Reefton

Ah there is a slight difference there Kopia. Kiwifruit, Salmon and tuna fishermen are all subject to ordinary income tax on their earnings. A person with a pattern of trading horses(say a trainer who regularly buys a yearling or two and turns them over or a pin hooker) would also be subject to ordinary income tax as would the studs. I am not advocating CGT but I suspect if it does arrive then horses sold at a profit will be assessable. Although race winnings are not assessable(nor are racing expenses deductible) so they may exempt racehorses on the basis that there are a lot more losers than winners when it comes to the nags. I will virtually guarantee there will be no allowance for a capital loss so don't hold your breath for a refund if your yearling purchase has a case of the slows. It is possible they may 'ring fence' capital losses to allow them to be offset against future capital gains of a similar type(so your future horse sale profit may be able to be offset against a past loss but a horse loss would not be able to be offset against(say)a property gain). I am guessing there but certainly it is entirely possible.

Knowing the way the IRD carry on a refund arising from a capital loss is by no means certain

The quality thing is an inability of NZ studs to compete for the top echelon stallions any more along with the fact that Godolphin and Coolmore have a endless supply of top stallions going into their Aussie operations. NZ is becoming less and less relevant in terms of international racing and the Studs are pressuring Winston to somehow make them more competitive by attacking NZ racing. Pretty sad but I cannot see a positive outcome here - I do agree with Mardigras that there is a limited amount more assistance the government here can give whatever Big Dave says. Maybe the issue is the TAB and its cost structure but fixing that and stopping the flow of betting funds overseas?

And Mr Messara was just telling us how Aussie Racing was going so well and how we (NZ Racing) should aspire to be like them!

Haven't you noticed there is not a lot of economic sense in any investment in racing whether it be $1.4m for a Savabeel or $1 a place on some nag at Warracknabeel? we do it(each to his own scale) because we are positive/hopeful about the likelihood of success. Like him or hate him David will have confidence he can place every one of those animals and with the big prices probably has them sold before the hammer falls(the vendor studs will retain shares in at least some I imagine). If nobody wanted to take a risk there wouldn't be a racing game would there? In my limited dealings with him he was always a pleasure to deal with and so was Karyn. Mind you I had a share in a $46k one not a $1.4m job.

Actually a but harsh saying 'this is the thanks I get' . I don't particularly want any thanks but equally a lot of people have put a lot of hours in and this proposal is a huge slap in the face.

Thanks for the sentiments Shad but they do schedule four days here just transfer us to Grey and Hoki to Kumara. The question for us is do we accept that we race in future at Grey, do we tell them to stick it (I imagine Greymouth would take the date) or do we fight to keep our course and raceday. Suspect my committee will go for the third option. In that case it will be me composing the submission. Of course we are presuming the draft calendar (to be released Friday) corresponds to what NZTR are saying. There has been a minor triumph that originally I know there were only three days here so a fourth day is something at least. Can't see our sponsors (me included) supporting any transfer. I have wasted a grand plus GST each year (often never even getting a racename) and that will be the end of that. Thirty years of unpaid dedication to the Club (apart from some secretarial payment when we could afford it when I was in the role) and this is the thanks I get. I wonder how many voluntary years Houseboy or Weasel have put into Clubs?

Well Hoki will be gone as a racecourse so assume the stables will all be gone and good luck expecting the Reefton Trotting Club to welcome thoroughbred trainers when the governing body of that code has just dumped the entire costs(both in financial terms and in terms of physical effort to maintain the joint) of the course on them. And when the Grey River starts to rise and the passes are all closed by the weather I am not quite sure what Winston's options will be. Still climate change - as Houseboat(that name is a result of spellcheck correcting Houseboy but ironically appropriate in this case) says let's embrace change - perhaps we could have the Omoto horse swimming races?

We are only talking scale idiot If you can't contribute something constructive to the debate I would suggest you keep your views to yourself.

God you are a dickhead. What do you think the people of Reefton would want me to do - roll over? In any case as I have shown before I am more than capable of taking these arseholes on and will do so on my own. Initially at least there will be no legal fees and no(paid) admin time. Using your logic they should have said to the Allies and the Europeans in World War 2 'why don't you embrace the change and try to find a positive solution?'

Saundry came down in November and as you would expect was quite conciliatory but the writing was on the wall for us One of the NZ First guys is coming here in February. Realistically they are determined they will shut us down and that will in all probability happen but not without a fight. I know Pitty for one is on our side - he will no longer come to the Coast as Greymouth wouldn't give him boxes after his old ones burnt down and Kumara has no boxes. The RTC got an informal opinion from a person very high up in the judiciary(who shall remain nameless because it was an informal opinion) that they haven't got a hope of implementing that section of the Messara report Stratford is another interesting one - haven't heard from Murray Blue but no doubt we will

'....unprofitable/unviable clubs.....'? You mean the strategy is to shut down(in no particular order) the Otago Racing Club, The Canterbury Jockey Club, the Wellington Racing Club, the Manawatu Racing Club, the Hawkes Bay Jockey Club, the Waikato Racing Club and the Auckland Racing Club(all of whom soak up a disproportionate amount of industry funds paying their huge stakes, staffs and bureaucracies) . If that is the strategy then I think they have missed their mark(not that that surprises me as it is the NZTR we are dealing with)

I am not voting CS but I sympathise with you if you do decide to shut it down. You don't need the grief and the same people who complained about RC and its contributors, barring contributors and censorship are now wanting you to censor or bar contributors here.

