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Fencers ...
NZTR Announces Boost to Jumps Racing Stakes New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing (NZTR) has announced several enhancements to the prize money for jumps racing, including immediate increases covering the remainder of the current season (May to July 2025) and the 2025-26 racing calendar. NZTR¡¯s total investment across 18 meetings and 57 jump races will reach approximately $2.57 million over this period. The increases highlight NZTR's ongoing commitment to the development and promotion of jumps racing throughout the country. Highlights of the revised stakes include: Uplift in stakes for Feature Steeplechases across the season, with increases ranging from $15,000 to $50,000 per race. Restricted Open Jump Races stakes boosted from $30,000 to $40,000. In cases where these races are split into separate events for winners and maidens, winners will compete for $40,000, while maidens will race for $20,000. The Racecourse Hotel & Motor Lodge 150th Grand National Steeplechase at Riccarton Park on Saturday, 9 August celebrates its 150th renewal this year, with the Canterbury Jockey Club set to announce a further stakes increase to this race in the coming weeks. These new stakes enhancements complement previously announced strategic initiatives, which include: A shortened jump racing season comprising 18 racing days, from 11 May to 21 September 2025, concluding with an exciting two-day event at Te Aroha. A strategic shift towards non-Saturday racing days, with nine of the 18 Jumps racing days scheduled for Sundays, with King's Birthday Monday and a feature Friday meeting on 19 September for the Great Northern Hurdle. Streamlining of venues to improve infrastructure, reducing host venues from previous seasons to seven locations. Jumps racing will no longer be held at Rotorua or Waverley this season. The introduction of the Amateur Series, primarily held at jumps meetings, concluding with the prestigious Duke of Gloucester Cup on 19 September at Te Aroha. NZTR Chief Operating Officer Darin Balcombe commented, ¡°These enhancements deliver immediate benefits for participants this season while supporting the ongoing development of Jumps racing.¡± ¡°Following our strategic review last year, we¡¯re focused on improving the experience for participants and fans as we head into next season,¡± he said.
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Sad history collusion NZ politicians and industry groups continued. 3
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/119832405/fishing-influence-trawls-deep-into-nz-firsts-past Stuff Think this says it all.
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The cracked record exposes further cracks ...
Following Tuesday's abandonment of the Taupo Trials, New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing (NZTR) acknowledges the frustration caused and accepts that the outcome did not meet industry expectations. NZTR worked with the Taup¨­ Racing Club to identify what went wrong on the day, with findings to inform improved processes in the future. Taup¨­ Racing Club President Terry Campbell said, ¡°The Club would like to apologise to the racing industry for the cancellation of Tuesday¡¯s trials.¡± ¡°We have identified the issues and will ensure they are addressed ahead of any future meetings,¡± he said. The assessment found that the Track Manager, who is relatively inexperienced, did not receive the level of support and oversight needed to prepare the track. NZTR also identified gaps in its processes, which failed to provide the Club with adequate operational guidance in the lead-up to the meeting. Issues with rail placement, grass length, and irrigation planning contributed to the decision to abandon. These areas require specialist knowledge and closer coordination between Clubs and NZTR. While it is encouraging to see new Racecourse Managers coming into the system, consistent national training and induction processes are lacking. The current reliance on individual Clubs to manage onboarding has led to varying standards. To address this, NZTR will: Increase the involvement of Regional Track Advisors in mentoring new Racecourse Managers; Provide Advisors with more time, tools, and resources to support Clubs on-site; Establish a working group of Club representatives, Regional Advisors and NZTR staff to strengthen national processes and share best practices. NZTR Chief Operating Officer Darin Balcombe said, ¡°New Racecourse Managers are difficult to find, and we must provide them with stronger induction, training, and support systems.¡± ¡°Preparing track surfaces for racing is a specialised skill that comes only with experience, support and proper training,¡± he said. NZTR accepts that earlier involvement may have avoided the Taup¨­ outcome. Work is already underway to strengthen support, oversight and accountability across the tracks and infrastructure network. NZTR is actively undertaking a full formal review with the Taup¨­ Racing Club and Track Advisors and will share the findings as soon as possible.
