Kumara

[curious]

6 hours ago, mardigras said:

Yep - and that's before any TAB expenses.

Surely the 13% is net revenue after expenses?

[mardigras]

5 hours ago, curious said:

Surely the 13% is net revenue after expenses?

Sadly not. They are typically around 12-13% net betting revenue each year. After turnover related expenses and operating costs, the net result typically becomes half that.

So the 13% is merely the betting based revenue, which makes Ellerslie looks dire - especially when you consider that Ellerslie holds a number of meetings compared to the likes of Westland who in the scheme of things, is a pretty good result.

Losing $300k for one day at Ellerslie might be OK, losing it 16 times last year, time to have a rethink.

[curious]

So it's really a shortfall of more like 600k on average for each of the 16 days at Ellerslie? That's before sport, pokie and overseas racing subsidies?

 

Edited November 30, 2020 by curious

[mardigras]

30 minutes ago, curious said:

So it's really a shortfall of more like 600k on average for each of the 16 days at Ellerslie? That's before sport, pokie and overseas racing subsidies?

 

On fair share of expenses, I'd say about $500k per meeting average lost. 

Given real share of expenses related to revenue are likely higher for NZ racing than for sports and off-shore racing, the $600k is probably a fairer reflection.

With the new track - I guess we can have more days. Bring it on.

Some complain about closing Ellerslie for 3 months. I'd be celebrating that.

Edited November 30, 2020 by mardigras

[Mooncoin]

Who is accountable  for these meeting costs? And what does Willie Wilcox have to say about this?

[Reefton]

On 30/11/2020 at 4:35 PM, Shad said:

Used to race in November some years ago I think, Saturday and Monday from memory, both greymouth and hokitika, then again after xmas.

That's right.  But after a terrible run of weather year on year they dropped it during my time as Secretary.  There used to be five days in January with Reefton the Wednesday, Kumara Saturday, Hokitika Monday, Grey Friday and Westport Tuesday.  With the four November days then another Westport two in February/March (often tacked onto Nelson and Blenheim) it actually totaled eleven days on the Coast a season.  Made training here a bit more realistic .  AND in those times(back in the 70's) there was the Central Otago Meeting on the same days as Kumara Westland in January.  the South had more Jockeys then! 

On 30/11/2020 at 9:33 PM, Shad said:

Jim lalor trained at Reefton and his brother Tom trained at Greymouth, I think, Jim shifted to Ashburton later on.Had a few good horses, Charlie's pal, frontline who dead heated the nuggets one year with accelerate, think they were both out of the same mare, do stand to be corrected, as it was a long time ago

Kevin Lalor another brother also trained a few winners out of Greymouth on a part time basis later on after Tom moved to Canterbury.  Re the Nuggets thing yes Jim trained Frontline and Tommy Accelerate to deadheat - one by Frontal and one by Decies out of the same mare Actionette(?) Remarkable really.

Jim had a bloody lot of good horses and so did Tommy both when he was at Omoto and when he shifted over the hill.  Not unknown for them to train for one another - Jimmy had Butch, Great Blaze and Chilton Blaze all for Tommy. a;; smart horses and all out of the same mare Debbie Marie.

[Joe Bloggs]

32 minutes ago, Reefton said:

That's right.  But after a terrible run of weather year on year they dropped it during my time as Secretary.  There used to be five days in January with Reefton the Wednesday, Kumara Saturday, Hokitika Monday, Grey Friday and Westport Tuesday.  With the four November days then another Westport two in February/March (often tacked onto Nelson and Blenheim) it actually totaled eleven days on the Coast a season.  Made training here a bit more realistic .  AND in those times(back in the 70's) there was the Central Otago Meeting on the same days as Kumara Westland in January.  the South had more Jockeys then! 

Kevin Lalor another brother also trained a few winners out of Greymouth on a part time basis later on after Tom moved to Canterbury.  Re the Nuggets thing yes Jim trained Frontline and Tommy Accelerate to deadheat - one by Frontal and one by Decies out of the same mare Actionette(?) Remarkable really.

Jim had a bloody lot of good horses and so did Tommy both when he was at Omoto and when he shifted over the hill.  Not unknown for them to train for one another - Jimmy had Butch, Great Blaze and Chilton Blaze all for Tommy. a;; smart horses and all out of the same mare Debbie Marie.

Weren't they great days? I remember David Reed ringing me to say back Palley one day over there, won by 5 or 6 if I remember, if we could only turn the clock back, I'd swap anytime, great jockeys, great trainers and great admin, what the fuck happened.

[Freda]

I was positive there was a Westport tacked on at one time, no one remembers and I was beginning to think I had memory issues.....thanks, Reefton!

Did Westport ever come next to the Reefton meeting?   I ask, as I have  memories of staying at Reefton with the Taggart crew - Bert Due  [ Bev Leigh ]  was with us too, as I recall, as well as apprentice Stewart Ching -  and then moving on to Westport.  Had my Labrador dog with us, he gave the Westport caretaker's cat a bit of a swish, I wasn't popular.

