Brodie

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?

I didnt realise that the Palmy meeting has a later start so a twilight meeting. Think that is not a bad idea a Sunday twilight meeting far better than the Tuesday.

Good to see support for the slot races. Not sure the exact figure that the race is subsidised from the industry coffers, but no doubt it is not inconsequential. Does it attract new people into the industry as owners or punters, highly doubt it especially seem the race is in Cambridge where there is dwindling interest in the area. Anything that is beneficial for harness racing is great and we certainly much need it. Hopefully it will get people talking and punters offloading but wouldnt be holding my breath.

Just as I thought, no one really gives a damn about these slot races apart from the ones with horses in them and the Trackside Presenters that are being paid to be so bullish about them! Does it bring new people into racing, no it doesnt it just costs the i dustry more money that it can not afford to be blowing at the moment. Feel free to disagree

Harness lost it big time when they got rid of the Saturday night racing in NZ! They are far more likely to attract more new people on course on a Saturday night for several reasons. They reckoned that they were competing with Rugby on a Saturday night, whichnis bollacks! Rugby is not all year if they hadnt realised and if rugby has more appeal to orople then the industry is in trouble. Harness should be run on Friday and Saturday nights snd Sunday arvo if they want to keep people interested, during the week will not attract new people .

The Race By Betcha, is nearly upon us again What do harness participants really think about it and slot races? Does the trainers and owners of horses that are not in the race really give it much thought? How many people get excited about these types of races and does it actually bring enough excitement to introduce new people into racing? Is it just a transfer of funds between wealthier people rather than what it is meant to do? There are some people that love the tight class racing whether they bet or not which is interesting! Personally solely from a punters point of view, I would not be putting a brass razoo on any race such as this at Cambridge and I would highly doubt many serious punters looking to win would either! You have a field of the very best horses racing each other over sprint distances all on the job, when there is very little between them. Anyway just looking beyond the media hype to see what others thought and whether they think that the money that Entain will be putting in is money well spent? .

Great to see that the NZ TAB brought the head to heads back for harness after they pulled thrm for an extended period! HOWEVER be very careful when taking them. The TAB odds have been reduced from what they used to be. Years ago the average between the two was $1.87.5 now they seem to vary a wee bit but on average they are on average about $1.75 like $1.80 and $$1.70 so significantly less than they used to be so much more profit for theTAB and less for the punter! Secondly and more importantly. They have brought in the condition that to win the first horse home NEEDS TO FINISH IN THE FIRST FIVE!!! Now if this does not happen I would imagine they would scoop the pool and so the only winner is the TAB??? Has not happened to Brodie but I would highly doubt they would refund ? I have noticed already tonight on the 2 meetings that this has happened already at least 2 times so far! Money for jam for the TAB, do do your homework and be prepared to lose your money even though you won by besting the other horse home in the head to head!

Fixed Odds the only way to bet now with the poor tote pools. Always know what I am collecting

To be fair it was far too short and was not worth the risk as it had shown it was pretty green. Better to bet against it

Seems like a programming stuff up on the face of it! You are correct the turnover will not be any better than if there were only one or teo meetings. Palmy will continue to lose money for the industry but that is all good. Tonights meeting at Addington seems a hard one to find value?

Not sure that they want everyone betting with fixed odds? I do personally believe that Entain didnt want the NZ TAB for racing, despite what the ones that work for the TAB try to make us believe. The big amount promised McAnulty to go into racing was just a bribe and the NZ TAB and McAnulty and co. Should not have sold out for 25 years. They will continue to pump money into racing but once the promised money is done they will drop it like a lead balloon and things will be on the slide. as I have stated several times there have been so many stupid decisions made that can not give anyone confidence that we are going to be going forward in the future. The fact that they got rid of the NZ staff so quickly and employed the incompetent Racing and Sports from Australia just shows that they have not got NZ interests at heart. You do not have to believe what I say and hope that I am wrong, but prey tell why you believe that Entain are great for our racing? 2 of their seniors are either gone or going for what reason??

Whoever decided to race harness on a Tuesday should give themselves a slapping! They say that harness turnover is up but bear in mind they are giving away free money which is going to increase turnover. I hope they are doing better and getting more punters to offload as they will need it. we do not see fixed odds betting info but I highly doubt they are attracting enough new punters that make running many if any meetings in the North profitable.

Entains bonus system is just not going to work! To have a race at Addington on a Friday night with only 3 starters now is just WRONG! Unfortunately despite this increased money bring chucked into stakes and bonuses from the promised funds from Entain, things just are not improving. Do they really believe that people are going go be encouraged to breed a horse so it csn race as a 2 year old for a 4k payday? With the cost of breeding a horse and then all the other costs of everything involved in training the horse for many many months, it is just delusional to think it is enticing! The horse you bred probably owes you in the vicinity of $100k just to be in a position to race as a medium term 2 year old with a reasonable trainer, and they think 4K is a game changer?

Personally think jt is not great for promoting racing or great for the punter K Yes the owner will get appearance money but lets see if it can trot the whole way and how many horses with legitimate chances get held up behind it! it has no chance whatsoever and should be lining up against non winners and not against horses that have won 14 races! I see the dam is The Gardeners Pride who was a very long time maiden trotter still going around. Great to have enthusiast’s but surely this is taking the pxxx?