Abandon ship! Abandon sh**

[Maximus]

Max has noted with two arched eyebrows the recent abandonments at various N. Is venues ..there may be more  but the Mustelidian paws got as far three this month - in the 'Naki, Rotorua last Saturday and now Levin is out ...on  a Black Type raceday. Why on Earth a race like the Ryder Classic is still scheduled during the Bog Season is beyond me, but hey, I don't make the rulz).

We are now hearing the usual platitudes from the powers-that-be - in this case Mr B Sharrock, CEO NZTR, who appears to have taken a leaf out of the NZRU PR manual and told us all Rotorua's abandonment was "unacceptable". Stupid word, cos it has to be accepted, and we all know that we will continue to get the same ol' same ol' responses ....(ie a 'report/investigation/committee meeting, no-one and nothing will be held to account ...followed by some new 'policy' which won't stop the nonsense anyway...it clearly hasn't stopped it so far. This has been going on for years and years.

Here's a question to ponder ..or even answer!

• Would it make sense to have NO THOROUGHBRED RACING (perhaps south of Auckland) through the month of July, except on Synthetic tracks? ISNT THAT WHY THEY WERE MADE?

Ruakaka is perfectly fine through the wetter months; and when Ellerslie returns in a year or so, racing in the upper North Island could be shared between Cambridge, Ellerslie and Ruakaka only.

Jurisdictions like Hong Kong and Singapore manage to run their industries with an entire month of no-racing, don't they? Given the pathetically shabby state of our racing infrastructure, the rising costs for owners, trainers, jockeys etc ...why not give (almost) everyone, and the worst-affected grass tracks, a rest in July?

MM

 

Edited July 26, 2022 by Maximus

[Freda]

Where/when do your wet-trackers get a look-in, Maxi ?

[PWJ]

Max you raise some good points which I would be pretty much in agreement with. Maybe jumps/amateur riders only races for 4-6 weeks during late June-July.

The Ryder Stakes has always had a traditional running date of July. It is supposed to be a lead-up for races like the Wanganui Guineas and the old Cambridge Breeders Stakes or the early season 3yo stakes race they used to run at Te Aroha (1ZH Guineas Trial)

[Hesi]

With most of the abandonments, they would have raced, going back 20-50 years.  I can recall real bog tracks Ellerslie, and even Te Rapa before they sand slitted the track.  The Health and Safety Regs were introduced, and now they are obliged by law to follow them

The AWT's were never meant to be the answer, they were primarily a means to allow training of horses to continue for horses in preparation for Spring racing.  This was the case in particular for Cambridge, where all there was, was a track and a bare minimum of facilities

[von Smallhaussen]

28 minutes ago, Gospel Of Judas said:

Sharrock just receiving his we orders from Ellis, 

Doesn't that family have big ties to Te Rapa?

Interesting that the Ryder Stks now to be held at Te Rapa as was the captain Cook Stks from the abandoned Trentham meeting.

Why could Waverley not hold the Rydar Stks?

[Hesi]

40 minutes ago, von Smallhaussen said:

Doesn't that family have big ties to Te Rapa?

Interesting that the Ryder Stks now to be held at Te Rapa as was the captain Cook Stks from the abandoned Trentham meeting.

Why could Waverley not hold the Rydar Stks?

Bigger fish to fry VS

Waipa, Cambridge and Waikato have signed a Memorandum of Understanding, to pursue options for a new green fields site

[Buller Rep]

46 minutes ago, Hesi said:

Bigger fish to fry VS

Waipa, Cambridge and Waikato have signed a Memorandum of Understanding, to pursue options for a new green fields site

I'll be dead before it happens.

[Hesi]

At least they are talking, as opposed to Avondale, who decided not to participate in any ATR amalgam

Fascinating exercise though.

Logic would suggest it is south of Hamilton, for the sake of the Cambridge community, Waipa and even Rotorua and Matamata

[Maximus]

4 hours ago, Freda said:

Where/when do your wet-trackers get a look-in, Maxi ?

April, May, June, Aug, Sep, Oct ...jumpers focus in August anyway is down south isn't it? Great Northern 'carnival' and other jumping feature days could have more $$/incentives added ...couldn't the Wellington Chase meeting be in late Aug/Sept rather than early-mid July? Goodness, they manage to make huge successes out of jump meets at  the 'Bool (May) and Oakbank (April), with 2 or 3 day meetings within a week. 

Look at Cheltenham UK next year 14-17 March 2023...13 of the 28 races are jumps races ...it's all over in 4 days. Our equivalent mid-September).

