Brodie

Not sure why there are shortfalls? Weren’t we told recently on Trackside that everything was going well with harness racing? Puzzling indeed?

Then again they may give the North more meetings? 5 horse fields racing for 20 or 30 grand with very limited wagering is how we get people back into racing in the North! The disappointing thing is that several of us that comment on BOAY actually do give a damn about racing and that is why we comment! Reality is that it totally appears that those that are actually being paid good salaries to make harness racing prosper, just arent prepared to post here why they are making these poor decisions.

They may well be flush with Entain cash at the moment but I can guarantee that anyone with any business acumen can clearly see the writing on the wall! They are clearly blowing the opportunity that the Entain money provided but there has been so many poor decisions being made unfortunately. Would any Bank have lent Harness Racing any money with their business plan to keep harness racing going? Not on your nally, and Entain are only in it to take the profits of the online gambling and Sports betting for a total of 25 years!

Has been going poorly for a long time! Hasnt shown much staying prowess and if it wins the way it has been going, you would be needing to ask some serious questions!

Great that they have good sized fields. Why don’t they run the trotters races over the mile as well? These programmers need their heads read, running these mile races, as they just are not worth betting into!!! why would any punter wager on Winton compared to Addington racing?

Midnight Diamond race 5 Addington Friday night - $17 into $5?.? Has someone put next to nothing on it to win to shorten it into massive unders? Does anyone know id any legitimate reason why someone would be punting this horse the way it has been performing? Yes Ross Houghton is now training it but can anyone see why it has plummeted into $5 over 2600metres as it has never shown much staying ability in its career when Robbie Holmes was training it! Must have been given something for it to be a massive market mover on what it has shown previously in its career to date!

Never get freebies snd do nit need them! However wouldnt mind being able to wager reasonable amounts with the TAB as I thought they were z gambling agency? They are just riding out the time and then the shite will hit the fan and they know this.

Mike Maynard was definitely more at fault than Blair Wilmot, as he allowed Mack Pack to continue to run in. Maynard certainly was the main reason Don Juan was held up for any sort of a run. You. Ould say that Blair shouldve come to the outside rather thsn through the middle, but personally think that the Joseph Gray horse wasnt going well enough at the time. People see things differently at times and this probably looks like one Gala, but good to express opinions.

This rule is just another example of crazy policies that HRNZ seem to bring in! Just ridiculous that a winner can start on the front against maidens where the other winners are off a back mark! Who agreed to this BS, just another reason to have no confidence in HRNZ and yet they have a Racing Integrity Board? Just like the stupid whip rule and enquiry rules, just no common sense with them and underlines the fact that things are not flash with decision making! Why should maidens who are trying to win their first race line up against an in form race winner off the same mark? Lunacy, and they wonder why harness is losing participants?

Taku is totally correct they altered the conditions of the race after Origin won on Friday night! Yes very poor and is a continuation of some of the shocking decisions being made! When Origin won, HRNZ had it up for a short time with Origin starting of 20 metres so I also didnt give it a great chance of winning. Appalling decision by HRNZ once again and have never ever seen this done before ever! Nothing surprises us anymore as there is preferential treatment for some and also victimisation towards others in racing in NZ! Look forward to getting the defense from HRNZ, but they will say nothing to see here?

So they are prepared to take $13k or $40k from some punters and yet other punters can not get $200 on?? Seriously flawed business practice that will backfire on them big time once the money dries up!

There are average drives in most races and we have to expect them in Amateur races. Took me a awhile, but now keep off them as very hard to predict how they are going to be run.

Watched the replay and I think that Mike Maynard was more to blame! He was driving Mack Pack and in the straight he ran in a couple of cart widths and made no gap for Don Juan! Moral of the story as we all know, keep out of wagering on Amateur races lol Bigger issue is the tote pools they are shockingly low and they deserve what they get the TAB!! They are killing the wagering and fixed odds betting amounts being able to be won now are the worst they have ever been! Waste of time now, they are not Bookies at all!

Things are very dire if the TAB have not got enough money to be able to pay out pathetic amounts that they have adopted now. TAB under Entain has progressively got worse for many of the loyal NZ punters!

Questions need to be asked! Are the Bookies under strict instructions now to not let anyone win anything except a few hundred? Have the TAB now adopted the approach to not let NZ punters bet even a reasonable amount and are wanting to piss the punters of harness racing off, so they don’t bother anymore? Have you noticed that you just can not get a reasonable wager on? I believe they are just riding out time as the TAB Bookies are certainly not wanting to uphold the turnover in NZ! Just not worth the time and effort anymore. RIP, NZ harness

HRNZ are going to do what they want to, even though their decision making does seem very poor, if they are looking to have harness racing in NZ survive. Not much point commenting as they do not seem to want to do best for the industry and unfortunately it will not end well. Thought that with Entain bailing racing out by dishing out hundreds of millions and a new HRNZ CEO that it was an opportunity to improve things and ensure harness could get back on track! Very disappointed for harness in NZ!

