Chief Stipe

Serious spinal and head injuries. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/racing-jockey-taiki-yanagida-suffers-serious-injuries-after-horror-fall-at-cambridge/QMAFE7LW3JQ5AZS2M35PO4363Y/

His answer was "gambling culture".....a few dots to connect after that. Although it would seem the "gambling culture" isn't the same in Queensland or South Australia.

I think @Reefton was asking how do they fund non-TAB racedays.

They're still discussing it and have just stopped for lunch. They'll be back at 2pm.

Australian focus for Nelson this weekend NZ Racing Desk 2 August 2022 Champion jumps trainer Paul Nelson will be in Australia rather than Christchurch this weekend as he watches his star hurdler The Cossack take on Australia’s best. Nelson won last season’s New Zealand jumps trainer title with 19 successes, including a startling eight prestige jumps races, but he won’t be represented on the first day of the Grand National carnival at Riccarton on Saturday. Instead he’ll be at Sandown in Melbourne on Sunday for the A$300,000 Grand National Hurdle (4200m), where The Cossack takes on local champ Saunter Boy and a high-class field. “We are very happy with him,” Nelson said. “He’s bright and he’s wanting to do his work, and that’s all we wanted.” Though Nelson’s former main rider Aaron Kuru is now based in Australia, he said he had no hesitation in giving The Cossack’s regular New Zealand rider Shaun Phelan the mount at Sandown. “Shaun has stuck with us right through the season and he’s ridden everything that we asked him to ride,” Nelson said. “I wanted him to have the chance, and I’m sure Aaron would see it that way as well, and Shaun’s ridden over there before as well.” Nelson plans to fly over to Melbourne for the weekend, return on Monday, and then head back later in the month if The Cossack is able to compete in the Grand National Steeplechase (4500m) at Ballarat. “He’s had the one race over fences in New Zealand but he’s got to have a school at Ballarat before he can race in the steeplechase,” Nelson said. “It will all depend on how he comes through the race this weekend.” Nelson said he wouldn’t be taking any horses to the Riccarton winter carnival because of the impact it can have on the horses for the rest of the jumps season. “If the horses went to Riccarton, that would be them for the season. The track’s very wet, and it’s hard going and it looks like they’re going to get some more bad weather,” Nelson said. “I was going to take Nedwin for the hurdles but he wasn’t quite right, and you’ve got to go down there 110 percent right. “We’ve taken hurdlers down there and still returned for the Great Northern, like The Cossack did last year, but we haven’t done it for a steeplechaser. They seem buggered by the time they get back from there.” With Nelson not going down, and given the fact that jumps racing in the South Island is now restricted to this Christchurch carnival, the nominations for the first day jumps races have been very light. Nelson said it was extremely disappointing that jumps racing had all but come to a halt in the South Island, with none of the nominated runners hailing from the South Island. He said a meeting held in Christchurch last year had some enthusiasm for jumps races to be staged at Riccarton on the same day that the Riccarton synthetic track was used for flat racing, but it wasn’t pursued. “Those at the meeting thought it was a great idea, it would give South Island races a boost, it would make sense to have it at Riccarton so riders could get down there – it’s too difficult for riders to fly in and then drive down to other tracks,” he said. “Everybody was very happy with the idea and it was in New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing’s hands, but they decided to do away with jumps racing in the South Island bar the National. “I don’t believe the Canterbury Jockey Club can do without this weekend of racing, and without jumping being a huge part of it. As far as most people are concerned, it’s not the Winter Cup meeting, it’s the Grand National meeting.” Nelson said the lack of tracks in the North Island wasn’t helping either, and the fact that Ellerslie, where jumps racing has ceased with the steeplechase hill sold, and Te Aroha, where the Great Northern jumps racing carnival was held last season, were being remodelled at the same time didn’t seem to make sense. However, he said attendances at the jumps meetings that were taking place had been very encouraging. “At the Wellington Steeplechase meeting three weeks ago there was a bloody good crowd. The stands were full and all the rooms were chocker,” he said. “Hawke’s Bay, both days they’ve had, were huge. There were people around the parade ring before the first race. When do you get that in winter other than jumps racing?”

Ironic that the picture they use is taken at Riccarton!!!

You are right. They decided this morning but have yet to make a statement. 9 races scheduled for the first day - two Open Jumps races. All races will remain open until Wednesday 03 August at 9.00am Jumps Races – All Three Days The jumps races will be reviewed at 9am Wednesday 03 August (for all three days) and a decision made at that time re any deletions.

Yeah na - not silent. They must have been speaking to someone to get these stakes. MEETING NEWS Cambridge Stakes Uplift – 17 August Further to the previous announcement that the R75 1550m (Richard Bright Memorial Cup) will race for $50,000, the Cambridge JC are pleased to announce the following stake increases for the same day: R60 1300m from $14,000 to $35,000 (Group 1 Turf Bar 1300m) All other races from $14,000 to $15,000

MEETING NEWS CD Trials Update – Otaki/Synthetic The trials scheduled for Otaki on Tuesday 9 August have been cancelled due to the extremely wet weather and wet tracks in the central region over the past weeks. NZTR and RACE are looking at the possibility of scheduling a set of trials on the synthetic track at Awapuni on Thursday 18 August. This will be confirmed or otherwise next week.

The problem in NZ is that they need abandonments to stay solvent.

