2 Northern meets this week.

[mikeynz]

2 seven race cards, still only need 1 night per week with bigger fields, 12 races is no problem.

[Brodie]

Both meetings are going to be a financial loss without any doubt whatsoever!

They just dont seem to see that they need to be ensuring that they put on a product that punters want to bet into!!!

Then the TAB. Needs to be accepting the wagering from the public as there is no way that harness racing can continue on the way it is!

 

[mikeynz]

5 hours ago, Brodie said:

Both meetings are going to be a financial loss without any doubt whatsoever!

They just dont seem to see that they need to be ensuring that they put on a product that punters want to bet into!!!

Then the TAB. Needs to be accepting the wagering from the public as there is no way that harness racing can continue on the way it is!

 

12 races with bigger fields would have been fine, less travel, less cost across the board, I'm sure they can still pay the power bill going past 10 0 cock  lol.

One has to wonder how long harness racing continues in the CD or Palmy specifically, meetings cut in half, no dogs now, must be just a matter of time.

[Brodie]

Reality is that HRNZ coffers are not flash bearing in mind the money they received from the sale of Forbury and the fact that they have taken over the Cambridge debt!

ATC is probably paying around 500k each month in interest alone without any principal!

Not sure how ATC will be able to continue racing even with the sale of Franklin as there will be still significant debt after that, if it happens!

The racing at Auckland is not a great product nowadays and each meeting will be running at a loss, despite Mr Steel being at the helm!

 

[the galah]

2 hours ago, Brodie said:

Reality is that HRNZ coffers are not flash bearing in mind the money they received from the sale of Forbury and the fact that they have taken over the Cambridge debt!

ATC is probably paying around 500k each month in interest alone without any principal!

Not sure how ATC will be able to continue racing even with the sale of Franklin as there will be still significant debt after that, if it happens!

The racing at Auckland is not a great product nowadays and each meeting will be running at a loss, despite Mr Steel being at the helm!

 

the plan 12 months ago that the likes of mr steele thought was so great and the hrnz board bewilderingly seemed to go along with,was the atc sells franklin park,pays off their debt and then uses what they had left over to put into a new $20m training establishment on land they didn't own. And that hrnz would then top up any shortfall to ensure that happened.

How it has been possible for hrnz to play along with the fantasy seemed absurd.Everyone knows ,including the ATC,the amount they would get from franklin park would not pay off their debt,far from it.They being many millions short.

So even if franklin park had sold,which it hasn't yet,the atc would still be in debt big time.

Like we all know,hrnz must know that plan was nuts.

oh well

My prediction is in 2 or 3 years time,we will still be talking about the same thing,just the topic won't get much comment as no one will care anymore.They will all have concluded,hey,auckland is an area with much influence,supported by the media and the powers to be at hrnz were simply too weak to do anything about it.

 

Edited September 15 by the galah

[Nowornever]

The fields in the North this week are dogshit compared to the last few weeks with only the one meeting.

[Gammalite]

The obvious answer is the 2 meetings Give a chance for the next level down trainers to actually WIN a race .

If the meeting's  was just one per week all the time,  then the usual Telfer, Barry Purdon , Hackett, Ray Green, Mark and Nathan DOMINATION would continue and All you blokes would whinge even more than currently. 😆🤣

At least tomorrow night gives the Abernathy's and Neale's and Chilcotts etc a chance to win a race for their owners. 

Great programming HRNZ 👍🏆 . helping keeping the participants in the game . That's the way to do it. 

12 hours ago, Nowornever said:

The fields in the North this week are dogshit compared to the last few weeks with only the one meeting.

Once you've got shit in your eye mate , you always see shit thereafter. You shouldn't let Brodie Throw shit in your face like that all the time  🤣. 

There's some great racing in reality , with not just a QLD Derby winner and a NZ Cup Placegetter as well lining up , but 2 great races of some very Expensive 2 year olds that are mostly in great form racing on Friday night , to showcase the new talent coming through. Excellent stuff. The field of 3 and 4 year olds look quite promising too.

Maybe you should get a towel and wash your face to get the shit off it once in a while ? 😆😉😎🇳🇿 

[Spatchcock]

13 hours ago, Nowornever said:

The fields in the North this week are dogshit compared to the last few weeks with only the one meeting.

