Happy Sunrise Posted June 29, 2020 Share Posted June 29, 2020 14 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said: Racing as we have known it, lived and loved it for decades has gone. True. Would love a crystal ball to see 5 years into the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeynz Posted June 29, 2020 Author Share Posted June 29, 2020 2 minutes ago, Happy Sunrise said: True. Would love a crystal ball to see 5 years into the future. Is there one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeynz Posted June 29, 2020 Author Share Posted June 29, 2020 28 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said: The Mesara Report. I think Mr Mesara stated that Ascot Park need to build a new grandstand.Maybe they can move the one from Rugby Park there,its never much use these days,a lot of ideas and decisions being made by people that it has no effect on,as long as I'm alright who cares,that's the attatude. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeynz Posted June 29, 2020 Author Share Posted June 29, 2020 I will say that change is good if it's for the better,but some of the ideas floated are simply not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeynz Posted June 29, 2020 Author Share Posted June 29, 2020 1 hour ago, Chief Stipe said: Shoot no. We are talking 20+ not just Avondale. However don't be surprised if Avondale lead the fight in the Courts. The law that they passed looks full of holes to me. Many of those tracks closing down will not be recognised as training tracks indeed some are already designated as "not suitable". How do you think Riccarton or Awapuni will fund their component of the All Weather Tracks without acquiring assets from elsewhere? Stakeholders are going to get some rude shocks in the ensuing months. Otago Gallops and Harness already have. It would rude if Forbury was sold and the assets went to the galloping code,that would prove that the harness guys have been taken for a ride.Idoubt that would happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Sunrise Posted June 29, 2020 Share Posted June 29, 2020 11 hours ago, mikeynz said: I think Mr Mesara stated that Ascot Park need to build a new grandstand Who for? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJ Flash Posted June 29, 2020 Share Posted June 29, 2020 (edited) 14 hours ago, Happy Sunrise said: RITA is in charge. Incorrect Happy ,The codes decided where to race and which courses were no longer required. The Southland case is nothing but pure madness and once again shows how the codes are incapable of working together.. Forcing Wyndham and Gore harness to go to Invercargill will see its biggest sponsor pull the plug, 50K plus down the gurgler whilst giving races to Winton will see it become a single use track as gallops dont want it used . The only reason Winton is required by harness is because of its size as the powers at be consider Gore and Invercargill tracks to be basically the same. F ing madness but their you go. Greg Edited June 29, 2020 by JJ Flash Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeynz Posted June 29, 2020 Author Share Posted June 29, 2020 1 hour ago, JJ Flash said: Incorrect Happy ,The codes decided where to race and which courses were no longer required. The Southland case is nothing but pure madness and once again shows how the codes are incapable of working together.. Forcing Wyndham and Gore harness to go to Invercargill will see its biggest sponsor pull the plug, 50K plus down the gurgler whilst giving races to Winton will see it become a single use track as gallops dont want it used . The only reason Winton is required by harness is because of its size as the powers at be consider Gore and Invercargill tracks to be basically the same. F ing madness but their you go. Greg So if the codes are in charge then why is harness racing selling itself short here. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeynz Posted June 29, 2020 Author Share Posted June 29, 2020 3 hours ago, Happy Sunrise said: Who for? That was a suggestion he made for ascot park,as for who,good question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted June 29, 2020 Share Posted June 29, 2020 I trust all the Harness followers realise that the Messara Report was entirely Thoroughbred centric. For example of the 30+ pages devoted to the future of race venues only one PARAGRAPH concerned Harness and Dogs. 1 hour ago, JJ Flash said: The codes decided where to race and which courses were no longer required. That is a bit simplistic. A working group of the three codes and NZRB was created to look at the venues. The Terms of Reference was quite narrow and subjective. In that it was set up to lead to the conclusions that were arrived at. For example heavy emphasis was put on the state of facilities like grandstands. Disproportionately less emphasis was placed on the actual racing track surface. Metrics such as the cost/stake ratio or the cost to the industry to provide racedays were deliberately excluded. Why on earth the comment about "shabby look" of NZ facilities was given as a reason in the Messara Report for closing some courses escapes me. When was the last time we got to look at the Grandstands or other facilities of a NZ racecourse pre or post race? For that matter when do we see those from Echuca or Pakenham or any other OZ course other than from Flemington on Melbourne Cup Day? So be it Thoroughbred, Harness or Dogs some clubs/racecourses have been shat on because they chose to keep investing their spare money and time into where the rubber hits the road ie. the tracks. Note that money most often came locally NOT from NZRB. What Messara, the various versions of NZRB + RITA + MAC have focussed on are nirvana operations where thousands of people flock to state of the art entertainment facilities. We have seen heaps of examples of where that approach hasn't worked. We are now creating another one in Cambridge! High cost models of operation that don't pay their way and most importantly don't attract any more offcourse revenue because they look good! One of the rules of good business planning is to elevate and maximise the return from your core competency and if it is a strategic advantage then protect it. What have we done? Our core competency has been a low cost model of operation and we are screwing it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 20 minutes ago, mikeynz said: So if the codes are in charge then why is harness racing selling itself short here. The elite of the Thoroughbred code are in charge - neither Harness nor Dogs have complete control of their destiny. For example (one of many)....join the dots...a major Thoroughbred stud from the Waikato owns a building in Stanley Street, Auckland....does funding deal with NZRB and helps set up broadcasting company.....broadcasting company gets loans from NZRB....buys state of the art equipment and broadcasting technology (not suited to NZ)....commits NZRB to very long term contract...original company sells out to Australian company (no experience in horse racing) and takes the dosh......new technology dictates where races are held by enforcing technological constraint..... That's just one example! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freda Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 I think I already knew all that..but it looks worse in print. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 4 minutes ago, Freda said: I think I already knew all that..but it looks worse in print. Read this as a sign of things to come: On course presenters gone and now it’s the commentators who could be studio-bound By Barry Lichter • 29 June 2020 Some greyhound meetings next month will be held with no on-course commentator in the latest cost-cutting move by the TAB. In what could be a sign of things to come, Trackside will have a commentator in its Christchurch studio calling three meetings in the Central Districts using only a TV monitor. With regular commentator Mark Rosanowski on leave, and the other former CD caller Darryl Robinson among those let go, RITA finds itself stuck for a replacement. So Andy McCook, one of the contractors who fell victim to widespread cuts by the Racing Industry Transition Agency, will call the meetings at Wanganui and Palmerston North in the second week of July. McCook, who has been a presenter and acted as a stand-in commentator off and on for the last four or five years in Canterbury, believes he can do the job without leaving viewers thinking they are being short-changed. Andy McCook, left, will stand in for Mark Rosanowski and call from the studio in Christchurch.It won’t be the first time he has called a meeting remotely. When a flight delay saw versatile caller Jason Teaz unable to get to Dunedin one day he team tagged with Trevor Wilkes in the Addington commentator’s box, calling the Forbury Park card while Wilkes did the local meeting. Unusually, Wilkes routinely calls off his TV monitor but McCook says for accuracy’s sake he’d much prefer to look out the window and use his binoculars. “The only problem is if dogs start getting checked and get a mile off the leaders, or fall over. “But I’m hoping there will be enough camera angles to make it work.” Given the TAB has cut the number of cameras it now uses to cover meetings that’s not a given but McCook is positive about the challenge ahead. McCook says he assumes the TAB will make arrangements for on-course punters to hear the commentaries. “This could be the way of the future and it’s not the end of the world. When I first started, I used to practice at home calling meetings watching the TV.” McCook says the TAB is ready “to rock ’n’ roll, having set up everything he needs in the Christchurch studio and he plans to have a test run soon. “I wouldn’t want to go in blind so I’ll be sneaking in to get some practice first.” McCook, a keen student of form, says he’s also got plenty of time to bone up on his CD greyhounds so he can analyse fields with at least some authority. It’s all over in the blink of an eye but calling greyhound races off the TV is easier than horse races.McCook believes it’s harder calling horse races off the TV than dog races as the field can string out much further and the horses are smaller with cameras now further away. Other commentators have been forced to rely on TV pictures in recent years when emergencies have arisen. Matt Cross called a West Coast meeting from the studio one day when Mark McNamara couldn’t get there and Aaron White called a trots card at Manawatu when he was fog-bound and stood in at the last minute for a sick Tony Lee at a Hastings gallops meeting. Similar problems will arise in Auckland next month with long-time caller Peter Earley dismissed and White, now expected to commentate on dogs, on leave. The TAB initially rostered cut gallops contractor Bruce Sherwin for July 12 at Manukau Stadium - he once called dog races in Macau - but George Simon will now do the meeting. It will make for a busy week for the Waikato-based Simon - he’s ditched the Te Aroha trials on Tuesday but will still be at the Cambridge dogs on Thursday and Ellerslie gallops on Saturday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 The RIU will be next holding race enquiries via Zoom or Skype. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brodie Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 2 hours ago, Chief Stipe said: The RIU will be next holding race enquiries via Zoom or Skype. Harness hardly has enquiries nowadays, Chief. They probably dont really need Stipes, as what do they actually do? Check frieze brands and tell us what horse gallops! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the galah Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 (edited) 8 hours ago, JJ Flash said: Incorrect Happy ,The codes decided where to race and which courses were no longer required. The Southland case is nothing but pure madness and once again shows how the codes are incapable of working together.. It does seem strange that gallops keep racing at gore and timaru,yet the harness code at this stage has stopped racing there. By harness removing racing it surely must undermine the ability of those galloping clubs to be able to maintain their facilities at the current level. Someone was telling me today that Forbury was likely to take legal action around retaining harness racing. Don't know how true that is but can hrnz afford to be fighting legal battles on several fronts?Harness clubs fighting HRNZ through the courts must weaken both sides financially. Edited June 30, 2020 by the galah 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noodlum Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 24 minutes ago, the galah said: Someone was telling me today that Forbury was likely to take legal action around retaining harness racing. Don't know how true that is but can hrnz afford to be fighting legal battles on several fronts?Harness clubs fighting HRNZ through the courts must weaken both sides financially. That's what happens when you force someone into a corner without good reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Sunrise Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 4 hours ago, Brodie said: They probably dont really need Stipes, as what do they actually do? Usually count to 10. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Sunrise Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 6 hours ago, Chief Stipe said: The RIU will be next holding race enquiries via Zoom or Skype. At least it will cut costs. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Sunrise Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 7 hours ago, mikeynz said: So if the codes are in charge then why is harness racing selling itself short here. Good question. Is HRNZ inept? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Sunrise Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 41 minutes ago, the galah said: Someone was telling me today that Forbury was likely to take legal action around retaining harness racing. Don't know how true that is but can hrnz afford to be fighting legal battles on several fronts?Harness clubs fighting HRNZ through the courts must weaken both sides financially. If they feel aggrieved enough then good on them. Maybe the other clubs can follow suit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hunterthepunter Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 7 hours ago, Chief Stipe said: The RIU will be next holding race enquiries via Zoom or Skype. should be not such thing as Riu should be run like hrnz did in the past Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJ Flash Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 23 hours ago, mikeynz said: So if the codes are in charge then why is harness racing selling itself short here. Possibly because in the example i pointed out it was HRNZ who made the decision as to which clubs race where. Given how little info comes from HRNZ and the quality of its board i'm not surprised by such stupidity. Winton must be over the moon by the decision to give them the nod for the so called "Long Course" over continuing to race harness at Gore. Im sure the big sponsor MLT wont be assisting either Gore or Wyndham harness clubs any time soon. Nett result is there for all to see Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 15 minutes ago, JJ Flash said: Possibly because in the example i pointed out it was HRNZ who made the decision as to which clubs race where. Given how little info comes from HRNZ and the quality of its board i'm not surprised by such stupidity. Driven by RITA requirements. As for paucity of information released to stakeholders RITA sets the example. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeynz Posted July 1, 2020 Author Share Posted July 1, 2020 No harness racing between Oamaru and Winton,hard to believe really,seems a bit to unrealistic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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