Barry [ Taggart ] took the horses to Rabbit Island to paddle in the sea, brother Richard was in charge of Idomeneo colt Eidi, they went out a wee bit too far, and Richard's rather baggy Y-fronts got sodden and he lost them.  No smartphones and Snapchat then though!

Thornley and Smith jacking up the scales with chewing gum...they would have got away with it, too, except someone complained about being far too light, and the stipes had a closer look..the lads weren't happy.

[Reefton]

5 hours ago, Joe Bloggs said:

Weren't they great days? I remember David Reed ringing me to say back Palley one day over there, won by 5 or 6 if I remember, if we could only turn the clock back, I'd swap anytime, great jockeys, great trainers and great admin, what the fuck happened.

Yes it is from another age all right.  Only thing is in my memory they were growling then about the state of the industry and they are still growling now 50 years later

 

[Reefton]

4 hours ago, Freda said:

I was positive there was a Westport tacked on at one time, no one remembers and I was beginning to think I had memory issues.....thanks, Reefton!

Did Westport ever come next to the Reefton meeting?   I ask, as I have  memories of staying at Reefton with the Taggart crew - Bert Due  [ Bev Leigh ]  was with us too, as I recall, as well as apprentice Stewart Ching -  and then moving on to Westport.  Had my Labrador dog with us, he gave the Westport caretaker's cat a bit of a swish, I wasn't popular.

Barry [ Taggart ] took the horses to Rabbit Island to paddle in the sea, brother Richard was in charge of Idomeneo colt Eidi, they went out a wee bit too far, and Richard's rather baggy Y-fronts got sodden and he lost them.  No smartphones and Snapchat then though!

Thornley and Smith jacking up the scales with chewing gum...they would have got away with it, too, except someone complained about being far too light, and the stipes had a closer look..the lads weren't happy.

Yes Maurice Carl Thornley got caught one day in the Greymouth weighing room the day before the races.  Told them he was looking for and couldn't find the toilet.  Great bloke MCT.  I used to go out to his stables for a year or so when I was at Varsity in the early 80's.  Very astute trainer too.  He is in Queensland now isn't he?  There were some characters around - Boomer Bailey was another who was a bloody hard thing.  RIP

[Chief Stipe]

30 minutes ago, Reefton said:

Yes it is from another age all right.  Only thing is in my memory they were growling then about the state of the industry and they are still growling now 50 years later

 

Yeah but we had more fun at a lower cost.  Tell me would you get more joy out of your filly winning at Reefton or Riccarton?

[Shad]

1 hour ago, Reefton said:

Yes Maurice Carl Thornley got caught one day in the Greymouth weighing room the day before the races.  Told them he was looking for and couldn't find the toilet.  Great bloke MCT.  I used to go out to his stables for a year or so when I was at Varsity in the early 80's.  Very astute trainer too.  He is in Queensland now isn't he?  There were some characters around - Boomer Bailey was another who was a bloody hard thing.  RIP

Was it boomer that used to sell other products on his trips to various meetings, some told me one day he was selling cheap Jean's in the stable box, not sure how true that was, but given his nick name, may well be, I can recall Westport jockey club trying a few dates, February, March, May, last meeting from memory 1996 the cup won by a horse called elad nova,by light spirits, they always struggled to get a crowd and turnover, that last meeting I think turned over around 60k oncourse, from memory, I think one year they called off the racing with two races left, a horse called mutual belle ridden by Jacki Jamison came out and done an exhibition gallop, getting round no problem, just looking at a program from Westport who raced in September Monday 1948, racing for 200 pound back then, oh the memories. 

[Freda]

Great memories. 

Yes, it was Boomer who sold cheap  goods out of the back of his wagon, would call around all the stables with his 'bargains '.

He had a good bit of luck with some recycled northern horses, too.

Used to give them a couple of quiet runs, fill them up on hormones and put them out with a couple of fillies. 

They think they are kings, he said to me. They've never felt so important. 

Won a few races too.

I recall him legging up the ill-fated Ray 'Hewey'  Hewinson at Hokitika.

Solemnly knotted the reins in the birdcage as Hewey was getting organized.

What do I do,  boss?  says Hewey. 

See that knot ?

Yep. 

Follow it.

[curious]

1 hour ago, Freda said:

I recall him legging up the ill-fated Ray 'Hewey'  Hewinson at Hokitika.

Solemnly knotted the reins in the birdcage as Hewey was getting organized.

What do I do,  boss?  says Hewey. 

See that knot ?

Yep. 

Follow it.

Lol. Hadn't heard that one. Classic Boomer though. I liked the way he used to just show up out of the blue with a truck load of goods then equally mysteriously disappear a couple of days later not to be seen again for months.

Edited December 3, 2020 by curious

[Shad]

Certainly was a character boomer, and so was hewy, God rest his soul,  remember him turning up at hoki one year to ride a friends horse, he looked like he had slept in the barn, with a few beers as well, the horse was by sucaryl had a bit of ability, and was told to ride him cold, well I think he rode him more like freezing, gave them a huge start and ran on very strong to finish mid field, plan was to keep him intact with the field the second day, a repeat of the first but he flew home for second, beaten a head, bloody sad when he had his accident, I didn't know him that well, but sounded like he had a heart of gold.All our lifes can be tough at times, but when you see these jockeys lose their lifes doing what they love, it put things in prospective. We must celebrate each day and get thankful for being here.

