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Bit Of A Yarn

Addington early starts?


Brodie

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1 hour ago, hunterthepunter said:

inky lord one of our best

He was a wee champ. I once visited where he used to train and he had a good set up.

Thats the thing about harness racing,if your younger there is so much money needed to buy the ground and then set up a training facility,and its a shame that some properties that used to be occupied by trainers, have facilities that are sitting there unused.

I've always thought there should be some sort of registry that hrnz could operate whereby private facilities that are available can be listed so as to provide a link for those looking to train. And that hrnz should be pro active in liaising and trying to retain facilities that are there when someone retires or sells,as the person taking over the property may be happy to receive some form of income from renting out their facilities,and would be more likely to do so if they knew the organisation that ran harness racing maintained some type of oversight should the unlikely event of a dispute occur. It could also help income for some trainers who do not have the numbers any more. Just one of those things that is missing,but seems overlooked.

The brian i was actually referring to was brian o'meara. I remember as a kid being at the races at addington and he had a hot favorite that was late getting there,only turning up in the birdcage a couple of minutes before race start time,and was scratched by stewards. Apparently he had stopped at the pub on the way to addington,and lost track of time and only realised when someone told him shouldn't your horse be at the races. 

Edited by the galah
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2 hours ago, Brodie said:

Forget about the early starts Brodie!

Geez the fields tonight being Friday are just so awful flr having any sort of a punt!

Apart from small fields, can anyone get excited about any of the races as a betting proposition?

 

No, but good to watch with an eye on future racing... Easter Cup etc. 

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On 19/03/2021 at 10:08 AM, the galah said:

He was a wee champ. I once visited where he used to train and he had a good set up.

Thats the thing about harness racing,if your younger there is so much money needed to buy the ground and then set up a training facility,and its a shame that some properties that used to be occupied by trainers, have facilities that are sitting there unused.

I've always thought there should be some sort of registry that hrnz could operate whereby private facilities that are available can be listed so as to provide a link for those looking to train. And that hrnz should be pro active in liaising and trying to retain facilities that are there when someone retires or sells,as the person taking over the property may be happy to receive some form of income from renting out their facilities,and would be more likely to do so if they knew the organisation that ran harness racing maintained some type of oversight should the unlikely event of a dispute occur. It could also help income for some trainers who do not have the numbers any more. Just one of those things that is missing,but seems overlooked.

The brian i was actually referring to was brian o'meara. I remember as a kid being at the races at addington and he had a hot favorite that was late getting there,only turning up in the birdcage a couple of minutes before race start time,and was scratched by stewards. Apparently he had stopped at the pub on the way to addington,and lost track of time and only realised when someone told him shouldn't your horse be at the races. 

You are correct Galah.

You only need to go out country and see all the deteriorating unused horse boxes around a d no horses in sight!

A lot of the older trainers have just given it away!

Several of our younger trainers that have given it a go are ousted!

Purdon and co on the sidelines for awhile!

No money in racing horses in NZ nowadays at all.

I saw on Trackside yesterday Harness Flashbacks of a race in the United States many many decades ago for $65,000 USD.

We have races for $8k???????

Seriously, why would owners bother?

 

Edited by Brodie
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1 hour ago, Brodie said:

You are correct Galah.

You only need to go out country and see all the deteriorating unused horse boxes around a d no horses in sight!

A lot of the older trainers have just given it away!

Several of our younger trainers that have given it a go are ousted!

Purdon and co on the sidelines for awhile!

No money in racing horses in NZ nowadays at all.

I saw on Trackside yesterday Harness Flashbacks of a race in the United States many many decades ago for $65,000 USD.

We have races for $8k???????

Seriously, why would owners bother?

 

One of the  biggest draw backs for many is accessibility to affordable training facilities.

The back bone of the industry in places like canterbury and southland has traditionally been the small time trainer,and it has often been through the small time trainer that the path to greater participation has been fostered for so many owners/ trainers or employees,all to the benefit of the industry as a whole. In places like auckland accessiblilty to training facilities must be even worse.

Land used to be more reasonably affordable, but dairying has killed affordability for horse trainers,even for non irrigated land.

For example. If you want to set up a training facility and buy 10 hectares of bare land,anywhere in canterbury will cost a minimum of $400,000,with some land in areas closer to population bases costing much more. Then by the time you put in a track,build a dozen stables with gear shed,power,water troughs,fencing etc you are looking probably all up about $600,000.

Now who in their right mind is going to think that is a realistic goal,unless they have a wealthy family benefactor. There are so many variables to such an investment that makes viability near to impossible. Banks aren't going to lend money for that either.

So what is the industry leadership doing. Well nothing. Its like they know its there,but its in the too hard basket. As i have said earlier,there isn't even a registry to link people looking for training facilities to use,with those that have them which are no longer used. 

This issue obviously needs addressed. It will only get worse without action.But no one seems to do anything. 

Edited by the galah
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On 3/18/2021 at 7:54 PM, Unhinged said:

4 seems to be the time people start arriving at clubs and pubs these day's,  

That is what I suspect too.

They might put a bet on while with mates down at the local club or pub having a quiet beer after work.

Go home say 6.30-7pm ish.

With an earlier start of 4pm could potential get that market, a bit more than a later start for the lower graded midweek races.

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You often wonder if some of these low key meetings need to be run at all,however I guess if they are low key then they have low stakes and low turnover and basically no public turning up,tuesdays ,wednesdays and thursdays do seem to lag in turnover,night meetings now are a thing of the past.there does need to be some exception though for certain areas though as in the CD area.

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