Chief Stipe Posted October 1, 2020 Share Posted October 1, 2020 $16m is going to be spent at Awapuni to build an All Weather Track. Gives new meaning to "Drain the Swamp"! What would Foxton have done with $1m? 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Beau Posted October 2, 2020 Share Posted October 2, 2020 6 hours ago, Chief Stipe said: $16m is going to be spent at Awapuni to build an All Weather Track. Gives new meaning to "Drain the Swamp"! What would Foxton have done with $1m? I don't know! From what I have been told in the past; Is, that ever since their stand was destroyed by their caretaker, they haven't accepted any offer from NZTR to move forward. I presume that they also had their stand insured, so they should have a large sum of money sitting in the bank that could be re-invested in the place! Now I am not criticizing them as I don't know all the facts, plus I like that my one horse trained in the CD, trialing there just as much as I like it having the availability the Levin jump outs. Leggy, please bring us up to date as you are close to the coalface, I understand. DB [Not Darryl Bradley] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted October 2, 2020 Share Posted October 2, 2020 I don't think $1M would go far. As much as I love the Foxton Track we have to face reality. There have been no race meetings put off in the CD since January that I can think of yet two Trial Meetings at Foxton have had to be put off due to Track conditions. Dispite the driest Autumn / Winter and 5 weeks of closure for Covid the Foxton Track has struggled with being water logged and very restricted training tracks. When I asked the Track Manager and a very Senior Track Committee man why there were such problems the answer some what surprised me. "It's because the Track is affected by the high tide from the sea" If this is the case then drainage could be difficult and maybe your $1M could be better spent at Woodville or Waverley. Or maybe we could just accept Winstone's $10M, find the extra money and get on with the Synthetic Track at Awapuni. For those who say "what about the horses that only like deep heavy Tracks" I say it might be time to give up on these Dinosaurs. Who bets on the races these horses race in. Every bred must move forward. It's called evolution. Trainers I have spoken to in Victoria seem to like the Pakenham and Ballarat Synthetic Tracks for Winter and Lower grade racing. Remember that about 80% of the horses racing are either Maiden or Rating 65. Trainers will fill the fields on these tracks just like they are filling the fields at the moment. Racing won't survive another 10 years in the CD if a Synthetic Track is not put in at Awapuni. With no racing we won't need Foxton or any other tracks. Foxton will be taken over by the Equestrian people like it has this weekend. Hundreds of fancy trucks and floats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curious Posted October 3, 2020 Share Posted October 3, 2020 22 hours ago, Dark Beau said: I don't know! From what I have been told in the past; Is, that ever since their stand was destroyed by their caretaker, they haven't accepted any offer from NZTR to move forward. I presume that they also had their stand insured, so they should have a large sum of money sitting in the bank that could be re-invested in the place! Now I am not criticizing them as I don't know all the facts, plus I like that my one horse trained in the CD, trialing there just as much as I like it having the availability the Levin jump outs. Leggy, please bring us up to date as you are close to the coalface, I understand. DB [Not Darryl Bradley] I don't know either. Tony, Darryl would be the man to call to answer your questions since he is the course manager. The drainage is a lot better than most courses but when the water table is high which is rare, It doesn't drain and yes that has a tidal aspect. The training tracks also need work. I don't think a mil can fix that anymore than 10mil can fix Awapuni or that either will make any difference to the success of CD racing. The trial cancellations imo have not been because the track was unsafe but that the club needed to preserve and maintain the surface especially given that the course proper is used by trainers for gallops which is why trials are generally run with cones to preserve the outside strip for that while the rest recovers. As far as I am aware the FRC has taken up every offer of assistance from NZTR. That's why they have new plastic running rail, their own modern gates for trials and a refurbished stand and have accepted their position as a training and trial facility. What else do you think the club could have done? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Extra Dollars Posted October 3, 2020 Share Posted October 3, 2020 22 hours ago, Tony said: I don't think $1M would go far. As much as I love the Foxton Track we have to face reality. There have been no race meetings put off in the CD since January that I can think of yet two Trial Meetings at Foxton have had to be put off due to Track conditions. Dispite the driest Autumn / Winter and 5 weeks of closure for Covid the Foxton Track has struggled with being water logged and very restricted training tracks. When I asked the Track Manager and a very Senior Track Committee man why there were such problems the answer some what surprised me. "It's because the Track is affected by the high tide from the sea" If this is the case then drainage could be difficult and maybe your $1M could be better spent at Woodville or Waverley. Or maybe we could just accept Winstone's $10M, find the extra money and get on with the Synthetic Track at Awapuni. For those who say "what about the horses that only like deep heavy Tracks" I say it might be time to give up on these Dinosaurs. Who bets on the races these horses race in. Every bred must move forward. It's called evolution. Trainers I have spoken to in Victoria seem to like the Pakenham and Ballarat Synthetic Tracks for Winter and Lower grade racing. Remember that about 80% of the horses racing are either Maiden or Rating 65. Trainers will fill the fields on these tracks just like they are filling the fields at the moment. Racing won't survive another 10 years in the CD if a Synthetic Track is not put in at Awapuni. With no racing we won't need Foxton or any other tracks. Foxton will be taken over by the Equestrian people like it has this weekend. Hundreds of fancy trucks and floats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Extra Dollars Posted October 3, 2020 Share Posted October 3, 2020 "Racing wont survive in the CD without a synthetic track at Awapuni"..........the biggest BS I have read for a while. