Nowornever

Lots of red flags Sale would not cover debt What happens if sales do not go ahead? Still no guarantee of that happening. Seems to be a reliance on third party funding - Steele said “The club also hoped to get money from various grants bodies... HRNZ itself was not giving the ATC any money, he knew of six funds the club could access.”

A couple of key takeaways I can see here. The club’s financial health is shaky enough that the bank has substantial control over decisions which is worrying in that bank driven sales often lead to accepting less than ideal terms. Another worrying sign for stakeholders is club priorities are now probably secondary to satisfying bank requirements.

From Barry Lichter Auckland Trotting Club president Jamie McKinnon today assured trainers that they would not be left without a training track if members voted tonight to sell Franklin Park. And while he would not reveal details ahead of the special annual general meeting, McKinnon told Pukekohe trainers the club was close to signing a deal on a new site which it planned to lease and develop at a cost of $20 million. McKinnon revealed the buyer of Franklin Park as Oyster Capital, a New Zealand company whose director Cam Wilson was a specialist in developing large properties. Oyster Capital still had four months to complete its due diligence on the property which would go unconditional at the end of October or early November so until then there was still a risk it might not go ahead, he said. The club would not be “dead in the water” however if Oyster Capital decided not to proceed as it had another party who was interested in buying part of the property. But if all went to plan, Oyster Capital would then pay a deposit and there would be two further payments after that, allowing trainers the use of the tracks until October 1, 2026. “That’s not negotiable but depending on where they're at with their development and consent process - they need to go for a boundary realignment - we could negotiate to stay longer if need be. But we don't think we're going to need any longer.” McKinnon did not confirm the purchase price - believed to be $70 million - but he said the club had managed to negotiate a better deal than originally offered by Oyster Capital. “We got it up to something respectable that the club's happy with and, more importantly, the banks happy with it as the bank's calling a lot of shots over the club these days.” McKinnon said the deal would leave the club short of being able to pay off its bank debt, given it was not getting the $100 million from its first deal, which fell over. “The club is going to put some of its commercial properties on the market to help fund the shortfall with the bank and we're hoping there'll be a surplus from those.” The club also hoped to get money from various grants bodies, with the help of Harness Racing New Zealand CEO Brad Steele. Steele addressed the often fiery meeting himself, stating that while HRNZ itself was not giving the ATC any money, he knew of six funds the club could access. He had already lodged an application with the Government’s $1.3 billion Regional Infrastructure Fund, but was still waiting to hear if it was eligible. Thoroughbred racing had previously accessed the fund for $100 million. Steele said he was “pretty certain” the ATC would be able to tap into some of the $100 million Entain had paid to the TAB on the passing of legislation for ge-blocking. “Some of that is already ring-fenced for sport, but there's still a large amount of money left. I'm encouraging the TAB to allow some of those funds to be applied to infrastructure needs for harness racing. They haven't said no and they haven't said yes.” Steele said that as a Queenslander he had no bias and his job was to ensure harness racing flourished in both islands, but particuarly in the North Island with its population base. “I'm all-in, in terms of supporting the North Island. Yes, we do cop a bit of stick from Canterbury in terms of the money that we're investing. But it's worth it and it's the right thing to do. We need to get the North Island pumping.” Steele said he believed the country needed three training centres and priority number one was the North Island. Despite repeated pleas from trainers on how far they would have to travel to the new training centre, McKinnon would not reveal its location, except to say it was within half an hour of the present track. “We're signing a memorandum of understanding with them, probably next week, and then we’ll go through the finer details to nail down exactly what we're going to do and how it's going to work.” The intention was to lease the land and invest $20 million to build a track and 20 barns, similar to Menangle outside Sydney. McKinnon said the entire complex could be set up quite quickly with a track put down next summer. Stonewall Stud owner Steve Stockman had come up with the design with factory-built barns, each with a walking machine. Asked about the wisdom of investing $20 million on land it did not own, McKinnon said there would be a renewable 35-year lease. Lincoln Farms’ boss John Street said he was sworn to secrecy over the location of the new training centre but assured trainers they would be “thrilled with it”. McKinnon rebuffed suggestions the club should be selling Alexandra Park instead of Franklin Park, revealing that, while land around the course could be sold and developed, the track itself was a nationally protected venue. Under the Auckland Unitary Plan it was a special zone. McKinnon said while Auckland Thoroughbred Racing had recently voted to sell the galloping track opposite Franklin Park, the ATC did not have the money to buy it. But he was aware of the need to cause as little disruption as possible to the Pukekohe locals, knowing families had invested in housing and schooling.

