Why???

[Reefton]

So why at the best time of year for racing in this country would they have a day(tomorrow) with not one thoroughbred meeting scheduled?

When virtually everyone is on holiday and hopefully has some cash left we have a blank day on the calendar. 

Defies belief

[Doomed]

Incompetence?

[Chief Stipe]

Not enough horses?

[nomates]

1 hour ago, Reefton said:

So why at the best time of year for racing in this country would they have a day(tomorrow) with not one thoroughbred meeting scheduled?

When virtually everyone is on holiday and hopefully has some cash left we have a blank day on the calendar. 

Defies belief

I agree , i don't know why Rotorua or Timaru couldn't have raced tomorrow , competing against each other for the limited dollars . 

Maybe they want to give their staff a day off .

[curious]

1 hour ago, Reefton said:

So why at the best time of year for racing in this country would they have a day(tomorrow) with not one thoroughbred meeting scheduled?

When virtually everyone is on holiday and hopefully has some cash left we have a blank day on the calendar. 

Defies belief

Tomorrow a holiday? Since when?

[Joe Bloggs]

15 minutes ago, curious said:

Tomorrow a holiday? Since when?

Everyone's on holiday aren't they? 

[Newmarket]

why, will only get cancelled at some stage

[Tonkatime!]

I was thinking the same thing Reefton. Two meetings today and two they day after tomorrow. Surely one of them could have been scheduled for tomorrow as like you say a decent chunk of the country are on holiday. 

[Chief Stipe]

There are two very good harness meetings tomorrow.

[Special Agent]

These are stupid decisions that make no sense.  Neither does the placement of meetings in the south over the Christmas and New Year period.  With the distances to be travelled between race meetings (i.e. Riverton's sole meeting on 1st Jan) and the spacing of the 3 meetings at the coast it looks like a deliberate set up to fail.  Surely no one could be so dumb to think these dates are good for the industry and those who work in it.

[Reefton]

8 hours ago, Special Agent said:

These are stupid decisions that make no sense.  Neither does the placement of meetings in the south over the Christmas and New Year period.  With the distances to be travelled between race meetings (i.e. Riverton's sole meeting on 1st Jan) and the spacing of the 3 meetings at the coast it looks like a deliberate set up to fail.  Surely no one could be so dumb to think these dates are good for the industry and those who work in it.

don't get me started on that topic.  Next year they have had to spread it out better.  Greymouth Wed 3rd Kumara Sat 6th Reefton Tuesday 9th

[mikeynz]

Riverton is a stand alone meeting, no Canterbury horses  Kurow too, no Southern horses then comes the Coast and two weeks, Wingatui, like it or not the Jan 1 meeting if it still was Waikouiti,{check spelling} would have been the one to be short on numbers.

[Reefton]

2 hours ago, mikeynz said:

Riverton is a stand alone meeting, no Canterbury horses  Kurow too, no Southern horses then comes the Coast and two weeks, Wingatui, like it or not the Jan 1 meeting if it still was Waikouiti,{check spelling} would have been the one to be short on numbers.

Waikouaiti got a sweetheart deal to give up their course and Jan 1st day and replace it with a feature Wingatui date(ditto Bank Peninsula and Marlborough at Riccarton)

I don't really care about the deal but it should be Jan 1 at Wingatui  not January 14th.  It is merely shagging around other clubs like Kumara that do vastly superior turnovers but who NZTR seem happy to use as a  punching bag.  It is bullshit

If we get half decent fields compare our oncourse to theirs(bearing in mind NZTR will piss as much money up against the wall on their one day as they will with our three)

[The Centaur]

People attend racing this time of year for reasons other than gambling or viewing horse flesh. Therefore its important to spread the horses far and wide and not have the absurdity of say Matamata with 12 races.

The other factor is presentation. The greyhounds seem to have wriggled their way into programming by wrapping their product around midweek gallops often restricting gallop TV presentation by cutting into galloping time. In December there were 39 greyhound TAB meets in New Zealand compared to 27 galloping meetings. Further more the dog presenter is now the "voice" of TAB betting on gallops. All the while NZTR keeps hiring more staff. If only just one of them would advise the TAB on presentation.

[Mark D]

NZTR have virtually given up on the "holiday hotspots" and it is a bad strategy.  There's a place for them as much as the "big money days".  Take a leaf out of Harness's book - but closing down these courses means they've painted themselves into a corner.

[Special Agent]

There is nothing stopping them from saying "In light of the feedback and obvious errors in judgement we have had a rethink and welcome any further ideas from anyone interested.  No ideas too small for consideration."

