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NZTR Update - Tracks


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1 hour ago, Assange said:

I have some questions.  Aren't there supposed to be horses galloping on the day before the races to ensure they are safe and don't the stipes check the track before the races start? Whatever the procedure is, its not working.

48 hours before and again on race morning.

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46 minutes ago, curious said:

48 hours before and again on race morning.

Oh.  Good.   What an innovative idea.   When might this happen?

The young Mr Trumper spotted very quickly that all may not be well, to my knowledge he is neither a track manager nor a jockey.

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19 minutes ago, Freda said:

Oh.  Good.   What an innovative idea.   When might this happen?

The young Mr Trumper spotted very quickly that all may not be well, to my knowledge he is neither a track manager nor a jockey.

And he's not even 20 , old farts stuck in their world where they are rulers and never wrong .

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8 hours ago, Doomed said:

At least they will have stopped anything similar happening again.

When was the last time a horse slipped galloping in a straight line at Riccarton and when was the last time a race meeting was canned there???

In my view the Riccarton abandonment was the direct result of incompetence by two individuals, the track manager and Mills. The writing was on the wall when horses were blundering (slipping) at the start on day one and two. The Stewards should also have demanded the track be mowed before the meeting commenced and certainly before the last day, no mention of that in report.

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11 hours ago, billy connolly said:

When was the last time a horse slipped galloping in a straight line at Riccarton and when was the last time a race meeting was canned there???

In my view the Riccarton abandonment was the direct result of incompetence by two individuals, the track manager and Mills. The writing was on the wall when horses were blundering (slipping) at the start on day one and two. The Stewards should also have demanded the track be mowed before the meeting commenced and certainly before the last day, no mention of that in report.

The surface issues have been happening for quite some time.  Slipping in a straight line has occurred previously.  They were lucky to not have a disaster with the Steeplechase course a couple or three seasons back.

I don't believe the Track Manager should be held out to dry.  The issue rests with the CJC and NZTR through their inaction and misspent capital have failed to bite the bullet and address the fundamental problem.  The track is stuffed.

As are all our Premier tracks.  That isn't an individual Track Manager problem bit reflective of the lack of capital investment.  Most of these managers have been under resourced in terms of staff and equipment for many years.

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MEETING NEWS

Changes to CD Programme and Venue

In relation to the abandonment at Awapuni on Saturday the following changes and additions apply for the week beginning Monday 12 December.

 

The Manawatu Cup meeting on Saturday 17 December will now be held at Trentham. The programme remains unchanged with the exception of a R75 2200m race ($35,000) being added after both the R75 and Open staying races were unable to be run last Saturday. This race will be a Dunstan Qualifier.

 

A R65 2100m (originally programmed for Otaki on 16 December but transferred to the abandoned meeting) will now return to Otaki. This is a Dunstan Qualifying Race and will run for its original stake of $19,000.

 

NZTR and the club will look at any options to divide races both at Otaki and Trentham depending on numbers at withdrawal time on Wednesday.

 

A decision on the re-scheduling of the Eulogy Stakes will be made on Monday 12 December.

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45 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said:

MEETING NEWS

Changes to CD Programme and Venue

In relation to the abandonment at Awapuni on Saturday the following changes and additions apply for the week beginning Monday 12 December.

 

The Manawatu Cup meeting on Saturday 17 December will now be held at Trentham. The programme remains unchanged with the exception of a R75 2200m race ($35,000) being added after both the R75 and Open staying races were unable to be run last Saturday. This race will be a Dunstan Qualifier.

 

A R65 2100m (originally programmed for Otaki on 16 December but transferred to the abandoned meeting) will now return to Otaki. This is a Dunstan Qualifying Race and will run for its original stake of $19,000.

 

NZTR and the club will look at any options to divide races both at Otaki and Trentham depending on numbers at withdrawal time on Wednesday.

 

A decision on the re-scheduling of the Eulogy Stakes will be made on Monday 12 December.

The Eulogy must be a bit tricky, takes extra time.

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7 hours ago, Chief Stipe said:

I don't believe the Track Manager should be held out to dry. 

