Chief Stipe

A little unfair? So is the promotion about NZB or promoting the New Zealand bred thoroughbred? Arguably the industry was built on horses bred by owners and raced by them.

Agreed. But if you know one you know the other A + B = C

So much for buying a yearling in OZ to improve the genetic diversity of the NZ bred. Why don't they have bonuses for NZ Owners? You know the people who fund the product?

How much are NZB putting in?

Handicapping Review Attached. NZTR Handicapping Review 2024-25-3.pdf

Not sure some of those guys were the best informed to make descisions on handicapping!

Better than them laying off on the local pool!

What another Sweepstake bonus? Are NZB paying bonuses now to maiden winners?

Entirely speculation.

ATA back MRC change | RACING.COM www.racing.com The Australian Trainers’ Association has thrown its support behind a move for change at the Melbourne Racing Club. ATA chief executive Stephen Bell said on Thursday there were matters of “significant importance” the members felt they needed to support, including the change back to the former mounting yard at Caulfield, the scrapping of plans for a new grandstand and the retaining of racing at Sandown. Bell told Racing.com that while the ATA usually keeps itself apart from club boardroom issues, it felt these issues, which are at the forefront of residing MRC committee member John Kanga’s Save Our MRC agenda, needed to be addressed immediately. “The Save Our MRC group concerns align with those held by the ATA and its member base,” Bell said. “When we asked for members’ thoughts, it was these three issues that kept on coming up and we felt we had to act.” Earlier this week, newly-elected committee members of the Australian Trainers’ Association J D Hayes and Sam Freedman were vocal in their support of reverting back to Caulfield’s former mounting yard. The Victorian Jockey’s Association has not matched the ATA’s move despite criticism of the mounting yard by champion riders Blake Shinn and Mark Zahra and claims from from VJA committee member Harry Coffey that the new mounting yard is unsafe as jockeys are forced to mount their horses on a sloping surface. A week ago, Kanga called for a spill of the board over the issues. A date is yet to be confirmed for the Special General Meeting. Racing.com contacted MRC CEO Josh Blanksby for comment. The Melbourne Racing Club executive committee said in a statement: “Our club is built on a member-led culture and a successful governance model that guarantees every member has an equal voice and the opportunity to exercise it each year at our AGM. “Members vote to elect Committee members to represent their interests, and each year provides a fresh opportunity to vote for new candidates standing for election."

