Chief Stipe

Give the man the T-shirt!

Yep and 12 people "stretching" the health system.

Yes they would be. Hopefully their union and NZTR have contacted them and are helping them through the process.

Our lot wouldn't have to write much they could copy most of this one! The UK even has the same number of people employed - 20,000!

Here is the British Racing Authority operational plan post COVID-19: Operational_Plan.pdf

Where are they getting the money from? You can't pay staff without having real dollars in the bank. Unless you pay them in TAB Bonus Bet Vouchers they have to have credit lines somewhere. Has Winnie tapped Shane and said flick some of your PGF to them?

Some perspective on Covid-19. In the 2019-20 flu season in the USA there has been: Between 36 and 51 MILLION cases of Flu. 360,000 hospitalizations. 22,000 deaths.

Rule Number(s): 638(3)(b)(ii)Following the running of Race 8, Valachi Downs South Island Thoroughbred Breeders Group 3, an information was filed by Chief Stipendiary Steward, Mr J Oatham, against Jockey (Class A), Ms K Williams, alleging that, as the rider of TICKET TO RIDE in the race, she struck her mount excessively prior to ... (Feed generated with FetchRSS)View the full article

You know what they will do. They'll ramp up pressure to sell assets they don't own.

Why can't bonus bets promo's in racing be profitable? For a start let's look at the "free" bonus bets that target existing customers. They target existing captured customers who have an account. That is they are not marketed to potentially new customers; They vary in amount - some people get different amounts presumably based on the total amount they normally wager; The TAB is printing money i.e. they are generating a virtual voucher. I seriously doubt they would be allowed to use their bank credit line to inject real cash into their pools; So let's look at a specific example. Bob - bets regularly, mostly every day. Doesn't need much encouragement to do so ( Bob is a real person but his name has been changed for privacy reasons). He gets a $20 bonus free bet from the TAB which has to be used anytime between Friday afternoon and Sunday night. Suits him as he always turns up at the pub TAB with his mates for a Saturday afternoon of racing; Bob lines up a horse early in the day for a Win bet on fixed odds paying $5.50. First outcome he loses: $0 return. No harm done it was their money anyway. However that $20 went into the win pool and less about $3.00 (takeout rate 15%) and $17.00 paid out to those who backed the winner. Turnover went up $20 but did revenue go up $3? NO it didn't. You see that virtual $20 was worth zero as it wasn't real money. But the other punters in the pool who backed the winner have picked up an extra $17 spread amongst them. By my calculation on Bob's losing bet of $20 the TAB is down $17 in revenue. How could it be otherwise? It could be otherwise if the TAB don't actually put the value of Bob's virtual money bet into the pool when he bets. If that occurred Turnover wouldn't change and revenue would be the same. End result - if it is 1. then a loss of $17; if it is 2. Then no change in turnover or profit. On the TAB accounts this is probably recorded as a marketing cost. But knowing most Marketing Managers they've probably managed to push the total cost into Operational Cost. Bob Wins - Fixed Odds bet $20 on the nozzer. Pays $5.50: $110 return less $20 of the virtual money (which isn't virtual anymore). Yahoo. Bob is set up for the day $90 (real money). He could withdraw it - sometimes he does withdraw a bit. Why not let the TAB pay for his booze! What did the TAB make out of this transaction? Nothing from Bob. He spent the TAB virtual money. Turnover was up $20 however the all important revenue had zero change (I think - as it gets complicated). Bob took his winnings off the other punters in the pool; End result - for the TAB it is like kissing your sister - nothing in it. So if I have this right if Bob loses on his bet then the TAB loses significantly assuming they actually put the money in the pool (virtual or real). If Bob wins on his bet then the TAB make zero profit. The only way the TAB could increase profit in Bob's scenario is if he spends ALL of his winnings from his first bet PLUS his budget for the day. But Bob is a canny punter and sets himself a clear budget regardless and only increases his betting by 10% for the day. The pub does alright out of Bob because he buys an extra jug using the TAB's money. That's how I see it. I might have it completely wrong and am happy to have egg on my face if someone can educate me on the truth. Personally (this is probably where my bonus bets stop being put on my account) I don't bet much at all - can't afford it. However on two occasions I have won on a bonus bet and spent it all on bets and beer. Basically had a good afternoon with the old boys watching the racing. Went home with what I went with.

Maybe they still have $23m in TAB account holders accounts! ? Nah just joking as that money is in a non interest bearing trust account. Which half of the year brings in the most revenue? If it is the first half then they still should have some cash. Especially since late last year was the World Rugby Cup.

