TAB For Ever

Oh come on mikeynz.... I just agreed with you that a lot seems beyond you. Then I ask a reasonable question about the Riverton Club and you launch into a rant about the weather and the beaches . And then you display a bit of bad language and abuse......that not nice for a Southern man . Surely you can do better than that . Did you go to the Riverton races , have you been to any races in the past year ? FYI I was invited back to the South just last week......kinda cold even on a fine day , but I guess its just a cricket ball throw from the South Pole. And the gridlock traffic around the Arthur Barnetts Golden Block was fair worse than anything up north ! So what other 'assets' are there down your way other than the Highlanders [mainly owned by Aucklanders etc] and David Bain !

A good fair post......possibly not welcome in this thread of doom and gloom and anticipation of problems after cyclone and much rain. The track really did play remarkably well ....1min 11 sec bettered for 1200m. Personally spoke to several trainers and assistants who remarked positively about the excellent performance of the surface . And the racing reflected that...the 2100m fillies race a fantastic race.

Funniest post of the Year !

A lot seems to be beyond you mikeynz ! And Riverton have been nominated , like a lot of things down your neck of the woods ,they obviously didn't quite measure up ! Tell me why they should have .

Skin in the game never been of concern for me..... I picked it up off you in a post quite recently...I think you mentioned real skin in the game ! What is 'real skin' in the game ? You used it Chief......Have I ever told you I have skin in game...if having a bet and attending the odd meeting is skin in the game [ as per Doomed quote ] then its very thin skin , paper thin ! And can't remember me telling you guys that I had skin in game.......I call it an interest , I bet regularly on small basis ,attend meetings and have a few small shares in a few horses. And in past I've done a bit of mainly volunteer work in print , admin and shovelling shit too ! No more ,no less than the next person.....I base my posts/thoughts on my own experiences and to spread those I've intentionally had involvement in as many facets as possible. eg I've had a go at breeding [very poor] , had shares in 2 yr olds , jumpers , pacers and trotters and tried to get to as many tracks as possible . Basically done enough IMO to form opinions about things racing in both codes [ not dogs]. Problems /issues have always existed in NZ racing and always will. I see them as challenges and it great to see so many issues are being faced on acted on . A great time to be involved ! Jockeys/trainers in NZ never been so well off here , stakes have improved dramatically for NZ owners and those with the X factor and drive can hop over the ditch where its even bigger and better. Punters can now bet on so many things so often. ATR facility getting better by the week ! The worst aspect of NZ racing are those who actually think they important to NZ racing , know all the solutions and could do better than the current lot running the show .......you can't and you don't . Pessimism is for liteweights ! Attitudes are contagious......is yours worth catching ? The good old days were far worse..... In the meantime at least acknowledge the successes our top horses and horse people across NZ and especially in Australia ...they doing NZ proud ! Great Kiwis.....Waller , Baker , McDonald , Savabeel, Dunn, Te Akau ......leading the World . Enjoy it !

Well its about Horses and Horse people from NZ ....and in this case success on what is one of the most competitive stages in the world. It's about success and excellence and goes to show that NZ racing can produce and develop world class horses ,jockeys ,trainers etc. Maybe there is a future for NZ racing ,maybe NZ racing is doing some good stuff. What don't you understand ? What threads have you started , what threads would you like to discuss ? Have you got 'skin in the game' . What your interest in NZ racing ?

