TAB For Ever

The Buzz Bars got eaten up by the Candyman ! Aussies been winning a lot of our cash in recent years.......Merv Butterworth [Copy That] ,June Feiss [Self Assured and others] .Montana , Boots etc and now this ,2 x biggies in 40 minutes !

A superb night at office for the Dunns tonight winning 7 of the 10 race card. John drove one for Bob Butt , while Blair Orange won one for the Dunn stable. Whatever way you spin it , a fantastic performance !

I doubt few people think NZ Racing is doing well....but the participants who have felt down trodden for years especially owners,trainers and jockeys have been given a huge boost to the immediate returns and prospects by Entains initiatives. It has given them and others in Industry new hope. It remains to be seen whether it can be sustained. We all know that. Other comments....Ellerslie's huge investment on what they thought was a decent track for future was 'their decision with their money'. Something that would allow them to continue their position as NZ's number 1 track...and only International rated venue in NZ ,which hosts many of NZ's Group races, and within 2 horse of NZ's biggest horse population . Sure Breeding is considered a big part of NZ Racing Industry...the employees , the associated businesses and the Export earnings etc. That and the tax take has always given the Industry the thumbs up from the Government. Embrace it ! Haha...who hasn't noticed the close collaboration between the breeders ,the sale houses and the HYPE in general.....a normal week of racing here hardly gets a mention on here for example but throw in a Karaka , NZB ,Limited entry sweepstake race or promotion and all hell breaks loose !

Kinda right Chief.....the very popular New Years Tauherenikau meeting ran a couple of 5 horse fields and one 4 horse field which had 5 x acceptors before one scratched. .That day ,shared with Harness ,has one of the best attendances of any meeting in NZ . Less horses means more room for sack races and 3-legged races for families. Goes to show it not always the horses that gets folks to the track. Many maiden races on the day and the 4 horse field was a 2 yr old race . Surprised you not highlighting the recently released report which puts a value on each Areas contribution to the NZ economy thru racing activities. It also gives stats about the number of participants incl Owners in each code etc. No doubt that Harness is by far the dominant code in the South Island.

Thats not a very nice thing to say Murray !

The hope is that with the Stakes increases etc that the middle/intermediate horses will see a future for themselves to earn more here rather than be sold off to Aussie. This remains to be seen ! But the way things were , just 3 wins could see you racing as cannon fodder for Cup horses. That ain't sustainable. But horses are very low in numbers in the North and it could be a long winter ! And hard to understand why more trainers not prepared to line up their maidens to race on Cup night.....hard to win a race there but place money OK and the experience invaluable.

That statement is very much a standard one...use of the word MAY when noms are far in excess of field size. Of course there will be an extra race but it will need an increase in stakes funding for day before confirmed. Plus who knows...the Kilmog could get snowed in overnight or a bridge /road could be closed etc. As always an excess of maiden and R65 horses yet folk still keen to shift horses from North ,even when the slow ones often don't enjoy any more success in the South .

Not to mention two of the main jumps courses going forward.....Te Aroha [ Great Northern] and Hastings. Throw in Te Rapa and there seems plenty to host a 'nearly dead' aspect of NZ racing . Down to 44 races now from 66 last year and it was 122 a few years back. Even today folk on here are pointing the blame for this.....IMO the administrators have given it their best shot to keep it going .IMO it has been a reluctance of trainers firstly being not keen to put the extra work into jumpers[ a few exceptions]. Then the Owners unwilling to invest ,especially if trainers not keen. Then all the racing folk who say they love jumps but in recent years few went to watch and even less wagered on them. Years ago when the South jumpers started declining nothing was done , and tracks such as Riverton and Washdyke who hosted them lost out...it hurt their futures ! And administrators have tried to push it .Southern racing had a real enthusiast [Andre Klein ] involved.He ended up going back to the UK and now high up in Cheltenham Jumps club after doing real well at another jumps course/club.