They have us down to race at Greymouth but the disturbing thing in this part of the world is that there will be no galloping in the upper part of the South Island. Blenheim gone Reefton gone means the three provinces on the northern south (Nelson Marlborough and Buller) as well as North Canterbury will have a total of zero permits in 2019/20 and beyond. Overall the general strategy seems to be shut down the venues where people actually want to go to the races. Not sure of the rationale in either case but needless to say there will be some clever chap at NZTR with a theory. Incidentally in the initial stage the Coast seems to have shouldered a disproportionate share of the closures. We will have a Committee meeting soon to discuss it along with the Trotting Club guys but I knew it was coming so not surprised(pissed off but not surprised).

In regards his history you clearly know a lot more about him than me but if he was a partner in KPMG and a Chartered Accountant he will have been raking it in and will no doubt have continued to do so once he left. Did they flick him?

I agree re the Members Council but those things are full of people with a heap of letters after their name and nothing else to recommend them(from a racing perspective). And his racing interest - it is(apparently) not relevant to his wrong doing so why print it? Just think it is the Press dragging the racing industry into an affair that is nothing to do with them and inevitably staining whatever good name the industry might retain. I presume you are talking about he income in that comment? Well think about (1) the rates 'consultants' charge themselves out at and(2) the reduced overheads he would incur by not being a KPMG partner. Unless he was pushed(entirely possible - I don't know the guy so cannot comment) I imagine he will not have gone to the poor house after exiting KPMG. Very few of them do.

If he is doing consultancy work(as it is quite likely an ex KPMG partner would be in demand for) he could be earning twice as much. Much more relevant to say he is ex KPMG (given that a lot of the people interested would be Accountants themselves) than to mention his links to the Racing Industry. After all did they say he is a member of the local Rugby, Bowls or Golf Club or whatever? It is simply bringing racing into disrepute when there is clearly little or no link to his racing interest in whatever it is he is supposed to have done.

So do you think he would drop out of KPMG and go back to a pauper's salary? That is fairyland stuff

Who knows but I am sure if gambling was an issue it would have been plastered all over the papers. A bloke in his position would be dealing with millions in client funds so maybe $100000 is a drop in the ocean (without being sure I would say partners in a big 4 firm would be earning minimum $750000pa so in reality this is minor but for him to refuse to respond to the disciplinary board indicates that there is a lot more than that to this case). Not responding is a pretty serious business.

Been happening for years Jess and the race fixing saga in Harness racing has got a lot more publicity than this to be fair. Outsiders have always suspected the racing game is rigged and to be fair the Aussies do not help with a lot of their skulduggery(I guess that mirrors the higher rewards over there in the industry). It is fairly clear it is not the racing industry that has been the object of this bloke's issue but equally clearly for a partner in one of NZ's biggest accounting firms it is not a good look. The Accounting and Legal professions have as bad(or worse) a reputation as the racing industry and as an Accountant and racing devotee myself that does not make me very proud(but there are a lot of things in the Accountancy profession and racing game that do not make me very proud). I think it is quite mischievous of the Press to link this guy to the racing game when there is no real suggestion that he has helped himself to industry funds.

Please don't encourage him

Well bugger off to Aussie if you love them that much As Muldoon said ' ....it would raise the average IQ in each country'

If you like history - from where I am sitting most people quickly turn their focus to the next race(and if it is TV they are watching the next might be 2 minutes away) Yes the Telegraph photo would have been of interest but(1) it was soon up on the NZTR website and (2)on a busy afternoon the Trackside Directors might have just overlooked to request it(equally you could say maybe Popplewell and the other bloke ought to have asked for it but I guess not everyone is perfect)

Well if you know so much Thomass have a go and see how easy it is. Dick Hunt has been around a hell of a long time and to my knowledge(and I do not know him so this is not of personal interest) has never made a mistake with a call. Clearly he required several copies each one sharper than the previous. So in the scenario that you backed Enzo's Lad what would you prefer? - that he look at the first photo and declare a dead heat? Next thing you will want the Stipes to deal with a protest on the spot and within ten seconds. As far as common courtesy goes well as I have said they are quickly up on the NZTR website - look there Insofar as I am aware the photo finish operators are paid by the TAB/NZRB so not aware of nor interested in any contractual issues between them. Clearly had they put the photo up immediately on trackside it would have indicated a dead heat due to the inability of TV to get down to that level of sharpness and I can imagine the reaction to that. No wonder good people get a gutsful of your piffle.

Who the hell cares?