Congrats Bernard - another one bites the dust

[nomates]

1 hour ago, Chief Stipe said:

Would you rather have a meeting abandoned at Awapuni or transferred to Foxton?

I can tell you now , if it is that wet that a grass track meeting can't be run it will be too wet to run on the A/W , the place is a bog in winter .

[nomates]

58 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said:

Foxton Stewards - can anyone recognise @curious?

Can't fool me , he's too old to be in those photos .

[Chief Stipe]

14 minutes ago, nomates said:

I can tell you now , if it is that wet that a grass track meeting can't be run it will be too wet to run on the A/W , the place is a bog in winter .

Well the carpark is normally flooded anyway.

[curious]

1 hour ago, Chief Stipe said:

Well the carpark is normally flooded anyway.

Last Tuesday Foxton track

[Chief Stipe]

1 minute ago, curious said:

Last Tuesday Foxton track

Geez @curious I'm trying to put a plug in for Foxton and you post that!

Climate change?  A 1 in 150 year event?

[curious]

6 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said:

Geez @curious I'm trying to put a plug in for Foxton and you post that!

Climate change?  A 1 in 150 year event?

Happens every 5 or 10 years when the water table gets real high. Nowhere for it to go.

[Chief Stipe]

1 minute ago, curious said:

Happens every 5 or 10 years when the water table gets real high. Nowhere for it to go.

But it recovers quickly eh?

Is Awapuni worse?

[Huey]

3 hours ago, nomates said:

Jesus , they were costing owners a fortune in travel costs , get with the f@#king programming , and will you please ramp up your positivity , it may be Sunday but there is no excuse .

Back on the tapes it think , you haven't given them back yet have you ? .

Yep those 3 days racing in a week , thankfully they have remedied that stupidity,  lucky to have leadership thinking like that arent we.

[Huey]

3 hours ago, nomates said:

Can someone name all the clubs that race at Awapuni under the RACE banner , there is no identity there .

Levin, Marton & Fielding the only ones I can think.

What is HB now Wairoa, Gisborne, Waipuk. 

As you say no identify,  no character , nothing special just another race day now.

I guess we can look forward to them all being run at Awapuni AWT soon at any rate.

[nomates]

14 minutes ago, Huey said:

Levin, Marton & Fielding the only ones I can think.

What is HB now Wairoa, Gisborne, Waipuk. 

As you say no identify,  no character , nothing special just another race day now.

I guess we can look forward to them all being run at Awapuni AWT soon at any rate.

Levin isn't , they were in the Horowhenua consortium with Otaki but that ended a few years back , I think Rangitikei is also one , that will be Marton and Bulls , not sure if that's all or if they are even still involved , i know Rangitikei was very short on membership , still run the Marton metric mile don't they . 

Yeah the whole landscape has changed massively down this way . I know people will poo poo it but CD racing is really struggling for horse numbers and participants .

[nomates]

2 hours ago, Chief Stipe said:

Geez @curious I'm trying to put a plug in for Foxton and you post that!

Climate change?  A 1 in 150 year event?

You get enough rain anywhere you get that result , this is the wettest winter for about 4 years .

[Shad]

5 hours ago, Freda said:

Go back and read properly -  said ' my runner '  .....!      yes, he was by Quito, very quick little bloke.

Colin Coe had nowt to do with him, but John Rehu shared in the ownership.   Trained by my then partner R.J ' Mouse' McCann.

My humble apologies,glad I at least got something right, breeding usually sticks in the head a wee bit better.

[Gospel of Judas]

13 hours ago, Freda said:

Just re read this, I was referring to Australia,  in case there was any ambiguity.  Not here,   enterprise such as mentioned seems not to happen. 

The Wild Foods festival in Hokitika was held the same weekend ( March) as the races for a few years, I used to think there was potential for both to benefit but the club felt they - and the circuit -  were better off all in January  and went back to that date.

I know former  president Gray Eatwell had ideas to incorporate a sort of 'wild west ' experience with the races but nothing flew there.

The Gisborne/Wairoa meetings were an experience too, now gone and marked by a nothing day at Hastings.   If built into the tourist trail with additional support from the district,  things may have been different.   Geez, we have become- in the main- an apathetic bunch of sheep.

It's been said often, we get what we deserve, and we certainly are.

That's the thing, some of these country clubs are their own worse emery. Had good events, can build around, yet never do. Then got no good reason, to fightback against wankers, that run the industry. 

[Chimbu]

8 hours ago, nomates said:

Can someone name all the clubs that race at Awapuni under the RACE banner , there is no identity there .

