Chief Stipe

@Freda?

My question was in response to @Freda's quote of a high profile trainer. Quite frankly I don't watch North Armerican racing. Prefer Australia, Hong Kong and UK/Europe. Last time I looked they largely ran on safe consistent turf tracks.

How did they know it was you?

Then why aren't they lobbying hard for safe and fast turf tracks? Afterall that is what most of the racing is done on throughout the world.

What exactly is not fit?

I've asked repeatedly "Where is the business case?" What revenue is required to maintain them?

Seems Waverley is in the elite group. How many meetings shifted there and now an extra one? Or is it a plan to squeeze as much as it can out of the lemon before composting it?

MEETING NEWS July 19 Trials now at Foxton The trials that were scheduled for Waverley on Tuesday 19 July will now be run at Foxton due to Waverley having a race-meeting added into the schedule on Thursday 28 July

Was told by a CEO once that if the company started believing its own propaganda then we were well and truly stuffed.

Which is incorrect data and needs to be corrected. HRNZ don't have many jobs and I would have thought data integrity was a priority. I agree. I agree. Reminds me of when I gave an old car away to be scrapped. It wasn't a very pleasant experience to have a Police Sergeant visit my work to tell me that that car had been involved in a crime. To say I got a bollocking for not completing the change of ownership papers would be an understatement. I was lucky not to be prosecuted! If ownership details are made more accessible and HRNZ educates owners (does a new owner get an ownership pack detailing what they can and can't do?) then there would be an element of self policing. I've been bitten in horse ownership before and I would want to know if the insurance that I was paying was registered against the horse as a pecuniary interest. Yes and that is my biggest concern. It is easy to rub out those that err when they are eventually caught and you could argue that it is the interests of HRNZ to makes sure that as much noise is made as possible. As it gives the impression that they are actually doing something. However they are not addressing the fundamental problems. I've always said there is a direct correlation between the level of stakes and racing opportunities available and the cheat levels people will reach to try and survive in the industry.

The asset grab pressure will ramp up very soon judging by the average to below average performance from the TAB. Plus the extra costs of the AWT maintenance will kick in over the coming months. It will only take a few bad turf tracks in the Spring to further tip the balance.

Would be purely political if they did either. No science to support it. I know many who have had the virus and they are all either getting off the vaccination treadmill or seriously questioning the point of it. The level of compliance is falling rapidly and it will take more than a $50 grocery voucher to entice people to get 4 or more jabs.

Thank you for reinforcing my point. As far as I know no registered race horse in New Zealand cannot have an owner. The simple step that HRNZ can take is to make the ownership status open and transparent. They do this up to a point where anyone can look up who owns a horse so all that is required is to extend this for syndicates (I.e. list all members) and make available to all owners in a particular horse who owns what percentage. The next step is to have a central registry where any pecuniary interest against a horse must be registered I.e. an insurance policy. So if an owner signs papers to buy a share in any registered horse they can then view who else owns how much of it and who has a pecuniary interest. Someone like Kerr wouldn't be able to do what he did. Surely that is an important function of HRNZ - put systems in place to ensure the integrity of horse ownership.

You've asked the TAB? What you are implying is the TAB sees YOUR $20 bet as a market indicator of risk. Really? You must be restricted more than @Brodie. But no one else in the market knows if the $20 is mine or yours except perhaps the TAB bookies and or the system odds setter. That said aren't most winning punters looking for value rather than following the leader?

Assuming that you are talking about the odds available to everyone and not restricted punter odds. The only way your $20 on its own could have that effect on odds was if the pools were very small or the odds were "market enticement". I'm not suggesting you are clairvoyant but you are assuming that you are the only person participating in the market (which you aren't) and that no one else has the same strategy as you.

No way will I get the jab. According to a RAT test I've had the much feared disease. So my immunity is as good as anyone on the jab treadmill and the $50 grocery voucher bribe regime. My infection was nothing more than a head cold and surprisingly better than many of my vaccinated friends.