There are some nice races at Auckland, especially the feature trot.

[the galah]

1 hour ago, Gammalite said:

The obvious answer is the 2 meetings Give a chance for the next level down trainers to actually WIN a race .

If the meeting's  was just one per week all the time,  then the usual Telfer, Barry Purdon , Hackett, Ray Green, Mark and Nathan DOMINATION would continue and All you blokes would whinge even more than currently. 😆🤣

At least tomorrow night gives the Abernathy's and Neale's and Chilcotts etc a chance to win a race for their owners. 

Great programming HRNZ 👍🏆 . helping keeping the participants in the game . That's the way to do it. 

 

But that means your admitting HRNZprogrammers/handicappers are incapable of programming a combined  meeting which caters for all class of horses.

Incapable of providing a meeting with opprtunities for both horses who have been earning well and those who need a chance of being placed in the right field before they have earning potential.

Really what you've stumbled on in your own way reflects poorly on the job HRNZ is doing programming and ratings wise in the north island.

so i actually agree with your assessment about them needing 2 meetings to give everyone a chance,but i draw the opposite conclusion about HRNZ.To me,your argument ,proves HRNZ handicappers and programmers are doing a poor job.

Edited September 16 by the galah

[Gammalite]

27 minutes ago, the galah said:

But that means your admitting HRNZprogrammers/handicappers are incapable of programming a combined  meeting which caters for all class of horses.

you programme meetings to SUIT your horses , and suit your participants so that they all get a chance to WIN a race. The ratings system has been excellent at achieving this.

No need to run them all at once meeting. We even send ours to the slower track here ( Redcliffe) . so is great to see The Excellent Auckland Trotting Club sending their slower ones to Cambridge tomorrow night . 

You can tell me How much slower Cambridge is than Auckland ? might only be a couple of seconds , but that can make all the difference to a lot of horses AS I'm sure a smart man like yourself would know.

Well done NZ . Getting horse to the right Places !!! to give everyone a chance of VICTORY . So good to see such advanced thinking and Actions ?  Combined meeting ? Nah mate . too tough on some . 

One meeting a week leads to DOMINATION by just a few stables . not fair at all. So they would have runners in all the slow grades races as well , and the next tier Stables would get SWEET FA . and be in danger of quitting. 

And you guys always grizzle about having nothing to bet on ?  2 days betting is Waaay  than one ? Well it was when I was a boy anyway. you should be pleased to have extra races.  seems an excellent for harness racing. 

 

28 minutes ago, the galah said:

,proves HRNZ handicappers and programmers are doing a poor job.

They still program the crappy Sunday racing for the iconic picnic goers, and those trainers Not good enough to race at Addington regularly . So you MUST be HAPPy with that ? or is that  still a poor job too  ?😉😎

you'll find a reason to get stuck into em' no doubt 😆 .  Brodie has several up his sleeve,  for those Cold rainy days of not enjoying harness racing by some of the Best Competitors the SPORT has ever seen . ( That's North Island 🤣 )

 

[the galah]

1 hour ago, Gammalite said:

you programme meetings to SUIT your horses , and suit your participants so that they all get a chance to WIN a race. The ratings system has been excellent at achieving this.

No need to run them all at once meeting. We even send ours to the slower track here ( Redcliffe) . so is great to see The Excellent Auckland Trotting Club sending their slower ones to Cambridge tomorrow night . 

You can tell me How much slower Cambridge is than Auckland ? might only be a couple of seconds , but that can make all the difference to a lot of horses AS I'm sure a smart man like yourself would know.

Well done NZ . Getting horse to the right Places !!! to give everyone a chance of VICTORY . So good to see such advanced thinking and Actions ?  Combined meeting ? Nah mate . too tough on some . 

One meeting a week leads to DOMINATION by just a few stables . not fair at all. So they would have runners in all the slow grades races as well , and the next tier Stables would get SWEET FA . and be in danger of quitting. 

And you guys always grizzle about having nothing to bet on ?  2 days betting is Waaay  than one ? Well it was when I was a boy anyway. you should be pleased to have extra races.  seems an excellent for harness racing. 

