Ballarat Cup

warrenrobinson · January 25

The Ballarat Cup was run and won last night by Leap To Fame, he will go down as the highest stake

money earner in the history of Harness Racing currently sitting on 5 million dollars, Kingman who ran fourth and is the up and comer with earnings of 1 million. Ballarat with a population of over 120000 people with only around 500 people attending the cup so what does that tell us as a industry.

JayJay · January 25

Tells us that Ballarat is doing pretty well. In a city of nearly 3 million, management down at John's Fun Palace would be delighted if 500 rolled up. They would have to order an extra bag of ice, maybe open a second tote machine in Steelo's.

LightningJake · January 25

JayJay said:
They would have to order an extra bag of ice, maybe open a second tote machine in Steelo's.

they might even have to clean the bird sh1t & dust off the seats!

AbbysAce · January 27

When is the start date for the redevolopment of GP?

Must be soon

warrenrobinson · January 27

April 1st.

Markovina · January 27

AbbysAce said:
When is the start date for the redevolopment of GP?

Must be soon

Its definitely going ahead ?

Obscene waste of money , and the majority of participants can only blame their lazy selves , for not protesting against it , none of them have the get up and go to do anything about it , thus in 2-3 years time or even sooner when there is a saturation of 4k and 6k races on what are considered major provincial tracks then that will be the participants problem

25 million instead of horrendously wasting it - invest it one of the big 4 banks at 4% - perfectly safe you pick up $1 million in interest revenue rather than pisssing it down the drain , and retaining an 800 metre track , you could not make this absurd nonsense up

Very interesting what has happened in Qld , with the change in govt , they have knocked on the head plans for the new track at Norwell

Chop Chop , has consistently said Qld harness racing is heading in the right direction , and i think he is right , they have an exciting blue print and an actual plan

Where as WA - in typical Western Australian Racing tradition ( all 3 codes ) they have not got a feckin clue

warrenrobinson · January 28

Have you read the Queensland Annual Report?.

Chopchop43 · January 28

So whos industry is in a better position currently WA or QLD

Markovina · January 28

warrenrobinson said:
Have you read the Queensland Annual Report?.

Have the Qld gallops propped up Qld harness racing for the last 30 years by getting a very unfair stakes distribution in relation to actual turnover , like the WA gallops have had to endure for the past 30 years

Qld participants care , they have kept their world class 1000 metre circuit AP in a beautiful part of QLD

And i bet AP havent got some poxy ladys croquet type club , 300 odd members club , which in our unfortunate state are pulling the strings

Why hasnt just 1 reasonably high profile participant in WA , savagely attacked that ridiculous GP Club membership setup , and the control and power those 300 odd members have got

Simple answer , probably because they dont care

warrenrobinson · January 28

Chopchop43 said:
So whos industry is in a better position currently WA or QLD

Why don't you read both annual reports and post the facts.

JayJay · January 28

Answer to first question: Yes. The Queensland harness code gets a very favourable deal courtesy of the gallops.

Answer to 2nd Question: Yes, there has been many challenge(s) to the power of the the 300 odd members and the administrative committee from a wide vari,ety of individuals including one that recently ended up in the Supreme Court objecting to the current proposal to develop or redevelop or sell off the farm whilst retaining an 800m track and all the other shortcomings identified in yet another "redevelopment" proposal, one of many over the journey, none of which have reached fruition. Ultimately it failed.

Over the history of the sport going back to its origins (from James Brennan and J.P Stratton onwards), there have literally been dozens and dozens of challenges to the power vested in the then WATA by the very highest of high profile participants...owners, trainers, drivers, breeders, even their own committee men and executive members.

There are some very protective clauses in the constitution of the Club, originating of course back to the days when there was legislative control vested in the running of trotting by the parliament in the hands of the WATA, the then controlling body.

Contrary to your statement, there are many of us who do care, who have been battling away trying to make headway on many issues for years and years, and in some case decades. Some have been driving members of this forum mad for the last 15 years beating the same drum. The result of that has been ridicule, dismissal, downright hate and lies like you wouldn't believe. Old friendships have dissolved. Take on the power brokers at your peril. Never mention how the decisions they have taken have essentially ruined the industry. It has caused many very active participants to throw their hands in the air in utter frustration and simply give up. Meeting after meeting with Ministers, members of parliament, their parliamentary officers, shadow ministers etc. submissions written, facts presented, countless hours wasted.

All has come to nought except the very considerable expense to participants, and their wasted tanks of diesel, worn out tyres and frustrating anguish as the industry continues to shrink to cottage status in front of our very eyes.

However, as many will know, Leigh Matthews' famous quote, from his book "Accept The Challenge", when describing how Brisbane were duped of the chance to go 4 in a row by numerous decisions of the AFL in 2004 .They lined up every high and low profile participant in the land, more silk than a Thailand Sarong Factory and the outcome was. "You can't Beat City Hall".

Markovina · January 28

When i said no one cares - i was referring to a " reasonably high profile participant "

Don Scott ripped that Melb hawks jumper to bits , but no high profile WA participant is prepared to publicly rip that GP $25 million waste to bits , and i think that is bitterly dissappointing

JayJay · January 28

Well,that is true,but self interest, and in some cases self preservation, has prevented many from nailing their colours to the wall. Some of the "reasonably high profile" participants are very reticent to bite the hand that feeds them....and everyone understands that.

Some of the authorities who churlishly "block" some people from accessing their pages have very fragile glass jaws. They can block whoever they want whenever they want but it changes nothing.....the figures are living proof of the consequences of their actions.

Chopchop43 · January 28

warrenrobinson said:

Chopchop43 said:
So whos industry is in a better position currently WA or QLD
Why don't you read both annual reports and post the facts.

i did bring up a bunch of facts and figures about this very argument about a year ago which you unsurprisingly you turned a blind eye too because it backed up the point that rationalisation actually worked, now have things changed since then most likely but at that time I was correct now if WA Harness is going so much better than QLD prove it or zip it

Markovina · February 1

AbbysAce said:
When is the start date for the redevolopment of GP?

Must be soon

I think it will canned simply because there will be a likely , most probable massive blow out in the original estimated construction cost

Every project around Aust , the final cost is way above the estimate

Good example Devenport Trots and Greys about 3 years ago lost their local Showgrounds as a venue , been their about 100 years , Govt stepped in 18 million new venue near the Airport , then it blew out to $36 mill - double , govt stepped in and said we now cant justify the project and thus canned it

The $25 million for GP what was that 18mths - 2 years ago , that will be more like $40 million today , thus RWWA will do the same , can the project because of the increased cost .

JayJay · February 1

More like 4 years ago and the RWWA contribution of $24.7 million was only a "part contribution" for racing infrastructure type things...stalls, maybe LED lighting etc (from memory). The whole project of demolition of stands, replacement grandstand, members rooms, public infrastructure, car parks etc into the current back straight, was much more than that.

Agree entirely that costs would have blown out almost exponentially since the original estimate It would seem that if it is to proceed, Gloucester Park would need a very significant top up from government coffers. I think the suggested "start date" of April 1st may have been somewhat tongue in cheek?

Still, members at the most recent AGM last October were assured by management that they would get their redevelopment. Like me, they may not live long enough.

savethegame · February 1

Be interesting if new harness director comes out whether his for or against.?.

.

Remember Charlotte Mills said the rebuild at Bunbury would be 18 million dollars ,the yearly report states it cost 30 million dollars.

Think the Balaclava masks have fallen off, the driver of the getaway car he,will be using a gopher before G.P Redevelopment is mentioned again.

G'day Punter!

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