What a MASSIVE WANK!

[dizzy]

Dot, If you value my opinion in the slightest listen up. Breeding thoroughbreds is a fools game. Unless you have a black type young mare and deep pockets forget it! Even then there are no guarantees. I sold one at the weanling sales last week.... without giving too much away it was in the top 5 priced lots in the general sale and I'm still out of pocket. Surely the prices they were going for turned you off breeding to sell.... 99% of people who sold in the general sale would have lost money. And most of the top lots in the select sale were buybacks or arranged purchases.

I am selling up all my thoroughbred assets and buying more pacers to race. Trust me it's 100 times easier to get your money back. Anyway I'm off topic here.....

Mitch Whilst I appreciate your concerns for my intentions they are not warranted, I have been around the gallops much longer then the harness racing- we were there to buy not sell as it is well known in the TB industry that this sale in particular is a buyers market. If you are breeding for the yearling sales then yes you need black type and deep pockets, but I never said it was my intention to breed for the sales, I have another market in mind.

Don't let me discourage you from investing in harness racing as harness racing could certainly use it, but I hope you are the type of person that undertakes due diligence before taking on a significant investment in anything including gallops/harness racing.

Back on topic, Jamie has done an excellant job of blowing smoke here, loudly and soundly blaming the TAB for our "greyhound" experiment, I'm sure harness racing administrators have breathed a sigh of relief each time he has as it obscurred the real problem here. Perhaps the TAB did call for it, but don't you think that a little strange given that in QLD the wagering operators publicly called for an INCREASE in field size to improve turnover, yet Jamie would have us believe in NSW they called for a decrease in field size? Does anyone really believe that this experiment could really work? That we could do "greyhound" racing better then greyhounds do? The real problem is that we do not have the infrastructure (tracks) in NSW to increase field sizes to improve turnover. Nor do we have enough participants/horses to provide full fields on the tracks we do have, hence we are restricted to initiatives that reduce field sizes in an attempt to disguise the shortfall.

Twice now theHRNSW CEO has called for a 1000m track in Sydney, I'll bet he didn't have a 10 across the front configuration in mind, but it seems to have fallen on deaf ears. I'm sure Sam himself will tell you there are things that he and I do not see eye to eye on but he is absolutely right on this one. Unfortunately he hasn't yet come up with a better strategy to fund it then sell a piece of real estate the industry doesn't own, and those who are custodians of a large amount of the industries money seem content to continue on with their own interests rather then the interests of the industry as a whole.

It is ridiculous to think that we can even survive, let alone prosper, modeling our racing on the greyhounds, they have a high volume low turnover low cost product model, and bitches that can whelp multiple pups a year. The bottom line is if we are to survive (and don't kid yourself that the money from the HP sale won't run out) then we need a better product modelled on yes you guessed it harness racing.

And Brad Jamie did blow a little more smoke, yes it absolutely was a Bulli at Menangle restricted grade meeting that trialled the concept thus it was $3000 races, but to say it was entirely the idea of HRNSW and the Bulli club is somewhat deceptive. The Bulli "secretary" is also Menangle's racing manager and as we dont have centralised programming yet then the "joint" club had a say.

[Triple V]

Geeze Dot, if you think this ridiculous idea was spawned by any organisation other than the NSW TAB then you are mistaken.
In addition, if you geuinely wish to line up on smoke blowers then may I suggest you look a little closer to home? Some of the Press Releases ex Bankstown make Bill Steam Shovel from Mr. Squiggle look environmentally friendly.

As for this bit...
QUOTE [yet Jamie would have us believe in NSW they called for a decrease in field size?] END QUOTE
Mystify, mystify me. Dot, you're going to have to let me in on the joke here, if it is one...or if not then at least explain that. I don't recall ever having said anything of the sort or even anything remotely close to it.

[mango]

Hey Dot

You say the CEO has called for a 1000m track in Sydney, i'd agree with you that he has. Do you and Sam understand that Harness Racing is happening outside of the city limits which seem's to be neglected all of the time. If there was ever a place for a 1000m track it would be Bathurst. Maybe to increase the field size's we need to cut back on some of the tracks we race on and by doing this the tracks we race at more will get money to do there infrastructure up through the racecourse developement fund that's if it hasn't already been wasted.