 

They still program the crappy Sunday racing for the iconic picnic goers, and those trainers Not good enough to race at Addington regularly . So you MUST be HAPPy with that ? or is that  still a poor job too  ?😉😎

you'll find a reason to get stuck into em' no doubt 😆 .  Brodie has several up his sleeve,  for those Cold rainy days of not enjoying harness racing by some of the Best Competitors the SPORT has ever seen . ( That's North Island 🤣 )

 

i get what your saying,run enough races for everyone to get a $ and that way they all can keep going.

So if that really is the answer,then why don't hrnz run more meetings in canterbury?

they have 23 more horses running at the one sunday meeting in canterbury than they do at 2 meetings in the northern region.

they're running 3 more races in the northern region with 117 horses than they are at orari with 140 horses.

1/2 of  the northern horses are guaranteed to earn stake money this week.

Thats a much higher % than canterbury owners getting a stake.

So if hrnz has to run things the way they currently are in the northern region to maintain participation levels,and they're not in canterbury,then thats obviously part of  why canterbury is the region which is by far losing the most particpants numbers wise.

So basically,hrnz are prioritising the northern region over canterbury,and by doing so are undercutting the one profitable area in harness racing. 

 

Edited September 16 by the galah

[mikeynz]

With the situation up north at present with one meeting you could/can programme races to whatever suits, races for trainers who ain't one 5, 10 races this season, not finished in the first four in 6 or 8 starts, many of those races could be penalty free or reduced penalty,  the discretionary handicap at Auckland has a rating 55 having a rating 119 20 meters behind , that seems generous to Merlin but at least he gets to go around, but then is the handicapping system fit for purpose,  maybe no ratings reductions for 4 or 6 races after a win, that would bolster the higher classes, and think of the fact 2 meetings means more travel, more cost to cover the meeting through trackside/TAB etc etc, running 14 races at 2 venues seems a expensive alternative to 1 night of 12 or 13 races to me, just my thoughts.

[Gammalite]

18 hours ago, the galah said:

/2 of  the northern horses are guaranteed to earn stake money this week.

Thats a much higher % than canterbury owners getting a stake.

Exactly IT !!! that's what Aus does too . Run lots of races for Small prizemoney . That gets LOTS of owners getting stakemoney . AND the BONUS of Punters getting lots of Trifectas and COLLECTS as well.

Your Canterbury large Fields are a THING of the PAST . No wonder you are losing Participants. 

18 hours ago, the galah said:

So if hrnz has to run things the way they currently are in the northern region to maintain participation levels,and they're not in canterbury,then thats obviously part of  why canterbury is the region which is by far losing the most particpants numbers wise.

you blokes were all worried about the participation level in the North at one stage. Kyle Marshall left. Reid went to the South Island , and Berger retired , so they were in a downward spiral . Seems to of stabilized ??  and of course Telfers and Dunns stables are very regular player's in BOTH Islands . bless them both doing an amazing job too. 

 

18 hours ago, the galah said:

So basically,hrnz are prioritising the northern region over canterbury,and by doing so are undercutting the one profitable area in harness racing. 

More meetings are run in the South Island . so how is that priortising ?  answer = It's not. 

Don't worry the North are Profiting anyway . I get way more collects there (as a Punter) than the South Island rabble , as not only is the Programming better ( as seen with tonight and tomorrow night the ATC splitting their Horses races brilliantly ) into races they can win.  But 14 races to win on as well.

The South Island ONCE again jams too many horses into too hard a race to win . It's like you blokes like having a ZERO in the horses form line lol . ( that's tongue in cheek mate) and having struggling horses like those Sunday picnic racing that really flattens them.For Example ,  I had Commander Ben the other day going for a small collect , and after missing the start, then circling the field trying to get into it , he faded late and would be completely broken now. I'll never back that horse again. And that's just one example of the almost impossible tasks and ruining of horses that goes on in those sort of races these days. a thing from a bygone era.  I raced my first horse at Rotorua once (which is Thankfully banned from North Island racing for a long time now racing at that horrid place 😂 )   and came home well for a place ,but was worried even then the horse would be flattened, when perfectly good fast racetracks are just up the road . Luckily the horse bounced back after a couple of weeks therapy,  and it placed at  Auckland, so I sold it for good money to the Aussies.  

