Brodie

Who actually is that?

Does anyone actually think that the lighting at Addington has improved since the new lights were installed? They werent happy with them when they were first installed, teething issues I suppose? But from watching on, there are still some issues with them where there is just too much variation of brightness, which you would have thought would have been easily rectified? A significant amount of money spent for what definitely appears to be inferior to what Addington Raceway had prior to the new install! Elektra King galloping almost certainly was from the dark shadow on the track!

The hot favourite in the last race at Addington yesterday galloped badly and out of the race at about the 1500m! Tim Williams stated in the stipes report that the horse shied at water! Yes their was water on the inside of the track but watching the replay it doesnt seem possible that the horse wouldve seen the water as it was possibly too far away and down low? What appeared to happen was it shied at a very dark patch of shadow due to inconsistency of the new lighting that has been installed? Personally think the lighting is actually far more inconsistent and patchy than what was there before! Came at a very large cost and do people think it is any better than before

Gamma, you say no big time punters? There are still some that want to wager larger amounts, but the TAB say NO!!! They have driven many people away from racing snd attending on course. Very few punters are going to meetings in Canterbury nowadays as there is not much at all to attract them! You can not get decent amounts on due to the AML limit of $1k that the NZ TAB has adopted, even though they are actually breaking the law by adopting this amount, and they know it! At the end of the day, if they think their policies are the correct ones then we will just have to wait and see! personally believe that there is going to be more personnel changes coming through after the Committee discusses what is going on!

Gamma, no point burying our heads in the sand and believing that all is rosey with the future of harness racing in NZ! We are going to be in dire straights in under 3 years if not sooner unless we see the TAB and HRNZ wake up to what is currently happening! as we repeat, you just can not be running things the way they are and expect it to be financially successful! The money is great for owners and trainers at the moment but that is only due to the money being gifted by Entain, and we all know that is going go stop! Personally believe that the industry is not being managed well and that is clearly proven by Winnie needing this committee to be formed. Is Cambridge financially stuffed like Auckland is? I would say yes and yet HRNZ are very quiet on the topic. Anyway those from the sideline have no control over what is happening at the moment but it is our prerogative to question what is going on, despite what is coming out from HRNZ. At the end of the day, hopefully HRNZ is telling the truth about everything being positive for the industry, but wouldnt be betting into that one! Interesting times!

Very negative Galah, but appears to be accurate unless David Branch can come out and state that what you are saying is totally false? I believe that we appear to have the wrong people making the decisions and to protect their careers, try to paint this rosey position! We need people who actually do care for the future of racing rather than there to collect a big salary. We apparently should all be very positive about the future but this is what is continuing to downgrade our once great harness industry. It is long overdue for those making these decisions to actually perform or walk and to tell us the truth if where we are at! So many poor business decisions have been made.

Chris Wood is a galloping trainer but you are right he is from Cambridge. It can not be true surely, as Brad Steele advised us all that things were all positive? Most of the TAB tote pools tonight were shockingly small but that isnt any worry as turnover is increasing apparently?

very interesting that the NZ TAB supposedly accepted a $40k bet on Captains Secret on race 7 at Auckland tonight! Wondering is this actually legit when they have previously been so risk averse and very hard to get much on, and they think that $1k is a big bet. you would wonder who approved it when it was a Telfer horse, and they are going so well? It was $40k @ 3.20 or close to that and someone was in the know! Anyway great to see the NZ TAB accepting such bets and now we can obviously look forward to them allowing all the restricted punters on for amounts more than they have been previously.

If you do not get patrons on course, you will not get them as new owners, end of story! We are really just going through the motions at the moment, with HRNZ putting the Entain money into stakes and bonuses! When the 5 years is up, they will finally wake up to what some of us are trying to point out, but seems to be falling on deaf ears! The ones in the suits that are making these decisions will be back in Oz long gone!

Not sure that having 4 meetings on in NZ is a great reason to have 40 minutes between races? Harness punters with any sense are not wagering on gallops meeting in Winter in NZ! Run the meetings on different channels so that they are not overlapping each other, it is not that difficult? Look at the way they do it in Ozzie, and we do not need to have all these crap meetings from around the world that no one has heard of!!!!

Just wondering why Addington Sunday racing doesnt start till nearly half past one and finishing after 6pm? In Winter wouldn’t those concerned prefer to start earlier and finish around 5pm? Must be a reason for it, but the first half of the card has 40 minutes between races? Very hard on those concerned and just shows just how dedicated you have to be nowadays to be involved with the horses in Winter!

According to HRNZ everything is going well so there us no point in being concerned with it. Everything is well under control and HRNZ believe that everything is heading in the right direction for the betterment of the harness industry, they told us this on Friday Night Lights!

