Delta Bro

https://www.bayleys.co.nz/listings/commercial/northland/kaipara/5331-state-highway-14-dargaville-1053969

A trial is worth a dozen gallops. Every time you gallop a horse you risk serious injury. I used to go around with a bucket the night before a gallop in summer and pick rocks off the plough. For every one I found there were probably ten just under the surface. In winter there were holes everywhere on the number one grass. It was a narrow strip of grass that everyone who wanted to gallop their horse had to use. I don't think my experiences are unique.

I went to the meeting tonight. The speaker was Eryn Shields, a Senior Town Planner at Auckland Council. Before the meeting, I read the "Update on Avondale Racecourse" from NZTR. After that, I thought I knew it all. Avondale Jockey Club is asking the "Hearing Panel to consider whether the better zoning for the land (Avondale Racecourse) is a residential zone." Just a simple little yes or no question. Now for the reality. Avondale is asking for the entire racecourse, which is at present zoned Special Purpose - Major Recreation Facility Zone (SPZ), to be changed to Terraced Housing and Apartment Buildings (THAB). They also want the standard height limit for THAB, which is 21m or 22m, increased to 32.5m. Land adjacent to the racecourse is zoned THAB with a 32.5m height limit. NZTR says in its statement that what is happening, "is not directly related to NZTR or the Racing Act." I am not buying that. Avondale Jockey Club is selling the racecourse because NZTR has revoked all their licences and said they won't get any more after 2024/2025. There are provisions in the Racing Act, such as clause 24 (2) that say, "... the assets of the racing club ... vest in the racing code ... . " NZTR can sell Avondale Racecourse if Avondale Jockey Club doesn't play ball and sell the racecourse themselves. You can watch the presentation by Eryn Shields here https://www.facebook.com/avondalenz/videos/456374603385043/ The submission from the Avondale Jockey Club is attached. How upfront is NZTR about what's happening? AvondaleJockeyClubSubmissionPlanChange78.pdf

If you have nothing else to do https://www.facebook.com/events/266107089883622

Michael Guerin says that Boys Get Paid started with $1.2m and lost $600,000. Then he says most who played along lost $30. I suspect that calculation is done by taking $600,000 and dividing it by the 17,000 BGP membership number ($35/member). I doubt all the members took part in their punters club. I think the loss per member in the punters club was therefore considerably more than $30. Guerin also says no punters were significantly harmed in the making of this noisy circus at Ellerslie. I take issue with that claim as well. Many of the BGP members are betting big and talking big. The frienzied atmosphere encourages others to do the same (bet to excess). These people are betting on every race. Their punters club ticket money is not the only money they are putting through the chaff cutter. Guerin needs to keep his fingers crossed that no one involved in the regulatory oversight of responsible gambling ever ventures into their BGP room. If such a person were to walk over to where money is being withdrawn with EFT-POS cards, they will see the same people coming back time and time again for more money. I hazard a guess that more than a few of them are losing their shirts. I remember a trainer's wife, one who didn't like horse racing, telling me that those involved in racing start out in love with horses. Then if becomes all about the money and they couldn't care about the horses. I think BGP short circuits this process and its all about money and betting right from the start.

NZTROF is the owners organisation here. The last set of accounts filed at Incorportated Societies (2022) shows membership subscriptions $29,577, NZTR Grant $30,000, advertising income $1,010, total income $60,587. They are a bought and paid for cheer squad and rah-rha group for NZTR.

It will be a boutique industry. It will be the preserve of the wealthy. The TAB customer base will become immaterial. Funding will come from investment returns. The investment money will come from asset sales such as the Ellerslie Hill. In the distant future, there will no longer be any city racecourses. Those who sell them up will say the land is now so valuable, you can't justify retaining it for a few days of racing during the year. That's not my idea. It was something told to me by a former Auckland Trotting Club President. I didn't believe him at the time. What's happening now points to him being correct.

What gets me is that these self service kiosks are counted as retail outlets when the TAB is boasting about the size of their retail network. Large salaries depend on that misrepresentation and on betting turnover being viewed as retail sales.