18 hours ago, the galah said:

they're running 3 more races in the northern region with 117 horses than they are at orari with 140 horses.

so in summary North Island very clever in this circumstance then , and ORARI quite 'silly' , and will have LOTS of LOSERS. and you wonder why you're losing participants still ??  not too hard to work out lol 😉   

[the galah]

3 hours ago, Gammalite said:

Exactly IT !!! that's what Aus does too . Run lots of races for Small prizemoney . That gets LOTS of owners getting stakemoney . AND the BONUS of Punters getting lots of Trifectas and COLLECTS as well.

Your Canterbury large Fields are a THING of the PAST . No wonder you are losing Participants. 

  

well we have found something we agree upon.

races with small fields should have reduced prizemoney.

that includes everywhere,Auckland ,southland and canterbury.

i would add,races with increased field size should have increased stakes and pay out to 5th.

they should a  set standard stake for each  grade and age group,premier races, at each track and stick to that as the starting point,then add to or subtract from,  depending on the number of starters.

its just logical.

What you then get is races where stakes fall into line with turnovers and returns to the industry. The smaller fields with the reduced stakes and lower turnovers are more affordable and they can keep running them.

The bigger fields with the increased stakes and greater turnover ,are still the profitable ones for the industry and by increasing the stakes on those profitable races you retain greater participation numbers wise.

like i said,very logical. Thats why they will never do it. It makes too much sense.

Edited September 17 by the galah

[Gammalite]

35 minutes ago, the galah said:

well we have found something we agree upon.

races with small fields should have reduced prizemoney.

that includes everywhere,Auckland ,southland and canterbury.

i would add,races with increased field size should have increased stakes and pay out to 5th.

they should a  set standard stake for each  grade and age group,premier races, at each track and stick to that as the starting point,then add to or subtract from,  depending on the number of starters.

its just logical.

What you then get is races where stakes fall into line with turnovers and returns to the industry. The smaller fields with the reduced stakes and lower turnovers are more affordable and they can keep running them.

The bigger fields with the increased stakes and greater turnover ,are still the profitable ones for the industry and by increasing the stakes on those profitable races you retain greater participation numbers wise.

like i said,very logical. Thats why they will never do it. It makes too much sense.

you have some ideas going there , and as you say they probably still run those Sunday picnic large field sizes , and poor horses ( even though very poor for your horse) because you blokes like them still , and SLOW horses , say like 'Buckskin' and horses like that might be able to earn a few bucks still. 

and yeah , maidens everywhere , should be just $9000 . and once a horse wins then it can race for the better money proving it is worthy of doing so. Tonight's ATC meeting at Cambridge has $8000 maidens . In fact they're running the WHOLE RACECARD for a total of $45,000 . How Good !!

everyone gets a chance to WIN a race , and it's not costing HRNZ very much at all. Something you guys seem to demand . Maybe it'll run at a profit . maybe not . But it's still GOOD SPORT. hope they have fun.

41 minutes ago, the galah said:

races with small fields should have reduced prizemoney.

Fair in comment BUT hard in practise. How was the Addington Club to know the recent NEW BRIGHTON Cup would only have 6 starters? Why should Lazarus Effect get less money because only 5 rivals that he probably Scared off , from being too good. ??

you can't penalise him Prize Money because of that ? He only got $22,000 as it was . the same as Mighty Logan got for winning the Group 3 trot on the program . where 9 horses started. 

Are you saying he should hope and sweat that 12 horses start in the race so he can get say $30,000 ?? lol 🤣 

what about if someone scratches ? that reduces Turnover. Penalize the winner prizemoney for a Scratching then ? suddenly only gets $26,000 lol . You'd be dirty on the trainer that scratched if you Won the race 😆🤣😁

IT Would NOT work. Very hard to police the size of fields into Prizemoney given. Too many variables. 