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Champions Day ... 2
Hi folks I've attached the Stewards' report for Champions Day @ Elle. It's well worth reading, along with your video analysis. It was a great day's racing with some superb efforts ... And some not-so-much... Noteworthy is that LEGARTO suffered cardiac arrhythmia, so her run was great under that scenario ... Times were slow in general, as previously. ATR are working on having the track rated GOOD4 at the start of racing, so some further "turf" remedial work is required ... Then there's that negative camber around the home bend ... or is that just me? Ellerslie, being a "horses-for-courses" surface, is still loitering in my grey matter ... Even more so on this StrathAyr surface versus normal "turf." Regards Neil
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Sad news...
https://www.racing.com/news/2025-02-27/news-trainers-racing-mourning-mike-moroney steve b
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Ellerslie ... 2
It's becoming a recurring theme on this new surface ... Slow tempo in general; stack them up at the 600m, & sprint home. It appears jockeys are reluctant to move wide around the home bend & are awaiting the home stretch to make their runs ... mostly to no avail. Have they got the camber correct? However, the race tempos are also to blame. As you can see below the horse who ran last in the 2100m Benchmark Rating 65 ran a faster time ... (2.64 secs!!!) than the Aussie DOCTOROFLOVE when winning the Guineas. The Avondale Cup was also run at a ridiculous pace. Rant over ... Neil
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NZ TAB ENTAIN
This topic was covered previously and mentioned the sad history of government collusion with industry groups in creating monopolies and duopolies and the hypocrisy and potential for corruption in the the countries political establishment and its cronies. . https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/racing-bill-under-scrutiny-tab-nz-could-become-sole-online-betting-operator-the-front-page/VBZ5LEUS3FFJRKDTBNSVRFQROQ/
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Yawn ...
So the Wairoa Cup ... Wairoa > Hastings > Tauherenikau > Wanganui ... Maybe it'll be run @Riccarton nek season ... Neil Tauherenikau Racemeeting Cancelled The Racemeeting scheduled for Tauherenikau on Sunday 16 February has been cancelled due to a lack of entries. An Open 2040m race for $35,000 has been added to the Wanganui meeting on Friday 21 February as a 9th race. This race was originally The Wairoa Cup (with club-added money). NZTR will look to divide a race(s) at Wanganui and/or Otaki if numbers permit.
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'Cappers Blog ...
Regards, Neil
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Sheet Etiquette ... 3
Hi Brian General consensus is that Australia and/or Hong Kong ratings/selections should be placed on a separate tab rather than the NZ tabs. Or at the very least kept to each person's own column ... Thanks in advance. Regards, Neil
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Karaka Millions night ...
12.30 pm Scratching Time for Ellerslie A reminder that with tomorrow¡¯s Ellerslie meeting having a post 4 pm first race the final scratching time will be with The Bureau at 12.30 pm ... Regards Neil
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Protected sections of the spreadsheet 2
NEIL, your selections appear to be protected so I cannot colour them when your selection wins. I don't know what to do about this. I don't want to interfere as you must have god reasons for this. Cheers Dene
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DAVE'S Birthday 4
Hi all. Just wishing DAVE a very happy birthday and great success on the punt for the day! Cheers Dene
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Weather Watch ...
