MaltedMilkshake

My dealings with the team have been exemplary...and I just don’t get why the Iffraajs’ don’t hit the headlines at the sales....???

I thought I read that Mr Wolf, Inner Mongolian had purchased it as a training centre for the poor animals going to you know where...?

The Tavistock story is interesting....all the best to date, have come from “give away” service fees...I think the 3yo crop were $15k ( Yarners will correct me if I’m wrong) ...and the younger crops were $65k. Not sure on numbers covered in 2018 so it will be good to see the stats when released at the end of Feb. With Cambridge needing to support Almanzor, I think the direction of Tavistock’s future fee (in the event there are no Classic performers over the Autumn) will come under discussion... But to be fair to Tavistock, Per Incanto has a similar story...he went from $4 to $15K for their debut racing year. Very successful on the track plus good yearling sales profile in the first couple of years. Am interested to do the stats re higher priced seasons.....

Thank you Nomates - I’m very appreciative of your support...?

Yeah plus all runners tomorrow....it’s gunna get interesting. So what will all those Syndicators do now...? In the court of public opinion, they are copping a flogging on social media...

I’m lucky enough to have bred and owned one of best 3yos in NZ this year and he is with a fabulous young trainer on the way. So far we have resisted the temptation to bring him to Oz and he will never, ever go to Asia despite the several offers from the bloodsuckers. If I do decide to bring him over it will be due to policies of the Petone Proletariat.

BREAKING: All Weir horses entered for Moonee Valley tonight have been scratched.

The absolute premium issue is lack of horses being bred. There is not enough to supply domestic racing (forget the latest press release from NZTR about the sales). So we can second and cash in all the old racetracks that we like but it’s not the silver bullet....the grass root issue is horse supply....

You know Freda, I came to NZ about 5 years ago and whilst we all knew it wasn’t too rosy, we still believed there would be enough nouce within racing admin to right the ship. But we were wrong. The industry has let itself down - no one else but the industry. By nature I am an optimist, but when it comes to NZ racing, I can’t get enthusiastic....because the people charged with administering the industry plus the politicians are derelict in their duties. It could’ve been righted but there is not only a genuine lack of will to do so but a sense of not knowing how to,fix it. They won’t make the tough calls, they lack vision and most of of all, are placing the interests of a few before the those of the general industry.....all for the short term....as there will be no long term. Having been closely associated with administrators at the Sydney Turf Club for many years, they always knew that upping the betting turnover was the key to a successful industry...these people were responsible for the introduction of the appearance fees for unplaced runners...and subsequently (pre Waller) field sizes in Sydney and provincials increased, turnover increased.

And they got rid of Power....the only son of Oasis Dream in NZ as S/casing won’t be coming back...and they’ve held on to Burgundy.....but I guess that’s a political decision...down similiar road to Age of Fire (FR...yuk!!) and Embellish...?

For that to happen we need good competitive horses ridden competently...and for our race programming to fit the need of horses...and most importantly, policed with full, unswerving tenacity....but that’s all too hard.

Just reading the reactions to DKW’s troubles....and I’m thrown by the naivety of people on the forum..... obviously having grown up in Oz with a bookmaker father....nothing really shocks me about the revelations....

OK...explosive allegations have just sent social media in Melbourne into meltdown... This information comes from sources not just at the coalface....but literally in the coalface. It has been alleged that 2 significant owners have already moved on with another major player set to up sticks as well. DW has now now been called into Racing Victoria to front this afternoon. Wonder if anyone is laying odds on him doing a Smerdon....more to follow. PS: I bet there are 2 happy campers in Otaki who are breathing a little easier today. Do we know now why that horse went so well in Melbourne?

Thank you Reefton for the clarification. I must point out that whilst I am a right leaning capitalist, I also believe in sacrifice for a cause. Kopia, you’ve actually answered one of my questions. I think the general consensus is the industry is not prepared to make difficult decisions to enable domestic racing to survive. The CGT for exported horses should be, in the short term, allocated to prizemoney revenue to help rebuild the industry. It’s needs to be a negotiated with the Government. As the broodmare population is so small, you can’t have your cake & eat it to...so one has to go...either export or strong domestic racing...but you can’t have both.

Kopia, this is what I’m alluding to....a CGT is long overdue for the thoroughbred industry to try to kerb the export of quality young horses to Asia.

The reason why the sale was down is very simply, quality or lack of... as I keep harking, you can’t continuously keep selling your good colts to ASIA without it having a negative impact on your Stud Book. If the page is lacking, the big players won’t play. So many horses bought for Asia just don’t seem to see the light of day. I hate to see the first foal of a mare go to HKG or elsewhere in Asia...the chances are it won’t race. Yes, good to see Godolphin and Shadwell and Jonathon Munz buying, but on the whole, NZ is heavily dependent on Savabeel. So who is the next stallion to stand up? The bloodbath over the next few days will be a telling factor about the state of domestic racing.