Ellerslie sold their land and invested the proceeds with a fund manager except for the chunk of money that was used to build new raceday stalls, swab boxes etc. I think the plan going forward is to cash in some of their capital gains each year and use that as income to increase stakes. Provided what is left exceeds their original investment, this scheme provides an endless flow of money for stakes. The problem with the ATR money gusher is that markets are tanking all round the world. ATR cannot cash in capital gains if their investment portfolio is going south (Jamie Dimon says ‘brace yourself’ for an economic hurricane).

When I was in Japan, I talked to an owner who raced a string of horses and was enormously wealthy. He said he kept meticulous records and had only made a profit from racing in one of the last eight years. He said those setting stake levels needed to look at the earnings of the horses who, when you looked at all the horses racing from the best through to the worst, were in the middle. If those horses earned more in stakes, then racing horses would be a better financial proposition. He said champion horses would always win lots of money and the chances of owning such a horse were remote. Personally I think that there are not enough wealthy people in New Zealand to sustain a racing industry that resembles the JRA model (ten racecourses & 2 training centres). The current obsession with reducing racecourses and creating large training centres is taking us in that direction.

My best memories in racing come from taking my horse to Australia. I think everyone who has had this experience will say the same regardless of whether they won or lost over there. Years ago I was talking to Alan Fenwick (some might remember him) and I said that good horses should be able to win a race which pays for the trip. He agreed and said we needed more races with a stake of around $70k. Once the stake gets to the stage where it attracts all the best horses then putting more money in doesn't make much sense. I have always thought the people who are in racing for the money should go find something else to do.

So racing at Dargaville is going to be immortalised with a race called the Dargaville Cup to be run each year at Ruakaka. Much the Same thing happened with racing at Takapuna. The Takapuna Jockey Club made arrangements with Auckland Racing Club for races called the Takapuna Cup, Alison Stakes and Ralph Handicap to be run at Ellerslie in perpetuity. Races with those names vanished decades ago.

I have been rung up and asked to work. Next time they ring I will have say that I'm not vaccinated. Don't think there are many like me however. This might be of interest: The Story of Ivermectin and Covid-19

Being advertised as, "Once in a lifetime opportunity provides buyers a chance to secure over 1.4ha of greenfield development land located beside the southern motorway, 10 minutes to the CBD, on the border of Ellerslie Racecourse." Of course it is part of the Ellerslie Racecourse - a part that has now been subdivided off.

From the Amalgamation Date (ARC & CRC) to the conclusion of the 3rd Annual Meeting ... the Board will be ... two persons who are members of the Club (ARC?) and Board members immediately before Amalgamation ... two persons who are CRC members and members of the CRC Committee immediately before Amalgamation .. up to three persons who need not be Members and who are appointed by the Board members ... above. $280k divides nicely by seven = $40k each p.a.

At the AGM of Auckland Thoroughbred Racing Inc on 29 Nov 2021. Mr G Vazey will move the motion set out below. Motion: That in accordance with Rule 24.6 a sum of $280k be approved to be paid to the Board annually as Directors’ fees.

Yesterday (Sunday) I went to the shopping mall. There were cars everywhere and finding a parking space was proving difficult for many. Luckily the mobility permit worked for us and we got a space right in front of the self-opening doors. Mum, who's ninety-two, said to me, "Look at all the people coming out of the mall. Most have only bought one item and many have bought nothing at all." I replied that people have got nothing to do, and because they don't want to sit around at home, they have all come to the shopping mall. People such as the late Campbell Moncur, got rid of domestic weekend racing so that weekend betting would be on Australian racing. Weekend racing was shifted to mid-week racing and under Greg Purcell much of that was on a Monday, because that is the worst day of week for racing anywhere and he thought Australian betting on New Zealand racing would be a bonanza. These guys set out to maximise revenue and thought the New Zealand public were so addicted to betting on racing, the downside would be minimal. Now virtually no one goes to the races except on heavily promoted days. They severely damaged the public's interest in New Zealand racing through their greed. Their successors haven't grasped the idea that Te Aroha is not the enemy of Te Rapa. If racing is going well at Te Aroha then racing will be going well at Te Rapa. Their latest move to close down as many racecourses as possible will kill more interest in racing. New Zealand racing will end up in Australia. Many of our trainers and riders are there already.