[the galah]

1 hour ago, Gammalite said:

you have some ideas going there , and as you say they probably still run those Sunday picnic large field sizes , and poor horses ( even though very poor for your horse) because you blokes like them still , and SLOW horses , say like 'Buckskin' and horses like that might be able to earn a few bucks still. 

and yeah , maidens everywhere , should be just $9000 . and once a horse wins then it can race for the better money proving it is worthy of doing so. Tonight's ATC meeting at Cambridge has $8000 maidens . In fact they're running the WHOLE RACECARD for a total of $45,000 . How Good !!

everyone gets a chance to WIN a race , and it's not costing HRNZ very much at all. Something you guys seem to demand . Maybe it'll run at a profit . maybe not . But it's still GOOD SPORT. hope they have fun.

Fair in comment BUT hard in practise. How was the Addington Club to know the recent NEW BRIGHTON Cup would only have 6 starters? Why should Lazarus Effect get less money because only 5 rivals that he probably Scared off , from being too good. ??

you can't penalise him Prize Money because of that ? He only got $22,000 as it was . the same as Mighty Logan got for winning the Group 3 trot on the program . where 9 horses started. 

Are you saying he should hope and sweat that 12 horses start in the race so he can get say $30,000 ?? lol 🤣 

what about if someone scratches ? that reduces Turnover. Penalize the winner prizemoney for a Scratching then ? suddenly only gets $26,000 lol . You'd be dirty on the trainer that scratched if you Won the race 😆🤣😁

IT Would NOT work. Very hard to police the size of fields into Prizemoney given. Too many variables. 

what i would say is stakes currently are routinely reduced when there aren't full fields.They obviously oay out less stakes in below top 4 placegetters,when field size is smaller.

so what i would like to see happen is a standard non placegetter stake paid out for every horse who does not earn a winning stake.I.e. 5th and further back.

say friday night $300 and all other days $175.

then they start with a base stake of $8500 (excluding the non placegetter payments) for non win horses. Then for every extra 2 starters they bump it up by $500.In effect a non win 14 horse field would have a stake of $10,000 spread amongst the top 4.,or $8500 if  8 or less. 

Conditioned lowest grade races a base top 4 stake of $ 7500.there be a progressing scale of an increase of $500 for each 5 point rating catered for. e.g. a rating 40 and below $8000 base stake.  r45 and below$8500,etc.

premier meetings a $11,000 base stake for non winners,with the $700 increase each extra 2 startes.

they could  use the same progressing scale applied to 5 point rating increase,but make the increase $1000.

age races like 2 year olds, have a base stake of $12,000,but given they have so many small fields,i would reduce that base stake by $500 for every starter number under 7. 

as to reducing the stake of races like the lazarus effect won.

absolutely.If they don't they will go broke .

You either want to run a business that does its best to retain participation numbers,or you want to run a business that prioritises the elite and loses its base of participants and eventually withers and dies.The withering and dieing has been the model for the last couple of years when it came to the top end and 2 and 3 yeat old racing.The proofs been there for everyone to see. 

thats my thoughts anyway

Edited September 17 by the galah

[Nowornever]

On 16/09/2026 at 2:42 PM, the galah said:

i get what your saying,run enough races for everyone to get a $ and that way they all can keep going

What he is saying is run enough races for the owners and trainers and dont' worry about the punters who actually provide the stakes for the trainers and owners.

When there are less punters what happens? The stakes get reduced which is what is happening now. 

If we still had pick six, less restrictions, all the mum and dad punters who got tossed out with tele betting and losing free to air racing, no geo blocking and all the other people who got disillusioned with the stupid decisions of the TAB and who stopped betting because of it, we would have record stakes today and a lot more horses.

 

[the galah]

1 hour ago, Nowornever said:

What he is saying is run enough races for the owners and trainers and dont' worry about the punters who actually provide the stakes for the trainers and owners.

When there are less punters what happens? The stakes get reduced which is what is happening now. 

If we still had pick six, less restrictions, all the mum and dad punters who got tossed out with tele betting and losing free to air racing, no geo blocking and all the other people who got disillusioned with the stupid decisions of the TAB and who stopped betting because of it, we would have record stakes today and a lot more horses.

