Te Akau Tuesday Update

David writes:

My update of yesterday has attracted plenty of discussion and I want to make it very clear exactly what I meant.

One of my main points was that it is unacceptable that these frequent cancellations occur without any immediate communication from the New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing (NZTR) Board or its management team.

Perhaps the message got through as late yesterday by some miracle an update on the Waipa situation from NZTR appeared on its "Loveracing" website, written by its communications' manager.

There is just so much hard work by a trainer and stable team, and expense for owners, that goes in to getting a horse to the races. So simply having the Racing Integrity stewards make an announcement with no timely statement of information from NZTR is not good enough and not acceptable. NZTR simply was once again not on the front foot.

I also wish to reiterate that I am not saying that we need to keep every track in the North Island. Everybody understands that we have too many tracks but what I do know, with my years of running a stable, is that at present the industry needs the Avondale course proper if we are going to have weekly trials and regular racing through August, September and October.

It's all very well having a great Spring Carnival at Hawke's Bay but you need tracks up here to get the horses ready to compete at that Carnival and that is why we currently need Avondale. It has a key role to play - as for the facilities well that is another matter as we all know - I am talking about the crucial need for the track.

Now let me move on to all-weather tracks. Everybody would much prefer to have a beautiful grass track to gallop on but the cost of having grass tracks at this time of the year is too much. We are climatically challenged that we all know. We have something like 52 inches of rain a year in the Auckland/Waikato regions and a good percentage of this comes in June-September, so it does make sense to have an all-weather track to trial and race on in these months.

The government has already stated that it realises the importance of racing to the general economy and is prepared to contribute to the funding of at least one all-weather track.

So now there are two issues for the industry:

1. The Cambridge training track and its current situation, and
2. Where should the all-weather track be located.

Now firstly I want to make this point - the Cambridge training track is critically important to New Zealand racing. Simple fact. It is the largest training centre numbers-wise and it is where many of our very best trainers are based. So Cambridge needs top training facilities to operate - I think we all agree with this.

A really good all-weather training track anywhere between $4 million - $7 million depending on what option is taken. If the Cambridge Jockey Club cannot afford all of this then certainly the industry needs to help. That is a very easy decision.

This week we have Mark Walker staying on the farm. Mark trains 66 horses (the maximum allowed) in Singapore and currently has a 13-win lead on the Trainers' Premiership. In Singapore they have one racing venue at Kranji that handles all of the training and racing of the horses. Bearing in mind there are seven different training tracks at the complex.

It is interesting to hear Mark's views with his raft of experience - he is adamant that it is not feasible to have 1200 horses in trackwork and then have the course ready for trials and racing, all on a single all-weather track. He is one of a number of highly experienced trainers who have expressed this view to me.

So why wouldn't NZTR, which after all is allocating taxpayers money, go to the Clubs and ask for expressions of interest for the all-weather track and then draw up a short-list with explanatory notes, and conduct a thorough feasibility study in to where the location should be. In other words, these are big dollars, let's do the homework properly and get the job done correctly.

NZTR has been pushing for a "Greenfields" venue in the Waikato and of course it is sensible to investigate this but to have an all-weather track at Cambridge for training and racing defies logic where there is also at least a 50/50 chance that the Cambridge training track could well be closed in four-eight years.

Some people say that NZTR still pushing for the all-weather racetrack to go to the Cambridge training centre where there are no facilities for owners, sponsors etc. makes no sense. I am not saying that you need a big stand at all, but you do need a good, tidy, warm area for sponsors to go and bring their teams and for owners and other participants to spend the day if you are going to race say every Wednesday through the winter months.

Despite the odd negative, even personal, comment thrown my way on this topic, I am undeterred - silence is not an option and industry participants should be able to stick their head above the parapets and express their genuine concerns. I think it is unacceptable that other Clubs such as Ellerslie, Counties, Waikato, Matamata, Te Aroha, Taupo etc have not been asked to register interest or submit a proposal. Just another of many foregone conclusions - all the industry wants to see is a transparent and logical decision making process communicated to it.

If we "don't understand" then perhaps we need to receive frequent, up to date and open communication.

The good news is that the Racing Reform Bill is on its way and I think there is plenty of upside to this legislation. When this comes into law very soon, the industry will be run by a Board called RITA, which effectively sees the dissolution of MAC (the Ministerial Advisory Committee). The talent on MAC has ensured a comprehensive delivery of information to the Minister. MAC has been chaired by Dean McKenzie - Dean is one of the best administrators we have seen in my time in racing - I do hope we see him feature on RITA as big changes are on the way for certain.

Let's hope RITA can encourage NZTR to re-structure as at present it simply isn't working. Last time I made comments about NZTR, I received a letter of rebuke. I want to make it very clear that NZTR has some wonderful people involved - people the calibre of Tim Aldridge and others - it's the leadership that needs to be under the microscope.

This is my message to NZTR:

Put our money and your time and effort in to ensuring we have race meetings that are completed on safe tracks that can sustain racing in our climatically challenged country. Without this focus there will be no racing, let alone Love Racing.

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