Again the last two weeks in April have seen the Kiwi influence to the fore in Australian Thoroughbred racing. Yesterday it was headed by the Waller/James Mac combo with Jason Collett and BBaker chiming in with Group 1 success.And Aleysia Collett nearly tore off the Group 1 Oaks. And Mickey Dee as usual picked up a winner. At the jumps day in Victoria today ex-NZ horses featured prominently while Bevan Laming ,Mark Walker and Brett Scott actually supplied half the horses to race ! Last week was even more oustanding. Waller , Baker JCollett all won Group 1's ...NZ featured in 4 of first 5 in the Group 1 Derby with the brilliant winner being by a son of Dundeel , from Waller stable and out of a mare owned in Nz. Per Incanto also featured on the big stage. DStackhouse ,Micky dee were prominent on the Day as were Busuttin stable and the Brownes...Rhinoceros upset in Victoria. Logan Bates had a win ,Ditto Bevan Laming. And another promising horse by Zed emerged from Bishara barn...Belle Tedelle. And Te Akau went to $1 mil at yearling sales. NZ being noticed across the ditch !

A bit of rain about Gamma...give me the horses with the big feet . Garry Dillon, Cardigan Bay, Lordship and the horses by Morano , Lumber Dream and Majestic Chance. The mobile car was skidding at Puke trials today !

Come on Gamma...give me one....I am a very lucky person ! And I believe the current Champion !

So you know what dirt is to us South Islanders ........haha Coasters should at least know different words for weed and recognise noxious weeds ! Often hard to find a sense of humour on here....one of my first posts I made a joke and the 'tight five' leapt on me [didn't get it cos far too intoxicated by their own exuberance] plus they questioned how long I had been in racing...a rookie maybe ? Haha. The latest crack up was something about posters having skin in the game .........my main question now is "How much skin do you need in tha game in order to post on bitofayarn ? I doubt posters have been surveyed .....but my guess is the majority of posters are 60 plus and/OR Retired from employment and/OR live in a retirement home ? One lives in a cave in deep south ! Young posters like myself and SunlineBoy are rare....and I seem to be one of a few that bat for both sides {Gallops and Trots },and actually attend meetings ! And this is the Internet so one can fire up the dutch courage and freely abuse other posters , talk tough then hide ! Poking the Borax we call it in the South !

Sorry westbrew but a bit of water flowed under the bridge since I cast my 'cost accountants' eye over several Annual reports/ accounts and joined a few dots. And I never took a lot of notes. But the reported February turnover surprise is not a regular happening .Up to recently I believe racing did twice the turnover of sports . And Racing GBR as a % is twice that of Sport....well it was when I looked at it more closely a couple of years back. Of course since then fixed odds betting % of total has increased and bonus bets etc are rife in Racing. But NZ sports organisations do pretty well from the TAB.... I have read where they get a set % commission on all betting on their sport plus a set % of profit on that betting.Plus they received an unexpected 'bonus' when Entain took over in 2023. I guess one could drill down further , maybe into NZ Sports Organisations minutes to learn more , but those NSO's don't say a lot about this funding in their notes to accounts. From memory NZ Tennis received nearly $2 mill from TAB in 2023 ,and their total revenue was $2.9 miill so it significant .

Again....same ole same ole......NZ would not have attracted the Aussie horses without slashing the cash. The idea is to stimulate in terest in Aussie as well ,to increase Aussie interest in NZ racing , long term thinking ! If it doesn't then are we ....you and me ...any worse off than we were a couple of years ago before Entain , and the NZ Racing couldn't pay its Bills and was bailed out by the Guvmint. And if the horses have to race for a bag of Kumaras , you will still follow them cos you love the horses ,not the money you can make off the place punt ! You do love the horse ?

Can't agree with that.....certainly can't match you for dirt , and you probably done more grass as well !

Sorry too busy....I still do volunteering in some sports at coalface and overall I treated as useful volunteers should be ..... Maybe a bit of honey would help from you...I dipped out on the Coffee 😃😃

Sport in NZ does very well from TAB ...some minor NZ sports with little to no betting available on their NZ games ,now getting around $1 million into their coffers. Basketball and Tennis in NZ among the top 5 sports with Rugby ,League and Football. NZ sports got $26 million last year ! NZ Basketball did well......$4.4 million Ditto NZ Tennis...$1.858 mill NZ Sports get a % of Turnover on betting on their sport plus a % of Profit . Plus when Entain took over ,they got a 'nice' Bonus payout which was much higher than they could of dreamed of !