 

seems to be what he believes.

and it is  a model that does work for queensland.

if we look at queensland

only 3  tracks,all within an hour and a half of each other,one racing for $4000 one for $6000 and the other albion park.

the nz $ is currently worth 81 cents of the aussie $, that equates to our stakes of $3200 and $4800 being worth what their average stakeas are apart from albion park.

he thinks all horses should race all year around and bounce up and down in the grades

queensland do seem to have their stakes about right to be financially sustainable.

So the turnover they generate is only enough for them to pay out the small stakes. But he points out the millionaire owners get to race for good money and they reinvest in the sport to keep it going.

of course the queensland millionaires target our races as they have the good stakes,i'm not sure what races in aussie the nz millionaires will target.

i'm not so sure its what many would want in nz,but it is a model that keeps the sport alive in queensland.

Edited September 17 by the galah

[pete cook]

11 hours ago, the galah said:

seems to be what he believes.

and it is  a model that does work for queensland.

if we look at queensland

only 3  tracks,all within an hour and a half of each other,one racing for $4000 one for $6000 and the other albion park.

the nz $ is currently worth 81 cents of the aussie $, that equates to our stakes of $3200 and $4800 being worth what their average stakeas are apart from albion park.

he thinks all horses should race all year around and bounce up and down in the grades

queensland do seem to have their stakes about right to be financially sustainable.

So the turnover they generate is only enough for them to pay out the small stakes. But he points out the millionaire owners get to race for good money and they reinvest in the sport to keep it going.

of course the queensland millionaires target our races as they have the good stakes,i'm not sure what races in aussie the nz millionaires will target.

i'm not so sure its what many would want in nz,but it is a model that keeps the sport alive in queensland.

And they have a generous private benefactor or two.

[Gammalite]

Victoria is the one jurisdiction running at the most loss . And they have the most horses and Participants . Probably about the same as New-Zealand . It is hard to get funding to the many locations . they will have to cut some at some stage. The Stake money is already quite low.

QLD , as the Galah mentioned, cut all the regional centres of harness racing (Cairns, Mackay etc, and even the Gold Coast folded)  even while having a very large developing population  , that could actually have people who would support the harness sport with racing a horse with their retirement money.  But alas they choose gallopers. 

Gallopers have those Micro and mini Shares , that a lot of people in NZ and Aus find so successful in racing a horse these days. 

NZ harness has cut some areas too, like Hutt Park , Forbury , New Plymouth , etc and a recommendation to cut more is in place , and obviously the Stake Money will drop as you All say , because ENTAIN are struggling now with gathering the Sporting Betting dollar as well. I still think it's great they help prop up the racing a bit in NZ and QLD , when the Gambling dollar on them is Very Minimal these days.

There's been lots of comments on Forums about poor betting Product NZ harness is these days , and you guys ( the supposed 'Fans ' of harness racing continually Bag your own sport.

Imagine what galloping people think of it then ?? 😆🤣  ( to be honest most of them hate it , that I've run into )

BUT Anyway what about Last night ?? was good racing for the 2nd Auckland meeting ?

You could of backed some of them. You always want GOOD ODDS , you keep saying . win Odds were $4.60, $7.60, 

$7.10, $10.30, $5.80, $2.60 for The Surfer ( best horse racing on the program) and $27.30 in the last . great divvies. 

So WHO is Complaining about that ??   some U-Beaut Trifectas and First 4 's too . In smaller easier to pick fields too . Making the Punters Job so much more successful thankfully. 

All the Race winners got $4,400 for their owners too . A bit lower than what you're used to , BUT don't Panic. Horse owners are generally wealthy people these days . they can handle a few lower dollars They're having some fun . 

Hope you guys enjoyed the meeting and Enjoy some more great racing tonight !!! 🏆👍 

[the galah]

3 hours ago, Gammalite said:

Victoria is the one jurisdiction running at the most loss . And they have the most horses and Participants . Probably about the same as New-Zealand . It is hard to get funding to the many locations . they will have to cut some at some stage. The Stake money is already quite low.

QLD , as the Galah mentioned, cut all the regional centres of harness racing (Cairns, Mackay etc, and even the Gold Coast folded)  even while having a very large developing population  , that could actually have people who would support the harness sport with racing a horse with their retirement money.  But alas they choose gallopers. 