We all hope it works out well for the ATC and Auckland harness racing. They arent actually anyway better than when the Chinese pulled out, in fact with the continuing accrual of monthly interest they are decidedly worse off! They still only have a conditional offer and they could well crash or they come back and renegotiate it down as they know the situation. It is really a cot case and is going to be very very hard to see how the Auckand harness racing scene can thrive. They are losing money on every meeting being run at Alexandra Park, they have no new trainers coming through and many will be retired in a few years at best! Brad Steele thinks that investing into Auckland harness racing is a good thing, well I am sure he would not be investing any of his own money into it, as-he will lose it all! just saying it as it is and more than happy to be proven wrong.

Investing in the North is worth it Brad?? Interesting times indeed, just incredible that it couldve got this bad for a once profitable Club. The interest cost is going to add probably at least another $7 million of debt if only a deposit is paid and full payment isnt made for another 16 months or so, allowing for the other payment reducing the loan! We can rest easy, we are in great hands.

Auckland is haemorrhaging millions of dollars in losses each year snd it just is not going to improve in the future going by the current HRNZ policies! What would give us some confidence that HRNZ knows what it is doing and we are talking BS, is if Brad Steele would come on to BOAY and explain to us mere mortals that everything is under control! He won’t because he knows that things are dire and he can not back up with fact that things are rosey as he stated on Trackside a few weeks ago! Doesnt have to be Brad, can be anyone that can advise us all of how great things are!

Gamma, no I do not want Auckland racing to finish but you just can not keep running sny business the way they are doing it currently. Unfortunately there is just not enough interest in the sport in the North Island nowadays and they need to change this up. Throwing money into the stakes is great for the current owners and trainers at the moment from Entain monies, however what after it runs out? They just do not seem to have any answers and the punting turnover on the North Island meetings just does not warrant the current level of stakes!! It is a business model doomed to fail without doubt! Stakes of $30k plus with only a handful of starters is just a recipe for disaster but hey HRNZ obviously are happy with this. Wouldnt be wanting them running any business I was associated with but then time is going to tell. They should be keeping money aside for future years and development of the industry rather than trying to be Father Xmas. Let us see what the Committee comes up with when it meets?

TABFOREVER, this is the problem that exists with harness racing in NZ!!!!! There is no accountability coming from those that should be showing it!!! Several of us that consistently comment actually care about what is going to happen with harness racing in NZ, even though it doesnt affect us too much personally. Those at the helm and making decisions are showing that they are only there to collect their salaries which they do not seem to deserve, and bugger what happens in the future as we will be gone! They were handed a lifeline by having all this money thrown at it from Entain and yet from the outside many of us can see what is going to happen when the money dries up, and it isnt looking good. Anyway, TABFOREVER, if you think they are doing everything right then so be it, but what I do know in a couple of years or so time, people will be saying that what we are saying was right, and what are we going to do now? Make hay while the sun shines as all this money keeps coming is HRNZ’s attitude from where Brodie sits! More than happy to be proven wrong!

Gamma, Steve Stockman is receiving preferential treatment as a punter by the NZ TAB and personally find it rather appalling! The fact that he spends mega dollars in the industry by way of racing horses should not give him any better treatment than any other punter! It is ethically and morally wrong business actions from the TAB and yet they are allowed to get away with it as it has a monopoly in NZ. Slot races are fine Gamma as a novelty but there are so few that it makes no difference to the viability of harness racing in NZ, What is very disappointing is that there seems to be a lack of accountability being shown coming out of HRNZ. Without wagering from punters there will be no harness racing end of story as there will be no stake money available. Something has to give and it will, and not sure where the Committee that was being arranged has got to?

Gamma, do appreciate your enthusiasm for all harness racing and your support for NZ racing. Unfortunately I highly doubt there would be anyone or any company that is willing to chuck money into NZ harness to support it, once Entsin pulls the plug ! It is absolutely so hard to understand how HRNZ is acting currently and it will not end well for harness racing in NZ as a consequence! At the end of the day HRNZ are supposed to be acting in the best interests of harness racing so they must be using their expertise to the best of their ability?

Auckland Friday night fields are sure to be a massive loss for the Industry! They can not keep dishing this crap out and expect things to progress! There are 7 races and only 2 races have sufficient starters to have 3 place divs. Brad Steele paints this rosey picture of how well harness racing is going and if he believes this twaddle then he should not be CEO at HRNZ! Appalling situation when they continue this racing with 5 and 6 horse fields. It will not continue indefinitely as someone with a semblance of business sense will step in and sort or harness racing is permanently stuffed in the North!!

Mile stands even?