Weigh In Nov 20

[curious]

Hesi you seem to have given up promoting it. Guerin looked like he pooped his pants again in the opening shot but a couple of interesting shots from Luke Radich all the same.

 

[Hesi]

Sorry been occupied on other things

[Hesi]

Interesting 3 rants by Luke Radich, firstly Cardigan Bay's gravesite, then Greyhound racing being eventually banned and its implications for thoroughbred racing, and finally comment on the MC field quality

[curious]

Agree with him on all 3. Especially the whip. If horses need to be painfully struck behind the saddle and won't race willingly without that, then if it is mine, I'll just walk away. Either find one that will or walk away altogether. If they can't manage the whip use otherwise then I think they should be totally removed. Not just for public perception, but for horse welfare as well.

[curious]

Speaking of weak races, what do you make of the Guineas races. I have the 1000 about equivalent to an R82. It's already under alert so unless some pretty decent form miraculously emerges from it I say its status is a goner. The 2000 not much better.

[Hesi]

Isn't that the nature though of these early 3-year-old races?

Horses that are early in their potential career that have not yet built past an R80  rating.

 

[curious]

2 minutes ago, Hesi said:

Isn't that the nature though of these early 3-year-old races?

Horses that are early in their potential career that have not yet built past an R80  rating.

 

Maybe. I'm interested in other informed opinion but it's well the lowest rating in the last 6 years by my assessment.

[Hesi]

The other aspect to this, is that Entain are effectively underwriting NZ racing for the next 5 years.  They will be running at a loss, but I guess see a return after that, so will have a vested interest in anything that has a deleterious effect on racing such as the poor public perception of continued whip use

[mardigras]

17 minutes ago, Hesi said:

The other aspect to this, is that Entain are effectively underwriting NZ racing for the next 5 years.  They will be running at a loss, but I guess see a return after that, so will have a vested interest in anything that has a deleterious effect on racing such as the poor public perception of continued whip use

What has changed in the punting landscape with Entain that will see increased punting appetite in NZ? I doubt they will ever see NZ racing as a positive revenue stream, so they will be relying on increasing revenue from other areas imo.

2 hours ago, barryb said:

Yep he’s bang on, the MC was poor from a spectacle, all the Europeans have diminished it.

It's a fair point in that nearly all the runners in these staying events are now ex NH (whether trained in Oz or about to be). The impact on the Europeans and the MC is the same on all staying racing in Australia. They're too impatient to breed and build a horse up. So they are all off buying NH horses. Look at all they major staying races in oz for some years now, they comprise ex NH horses in the main. And NZ racing has become somewhat ridiculed in respect of how any races in NZ are regarded. So where a horse winning a major handicap here in the past may have been able to make the field, now they are weighted lower down the pecking order and need to do something outside of NZ to generally have a chance of making the field. Both the NZ horses that made the field this year have been racing primarily in Oz.

It's like how NZTR were the makers of their own demise when they supported things like fixed odds and commingling. Australian staying racing has become the way it is, completely due to the what the participants in Australian racing are seeking.

[Hesi]

I guess unless you are privy to the figures, then we will never know about what return they are getting just from NZ racing.

Either way, the industry here should feel extremely fortunate that they have come along.  

No deal and we would have seen a 25% reduction in payouts to the clubs, and as reserves were already run down, a 25% reduction in stakes, which would have seen a stampede in NZ racing

[mardigras]

2 minutes ago, Hesi said:

I guess unless you are privy to the figures, then we will never know about what return they are getting just from NZ racing.

Do you think continuing on with the status quo would change the figures? What have they changed from the punting perspective and what has changed in the delivery of NZ racing that would entice punters?

These are just questions. I haven't been looking at the TAB operation since Entain or the conducting of NZ racing to know if there have been changes. Perhaps you can shed some light on that for me. Because you know what they say about doing the same thing and expecting a different result.

[curious]

20 minutes ago, mardigras said:

Do you think continuing on with the status quo would change the figures? What have they changed from the punting perspective and what has changed in the delivery of NZ racing that would entice punters?

These are just questions. I haven't been looking at the TAB operation since Entain or the conducting of NZ racing to know if there have been changes. Perhaps you can shed some light on that for me. Because you know what they say about doing the same thing and expecting a different result.

Totally agree. Don't see a single thing that Entain or NZTR have done to potentially improve revenue from NZ racing. They've chucked money at NZTR which have continued to waste it on stakes as they have for the last couple of decades. As you say mardi, you'd expect the same results. Entain may not care because they've captured a monopoly that can possibly grow revenue elsewhere.