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

[nomates]

Just had a look to see where my 2yo might trial on a grass track in the Waikato in the near future , nada , there is only the choice of Cambridge synthetic or a long trip to Ruakaka , the next scheduled grass track trials are Te Rapa on the 4th of November , so basically 8 or 9 weeks . 

Talk about holding a gun to owners head .

I thought they said they were closing down distant tracks to save owners money , only when it suits .

I hope my trainer chooses to go to Ruakaka , no way i want my 2yo running on a synthetic .

[Joe Bloggs]

Hey NM, check out the replays of last weeks Ballarat synthetic farce, the kick back was worse than Baywatch, jocks wearing goggles and visors, the vets rubbing their hands with glee, it'll be gone this time next year, that or most of the surviving horses.........only the attrition trainers are getting a kick out of this shite, here....and there......

[nomates]

1 hour ago, nomates said:

Just had a look to see where my 2yo might trial on a grass track in the Waikato in the near future , nada , there is only the choice of Cambridge synthetic or a long trip to Ruakaka , the next scheduled grass track trials are Te Rapa on the 4th of November , so basically 8 or 9 weeks . 

Talk about holding a gun to owners head .

I thought they said they were closing down distant tracks to save owners money , only when it suits .

I hope my trainer chooses to go to Ruakaka , no way i want my 2yo running on a synthetic .

That was meant to read 4th October .

[mikeynz]

I was actually going to comment last week about Oamaru only having six races, was starting to wonder where they fit in in the scheme of things,  if at all yet I see only 50 noms for Riccarton on thursday, seems numbers are struggling right through the South, some of these meetings cant be very profitable.

[curious]

16 hours ago, mikeynz said:

I was actually going to comment last week about Oamaru only having six races, was starting to wonder where they fit in in the scheme of things,  if at all yet I see only 50 noms for Riccarton on thursday, seems numbers are struggling right through the South, some of these meetings cant be very profitable.

Might be a programming issue. Don't think many will go round for industry stakes on a Thursday when they can run on the grass at the same track for twice the money 2 days later.

[Freda]

4 hours ago, curious said:

Might be a programming issue. Don't think many will go round for industry stakes on a Thursday when they can run on the grass at the same track for twice the money 2 days later.

Maybe so...but there are no maidens two days later.

So they should be coming out of the woodwork, if they are there.

[curious]

21 minutes ago, Freda said:

Maybe so...but there are no maidens two days later.

So they should be coming out of the woodwork, if they are there.

True. I meant to say 2 or 9 days later. Also add that is except where there are no suitable races or where horses might not otherwise get a start.

[Huey]

Only 2 out of 7 races on AWT at Riccarton have more than 8+ starters , probably just an anomaly ?

[Freda]

Don't forget - from my perspective of advanced years - I can remember there has often been a bit of a lull with field sizes at this time of the year.

Post National, the winter horses are put aside, the spring/summer runners aren't ready yet.   

The Grigg Stakes meeting at Ashburton used to be the first one of the new season, locally, in early September. 

 

[Freda]

11 minutes ago, Huey said:

Only 2 out of 7 races on AWT at Riccarton have more than 8+ starters , probably just an anomaly ?

Originally, the only race with more than six entries was the 65 2200...but the 1600m maiden has been deleted so maybe one or two of those have gone into another. 

[Huey]

57 minutes ago, Freda said:

Don't forget - from my perspective of advanced years - I can remember there has often been a bit of a lull with field sizes at this time of the year.

Post National, the winter horses are put aside, the spring/summer runners aren't ready yet.   

The Grigg Stakes meeting at Ashburton used to be the first one of the new season, locally, in early September. 

 

True , but surely the AWT is supposed to offer a very high degree of certainty around horses getting a run or no one has noticed this year and they'll be much larger fields next year perhaps?

[curious]

Fields were pretty solid at the last AWT meeting during National week. Most close to full fields and one well oversubscribed and split. As Freda says it may be partly due to the transition period, the end of the AWT season. I know for a fact that some of those horses are already spelling before prepping for grass races on better tracks.

[mikeynz]

One wonders if Oamaru might have been better racing this week and Thursdays Riccarton meeting may have been better last week to have continuity, as I said before one is starting to wonder where Oamaru fits in in the scheme, one feature meeting in July but two other meetings just poked in here and there, one wonders how long before they stop there completely.

Therein is another issue, if the suits want to close Oamaru or Timaru which one goes, harness would want Oamaru, the gallops probably Washdyke.

