barryb

One of the fallers was at the 2nd last in the main hurdle.

Oh come on, it was intended as a throw away joke comment about his horse. Can no one say a bloody thing today without being lined up? besides I might be wrong here but I thought he had Maori in him. Sure I have heard that before somewhere. $800 fine is grossly over the top, maybe a warning.

I attended today & there were 5 fallers in the 3 hurdles races, ironically the 1 fatality was in race 9 with a broken leg after the line. I think the 5 fallers today would be equal to the total number across the rest of the yr so far from what I have seen, jocks are doing a great job of pulling up out of contention runners. I do agree though that its days are numbered, either they do as you say and remove the jumps in the straight or spend some of that huge so called profit they are getting and transition to the safer jumps they have in Aus. They appear to have been highly successful in preventing falls.

Correct Freda.

So you would rate all those things above getting a return?. I gave the solution above, reduce stakes for all races above $100k, raise the bottom end, accpet we are a feeder for Aus & the majority will be happy. Frees up plenty for investment into tracks, facilities etc.

Are you saying that Pitman over charges his owners? He wouldn't be so sucessful if he wasn't looking after his people.

Sure can Curious, using some rather crude calcs it works out bloody good for the low/mid tier trainer/owner.

Crap, you stated above that no one attends anymore so using that theory it doesnt matter a shit where the races are held. What high cost delivery model? Using Pitman as an example, I bet his delivery model a bloody cheaper at Riccarton than at Timaru?. His owners are happier at Riccarton as is he.

Bang on.

Tell us how?. You make stacks of statements that are broad and unsupported by any fact.

I own 2 right now & have raced plenty over the last 10 plus years. Yes of course some of the surfaces are poor, but I was a farking sight more pissed off at racing for a total stake of $7k, $10k now is still farcical when you take into account the nutty idea of everyone getting a small share of the stake, this has kicked in the guts the winning owner again. The minimum stake in NZ should be $15k for maidens from August 1, Saturday racing should be a min of $35k, open class $50k, mid week and Sunday rating 65 & above should be $20k. Jumps racing $20k min & open jumps $35k min. The max stake should be $100k unless funded by sponsors or the club. We are a feeder provincial area for Australia & need to stop deluding ourselves. Lets bloody look after the middle tier people and create a decent product with a fair reward for all.

So I am guessing you fully support Ellerslie's proposal to improve there track and increase stakes, for mine its a fabulous idea. Holding onto the hill for 2 races a year is bloody madness when you can see what that money is going to do.

No point in fixing tracks if no owners are left Chief.

The stakes investment failed because it was targeted wrong, no other reason. It supported the fat cats and left 95% of other owners still starving.

Are you for real?. Its been the case for 70+ years. WTF has closing down tracks got to do with punter education?. The Aussie punter has racing on TV wall to wall, its on the TV news at night time every Sat. They have bookie advertising at events, TV, newpapers & so on. They are sophisticated when it comes to racing, we are in our infancy and its going backwards.

Ok so tell me how you improve the race fields?. Upgrading tracks would do diddly shit for improving race fields or much else for that matter. Having a flash track to race on doesn't in the slightest make me want to go and buy a more expensive yearling. In providing the product the owner must get looked after first & tracks/fields will follow. Any business that ignores the product supplier and invests in flash shop fronts is soon out of business, looking after the supplier whom is also one of your main product purchasers is illogical not to do. Aquaman was correct above in that you have to look after punters first, however blanket dropping of margin will see a drop in income and not much else change. Yes they of course need to get more competitive with Australia to survive, but there are other ways to do that. Deposit bonuses are a great idea with turnover requirements needed, money back placings, fixed odds boosts. The average NZ punter is far less knowledgeable than there Australian counterpart as our exsposure to things racing is a fraction what it is in Australia.

My proposal encourages owners whom are getting stiffed right now, it supports the very people who are supplying the product. You are saying that it will reduce revenue by offering discounted bets? what do you think would happen with a competitively priced product? it provides a discount to absolutely everyone. What % of punters right now with the TAB would even know what the % is for fixed odds betting? I would has it a guess that its very tiny indeed. Many bookies in Aus offer owners 10% extra on winnings if they own the horse that wins, maybe this is an approach the TAB could adopt.

I said a large portion of bets placed, never mentioned the word majority. I think it follows that if owners make up significant numbers on course then in all likelihood they are making the bets on course in those significant numbers. Can you explain to us what data/information you have that suggests far from it that owners are betting in any great number?. or is it just a hunch you have.

Correct, except they are not mutually exclusvie. Owners make up a very significant portion of on course attendees now, they also make up a large portion of bets placed. Rewards for owners is not recognised via the TAB, the very people who provide the product get little acknowledgement. Owners should be on some sort of loyalty system whereby freebets build up for each starter based on your % ownership.

Yep I am talking about racing. They are the minimum must haves, didnt say we have them as yet.

Well firstly you can’t do either of those if you product offering is not up to scratch. What do all other businesses do when facing difficult times. 1) Focus on cost reduction. 2) Consolidate & Regroup. 3) Market & Rebrand. However before doing those 3 you must acknowledge there is an issue to start with, have a desire to resolve it & stop looking in the rear view mirror. Racing must work out what the absolute must haves are, what are nice to haves & what it can do without. Must haves are: Quality Viewing coverage, Superior website, innovative product offerings, integrity, skilled providers. Nice to haves: Jumps racing, Tracks everywhere. Do without: Fractured approach to problems,/solutions/resolutions Racing’s issue is it wastes far too much time on do without & nice to haves. It’s vital it has 1 unified approach or it’s doomed for all participants, it has a decreasing window of opportunity thanks to COVID to correct itself.

This has been an issue at Te Aroha since day dot, the sharp turn is too close to the finish line and horses still at a full gallop put rider and horse at risk everytime when the track has any moisture. Wanganui is also a disaster waiting to happen in similar conditions.

Your hand?

Yep. Feb 1st the fee goes from $145 to $160

Yep agreed. As an owner I am even more pissed to hear that soon Jocks are getting a pay rise. Fuck me No one else in the community is & certainly no one in an unsustainable industry. Wake up, this game is on its knees and sticking hands out for more cash when the community is doing it bloody tough is ludicrous.