Gallopers have those Micro and mini Shares , that a lot of people in NZ and Aus find so successful in racing a horse these days. 

NZ harness has cut some areas too, like Hutt Park , Forbury , New Plymouth , etc and a recommendation to cut more is in place , and obviously the Stake Money will drop as you All say , because ENTAIN are struggling now with gathering the Sporting Betting dollar as well. I still think it's great they help prop up the racing a bit in NZ and QLD , when the Gambling dollar on them is Very Minimal these days.

There's been lots of comments on Forums about poor betting Product NZ harness is these days , and you guys ( the supposed 'Fans ' of harness racing continually Bag your own sport.

Imagine what galloping people think of it then ?? 😆🤣  ( to be honest most of them hate it , that I've run into )

BUT Anyway what about Last night ?? was good racing for the 2nd Auckland meeting ?

You could of backed some of them. You always want GOOD ODDS , you keep saying . win Odds were $4.60, $7.60, 

$7.10, $10.30, $5.80, $2.60 for The Surfer ( best horse racing on the program) and $27.30 in the last . great divvies. 

So WHO is Complaining about that ??   some U-Beaut Trifectas and First 4 's too . In smaller easier to pick fields too . Making the Punters Job so much more successful thankfully. 

All the Race winners got $4,400 for their owners too . A bit lower than what you're used to , BUT don't Panic. Horse owners are generally wealthy people these days . they can handle a few lower dollars They're having some fun . 

Hope you guys enjoyed the meeting and Enjoy some more great racing tonight !!! 🏆👍 

you mention last night.I didn't bother watching the last couple of races because of what i saw in a couple of earlier races...

cambridge low grade meetings are the worst place in nz for giving the impression everyone is trying.

Theres an expectation from punters and the casual observer that if you back a hot favorite,the driver will drive to give it a chance of winning,even if that means improving 3 or 4 wide.

But last night you had a couple of hot favorites who gave the perception they weren't trying.

andre poutama semed desperate to position Rivergirl bella in a no win spot  and mark purdon made little attempt to give One more moment any chance .I'm sure purdon was trying,just the race simply wasn't for a big enough stake to warrant giving it any more than driving for luck. Andre potutama,i mean,anyone watching that had to come to the conclusion it was a non tryer. No idea why it was driven like that,but it was and you base your opinion on what you see,not what your told.

so cambridge low stake meetings to me defintely are hurting the perception of the industry. You don't get the same at addington low grade meetings,no one ever complains about drivers not trying at addington in $8000 races. 

if you don't believe me ,you  only had to see the repeated,week after week,reaction by a couple of the out the gate crew when they used to be betting on the cambridge races. You could tell  they simply had diminished faith in the product and i could see why they thought that.Thats why they were always so more enthusiastic about betting on the dogs.many times one of their panel would say,yes,it just sat out the back and made its run too late. 

so why.i think north islanders simply have it too good .They can pick and choose what races they will try harder.And the judicial/stipes  oversight is weak.

south island drivers and trainers don't want to give the wrong impression to punters and their fellow participants and the stipes are more switched on as well..

 

Edited September 18 by the galah

[the galah]

i just had a look at the queensland harness part of the 2025  racing  queensland annual report.

Tuirnover in 2025    -12.1% on the previous year,queensland product revenue  -13.4%.

Mind you,all 3 codes down double figures.

harness and non tab thoroughbrad returned losses. Greyhounds and tab thoroughbred returned good profits.The greyhound by far the best profit wise.

gallops seem to be about 10x bigger than harness and greyhounds about 2 1/2x bigger than harness in most things numbers wise,although greyhound seem to get the short end of the stick if you compare their prizemeney wich is only 1.5 more than harness t.

in 2022 queensland racing which governs  all 3 codes got a 1 off $100 payment from tabcorp and another $50m from them for use on racing infastructure.

They also changed the law as to who could sponsor racesin 2022 and i guess thats what lead to ladbrokes sponsoring the interdom.Mind that sponsorship was until 2027. And that deal was done when dean shannon was in charge. And he obviously was very into harness,so would ladbrokes sponsor after 2027?