[Reefton]

14 hours ago, Freda said:

Great memories. 

Yes, it was Boomer who sold cheap  goods out of the back of his wagon, would call around all the stables with his 'bargains '.

He had a good bit of luck with some recycled northern horses, too.

Used to give them a couple of quiet runs, fill them up on hormones and put them out with a couple of fillies. 

They think they are kings, he said to me. They've never felt so important. 

Won a few races too.

I recall him legging up the ill-fated Ray 'Hewey'  Hewinson at Hokitika.

Solemnly knotted the reins in the birdcage as Hewey was getting organized.

What do I do,  boss?  says Hewey. 

See that knot ?

Yep. 

Follow it.

My best Boomer story was also at Hoki and also involved the late Hewey(who was bloody underrated as a rider I might add).

I think the horse was called Beau Wyn.  The night before the races Boomer cashes a cheque in every pub in Hoki(one would assume none were likely to be honoured) and plonked the lot on the horse ridden by RJH.  Sure enough it rolls home and Boomer whips around all the pubs and buys the cheques back.

Whether it is true or not it is a good story

Another Hewey story which I know is true concerned a 1020m Reefton race where a prominent stable had two in, one stinking hot with Christopher William Johnson aboard and the other not liked(on the tote that is) with R Hewinson in the saddle.  Somehow I got told that if the Hewey mount got round the corners it would win.  Straight to the front and bolted in.  I was young so was probably a two over three maximum bettor at the time but took a trifecta and got $600!   I brought myself a 14 inch Colour TV with the dosh and thought I was an absolute king!

 

 

[Reefton]

18 hours ago, Chief Stipe said:

Yeah but we had more fun at a lower cost.  Tell me would you get more joy out of your filly winning at Reefton or Riccarton?

Well I would like to win a race at Reefton yes but you have to remember I am extremely biased.  The Trouble will be getting Pitty to line any of the ones I have shares in up at our meeting.  Only one possible candidate but I suspect there might (fingers crossed!) be bigger fish to fry with him and anyway he may appreciate slightly move give in the ground than is likely at Reefton.

[Chief Stipe]

1 hour ago, Reefton said:

he may appreciate slightly move give in the ground than is likely at Reefton.

One of Pitty's horses "likes a bit of give in the ground"?!  Who would've thought!  😉

[Reefton]

22 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said:

One of Pitty's horses "likes a bit of give in the ground"?!  Who would've thought!  😉

He didn't say that to me but it has had a leg issue so one surmises

[Chief Stipe]

2 minutes ago, Reefton said:

He didn't say that to me but it has had a leg issue so one surmises

Just pulling ya leg Reef!  Maybe you should promise Pitty you'll irrigate before race day?

[mikeynz]

4 hours ago, Reefton said:

 

 

 

Edited December 4, 2020 by mikeynz

[Marshy]

On 11/30/2020 at 5:54 PM, Chief Stipe said:

That's them.  One played half back in the team I played in.  One of the girls was a looker.

Alister played fullback, Stuart played first five, both still in the area, Al drives trucks, Stuart semi retired dairy farmer. I played in the same team, started with Excelsior in about 1980.   

replying about racing on the coast in the past Westland used to race Saturday/Monday last weekend in Nov, Greymouth raced Saturday/Monday the next weekend, both towns took their anniversary day holiday on the Monday, then in January Reefton, Westland, Kumara, and Greymouth raced and Westport had a two day meeting in perhaps March, not sure about Westport. 

[mikeynz]

1 hour ago, Marshy said:

Alister played fullback, Stuart played first five, both still in the area, Al drives trucks, Stuart semi retired dairy farmer. I played in the same team, started with Excelsior in about 1980.   

replying about racing on the coast in the past Westland used to race Saturday/Monday last weekend in Nov, Greymouth raced Saturday/Monday the next weekend, both towns took their anniversary day holiday on the Monday, then in January Reefton, Westland, Kumara, and Greymouth raced and Westport had a two day meeting in perhaps March, not sure about Westport. 

Gee its certainly changed,Richmond use to race 3 days in a row I think,Blenheim as well

 

[Reefton]

On 4/12/2020 at 1:11 PM, Chief Stipe said:

Just pulling ya leg Reef!  Maybe you should promise Pitty you'll irrigate before race day?

We will irrigate before raceday make no error but it will be done carefully, consistently and evenly. Hopefully the trotting meeting eight days before enjoys good weather and then the irrigation will be all go. NZTR requires a dead 4 track on race morning and as I said in our submission on the venues our average race morning reading for the ten years 2010 to 2019 was 4.2.  NZTR wanted us to shift to Grey with a 6.8 race morning average. Bernard had no response when I asked why they wanted us to go from a virtually guaranteed great track to a virtually guaranteed shit hole.  It's summer FFS - people want a summer track.

[Chief Stipe]

I hope you don't use the Riccarton penetrometer - it needs calibrating.