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curious Posted October 3, 2020 Share Posted October 3, 2020 22 hours ago, Tony said: Racing won't survive another 10 years in the CD if a Synthetic Track is not put in at Awapuni. Tony, would you mind putting up the business case for how an AWT at Awapuni will improve the sustainability for CD racing please? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curious Posted October 3, 2020 Share Posted October 3, 2020 Just now, curious said: Tony, would you mind putting up the business case for how an AWT at Awapuni will improve the sustainability of CD racing please? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted October 3, 2020 Share Posted October 3, 2020 I don't have the figures and sums available to me. What I have seen is the demise of Thoroughbred breeding in the CD. It has basically wound up. Broodmares and Stallions have moved North. Racing is following the same pattern. There continues to be a drift North of horses and Trainers. There has been no encouragement for Trainers to stay around the CD. There has been no encouragement for owners to keep their horses in the CD. Now if the facilities continue to improve in the Waikato, like the addition of a Synthetic Track and their horse number keep increasing then they will be able to run more race meetings. The CD will get even less Race Meetings than they are getting at the moment. The CD will get more Mid Week 10K days as a percentage of Race days. That's less Stake money coming back to CD owners. The decline will spiral even faster. At least the investment in a Synthetic Track in the CD will guaranteed Race meetings for the horses Trained locally. Most of the grass tracks will remain but in their some what dilapidated state. What will the buildings on these Tracks look like in 10 to 15 years with very little maintenance? Most of these tracks will be an even more sorry sight than they are now and then try to encourage people to attend or have their horses trained there. Something radical must happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Beau Posted October 5, 2020 Share Posted October 5, 2020 On 3/10/2020 at 6:04 PM, curious said: I don't know either. Tony, Darryl would be the man to call to answer your questions since he is the course manager. The drainage is a lot better than most courses but when the water table is high which is rare, It doesn't drain and yes that has a tidal aspect. The training tracks also need work. I don't think a mil can fix that anymore than 10mil can fix Awapuni or that either will make any difference to the success of CD racing. The trial cancellations imo have not been because the track was unsafe but that the club needed to preserve and maintain the surface especially given that the course proper is used by trainers for gallops which is why trials are generally run with cones to preserve the outside strip for that while the rest recovers. As far as I am aware the FRC has taken up every offer of assistance from NZTR. That's why they have new plastic running rail, their own modern gates for trials and a refurbished stand and have accepted their position as a training and trial facility. What else do you think the club could have done? Thanks Curious for a very full answer. I don’t know what more they could have done! Basically I was quoting Greg Purcell from a few years back but as he’s not here to defend himself so I had better withdraw that (what I think Greg said) before I spread false information. Onwards and upwards Foxton, see you at the next trials, all going well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Bloggs Posted October 7, 2020 Share Posted October 7, 2020 Trying to find a thread that 'suits' however, a poster on another site is pleading for help with a farrier at Hawera, once loud and proud Hawera, a great rack and a great town, now, they are saying the small stables up there can't get their horses shod....FFS what's happening there, I don't think Foxton has the same problem, or do you? Is this a sign of things to come? Reefton asking why I bother with NZ racing, I still care, otherwise I wouldn't bother, and this worries me, if you can't attract farriers, and the local vet is a small animal vet, or a cattle reproduction expert, you have trouble, so what's the answer? I bet those hopeless loons in Petone will be rubbing their hands with glee, hoping Hawera will hand up........God it's so bloody hopeless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted October 7, 2020 Author Share Posted October 7, 2020 Would it be fair to say that the art of being a farrier is a dying one regardless of the region? How many now forge their own shoes? How many know how to shoe a horse or shape a hoof to fix a biomechanical problem? I admire the (good) farrier as it is a physically demanding, dangerous and skilled occupation. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikie Posted October 8, 2020 Share Posted October 8, 2020 (edited) 2 hours ago, Chief Stipe said: 1. Would it be fair to say that the art of being a farrier is a dying one regardless of the region? 2. How many now forge their own shoes? 3. How many know how to shoe a horse or shape a hoof to fix a biomechanical problem? 4. I admire the (good) farrier as it is a physically demanding, dangerous and skilled occupation. 1. Not all regions, for example Canterbury and Marlborough are ok. Lower North Island becoming a real problem it appears 2. Not many 3. Some in Canterbury could, other area's ability probably not at a guess 4. Too right, bloody hard on your back Edited October 8, 2020 by Mikie 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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