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Bit Of A Yarn

Comment from Rob Waterhouse


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Waterhouse was also keen to share some other of his observances on New Zealand racing, including his lack of support for the installation of synthetic tracks.

“I certainly think that racing more on your better tracks like Ellerslie will have a positive effect on your racing and the attractiveness to wagering,” he said.

“The quality of horses won’t change, but certainly if you are selling then being able to say you have won at Ellerslie instead of a minor course is a bonus.

“By the same token I’m not impressed by the new Cambridge track and for the life of me, I can’t see why you need it.

“If you are looking at selling horses, where are you going to sell artificial track horses to, as I doubt whether it will to be anyone in Australia.” 

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5 hours ago, Freda said:

Waterhouse was also keen to share some other of his observances on New Zealand racing, including his lack of support for the installation of synthetic tracks.

“I certainly think that racing more on your better tracks like Ellerslie will have a positive effect on your racing and the attractiveness to wagering,” he said.

“The quality of horses won’t change, but certainly if you are selling then being able to say you have won at Ellerslie instead of a minor course is a bonus.

“By the same token I’m not impressed by the new Cambridge track and for the life of me, I can’t see why you need it.

“If you are looking at selling horses, where are you going to sell artificial track horses to, as I doubt whether it will to be anyone in Australia.” 

You can only but laugh a the fools we have running the show here, how many of us on this site have been saying the similar . 

But hey what do the Aussies know, especially the ones left there they have contributed to making it probably the greatest racing jurisdiction in the world!

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32 minutes ago, Huey said:

It will be interesting to see if trackside presenters call Rob Waterhouse out as a nay sayer like they did anyone else the first week of races.

They are a bit like those people who were employed by the tobacco industry to deny that smoking caused cancer and were bad for you , do anything to keep the big salary .

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12 hours ago, Freda said:

Waterhouse was also keen to share some other of his observances on New Zealand racing, including his lack of support for the installation of synthetic tracks.

“I certainly think that racing more on your better tracks like Ellerslie will have a positive effect on your racing and the attractiveness to wagering,” he said.

“The quality of horses won’t change, but certainly if you are selling then being able to say you have won at Ellerslie instead of a minor course is a bonus.

“If you are looking at selling horses, where are you going to sell artificial track horses to, as I doubt whether it will to be anyone in Australia.” 

It could be argued that horses have a preference for Turf over Synthetic but wouldn't a horse who had the ability to win on Synthetic be a better selling proposition than a horse that has saluted slogging through the Ellerslie mud?

Mr. Waterhouse and his wife have gambled many millions of client funds on yearling purchases over the years for not much return, maybe their wealthy clients would've been better off buying a (tried) Synthetic track winner... at a fraction of the cost!

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40 minutes ago, billy connolly said:

It could be argued that horses have a preference for Turf over Synthetic but wouldn't a horse who had the ability to win on Synthetic be a better selling proposition than a horse that has saluted slogging through the Ellerslie mud?

Mr. Waterhouse and his wife have gambled many millions of client funds on yearling purchases over the years for not much return, maybe their wealthy clients would've been better off buying a (tried) Synthetic track winner... at a fraction of the cost!

I know a well known owner in the central districts who had a horse who won very well at his 3rd start on a bog at Otaki in the middle of winter , was sold to Gai and went on to win many races including group races in Sydney . We were quite surprised that they were interested in a H11 winner but they knew what they were after along with their agent . 

The one thing winning well on a really heavy track usually shows is toughness and this horse showed this on numerous occasions in Sydney .

I myself started a horse on a H10 at Hawera , horse was ridden upside down but wouldn't have mattered , the winner was Descarado , there was a massive punt on him and he killed them , subsequently sold to Gai .

They have a track record doing this , plus there isn't any tracks in Sydney anything like our ones .

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7 hours ago, nomates said:

They are a bit like those people who were employed by the tobacco industry to deny that smoking caused cancer and were bad for you , do anything to keep the big salary .

Yes meet some of those types! in that industry. One is a  Employment lawyer now, Is the greatest protector of the working person ever see!. Make you sick! considering promoting smoking for a few years as one of there paid spin doctors and reps...

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14 hours ago, nomates said:

I know a well known owner in the central districts who had a horse who won very well at his 3rd start on a bog at Otaki in the middle of winter , was sold to Gai and went on to win many races including group races in Sydney . We were quite surprised that they were interested in a H11 winner but they knew what they were after along with their agent . 

The one thing winning well on a really heavy track usually shows is toughness and this horse showed this on numerous occasions in Sydney .

I myself started a horse on a H10 at Hawera , horse was ridden upside down but wouldn't have mattered , the winner was Descarado , there was a massive punt on him and he killed them , subsequently sold to Gai .

They have a track record doing this , plus there isn't any tracks in Sydney anything like our ones .

It just sounds straight out to me like they aren't interested in anything that performs on AWT, you'd have to think this is certainly the case for NSW as they don't have one I understand? Will the sales to Aus dry up based on this? If so will trainers cry out for more grass track trials &/or racing? 

I see the installation and enthusiasm for the AWT as being a convenience thing for many trainers , but as per Waterhouse comments and as per many matters in NZ racing the true cost/impacts are never really thought through until its too late. Thats what detailed discussions and analysis are for , something sadly lacking in our industry.

 On one hand we are willing to listen receptively to an Australian who wrote a report about the state of our industry, but on the other dismiss the thoughts of another very well credentialed Australian because it doesn't suit our agenda...hmmm 

 

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15 hours ago, nomates said:

The one thing winning well on a really heavy track usually shows is toughness and this horse showed this on numerous occasions in Sydney .

That's my opinion as well.  A horse that can gallop well on a heavy track shows grit and strength.  They generally carry that through to better surfaces unless they have a conformation problem or feel the jar in a track.  One long time trainer I spoke to was adamant all horses prefer to and gallop better on firmer surfaces.  Other than an uneven G2 or faster at Riccarton.  They also hate uneven surfaces although a stronger horse will cope better because they can pick themselves up when they lose momentum.

The AWT's don't play to what have been our strengths in the industry - big strong healthy grass grown horses.  Easy for a horse to skip over the AWT firm carpet but the money courses both here and in OZ aren't like that.

I had a horse that won its first race on a soft-heavy Wanganui track winning by quite a few lengths - $180k offer the next day from offshore and that was 10 years ago!

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2 hours ago, Huey said:

I see the installation and enthusiasm for the AWT as being a convenience thing for many trainers

Well we seen that when they were confirmed to be built , to a man any trainer that was interviewed talked firstly about how great they would be for training and trialling , oh and racing of course .

The death of us will be self interest .

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4 hours ago, Chief Stipe said:

One long time trainer I spoke to was adamant all horses prefer to and gallop better on firmer surfaces.

Correct, what heavy ground does is bring the quality horse back to the opposition, nothing (not even weight) will take the speed out of a horses legs more than heavy ground will.

Occasionally you'll get a breed (usually the paternal sire line) that leaves horses adept in any ground but these are/were rare in my experience. 

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Cambridge AWT is a neccesity for the coming months or when other tracks are not up to standard.

Horses with ability will still be sold,Smart Trainers know they need to win on a grass surface to make the right money.

The all weather isn't perfect for every scenario, but it does keep the options open. 

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