Chief Stipe

A shame some punters don't have a conscience! Add to the issues described in the article is the one of gambling using Crypto-currency.

The offshore drain: Racing is sleepwalking into a funding crisis betsy.com.au A global betting shift is stripping billions from Australian racing. The money is not disappearing. It is going offshore. Australian wagering is edging toward the same fate that gutted the legal tobacco market. And if racing and governments do not act fast, owners and prizemoney will feel the hit long before anyone realises what has happened.https://bitofayarn.com When governments pushed tobacco taxes to breaking point, smokers did not quit. They went underground. A $10 billion black market exploded. Smoking rates barely moved. Revenue collapsed. According to a Responsible Wagering Australia report, the illegal offshore betting market has doubled since 2019. Australians now lose $3.9 billion a year to sites that pay no tax, offer no protections and give nothing back to racing. That figure is expected to hit $5 billion by 2029. As the report warns, “over the past two years in particular, the onshore betting market has decreased by five percent, while the illegal offshore market has grown by fourteen percent.” The hit to racing is enormous. Offshore operators now take 36 percent of all online wagering in Australia. Governments are staring at almost $2 billion in lost revenue over the next five years. Racing and sports will miss almost $800 million in product fees.https://bitofayarn.com Not all offshore turnover is recoverable. Some of it comes from criminals or activity that will never be welcomed back onshore. But a huge slice comes from everyday punters chasing a better deal. That is the cohort racing can still save. Sportsbet chief commercial officer Nathan Arundell says the damage is already on the doorstep. “The new research released by RWA shows the growing threat of illegal offshore gambling, including to racing across Australia. It shows racing losing between $100 million and $135 million each year and growing.” “This undermines funding for integrity, equine welfare, prizemoney, and importantly, puts jobs at risk.”https://bitofayarn.com “As the offshore market expands, the cost of integrity monitoring, investigations and insurance for racing authorities will continue to increase. Offshore creates new opportunities for race manipulation, but none of the data transparency needed to detect it.” “Sportsbet believes that protecting Australian punters requires genuine collaboration between industry, regulators, and government. Key measures include a national framework to ensure official racing data is supplied only to licensed operators. A national illegal gambling blacklist. And engaging banks and payment providers to block payments to illegal operators, including preventing credit from being used to fund betting.”https://bitofayarn.com These structural vulnerabilities explain why industry leaders are calling for stronger national coordination. But none of those measures answer the core question: why are everyday punters choosing to leave the regulated system in the first place? The RWA surveyed 4,000 of them. Almost half said the same thing. “Better odds.” Not better apps. Not better promos. Just better prices. But price is only part of it. Offshore operators push aggressive bonuses that are banned or restricted in Australia. They pay no tax, so they run far thinner markets. They also offer full iGaming products that are illegal onshore and heavily marketed overseas. Then there is in-play betting. Offshore bookies offer in-running markets on every match, every point and every possession. Australian punters can only do it over the phone, which is slow and outdated. Combine that with casino-style products and you get a sticky ecosystem that keeps customers offshore. This is why younger punters are drifting away. They live on live sport. They expect instant access. Australia tells them to call a phone line in 2025. Offshore tells them to click a button. At this point the cause and effect becomes clear. Punters want value. Regulation and taxes make value harder to offer onshore. And the more offshore grows, the more pressure racing faces to fund its own integrity and prizemoney. This is the path to an industry that slowly bleeds out.https://bitofayarn.com Principal Racing Authorities have levers. If racing wants to keep turnover onshore, pricing must be fixed. Taxation and fees need to come down. Lower costs mean lower market percentages. Lower market percentages mean better odds. Better odds keep turnover here. That is the difference between an industry that grows and one that slowly bleeds out. Governments have a role too. The tobacco lesson is simple. Push taxes too far and the market goes underground. A more realistic Point of Consumption Tax is essential. The surge in offshore activity mirrors the introduction and escalation of PoCT. Government should also review the ban on online in-play sports betting. It is one of the clearest product gaps pushing younger punters offshore. Allowing regulated in-play online removes a major reason customers drift away and keeps turnover inside the system. Reduced taxation burdens give bookmakers the room to offer competitive odds and bring lost turnover back home.https://bitofayarn.com Stronger blocking tools, a national data framework and coordinated enforcement all matter. But none of it will work unless punters believe they get real value onshore. Pricing sits at the centre of all of it. The warning signs are flashing now. Racing and government must act with urgency. Lower costs. Smarter taxes. Better odds. More competitive products. If not, turnover will keep draining offshore. And once it goes, it does not come back.

$554,350. Won the Grp2 Annie Sarten Memorial. A gallant 3rd in the Grp1 Herbie Dyke. A tough second in the $1m Karaka Million 3yr old classic (galloped on and interferred with when Prowess lay out). Won the Uncle Remus Stakes. Raced against some very good 3yr olds of his year - Prowess, Legarto, Sharp N' Smart, Sacred Satono, Desert Lightning, Campionessa. You can also add horses like La Crique and Levante to those he beat. A shame he was hampered through his career by leg issues.