Correct, the ones making the decisions are being paid large salaries so they are there to show that they are doing a great job or they will be moved on. I have seen it over many many years that plenty of the CEO’s get their jobs from who they know and not on ability! Many really have very little experience in actually benefitting business financially unfortunately. Is it not interesting that 3 of the Entain highest up ones up are now longer employed by Entain? How on earth can we believe what someone is saying about the positivity when this is happening? The fact that it has taken so long to begin this so called enquiry into what happened with the trot in Auckland shows that things are not flash surely? It shouldve been a few questions and then action but no, it tskes months and more wastage of money!

I am not sure exactly what the terms and conditions of Entains agreement with the NZ TAB is? It shouldve been ironed out prior to signing, giving racing its best options! The 900m promised should not be blown on stake money and bonuses indide the 5 years. it should be rationed out over a longer period, money held over for future years and proportioned . When the 5 years is up the owners and trainers are going to feel it dramatically as the stakes will not be propped up by Entain as they are currently. Auckland dire situation should’ve been sorted, training centres set up and punting being encouraged rather than stifled. Hopefully the committee will be helpful. Media propaganda saying how well things are going is not helpful! more transparency needs to be applied.

TAB, public forum to express opinion! If we agree or disagree with someone then we need to point this. Currently the money from Entain that was to assist the TAB and racing is being wasted and needs to change now! This is why the committee is being formed to sort out what is going on! Very poor decision making and by saying everything is rosey when it is not, is not helping!

Firstly, I do want to help out with wagering turnover. The TAB needs punters more than I need the TAB Brad Steele knows how things are really going financially but is paid to perform So that is why he is painting a rosey position. Anyway we will wait and see what happens.

At the end of the day, if the CEO’s think things are heading in the right direction then so Be it! The call from Winnie to form this Committee quickly with unpaid people like Chris Waller, Peter Vella etc. is not for forward planning when the 5 years is up! It is a vote if no confidence in what is being done NOW! Carry on the way they are currently and things are going to be dire. You can not continue to run meetings each week at a loss snd think that is a recipe for success!

Is anyone else confused by this Committee being formed????? Why is there a need for this committee when Brad Steele CEO of HRNZ was telling us all on Trackside last night, that everything was positive for harness?? Everything is so good that Mr Steele recently stated that this Committee being formed “marks a pivotal moment for the NZ racing industry “ Why is it pivotal if everything was fine and going well? Secondly the current Entain CEO, Dean Shannon is finishing up at the end of the month! He stated that “ it was the right time for change”? If things were going fine why were they looking to change things?? Just does not add up, does it? Anyway, hope things are going well for the sake of the harness business. Good punting!

Reality is that the Rolleston training team is a helluva lot more capable than the North Island stable. Amanda and Tim have many very capable horse people alongside them, and when Steve sends horses down from the North, Tim and Amanda clearly improve them heaps! Yes there are wins out of the North Island stable, but they are racing horses of less ability generally!

Wonder if Forbury thought $12k on a Josh Dickie drive at $2.20 was good punting? I am actually surprised with many of these so called big bet win bets! With respect There are some very poor punters out there, that really should be putting their money on something other than punting. I can see why they are able to get more on than others

The biggest question Forbury is who in their right mind would put 12k to win on Debrief? 1700metres drawn six and you want to back it to win at $2.20 with Josh on it at Auckland? TAB lets people net over 14k and yet other punters to win pathetically low amounts?

Na, no point Ranga! Everything is rosey for harness racing Brad Steele has told us all. I need to get my head out of the sand and look at the positivity in the future,

Great to see Brad Steele being interviewed by Greg O’Connor. Great to hear that everything is positive with harness racing, so we do not need to worry about its future ever again!

At the end of the day, there is nothing we can do about how it is going to pan out! I have had plenty to say, and hopefully the new CEO from Entain can step up and be more hands on with the way the cash splash is handled. Not being personal but It appears that the ones that have been making the decisions for harness are struggling with the task? No media BS is going to change things, it needs someone prepared to look at it as a business and operate it as such, as the money is going to run out.

Spending other peoples money when you havent done anything yourself to earn it, is vey easy to do! Yes it is 5 years and then BANG! They should be not blowing it the way they are doing it, shockingly bad financisl mismanagement. There is going to be a major upheaval when the funding is stopped and Entain then get 50% of the profit annually! I highly doubt there would be a single person in NZ that would be prepared to put nega millions into NZ racing just to keep it going. The occasional slot race is not going to keep NZ harnessing afloat unfortunately Gamma lol. Do love your positivity Gamma, but Brodie just telling it the way it is, and hopefully they wake up before it is too late?