Someone using the non-de-plume Finga Bell Auckland wrote this account in a letter to The Informant (I think). It was photo-copied and given to me so I can't be sure where it appeared. For some reason I saved it in a ring binder. It is sort of relevant to this discussion. I remember when: You went to the races and you were surrounded by people who were genuinely there for the racing, to see good jockeys, horses and have a bet. Having a drink and feed was something you ducked in to do between races. Now you are surrounded by young ladies tottering around on heels so high they can barely stay upright and that’s before they empty those flutes stuck to their hands and young guys in suits that look like they shrunk in the wash or they belong to their younger brothers. I remember when: You were a racing person or you weren’t. If you were you had the Best Bets, Turf Digest or Sportweek in your drawer if you worked in an office or rolled up and stuck where your rulers should go if you were on the tools. I remember when: Before each race it was eyes down and writing in your race card. Jockeys with initials like RJ, WD, GF, GR, DJ, JP, NBH, BS, DA and RW. If you added up all their wins it would have come to thousands, nowadays add up all their rides and it wouldn’t add up to thousands. In fact in some races today total career rides by jockeys wouldn’t add up to hundreds. I remember when: Before marriage to mortgage you could afford to race a horse with a few mates, not 50 strangers, and you then could enjoy the win not watch some manager carry on like he owns it. I remember when: The five bob double reigned supreme and you all had you favourite horses that you always took. Midnight Kiss, Craddock, Roganne, Corbassiere, etc or in the second leg Pell Mell, Gene, Whittle, Bijail, Alkaid. I remember when: You all had racing stories of some got and some got away. The apprentice at work got the Rochdale-Geyserland double – legend! Dad just missed the Jovic-Poet’s Pride double. Mum and I backed Pan when he paid £50 a place at Avondale – Family Folklore. I remember when: Everybody at the TAB or races knew if it rained get on the Indian Orders, Headhunters, etc or when it rained at Avondale and Clem Fabish was in town pile it on his Defence horses. I know things aren’t always going to stay the same, but has everything got better?

Your third point is the correct one, "People aren't that interested in this sport any more." Even people who go to the races on the big days are not interested. They go to drink and socialise. The betting windows are deserted and the queues at the bar reach to wall on the other side of the room. Clubs bring in rows of port-a-loos because selling grog drives up the demand for toilets. At the other end of the spectrum racing is all about money: big money at the yearling sales; big money for a few races; and big money from selling a promising horse to an overseas buyer. New Zealanders thought they were smart. They only wanted business people running things and they brought in overseas people who they thought had all the answers. In comparison with overseas countries New Zealand racing is now a basket case. The day will come when there is nothing left of it.

On TradeMe. Includes some of the course proper and the 800m chute. Being sold by Barfoot & Thompson Pukekohe, (Licensed: REAA 2008). Why them?

Don't know what the oncourse turnover was but the once a year racegoers spent up big on booze. The queues at the bars were 40+ deep. I can't understand what makes people so desperate for a Corona. The public grandstand was packed and the roar of the crowd at the end of the races was deafening. After 4.00 pm the queues at the bars and betting windows vanished. Maybe a lot went home. The ARC had its day in the sun. So should every other Club.

So what did they serve up at New Zealand's premier thoroughbred racing venue on 5 Dec 2020? A Group 3 race for a stake of $70,000 which had three maidens in a field of 8 runners. Stephen Marsh Cambridge and Graham Richardson Matamata provided two of the maiden runners. They didn't come from Pongakawa farmer Bob McCosh.

Because that's what we're being told by people who know more than us.

I counted nine people on the public grandstand during a race at The Rising Foundation Christmas Raceday. Some of them were only there because the place where they worked was holding it's Christmas function at the races. Two of them turned and laughed at me counting, "one, two, three, four ... " We need to close down all the racecourses which don't have facilities as good as you'd find at the Wynyard Quarter.

Why are you laughing? That's what happens only you don't have to run 1:07. Explosively won a maiden race at Te Rapa in 1:11.52 with a 3kg claiming apprentice up. Total stake winnings $5,400. On Saturday 5 December Explosively ran in the Group 3 $70,000 Bonecrusher Stakes at Ellerslie. That was the second start of its career. It ran third. Racing has improved out of sight from the days when the main race of the day was the Open Handicap and you looked to see what the horse you were interested in was running like at this time last year. People love seeing top horses running in Group Races. That's why the crowds at the premier home of thoroughbred racing in New Zealand are what they are today.