Warrnambool  2 May 2023 - 4 May 2023 ...23 flat races and 7 jumps races ....
Why cant some enterprising Kiwi club take the nags by the bridle and pull us into the 21st century? We've got the heritage in the feature jumps races and (say) the Winter Handicaps - Parliamentary/Whyte etc ..they don't have to be run in bloody July though!

Answer: cos no flocking administrators in this country have got the imagination/drive/flair/skill to make it happen, though the formula is staring them/us in the face.

MM

Edited July 26, 2022 by Maximus

[Hesi]

57 minutes ago, Gospel Of Judas said:

Prefer see action, than talk. But be interesting if anything happens or where it is.

I think they are doing the right thing though, with this Memorandum of Understanding.  A lot of issues to address.  To other than the cynics, and there are a shitload of those in racing in NZ, it is an announcement that they are serious about a new direction.

It was always going to happen, according to the NZTR Venue Plan and Messara, so Cambridge will have to be sold, which does make the AWT initiative seem somewhat wasteful.  Except that Racing did not pay for it. lol

[mardigras]

On 7/26/2022 at 8:48 PM, Maximus said:

Look at Cheltenham UK next year 14-17 March 2023...13 of the 28 races are jumps races ...it's all over in 4 days. Our equivalent mid-September).

Must be scheduling a big change there then. This year, Cheltenham ran 28 races and 27 of them were jumps races - which is the norm these days.

[Maximus]

1 hour ago, mardigras said:

Must be scheduling a big change there then. This year, Cheltenham ran 28 races and 27 of them were jumps races - which is the norm these days.

i'm not fussed on how many of the races are jumps mardi..the key point is the time of year...ta'aint midsummer or midwinter there, but they run a huge carnival of racing that is over inside a week. Why cant it be done here...avoiding the worst of the winter weather/tracks (July)?

[mardigras]

6 hours ago, Maximus said:

i'm not fussed on how many of the races are jumps mardi..the key point is the time of year...ta'aint midsummer or midwinter there, but they run a huge carnival of racing that is over inside a week. Why cant it be done here...avoiding the worst of the winter weather/tracks (July)?

Because we don't appear to have tracks that can handle multiple days of racing. That is the norm there. Galway has 7 days straight of racing on this week. And Goodwood has 5. The UK doesn't stop racing over winter. They run some very big events in the middle of winter.

As for abandonments, the weather does have an impact. Australia has had massive abandonments this last month or so - and UK has abandonments also.

[Maximus]

6 hours ago, mardigras said:

Because we don't appear to have tracks that can handle multiple days of racing. That is the norm there. Galway has 7 days straight of racing on this week. And Goodwood has 5. The UK doesn't stop racing over winter. They run some very big events in the middle of winter.

As for abandonments, the weather does have an impact. Australia has had massive abandonments this last month or so - and UK has abandonments also.

but why do we schedule our biggest jumps races in the worst of winter? 

Cheltenham is March; Aintree April ...not January or even Feb ..

[mardigras]

8 minutes ago, Maximus said:

but why do we schedule our biggest jumps races in the worst of winter? 

Cheltenham is March; Aintree April ...not January or even Feb ..

I think the variance in weather is pushing things a bit far. Cheltenham and Aintree are festivals aimed at the culmination of the jumps season. So many of the races run are part of that lead in period for gaining entry and wanting to run in those key events. I suspect the winter during the coldest time in the UK can be exposed to snow/ice - which is why the majority of their cancellations occur. I'm not sure how many cancellations we get due to snow/ice. 

I don't think there is a lot of difference in the weather in the UK from January to March (excluding snow events). 

I'm not suggesting that NZ couldn't have a period off racing, or a period of jumps mixed with AW racing - that's what the likes of the UK do. But that doesn't get away from the issue that our tracks don't stand up to much racing.

[Buller Rep]

On 7/26/2022 at 9:12 PM, Hesi said:

I think they are doing the right thing though, with this Memorandum of Understanding.  A lot of issues to address.  To other than the cynics, and there are a shitload of those in racing in NZ, it is an announcement that they are serious about a new direction.

It was always going to happen, according to the NZTR Venue Plan and Messara, so Cambridge will have to be sold, which does make the AWT initiative seem somewhat wasteful.  Except that Racing did not pay for it. lol

AWT's have a life span of about 10 years [give or take] before you have to spend massive money on them again, so not a waste really, as it will be at least 10 years before we see Cambridge closed down or the new track up and running in my opinion.