns races at auckland and saying how all the reports they had received indicated there would be good numbers lining up in upcoming 2 year old races in january ,because  of the stake money they were prioritisning for the 2 year olds.

so what happened with the 2 year old races they referred to.

young guns heat for  2yo colts and geldings at auckland-7 starters.

young guns heat for 2yo fillies_cancelled due to lack of numbers

addington 2 year old race-cancelled due to lack of numbers.

so why would hrnz put out  all the people they had been talking to had told them they had good numbers for those races.

well,i think we can safely assume,that hrnz people,do what i always say they obviously do,they speak to a couple of stables,the ones with the money,and then they hrnz base everything they say and do around that.

as i say,its like shooting fish in a barrel. Hrnz are just so out of touch with what works. I would say 80% of what they promote as being good ideas,are not.

Have there ever been more out of touch wagering/marketing/programming people in the history of hrnz.

i've no personal axe to grind against whoever they are.I just struggle with understanding how dumb they come across.

Edited 5 hours ago by the galah

[Brodie]

3 hours ago, the galah said:

while i'

while i'm at it ,i may as well point out another example of "do not believe what you read in hrnz press releases"

this  week they not only have the nelson/addington race failing to get any support,it was only a few weeks ago they were promoting the $100,000 young guns races at auckland and saying how all the reports they had received indicated there would be good numbers lining up in upcoming 2 year old races in january ,because  of the stake money they were prioritisning for the 2 year olds.

so what happened with the 2 year old races they referred to.

young guns heat for  2yo colts and geldings at auckland-7 starters.

young guns heat for 2yo fillies_cancelled due to lack of numbers

addington 2 year old race-cancelled due to lack of numbers.

so why would hrnz put out  all the people they had been talking to had told them they had good numbers for those races.

well,i think we can safely assume,that hrnz people,do what i always say they obviously do,they speak to a couple of stables,the ones with the money,and then they hrnz base everything they say and do around that.

as i say,its like shooting fish in a barrel. Hrnz are just so out of touch with what works. I would say 80% of what they promote as being good ideas,are not.

Have there ever been more out of touch wagering/marketing/programming people in the history of hrnz.

i've no personal axe to grind against whoever they are.I just struggle with understanding how dumb they come across.

Galah, no we have no personal grudge against any of the HRNZ employees!

Just so frustrating that they seem hell bent on ensuring that harness racing is going to be in such a dire financial situation in 2 years time!

It just not seem possible that they just want to splash money into stakes that has not been  earned or they can afford to waste!

Some owners must think xmas has come when these big stake money races have only a few starters in it!

Reality is I believe that HRNZ are not administering the cash from Entain very professionally whatsoever and the harness industry is going to one hell of a shock when the money dries up!

Everyone that I know can see it and it is very surprising and disappointing that the ones running the show are acting so shockingly?

Then again everyone knows my point of view as I have constantly maintained and yet no one making these decisions and Entain are prepared to refute what I am saying!

More than happy for anyone to come on and say Brodie is wrong but I highly doubt anyone could?