Seems that maybe RACE Inc no longer exists?

https://awapuniracing.co.nz/

Awapuni Racing Centre

Welcome to the home of Manawatu Racing Club, Marton Jockey Club, Rangitikei Racing Club, Feilding Jockey Club and Ashhurst Pohangina Racing Club

 

 

 

Edited August 22, 2021 by Chimbu
Additional text

[Chimbu]

There is no mention of RACE on the WRC (except for a Punters Club that hasn't been operative for a while) or OMRC websites either.

[Reefton]

14 hours ago, Freda said:

Just re read this, I was referring to Australia,  in case there was any ambiguity.  Not here,   enterprise such as mentioned seems not to happen. 

The Wild Foods festival in Hokitika was held the same weekend ( March) as the races for a few years, I used to think there was potential for both to benefit but the club felt they - and the circuit -  were better off all in January  and went back to that date.

I know former  president Gray Eatwell had ideas to incorporate a sort of 'wild west ' experience with the races but nothing flew there.

The Gisborne/Wairoa meetings were an experience too, now gone and marked by a nothing day at Hastings.   If built into the tourist trail with additional support from the district,  things may have been different.   Geez, we have become- in the main- an apathetic bunch of sheep.

It's been said often, we get what we deserve, and we certainly are.

To be fair Pam two things about that March date they gave up (1) at the time Wildfoods was so big they made more money out of being a camping ground than they would have made racing and (2) Wildfoods is nowhere near as big now(the do gooders got at it and took all the fun away) so the benefit would not be anywhere near as much even if they could get their racedays back

 

[Reefton]

On 21/08/2021 at 10:42 AM, Freda said:

Sounds great.   I recall Bill Kennedy telling me about it too, on the Ahaura flat, he said, heaps of available land, enough for a large track with a moveable rail to cope with several days racing,  ample space for accommodation facilities for horses/staff as well.

Instead, Greymouth ended up with the best underwater yacht club facilities - as noted by one local wag as the Grey River rose steadily up into the tearooms, the grandstand, and the jockey's room.

Re the Ahaura Plain idea Pam ironically the very best place on the Coast for a track would have been at Billy's own place.  He had that superb 1200m track that so many of his own and other Ikamatua notables used(Barts Best, Cappiemore and the O'Malley charges for instance as well as Billy's own Conbrio, Paratonnerre, Peligro, Perecolini, Prince Rapido, De Porres, Campala, Machiavelli, The Gadfly et al).  And room to expand.  Sadly gone now with basically no trainers at Ikamatua and it is now cow paddocks. 

Big problem with that(whether Ikamatua or the Ahaura Plain) - travel.  30 miles plus is too far if you want a beer.

Re Greymouth yes it was an extraordinary place to dry out but then they let the experts renovate the track and they predictably rooted it.  I wouldn't mind betting they put clay in it and clay on the West Coast means swamp.  I remember walking around it during a raceday about 10 years ago - there was a hole on the bend into the back straight you could have put a football in and you would not have known it was there. A couple of years ago they got Peter O'Malley to have a look, put the mole plough through and appear to have fixed it.  Certainly much better now than it was but you could imagine my resistance to the idea that Reefton move there.  Our average race morning penetrometer reading in the previous ten years was 4.2 - Greymouth's was 6.8!

When we had the meeting on Messara it was in the Omoto Grandstand.  In my attacking mode of the time I pointed to the winning post and said to Bernard 'How high do you reckon the water gets?'  He replied 'I don't know but you're going to tell me'.  A minor victory to the RJC!

 

 

 

 

[Dark Beau]

I am a member of the Wellington Racing Club. They along with the Rangitiki, Marton, Feilding and Manawatu Clubs make up RACE. 
If there has been a change, the Members certainly have not been advised. 
Having said that, the previous CEO left under very strange or unsavoury circumstances. Since then very little have been forthcoming from RACE while they have sourced a new CEO. 
I guess we now wait on what he (the new CEO) has to say once he has his feet under the desk. 
However, should RACE have fallen to bits, and Wellington have the ability to do it’s own thing, nothing would please me more, so long as they were fairly compensated (or get back the money) for all the land that has been sold at Trentham over the last 5 years, and which has gone into RACE’S coffers. 
DB

[Freda]

9 hours ago, Reefton said:

Re the Ahaura Plain idea Pam ironically the very best place on the Coast for a track would have been at Billy's own place.  He had that superb 1200m track that so many of his own and other Ikamatua notables used(Barts Best, Cappiemore and the O'Malley charges for instance as well as Billy's own Conbrio, Paratonnerre, Peligro, Perecolini, Prince Rapido, De Porres, Campala, Machiavelli, The Gadfly et al).  And room to expand.  Sadly gone now with basically no trainers at Ikamatua and it is now cow paddocks.

Big problem with that(whether Ikamatua or the Ahaura Plain) - travel.  30 miles plus is too far if you want a beer.

