Are the A/W's already becoming a white elephant ???

[nomates]

The Cambridge trials programmed for tomorrow have been cancelled due to insufficient entries , that itself is worrying . Between last weeks meetings at Cambridge and Riccarton where 7 and 6 races respectively were run , and the Cambridge meeting on Wednesday where there are again 7 races are programmed , where each race averaged slightly over 10 runners per race . Cambridge can run a maximum of 12 runners per race and Riccarton 14 , yet aside from not being able to fill fields they can't even put on 8 races . 

So canned trials , short programmes and light numbers , is the shiny new toy starting to lose it's lustre ? 

[mikeynz]

Fairly good noms for Ashburton, better stakes too, re Oamaru.

[Huey]

16 minutes ago, nomates said:

The Cambridge trials programmed for tomorrow have been cancelled due to insufficient entries , that itself is worrying . Between last weeks meetings at Cambridge and Riccarton where 7 and 6 races respectively were run , and the Cambridge meeting on Wednesday where there are again 7 races are programmed , where each race averaged slightly over 10 runners per race . Cambridge can run a maximum of 12 runners per race and Riccarton 14 , yet aside from not being able to fill fields they can't even put on 8 races . 

So canned trials , short programmes and light numbers , is the shiny new toy starting to lose it's lustre ? 

Surely not , trainers, punters and owners love them!

[mikeynz]

1 minute ago, Huey said:

Surely not , trainers, punters and owners love them!

Do the horses not have a say ?

[Huey]

Just now, mikeynz said:

Do the horses not have a say ?

No not in an industry run by NZTR they don't! 

[Huey]

3 minutes ago, Huey said:

Surely not , trainers, punters and owners love them!

Oh and Fairy Flash loves it as well.

[nomates]

2 minutes ago, mikeynz said:

Do the horses not have a say ?

If they can and you can hear them , see a doctor , oh and start taking your meds again .

[mikeynz]

Just now, Huey said:

Oh and Fairy Flash loves it as well.

Fairy Flash, everyones mate from next door?

[nomates]

5 minutes ago, Huey said:

Surely not , trainers, punters and owners love them!

I would love to see a financial breakdown for the races run on the A/W's , from what i can see on the TV and i know it's not the whole story the numbers appear slightly lower than a normal grass track meeting , certainly not the panacea they were trumpeted as .

[mikeynz]

16 minutes ago, mikeynz said:

Fairly good noms for Ashburton, better stakes too, re Oamaru.

Was just pointing out the nom numbers for Ashvegas, might get more than 6 races, no need for confusion.

[nomates]

12 minutes ago, mikeynz said:

Was just pointing out the nom numbers for Ashvegas, might get more than 6 races, no need for confusion.

You've got a one track mind , and it isn't even of the normal variety .

[nomates]

I have also noticed that Cambridge have a meeting scheduled for 3 of the next 4 weeks , one is the big stakes meeting , along with 2 trial meetings , so that should give a better over view of whether this is a small blip or a bigger issue . Although even if it is a small blip it's not like the tracks are smashing it . 

[curious]

1 hour ago, mikeynz said:

Fairly good noms for Ashburton, better stakes too, re Oamaru.

Enough noms in the 65 1400 to fill 3 fields there. Do you think there might be something awry with the programming or rating/handicapping systems?

Edited July 4, 2022 by curious

[nomates]

37 minutes ago, curious said:

Enough noms in the 65 1400 to fill 3 fields there. Do you think there might be something awry with the programming or rating/handicapping systems?

Possibly more to do with wanting to chase the 30k stake , although there may be enough for 3 races they are only going to split into 2 races with the second a consolation , perhaps they think it is a sure fire way to force the horses that miss out to race on the A/W next week . 

 

[Reefton]

2 hours ago, mikeynz said:

Fairly good noms for Ashburton, better stakes too, re Oamaru.

yes a bit odd to have a feature day (stakes wise) on a Thursday

[nomates]

7 minutes ago, Reefton said:

yes a bit odd to have a feature day (stakes wise) on a Thursday

It's only odd if the organisation making the decision are known for making normal decisions .

[curious]

48 minutes ago, nomates said:

Possibly more to do with wanting to chase the 30k stake , although there may be enough for 3 races they are only going to split into 2 races with the second a consolation , perhaps they think it is a sure fire way to force the horses that miss out to race on the A/W next week . 

