Blind Squirrel

Them there's fightin words!! I shall be channelling my inner Aaron Cruden - a good former turbo who proved pretty nifty in unlocking those Blues boys last weekend!!

Heard it to - classic On a totally unrelated note - is Hazel Schofer not riding anymore?

Onya Skip 😎👻

Hey skip who are we shadow boxing today?

Signing in Team Turbo - time to haunt the dreams of one of our erstwhile rivals! Today's picks are brought to you by the number 1!! R1. 7, 10 R2. 3, 4 R3. 3, 7 R4. 1, 5 R5. 4, 8 BB R6. 1, 2 R7. 1, 3 R8. 1, 2 BB R9. 1, 5 R10. 3, 4 Been a busy week at Karaka so didn't get to congratulate my worthy opponent from last week - well played sir. Best of luck to all today and go TURBO's

Let's go mighty Turbos!! R1. 4, 6 R2. 1, 5 R3. 1, 2 R4. 2, 17 R5. 1, 5 R6. 4, 5 R7. 2, 6 R8. 6, 11 BB R9. 2, 11 R10. 3, 11 BB Good luck Rex and all teams today 😄

Logged in late after an afternoon of work to see me trailing PJ (no surprise there) but the mighty Turbos on FIRE!!! Go you good things

Looks like they are dominating off the front at Trentham - makes for some very tough picking conditions R1. 2, 4 R2. 3, 4 BB R3. 2, 7 R4. 3, 6 R5. 4, 7 R6. 6, 8 BB R7. 2, 6 R8. 1, 2 R9. 3, 7 R10. 2, 3 Alternative R7. 6, 11 R8. 2, 8 R9. 4, 13 R10. 6, 9 Best of luck PJ and the Ferdies Go Team Turbo – today is our day!

Marketing of the Industry has always been poor and I think is pretty much par for the course along the lines of so many other Industry functions. I agree 100% with you that the Industry has never been set up correctly to market itself and my personal belief is because the entire Industry (that includes Greyhounds, Harness etc.) has always operated on a fragmented basis where patch protection and self interest are the over-riding drivers. That analogy is also true for Industry functions like the dates calendar, broadcasting and the overall structure itself. Because of this marketing has nearly always been kicked back to Individual clubs where 90% have neither the human or cash resources to do any sort of competent job - that facilitates a patch work system with no co-ordinated approach to drive and thrive a $multi million dollar Industry. I have always been a firm believer that a multi-divisional organisation should run NZ Racing i.e. no separate code bodies and the codes as they exist are business divisions of that organisation. That body should provide the resources to create an Industry wide marketing umbrella that promotes "Racing" and the clubs are left to do what they should do best - put on the show (with some assistance from the mother ship event wise e.g. Xmas At The Races). Unless you're one of the big four-five thoroughbred clubs, two harness clubs and biggest ghound club(s) you don't have the cash resources or human resource to do both and even the biggest clubs are limited in much of what they can do. I would suggest the oncourse experience would improve markedly at numerous venues if their "marketing" budget was spent on making sure the on-course experience was tip top because the job of actually creating demand to attend that experience was the role mof a far more competent and well resourced agency.

I find the topic interesting from the perspective of those racing organisations and individuals that are invited to comment and have dialogue with chat site users. One of the major limitations is that you simply don't have the ability at times to provide comprehensive answers on tactics and strategies either through confidentiality constraints, business ethics, the need to provide a concise answer on an immensely difficult topic with many different issues or even simply trying to understand where the question is coming from i.e. is it a straight forward point, is there a hidden agenda being promoted or are you simply being trolled. My area of expertise is in marketing - an area where everyone has an opinion and thinks everything they speak or write is a nugget of gold. It seems once people have seen a TV ad they think they are now a marketing guru. For the main, marketing activities undertaken or just as critically not undertaken based off the back of a strategic marketing plan that was formulated off the back of research, market indicators, the economic environment, the goals of the organisation, the particular wants of your target market etc. etc and most importantly the allocation of the resources you have to spend on it. Simply put you can't be everything to everyone but in my experience with this and other sites, the minute Joe or Jane Bloggs doesn't get the response they want on a topic the terms idiot, waste of space and far far worse get bandied around which doesn't exactly make you inclined to want to participate again. I have seen dozens and dozens of well meaning and some not so well meaning ideas put forward on how to promote, market etc, the industry, and particularly specific events, races etc. and most would fail miserably if they were tried to be implemented due to 1. Logistically impossible 2. Too expensive for either the expected return, the longevity required to make it work fully or for less than marginal returns in the short term 3. Is not in the best interest of the organisation 4. Means absolutely nothing to the key market you are actually trying to target Sorry to rabbit on but I certainly get where those in office are coming from if they don't want to participate - yes they could be thicker skinned and suck it up but there comes a tipping point for everyone when you try to engage and you suffer unmitigated abuse.

Oops just saw MArdi had already said that - my bad

Not disputing what you are saying but one reason FFP on smaller fields is unattractive is that they still pay three divvies but tote only pays for two 6 & 7 runners.

The Squirrel takes on the maestro - you've already tweaked my furry tail once PJ in the Pre- Christmas comp so I will be preparing for a hard fought rematch!! Bad luck today Turbo brothers - as the 72 year-old newly wed said on his honeymoon after slipping back a Viagra "The only way is up"!!!!

The Squirrel had his twitchy nose in front all day but Sharne nails him the last - well played! Praying the other Turbo tyros got something to nudge us ahead

Great play by the Turbos skipper with a replacement winner - on ya Ray!

Sorry team - good call Skip!!

Team Turbo reporting,,,, hmmm a squirrel with a turbo - daaangerous combination although I'm worried about the heat around my nuts!! R1. 2, 6 R2. 2, 4 R3. 2, 7 R4. 2, 3 R5. 4, 7 R6. 3, 9 R7. 1, 10 BB R8. 2, 10 R9. 1, 5 BB R10. 10, 18 Good luck Sharne and better luck Team Turbo... let the battle commence!

Pure Gold already from the Turbos!!

Sorry not available to captain but I'm sure one of the other Turbo tyro's will be amping for the opportunity!!!

I resemble that statement..! I'm sure the Turbo Tyro's will be the surprise package, the dark horse... yada yada yada Go mighty Manawatooooooooo!

In like flynn

Me to if there's room

Thanks for the comp PJ - has been a blast although I think my score yesterday when I played my joker sums up my punting efforts of late! We all love a battler though so here we go again R1. 2, 6 R2. 4, 5 R3. 3, 6 R4. 1, 8 R5. 3, 5 R6. 4, 5 R7. 1, 8 R8. 1, 7 BB R9. 3, 14 BB Good luck to all and those battling near the top - well played!

If there are any spots going once you have past players confirmed PJ I will put my hand up. Once a "Chief" always a "Chief" (even during the Foster era) but happy to play for any team. cheers

Time for the Te Aroha tango!! Joker on the table today please PJ R1. 2, 7 R2. 7, 11 R3. 8, 9 R4. 8, 14 R5. 4, 6 BB R6. 5, 9 BB R7. 5, 6 R8. 9, 12 R9. 1, 7