[dizzy]

Jamie one day you will come to realise that I think AT Bankstown, not ABOUT Bankstown. I don't know who's idea it was, the point is that our infrastructure does not allow for what is known to improve turnover-larger fields and nor if it did could we right now provide the horses, hence the only option is initiatives that utilise smaller fields. Jamie you said it was the tab who wanted the greyhound "innovation" greyhound fields are 8 hence in wanting a greyhound innitiative they the tab wanted to reduce our field size to 8.

Mango I know harness racing happens at Bathurst and other places but you need to stop thinking about what participants want or think they need and focus on our primary income source- turnover from the punter. I've no doubt a 1000m track would be good for the participants at Bathurst but can you assure me the 4.6 million people in Sydney would wager as much on a 1000m track at Bathurst, population 40,000 as they would on a 1000m track in Sydney? If so then I'd be only too happy for it to be built at Bathurst. Melton does not turnover as much as Moonee Valley did, and they only moved about 30 minutes out of town.

Cutting down on tracks obviously could release money to be spent on infrastructure at other tracks but always comes with a reduction in the number of licensed participants, something we can ill afford.

[Triple V]

Jamie you said it was the tab who wanted the greyhound "innovation" greyhound fields are 8 hence in wanting a greyhound innitiative they the tab wanted to reduce our field size to 8.

[VVV] Huh?????? Don't you think there's a fair bit of 'a fish swims, a duck swims...therefore a fish is a duck' about that Dot? The Dishlickers have a couple of spares anyway don't they? The 10 across field at Menangle could be covered in Dog Regalia from the rail out. What an 'overwhelming desire to consume large quantities of Stematil' inducing spectacle that would be.

[dizzy]

Then what are/were you saying the TAB called for Jamie? A 10 horse "greyhound" race?

[Triple V]

The TAB have been pushing Harness Racing for years and years to have shorter races...all over the Mile or even shorter if they could get away with it...and they have also been pushing for years to replace Owners colours with the obligatory Dishlicker robes or similar. Colours wise, old mate Minty Man Number 1 down in VIC spouted the official Party Line numerous times on Sky, ITG and so on and he was duly rewarded with a slot at TAB Sportsbet. Call me a cynic. The TAB sponsor both Melton & Menangle...the prefix TABCorp Park is the hint there.
That's all well and good, they rightly should kick the tin...but every so often they call in their marker when the pre-fab office pertitions get the best of the drones at Pyrmont and they seek to break out in search of something better. Someone sitting in the confines of the aforementioned came up with this idea and has attached his star to it, hoping to become a shooting one within the organisation...and there you have it. Dog Regalia, shortened races, strongly suggest to HRNSW that it be trialled, maybe one or two within said organisation a little too willing to give it a run...no doubt in the hope that in return for their support of such 'initiatives' they may one day be smiled upon and get to take their place alongside Minty Man Number 1 at TAB Sportsbet. It's no more or less complicated than that. It's Harness Racing's version of ACTU Presidents using the Union as a stepping stone to Federal Labor.

[mango]

Hi Dot

With Bathurst racing approx 48 time's per year and having good field size's i think there product would grow with a 1000m track, if Penrith could extend there track i'd agree there is a place in Sydney for a bigger track but if not i can't see it happening without wasting industry funds.

[mango]

Hi Adam

Just a question for you as you would have the info, how was the turnover compared to other monday meeting's run at Menangle.

[Triple V]

Far be it from me to defend Adam's role in this, he and Sam and Dale all know what I think of it...hence the title of this Thread...however I think it's also a bit unfair to suggest that nobody has heard anything much about it.
It wasn't anything like the initial poor noms for the 1st Heat of The Girlfriend Series, which came largely as a result of pretty much the only persons who knew about it being Adam, the Printer and the Postman.
Rather, a surprisingly large number of people, both Industry & otherwise, either knew about it and had also watched it or knew about it and mentioned it to me afterwards by way of asking how I thought it went.
I didn't give it a glowing review (no surprise) but at least they were reached, which in and of itself proves that they can be reached once again.