That's crap. I haven't denied anything. The difference is I believe the industry has a culture problem much of which is perpetuated by the administrators of the sport largely by their inaction. I've also offered solutions e.g. ways to prevent the Mitchell Kerr crime being committed and protecting owners. All others are intent on doing is to completely rub out anyone who errs and to raise unfounded allegations about those that are succeeding (surviving?) in the sport. If you are happy with the RIB and HRNZ's management of the sport then I would say you are in denial not I. Meanwhile the rank and file are struggling to make a living and the administrators get fatter without any risk. Many are satisfied if they see some road kill from time to time but don't give a damn about fixing the fundamental systemic problems.

Wrong. The figures are rates per 100,000 NOT rates per 90,000 or 10,000. The figures are a comparison between the RATES of infection.

I've never "proclaimed" that at all. I've only ever said when asked that my first degree was a science degree. Anyone who has done such a degree is trained in the scientific method. Much of the "science" we have seen in the last three years has been very very poor.

Happy to challenge these supposed "own goals". However your statement regarding the Pzifer vaccine "test" is incorrect. What's more it doesn't align with the FDAs original policy for giving a vaccine an EUA. That policy may have changed but what is clear the data submitted by Pzifer was not up to standard and clearly showed that the vaccine had very low efficacy be it as a true vaccine or as a therapeutic.

Will the moves by Ozzie State Governments to increase Point Of Consumption taxes impact race import/export revenue?

There is also severe pressure on the RIB source of funds from Pokies. So it wouldn't be unexpected for the codes to have to dip into their distributions from the TAB to fund it. Also some tasks have been shifted off the TAB balance sheet and onto the codes e.g. code promotion and marketing. More pressure on Stakes.

Not good. Tracking below budget and don't forget they are budgeted to distribute less than last year and 2019. So what did Mr MacKenzie really do?

TAB NZ Trading Performance Update - May 2022 1 July 2022 TAB New Zealand (TAB NZ) provides the tenth monthly trading update for the 2021/2022 financial year, with the results and highlights for May 2022. The TAB continued to operate successfully through its online and retail channels throughout May. The impact of the current Omicron outbreak eased slightly compared to April, with New Zealand at the Orange setting in the Covid-19 Protection Framework. This led to an uplift in foot traffic in the retail and hospitality sector through May, although not to the same levels of 12 months ago. Turnover dipped against budget in May, with the gross betting margin also slightly below budget, while softening economic conditions also played a factor as customers adjusted to the rising cost of living. 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 May, the key performance results for TAB NZ were in line with the overall positive trends of the 2021/22 financial year. Turnover of $202.7m was 3.6% ($7.5m) below budget and gross betting revenue (GBR) of $32.0m was down on budget by 4.4% ($1.5m). The gross betting margin (GBM) of 15.8% was 0.1% below 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 $1.9m on 14 May for the Campbell’s Infrastructure Cup Day at Arawa Park. Harness average starters per race was 9.8, below the YTD average of 10.2, while the peak meeting turnover of $1.1m was on 5 May 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 $453k on 13 May at Addington. Sport The top sporting event by turnover for April was the Warriors vs Sharks NRL match on the 8th May at $0.58m. Tennis was the leading in-play sporting code accounting for 25% of in-play turnover while Rugby League was the top pre-match sporting code accounting for 24% of pre-match turnover. May Operational Performance Reported Profit for the month was $10.8m, which was $2.4m below Budget. Operating Expenses were $10.6m for the month, which was $0.4 above Budget. Year To Date (1 Aug 2021 to 31 May 2022) Reported Profit was $135.2m, which was $1.6m below Budget and $12.0m below last year. Year To Date (1 Aug 2021 to 31 May 2022) Operating Expenses were $97.0m, which was $3.3m below Budget and $2.3m above last year. May Distributions Racing Codes were paid $13.8m in distributions and other payments for May, versus $13.6m 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. Top 10 Racing events by turnover Date Venue Race No. Race description Turnover 28-May Eagle Farm R9 TAB Kingsford-Smith Cup (G1) $328K 28-May Eagle Farm R8 Moet & Chandon Queensland Derby (G1) $324K 14-May Arawa Park R6 Campbell Infrastructure Rotorua Cup (G3) $320K 21-May Te Rapa R5 Dunstan Horsefeeds 1300 $317K 21-May Trentham R8 James Bull Holdings Rangitikei Gold Cup $307K 21-May Te Rapa R8 The Animal Feed Barn Mile $290K 14-May Arawa Park R8 Rydges Rotorua Stakes (G3)

Some opinion backed by science and data.