I couldn't but help notice the irony

[Hesi]

with the  partially anonymous response to Tony Pike's email, from Ian, Head of Public Affairs, being torn to bits on the other channel by all these anonymous people

Chat forums will never be a medium for serious voicing of opinion, as long as the majority of posters are anonymous, surely that is not too hard to understand

[Hesi]

And a quick appearance on TV3 news, Tony Pike talking about the lack of feedback from RITA on stake levels when racing kicks off again

[craigos1]

Yes I had a brief look on other Channel(s).

Surely common sense will prevail....................Owners/Trainers cannot expect top stakes for the first few months.

15000 Open Handicaps.....................10000 Other (just my opinion)

A lot of people are doing it hard not just Racing people.

I have taken a 27.5% cut in weekly wage which I have accepted in the hope that 6 months down the track I may be able to go back to original wage or at least still have a job

If not I guess I'll possibly be in the unemployment queue.

[craigos1]

I have shares in 2 Barry...Galloper trained at Riccarton and a non qualified Harness Horse trained down South!

[craigos1]

Yes I agree with you (geez did I say that)!

But there has to be a start point and I for one would rather they race for less or come to my farmers property next door rather than be sent to Clover Export.

Surely some stake is better than no stake.

Things will improve but when I don't know.

[Freda]

1 hour ago, Hesi said:

And a quick appearance on TV3 news, Tony Pike talking about the lack of feedback from RITA on stake levels when racing kicks off again

About time he got properly involved.

[Hesi]

Unfortunately most people who watched or took any notice of the news item, it would have just gone straight over their head.

The racing industry complaining again, which re-emphasises the point of sorting yourself out and stop bleating.

And we have seen nothing of that happen

Disassemble the huge industry of running what is a fairly small industry, that is sucking the place dry.

When Peters presented the Messara report over 20 months ago, this comment stuck, yet nothing has changed despite Peter's remonstrations

A transition agency (Racing Industry Transition Agency or RITA) will be put in place to oversee racing's changing landscape and Peters did not try to hide his lack of faith in the New Zealand Racing Board structure and performance.

"I know a dead horse when I see one," he quipped.

[Maximus]

...and I know an overweight and under-performing jockey when I see (or back) one. Time's up, Winston. Either deliver the legislation by June 30 as promised or retire to the lush green paddocks up norf.

[Freda]

I'm afraid, Maxi, if nothing - and I mean nothing - has happend by June, it won't matter where Winston goes.  He'll have a lot of company going with him in retirement.

Pike and the others, at last, have come out of their box.  Good on them.  But, the hard questions have needed to be asked for years, not just now, when their wealthy owners and elite horses might be facing  bit of a downturn.  What does it really matter to many of that ilk ?  Inconvenience?  they, and the majority of their clients, have the resources and the quality of horseflesh to hop across the ditch.

Most of the rest, racing homebreds, leasing horses for social syndicates, many of which are of modest means, are facing destruction.  And along with their demise, goes the industry.

The insulting reply from Rita, and that sanctimonious address yesterday from Saundry, where 'free racing might be looked at'  along with a fair bit of nothing else at all,  just shows that they have learned nothing and care less.

[Hesi]

I'm  interested to know, what people regard as the number one priority in the racing industry

[mardigras]

44 minutes ago, Hesi said:

I'm  interested to know, what people regard as the number one priority in the racing industry

Self sustainability

[Freda]

42 minutes ago, Hesi said:

I'm  interested to know, what people regard as the number one priority in the racing industry

For me?   a restructure of both bodies,  NZTR and RITA.    if we got some good administration, that could give us all hope that stakes will improve, and as quickly as the new, responsive admin could make it happen.   

I think we could all live with modest stakes if we knew that it was going to be short-term, and lead to a well run industry.

[Hesi]

Just now, mardigras said:

Self sustainability

With respect to funding

[mardigras]

6 minutes ago, Hesi said:

With respect to funding

Yes, they get what they earn, and what they earn is enough to keep racing going. No money from pokies, no money from sport. Preferably, no money from off-shore racing either. Just like a restaurant doesn't get the proceeds from other restaurants outside of their business. Pokies and sports have nothing to do with NZ racing, and off-shore racing, very little either. 

If I start up NZCR (NZ Camel Racing), can I get a share of the pokies as well?

I don't know a single other industry in NZ that has the rights to money to be used in the way it is, than the NZ Racing industry - do you?