Been watching a bit of Harness lately , up close and live , so will put my tuppence in re the Purdon domination which has been obvious and outstanding for decades. Of late ,Barry Purdon has enjoyed outstanding success and as well as heaping praise on his co-trainer Scott Phelan he admits that he now has the owners who will pay the big money to get the best horses from the yearling sales. He said this has made a big difference to his results and again in 2024 his stable and clients have been among the top buyers. Of course Dean Shannon is among the biggest , and he has others as well[some paying $200k plus in 2024]. He is also getting some of the hghest priced trotters as well. Last nights Auckland trot for 2 yr old [Group 3] was won by Higher Power [ $120k as yearling in 2023] from Mean't To Be [$145 k yearling]. This syndicate incl Barry also bought the top lot in 2024. Of course Mark Purdon has always had big spending owners who have enjoyed amazing success incl Aussie June Feiss and one buyer who only buys one horse a year with amazing success. Some of his big owners have ,I believe seen the downside of one-stable domination and in past few years spread their horses around more ,plus Mark declines some ! I doubt the sons can achieve their Dad's success. He had an eye for a horse , was a master horseman and is a great driver. When he joined with Natalie their firepower and qualities doubled cos like him she too had master qualities , possibly even a better driver and they both worked incredibly hard. That team can't and won't be matched. In recent years they decided to concentrate on horses who could achieve results at Premier and Group meetings and they ruthlessly cut any horses who did not meet these standards. These would be the years of their standout UDR. I know this cos a couple of my syndicates got horses into the stable and even before they had trialled they were sent packing. One well bred horse won a trial and raced at Addington for a handy second but was sent packing even though the main owner had a few in the stable. Their standards were high. That horse won about 4 races from 40 starts afterwards! Years ago I had been in Syndicate horses with the All Stars which made the original cut. One raced in early 2yr old races ,when clearly not in their top two cos it driven by David Butt or Jim Curtin and it won a big Group 1 race. Then as a 3 yr old it won another G1,Mark took a liking to it so even when it got a very serious structural injury he rehabbed it and it came back and won a few more races before being cut loose !. Then another syndicate horse who I liked , Mark won 4 races quite quickly and it could run 4th or 5th in group 1 races. Mark said "I recommend you sell it" .The Syndicate voted 'no way'.....over about 3 more seasons it won one more lowly race. Mark had said at the time he had 6x better horses same age in his stable......he was right ! Master horseman !

95 is almost 30 years ago....any learnings from back then relevant today. Are you saying those owning horses had no idea of the costs involved ? And surely Clubs had to forward their Financials to the Racing Conference etc . Most Clubs went thru tough times in mid-1970's when inflation on rise. Despite this horse population continued to rise and extra race permits were given out. 1975 for example Clubs performed poorly.68 Clubs lost $600 k while 20 were profitable but only to the tune of $51 k total.Yet horses increased 16% , partly cos Syndication [up to 25 people per horse] had just been introduce. The Industry repeatedly approached Government for tax relief , so the Conference/Authority must have been aware of all things Financial. By mid 80's Racecourse classification started ,and at last the real push for centralisation had started...More permits changed hands .The Authority and Conference said that resources needed to be concentrated where results were best. So many have been under that threat right up to current time, so it took another 30 years to start change .

Serious about what Murray ?

Take it easy on Chief....he may not always be right but he will always be the Chief. Old Chinese proverb...it better to own the horse than know how to ride it ! Another big night of Harness coming up Gamma , @ 2 venues !

The smoke coming out of your posts again Chief cos you feel the 'tight five' coming in to support you ! I have some idea, seen a lot with my own eyes...was born in stable ,travelled around a bit ,lived in areas which let racing die ,spoken to many educated derelicts and filled in the gaps. Surely I have some idea ,probably as good as the next average guy/gal on here !

It clearly stated on website !

Pretty much correct.......desperate times called for some desperate measures. I said Westland had cash in bank etc. But a bit pointless for TAB /NZ Racing to put so many resources /costs into the Coast when overall it running at bigger loss and taking bigger toll on their staff around Holiday time !Aside from Kumara and Harness the other meetings not up to much and over reliant on North Island horses travelling. But they gone Westland gone since about 2019 so part of History and not worth banging on about !

No one pretends that all decisions made , such as the above two , were perfect. Westland probably just unlucky as apart from the Kumara meeting the others only fair performers re Stakes etc and with all the trots meetings on Dec/Jan as well the TAB just got tired of taking the truck and tote staff etc over there. Westland seemed to have cash in bank etc ....they were promised they could hold their meeting elsewhere but quickly disposed of the Track asset to the District Council as a Xmas gift and donated Cash as well and also 'loaned' cash to other Clubs on Coast. The track will provide some housing , if folk want to move to Hokitika ! The Coast people seem to prefer Harness !

Dunno ,but fill us in.....they certainly have a lot of cancellations ,abandonments and late changes ...about 12 a week of late ! Is it for poor infrastructure of for extreme weather ? But us Kiwis stand Aussie in very high regards , often comparing us with them which is a bit futile cos of the size difference and their built in Racing DNA. We also idolise their wagering/bookies etc . Funny then when Aussie leadership takes over our TAB , we turn on them and moan our arses off !

Get with the program Chief and don't nitpick on every typo.....the DNA is reference to racing DNA. Last weeks LOTTO prize as advertised widely was $17 million ! ps...and where the little hearts gone from my last two posts , you breaking my heart now !

And also well known as NZ's premiership /champion trainer one season and possibly runnerup a couple of times too.