 

They did say a second consolation would be considered and confirmed by 9am tomorrow.

[curious]

57 minutes ago, nomates said:

Possibly more to do with wanting to chase the 30k stake , although there may be enough for 3 races they are only going to split into 2 races with the second a consolation , perhaps they think it is a sure fire way to force the horses that miss out to race on the A/W next week . 

 

The saying that only the blind can see springs to mind.

[nod]

These AWT are  maybe O K for training purposes but are unfit for proper racing

They are    very small turning tracks unable to host a reasonable sized field-why build goat tracks when they are meant for horses?

And they offer unseasonable footing-think it through, note the restricted amount of racing offered  to our winter gallopers

I will not bet on them

nor attend them

nor race on them

[Doomed]

2 hours ago, curious said:

They did say a second consolation would be considered and confirmed by 9am tomorrow.

Yes, they may well run 3 races for that class with two consolations, which is quite interesting. Also interestingly they didn't leave noms open for that race. In the north they usually leave noms open if they are considering splitting a race.

[Doomed]

All the evidence is that the AWTs have been a disaster, especially in the SI where they weren't needed in the first place. Wingatui managed to race on Sunday with a pretty reasonable track, only just heavy, soft in the old terminology. Oamaru last week on a firm track. They struggled to get six races on the AWT. 

And in the SI they have done everything in their power to force trainers to race on the AWT. It seems to be that horses racing during the winter months actually want the sting out of the track. Who would have thought that.

The worst thing though has been the total lack of feedback and interaction from NZTR. They have never revealed turnovers and how they relate to budgets, they have never commented on whether the actual field sizes and numbers are pretty much what they expected. Overall their secret service approach has been very disappointing. They would probably fit in well in Putin's regime.

[Doomed]

1 hour ago, nod said:

These AWT are  maybe O K for training purposes but are unfit for proper racing

They are    very small turning tracks unable to host a reasonable sized field-why build goat tracks when they are meant for horses?

And they offer unseasonable footing-think it through, note the restricted amount of racing offered  to our winter gallopers

I will not bet on them

nor attend them

nor race on them

The Riccarton one appears to be a nice enough track - as you would expect for $15m. The problem is that is a "nice enough extra thing to have" for an industry that is booming with cash to burn. It probably wouldn't have been the obvious answer if someone had asked "what would be the best way to spend $15m for SI racing?". It probably wouldn't have even been the obvious answer if someone had asked "what would be the best way to spend $15 at Riccarton?"

[Reefton]

2 hours ago, Doomed said:

All the evidence is that the AWTs have been a disaster, especially in the SI where they weren't needed in the first place. Wingatui managed to race on Sunday with a pretty reasonable track, only just heavy, soft in the old terminology. Oamaru last week on a firm track. They struggled to get six races on the AWT. 

And in the SI they have done everything in their power to force trainers to race on the AWT. It seems to be that horses racing during the winter months actually want the sting out of the track. Who would have thought that.

The worst thing though has been the total lack of feedback and interaction from NZTR. They have never revealed turnovers and how they relate to budgets, they have never commented on whether the actual field sizes and numbers are pretty much what they expected. Overall their secret service approach has been very disappointing. They would probably fit in well in Putin's regime.

they do not liaise with the common people.  Those in the clic will be well aware.  After all even when they have their meetings with the clubs there are the less than three day clubs and the more than three day clubs.  Needless to say I never waste my time but you can bet the info to the more than three days is a lot more than the less than three days

[curious]

5 hours ago, Doomed said:

Yes, they may well run 3 races for that class with two consolations, which is quite interesting. Also interestingly they didn't leave noms open for that race. In the north they usually leave noms open if they are considering splitting a race.

Yes. That seems a bit odd. If adding a second consolation is not dependent on additional noms (and they have enough already),

why wait till 9am tomorrow to decide that?

Edited July 4, 2022 by curious

[curious]

It is also likely they would have got more noms. Not too often you get a chance to run an R65 for 15k with the best available (based on ratings) 13 horses excluded from entry. Of course, that would now make it somewhat unfair if someone could enter late, a horse that would have otherwise made the 30k race.