Trackside 3???.(including discussion on Coronavirus and how it may affect NZ Racing)

[Mardy]

So i surf into the TAB website,and see that their is now a Trackside 3?,so being curious i click on it,and it looks like they are showing a dog race from MEXICO?.What the hell...had no idea there was going to be another channel,showing a race from Mexico?.

[mardigras]

Racing everywhere else is about to end - so the TAB needs some revenue from somewhere. Mexico it is!

[ngakonui grass]

Muchas Gratias for that info.

signed El Chapo

[brown fox]

Asked Sky if long term subscribers could get 6 months free Rialto or movies😁Said they were presently looking at some options to compensate

for lost sport

[Hesi]

50 minutes ago, mardigras said:

Racing everywhere else is about to end - so the TAB needs some revenue from somewhere. Mexico it is!

In NZ anyway, they could race behind closed doors with minimal  impact  on the finances

A few hundred people, all identified, getting together must surely be minimal risk, compared with other  gatherings, such as a crowded mall or supermarket 

So, I can see racing behind  closed doors as workable.......until things develop  further,  for better or worse 

 

 

 

[mardigras]

If it goes on for a number of months or more, some owners may get out. Not being able to go to the races to actually see your horse and watch it race might take the interest away for many.

[Hesi]

And just think, with the 14 day self isolation, no more 3rd  rate Aussie raiders and all our best horses would actually race here.

If you wanted to go to the races, then a Corona free certificate 

[Hesi]

Just now, mardigras said:

If it goes on for a number of months or more, some owners may get out. Not being able to go to the races to actually see your horse and watch it race might take the interest away for many.

A straight forward thing to certify they were virus free

[mardigras]

1 minute ago, Hesi said:

A straight forward thing to certify they were virus free

Straightforward - NZ has been doing very little testing. I doubt we have the resources.

[mardigras]

17 minutes ago, mardigras said:

Straightforward - NZ has been doing very little testing. I doubt we have the resources.

I expect it is one of the reasons for the border changes. We don't have the resources/infrastructure to deal with a large scale rate of infection. Drip fed, OK, mass numbers, no proper isolation options (or not enough). 

[Hesi]

A limited number then of owners permitted along with trainer jockey strapper club officials etc, all on an approved  register 

If they can keep the races going the industry could  get through, most betting internet based now

[Hesi]

Been reading up about it

It's  not the virus that kills you, but your own immune  system going overboard in your lungs

[curious]

39 minutes ago, mardigras said:

If it goes on for a number of months or more, some owners may get out. Not being able to go to the races to actually see your horse and watch it race might take the interest away for many.

I note in the US though that Keeneland, for example have implemented similar strategies but allowed owners which avoids that downside with appropriate screening. That's with their big pre-Derby Bluegrass Stakes meeting coming up.They would be one of the slicker operators in the world.

https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/239096/keeneland-announces-restrictions-screening-checkpoints

 

[mardigras]

42 minutes ago, Hesi said:

Been reading up about it

It's  not the virus that kills you, but your own immune  system going overboard in your lungs

The virus doesn't kill that many anyway. But the people that get confirmed with it can cause a drain on appropriate services. NZ is poor in that regard. A bit like the White Island eruption. We simply did not have the infrastructure and service level to meet that situation.

[Hesi]

2 hours ago, curious said:

I note in the US though that Keeneland, for example have implemented similar strategies but allowed owners which avoids that downside with appropriate screening. That's with their big pre-Derby Bluegrass Stakes meeting coming up.They would be one of the slicker operators in the world.

https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/239096/keeneland-announces-restrictions-screening-checkpoints

 

Good article Curious, no reason why they could not bring that in here.  Forgot that they have the option of temperature screening

Let's see how innovative and proactive our administrators are......don't answer that.

If Ardern's regime bring in the 500 threshold gathering, then I'm sure Ellerslie even could run a meeting behind closed gates with less than 500 people

 

[mardigras]

7 minutes ago, Hesi said:

Good article Curious, no reason why they could not bring that in here.  Forgot that they have the option of temperature screening

Let's see how innovative and proactive our administrators are......don't answer that.

If Ardern's regime bring in the 500 threshold gathering, then I'm sure Ellerslie even could run a meeting behind closed gates with less than 500 people

 

Temperature screening is OK but not flash. Since you may not show any symptoms (including fever) for a number of days even if infected. And apparently , a lot of the elderly have not been having the same issues with elevated temperatures. 

Ardern has already brought in the 500 threshold. UK is going with meetings behind closed doors. It's pretty close to inevitable here I would have thought - given the border changes.

I'm not concerned with the virus, I'm just looking at what is practical given the decisions already made.

[Midnight Caller]

2 hours ago, Maximus said:

Drastic measures have been taken now to try and ensure we don't get a spike in infections coinciding with our flu season- it would cripple our already overloaded health system. We have one big advantage over other 1st World countries - the natural isolation of the Pacific. With border controls now in place, we should be able to contain any 'community infection cos we can trace contacts. One or two other good things - no new cases today and the cruise ship case was negative. Stay positive!