Plus their mates didn't have a lot to spend money on....it was hard to take /spend money outside of NZ . Now people with money to spare/burn must have a holiday home , a boat , and take annual expensive holidays[ some several!] . And many have tried Racing as something to get into but walked away with a bad experience. Many never saw their horse let alone heard how it was progressing. Fortunately there are still some great stories eg Winx , Sure , communication much better now ,but there still some shockers around both Codes !

And cos it's still in their DNA the country towns/clubs can still run a Cup day and other meetings throughout the year which attract good crowds and local support. The local racing clubs are still relevant to these towns and they market/promote their racedays and the connection is there. Racing in NZ let its relevance slip years ago and as the demographics started to change the rot set in. Clubs in general had little equity from 100 years racing and less Money for promotion. NZ Racing had to step in with promotions like summer Christmas at Racesand 'interislandersummer 'series etc. Clubs had to find grants etc to take part but few were doing it off their own bat. Clubs had even let Memberships drop. Predictably ,volunteers tired , it made sense to centralise the Admin of several clubs into one area ,further weakening connection locally and many clubs just lay down and let it happen ,the loss if dates etc. And started relyng on Pokies grants to survive at minimum levels. Yes some clubs do stuff ...like run a farm ,graze and sell animals etc to show a profit but those non-racing activities really don't promote racing...they for survival.

No way...... Old Chinese proverb....It better to own the horse .than know how to ride it !

Good question...its a term I've seen mentioned on here a few times ! Sometimes also referred to as 'suits'. Some group who we love blaming....a council , a conference or a Board .

Didn't Messara compare NZ racing with both Ireland and some Australian stakes for number of races , horses , turnover and most importantly the number of tracks. The 'obvious' take out was NZ has far too many tracks. Plus they were shouting this out 50 -60 years ago. At one stage we had too many horses for the tracks/races supplied so there were non -tote races to help progress horses thru the grades , plus division races ! The bottom line was we didn't have the betting to sustain all the horses and tracks. And those were the days of Clubs being run in the main by volunteers. Any interview with industry greats eg DJO'Sullivan[ RIP] ,Jim Gibbs etc said the two MAJOR negatives in NZ were the Stakes shortage and the state of the tracks , the latter defaulting to too many tracks as generally there was no money to invest in them. Messara commented on Clubs finances...only a few were in profit and most had little equity as many not freehold. Historically ,most Clubs had experienced financial woes and 'the powers to be' decided to help those it thought had a future and leave the rest to 'swim or sink' using their own resources/initiatives. These actions and subsequent performance have been debated to death but here we are today. Lotto and extra gambling competition and betting internationally have worsened NZ Racings situation and this likely to worsen. NZ TAB was technically bankrupt a few years ago. Winnie bailed them out. Winnie listened to hundreds of excuses , he responded to getting an outsider Messara to 'highlight' the dire situation...Winnie also gifted racing 3 x synthetic tracks from Taxpayers. Now Entain have thrown a further lifeline to NZ Racing......probably just a temporary fix but at least they trying. Your grandkids may only be able to bet on Sports and Overseas racing but the TAB /Entain or Appletote will be forever. NZ will still breed very good horses and us owners will race for sweepstake races or bag of kumaras.

I'll bite Chief with a few random thoughts , bearing in mind it not a situation I can change plus I really only like to comment on things I have experienced. But yes I do have a horse running on the synthetic this week , so I pleased the racing season began for them. It no champ and it not a mudder but it a syndicate horse so not too expensive per person to keep it going.Would not be returning the 25% of running costs which was the average before Entain ! Thanks again Entain for the 'new hope' ! I do feel for the South Island as there looks to be a light calendar down there in weeks ahead. Cos of impending lack of opportunities ahead this weeks Synthetic noms were excellent so I guess it best not to punish several R65 horses who wanted to race ,rather scrub a small sprint field where some horses able to swap into another race on the day ! Just my guess....tough on South but folk are still taking down the 'tried' Northern horses to try luck in South. All the top South stables have runners on the Synthetic ,some many.....Te Akau ,Marsh ,Pitman, Carston , TRae etc. Up North ,no surprise Cambridge trials cancelled with 22 noms. Trials are expensive to run plus 75 horses racing there tomorrow so 100 horses in a week wanting to race /trial on Synthetic.It catching on, a positive .As I stated recently trainers have worked out it much better/easier to go in the regular weekly jumpouts...80-100 horses per week. Last week they had these on the Grass , but thru March/April they on Synthetic. NZ Racing has many challenges , if my small interests are hindered by bad/unfair decisions I'll be seeking out the appropriate person to approach , I won't be banging on about it on line. Last year I took an interest in a jumper and I can see that is fast becoming an extinct feature in NZ so that could be something I may moan about. I see races cut considerably, one lucky win and you racing against the stars if you not balloted and if you can find a jockey. But I think us participants must take the blame for this....we just didn't commit the horses to it.Most of us love the jumps races , on TV and in the main we don't bet on them. Can't blame the powers to be for that !