Brodie

Reality is they are putting in 900million into racing in Nz So Franklin being bought by Entain would be a far better option if they want harness to continue in Auckland. ATC now gave no one for the Franklin site and they are looking at getting nowhere near the 90m or so that the Chinese were paying so there is going to be a very big shortfall, and who is going to wear this? ATC will not be able to trade their way out and keep racing without soneone outting in s massive amount! Who is going to be doing this with what their racing currently offers? Do I think that harness racing is able to continue in Auckland with the amount they are bleeding, no it is impossible! .

Lol, unfortunately Forbury has a crack at many drivers that he thinks are nil! It seems to give him a lot if grief and I am just thinking about his welfare. If it is so bad then you are better not to indulge in punting surely?

Interesting, Carter’s UDR is over .3 and Forbury thinks he is a poor driver? We are lucky at the moment we have several very good Junior drivers going around. Knocking drivers is not of any benefit to anyone.. Personally believe if you do not like the drives of horses you have backed, then probsbly time to stop investing? Plenty of opportunity to offload and make money without complaining

Seriously how generous are the TAB. The TAB giving you $2.50 from $1.60 on Beside Me tonight at Cambridge. That is fine but seriously maximum bet $20??? I suppose that is good for some punters but a max bet of $20 is pathetically low isnt it?

Lol I meant if racing right handed is the way to go then I question why every other metropolitan club in Australasia wants to race left handed?

So you enjoy the right handed way of racing? If so why is it the only all weather track in Australasia?

Where actually is the money from the Forbury track gone? Entain wouldve be far better off subsidising racing from Forbury than Alexandra Park surely? Harness racing at Alexandra Park racing the wrong way around and with small fields and few stables is never going to be financially viable.

Possibility that they will be racing on a wettish track as they are expecting heavy rain tomorrow. Hopefully it will stop before the meeting starts or the numbers attending will be down and will be miserable for participants if it is raining.

Good work Gamma. Put me down for slot 7. Bit of interest for us at Cambridge when the majority will be investing at Addington.

So they know ATC are desperate to sell! They would be far better to sell to Entain as they got the money, best of both worlds.

Agreed Gamma, all of them want to win rather than the monetary thing! So why on earth when harness is struggling would HRNZ or the TAB fell the need to chuck a not insignificant $400k into the “the race”? The ones running things nowadays on the whole are very average when it comes to making business decisions in the best interests of the harness industry! They are proving time after time that they really are not working for the best interests, despite the Trackside Presenters etc. trying to tell us they are! Pretty sure there is very little interest in “The Race” unless you have a connection with the starting horses!

They are treating the NZ public like mushrooms, by not divulging anything really. ATC was very excited a few months ago but why we are not sure. Someone will buy Franklin but then that is an asset gone and they will then need to have all the trials at Alexandra Park you would think? Wouldve been a far better financial decision for Entain to have paid off the ATC bank loans so that the interest did not keep compounding! Reality is that it appears that they just do not care about the viability of harness racing in NZ or otherwise are they just not overly great with running business?. Wouldve been far better than blowing it on bonuses, slot races!

I want the harness industry to survive and flourish! I appreciate that the TAB was in financial strife prior to Entain being granted majority share for 25 years by McAnulty and co. The TAB has been mismanaged for far too long by people who really have not had the business ability to run it! Personally think that the deal given to Entain is going to backfire on the TAB and dont think that they are a good fit for NZ. Yes they splash the 900m around into stakes and bonuses but that is not going to be beneficial in the future. That money could be better spent in infrastructure and making the product better. Yes owners getting stake money for racing in 6 horse fields might be good for now but all it is doing is filling in time until Entain pulls the plug on subsidising the stakes paid with the promised 900m. Does anyone actually believe that Entain entered its agreement for the benefit of racing in NZ?

TAB, I say if the wealthier owners, trainers or Corporates want to shell out $60k and 10 starters race for $600k and transfer the stake between them, then they can go for it! The $400k plus the other costs to run “ The Race” to my mind is not going to be beneficial for grass roots harness in NZ. So if the Ozzies take the major spoils then prey tell how this is of any benefit to NZ Harness? Now if Entain had not promised all this $900m then the race would not be $1m and probably $600k if it got off the ground, do what is wrong with that? How many new owners or punters has the previous “ The Race” attracted to harness racing? I Personally do not know any, in fact no one actually mentions it to me ever! Entain know that they have to splash the $900m around snd that then gives them half of the TAB profit for another 20 years . If they had not promised this 900m there is no way on earth they would be subsidising this slot race as it just makes absolutely no business sense!! Have a word to your connections and get their media man to come out and state that Entain has no intention whatsoever in abandoning harness racing when the 5 years of guarantees is up! Where is their spokesman TAB?