Weather may decide TAB Telegraph outcome 03 January, 2025 ? 10:29 AM Michael Guerin @GuerinSports The weather could decide one of New Zealand¡¯s races of the season at Trentham tomorrow but in-form trainers Lance O¡¯Sullivan and Andrew Scott think they have both scenarios covered. The $550,000 TAB Telegraph has been brought forward to tomorrow, a couple of weeks earlier than it used to be, because our other great January sprint, the Railway, was moved from New Year¡¯s Day to the Karaka Millions meeting on January 25. The change hasn¡¯t dented the quality of the Telegraph field though with it containing all of our best older sprinters, only missing 3-year-olds Alabama Lass and Captured By Love who are likely to join tomorrow¡¯s stars in the Railway. The Telegraph contains six Group 1 winners and others like Babylon Berlin and even Master Fay who have raced at the highest level in Australia, while in Luberon it has an enormously talented emerging sprinter. With so little between the big players, who gets the right, clear run through the Trentham dogleg will be crucial as the Telegraph is not only usually lightning fast but almost always sees some crowding and hard-luck stories. But just as important may be the weather, with the reports more volatile than the sprinters themselves. Trentham has been rated a Soft 7 for much of this week and at one stage was forecast to get 60ml of rain tomorrow morning, which would turn the track heavy - but that was scaled down to 10ml in last night¡¯s forecast. ¡°It is really frustrating because for all of our recent meetings it has been forecast for heavy rain on the day and it hasn¡¯t eventuated,¡± says Race general manager of racing Brad Taylor. ¡°The track is a Soft 6 today [Thursday] and it could be anything from a Good 4 to Heavy if we got all that rain that was initially forecast.¡± So smart punters will wait to see how tomorrow¡¯s track comes up and perhaps even more importantly if there is rain during the meeting, which causes the most dramatic changes in track conditions. Whatever the conditions, the O¡¯Sullivan/Scott team looks certain to play a huge hand as they have Grail Seeker fresh up from winning the Tarzino Trophy in September and last season¡¯s Railway winner Waitak nearing his best form again. ¡°Grail Seeker has been trialling and working enormous,¡± says Scott. ¡°I know she has won the Guineas here on a Soft 7 but we think her best chance this week is on a better track. ¡°She is so brilliant so she is our best hope if the track comes up good but if the track cuts out of a bit or gets wetter then we think Waitak might be the better chance. ¡°He obviously has good form on soft tracks, but we think he would handle a wetter track better than many of his opposition.¡± There is a huge gap in the pair¡¯s price, with Grail Seeker opening $5 with the bookies while Waitak was out to $10 last night but ultimately tomorrow¡¯s track conditions will be the major factor in the final market. Luberon has been the find of the spring sprints but would seem to prefer a drier track and is not ideally placed at weight-for-age if she is to continue a wonderful season for Cambridge Stud race mares. Skew Wiff is one of the proven Group 1 mares in the race but hasn¡¯t been quite as potent over 1200m as 1400m, albeit the tough Trentham 1200m can race more like a 1400m. Babylon Berlin is the other way, a straight-out sprinting speed machine but you get the feeling she could be vulnerable late. Bonny Lass has been racing a length below her imperious peak of last season, but the sprinting ranks are also stronger this season. Defending champion Mercurial is long odds this year and that leaves Crocetti as the question-mark horse of the Telegraph, good enough to win but maybe in that middle ground where 1400m is his best distance. A long strider, the big track should suit him, and he could easily win if he can get into a rhythm from the tricky ace draw. While the weather confuses the Telegraph, it is a case of wetter the better for staying mare Sassy Lass as she gives the O¡¯Sullivan/Scott team their opening shot at a feature
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OP ...
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Started by Neil @
Merry Xmas and Happy Punting for the New Year 3
Here¡¯s wishing you all a successful and Merry Xmas and Happy Punting for the New Year! Todays see two SOFT tracks and one HEAVY. The early races on the HEAVY should be okay for punting but experience shows that HEAVY is not a reliable surface for horses and we see many outsiders in these races. SOFT is not a wonderful medium for punting either but it should be okay this time of year and should see good racing and some reliable punting. My ratings traditionally do well in the Xmas season, both 1st and 2nd rated runners producing many winners. In some races my top selections are definitely the best choices and should be the favourites but there¡¯s a handful of races where there¡¯s good arguments for lesser runners. Use good sense when choosing when to bet and which horses to bet and you should do just fine today. Over time I make minor adjustments to my ratings to make them perform better. I cannot see how one can do better than what I offer but I acknowledge that our other selectors also make excellent contributions to the winners table. These efforts cost a lot of time and hours and hours of thinking. Planning and testing, often running multiple PC¡¯s testing out alternate formulas and sself-designed neural nets. My younger brother also contributes his thinking and skills with fuzzy logic and AI analysis. He also provides the data strippers I use to gather my data amd results. SO I must acknowledge his efforts too as I wouldn¡¯t have been able to operate without all of his time and effort. I would like to especially thank NEIL for all his tireless efforts. Without him our forum may well have died long ago. Thanks also go to BRIAN and DAVE. They are regular contributors and produce many winners for us all. A reminder that it¡¯s DAVE¡¯S birthday on 4 Jan 2025. Here¡¯s wishing you a very Happy Birthday in advance DAVE! Cheers and best of luck today! Dene
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Railway ...