MM 

So right Maximus regarding  not being land locked and the health system. The biggest worry must be NZ's largest export the tourism industry. This potentially is the greatest thing to put any country under huge financial  and employment pressure for months to come,which would lead to a recession. So does Jacinda play the Italy or Boris card?

[Hesi]

Racing: Betting downturn set to hit

17 Mar, 2020 5:00am

 6 minutes to read

 

 

Play Video

Tonight, the show discuss all of the developments over the weekend in New Zealand sport from the coronavirus outbreak, including the situations with Super Rugby, the New Zealand Warriors in the NRL, and the Wellington Phoenix in the A-League.

NZ Herald

 

By: Michael Guerin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Zealand racing bosses are bracing for huge losses even though no domestic race meetings have been cancelled yet because of coronavirus restrictions.

And even if race meetings are able to go ahead with essential staff only, one of the greatest losses to the racing industry could be its share of TAB revenue from betting on sports, including the huge overseas sports betting market.

Racing codes — thoroughbred, harness and greyhounds — are planning to continue with programmed race meetings but are aware the rules around restrictions can change almost hourly.

 

But they are confident race meetings can be run without crowds, with the essential staff needed to run a normal race meeting probably below 200.

 

There would still need to be trainers, handlers, jockeys or drivers, administration, safety personnel (starting gates, medical staff) as well as broadcast media and a small number of food and beverage staff to feed participants at race meetings.

But while racing bosses were investigating plans to allow ticketed functions to continue on racetracks, because the patrons would be more traceable and could be cordoned off in one area, those hopes are quickly evaporating under the new restrictions on crowds over 500.

Effectively racing could allow up to, say, 300 members of the public to attend and not exceed the 500-person threshold, but to what point?

And of the non-essential people allowed in, it would make more sense that they were the owners of the horses rather than letting 300 people attend a function and yet exclude the people paying the bills.

But by the far the most likely and safest course will be essential staff only — everyone else watching on television.

The greyhound code will be the least affected of the three as they have less human interaction from participants, with no jockeys or drivers, and because crowds very rarely top 500.

 

 

But thoroughbred and harness racing is likely to restrict attendance to essential staff only very shortly and their governing bodies are preparing for that.

One of the reasons racing may be able to, and needs to, continue more than other sports is that its key revenue driver is not crowds or hospitality but betting turnover.

 

Even a race meeting with no on-course patrons can drive millions of dollars in turnover which will keep the industry, which employs over 40,000 people, financially viable.

But that could also change very rapidly if any racing industry participant who had been to meetings tested positive for the virus.

"At the moment, we don't have plans to cancel any meetings but obviously things can change very quickly," said New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing boss Bernard Saundry.

"But we are preparing for holding meetings with fewer than 500 people on track and we are confident we can do that.

"We had protocols in place last weekend for some meetings and they will now be stricter obviously.

"And we will be guided by what the Government decides and tells us to do."

 

Racing bosses are confident meetings could still be held without admitting the public. Photo / Photosport

Harness Racing New Zealand chief executive Peter Jensen is adopting the same attitude and says if crowds are banned then the health of participants comes first but safeguarding racing's income was important because so many people's livelihoods relied on it.

Any long-term loss of racing meetings could be catastrophic as owners will not want horses in work and would either spell, try to sell or even retire them. And that means no income for trainers, many of who already struggle financially.

It would also severely impact staff, vets, transport companies and feed merchants to mention just a few of the industries built around racing.

But if race meetings can continue without crowds then there will still be stake money to be won, trainers, jockeys and drivers fees paid and the turnover generated by stay-at-home punters, many of who will be robbed of other live sports to watch, could help ease racing's impending disaster.

But what will be totally out of the control of anybody in New Zealand racing or even in the country is the huge loss the TAB looks certain to suffer in lost sporting revenue.

Sports like NBA basketball and English Premier League football attract a huge amount of betting inside New Zealand and some of that TAB profit is returned to sports but also to racing.

The TAB has met with racing bosses and will do so again on Thursday to present to them date from financial models addressing what a range of cancellations, ranging from just sports to all racing closing down, would mean.

"We obviously don't know what is going to happen in the days ahead or even the hours ahead," says TAB chief executive Dean McKenzie.

"But we will present a variety of models to the heads of the codes on Thursday about what could happen to turnover and returns to the industry under various scenarios.

"But because the world is changing so quickly at the moment we can't know what those actual numbers are going to be, we can only do out best to predict and prepare."

The loss of betting income on overseas and domestic sports events will also impact many major New Zealand sports as they get payouts from the TAB based on turnover.

McKenzie, who has experience as the chief executive of a racing club and a major sporting venue in Jade Stadium (Lancaster Park), says racing industry participants now have an obligation to the industry as well as society.

"We need to make sure we abide by guidelines, maintain social distancing where possible and abide by all the Government protocols to stop the spread of the virus.

