Chief Stipe

What issue exactly?

Why wouldn't it be up 25% when they made it free to air again? But watching TV doesn't actually mean you bought anything!

Time to buy?

The truth is that if you invest for long enough, you're going to end up with some losing stocks. Long term Entain Plc (LON:ENT) shareholders know that all too well, since the share price is down considerably over three years. So they might be feeling emotional about the 63% share price collapse, in that time. And over the last year the share price fell 46%, so we doubt many shareholders are delighted. Shareholders have had an even rougher run lately, with the share price down 16% in the last 90 days.

Were they actually racing for anything?

Free-to-air Trackside boosts betting Much improved signs heading into Entain Year-2 by Brian de Lore Published 25 June 2024 Free-to-air Trackside and aggressive marketing have Entain Managing Director Cameron Rodger smiling broadly after receiving the latest betting figures. A few days ago, he told me, “We are just now in the process of measuring what the move to Free to Air has done to overall trackside audience numbers. This data is still being finalised but to give you a sense of the result – our total Trackside audience on Saturdays is up more than 25% – and the total viewership over the week is up even more.” Cameron added: “It’s more brutal out there than probably anyone could have accurately pictured, not just the betting market but all consumer markets, but what I’m seeing is upside through engaging more customers – we have so many more customers on our books now compared to last year. But we are getting less out of each customer than we had hoped because there is less money in everyone’s pockets. “Through our investment here, we have managed to fill the funnel at a fast rate, so we have had a 21 percent increase in customers, which delivers to us a turnover that’s not in decline. And that increase came after only 17 days of testing from marketing the new app, so that’s tracking really positively. If we had the same customer base we started with, we would be in serious trouble.” The economic downturn may be worldwide, but it is reportedly worse in New Zealand than in Australia. So why is post-COVID betting in Australia estimated to have a 15—to 20 percent downturn, but against that trend, turnover has increased in NZ over the past year? Entain men have a passion for racing The simple one-word answer is Entain. The newbies have introduced a fresh change of direction and taken control of the decision-making at TAB NZ, thus eliminating the non-performing, apathetic administration of the past with an injection of new life. Dean Shannon, Lachlan Fitt, and Cameron Rodger are intelligent people who all have a passion for horse racing, a vital but missing ingredient in most of their predecessors over the previous 20 years. Entain’s partnership with TAB NZ can only be described as ‘game-changing.’ Cameron Rodger doesn’t entirely agree with my assessment that TAB NZ would now be broke. He says: “If the new distributions hadn’t gone through, distributions to the codes would probably have been cut by about $20 million.” Applying that to the thoroughbred industry, the available prizemoney would be 36 percent less than the current level, accompanied by an exodus of the industry comparable to the annual Hajj to Mecca. Cameron Rodger is buoyed by the most recent stats coming to him after a year of placing racing in front of the general public by embracing mainstream media. He elaborated: “Thoroughbred racing in May was up 28 per cent in turnover on the previous year, which is a huge leap forward, and harness was up 15 per cent, and Greyhounds was up eight per cent, and that’s just May. Total active customers in May 2024, was 82,500 against 72,000 the previous May, so we are genuinely thrilled with what we are seeing. June new customers up 15% “As an example, for the month of June thus far, we’ve had two-and-a-half times more account sign-ups than we had in the same period last year. That number is exceeding even our own new customer number forecasts – by just under 15%. “It tells us that the different initiatives we’ve put in place are doing a great job of getting customers in the door which is the critical measure we are chasing, and is especially gratifying this early on.” No one will deny that Entain has made a great effort in year one, but what about sustainability? The first year has passed with a positive pass mark, but everyone with an investment in racing is interested in the long term with consistent growth which will encourage new participants. I put that question to Cameron: “We have a five-year window for a reason, we are not going to be going backwards. If people can see that we are trying our best to find a solution to issues that are not really our issues to solve, hopefully, it shows how serious we are about New Zealand’s future for the long term. “We don’t even have to worry about the turnover right now because we are here for the long haul. I’m not just putting on a brave face, there are genuinely very good signs despite the tough, tough market. Riding out the economic downturn “Without the economic downturn, we would be really flying along. The upshot of this is that we can ride out the cycle now, and distributions won’t be affected. We can keep investing and growing customer numbers. When the economy comes back, we have a great customer base to grow again. “We are up 3.5 percent year-on-year in turnover and gross profit is also up slightly. “Other jurisdictions are down, and we are putting up a helluva fight. It’s genuinely showing us that if we can get these numbers up further, it’s very positive for the future. The best thing we can do at this time is not to try to get more money out of our customers in this economic climate.” When I suggested to Cameron that the problems confronting the breeding industry are just as serious as racing with a historically declining stallion, broodmare and foal population, he responded this way: “We are aware of the problems facing the breeding industry. “The top end seems to look after itself, but there has been a weakening of the middle and bottom end. We are trying to get involved through the Pearl Series. We have looked at the decline of the broodmare band, which can’t be ignored; if you look at the number of stakes-winning mares and progeny going through the sales, it’s on the decline, and good broodmares are getting harder and harder to buy. “Prizemoney increases still catching up” – Cameron Rodger “We do know that increased prizemoney makes a difference over time, but we are trying to think of tactical ways we can engage the breeding and racing industry. I don’t really think that the full upside of the prizemoney injections has yet caught up to all areas of the industry. “I think the time to be investing in the industry is in a downturn, and I know that’s an easy thing to say, and everyone knows that principle, but it’s just a hard thing to do in real terms. The amazing positive we have right now is that we are one of the few sectors where, despite the inflationary pressure, the underlying picture is improving. I do believe that things will improve within a couple of years, but it might be a more extended period of pain than most people thought. I said to Cameron Rodger that we are an apathetic industry with a poor record of helping ourselves and now we are relying on Entain. He replied: “We are not pretending we have a silver bullet. Cameron Rodger: “Lachlan Fitt is a machine; he doesn’t stop” “Lachlan Fitt has been appointed Chairman of the board of Thoroughbred Marketing (NZTM),” he continued. “You won’t find a more passionate foreigner when it comes to the New Zealand industry – he loves it and is a machine; he doesn’t stop. He’s never satisfied and he’s the one that’s driving things here, but we haven’t worked out all the equations yet. The Entain executives have all pledged their allegiance to racing over sport, which is music to the ears of racing, but he did finish the chat by revealing an interesting stat, which comes as a result of advertising on mainstream media: “The turnover on the Warriors has gone from about $400,000 to $620,000 per match involved, so it is about a 50 percent increase.”

