Doomed Posted June 12, 2023 Share Posted June 12, 2023 I know it's a boring subject, but it certainly looked like a great day's racing at Timaru yesterday. Full fields, 10 races, perfect track and lots of close finishes. The "Cup" attracted a good field with an extra $5,000 put in by the club and a brave nose victory. A bit disappointing to see only 7 races at Riccarton this week: possibly only 6 as a couple of races have only 6 noms with double acceptors included in that number. Just imagine if the NI had a track like Timaru: meetings would be getting transferred there all the time. Any responsible organisation would probably be big enough to admit they made a big cock up over Timaru, but I don't expect that in Racing. In fact I fully expect them to pour even more money into the AWTs to justify their existence. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Honestjohn Posted June 12, 2023 Share Posted June 12, 2023 Didn't start well for me. I take tris, r1 horse gets away. R2 late scratching. Gave up then. But I enjoyed the racing. Hj Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freda Posted June 12, 2023 Share Posted June 12, 2023 13 minutes ago, Doomed said: I know it's a boring subject, but it certainly looked like a great day's racing at Timaru yesterday. Full fields, 10 races, perfect track and lots of close finishes. The "Cup" attracted a good field with an extra $5,000 put in by the club and a brave nose victory. A bit disappointing to see only 7 races at Riccarton this week: possibly only 6 as a couple of races have only 6 noms with double acceptors included in that number. Just imagine if the NI had a track like Timaru: meetings would be getting transferred there all the time. Any responsible organisation would probably be big enough to admit they made a big cock up over Timaru, but I don't expect that in Racing. In fact I fully expect them to pour even more money into the AWTs to justify their existence. We'll have more idea about that on the 15th. For now, we just have to consider ourselves lucky we have the place at all, given their agendas. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwig Posted June 12, 2023 Share Posted June 12, 2023 I would like to know what is happening to the Waimate course. Have the powers that be got their greedy little eyes fixed on a quick grab and sale? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freda Posted June 12, 2023 Share Posted June 12, 2023 33 minutes ago, Ludwig said: I would like to know what is happening to the Waimate course. Have the powers that be got their greedy little eyes fixed on a quick grab and sale? Is it freehold? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeynz Posted June 12, 2023 Share Posted June 12, 2023 The Timaru course has been well discussed and Doomed keeps bringing it up. It is really up to the powers that be have to listen to the participants if they want to shut Timaru. Personally I reckon it's all bullshit but if they want to shut one of Oamaru or Timaru what would you do ? Common sense should prevail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted June 12, 2023 Share Posted June 12, 2023 48 minutes ago, Freda said: Is it freehold? Yes the Waimate Racecourse is freehold. It wasn't owned by the Racing Club though. It's owned by a separate entity called Waimate Racecourse. Could be a Trust. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doomed Posted June 12, 2023 Author Share Posted June 12, 2023 2 hours ago, Chief Stipe said: Yes the Waimate Racecourse is freehold. It wasn't owned by the Racing Club though. It's owned by a separate entity called Waimate Racecourse. Could be a Trust. It was called a racecourse reserve in the messara report. No idea what that means. I think Riccarton is the same. Ironically the freehold tracks that would generate the most income if sold tend to be the favoured tracks that the industry wants to pour all the money into. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted June 12, 2023 Share Posted June 12, 2023 1 minute ago, Doomed said: It was called a racecourse reserve in the messara report. No idea what that means. I think Riccarton is the same. Ironically the freehold tracks that would generate the most income if sold tend to be the favoured tracks that the industry wants to pour all the money into. Ok if it is a Racecourse reserve then it will probably be owned by a Trust. No doubt Ngai Tahu will have first dibs on it. Good luck NZTR getting any of that capital! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doomed Posted June 12, 2023 Author Share Posted June 12, 2023 2 hours ago, mikeynz said: The Timaru course has been well discussed and Doomed keeps bringing it up. It is really up to the powers that be have to listen to the participants if they want to shut Timaru. Personally I reckon it's all bullshit but if they want to shut one of Oamaru or Timaru what would you do ? Common sense should prevail. Who me? Obsessed? Surely not? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted June 12, 2023 Share Posted June 12, 2023 8 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said: Ok if it is a Racecourse reserve then it will probably be owned by a Trust. No doubt Ngai Tahu will have first dibs on it. Good luck NZTR getting any of that capital! Ok it was created under the Waimate Racecourse Reserve Act 1881. The Dept of Conservation appointed Trustees in 2000. https://gazette.govt.nz/notice/id/2000-go4378 The original Act was repealed in 2003 and it probably came under the control of the Reserves Act. Definitely no money coming to racing after 140yrs of use. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doomed Posted June 12, 2023 Author Share Posted June 12, 2023 Timaru is also a racecourse reserve. So ironically the industry won't get any money at all from most of the tracks they want to shut down. Hokitika of course was freehold, but the industry didn't get anything from that either. So the overall plan hasn't worked out all that well so far. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwig Posted June 12, 2023 Share Posted June 12, 2023 And if Timaru finally goes, I wonder who gets the Phar Lap statue? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted June 12, 2023 Share Posted June 12, 2023 12 hours ago, Doomed said: Timaru is also a racecourse reserve. So ironically the industry won't get any money at all from most of the tracks they want to shut down. Hokitika of course was freehold, but the industry didn't get anything from that either. So the overall plan hasn't worked out all that well so far. Dumb plans all round. Why didn't/don't they keep Waimate and Timaru going while they sold off Riccarton, Rangiora and Ashburton and built a greenfields state of the art Racing Centre somewhere near Christchurch. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special Agent Posted June 12, 2023 Share Posted June 12, 2023 I didn't realise the Waimate track came under the Reserves Act but knew some were and wondered at an earlier time in my life if we could sneak a few more into that category. The Dargaville racecourse is another example of where NZTR thought they were in for a windfall. WRONG!!! That's an intriguing read. The club and legal team get a thumbs up from me. One thing I found annoying was when the talk turned to Oamaru at the recent NZTR Roadshow. Somehow members of the committee thought it was a good idea to sell their track and take a little bit of the pool going to fund all the broke tracks in NZ, and put it into the local swimming pool. The upshot is I really want to congratulate the forward thinking Waimate committee all those years ago when they safe guarded their community assets from potential land and money grabbers of the 21st century. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special Agent Posted June 12, 2023 Share Posted June 12, 2023 Sounds like Timaru might also be safe and Phar Lap can stay put, after all donations from right around the country made it possible. He's an important part of New Zealand racing history. Pity we didn't all put in to save the Ellerslie hill too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doomed Posted June 12, 2023 Author Share Posted June 12, 2023 13 hours ago, Special Agent said: Sounds like Timaru might also be safe and Phar Lap can stay put, after all donations from right around the country made it possible. He's an important part of New Zealand racing history. Pity we didn't all put in to save the Ellerslie hill too. The rest of the country has put plenty of money into Ellerslie over the years. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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