Sistema Railway indicative weights #Amended *** Please note previous indicative weights had not included a 3yo allowance for SWP. Significant interest has been expressed in the indicative weights for one of New Zealand¡¯s elite sprinting contests, the Sistema Railway (Group 1), SW&P, $700,000. The Sistema Railway has moved from its traditional New Year¡¯s Day date to the Karaka Million race day, with the race day also announced as a World Pool event. The World Pool showcases great race days worldwide and allows punters to bet into mammoth, internationally commingled totalisator pools. The World Pool is an excellent revenue stream for the industry. The Sistema Railway is weighted under Set Weights and Penalties conditions, as set out in Standard Regulations 8.7. TAB has opened a Pre-Noms market for the race. We have used their market to provide an indication of weights. These can change with future black-type wins. Waitak 58 Mercurial 58 Crocetti 56.5 Move To Strike 54.5 Legarto 56 Bonny Lass 56 Sacred Satono 56 Skew Wiff 56 Master Fay 56 Pendragon 56 Mystic Park 55.5 Luberon 55 Uncommon James 55 Shamus 55 Pericles 55 Super Photon 53 Twain 55 Mr Jay Eight 55 Captured By Love 52.5 Velocious 52.5 Alabama Lass 52 Babylon Berlin 54 Maria Farina 54 Karman Line 54 Illicit Dreams 53.5 Express Yourself 53 Malt Time 53 Merchant Queen 53 Petrucci 53
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Dogs ... 3
Greyhound racing to be banned in NZ ... 20-month transition period ... Neil
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Beginning of the End ... 2
This is the first step in the geo-blocking rhetoric campaign. Some bookmaker sites have already been blocked via NZ -based access, eg. Ladbrokes, Neds ... Neil Racing act changes welcomed as Govt introduces legislative net LOVERACING.NZ News Desk 9 December 2024 Racing Minister Winston Peters has announced the introduction of legislation to amend the Racing Industry Act 2020. The change will extend TAB NZ¡¯s current land-based exclusivity for sports and racing betting to online and comes at a time when investment into infrastructure around racing venues is crucial. ¡°This legislation will enhance the long-term sustainability of New Zealand¡¯s racing industry by making TAB NZ New Zealand¡¯s sole provider for sports and race betting both on land and online,¡± Peters said. ¡°Growing competition from offshore online betting operators poses a significant threat to the TAB NZ model. ¡°This change brings the model up-to-date with the current sports betting climate and will ensure the financial sustainability of the racing industry, as established in the Coalition Government¡¯s Q4 Action Plan for New Zealand.¡± The Racing Industry Act established TAB NZ for the purposes of funding the racing industry. It provides 90 percent of the racing industry¡¯s revenue, which generates billions of dollars for the New Zealand economy and employs over 13,500 people. TAB New Zealand Chief Executive Nick Roberts welcomed the Government¡¯s decision to introduce a ¡°legislative net¡± granting TAB NZ the exclusive rights for online racing and sports betting in New Zealand. ¡°This is a positive outcome which will have national impact,¡± he said. ¡°We estimate Kiwis lose $180 million annually to offshore racing and sports betting operators. Retaining this money in New Zealand will not only maximise funding to our communities instead of providing profits to foreign companies, but also ensure Kiwis can bet in a safe and regulated environment.¡± The TAB was established as the country¡¯s sole betting operator in 1950 but that position has been eroded by online activity since the turn of this century. Roberts said today¡¯s announcement serves as a welcome reset. ¡°Critically this will deliver an additional $1 billion to our stakeholders over the remaining term of our strategic partnership with Entain,¡± Roberts said. In June 2023, TAB NZ commenced a 25-year strategic partnering arrangement with sports-betting and gaming group Entain for the delivery of TAB NZ¡¯s betting operations. ¡°It¡¯s excellent timing for the legislative net as Entain is now delivering a world-class betting product to local punters. In a short time, Entain has introduced market-leading harm minimisation tools alongside modern betting options across two distinctively Kiwi brands ¨C TAB and betcha,¡± Roberts said. TAB NZ will receive a one-off payment of $100m from Entain once the legislative net is in effect, in addition to increased revenue share and other payments over the remainder of the 25-year strategic partnership. ¡°The legislative net will materially boost TAB NZ¡¯s funding outcomes from the strategic partnership, providing a major boost to the racing industry and sporting bodies,¡± he said. ¡°TAB NZ is focused on giving Kiwi punters a world-class experience, in the safest environment, while maximising returns to our local communities nationwide. Today¡¯s announcement is great news for racing, sport and the whole country.¡± The announcement comes after a winter of disruption and just as the summer racing period starts to heat up and infrastructure around courses across the country is tested. ¡°This legislation will enhance the long-term sustainability of New Zealand¡¯s racing industry by making TAB NZ New Zealand¡¯s sole provider for sports and race betting both on land and online,¡± Peters said. ¡°Growing competition from offshore online betting operators poses a significant threat to the TAB NZ model. ¡°This change brings the model up-to-date with the current sports betting climate and will ensure the financial sustainability of the racing industry, as established in the Coalition Government¡¯s Q4 Action Plan f