I think this is just a game of smoke & mirrors. As we all say, where is the money coming from. DE is just spinning it...he has to to draw in investors (just let’s call them that for,the time being) to justify his spend. Tax relief....let’s analyse that. Most are registered for GST...so refund that goes back into the pocket (you know what I mean). Write down on breeding stock - very generous allowances by IRD. Betting? There isn’t enough going through the TAB to ensure decent returns to the Industry...because the quality of horses racing is subjective. so what to do? How to fund the prizemoney? Simple, if everyhorse is worth (according to the “other” channel) $15k pa to the turnover, then we need to up the horse numbers at TAB meetings - as I have been saying for 5 years. We as an industry, can’t keep “giving” horses away to Asia at the expense of our own domestic racing. A regime, however unpopular it maybe, is to actually bar horses who are destined for Asia, from using industry facilities to prepare them for export. Currently they can remain in NZ GST free for a negotiated time. A levy of $15k per horse charged to a trainer for each unraced horse on his stable return exported to Asia - in lieu of what it is costing the TAB. 3) A CGT on each horse exported to Asia. These funds need to go back into industry revenue for prizemoney. Currently NZ (as a whole) doesn’t benefit from the export side of our industry. Yes, a few breeders, bloodstock agents, breakers and trainers benefit nicely from trading so much so, their “thinking” has bent the industry to the point where it can’t stand up. So radical thinking is what is needed to sustain the industry...however painful it is to some. As it’s panning out, you can’t have a flourishing export industry and a strong domestic racing scene...with the current amount of horses being bred. This is an issue that only the industry can solve...but I don’t think it has the capacity to do so because of too many vested interests. No one wants to make hard decisions

Actually Weasel I was referring to the Aquanita incident...what impact that will have on turnover...either people will react by saying “good, they’ve been caught” or “OK business as usual”.....

It’s just a bit of a laugh isn’t it...? Whilst I take the long view on JM and his agenda, I do think he had good intentions when doing the job for WP. However remember....he is in the NSW camp and at the moment there is a massive “mines bigger than yours” contest happening with Victoria, so in private, I don’t he will be crying. But surprisingly, the tote turnover in Vic hasn’t overly suffered since the Aquanita scandal....So you can look at it either way...caught the cheats or why did it take so long?

Oh yes, I can work it out but the NZB support was not the initial direction of my question...I think it goes a lot further than just NZB... it good point... I have my own thoughts but I’m interested to know what other Yarners theories are because at face value, there is no economic sense to the endless purchases.

Absa....effing....lutely .... As he has been charged and fined on several previous occasions, where there is smoke, there is fire...too many unanswered questions over the years.... Lets hope that it can be cleaned up and finalised asap...because to let it linger in the mainstream public domain can only be bad for the industry... but since Police are involved, they must have had their ducks in a row.?

OK - I think we’re going to agree to disagree on this issue...but I thought it was worthy of discussion and we’ve been able to do this in a civil and respectful manner ?

As usual we are presented with more spin by our “totally out of their depth” administrators. What I find interesting is the fact that no one addresses the horse population - current and future? With the diminishing number being bred, will there be enough horses available to fund the industry?

My question for Yarners.... can someone actually provide me with the economic rationale behind the huge purchases (amount paid and volume of horses) by Te Akau at Karaka? I totally get it if we’re talking about racing for Australian prizemoney but to spend huge amounts when the base race is worth $10k, doesn’t add up? Would be keen to know people’s theories. Star Thoroughbreds, Triple Crown and Darby Racing have had great results but you don’t see them spending gazillions...

Rod, In years past I would have agreed with you...we had a mega punter who enforced that regime within our stable...He would wager 10s of 1000s when one of our stable set one up. We didn’t race for the huge prize money then, so we set them up for punt, just like most good stables. However today with so much focus on transparency & integrity, trainers have a responsibility to be as open as possible. In many ways, why do you think Hong Kong is a punters paradise...because you can’t sneeze without reporting to authorities. And if you don’t toe the line, you can end up in gaol...a la Chris Munce. I believe when we’re trying to work out ways to increase funding for our industry, transparency and integrity is paramount. Because as soon as a whiff of anything untoward has occurred, the uninformed media will be all over it - and not in a positive way. We need the punters to be putting the money through the TAB because that’s how our industry is funded...and we can’t afford to lose those punters. That’s why I’m so critical of the RIU....they never ask the hard questions... Yes, I loved the old days in racing...and believe me, I could write a book on the happenings in Melbourne in the ‘80s...but like everything the times are a changing!