When will we see a similar NZ Racing Managment response? Racing Victoria cuts prizemoney & staff Racing Victoria chairman Brian Kruger announced a range of cuts to expenditure on Monday. Photo: Herald Sun. Racing Victoria has cut prizemoney and stood down a significant number of staff as part of the organisation’s response to the COVID-19 crisis. RV has embarked on a raft of cost-cutting measures as it attempts to deal with the financial fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, which has thrown businesses into turmoil throughout the world. RV released a statement advising the measures are aimed at countering an expected loss of earnings in the short to medium term as well as any shutdown period the sport needs to endure. The changes will take effect from next Monday. The prizemoney cuts include: Metropolitan – a 20% reduction in prizemoney contribution per race; and Country – a 10% reduction in prizemoney contribution per race provided that no TAB race is conducted for less than $20,000. Racing Victoria has also cleared the way for clubs to decide their own prizemoney contributions to big races, which will mainly occur during the spring and autumn carnivals. Melbourne Racing Club chief executive Josh Blanksby flagged a possible prizemoney reduction for the Caulfield Cup in a radio interview on Monday morning. Racing Victoria will also cut bonuses Super VOBIS, VOBIS Gold and VOBIS Sires bonuses by 15 percent in the city and 7.5 percent in the country. Staff cuts will be effective from Wednesday. They entail the following: until further notice, more than 40% of RV’s permanent staff will be temporarily stood down or be required to work reduced hours; the Board and Executive Team who have been leading RV’s response to the pandemic have all agreed to a voluntary reduction in their remuneration of 50% and 20% respectively; those staff stood down and/or working reduced hours are encouraged to take accrued entitlements via annual leave, long service leave and/or time owing in lieu; and to assist those with minimal entitlements, RV has introduced COVID-19 Assistance Leave which will offer up to 20 days of annual leave in advance. “These are not decisions that we have taken lightly, however the impacts of the past fortnight and the nation’s rapidly evolving economic crisis means that we must act now to help soften the blow for Victorian racing,” Racing Victoria chairman Brian Kruger said in a statement. “It has become clear that this pandemic and the associated economic crisis will have a long-term impact on our industry if we don’t seek to mitigate the impact now. “In doing so, we note that a number of our Racing Clubs have already made the tough decisions to temporarily stand down much of their workforce and to reduce their operations which is unfortunately necessary in these uncertain times. “Whilst the industry has wisely built an Industry Sustainability Fund over the past five years, it is prudent at this time that sufficient funds remain available to assist the industry should we face a shutdown at any time and then need to rebuild our sport thereafter.” Kruger said Racing Victoria would continue to monitor the sport’s financial status and could “make further adjustments” to expenditure, especially if there is a shutdown of racing.

It will be interesting to see how it turns out with OZ racing with their totally different response.

But how can you bet seriously on an Exhibition Match?

No Sports (I can't believe there is anyone betting on Table Tennis or Video Gamers) or Pokie revenue. Only revenue is from overseas racing!

That's a shame. It was my favourite radio station. Quite probably. But again that's a shame. I've lived in Auckland for the last 7 years and visited both Ellerslie and Alexandra Park. I found the experience more enjoyable at the trots. I went to one of their theme nights at Christmas and the food was fantastic and booze prices reasonable. Their follow up marketing has been good too. With regard to the apartment development I think they have been more proactive than Ellerslie. Bad luck and little reserves doesn't help. We also need to bear in mind they haven't been helped by RITA either.

What about the poor woman on the Coast. Has a lung problem went into hospital and diagnosed with the flu. I don't think any journalist has asked was she in isolation while in hospital before her condition became acute. Nurses and other staff don't take precautions and 23 are now in isolation. Now we read that since the diagnosis which was probably a week ago that no close relatives who have been in contact have been tested. Test test test is the mantra that countries on top of it have followed. Why are we spending all this money on preparing for thousands of people to be repatriated. Send them some money to keep going overseas and spend the rest on testing.

I remember when: As a lad at the Hokitika races there would be queues to get in. The car park full as were the surrounding streets. Half the population of the town there. Old friends from South Westland - Franz Joseph, Fox, Haast. Hearing the tote bell ringing. The smell of horses and their poop which were within reach. The horses that is. Trainers allowing you to pat them if you were polite in your asking. Percy Hurrens pies. The bar under the grandstand. All concrete and shelves to lean on round the outside. Only beer (west coast brewed), whiskey, gin, rum, lemonade and coke. Nothing fancy. Jockey names that became ingrained on the brain - Skelton, Mein, McAra, a young Walsh - young ratbags Morton and Molloy. The balloon over the semaphore boards. The cardboard tote tickets in different colours. The moving white and yellow tapes on the tote depicting the horse price. I think yellow was win white a place. The start of one race was practically in the car park and stables. An entrance single lane running beside it. Oh and if you were lucky to have connections - "We're trying today - get on".

Freda we have been racing for kumeras for years. However the sooner we get back on the horse the sooner we can get some cash flow. If not what the hell happens to the very large number of horses that were in training, were being pre-trainers or broken in?

No one had said it isn't serious. The point being made is alarmist unfactual journalism doesn't help. If exponential growth does occur then in a ward of Coronavirus patients distance no longer matters as they all have it. Currently we have a total of 9 in hospital. If we are indeed serious about lockdown then NO ONE shoukd be allowed in or out of the country. Why are we preparing for 10,000 overseas people to return?

I don't know and haven't said I did know. However what I do know is the bonus bets promotions can't be profitable.

Yes and the number of people hospitalised has dropped from 12 to 9.

One point I'd like to make about the half yearly report is that normally it is released next week. Therefore it must have been ready to deliver BEFORE the lockdown. With regard to the growing belief that racing in NZ will be out of action for 6 months I don't believe it needs to be. For example did we really need to close down all training? Australia hasn't. There is racing tonight from Hong Kong and Japan. With the right protocols in place regarding people movements racing could be up and running in less the 6 months. However it will require some thought and planning. Sadly we haven't seen that in decades. Remember as yet horses and dogs don't get Covid-19.

What's the bet the Half-Yearly Report for the period 1 August 2019 - 31 January 2020 release is delayed? It is normally released next week. It shouldn't be delayed as the process for its compilation would have been complete before lockdown.