Draft calendar

[Chief Stipe]

15 minutes ago, curious said:

That would be nice but even as a temporary measure for the current situation it would make some sense with respect to providing reasonable winter footing for a few of those early meetings.

Of course it makes sense. But you would need a different agenda for sense to prevail!

[curious]

29 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said:

Of course it makes sense. But you would need a different agenda for sense to prevail!

I'm surprised that if they consulted with 56 trainers nation wide, that most of the CD ones wouldn't have thought that it would be a good option.

[Huey]

1 hour ago, Chief Stipe said:

Well it is known to have a better surface in the winter than Awapuni.  Wouldn't it be nice to see the Castletown Stakes back where it belongs.

Absolutely it would, will it happen with the current regime, probably not. 

[All The Aces]

I note that a couple of idiots on the other site think racing should shut down for the 20/21 season and start up 1 August 2021 which in effect would be a shut down of some 16 months seeing racing stopped in March. 

The majority of participants would be doing something else or would have gone overseas by then and business's closely associated with the industry gone.

Brilliant thinking.    

[curious]

35 minutes ago, All The Aces said:

Brilliant thinking.    

Definitely.

[curious]

Hmmmm... no mention of the funding situation?

NZ Racing prepares to resume

28 April 2020

The New Zealand Racing industry can confidently continue preparations this weekend for a return to trialing and training under Alert Level 3 following confirmation today from Government. Initial approval has been confirmed with Thoroughbred Racing NZ (NZTR) and Harness NZ (HRNZ) that businesses and stakeholders are able to return to work on Tuesday 28 April subject to meeting the protocols and guidance established by each Code. While good progress has been made, officials are still finalising Greyhound Racing NZ's (GRNZ) approval for participants to prepare for handslip trials from Tuesday, and confirmation of these protocols is expected to be confirmed early next week. 

 

The resumption of training and trialling is a critical milestone in preparation for a full return to racing from next month, subject to finalisation of the draft racing calendar from May to July 2020.

 

RITA is thankful for the efforts of some key Code staff and Government officials who have worked long hours to turn this process around and give the industry some certainty to resume. 

For more information:

NZTR - Industry to return under Alert Level 3

HRNZ - Resuming Training Under Alert Level Three

[Huey]

5 hours ago, All The Aces said:

I note that a couple of idiots on the other site think racing should shut down for the 20/21 season and start up 1 August 2021 which in effect would be a shut down of some 16 months seeing racing stopped in March. 

The majority of participants would be doing something else or would have gone overseas by then and business's closely associated with the industry gone.

Brilliant thinking.    

Same punters that think you can close down for the entire winter then just start up again.

[curious]

11 minutes ago, Huey said:

Same punters that think you can close down for the entire winter then just start up again.

You mean like they do in the UK and Ireland?

[nomates]

47 minutes ago, curious said:

You mean like they do in the UK and Ireland?

Jumping is so big in UK/IRELAND it was only flat racing that had a hiatus but in recent years with all weather tracks they have flat racing thru the winter . Racing as a whole never stopped . And i agree to do it here is one of the lesser ideas i've heard .

[mardigras]

2 minutes ago, nomates said:

Jumping is so big in UK/IRELAND it was only flat racing that had a hiatus but in recent years with all weather tracks they have flat racing thru the winter . Racing as a whole never stopped . And i agree to do it here is one of the lesser ideas i've heard .

I'd fully support shutting down flat racing in NZ for 3+ months each year. Of course they effectively do that in the UK from Huey's perspective since he is not a fan of 'all weather' tracks.

They could start up a NH equivalent which could gain momentum over the next 5 - 10 years. 

Not as good an idea as shutting racing down for a year or so - to completely overhaul it and bring it into a world where it isn't rivalling MSD from a social welfare perspective.

Or we could just get even more money from the government and carry on acting like we're entitled for some reason. And complain about things in two years time when there still isn't any money.

[SLB2.0]

When does "winter season" officially end?

I'd be all for stopping flat racing during winter, but would that give a horse targeting an early spring race enough time?

[Huey]

2 hours ago, curious said:

You mean like they do in the UK and Ireland?

You're such a knowitall Curious.

https://www.britishhorseracing.com/racing/fixtures/full-year/

[Huey]

1 hour ago, SLB2.0 said:

When does "winter season" officially end?

I'd be all for stopping flat racing during winter, but would that give a horse targeting an early spring race enough time?

You can do that yourself , just don't bet or look at any racing news etc give yourself 3 months off and you've shutting racing down in the winter months for yourself...problem solved.

[Huey]

1 hour ago, mardigras said:

I'd fully support shutting down flat racing in NZ for 3+ months each year. Of course they effectively do that in the UK from Huey's perspective since he is not a fan of 'all weather' tracks.

They could start up a NH equivalent which could gain momentum over the next 5 - 10 years. 

Not as good an idea as shutting racing down for a year or so - to completely overhaul it and bring it into a world where it isn't rivalling MSD from a social welfare perspective.

Or we could just get even more money from the government and carry on acting like we're entitled for some reason. And complain about things in two years time when there still isn't any money.

Pretty sure Haydock park.Lingfield race on the turf in the winter, over jumps which I enjoy.

[mardigras]

9 minutes ago, Huey said:

Pretty sure Haydock park.Lingfield race on the turf in the winter, over jumps which I enjoy.

I'm not sure what you're getting at - I said I would support a national hunt type schedule in NZ.