[the galah]

.

Edited September 18 by the galah

[Gammalite]

2 hours ago, the galah said:

Mind that sponsorship was until 2027. And that deal was done when dean shannon was in charge. And he obviously was very into harness,so would ladbrokes sponsor after 2027?

They can . and they will. What better way to promote your brand,  than run the Best races going in the whole nation. 

QLD Racing ( specifically the Albion Park Trotting Club )  doing such a great job running the Interdominion on 3 of the past 4 years , they are considered the Front runner to maintain it for another 3, even after 2027 . class act. 

Great to see the great QLD man Dean Shannon Winning at Auckland just now in the Sires Stakes tonight . BAMM BAMM ( and Dino 4th as well) adding to his harness horse wall of Fame. Reward for effort it seems . 👍💰

[Gammalite]

3 hours ago, the galah said:

you mention last night.I didn't bother watching the last couple of races because of what i saw in a couple of earlier races...

cambridge low grade meetings are the worst place in nz for giving the impression everyone is trying.

Theres an expectation from punters and the casual observer that if you back a hot favorite,the driver will drive to give it a chance of winning,even if that means improving 3 or 4 wide.

But last night you had a couple of hot favorites who gave the perception they weren't trying.

andre poutama semed desperate to position Rivergirl bella in a no win spot  and mark purdon made little attempt to give One more moment any chance .I'm sure purdon was trying,just the race simply wasn't for a big enough stake to warrant giving it any more than driving for luck. Andre potutama,i mean,anyone watching that had to come to the conclusion it was a non tryer. No idea why it was driven like that,but it was and you base your opinion on what you see,not what your told.

so cambridge low stake meetings to me defintely are hurting the perception of the industry. You don't get the same at addington low grade meetings,no one ever complains about drivers not trying at addington in $8000 races. 

if you don't believe me ,you  only had to see the repeated,week after week,reaction by a couple of the out the gate crew when they used to be betting on the cambridge races. You could tell  they simply had diminished faith in the product and i could see why they thought that.Thats why they were always so more enthusiastic about betting on the dogs.many times one of their panel would say,yes,it just sat out the back and made its run too late. 

so why.i think north islanders simply have it too good .They can pick and choose what races they will try harder.And the judicial/stipes  oversight is weak.

south island drivers and trainers don't want to give the wrong impression to punters and their fellow participants and the stipes are more switched on as well..

 

A very interesting read . Probably has a LOT of the Answers as to why Harness racing NZ is a fading Star.

Unwillingness to Punt on the Participants. 

I've always plugged them ( The NZ drivers)  as very good here at BOAY , but when you look closely at it , You are right

. Some just aren't worth betting on , and you have your favourites. (obviously the BOAY favourites are all in the South Island , but that's fine. its Great having the talent you enjoy somewhere.

Pete McMullen is a MILE in front in Brisvegas , but the rest are pretty even and Chase him hard a lot of the time. 

You've seen how good Cam Hart is in NZ already. and Luke McCarthy several times. They are the Benchmark. 

I would never bet on some of those NZ Blokes either that you mentioned. As tend to only look for those that I think are young and fresh , and DETERMINED to WIN . so leave many of those old crocks out 🤣  , and just put people like Crystal , and Harrison Orange , and the forever Young Mark Purdon in . ( Carter and John Dunn in the South are miles ahead of their peers too ) so get a good run for your Money EVERYTIME , with these fine drivers.  

I guess you have to agree that running the next 'Tier' down level , will attract a lot of Not so Highly regarded Trainers and Drivers that you get race to race, than what you get at the Metro city meetings.

so you have the Rabble events you are describing as Cambridge harness Racing. Still doesn't bother me though. Same thing happens at the gallops.  Therefore you will get the activity you are mentioning . I laugh at all the comments on the amateur Drivers races and the juniors around the place (esp at Hawera 😉) and assorted places. didn't think Cambridge was too bad , but there you go . I do remember those unfair Standing starts there . so can see why People won't Bet on that rubbish . 

Lucky for ALL them NZ harness racing participants ,  that the BOAY faithful posters aren't Stipes .😂🤣 old Forbury would of 'outed a few'. 😎