Trainer Grahame Begg slams Caulfield mounting yard www.racenet.com.au Multiple Group 1-winning Grahame Begg says anyone involved in the approval of the controversial Caulfield mounting yard should not be on any committee, let alone a racing club board. The Caulfield mounting yard, which was opened early this year, has emerged as one of the key battlegrounds on which the Melbourne Racing Club's latest committee war has erupted in recent days. Businessman and racehorse owner John Kanga has moved a motion to replace several MRC committee members over several serious issues, including the Caulfield mounting yard. • Two MRC board members jump ship as spill motion intensifies Cranbourne-based Begg slammed the design and location of the Caulfield mounting yard, now located at the end of the course's main grandstand, about 150m from the winning post. "Anyone in their right mind who ticked that off, they shouldn't be on any committee or anything," Begg said. "It's unbelievable to think that it was ticked off. "I just can't understand how they could have thought it was a good idea. "No wonder the chairman has stepped down and it's no wonder the CEO finishes this week. "That's telling on its own." The new Caulfield mounting yard has drawn criticism from many corners of the industry in recent months. Picture: Getty Images • MRC responds to ‘unprecedented' spill call Begg said the new mounting yard hampered the ownership experience but worse was to come when the summer sun shone over the area, which has little shelter from the elements for owners. "The design, its location, owner engagement – these are all the factors," Begg said. "Owners have to walk down there, walk back to watch the race then walk back down to the mounting yard to hear the jockey. "They lose that engagement with the jockey and that's why they own horses, especially the big syndicates. "That has all been lost in the scheme of things." General admission punters look down on the horses and jockeys in the new Caulfield mounting yard. Picture: Getty Images • Early Oil: Tips, quaddie picks and race-by-race analysis for Caulfield on Saturday Begg added the mounting yard, which slopes down away from the track to join with the underground horse stalls behind the grandstand was dangerous for jockeys attempting to mount horses. Flemington trainer Wayne Hawkes said Caulfield's race day stalls were a vast improvement on the previous facilities but the mounting yard should have been differently designed. "Would I have done it that way? No," Hawkes said. "What I would have done is make it like Moonee Valley and Randwick with the tiered steps around it. "But the thing is, is it blocked off like it is because of a new grandstand? Is it built like that for that reason? I don't know." Champion trainer Peter Moody said he was unsure whether the mounting yard needed to be sloped away from the track. "Doing anything on a slope has got a bigger danger than anything. In an ideal world, you'd like a nice flat parade ring but I don't really want to buy into it," Moody said. The Melbourne Racing Club had previously conceded the new jockeys' room at Caulfield was too small for the riders. • Clinton Payne's tips, runner-by-runner analysis for the 2024 Memsie Stakes at Caulfield On Thursday, the Australian Trainers' Association (ATA) issued a statement in support of Mr Kanga's Save Our MRC agenda, which includes moving the mounting yard back to its original position, scrapping plans to build a new grandstand and retaining racing at Sandown. "Whilst the ATA historical likes to distant itself from boardroom politics, we find this matter of significant importance," ATA CEO Stephen Bell said. "The Save Our MRC Group concerns align with those held by the ATA and its member base. We need to ensure racing remains at Sandown and the Caulfield issues are resolved immediately. "Trainers need to be proactive and get all their owners and friends that are MRC members to vote in favour of the Save Our MRC Group at the forthcoming Special General Meeting of members." • Cameron Happ's best bets for Caulfield on Saturday: $5.50 value selection The Victorian Jockeys' Association (VJA), on the other hand, was happy to let the debate rage elsewhere. "We'll just leave the politics of it all to the MRC," VJA chief executive Matt Hyland said.

Experts' wagering warning Paul Tatnell@PaulTatnell29 August, 2024 Australian wagering experts have told the Asian Racing Conference in Japan that local markets are at a 'tipping point' as they work through regulation and taxation battles. The session focused on global wagering trends, challenges, innovations and the World Pool. Entain Australia and New Zealand CFO and deputy CEO, Lachlan Fitt, said the business will have to make adjustments to its wagering offerings if further regulation is enforced. Entain operates Ladbrokes and Neds in Australia. "I think really one of the critical points right now is that given what we're seeing in terms of taxation and some of the increased regulation in the market, the biggest risk for all of that for everyone right now, is over-taxation and over-regulation," he said. "And we are really at a tipping point in Australia that we don't have any more capacity to be able to absorb these increases. "At the end of the day, our margins are already very thin. The only levers we have to pull are reducing marketing technology, promotional investment, or passing on the costs to the customer. And all of those things are negative for the long run for the racing industry." In his presentation to delegates, Fitt said Entain had invested tens of millions of dollars in attracting customers through innovative content and ownership opportunities. "In Australia we have a really competitive market and that's driven innovation over a long period, both from ourselves and our competitors," Fitt said. "As a business what we have tried to do is move a little bit outside pure betting product innovation and look at ways we can drive engagement in racing at the top of the funnel through owners, the Ladbrokes Racing Club, through our content strategy, telling the stories of the participants, the horses, the trainers, the jockeys," he said. "We are a very proudly a racing-first business. And we took on the view that for us to have an industry over the long term that was sustainable and strong, that we had a role to play." Fitt said new government advertising regulations could have a significant impact on wagering turnover and subsequent PRA revenues. He said turnover could decline between 15 and 40 per cent, depending on what regulations the Federal Government announces, which will then impact what Entain can offer punters. "There's a fair range of outcomes right now but we don't have the margins to be able to play with, so we would have no choice but to reduce our investment in marketing, reduce our investment in generosity, pass on higher odds, stop innovating on product," he said. "And all of those things from a punter perspective will mean lower engagement long-term, less enjoyment, less entertainment. We're in a discretionary income space and if customers are losing their money faster and not enjoying it, then they'll go and do something else." The growth of the World Pool has been a key conversation during the ARC so far, which has seen key Australian races open up to major Asian markets. The financial result was strong for local PRAs. Fitt said while the World Pool is good for the globalisation of racing, it is not necessarily the 'silver bullet'. "From a wagering perspective, we have to focus on the customer. And the customer has been telling us they want a range of products. I don't think [the World Pool] is the silver bullet," he said. "But it is a really important tool and vehicle I think that can be used to drive that globalisation of racing. And, certainly in some markets, the view on the wagering benefit will be much stronger than what we would see in Australia or New Zealand." Racing Queensland chief executive Jason Scott also addressed the conference and said while the World Pool is beneficial for big race days, he believes more work needs to be done to understand why customers globally are filtering to illegal markets. "I think World Pool tote is absolutely fantastic for Royal Ascot, for Melbourne Cups, for The Everest, for Japan Cups, but jurisdictions such as Australia, Japan, America, UK race seven-days-a-week, wall-to-wall racing," he said. "To be honest, we need to learn from the illegal markets, illegal markets are growing, why are people going to illegal markets, yes, they use crypto, but the reason is most customers are conscious of return and because the illegal markets are able to offer a greater return through less take outs, less taxes etc … they can grow." Scott also argued the success of Hong Kong's product in terms of how often they race. "Hong Kong is the most-successful jurisdiction in the world and they race two times a week … we simply race too much," he said.