Little pubs at both places, they might have been delighted at an increase in clientele !

9 hours ago, Reefton said:

Re Greymouth yes it was an extraordinary place to dry out but then they let the experts renovate the track and they predictably rooted it. 

 

I recall it was re-grassed with the help of a Canterbury  ' expert'..  the new grass had a healthy dollop of clover it it, predictable results....

 

I wouldn't mind betting they put clay in it and clay on the West Coast means swamp.  I remember walking around it during a raceday about 10 years ago - there was a hole on the bend into the back straight you could have put a football in and you would not have known it was there. A couple of years ago they got Peter O'Malley to have a look, put the mole plough through and appear to have fixed it.  Certainly much better now than it was but you could imagine my resistance to the idea that Reefton move there.  Our average race morning penetrometer reading in the previous ten years was 4.2 - Greymouth's was 6.8!

When we had the meeting on Messara it was in the Omoto Grandstand.  In my attacking mode of the time I pointed to the winning post and said to Bernard 'How high do you reckon the water gets?'  He replied 'I don't know but you're going to tell me'.  A minor victory to the RJC!

 

 

 

 

 

[Chief Stipe]

11 hours ago, Reefton said:

When we had the meeting on Messara it was in the Omoto Grandstand.  In my attacking mode of the time I pointed to the winning post and said to Bernard 'How high do you reckon the water gets?'  He replied 'I don't know but you're going to tell me'.  A minor victory to the RJC!

 

Based purely on geographical/locational advantage @Reefton  - a cheap shot in reality.  In my view West Coast racing needed Hokitika, Greymouth AND Reefton.  You all needed to get more flexible about where to hold the meeting on a given day.  If all at one location you'd likely to get more abandonments than less.  Of course one location doesn't guarantee a good track either - Riccarton being the classic example of that.

The anecdote about the hole in the track is strikingly similar to my experience except the hole I found was four foot deep and the width of a football and 5 horse widths out half way up the home straight at Ellerslie.  But then Reefton is perfect is it not?

[Freda]

Geez, you're crotchety this morning, boss....I don't think Reefton has ever claimed his track is ' perfect '  - has he?

Working together for a common gain seems to be an alien concept,  generally. 

The Auckland merger may just be a departure....perhaps  ...we'll watch with interest. 

[nomates]

On 20/08/2021 at 5:31 PM, nomates said:

Can't put a short term plan in place far less a long term sustainable plan . I'm waiting to see what they are doing with the Otaki trials next week , the obvious thing is Thursday , if they don't then the 2yo at Wanganui isn't going to happen . That is just one of the little things that they should have had ready to move on , we were never coming out of level 4 tonight so they had 2 days to have a couple of plans ready depending on how the Govt went . Guarantee they come out with something on Monday which just gives people less time to plan . 

 

OK , i know it was a big ask expecting them to come out with 2 plans ready to go . My bad . 

Ok so i see they have posted changes to trials and some programme changes for this week , this morning , why couldn't this have been done 2/3 days ago , none of it requires brain surgery to organize . Just so slow to react , if they can't make these small adjustments in a prompt manner what hope for them to change the direction of the whole industry .

[curious]

1 minute ago, nomates said:

Ok so i see they have posted changes to trials and some programme changes for this week , this morning , why couldn't this have been done 2/3 days ago , none of it requires brain surgery to organize . Just so slow to react , if they can't make these small adjustments in a prompt manner what hope for them to change the direction of the whole industry .

The weird thing is that they have rescheduled Tuesday's trials for Thursday. Wonder what drugs they are using? Thursday in 4 weeks might have been reasonable. You can always bring them forward.

[Chief Stipe]

7 minutes ago, curious said:

The weird thing is that they have rescheduled Tuesday's trials for Thursday. Wonder what drugs they are using? Thursday in 4 weeks might have been reasonable. You can always bring them forward.

Obviously unlike Australia Racing is not considered important enough to have a direct to line to the Governor.

[Reefton]

3 hours ago, Freda said:

Little pubs at both places, they might have been delighted at an increase in clientele !

Well yes they might but someone has to drive you home!

Re the clover at Greymouth it was nought to do with the grass - it was the fact that the track was a bog and grossly inconsistent(not unlike Riccarton and Kumara.)  Dead five in one place, Heavy 11 a metre further on.

A couple of years ago when they cancelled Kumara I got really shitty with NZTR not transferring to Reefton because I believed, based on recent experience, that Omoto could not handle three days.  Needless to say it did so easily.  I was talking about that to Peter who said he(and his son Mark) had been asked to have a look by Jim Findlay their trackman and had suggested a mole plough.  Ripped up the compacted layers, let the water get away and bingo!