No because I saw a room of closed minds. A hint for you is when you hear someone say one of the following: Oh we tried that in 1984 and it didn't work; or That's not how we do things around here; or No we don't need a maintenance budget or plan; and so on. Get the picture? Probably not. It becomes endemic and executive committee membership often becomes an entitlement for having been a long serving member rather than for you ability to do anything.

Which is what the entire industry should be working towards. The Holy Grail. it's what makes OZ racing so attractive to the punter. I'd add to that the need for the training of Jockeys to be stepped up. The majority of them need pace reading training. Although I have noticed that recently some of the newbies are taking the initiative. Hopefully more will follow their lead.

How do you know it wasn't pounds? Anyway the Topic was about Wild Night being a relatively cheap purchase at $50k compared to the average for the sale he went through. The average was $123k and the median $95k. Then all the negative nellies start chirping about all the cheaper bargains that none of them had a share in.

You don't win unless you are in. I'm just waiting to hear what @Huey has invested in.

Perhaps. I'm not sure he got on with the @Comic Dog

I can show you posts on BOAY that slammed Ben when he was a Junior Driver. He has grown and full credit he is better than most.

Well done @hesi and to think other forums banned him.

Ok if you have a spare $5,500 pitch up on at Karaka in January 25 2026 and buy five champions for @Freda to train.

I have actually and quickly worked out I was in the wrong room and that I couldn't change anything.

Pedantic and a pedantic response. Now I could ask how do you know that the purchase price was in dollars and not pounds?

Didn't realise until he passed that he played cricket for Otago. We now need more enthusiasts like him.

Geez Colin Wightman aka @Transparency is looking for you! He has a deal on Tiny Homes!

I've met Des a few times and I liked his radio show and knowledge of racing. Must go to the same hairdresser and suit tailor as Winston Peters and Roger James. However I was surprised to learn when reviewing the WRC accounts over the years (checking how much they spent on maintenance) that Des was pulling a fairly decent fee for his promotional services.

Right. How many were NEW and were from the COUNTRY? I take it you did a survey? As it was I doubt any of them were serious punters given the track bias. Proof of what? Apply the same criteria to your beloved home track - Trentham! Meanwhile you sit in the stand at Trentham sipping cheap chardonnay still thinking that Trentham has a champange turf!

I think your attitude personifies all that is wrong with Clubs.

I disagree entirely with you. He had a fantastic hard working life and all of from his own efforts. From being brought up as child in Otago and educated at Otago Uni to Bermuda to Nelson to Auckland and Christchurch may have been in there somewhere. Clearly coming back from the USA he picked up those two MacDonalds franchises and made good money from them. He had a very dry at times provocative sense of humour and if you didn't get cotton on you'd wind yourself up. Contrary to what you might think he was very loyal to the South and I'm sure at times he would test us mainlanders for our own loyalty. I doubt he would have ever fully converted to the Blues and would have been a Crusaders fan!