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FW: Prominent racehorse owner David Archer furious after photo-finish controversy
https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/360500535/prominent-racehorse-owner-david-archer-furious-after-photo-finish-controversy Prominent racehorse owner David Archer furious after photo-finish controversy Barry Lichter November 27, 2024 ?05:00am 0:32 Tight finish confounds commentator, judge in Pukekohe race Prominent racehorse owner David Archer is calling for a rule change after a photo-finish dispute at Pukekohe which put raceday judging under the microscope. Archer and leading trainer Stephen Marsh were ropeable after their horse Sinhaman, who was called home first in a desperately close four-way finish on Saturday, was placed a nose second by the judge. It took judge John Craig several minutes to post the result, one which photo-finish operator Sam Wells did not agree with. Wells was adamant he could not separate Sinhaman from declared winner Aladdin Sane. In a very close four-way finish, the judge found a nose margin for Aladdin Sane over Sinhaman in the blue and white colours at top.SUPPLIED Commentator George Simon viewed the finish three times and also believed it was a dead-heat. Stipendiary stewards became involved after Marsh queried the result. Archer, who watched the race from Australia, said his trainer was incensed over the result and, while he himself had not laid an official complaint with New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing, he had sent a note to the judge to say he believed he¡¯d got it wrong. Archer races Sinhaman with his partner Diane Wright and children Simon and Natalie, best known for their success with 10-time Group I winner Mufhasa. And, while the decision proved costly in a $75,000 race - Sinhaman¡¯s runner-up stake was worth only $13,875, compared with the $28,500 he would have won through a dead-heat, or $43,125 for a win - Archer is more concerned about the immediate future for the horse. David Archer with his partner Diane Wright. Archer is calling for a rule change after a photo-finish dispute at PukekoheSUPPLIED ¡°We¡¯re going for the $1 million four-year-old race at Ellerslie in January and if he doesn¡¯t get enough points, he won¡¯t make the field.¡± Archer said it would be a very bad look for the industry if there was a repeat of the episode in one of the multi-million dollar races coming up over summer. ¡°We should learn a lesson out of this and I believe there should be an absolute rule that the judge must call in one of the stewards for a second opinion when it¡¯s that close. ¡°This wasn¡¯t a nose, it was a hair, and I¡¯m told three stipes looked at it and two of them said we won and one said it was a dead-heat. ¡°If it took the judge seven minutes to make a call, it should have been a dead-heat at worst.¡± Racing Industry Board steward Adrian Dooley said it was not until 17 minutes after the race - after Marsh questioned the result - that he rang the judge to say he wanted to see the photo-finish. It was the final race, dividends were already being paid out, and Wells was halfway through packing up his gear when Dooley arrived. ¡°I couldn¡¯t see a margin, neither could George and when Adrian Dooley had a look he couldn¡¯t see a margin either,¡± Wells said. Dooley would not confirm that on Tuesday, declining to comment because he believed it was under investigation. The stewards¡¯ report noted only that under the Rules of Racing, ¡°the decision of the judge was deemed final¡±. Dooley said, however, that had he seen the photo-finish before the declaration of dividends, the judge¡¯s decision may well have been different: ¡°It would have been a different ball game altogether.¡± The stewards often consulted with the judge over close photo-finishes, Dooley said, enabled by their close proximity at tracks like Te Rapa and Cambridge Raceway. But at Pukekohe it was a long trek up from ground level to the top of the grandstand roof, with no lifts. Dooley said he did not see a blown-up photo-finish - ¡°they¡¯d shut down their machines¡± - but he viewed a smaller version. Asked if the contested decision might see a revisiting of the rule giving the judge the final say, Dooley said ¡°that might well come out in any inquiry. ¡°I haven
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