The trials tomorrow are on the AWT.

But they are all doing much better than other jurisdictions. Perhaps Mr Dore should be rewarded for his efforts rather than denigrated?

Then your analysis is flawed which I've said from the beginning. Your objective isn't anything to do with Greyhound safety and welfare but as you state holding GRNZ accountable. In other words rather than dealing with facts you sole intent is to bag GRNZ. If you were consistent then you would point out to GRNZ that the KPI's by which you measure them on are flawed i.e. GRNZ have made a rod for their own back. The reality is that Greyhound racing has an inherent systemic injury rate that no matter what is done will always be there. In that regard it is no different from any other high performance sport. So I doubt that you support Greyhound racing - I would say you are a wolf in sheep clothing i.e. truly anti-greyhound racing. No doubt negatively motivated by a past negative experience that you can't let go.

Don't forget the 2yr olds are rising 3yr olds. Doesn't bode well for the Spring.

Your stats are meaningless because GRNZ's KPI's are meaningless. The statistics you need to compare against is the natural injury rate of racing a Greyhound. When you do that you'll find that NZ is no different to any other jurisdiction. We look forward to your new analysis.

Right so you have no idea what the natural injury rate of Greyhound Racing is?

I look forward to your comments. Tier racing complicates many things e.g. handicapping.

Is it correct that if you compare Chazza's figures to those from NSW then NZ actually does considerably better with injury rates than the NSW jurisdiction. Perhaps GRNZ are shooting themselves in the paw with unrealistic KPI's. Nothing worse than a KPI that you can't manage by action i.e. one that has an inherent statistical rate regardless of management activity.