This is the most comprehensive obituary I have seen for Gary Williams (aka @TAB For Ever) Vale Gary Williams 14 November 2025 , Obituary By Garrick Knight Northern harness racing has lost of one its biggest supporters with the sudden and unexpected passing of Gary Williams. The 72-year-old father of three died while swimming at his local Kohimarama Beach in Central Auckland last Saturday morning. It came as shock to many in the racing industry, including the dozens of people who had their weekly conversation with him at Alexandra Park the night before. Williams was ever present at the Auckland track on Friday nights in his role as a Race Night Steward, one that the genial and personable gentleman was so well suited to. “Gary joined the Auckland Trotting Club in 2013 and was a valuable, engaged and proactive member of the club,” said Club President, Jamie MacKinnon. “More recently, he joined the Race Night Steward team, which looks after the sponsors, winning owners and trainers of each race. “Gary was very good at this with his friendly and interested manner. “Each race night he wandered the course and always had a time for a hello and chat with everyone who crossed his path. “He will be sorely missed by the ATC and all the industry.” Williams was also a member of the Caduceus Club and a former committee member with that group. His biggest contribution to ‘the game’ was no doubt as an owner where he enjoyed considerable success as a syndicate member in both equine codes. In October 2023, he celebrated his 500th winner as an owner and was on course to see his charge, High Step win in Melbourne. At the time, 374 of those winners were in harness racing and many more have been added to that tally in the ensuing two years. Many of those came with involvement in lots of syndications; firstly the now-defunct Auckland Trotting Club Syndicates and more recently, as part of the annual syndicates put together by Breckon Farms to race their retained fillies. “Gary was a member of ten of the ATC Syndicates and had a total of 166 wins, including the Group 1 winners, Changeover, Tintin In America, Matai Mackenzie and Ideal Belle,” said Rob Carr, manager for both syndication groups. “He was also member of 10 Breckon Farms Syndicates and had a total of 130 wins, including the Group 1 winners, Luby Lou, Partyon, Tickle Me Pink, Bettor Twist, A Bettor You and High Energy. “Gary enthusiastically shared his thoughts on his horses’ performances and attended most of their race meetings, travelling throughout New Zealand and Australia. “He will be sadly missed, for his very positive and enthusiastic attitude, his kindness and friendship to all and his contribution to the racing industry.” Changeover gave Williams a cherished win in the biggest race on the calendar – the 2008 New Zealand Cup. “Changeover was one of four horses in a 50-person syndicate, but it was the most profitable of any that I’ve been in,” said Williams in a 2023 story in RaceForm. “He won over $2 Million on the track and when he retired to stud, we collected another $2.5 Million!” Williams’ gallops successes were highlighted by the prodigiously talented Xcellent, whose four Group 1 wins included the New Zealand Derby and Kelt Capital Stakes. But he is best remembered for his 2005 Melbourne Cup placing. Williams also won an Easter Handicap and City of Auckland Cup with Pasta Post and, just this year, a Grand National Steeplechase in Australia with the Mark Walker-trained Leaderboard, who also won a Wellington Cup. Away from horses, Williams lead an interesting and varied life, that started out in Mosgiel, near Dunedin, where he grew up. Many Saturdays were spent at nearby Wingatui racecourse or any other racetracks in the wider region that were running meetings. He was drawn to the industry and was soon helping out at the stables of local trainer Gordon Thomson, who prepared the mighty mare, Show Gait. Eventually, his career took priority and Williams studied accountancy at Otago University. He was a talented sportsman, captaining Otago Boys High School’s First XV Rugby side and he played first class cricket as a wicketkeeper for Otago eight times in the mid-to-late 1970s. Once graduating, he spent seven years in Bermuda, where he met his wife, Canadian-born Roseanne. He even represented Bermuda at the World Table Tennis Championships. After returning to New Zealand in the late 1980s, he and Roseanne settled in Nelson, where they purchased two McDonald’s fast-food franchises and raised three children – Guy, Maria and Paul. “It was 20 years of hard work, but it enabled me to retire earlier than most people,” said Williams in that same RaceForm story. One of the first horses he bought in to was the appropriately named galloper Mac ‘N’ Fries but soon to follow was Xcellent and champion pacer Changeover, among many others. “I only had four percent of Xcellent, but what a time we all had! He won the Derby at just his third start, and the following spring he finished third in the Melbourne Cup. “That day at Flemington, there I was looking for a seat in the stand, and I ended up sitting next to Bart Cummings – you could never buy those sorts of experiences!” Williams spent his retirement in Nelson playing and coaching basketball and table tennis, as well as managing the Nelson Giants basketball team. The Nelson Giants and Table Tennis New Zealand were among the many to post tributes to Williams this week, as well as trainers of both equine codes, too many to mention. The messages bore a common theme – that Williams was a kind, genuine man that had a real affinity for people. Eldest son, well-known comedian Guy, posted a tribute to his father on Thursday and re-enforced what those in the racing industry had come to learn over the past few decades. “Dad was a beautiful man, incredibly kind and friendly. “I reckon his main goal in life was just having a laugh with anyone and everyone. “He was an incredibly patient and gentle father who gave everything his all, he was kind and generous to everyone around him.” Gary and Roseanne moved to Kohimarama just over a decade ago and those lucky enough to have him on Facebook saw regular postings of his regular exploits around his community, including swims, bike rides and walks. It was on one of those daily jaunts, and amongst his good friends - a swimming group known as the High Tide Club - that he met his sudden end. If there is such a thing as divine intervention, two of Williams horses may well salute the judge this weekend. Firstly, at Cambridge on Friday night, Rubble On The Double will shoot for a second straight win for trainers, Dylan and Jo Ferguson. And then on Saturday, at Riccarton, Court Of Appeal will contest the Gr.3 $450,000 New Zealand Cup for trainers, Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson. Williams had plans in place to attend Cup Week in Christchurch. The colours of both horses will bear black armbands in his memory. “Gary loved the industry, and he was everyone’s biggest supporter,” said Jo Ferguson, who would see him every Friday night at Alexandra Park. “He was such a lovely man, and his loss will be widely felt across the industry up here.”

Who really cares? Any horse that doesn't win isn't a cheap horse. Wild Nighr was a good buy but then I guess you cynical mentally retired types wouldnt agree.

No that was the first hospitality option sold out. The Soft Food Suite.

I guess some online commentators watch Trackside with the sound off as this information was reported during the broadcast.

ORCHESTRAL (G Rooke) - Slow to begin. Underwent a post-race veterinary examination which revealed the mare to have suffered cardiac arrhythmia. Co-trainer R James was advised that ORCHESTRAL https://bitofayarn.comwill not be permitted to start in any race or trial until a veterinary certificate declaring the horse free of any cardiac arrhythmia following a gallop of at least 1000 metres.https://bitofayarn.com