NOw now , I just reading off Entains monthly report on February 2025 month. And not a lot of 'big' Sport on so nothing unusual there. There was 29 days in February 2024 but shouldn't be too significant . A lot of TAB advertising so sport result shows it swimming well ! Maybe the extra account users [ from Entain report] much prefer Sport and being extra cautious with their spend on racing. IMO the sluggish economy ,uncertainty , job losses , school lunches fiasco , maybe parents had to spend to feed their kids.....and reading the doom and gloom on Racing Social media not encouraging people to do like Brodie.....and UNLOAD ! Still.....its a great time to be involved in Racing.....no time to be down in mouth about Betting Lull.......I can't fix that ! So swimming well...even in stormy sea today !

I'm not measuring...just reading numbers off Entain monthly summary. From memory [ about 2023 ] Sport was about 33% of total bet ,so one half of racing. So beating Racing in February month quite an achievement IMO . Maybe suggests with all the advertising , the public finds and understands sports much easier !

You a funny man Chief ....just giving my opinion on my experiences ,always been a battler .....and a little skin in the game, real skin too, Southern skin too ...and bat for both sides too ! Your harness section has very few contributors ,especially of the ilk that actually go to the races ! Mainly great experiences ......pessimism is for liteweights ! How much skin do you have to have in the game before you qualified to comment on here ?

Haha....my stocks are rising with bitofayarn...You want to hear from me ! No secret..... Its ........TAURANGA for 2024 Calendar year...CLUB OF YEAR ! 12 racedays ,2x trial days ands good job in Financial ,Racing ,Marketing , Compliance and Innovation !

Haha Doomed .....you changed your tune re Wingatui , you been right down on them for a while now !

Now ,Now.....just got out of practice. There was a while between drinks and someone slipped with the checklist !

My recently improved eyes confirmed this....and the sound of the gallops , the smell of the turf.....and things you pick up from being there. All technical stuff !

Exactly Gamma....fantastic to bring the best Aussies over to little ole NZ to race v our best. I'm tempted to travel to the night...last year it was great seeing the two 'teams' led down the straight before the test match ! Behind the National flags .....hair raising stuff ! At little ole Cambridge too ! Of course Entain /HRNZ are contributing .Where does Brodie 'always on the money' think the money came from to launch this new strategic plan to rebirth Harness in NZ. Answer ...the money came from Entain ,and 70% of the money has gone to grass roots racing with extra stakes for everyone...across the Board. Plus monies are held in reserves for the planned events/promotions etc hoping to stimulate things so if Brodie has a good idea then he should forward it to HRNZ for consideration. Cos the slot races ,plus those during Cup week are part of the plan , as is resuscitating the North Island hence Manawatu and Auckland events also feature in trying to excite people . Not easy but they trying ! Every club in NZ receives HRNZ /Entain money so a bit pointless in choosing one meeting to point out how betting doesnt cover stakes and meeting expenses..

Only average detective work Wingman......Oscars flatmate obviously thought about his 'all talk no do ' editorial policy and changed it from Fuckwit to Halfwit. He claims not to change posts ! As a fellow South Islander to the village idiot , I thought he may even have the same post code as me as there are caves in the hills down my way and I thought I'd maybe smoke the loser out. I guess us flatmates have every right to have an opinion on everything...I cant remember digressing off the subject of Racing much tho with my International experience I can yarn a bit about Rugby. But Chiefs MBA and my 3 x years in the 5th Form of Christ College does give us a pretty good combined CV. So wingman ..spread your tiny wings and fly away ! I still await an answer from Chief if it OK to use the word Fuck-wit .

In 2017 Sports betting was about 25 % of Total. Slowly but surely Sports has gained ground , but not Racing [ 3 x codes] In February Racing was flat with 2024 but Sports had nice increase and headed off Racing so + 50% of Total.