Edited April 23, 2020 by mardigras

[Hesi]

3 minutes ago, Ashoka said:

Hesi,

The main, major and overriding issue in the racing industry is the corruption inherent in the running of all three codes and the industry's governing body. There is no accountability anywhere within the racing industry's governance and management structures and no pressure from outside the industry itself to remedy this situation. Whether the lack of outside pressure is due to ignorance of the facts or further corruption remains a moot point. One thing I am certain of, as a result of personal experience, is that the Select Committee currently considering matters concerning the racing industry has no desire, or intention, to address the issues of corruption and criminality within the governance of the racing industry. 

And Turkey's never vote for an early Xmas, so it comes down to drastic measures now, which I thought Peters had signalled when he said 20 months  ago about  the RB, I know a dead horse when I see one

[Hesi]

41 minutes ago, mardigras said:

Yes, they get what they earn, and what they earn is enough to keep racing going. No money from pokies, no money from sport. Preferably, no money from off-shore racing either. Just like a restaurant doesn't get the proceeds from other restaurants outside of their business. Pokies and sports have nothing to do with NZ racing, and off-shore racing, very little either. 

If I start up NZCR (NZ Camel Racing), can I get a share of the pokies as well?

I don't know a single other industry in NZ that has the rights to money to be used in the way it is, than the NZ Racing industry - do you?

Yep, funding, it is business critical, and should have been the number one priority years ago.  Even when an independant report(Messara), identified, how close to the brink racing was, the urgency of addressing funding has not been actioned.

And even with the Messara report, what did they take on almost first, highly contentious legislation to facilitate a transfer of assets to the governing body to sell to fund infrastructure upgrading, which would have had minimal impact on the whole sustainability issue

1.  The TAB should have been devolved years ago, selling, licencing out, their attempts at fixed have been a fiasco, as per Mardi, keep tote, as it is simple.

2.  The overburdening costs, should have had a knife taken to them years ago, devolving the TAB in some form would have been part of this

These 2 should have been the number one priority

And after all of this they will still expect/need a government handout to survive

 

[mardigras]

1 minute ago, Hesi said:

Yep, funding, it is business critical, and should have been the number one priority years ago.  Even when an independant report(Messara), identified, how close to the brink racing was, the urgency of addressing funding has not been actioned.

And even with the Messara report, what did they take on almost first, highly contentious legislation to facilitate a transfer of assets to the governing body to sell to fund infrastructure upgrading, which would have had minimal impact on the whole sustainability issue

1.  The TAB should have been devolved years ago, selling, licencing out, there attempts at fixed have been a fiasco, as per Mardi, keep tote, as it is simple.

2.  The overburdening costs, should have had a knife taken to them years ago, devolving the TAB in some form would have been part of this

These 2 should have been the number one priority

And after all of this they will still expect/need a government handout to survive

 

Yep, Messara didn't offer anything that would help make racing sustainable that I saw. Just a bunch of short term band-aids, and dubious ones at that.

[Hesi]

He did, but those that took up actioning the report, thought it more important to piss off and divide the whole industry by first tackling the 'land grab' stuff

A solution which I favour in this regard is for the commercial activities of the TAB to be outsourced on advantageous terms to a suitable major wagering operator enabling the TAB to improve its product offerings, upgrade technology, improve customer service etc. This process should drive cost savings and incremental revenue, and offer New Zealand customers a compelling global product. This outcome will assist in the provision of significantly increased prizemoney. In May 2017 Deloitte conducted an ‘Options Analysis’ for New Zealand Thoroughbred (NZTR) which indicated that an outsourcing agreement would generate significant potential benefits. In my view, these benefits may be sufficient, if added to the positive financial outcomes generated by the other recommendations in the Review, to enable New Zealand stake money levels to be doubled.

[Freda]

5 minutes ago, Hesi said:

He did, but those that took up actioning the report, thought it more important to piss off and divide the whole industry by first tackling the 'land grab' stuff

A solution which I favour in this regard is for the commercial activities of the TAB to be outsourced on advantageous terms to a suitable major wagering operator enabling the TAB to improve its product offerings, upgrade technology, improve customer service etc. This process should drive cost savings and incremental revenue, and offer New Zealand customers a compelling global product. This outcome will assist in the provision of significantly increased prizemoney. In May 2017 Deloitte conducted an ‘Options Analysis’ for New Zealand Thoroughbred (NZTR) which indicated that an outsourcing agreement would generate significant potential benefits. In my view, these benefits may be sufficient, if added to the positive financial outcomes generated by the other recommendations in the Review, to enable New Zealand stake money levels to be doubled.