Maybe if we had all weather tracks, we could run the odd meeting for flat horses in winter, although I don't see it as a big requirement.

Are you suggesting Haydock Park runs non-NH flat races in winter - or Lingfield Park runs flat races on the turf in winter. Perhaps you can give me the last time, and the number of times, there are flat races on turf (non NH), in winter for these tracks per year. 

My suggestion of a National Hunt program would fit quite well in with your enjoyment of jumps racing, I would have thought, but you are going to have a lot of difficulty finding many non-NH turf races in winter there.

[All The Aces]

 

2 hours ago, mardigras said:

I'd fully support shutting down flat racing in NZ for 3+ months each year. Of course they effectively do that in the UK from Huey's perspective since he is not a fan of 'all weather' tracks.

They could start up a NH equivalent which could gain momentum over the next 5 - 10 years. 

Not as good an idea as shutting racing down for a year or so - to completely overhaul it and bring it into a world where it isn't rivalling MSD from a social welfare perspective.

Or we could just get even more money from the government and carry on acting like we're entitled for some reason. And complain about things in two years time when there still isn't any money.

  Not sure your opinion really counts Mardi. You don't have any horses racing here and your betting is on Australian and British racing.

The shutting down of NZ racing for some 16 months or so wouldn't make any difference to you at all. 

 

Edited April 28, 2020 by All The Aces

[mardigras]

2 minutes ago, All The Aces said:

 

  Not sure your opinion really counts Mardi. You don't have any horses racing here and your betting is on Australian and British racing.

The shutting down of NZ racing for some 16 months or so wouldn't make any difference to you at all. 

 

I'd say you're not sure of anything. 

But since I don't currently own any horses, and bet very little here, I'm happy to stay out of the discussion. I am really looking forward to watching from the sidelines when RITA tells you how much money they've got to share with you all. All because you are so insular, you can't see past your own situation. 

You have got it wrong though in regards whether shutting down the industry for a year+ would make a difference to me. I'd expect it would make a significant difference. Time to remove the tit that the industry is sucking on, allowing that to be spent in areas that benefit the entire country - of which I am a part of.

Not shutting down, will just be a continuation of that drain on funds that have nothing to do with NZ racing, along with a plea for more, no doubt. The country's going through some difficult times, yet you still think the government should cough up some more for an industry that is basically insolvent. How very considerate of you.

[Huey]

33 minutes ago, mardigras said:

I'm not sure what you're getting at - I said I would support a national hunt type schedule in NZ.

Maybe if we had all weather tracks, we could run the odd meeting for flat horses in winter, although I don't see it as a big requirement.

Are you suggesting Haydock Park runs non-NH flat races in winter - or Lingfield Park runs flat races on the turf in winter. Perhaps you can give me the last time, and the number of times, there are flat races on turf (non NH), in winter for these tracks per year. 

My suggestion of a National Hunt program would fit quite well in with your enjoyment of jumps racing, I would have thought, but you are going to have a lot of difficulty finding many non-NH turf races in winter there.

Are you trying to tell me there are no flat races in Uk & Ireland in the winter months? 

Those venues were just examples of where racing was taking place over the winter whether that be jumps racing or flat.

[mardigras]

1 minute ago, Huey said:

Are you trying to tell me there are no flat races in Uk & Ireland in the winter months? 

Those venues were just examples of where racing was taking place over the winter whether that be jumps racing or flat.

Not on turf tracks except National Hunt races as part of a National Hunt program (i.e. usually staying distances for NH horses).

There are none that I am aware of and if there are a) I'd be surprised and b) the number would be tiny.

[Huey]

2 minutes ago, mardigras said:

Not on turf tracks except National Hunt races as part of a National Hunt program (i.e. usually staying distances for NH horses).

There are none that I am aware of and if there are a) I'd be surprised and b) the number would be tiny.

They aren't as prevalent as they are in an NZ winter but they do still have some for NH horses like they do Highweights here.  See Market Rasen, Fairyhouse and a few others as examples.

[mardigras]

4 minutes ago, Huey said:

They aren't as prevalent as they are in an NZ winter but they do still have some for NH horses like they do Highweights here.  See Market Rasen, Fairyhouse and a few others as examples.

They are National Hunt races. I expect there will be no races less than 2400m on the flat on turf in the winter, and any that are, will be one race on the day at that meeting and the rest will be jumps races.

Edited April 28, 2020 by mardigras

[Huey]

1 minute ago, mardigras said:

They are National Hunt races.

They are flat races for NH horses. 

[mardigras]

Just now, Huey said:

They are flat races for NH horses. 

Yep, as part of a racecard where all the other races are jumps races. Not races for any of the standard flat based runners. They will get a handicap rating that is a NH rating, not a flat rating.

[Huey]

1 minute ago, mardigras said:

Yep, as part of a racecard where all the other races are jumps races. Not races for any of the standard flat based runners. They will get a handicap rating that is a NH rating, not a flat rating.

Yes correct but they are flat races with no jumps. So they still hold some flat races in the winter thats my point.

[mardigras]

1 minute ago, Huey said:

Yes correct but they are flat races with no jumps. So they still hold some flat races in the winter thats my point.

Yep, as per my very first post on this thread. A National Hunt program in the winter. Did you miss that?

3 hours ago, mardigras said:

They could start up a NH equivalent which could gain momentum over the next 5 - 10 years. 

Edited April 28, 2020 by mardigras