Why do we need any tiers? We don't actually have a huge horse population and simplifying everything would be a better option. In my opinion the quality of our fields doesn't change because of the day of the week or the amount of stakes being paid other than at Black Type level.

Greyhounds headed to the United States for homes to clear New Zealand backlog www.rnz.co.nz Retired racing greyhounds are headed overseas as the industry looks to find homes for its backlog of dogs. They are being sent to the United States, rather than waiting to be adopted in New Zealand. As of early June, 44 greyhounds have made the trip to new homes in the US. Darrin Williams from Greyhound Racing New Zealand said the adoption market there is wildly different from New Zealand. "They're exactly the opposite to us. We've got plenty of dogs and not enough applications. They've got piles of applications and no dogs because there's hardly any racing over in America. So, before they go, many of the dogs have already begun to be matched with the right home." Greyhound Racing New Zealand investigated the programme after seeing Australia do it and found it cheaper to send the dogs overseas than to keep them here in boarding kennels. Williams said there was a backlog of dogs waiting to be adopted, and while in the first ten months of this year they found homes for 478, the US programme will allow the waitlist to be cleared faster. "Because of the backlog, we needed to look at anywhere else that we could rehome dogs or anything else that we could do with them to make sure that they were in a home and in a home quicker instead of moving from racing life, racing kennel life, to boarding kennel life." There are 350 dogs currently on the waitlist for adoption, Williams said. Emelia Lake from the charity Greyhounds as Pets said interest in adoptions has dropped, especially in North Island centres like Auckland. "We are facing lower adoption numbers this year, largely due to the economic crisis. It is slower and we are really putting in a lot of work with extra events and things like that to get greyhounds into homes." She said the organisation was holding onto the dogs for longer as a result. "We work with them for however long it takes to get them into a home, so whether it be two weeks or two years, they will stay in our care until they do find their forever home." There have been calls for greyhound racing to be banned after deaths and injuries at the racetrack. The former government directed the industry to make recommended improvements to animal welfare or risk closure after a review into the future of the sport. SPCA's Arnja Dale said her organisation backs a ban and the industry should account for it in its planning. "Despite the industry being under review by the government for two years, they have continued to breed puppies, which is absolutely outrageous." She said New Zealand is one of six countries in the world with a greyhound racing industry, and if the industry were to close, the SPCA would help rehome the dogs. "We are the largest leading animal welfare organisation in New Zealand and will continue to speak for the greyhounds that can't speak for themselves and also help in any way that we can to rehome them, if indeed the decision is made to close the industry." The issue of a ban is now with Racing Minister Winston Peters, who said he will not be rushed on the matter. He said the dogs do get something out of racing. "Dogs love racing. Watch them in the wild. Just like horses. Three o'clock in the morning, everybody's quiet and they're out there having a race in the paddock. "So, before we rush off, there are certain instinctive things that animals like, and one of them they will do whether you're going to organise the race or not." Greyhound Racing NZ rejects the idea of a ban and said the industry has quarterly meetings with the minister and Racing Integrity Board about progress on issues brought up in the review.

Your point?

So you don't give them that much credit?

Geez Chazza you are working hard now to find something to moan about.

I know it is easy to rant about this BS on an internet forum... but when are those in charge going to fix it? For the life of me I just don't get it. I talk to more people that have skin in the game (calluses) than I do administrators and the former are so frustrated whereas the administrators are spinning shyte!

Well they are up against it when the CD trainers didn't want the AWT in the first place. Some very very good horsemen (persons) in that group.

No doubt your bromance @Michael has the answer.

I can see the Stipes report now. Or rather the excuse... "Mr Grimstone my horse was hungry and while walking around at the start he ate a bit of grass. I think that's why he switched off at the 600m. He started neighing at the sun after that."

But you hate mile races? Ok 90m further but...

Moved to Thursday? Same day as the race meeting. My guess is not enough entries. Which begs the question if you are a trainer ready to trial why not pitch up and throw your hand at getting some stakes money?