Perhaps they flew it.

Interesting I've talked to a few Trainers and Jockeys over the years. BEFORE the Mess-ara report. A few of those tracks were rated the best in their districts. They may not have had nice GRANDstands but they had good tracks. More often than not they had cash in the bank. Go figure.

@TAB For Ever one minute you are telling us that punting on horses is not in our DNA like it is in Australians. The next minute you are telling us we are going to do better. What's more you can't tell us how. With you promotion of the Mess-ara report we can only assume that a handful of racecourses are going to sustain the current level of expenditure. Sorry buy your numbers don't seem to add up.

So 4 races in the South Island and 36 in Auckland?

What did you think they'd do? What metrics are you using? A feel good factor or finger in the ear?

Really? Who feeds you this stuff? How many horses are required each year for owners to buy to race to enable ENTAIN to make a profit? Asking for a friend.

BS. Are ENTAIN making a profit in NZ?

A dreamer?

They've been doing it for years. One of my bug bears. I can't remember the last time I bet on the tote. Got sick of seeing the price change 600m into the race! There is no excuse for not having real time price updates.

Mmm. Thanks for that. That's a lot of dosh. TABNZ have limited revenue earning options....pokies? @curious is across that more than I am.

Where did you see that? One of my biggest gripes is Dean McKenzie did a smoke and mirrors trick with marketing. Moved it off TABNZ's balance sheet and onto each of the codes.

When I did my MBA we had an assignment. The assignment was to assess a number of annual reports applying a number of tests and to predict which would fail and which would succeed. We didn't know at the time that the names were false names for real companies that were traded on the NZX before and after the 87 crash. There were about 6 tests - each with a different weighting. I'll list three: A complicated company structure with lots of inter-company lending (Du Val - 70 companies); A high proportion of Assets as intangible assets such as Goodwill/licenses etc. (ENTAIN NZ); High number of executive share rights with rights to convert to cash and/or more shares; .....

There is a discussion on it elsewhere on BOAY. In my opinion the intangibles are over-valued and are essentially the premium on the NZ lisence they have. Essentially just a Government promise. A number of financial analysts are saying that ENTAIN is a buy at the moment i.e. the share price has probably bottomed. I would only throw at it what I would throw at buying a racehorse. Assuming I had the spare cash anyway!