Levin Classic Day

[nomates]

If ever we needed a screen shot of how bad NZ racing is travelling just have a look at camera shot of the Otaki stands and public areas 15 mins out from the first race . What has happened to this day , used to be shoulder to shoulder , real carnival day . I think i seen 3/4 people in the members . It's a disgrace what NZTR and the LRC have done to this day . It's a crying shame , this used to be a highlight for the people of the Horowhenua .

[mikeynz]

57 minutes ago, nomates said:

If ever we needed a screen shot of how bad NZ racing is travelling just have a look at camera shot of the Otaki stands and public areas 15 mins out from the first race . What has happened to this day , used to be shoulder to shoulder , real carnival day . I think i seen 3/4 people in the members . It's a disgrace what NZTR and the LRC have done to this day . It's a crying shame , this used to be a highlight for the people of the Horowhenua .

Most camera shots of racecourses are the same.i notice it everytime,one thing I've also noted is mist of the racedays over xmas,new year are industry days,only a year or two ago a lot of the days were getting a handful of runners in lots of the races,be interesting to see how fields stack up in the next while.

[nomates]

4 minutes ago, mikeynz said:

Most camera shots of racecourses are the same.i notice it everytime,one thing I've also noted is mist of the racedays over xmas,new year are industry days,only a year or two ago a lot of the days were getting a handful of runners in lots of the races,be interesting to see how fields stack up in the next while.

This was an ICONIC day , as they now call them , been run down to nothing more than an expensive industry day .

[Freda]

15 minutes ago, nomates said:

This was an ICONIC day , as they now call them , been run down to nothing more than an expensive industry day .

There has been so much tinkering with dates and overall structure that the general public - or at least those who give a toss - have no idea what is happening where.

[nomates]

There has been absolutely no local advertising in the Horowhenua around todays meeting . This meeting used to be choka , members full , tents along the rail in front of public stand with no spare room on the rest of the lawn , out the back was wall to wall tents and marques , the best day of the year without question . As i said it is a slice of the precarious position that NZ racing is in , all the A/W tracks and bullshit hype in the world will solve the malaise we are in . 

[Joe Bloggs]

55 minutes ago, nomates said:

There has been absolutely no local advertising in the Horowhenua around todays meeting . This meeting used to be choka , members full , tents along the rail in front of public stand with no spare room on the rest of the lawn , out the back was wall to wall tents and marques , the best day of the year without question . As i said it is a slice of the precarious position that NZ racing is in , all the A/W tracks and bullshit hype in the world will solve the malaise we are in . 

You only have to look at the suits from Petone to find one of the causes NM.....they wouldn't have a clue about marketing, promo's or in fact any bloody thing. When the CEO has to ask if you gallop them everyday you know just what the problem is. A decade or more of the wrong people in the wrong jobs. No one accountable and hence you have industry destruction .......it's only a matter of time before they ask for GOV help, Levin RC should have known, you can't just blame the weather, it's a cultural thing now, and changing a culture is extremely difficult.

[nomates]

21 minutes ago, Joe Bloggs said:

You only have to look at the suits from Petone to find one of the causes NM.....they wouldn't have a clue about marketing, promo's or in fact any bloody thing. When the CEO has to ask if you gallop them everyday you know just what the problem is. A decade or more of the wrong people in the wrong jobs. No one accountable and hence you have industry destruction .......it's only a matter of time before they ask for GOV help, Levin RC should have known, you can't just blame the weather, it's a cultural thing now, and changing a culture is extremely difficult.

LRC are complicit in the demise of this day , they should have had the balls to tell NZTR where to go when they were threatened with losing the classics G1 status if they didn't allow it to be run at Trentham , they should have said fine we will go to G2 , it's true status if not G3 , but at least we keep the race at Otaki . Now both days are non events , the Levin Classic at Trentham has no real identity there , and today as we can see is not even a shadow of it's former self , it's a skeleton with the bones picked clean . 

You ever go to a race day where you just don't want it to get to the last race , you just want it to go on and on because everyone is having such a great time , this was one of those . A massive loss , but unfortunately there are now so many others . 

But it is OK they have the solve , A/W's along with a lot of bluster about how great the figures are for the new season . I hope the numbers hold , but it's not enough , it's a holding pattern , but eventually you have to come down to earth and realize that just staying in the same place is a decreasing circle . It needs so much more to go forward .

[Joe Bloggs]

If you and I can see it, oh, and most on here, why the hell can't Petone see it......maybe the northern cartel rules their thought processes? They rule just about every other bloody thing in racing.