[Doomed]

4 hours ago, curious said:

Fields were pretty solid at the last AWT meeting during National week. Most close to full fields and one well oversubscribed and split. As Freda says it may be partly due to the transition period, the end of the AWT season. I know for a fact that some of those horses are already spelling before prepping for grass races on better tracks.

They were mostly $30,000 races, so the only opportunity the AWT horses have to race for decent stakes all season. 

I do have a few thoughts to share on the AWTs soon. Been busy attending Beervana and now in the recovery phase. Not sure how I would describe the phase Racing is in at the moment: certainly not the recovery phase.

[curious]

4 minutes ago, Doomed said:

They were mostly $30,000 races, so the only opportunity the AWT horses have to race for decent stakes all season. 

I do have a few thoughts to share on the AWTs soon. Been busy attending Beervana and now in the recovery phase. Not sure how I would describe the phase Racing is in at the moment: certainly not the recovery phase.

Which was my initial point. Why would you go round on the AWT for 14k if you can race on the grass a few days later for twice that?

[Doomed]

1 minute ago, curious said:

Which was my initial point. Why would you go round on the AWT for 14k if you can race on the grass a few days later for twice that?

Yes, there are a lot of "learnings" to be had from this first season of AWT racing. Many things have become very obvious. We are probably getting close to the time when NZTR will make an announcement about how they think it has gone, where they think they may have got it wrong, and what changes they are proposing going forward. It will be interesting to see if their assessment matches what many on here think.

[nomates]

2 minutes ago, Doomed said:

close to the time when NZTR will make an announcement about how they think it has gone, where they think they may have got it wrong

Not a word that is in their vocabulary . Even if they identify some areas for improvement any announcement will be all about the positives , as they see them .

[Chief Stipe]

Really attractive punting meeting on the Riccarton AWT today.  NOT!

[nomates]

On 8/08/2022 at 12:04 PM, nomates said:

Just had a look to see where my 2yo might trial on a grass track in the Waikato in the near future , nada , there is only the choice of Cambridge synthetic or a long trip to Ruakaka , the next scheduled grass track trials are Te Rapa on the 4th of November , so basically 8 or 9 weeks . 

Talk about holding a gun to owners head .

I thought they said they were closing down distant tracks to save owners money , only when it suits .

I hope my trainer chooses to go to Ruakaka , no way i want my 2yo running on a synthetic .

From all accounts it seems the trainers put pressure on for more grass track trials in the region and so NZTR have put on trials at Tauranga on the 6th . Trainers making it clear that the A/W isn't a one size fits all .

[Chief Stipe]

8 minutes ago, nomates said:

From all accounts it seems the trainers put pressure on for more grass track trials in the region and so NZTR have put on trials at Tauranga on the 6th . Trainers making it clear that the A/W isn't a one size fits all .

What size does it fit?

[curious]

1 hour ago, nomates said:

From all accounts it seems the trainers put pressure on for more grass track trials in the region and so NZTR have put on trials at Tauranga on the 6th . Trainers making it clear that the A/W isn't a one size fits all .

Meanwhile, back in the CD, the Foxton trials have been moved to the Awapuni AWT

[Chief Stipe]

34 minutes ago, curious said:

Meanwhile, back in the CD, the Foxton trials have been moved to the Awapuni AWT

Does anyone talk to anyone anymore?

[curious]

I was interested to read the Victoria end of season review of AWT racing and their future plans for that. https://www.racing.com/news/2022-08-31/news-industry-synthetic-season-by-the-numbers

It seems they intend to continue reducing AWT programming primarily because of participant preferences for more grass racing instead. In similar climatic conditions it also seems likely that a reapplication of binder and wax will be required here after 3 years of use in order to mitigate the kick back issues. It also seems that full resurfacing is likely to be required after 6 or 7 years rather than the 10 years mooted. To date, I am yet to see from NZTR or the clubs concerned, any sort of plan as to how this maintenance will be funded.

It seems likely that Victoria may replace the AWTs with second grass tracks as part of a 10 year plan, certainly in the Pakenham case. It would be interesting to know if NZTR might have similar plans here for the Riccarton and Awapuni ones and if they similarly expect to reduce the AWT racing in the intermediate term. The Victoria experience and strategy seem like a good model to follow for that.

In the mean time, the AWTs should continue to provide a decent surface for trackwork, trials and racing for  another couple of years.

[Freda]

Yes, i read that too.

However I doubt if NZTR has plans along those lines, they've only just facilitated the installation of AWT'S. 

As for a ten year plan....hmmm...and utilizing more grass tracks?  Ffs there won't be many left to use.

[nomates]

Forward planning and NZTR , oxymoron .