Brodie

Hi Sarge, what are you actually disagreeing with??

Gamma, my sole reason for posting about HRNZ is to keep harness racing financially viable in NZ! Michael Guerin tonight on The Box Seat was of the opinion that Brad Steele was going back to Brisbane due to family reasons, and that he was more than happy with what he had achieved! NOw this is one of the reasons that we find the industry in very bad state financially because no one is prepared to speak out and tell it the way it is! Great that he wants to go back to Brisbane where he has lived, but we both know what the real reason is! The other thing is that yes he may have brought in or approved things but not entirely successful at all financially for harness racing, bearing in mind he has had the assistance of big money gifted to them by Entain! At the end of the day if Michael Guerin and others are happy with what has been going on and want to keep their heads in the sand, then so be it! Lets just see how things pan out in the next few months or so and more than happy to be wrong, but some of us know that things are going to need to change

Cambridge is also in the shite, potentially being helped by HRNZ ! Good that the HRNZ Board finally did something yesterday which is a start but the hard decisions needto be made now and not 2 years time, for the viability of harness in NZ. The money chucked into stakes couldve helped Auckland survive but possibly too late to help now due to poor decision making! Anyone is more than welcome to come on and disagree?

Not guilty, dont bet gallops and they wouldnt let me on for much anyway. Still easy enough to make money but just not as much as we should be allowed to! Bookies are so risk averse in NZ unless you are a known losing punter and they let you on

He would a good CEO due to his passion and knows that to stay in business you need to make a profit! I believe that they need a Statutory Manager appointed to try and sort the place out. It is long overdue that the hard decisions need to be made and harness racing needs to be promoted far better! Ironic that Nigel is the most prominent promoter of Harness Racing in NZ and he is NOT PAID????? CEO would have been on hundreds of thousands and he was barely seen, so go figure?

Chief, most meetings are not covering costs from wagering, very few indeed, thats why we arent seeing Gross Betting Revenue. things I believe are far worse than most know, it is not rocket science. they are downright operating uneconomically and it is going to really hurt once the Entain money is used up. The Cambridge meeting last week would have been a horrific loss for both Cambridge and HRNz , guessing only but wouldnt be any change out of $500k loss. I would suggest there was more wagering on Addington that night from what I saw of the tote pools!? Turnover I know was down on last year and fewer punters I have heard from the inside, and the TAB’s business plan of turning away punters is working! Highly doubt there will be another The race slot race again at Cambridge, if there was far better to race at Addington and bar the Ozzies!

Yes there will be a lot that will not bother anymore and hard to attract new owners! However, what is the alternative, as HRNZ have been spending like drunken sailors as some of us have been saying for years. HRNZ have blown their opportunity and we are about to feel the consequences and yet we hear nothing from HRNZ? Correct, the TAB; Entain business policy of turning punters away I keep saying is badly flawed but that will be their loss.

You are obviously not looking at all races! Maybe Palmy might be at level most are far more than that. Auckland and Addington on Fridays are always far more than that anything from $15k up. They need to cut them now, there will be many not liking it but they have no option not to. They have brought it on themselves, carry on the way they are currently and it will become worse. Anyway watch this space

Correct you have to operate within your income and that will definitely mean slashing stake money, especially when Entain cash splash finishes. Payout from from the TAB is going to be dramatically reduced and then what? There are several ways that the TAB could make changes to improve racing and turnover which I have expressed previously.

Peter, once the TAB Advisory Board came out and made the statements it did, then I thought it would be a short tenure, as things are serious. Thing is Brad Steele is only the figure head and I would be surprised if he was making that many decisions, but by being the CEO he has the final say. If you are being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars then you need to be performing at a very high standard and with success, which wasnt happening despite what some think! You just can not shell out money the way they were with gay abandon to please people when they just could not afford to financially.

Gamma, the reality of it is that the funding committee should have financial competence and know that they could not afford to be paying out as much as they were! Yes they can continue to pay out the stakes that they have planned, but the truth lf the matter it is going to backfire on them! The thing is that there is nothing personal whatsoever in what you say bagging HRNZ! They are being paid big salaries to act in a professional way and make Harness Racing a viable business, now and in the future! From where I see it, HRNZ have been operating very poorly in a way in which is very detrimental to the harness industry and yet continue to portray al this great news! What is disappointing is that there did not appear to be anyone on a salary prepared to speak out due to being worried about their job, surely they knew that things could not continue to operate the way it was? Brad Steele came out a long time ago saying how positive things were, when anyone with business sense could see that it wasn’t! Still Believe that there are some that are not aware of just how much things need to change or they will be looking for a new career path! Change needs to happen NOW as once Entain pulls its support the stakes being raced for are going to be significantly CUT to maybe half at best?

Is Michael Guerin serious? Why does he think it will be a big loss to the industry. With respect, you could hardly say that he was successful in the role at HRNZ? So much money squandered and to the long term viability of harness racing in this country! The thing is one of the big reasons that harness racing has gone downhill is this wanting to be nice to everyone and staying in the good books so they keep their jobs!!!!! Recent CEO’s generally have had no business success in their own right and that has been the downfall,of a once great industry! So many very poor decisions have been made that you couldnt count on two hands and the reality is that it is going to affect everyone that relies on harness for a living! Not sure why the media needs to continue to tell untruths and think that we should believe their BS? Brodie is one that will tell it the way it is!

Nothing personal whatsoever, but from what I see is that there has not been the right CEO at HRNZ for a long time! Appointing mates just not cut the mustard if the appointee has not got business acumen and can not run a successful business! recent appointees have come from Corporate backgrounds that a lot of people could be in charge, on big salaries and mates doing favours, seen it many times over the years! Being on many Boards and owning horses is not really going to ensure success and a lot of them are not great business leaders, often very nice and pleasant but easy controlled. I am sure Brad Steele will be very pleased to be going home to Brisbane and out of the firing range! It is just so disappointing that HRNZ have been acting so poorly with the money from Entain which shouldve give harness racing in NZ a bit of a leg up to keep the industry going! Reality is that the whole industry is now needing to take stock of where it is at and cut its cloth accordingly. The times of these big stakes and bonuses and promises need to stop and operate witgin budget, as it is going to be total dire straights once the Entain money finishes.

Resigned? Yes of course he resigned, why would you when everything was positive for harness? Everyone knows it has nothing to do with how badly financial in the crap they are through total mismanagement! 😂 The media report in HRNZ is a cover up, which totally vindicates what a few of us have been saying for a very long time. It is going to be a very hard struggle to get out of the crap, but hopefully they appoint someone who knows how to run a business profitably as it has been a shocking effort in recent years. Stake money needs to be slashed Now and promises made rescinded or no way on earth can it flourish!

Massive overs was HH today! Grass tracker racing in great form and was unlucky for many of her starts in the last year or so..