[Joe Bloggs]

Can you imagine what happens if TAB CORP give them the flick re commingling? Now that would be interesting, how are they going to fund racing sheerly on the domestic product.

[nomates]

7 minutes ago, Joe Bloggs said:

If you and I can see it, oh, and most on here, why the hell can't Petone see it......maybe the northern cartel rules their thought processes? They rule just about every other bloody thing in racing.

Emperor's clothes .

[Huey]

34 minutes ago, nomates said:

LRC are complicit in the demise of this day , they should have had the balls to tell NZTR where to go when they were threatened with losing the classics G1 status if they didn't allow it to be run at Trentham , they should have said fine we will go to G2 , it's true status if not G3 , but at least we keep the race at Otaki . Now both days are non events , the Levin Classic at Trentham has no real identity there , and today as we can see is not even a shadow of it's former self , it's a skeleton with the bones picked clean . 

You ever go to a race day where you just don't want it to get to the last race , you just want it to go on and on because everyone is having such a great time , this was one of those . A massive loss , but unfortunately there are now so many others . 

But it is OK they have the solve , A/W's along with a lot of bluster about how great the figures are for the new season . I hope the numbers hold , but it's not enough , it's a holding pattern , but eventually you have to come down to earth and realize that just staying in the same place is a decreasing circle . It needs so much more to go forward .

As you say many race meetings have been ruined , this being one of them.

I find most meetings in NZ these days to be boring standardised dross, each one just a corporate kerfuffle to sell booze & have a party.

The character has been removed from the sport, I blame the current regime at least Purcell and his crew understood the importance of different venues , dates and showed a degree of fairness , certainly not the case with the current lot! 

JB has rightly pointed out they are being (mis) guided by a number of individuals and clubs up North and that simply won't change and if youre not in the club youre probably wasting your time.

Just to show how ineffective they are at promoting the sport , they had a gift of a horse win there (Otaki) today who has a lot of character and a bit of a story behind him, should be as well known in NZ as the local MP and people should have been bunking work to go watch him , is it any wonder TA choose to promote themselves even though they dominate local racing media.

 

[Chief Stipe]

6 hours ago, nomates said:

There has been absolutely no local advertising in the Horowhenua around todays meeting . This meeting used to be choka , members full , tents along the rail in front of public stand with no spare room on the rest of the lawn , out the back was wall to wall tents and marques , the best day of the year without question . As i said it is a slice of the precarious position that NZ racing is in , all the A/W tracks and bullshit hype in the world will solve the malaise we are in . 

I used to rush to find a TV when it was the Bayer Classic.  Nip out of lectures when at Uni or nip down to the pub if I was working.

[Freda]

A very experienced racing administrator said to me, mess with tradition at your peril.  

Tradition has been messed with, for sure, and look at the mess that now prevails.

[Chief Stipe]

34 minutes ago, Freda said:

A very experienced racing administrator said to me, mess with tradition at your peril.  

Tradition has been messed with, for sure, and look at the mess that now prevails.

Yep.  I have fond memories of sitting down on Boxing Day having gorged on left overs (hardly scraps!) from the previous day to watch the Derby from Ellerslie.  First thing in the morning was to listen to the scratchings on the radio.  Then nip down to the TAB to get all the yellow slips with out bets on.  It became a tradition at home and I continued it wherever I was.  They moved it in 2006 and it was downhill from there.  But eh I'm just a pale white male living in the past - the BGP know better.

[curious]

11 hours ago, Chief Stipe said:

I used to rush to find a TV when it was the Bayer Classic.  Nip out of lectures when at Uni or nip down to the pub if I was working.

I liked to skip out of uni for the day with a few mates, one from Levin whose parents would host us for brunch before we headed to the track. Same for every Levin meeting.  Yesterday, didn't even bother to turn on the tv. That may be indicative of the reason I never completed my vet degree!

Edited November 26, 2020 by curious

[Chief Stipe]

4 minutes ago, curious said:

I liked to skip out of uni for the day with a few mates,

No doubt there were some Uni Lecturers lurking on course as well!  Where better to study horse anatomy and physiology in a practical sense.  Even probability, statistics and biometrics.

[curious]

I remember spotting a few apparently conducting an off campus research meeting.

[Chief Stipe]

4 minutes ago, curious said:

I remember spotting a few apparently conducting an off campus research meeting.

Oh how things have changed and may I say definitely NOT for the better.  In primary school I used to run the sweep for the Ali boxing matches - 20 cents a pick (I can't remember the takeout rate).  Then we would get let off early to go home and watch on TV.  There was some advantage to being educated by Irish nuns.