it happended at last.
sydney racing has been in decline for some years now. finally it has vanished.
yesterday the sydney races were over before i realised that austar was not even recognising them.

perhaps we can have newcastle or kembla to replace them. the quality wont be significantly different.

I have hated Sydney races for ages the only time it is any good is at carnival time other than that there fields are quite ordinary.

I must admit though I had one bet there which was on Damigos and it got up at $18 then tried to back Magic Duck in the last but missed the jump but hey I can live with 1 from 1 there.

For the most part now I refuse to even bet there unless I see a horse I like at ridiculos odds.

As far as forgetting about the races there altogether it wasn't until race 7 that I realised that there hadn't even been anything mentioned about it that was how much I missed Sydney.

For us Sydneysiders, It was an absolute disgrace that Sky Channel made out as if Sydney didn't even exist!!!

i suppose i should apologise for being such a critic of sydney racing.
over the years i used to love it.
in the 80's sydney was very good but over the past few years it has dwindled away.
as you know i only use listed horses for my selections which limits my view and makes my opinion fairly subjective but over the past few years the numbers of these horses has been dwindling in sydney and surrounds.
hawkesbury and gosford rarely have a listed horse running these days metro courses often have only 3 races out of 8 with a listed horse.
to draw a conclusion from this (probably wrongly) is that they must still hold the same number of listed and group races although this easter a meeting went missing and it suggests that the results of the higher level races are being concentrated in fewer stables causing a loss of spread in listed representations. races like the wagga cup used to be good meetings but these days (last friday) a relatively disappointing field although a good effort by the winner (not a listed horse)
so with the reduction of listed and group horses running in new south wales my level of interest has dropped due to this.
i think the races in sydney are being monopolised and could cause it to become more second rate that it is at present.
it could be refreshed as well as i think that Ian Craig (as good as he has been) has been there too long.
it needs a fresh approach and fresh faces to reinvigorate it.
sorry if i offended anyone but i am as disappointed as anyone that the sting has gone out of sydney racing.
even from way down here in southern tasmania i have made the effort to get to a few golden slippers.
dont feel so inclined anymore.

You blokes are kidding.

If you think that the Sydney meeting on Saturday was inferior to Melbourne then you don't understand racing.

For a non carnival meeting the Sydney card was excellent. The buffoons at Sky all deserve to go down the gurgler for not showing the most popular racing venue in the country nor acknowledging it's existence. (and if you think Sydney isn't the number one racing venue, look at turnover - bookies and tote).

If you blokes prefer betting on hurdlers, wet tracks and courses designed by greyhound officials (Moonee Valley), you can have your Melbourne racing to yourselves. And you can take your 130% Melbourne betting markets with you too. I'll cop the 105% in the Sydney ring thanks.

Not quite right Hammers, in fact very much incorrect in some of what you've stated. While agreeing that the Sydney ring bet to lower percentages, your claim re turnover is incorrect - taking last Saturday as an example, the Sydney meeting you described as being as 'excellent' in fact turned over approx $1million less than Melbourne on the combined Tab Ltd/SuperTab tote win pools - $3,432mil on the Sydney races as against $4,439mil on the Melbourne races. And this on a wet track you describe as being designed for the greyhounds - imagine what the difference would have been on a dry track at Flemington. :smile:

You must be the one kidding if you believe Sydney is the number one venue - it ain't and hasn't been for quite some time and it will be a lot longer before it is again.

[ This Message was edited by: La Mer on 2004-05-12 00:30 ]

Considering you couldn't hear or see the races, the turnover for Sydney was phenomenal.

Taking last Saturday aside and going on figures when there was a level playing field, i.e. full coverage visual and audio, Sydney turnover is superior.

Once the Sky joke is gone and racing is presented properly by an alternative provider, Sydney racing will continue to improve and overtake Melbourne. Saturday attendances are increasing at Sydney tracks over the past twelve months (a colleague from Vic tells me the staff outnumber the patrons at Melbourne meetings).

Let's face it, if it wasn't for the tens of thousands of interstate and overseas invaders in early November, the Flemington carnival would be no bigger than the Sydney Easter carnival.

But it is. Melbourne clearly has he better racing. Sydney has had to weight the good horses such as This Manshood, Carael Boy and Century Kid with ridiculous imposts such as 64kg. This is because the fields lack class, depth and size. Melbourne oesnt have this. Also you say Moonee Valley is a greyhound track well both Randwick and Kensington have been racing like goat tracks.

Umrum,

What was wrong with Kensington today specifically?

Melbourne has one decent race track and that is Sandown. Caulfield is afflicted with a leader bias, Flemington straight track racing is farcical. The 800m turn from the 1300 to the turn is poor layout. Moonee Valley was designed well but they forgot to put the winning post in the right place. It should be at about the 400m.

Don't get me started on class in Melbourne racing Umrum. The carnivals are propped up by interstate horses. The regular racing season is big fields full of provincial horses or jumps races.

I will happily wager whatever you like that more Sydney horses per starter win in Melbourne between September-November each year than Victorian horses win in Sydney March- April each year. Aside from the stayers (Makybe Diva and Mummify) the Vics did nothing in Sydney this Autumn. 2YO's flopped. 3YO's flopped. Sprinters non existant. Milers flopped.

By the way, what did Bomber Bill carry the other day? Must be a depth of quality issue in Melbourne sprint racing.

some of the issues discussed by hammers doesnt really address what i was talking about.
in the case of last carnival in melbourne i think sydney horses results were well down on achievement of past years.
but it doesnt explain the decline in good horses running in sydney and the quality of many of the fields.
i recall the days when sydney had 6 open class races and two for no more than two metro wins in past year.
now of the highest grade is a transition in the open class races.
and it doesnt explain where the open grade listed and group horses have gone to.
i say into the monopolistic stables and this is leading to the decline in sydney racing.
again tomorrow at wyong not one listed horse running all day.
even the prizemoney is up in sydney with $50,000 races but not leading to any upsurge.

this probably a fruitless argument but if sydney doesnt come back onto sky channel or austar well i dont suppose it matters until it gets its act together.