Both Riccarton's track manager (Chapman) and CEO (Mills) live on the course, they have access to modern technology (both digital and mechanical) and in November they have at least another 6 hours of daylight time before and after their usual work hours in which to present a safe and satisfactory track for their one important race day of the year.

If I was in either the track manager's or CEO's shoes I wouldn't have left a stone unturned preparing the track for Cup day regardless of how long I'd been in the job.

If my mail is correct there is considerable resentment towards the two individuals in question.

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12 minutes ago, nomates said:

To be honest i'm surprised that one or both haven't resigned in embarrassment , but here is the rub , it is so ingrained within NZ racing administration that you can continually cock up without any consequences that they just keep doing what they have always done .

And how fucking sick is that?.......they fucked our industry and strut about like peacocks, one of the worst offenders was Saundry.......and a few of the fuckwits up north thought he was the ants pants, so how fucked are they?......sound angry don't I ?..........fucking oath I am...........FFS.

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2 hours ago, billy connolly said:

Both Riccarton's track manager (Chapman) and CEO (Mills) live on the course, they have access to modern technology (both digital and mechanical) and in November they have at least another 6 hours of daylight time before and after their usual work hours in which to present a safe and satisfactory track for their one important race day of the year.

I disagree as I have some sympathy for the Track Managers.  Mills and the CJC Board over the years are to blame.  Wouldn't matter how much modern technology you had if the turf, soil and substructure of the course is stuffed which it is.  To fix it requires major renovations like those done at some of the major metro tracks in Australia.  Until that's done a Track Manager at Riccarton is pushing shit up hill.  But all the same easy to find a scapegoat.

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40 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said:

I disagree as I have some sympathy for the Track Managers.  Mills and the CJC Board over the years are to blame.  Wouldn't matter how much modern technology you had if the turf, soil and substructure of the course is stuffed which it is.  To fix it requires major renovations like those done at some of the major metro tracks in Australia.  Until that's done a Track Manager at Riccarton is pushing shit up hill.  But all the same easy to find a scapegoat.

Yes. And the report suggests that various failures by the club have contributed despite the track being stuffed in the first place. It indicates a lack of an effective and well maintained irrigation system, a lack of other appropriate equipment and a lack of adequate education for the course management staff. This is a board and management resourcing issue.

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8 hours ago, curious said:

Yes. And the report suggests that various failures by the club have contributed despite the track being stuffed in the first place. It indicates a lack of an effective and well maintained irrigation system, a lack of other appropriate equipment and a lack of adequate education for the course management staff. This is a board and management resourcing issue.

Yes.   Absolutely.   And I do agree, to some extent, with the Chief, wrt the track manager.   I have said to him, on several occasions, that I was well aware that he didn't create this track.  

He inherited it.  So he certainly can't be blamed for all the issues.

But the former manager, now incumbent at Te Rapa, managed to deal with those same issues with far fewer problems surfacing.  

And there does seem to be a personality clash between the manager and the CEO.  That can't make day to day matters easy either.

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13 minutes ago, Freda said:

Understandable although another kick in the teeth for the CD 

The issues are piling up , on top of all the issues we discuss regularly the TAB deficit last week and what is becoming an endemic issue with particular tracks that were earmarked as "A" list tracks NZ racing is at a real cross roads . 

I call it a crisis now , if confidence was shakey before it could be hitting a new low now , particularly in the CD .

I think myself Race are a huge part of this issue , they have issues with both tracks and Otaki before that when they had control there . From what i can gather they also have real financial issues , which were only exacerbated with financing the A/W , they have far too much invested in real estate and are heavily relying on the projections from those real estate deals paying off , and we know which direction real estate is moving at present along with interest rates .

Now they have race day payments withheld from the lost meeting and it looks like Awapuni could well be out for an extended period which is a huge revenue stream turned off .

But NZ racing as a whole is at a water shed , how they deal with recent events is going to be telling for our future .

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If you are talking about cracks appearing in the Te Rapa track, this is one surface that was sand slit some time ago, many wouldn't call successfully.  Now one of the ideas floating is putting sand on most of our tracks as a remedial measure.  Decisions made in haste should really be challenged with anecdotal evidence.

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