In other words, we didn't need a Messara report.  We needed administration that could accept that it didn't know all about all things, and that was prepared to listen and look at other options.

[Hesi]

5 minutes ago, Freda said:

In other words, we didn't need a Messara report.  We needed administration that could accept that it didn't know all about all things, and that was prepared to listen and look at other options.

Yep, but as I said, turkeys don't vote for an early Xmas

[mardigras]

10 minutes ago, Hesi said:

He did, but those that took up actioning the report, thought it more important to piss off and divide the whole industry by first tackling the 'land grab' stuff

A solution which I favour in this regard is for the commercial activities of the TAB to be outsourced on advantageous terms to a suitable major wagering operator enabling the TAB to improve its product offerings, upgrade technology, improve customer service etc. This process should drive cost savings and incremental revenue, and offer New Zealand customers a compelling global product. This outcome will assist in the provision of significantly increased prizemoney. In May 2017 Deloitte conducted an ‘Options Analysis’ for New Zealand Thoroughbred (NZTR) which indicated that an outsourcing agreement would generate significant potential benefits. In my view, these benefits may be sufficient, if added to the positive financial outcomes generated by the other recommendations in the Review, to enable New Zealand stake money levels to be doubled.

Yes, definitely a part of the needs. But by itself, it is not enough.

In my view, these benefits may be sufficient

That's rubbish - as it continues to rely on the income from things un-related to NZ Racing. Where is the part about removing dependence on these things so that NZ racing can grow in its own right, and support itself. The net betting revenue (with zero expenses), is not enough for the industry to increase prizemoney or do anything, as it is less than the amount of money they get. They didn't break things down in the last annual report, however in 2018, NZ racing only generated around $100m in Net Betting Revenue (before any turnover related expenses or operating expenses) from betting on NZ racing. That's for all 3 codes. The 3 codes received more than that. So any outsourcing simply cannot sustain NZ racing with the same level of losses from bettors - from NZ racing. So to be sustainable, they need to massively reduce expenses for sure, but they need to grow interest - in order to stand on its own feet.

[Hesi]

6 minutes ago, mardigras said:

Yes, definitely a part of the needs. But by itself, it is not enough.

In my view, these benefits may be sufficient

That's rubbish - as it continues to rely on the income from things un-related to NZ Racing. Where is the part about removing dependence on these things so that NZ racing can grow in its own right, and support itself. The net betting revenue (with zero expenses), is not enough for the industry to increase prizemoney or do anything, as it is less than the amount of money they get. They didn't break things down in the last annual report, however in 2018, NZ racing only generated around $100m in Net Betting Revenue (before any turnover related expenses or operating expenses) from betting on NZ racing. That's for all 3 codes. The 3 codes received more than that. So any outsourcing simply cannot sustain NZ racing with the same level of losses from bettors - from NZ racing. So to be sustainable, they need to massively reduce expenses for sure, but they need to grow interest - in order to stand on its own feet.

Those figs are scarily small, perhaps they need an intermediary phase of sports betting and overseas racing included 

[mardigras]

1 minute ago, Hesi said:

Those figs are scarily small, perhaps they need an intermediary phase of sports betting and overseas racing included 

Yes, they couldn't just be cut off, but racing thinks it can go on merrily forever with this money. So long as there is interest in other things, why should we worry about what we deliver. The money just keeps rolling in. That's how they've been operating for many years, living off the gravy train. No accountability and no interest in making their own backyard better.

[curious]

1 hour ago, mardigras said:

Yes, they couldn't just be cut off, but racing thinks it can go on merrily forever with this money. So long as there is interest in other things, why should we worry about what we deliver. The money just keeps rolling in. That's how they've been operating for many years, living off the gravy train. No accountability and no interest in making their own backyard better.

Yes, they probablyy could have been phased out but there's an opportunity here to start with a clean slate and cut them for good now along with the FOB business and associated expenses. Stakes to be directly related to domestic ne turnover plus racefields earnings. That now and FOB licences issued asap. Given where we are I reckon we might as well go hard and go early.

Edited April 24, 2020 by curious

[mardigras]

3 minutes ago, curious said:

Yes, they probablyy could have been phased out but there's an opportunity here to start with a clean slate and cut them for good now along with the FOB business and associated expenses. Stakes to be directly related to domestic ne turnover plus racefields earnings. That now and FOB licences issued asap. Given where we are I reckon we might as well go hard and go early.

You know, that is precisely what they should have used this time to sort out. They wouldn't have necessarily had it all complete - but at least they would have been moving in the right direction - and demonstrating the direction they were wanting to take the industry.