Brodie

They are very quiet with their wagering this week?

Fair enough if you think it adds to viewing pleasure! If it is so great then have it every week!

Cup Day is not a day Brodie enjoys as a punter! Normally boycott it as a punting vehicle as it is a total gamble as fields too even to be offloading!

On the face of it, it appears now to be more of selling the hospitality packages for exhorbitant amounts to make money to fund the costs of the day! Rather than attracting new people to become interested in racing which is probably not the best business plan if they want racing to grow? Yes they sell out the packages at grossly inflated value but that is more from the sociable aspect from business rather than individuals and is a once a year outing. Surely they would be far better to have the costings down so they fill the course and have more chance of attracting people to become interested in racing?

The Drone is an absolute waste of time and adds absolutely nothing to viewing pleasure! Needs to be gone as punters want to watch the start and this drone thing is weird!

Population in ChCh has increased significantly in recent years and yet attendance has halved? To be fair it is far better viewing on Trackside as views are blocked by the tents etc in the middle of the track. More relaxing watching from the armchair without the hassles of having to queue up to wager or buy a drink. The prices to buy the packages are very poor value for most and while they charge exhorbitant amounts they will not be attracting too many new punters to keep coming back!

Some horses that perform well on Friday nights seemed to not be able to compete as well today, not sure why maybe because the times are quicker? didn't they use to get 20,000 to Cup Day a few years ago? Most serious punters that I know dont go nowadays for several reasons, it is more for the sociable event for many! When the crowds were at the largest they werent ripping everyone off with the hospitality packages that they have now! There is no denying that the cost of the packages is blatant robbery and I believe so many now just dont bother and would prefer to spend the $600 plus on other things than on an overpriced day! It is a once a year race day for most of the crowd but we all know this! Grest performance by the Ozzie raiders.

Was also thinking that crowd numbers didnt appear to be as big as it used to be looking on the TV! I am sure they are turning over good money even though the tote win and place pools are not massive compared to what they should be! Most of the non regular punters you would think would be betting tote? Great racing and performances but I dont believe I have seen so many horses finishing so far behind the placed horses on Cup Day before?

Yes there are plenty of mug punters going by the big bets notified on Trackside! Thing is there will always be but punters should be treated equally as to how much you are able to get on.

Not entertainment for all! It definitely a gambling industry, and they should be taking the good with the bad as such! Morally and ethically wrong that participants are treated differently! How they get away with it is very hard to fathom in this day and age?

The thing is if they are wanting to run a show like this to encourage wagering, then have people on that actually have enough ability to be able to make money! for them to be talking about PROFITLAND is just not that clever, they should be making money most weeks with the way the TAB lets them offload as much as they like with no restrictions! They might as well have on different drunks on each week wagering, would be just as successful and a helluva lot more fun for the viewers!

Chief, more hypocrisy when they advertise Bet Responsibly and yet the Out The Gate wagering is far from Betting Responsibly! All I ask is that all punters are given equal opportunity as after all it is gambling business!

That would be right! They appear to be nice blokes but they very poor punters, and not right for the BET RESPONSIBLY they try to portray. Punters who know what they are doing are being penalised and the other punters who arent flash are being encouraged to wager on anything! Brad Steele was interviewed by Paul Campbell from Oz a couple of days ago, and he thought the Out The Gate was very good lol. A terrible look for the TAB and doing nothing for the TAB’s image surely.

The first bit just to see how much was in the kitty? Went out after that! How did they end up?

Just as well they arent holding races at Auckland as they more than likely couldnt provide enough horses for the heats! Friday night field numbers just keep getting worse! 6 horse maidens and 5 horse 2 year olds is just giving hope that they can survive.! Waiting for Spatchcock lol

Fixed Win bets only!

Facial recognition and algorithms. Turn away punters by not allowing much on restricting then slashing the hell out of fixed odds. It takes very little $ now for them to slash the hell out of odds they are offering. Once that happens then they are too short for other punters to wager.

Doesnt matter what you bet on computer/ipad, phone or self service machines, they still will restrict some of us so that affects turnover so much more!!

TAB, certainly dont want Auckland to fold for the sake of harness racing in NZ and its people that are involved up there! The reality is that it is only hanging in there due to the Entain money that it is receiving. I am just trying to hammer home that this operation they are currently operating under will not be possible once Entain pulls the plug on their funding! Personally believe that so much money has been squandered and not utilised the way it shouldve been to ensure that the industry could continue to for longer. Many Clubs are clearly struggling, Addington I would say is able to operate ok due to i come from the rent etc. from the commercial investment out the back, which will enable them to continue into the future. I think that too many have their heads in the sand and will realise soon enough that what Brodie and others have been stating has been correct all along unfortunately. Still maintain that Auckland racing is not a great product currently to attract punting due to field numbers and the racing itself, when compared to South Island racing.

Gamma, the North island racing is only just holding in there due to the Entain money! Once that stops they will be racing for nothing like the heavily subsidised stakes currently! Then the house of cards in the North will crumble and that is not that far off unfortunately! Too many in the industry have their heads in the sand and when the time is up unfortunately racing is not going to be viable for most. Anyway Kaikoura tomorrow so should be good days there!

Gamma, the only strength in harness racing in NZ is in the South Island nowadays! Auckland and Cambridge are both struggling to provide sufficient starters to run meetings that are worth betting into. Off course there are still some great horsemen in the North but next to no new participants coming thru, so things are dire. Yes they are draining the harness funds each snd every week and are only racing thru the money given by Entain and we all know that is finishing! The more competitive and enjoyable racing is in the South Island with far more owners, horses, trainers, punters etc. HRNZ are fighting a losing battle with North Island racing and that is to the detriment financially. So yes I maintain the state of harness racing in the North is weak and is there an answer to how to get it going again to be financially successful again? There are many trainers who are at an age that will give it away shortly and with very few new ones coming thru, how can it improve?

TAB, you do write some fantasy stuff! how many of these big owners? The best stables? Best horsemen/women? You are in dreamland if you believe that! Harness racing in the North is so weak and a total drain on the funds, and it is going to be telling! There is very little interest nowadays, the only reason most go oncourse is for-the dining. I would highly doubt that many of their meetings get close to making money nowadays? Do you seriously believe that they can get out if the situation they are in?

The hyprocracy is appalling! They advertise to “ Bet Responsibly”? And yet they allow these very poor punters to offload as much as they want and never have their bets restricted and are allowed to win tens of thousands of dollars!!! Yet other loyal punters are restricted to amounts of a few hundred on a good day!! You can see why the industry is in dire trouble when they are doing so much damage to racing! Flawed business plan is going to backfire big time in 2 years time, time punters were all treated equally.

Exactly! It looks like the TAB are giving away $1k Bonus Cash to Out The Gate every week as they know they are hopeless punters! The reality is that what they are doing with this Thursday night “Out The Gate” is showing that mug punters just should not be punting! Seriously though, why are punters scanning the bar code and giving them money to blow?? If they stopped giving them money, then this embarrassing show would be terminated.

Certainly wasnt any dancing tonight! Very sombre night and a lot of responsible betting NOT! Can not see TAB/Trackside continuing with this format into the New Year as it is not a great look for responsible gambling that they keep advertising! the pool was reduced this week snd you would think it would more than likely continue to do so as they are not good knowledgeable punter! If they continue to gamble the way they are then they are likely to not attract anyone new! Still wondering how all these Bonus Bets are being earnt?