TAB, has it occurred to you that the TAB with their betting restrictions on punters has been part of the reason that many people now do not go on track as much now? Talk to your hierarchy and get them to drop the restrictions on punters and you will realise that their turnover will increase dramatically. At the same time get them to amend the $1k AML limit which they have applied illigally if they actually read the law!

Mikey, do you or anyone you know offload on Manawatu Harness nowadays? The racing is not that great and that is why Michael House takes anyones horses up there! All the meetings must be losing money and that can not continue. I for one care about the future of harness racing in NZ, not for myself but for all those that rely on it for a living. We need to hear from Entain about what they are planning on doing with harness in NZ when the five year D Day comes up! I highly doubt that anyone that represents them will be bold enough to come on and state what they will be doing!

TAB you are not on the money. They are chucking money down a black hole for little benefit. Throwing $400k to people who do not need it is in line with other silly decidions being made to use up the $900million. What will we have when the 5 years of the Entain spend up is finished? No better than before Entain started splashing the cash. You are delusional if you think they will continue to chuck their money around. The stake money will drop significantly and Entain will have what they wanted! If this is not true, I challenge the management spokespeople for Entain to come on here and dispute this! They wont because Brodie is on the money.

HRNZ/Entain/ TAB are subsidising “ The Race” substantially by $400,000 that is right $400,000 smackeroos if my arithmetic is correct!! Ten starters paying 60k for a slot and the stake is $1 million ! Where us the $400k coming from, clearly bring massively subsidised and being paid to the slot holders who probably do not need the extra $400k that would be far better spent elsewhere! Anyway, not surprising going by other decisions being made by HRNZ and Entain although they will not be worried they promised the dosh so they will blow it and then drop racing big time. Anyone actually believe that Brodie is not on the money and why ?

Seem the race is over 2200metres at Cambridge rather than the mile, he will have a chance but yes it ha certainly levelled things up with that draw. No you couldnt back him at 2.30 but then again for me it just doesn't make much sense to be betting into the race as many of them could probably win on the night!

Palmerston North is not viable as a profit making venue for Harness racing. You can not keep putting a band aid on a festering sore and will never be a wirthwhile investment with so few horses being trained in the CD nowadays. Yes we know that having Michael House taking so many to Manawatu is the only way that the race meetings are actually getting off the ground ! Many will not agree with Brodie but personally do not like the idea of all these horses in the South Island being transferred to the House Stables a few days before they race at Manawatu!! Yes the meeting gives these horses easier opportunities but the Premiership is now becoming a farce when so many Palmy Races are run and House Stables dominate up there. Prepared for those that say he deserves it, but it is costing the industry financially as it is a poor product! The main race today for $12,500 has a win pool and place over nit much over $1k each tote, so no one is interested

Thanks for that Midfrew. So Timaru Club have effectively decided for this grass track meeting to put some money away for later in the season stakes? Personally believe that Entain should be holding back a thousand or two per race for racing outside the 5 year guarantee. They should not be blowing as much as they are on many of the races that are happening .I am of the firm opinion that Entain really are not a very well run business especially with many of their decisions that they are making! Racing in New Zealand I would say is in a very bad financial position in the future with Entain controlling the purse strings, if you go by a-lot of what they have been doing.

Does anyone actually know how harness clubs are funded for the races that they run nowadays? Just looking through Wednesday’s Timaru meeting on the grass, and note that of the 9 carded races there are 5 that have a stake of 10k! How much funding would Timaru be receiving for each of those races at Washdyke and is there a minimum stake now or can they put up what they want? Seems very odd when the poorly performing Palmerston North are running all their races for more than 10k?? Much easier to win at Palmy than in Canterbury where multiple winning horses are being forced to race for less than Palmy! Seems very unfair for Palmy to be receiving more stake money from HRNZ than Timaru if this is the case, as they are supplying a far inferior product??

Reality is that it all depends on how much the Bookies are winning or losing. Unless the Bookies are cleaning up then these meetings are not covering costs. The lack of place dividends being shown on Trackside is definitely going to be cisting turnover without any doubt! Its ok though they have got betting on a meeting from Turkey!

So what you are saying is you love the Ozzie Bookies?

To be fair there would appear to be very few if any races that wouldve covered the stakes paid today, unless the Bookies cleaned up on the Fixed Odds! The TAB/ Entain must be extremely worried about how things are actually going financially despite them telling us just how positive things are going! Unfortunately there appears No way on earth are they profitable at the moment unless someone in the know can tell us otherwise?