"And the better the industry participants do that then potentially that increases the chances of the industry keeping racing.

"A lot of responsibility in the meantime falls on those inside the industry because many of the other factors are ones we can't control."

Racing's reactions

• No New Zealand horse or dog racing meetings have been cancelled because of coronavirus restrictions.

• Racing bosses are preparing for race meetings to be held with only essential raceday staff.

• Several leading stables are still targeting rich carnivals in Australia using staff already on the ground there, or sending horses to new trainers based there.

• The TAB will meet with racing code bosses on Thursday to provide them with data over potential losses under a variety of scenarios.

• The short-term damage will be slightly lessened by the fact many major carnivals and the yearling sales series have recently finished, with fewer huge racing events in the next six months.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Hesi]

Racing: Travel plans complicated for trainers

17 Mar, 2020 5:00am

 3 minutes to read

Sherwood Forest. Photo / Trish Dunell

NZ Herald

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Zealand-trained gallopers are already enjoying lucrative autumn campaigns in Sydney and Melbourne but the next wave of raiders to Australia face some unique challenges as the impact of Covid-19 takes hold.

Australia has now implemented a 14-day self-isolation period for anyone arriving in the country to try to halt the spread of the coronavirus, mirroring New Zealand's announcement, which came into effect just after midnight on Sunday.

While Kiwi horses can step straight into Australia and compete, they will be without their regular handlers unless they were one of a handful of stables that already have staff and horses based across the Tasman.

Group 1 New Zealand Derby (2400m) winner Sherwood Forest and third placegetter Scorpz were amongst a shipment of horses set to travel to Sydney from Auckland last night. However, that flight has been postponed 24 hours.

 

The pair are set to race Saturday's Group 1 Rosehill Guineas (2000m) as a lead-up to the Group1 Australian Derby (2400m) a fortnight later.

"It is going Tuesday night at this stage," Pike said. "The hold-up was just over the professional grooms getting clearance to be classified as crew, so they can come in and out of Australia and New Zealand. They have had verbal clearance but the airlines want written clearance.

"I am probably one of the few lucky ones. Marshy [Stephen Marsh] and I have got an established base over there. Mark Hills was over there with The Bostonian and Not An Option and I picked Chris McNab [foreman] up on Sunday and sent him back over the Tasman before the isolation period came into effect.

"Aaron Kuru was going to go over on the plane with Sherwood Forrest and Mark was going to come back, but that is out of play now. Mark and Chris are over there now, so we are okay with our established base."

Stephen Marsh's racing manager Todd Pollard is also ensconced at Rosehill, having taken Elisa Carolina over and he is awaiting the arrival of high-profile stablemate Scorpz.

The powerful Te Akau team is headed in Australia by trainer Jamie Richards' father Paul who has moved north to Sydney, with Melody Belle joining Te Akau Shark and Probabeel.

 

 

Pike said the strange circumstances had also led to the Kiwis looking after each other even more than usual and banding together.

"I had Brent Taylor [owner] ring me to see if we would take Two Illicit over and just slot into our team, as Roger James [co-trainer] can't send any staff over as they would have to quarantine. Stephen sent Todd Pollard over last Sunday, so there is Chris, Mark, and Todd over there with five horses and it looks like Two Illicit will end up coming to our base as well."

 

- NZ Racing Desk

[mardigras]

Unrelated to the topic, but where does the 40,000 people come from supposedly employed by the industry. Has the TAB further expanded? Maybe 40,000 have a small part, but how many FTE's?

[Hesi]

8 hours ago, Midnight Caller said:

So right Maximus regarding  not being land locked and the health system. The biggest worry must be NZ's largest export the tourism industry. This potentially is the greatest thing to put any country under huge financial  and employment pressure for months to come,which would lead to a recession. So does Jacinda play the Italy or Boris card?

Remembering the prime responsibilities of any government is to protect and provide for its citizens, so the Boris card looks a bit dodgy

[Hesi]

6 minutes ago, mardigras said:

Unrelated to the topic, but where does the 40,000 people come from supposedly employed by the industry. Has the TAB further expanded? Maybe 40,000 have a small part, but how many FTE's?

Didn't it used to be quoted as 65,000?

[mardigras]

2 minutes ago, Hesi said:

Didn't it used to be quoted as 65,000?

Whatever it's been quoted as, the number is misleading. The number of paid FTE's would be very small compared to those numbers.

[Midnight Caller]

1 hour ago, Hesi said:

Remembering the prime responsibilities of any government is to protect and provide for its citizens, so the Boris card looks a bit dodgy

She has to swing one way or the other! Which is it to be? 

Boris says....14 day stay at home for the complete  household if any member of the family  has a high temperature or new dry heavy cough! What says Jacinda? I haven't read The Herald online for a while.

[mardigras]

1 hour ago, Hesi said:

 so the Boris card looks a bit dodgy

I expect the only card Boris ever plays, is the Joker.