Finally you are getting onto the problem - the turf! They have no one to blame but themselves.

It's worse than it looks too @Joe Bloggs. Under McKenzie's regime at TAB NZ a number of functions were devolved to the codes. So if the Stakes increase promises are to be met one or all of the following will have to occur: reduction in total stakes paid; less races (abandonment's help immensely); and/or, those devolved activities will not be funded e.g. code marketing. There must be some concern about RIB funding with Gaming profits taking a hit AND the RIB having increased operating costs. So much for efficiencies in amalgamating the JCA and RIU!

But they were mostly volunteers!!! Mills and his lot plus NZTR have been on the industry tit for decades! They only have one job!!!

But they've never got this part of planning right - never. It's so simple to do as well. So simple that one must think that they have an agenda to NOT do it. Why do they need to rely on being contacted when someone could spend a few hours on the phone and call the Trainers? Isn't that how Club Secretary's used to work in the old days without smart phones and the internet?

So you're happy with the status quo? Typical.

Tim Mills 27 year legacy. That's how long he has been CEO. Can we blame him for the state of the track?

No change, no gain.

Profit $17m below last year. I guess the codes will be digging into their pockets to fund the RIB shortfall in funding from Gaming?

TAB NZ Trading Performance Update - June 2022 1 August 2022 TAB New Zealand (TAB NZ) provides the eleventh monthly trading update for the 2021/2022 financial year, with the results and highlights for June 2022. The TAB continued to operate through its online and retail channels throughout June. While the current Omicron outbreak continued to be a presence and factor through June, New Zealand remained at the Orange setting in the Covid-19 Protection Framework with retail and hospitality operating through the month. Turnover was slightly down against budget in June, as was gross betting revenue (GBR), although the gross betting margin was broadly in line with expectations. While retail and hospitality was able to operate without capacity restrictions, softening economic conditions also played a factor as customers adjusted to the rising cost of living. There has also been a drop in starter numbers and/or across the three racing codes through April, May & June that has contributed to the variance in turnover. The TAB NZ Board has been able to maintain betting profit distributions at budgeted levels through the year to date. With funding from Betting Information Use Charges and the Betting Levy tracking above budget, this has meant that total distributions have been above budgeted expectations. The Board will continue to factor in potential developments in New Zealand’s response to Covid-19 and the current global financial climate, as to how trading conditions are affected and how this may or may not affect profit distributions. Wagering Performance Summary In June, the key performance results for TAB NZ were slightly down on the overall positive trends of the 2021/22 financial year. Turnover of $197.3m was 3.9% ($8.1m) below budget. Gross betting revenue (GBR) of $31.6m was slightly down on budget by 3.2% ($1.0m). The gross betting margin (GBM) of 16.0% was 0.1% above budget. Racing Average NZ thoroughbred starters per race was 10.7, slightly above the Year To Date (YTD) average of 10.6, while the peak turnover for a domestic meeting was $2.3m on 11 June at Ruakaka. Harness average starters per race was 10.2, matching the YTD average, while the peak meeting turnover of $1.3m was on 24 June at Addington. For greyhound racing, the average starters per race was 7.5, slightly below the YTD average of 7.6, while the peak turnover for a domestic meeting was $517k on 12 Jun at Manukau. Sport The top sporting event by turnover for June was the Super Rugby Pacific final between the Crusaders and Blues at $1.36m. Tennis was the leading in-play sporting code accounting for 24% of in-play turnover while Rugby League was the top pre-match singles sporting code accounting for 32% of pre-match turnover. June Operational Performance Reported Profit for the month was $11.0m, which was $1.7m below Budget. Operating Expenses were $10.0m for the month, which was $0.2m below Budget. Year To Date (1 Aug 2021 to 30 June 2022) Reported Profit was $146.1m, which was $3.4m below Budget and $17.0m below last year. Year To Date (1 Aug 2021 to 30 June 2022) Operating Expenses were $107.1m, which was $3.4m below Budget and $3.5m above last year. June Distributions Racing Codes were paid $13.2m in distributions and other payments for June, versus $13.1m budgeted. This consisted of TAB NZ Betting Profit (listed as Fixed Distribution in the table below), offshore bookmaker commission fees, which are based on actual turnover (termed Betting Information Use Charges (BIUC) in the table below), and Betting Duty/Levy repeal.

Would be too late by then. You'd need to write legislation to reverse what is likely to happen in the next 14 months. The best bet would be to lobby the Labour Minister when NZTR places land grab requests on his desk. Assuming of course that Clubs don't roll over BEFORE it gets to that stage.

You're definitely blowing hard. I don't see you being able to pass legislation to land grab BOAY. Also knowing what I know about the identity of the Special Agent I can assure you they definitely are in a position to initiate some action. But the point is why knock them down even if they are a "blow hard"? Isn't their intention exactly what YOU want?

It's positive in my opinion. Even a threat of action is more positive than just moaning about what's happening.

Harden up. We have a newbie turn up who has some positivity and the boot gets put in. Perhaps they are trying to save Levin rather than just talk about its demise.

My takeaway of reading Hansens comments were that his biggest criticism was the lack of continuity at senior exec level. I note as a good Canterbury man he felt Tew should have contributed. So what decisions has the Board made that are wrong? Can't be appointing Foster has Hansen backs him as a Coach.