Well the thing is how long do you keep funding a business that is continuously losing money. Do you just run it into the ground until all the assets are gone? That seems to be the route they are taking at the moment.

Yes I think I will go with Methven, Banks Peninsular and Ashburton.

Sounds like exactly what completely rooted the TAB with previous NZ Post employees running the show for a few years getting a fat salary but making the stupid decisions that started the decline into what we have today.

It’s not a slight on the talent in the north—just a simple preference for the kind of races that make for a good bet. So nothing personal, and nothing against Barry (legend, by the way). I just like a bit more meat on the bone than a 1.20 winner at Auckland. They can race as much as they like in those 5 and six horse fields but they will not get my money and by the look of the pools on those events not many other people are liking them either.

100% correct.

Hang on Betcha Ben is saying a horse is paying $27 and is a 185K liability. The odds have hardly changed and I am calling bullshit on that one as well... That is not how market operate. If there really was a 185K liability the price would be sub $2.00 unless they are laying it liability off on other markets!

These idiots are even quoting Betcha exotic dividends when reviewing races. Were raving about the first four Betcha dividend of $3501 in race five at Oamaru when the TAB tote dividend for the same thing was $4824. For exotics bets BETCHA IS SHIT COMPARED TO TOTE !!!!!

$70 for the Fate Awaits - Arcee Phoenix - Leap To Fame Multi at the time i said this.

👀 $18,000 on Zarlini at $4.50! Did they get the wrong race? Surely they didn't really want to put that much on Zarlini 🤦‍♂️ They have got bigger balls than me. I wouldn't have risked $10 on that horse from that draw!

Lol

Half the battle in picking winners is picking what the driver is going to do. Race 2 Winton was a perfect point. Interesting that the driver who normally leads at all costs and is well known to whip a horse to get there was content to sit parked when in any other race she would be straight to the front and hard to run down. One of the reasons I do not bet in races where there are a number of stablemates running. It is hard to know who is trying and who is not.

If you have money in your account you are likely not going to get many deposit matches. If your account is empty after a period of time they will encourage you to top it up and use it again by giving you a deposit match. Don't make any money with the bonus cash though they will restrict your account pretty quick and stop giving you free money if you turn a profit too often with their free money.

Yes I spotted a couple of real shockers from some repeat serial offenders who shall remain nameless but have been upgraded to my list of drivers who wouldn't get room in a one horse field.

Still something funny going on with the TAB algorithms. Some real movers happening in the last 5mins. If you are lucky you can get nearly double the closing dividend in the last five minutes on some runners. When the money goes on a favourite the others drift big time before coming in again in the last few minutes. I had a couple of decent multis teed up ready to run to the tote but Tim Williams has ruined my plans on the biggest of them. I took Vesta at 12 dollars but you could have gotten 26 in the last few minutes so was a bit worried about the drift, was expecting it to get in to about 7 or 8 dollars. Don't you hate it when your horse never gets a run and in doing so ruins the dividend for next time. Not sure he was trying that hard or got out driven, either way it was robbed.

Don't forget Chmiel, both their records on the telfer runners are terrible.

I thought BD Joe up with the best of them but see if you can spot an issue with his last 8 starts and it is a common theme with their runners 12th J Dickie Last all the way never put in the race 11th J Dickie Unlucky no room bolting would have gone close with any gaps 7th T Chmiel Last all the way ran home in straight 8th T Chmiel Sat back made up 10 length in run home 53.2 800m 8th T M Williams NZ Cup ran on but no chance not many made ground Swayzee winner 3rd T M Williams 1x1 ran on well 13th T Chmiel trailed then ran into the back of the winner and broke losing 50m. Ran home well 1st T M Williams sat 1x1 then around to front bell very easy win.

Throwing a few million at consultants for no return is the norm these days in big business isn't it?

Northern ones going no good and have been driven parked out most of the time. Hard to win doing that but still pay nothing. Been doing alright backing against the Northern ones. Southern ones go huge at times but the ones that have been winning getting up in grades now. Maybe the switch has been turned off again When they get in that winning mode they are hard to stop.

Build something with a big final turn and 400m straight.

Well those 2% could be doing 20% of the turnover hard to say. Their marketing vs their actual inhouse policies are quite contradictory

Remember only 2% of their customers can generate a profit and those are the ones they are cutting out. Since the rise of social media they get a bit more heat for doing so now, but can not see them changing their position on it. Lots of backlash for the geo blocking bill as well.

Losing punters get preferential treatment. Always have and always will.