[Doomed]

5 hours ago, Reefton said:

Waikouaiti got a sweetheart deal to give up their course and Jan 1st day and replace it with a feature Wingatui date(ditto Bank Peninsula and Marlborough at Riccarton)

I don't really care about the deal but it should be Jan 1 at Wingatui  not January 14th.  It is merely shagging around other clubs like Kumara that do vastly superior turnovers but who NZTR seem happy to use as a  punching bag.  It is bullshit

If we get half decent fields compare our oncourse to theirs(bearing in mind NZTR will piss as much money up against the wall on their one day as they will with our three)

I was reading a report about the Timaru meeting. Apparently they have two meetings next year, April and Oct from memory. How bloody stupid is that? $15m odd on an AWT just to stop Timaru racing. And people are paid big money to make these decisions. Sadly, the industry deserves everything it gets. They have allowed incompetents to run just about every aspect of it.

[Doomed]

9 minutes ago, Special Agent said:

There is nothing stopping them from saying "In light of the feedback and obvious errors in judgement we have had a rethink and welcome any further ideas from anyone interested.  No ideas too small for consideration."

If they were to ask for feedback from anyone interested they might as well fly them all the Wgtn and put them up in a couple of rooms somewhere, then take them both out to breakfast the next day.

[Special Agent]

Nothing will change if everyone stays silent.  Phone, fax, text, write or email.  And don't stop!!

[Reefton]

2 hours ago, Special Agent said:

Nothing will change if everyone stays silent.  Phone, fax, text, write or email.  And don't stop!!

Been there done that over and over.  And the vast majority of times totally ignored

[Reefton]

3 hours ago, Doomed said:

I was reading a report about the Timaru meeting. Apparently they have two meetings next year, April and Oct from memory. How bloody stupid is that? $15m odd on an AWT just to stop Timaru racing. And people are paid big money to make these decisions. Sadly, the industry deserves everything it gets. They have allowed incompetents to run just about every aspect of it.

When the harness finish with Timaru the Thoroughbreds will soon follow then the course will come under the Racing Act 'theft' provisions.  I know it is leasehold but there will be a lot of worth to the Clubs(ie NZTR & HRNZ) in relinquishing the lease.  The ownership trust(?????) will then be free to subdivide and sell a quite attractive piece of real estate.

[Doomed]

2 minutes ago, Reefton said:

Been there done that over and over.  And the vast majority of times totally ignored

Yes, I think they have pretty much ridden out any opposition, and pretty pleased with themselves that they have got their way. The arrogance is astounding.

Ironically, most of the current management will hardly be needed in a couple of years when all we have left is Ellerslie and three AWTs, none of which will attract anyone on course. And they will probably wonder why nobody seems to bet off course either, and then suddenly owners dry up as well. I suppose they can then concentrate on sports betting; so much easier.

[Freda]

10 hours ago, Doomed said:

I was reading a report about the Timaru meeting. Apparently they have two meetings next year, April and Oct from memory. How bloody stupid is that? $15m odd on an AWT just to stop Timaru racing. And people are paid big money to make these decisions. Sadly, the industry deserves everything it gets. They have allowed incompetents to run just about every aspect of it.

Where does the Timaru Cup sit?   it's bad enough that it has now been lobbed into an industry day.

[Freda]

10 hours ago, Doomed said:

I was reading a report about the Timaru meeting. Apparently they have two meetings next year, April and Oct from memory. How bloody stupid is that? $15m odd on an AWT just to stop Timaru racing. And people are paid big money to make these decisions. Sadly, the industry deserves everything it gets. They have allowed incompetents to run just about every aspect of it.

Yes.  That is beyond sad..but, nowhere - apart from on here and, occasionally, the other websites - can one find any informed opinion and progressive ideas.  Hell, any ideas, even regressive ideas might be better, looking back to when things worked may not be so bad after all.

I watched an interview with Daniel Nakhle recently, where he was being commended for his innovation wrt the Jockey's academy, and also his part in bringing out the two classy S.A riders.  But - and I'm sure we all appreciate his innovation and financial support to the industry - he was giving Sharrock and George glowing credit for their leadership and forward thinking.  Really ?  or was it tongue-in-cheek ?  I haven't quite decided.

[Freda]

6 hours ago, Reefton said:

Been there done that over and over.  And the vast majority of times totally ignored

Yes.  I recall the excellent work done, free, in the Purcell/Goodson era, about handicapping/allowances and a fair bit more, and I doubt if it even got read.   Most likely binned.

I mentioned same to Saundry at one of his early road shows, and he looked surprised, and said, oh, I haven't seen that.  I did manage to send him some info from the one of the authors, but never got any acknowledgement of receipt and no doubt it got binned too.

I ran into Marty Burns at one Rangiora trials meeting.  He had originally been with the R.B but had relocated to NZTR.   I introduced myself, and started on a really good note by first asking him how he could justify going from one dysfunctional organisation to another.  To his credit, he covered his astonishment, and said, grinning, Mr. Purcell told me to watch out for you.

I speak with Marty often.  I tell him that he pays the price for ALWAYS being available, even when not at work.  Frequently, no one answers the phone at NZTR, so Marty gets the job of dealing with whatever problem I have.   Generally, the right contact is promptly found, or else he promises to deal with whatever.  And he does.

I am, however, just one individual, with no status as such, and of no importance in the greater scheme of things.  But when the likes of Reefton get little attention paid to him, the outlook is bleak.