Last Friday nights meeting at Alexandra Park started at the unbelievably late time of 6.44 pm (usually two races have been run by this time) and finished at 10.50 pm (by which time the lounges were fairly desserted except for a few who obviously had imbibed too much and weren't betting anyway.
Tomorrow's meeting at Cambridge starts at 5.07 pm and extends right through to 10.32 pm. The intervals between races are (in minutes) 35, 39, 40, 39, 35, 35, 37, 33, and 32. This on a Thursday night when people have to work the next day. The standard answer is "these are the times given by the TAB"!!!! Have they ever heard the saying "A quick game is a good game". I get very annoyed with administrators who blindly accept such roughshod treatment without so much as a peep. The Industry is in a crisis situation as it is without further fuelling the spiralling downfall.
I know nothing will be done, or attempted to be done, but the patrons must let the administrators know their feelings. This was written before seeing the turnover for last Friday's Auckland meeting, so if such programming proves to have been beneficial, then I will eat humble pie.
Interested to read others views.