Always back the horse named self-interest, son. It'll be the only one trying
Out of a combination of idle curiosity and a desire to benchmark Merlin’s time for the 2700m at Alexandra Park on Friday night I decided to go looking for the records at the track. It started off pretty simple, as you can see from the screenshot at the top. The slogan was pretty stupid, particularly […]
Have you ever before in your life seen a race like this one at Alexandra Park on Friday night? It’s a rating 55 -70 BUT a horse rated up to 115 can run in it IF its driven by a concession junior driver. That means that a junior driver concession is worth up to 45 […]
Auckland Trotting Club members voted on Wednesday night to approve the sale of the Franklin Training Center (Pukekohe) to a company named Oyster Capital for circa $70 million, which after legal and sale expenses is about exactly the $68 million we told you some months ago that the property would sell for, a figure that […]
Aren’t those gallops training tracks on the inside of the grass track? Gallops trainers aren’t going to like it….. Time to sell Alex Park and Puke, and build a purpose designed single racing and training venue. Belle from Burnie
The word is that HRNZ CEO Brad ‘Superman’ Steele is proposing/promising to contribute $13 million toward the construction of a new track and stables t0 replace the Franklin Training Centre, with the Auckland Trotting Club to kick in any extra money required. There are two problems with Superman’s proposal/promise, and both of them are significant. […]
Dear Track Users, On Wednesday July 23, members of the Auckland Trotting Club have been invited to attend an SGM to discuss a number of items, one of which is the sale of the Franklin training center. Ahead of the SGM we will be holding a meeting at Franklin Park at 3pm on July 23 […]
The word out of Alexandra Park is that Auckland Trotting Club chairman Jamie ‘ Watches’ Mackinnon is being paid a six-figure sum to act as a consultant to the club. A consultant on what? No-one seems to know. You’d certainly hope its not successful property developments or real estate deals. Mackinnon’s consulting role was never […]
The agenda for the Special General Meeting of the Auckland Trotting Club to held on 23 July has been released to members,a and it will come as no surprise to readers of this site that it contains no offer to buy the Franklin Training Centre at Pukekohe for $100 million, or indeed any offer at […]
Dear MEMBER, NOTICE OF SPECIAL GENERAL MEETING In accordance with Rule 17.7 of the Auckland Trotting Club Inc (ATC) Constitution, Notice is hereby given of a Special General Meeting (SGM) of Members of ATC to be held on Wednesday, 23 July 2025 at 6pm in the Tasman Room, Alexandra Park, Epsom. BUSINESS: Welcome. Apologies. Update on intended change to voting process for […]
Three months ago, in the wake of the collapsed $100m deal to sell the Franklin training centre at Pukekohe, Auckland Trotting Club (ATC) Chairman Jamie ‘Watches’ Mackinnon publicly announced that the club had the approval of its members to sell the track to another buyer. Sadly for Watches he lost track of time and forgot […]
