Reefton

True enough but the NZ TAB as it stands could be wiped out by new technology internationally and then be worth stone cold nothing. Sell it to a BetFair or the NSW TAB or whoever and (1) you might at least get something for the carcass and (2) a performing overseas operation will be a lot better placed to fight back if that happens than what the NZ TAB is at present. For all that I do agree with the sentiment of not wanting more NZ enterprises to be owned offshore. Not that keen on NZ land being owned offshore either. But in this case really it is flog it off or watch it die

yes emailed you re that

No idea what you are getting at with either question.

Because (via email) the Chair of the RIB told me

Put up better names then. Higher achievers in both racing and business Because at the moment the 'high achievers' with glossy CV's that infest the RIB and TAB Boardrooms ain't cutting the mustard

Of course I have gone to Board level. Since the CEO turned out to be completely out of his depth I have laid a complaint(about him and Oatham) with the Minister as well as the Chair of the RIB. How do you think I know the matter is going before the Board? As for nobody ever taking any notice of me well how come the smallest of NZ's Racing Clubs and courses managed to survive Messara while multiple others fell by the wayside? Because of my attacks and sheer bloody hard work that's why. Admittedly Oatham has done his best to finish off what Messara tried to do but we ain't done yet!

No we wouldn't want it but there would(I would hope) be some value in the goodwill/customer register I've said it before there was a subscription list of what the Clubs put in to start the TAB. A lot of those clubs are long gone but you can be sure a disproportionate amount came from the Southern Clubs. The government might have lent money but it would have got its dosh back a million times over.

Oh no we are back on that 'give him a call' crap again are we? You better give De Lore a call and assure him that the TAB problem is all the fault of the stakeholders If I were you I would get out of the pockets of half the hierarchy of NZ racing and take a look at what is actually happening instead of this continual matey matey talk I can assure you these people are not your mates

And another thing. Since the RIB Board, I am assured, will be considering my complaint at its next meeting we shall see how much nous your friend Mr Williams has in regards racing matters or whether he is happy to go along with the corporate line. I am prepared to bet very heavily that your friend Mr Williams will go the way of the latter. 'No case to answer' they will undoubtedly say.

Fair comment. Won't happen but fair comment

Without knowing anything about Tim Williams and certainly not suggesting anything is awry with him it would strike me that that area(North Canterbury) has had more than its share of dodgy types the RIB has investigated

I've been telling you about this for years A combination of a series of totally (and I mean TOTALLY) ineffective Ministers appointing totally(and I mean TOTALLY) ineffective and totally(and I mean TOTALLY)ignorant of the way the gambling system works Boards and who in turn appoint totally(and I mean TOTALLY) ineffective and incompetent Executives to run it into the ground. If it wasn't for a three year election cycle you would have exactly the same thing in every council and government department. And to an extent that is exactly what we do have in those outfits - a succession of creation of nothing jobs with exorbitant salaries which are promptly filled by some useless prick with half the alphabet after his name and a belief that the world owes him a living. One of two things has to happen here - either the Minister goes cap in hand to the Aussie or some other worldwide TAB organisation and asks them to buy what is left of the joint and take it over(ie sack the effing lot of them and run everything from outer Mongolia or wherever) or he appoints a Board from the NZ Racing industry that actually has a record in the game and skin in the game. Chittick, Acklin, Anderton, Pike, Ellis, O'Sullivan even, dare I say it, my brother. People who have run successful businesses and who know the danger of burgeoning overheads. People who have a feel for the actual participants. On another matter I looked up recently the Members of the RIB board. There would not be the tiniest little bit of racing knowledge, achievement or interest among the lot of them. Half the NZTR Board will be exactly the same. But anyway the situation is far too far gone now - from where I sit the only option is to beg someone offshore to take over the TAB lock stock and barrel. Memo to the Minister however - the Racing Industry - really the individual Clubs - owns that TAB(and always did) not the bloody Government so any proceeds need to go back to the codes(with protections of course to stop them being pissed up against the wall like all the rest of the money the game ever received)

David Lloyd made a VERY sensible suggestion at the Oamaru meeting about the venue review three or four years back. 'Give every venue the opportunity to put its case to remain open' he said. Bernard dismissed it out of hand. I have certainly not always got on with David Lloyd but I approached him afterwards and offered support. It was a vastly more constructive idea than arbitrarily selecting venues for closure. The coincidence being most of the closure candidates were freehold property.

Flattering but I suspect common sense is a long way away. They will be thinking these guys are giving up, we can grab their assets and have a last harrah on the money until it is all gone too.

indeed they have already given up Because you get rid of one of these guys trying to shut you down and another batch spring up. It is a constant battle and after 35 years of involvement in my Club - and also Greymouth for a time - I cannot be bothered any more. To be honest I don't know that anyone in the little Town(Reefton), other than the committee, appreciates it anyway. It is at the stage where I would rather be spending my Christmas break water skiing and drinking Heineken.

With all due respect I am aware of everything that went on here but the other two Presidents are not the 'get on the front foot' type I am. And anyway they both avoided the abandonment threat so why are they going to protest about something that never eventuated? People are happy to go with the flow and not create waves, That applies throughout NZ Racing. I mean I very much doubt (for instance) there was a hell of a set to at the CJC over the November disaster(or among the Race committee either). People like me who are prepared to stand up are becoming more and more rare. And when you do give them a dead set bollocking you are accused of being a bully. Unless right minded people start to stand up and demand change and performance the game is doomed. And it is no secret my appetite to continue the battle has disappeared. I am finished at the next AGM.

I've tackled it head on all right. If and when the letters and docs come out I think everyone will see that Same as I did when Saundry and co tried to shut us down. I've got his phone number but I cannot for the life of me see why I would ring him. It isn't me who has made a prick of myself(nor to be fair is it him but his name is on the letterhead of the joint so it is his responsibility)

Thanks but don't hold your breath for a successful outcome. Getting these guys to admit they are wrong will be a little bit challenging! But the letters/reports will be entertaining I am sure(well I hope)

Thanks for the advice but if I need it I will ask for it I do not ring anyone. 40 years of dealing with government departments, banks, insurance companies and whatever other bludging organisations there are in this country has taught me you communicate in writing because they will invariably deny saying what they actually said. OR they will twist what you said. When it is in black and white they cannot worm their way out of things. That's why you will find when dealing with IRD or ACC they will generally only tell you their first name - so when you refer back to the conversation or attempt to rely on what they tell you you have no idea of exactly who it was you were dealing with. You can't beat the evidence being in your hot little hand and there have been one or two crossed me that I have a little file of evidence on to prove they are telling whoppers. A bit to do with racing but mostly family and some business.

Let the bloody Board Members contact me If they are in any way keen on racing they will be right up with the play re what went on. If they are not in any way keen they, like every one of the various Board Members, should not be on the Board If Clement is true to most of the CEO bullshit artists in NZ he will only start screeching about Management and Governance if one of the Board does poke their oar in. If they aren't happy let them take some positive action to correct things

Don't worry Reefton has been 'on the phone' to Mr Clement. Well letters to be fair and fairly forthright at that Reefton is waiting for Mr Clement to come back from the latest barrage(of two weeks back). Mr Clement has gone awfully quiet and Reefton suspects Mr Clement does not quite know what to do. Mr Clement appears to have been fed a while heap of what could only be described as bullshit all of which has been refuted. Until Mr Clement indicates the RIB is not interested in accepting the blame Reefton is giving them the benefit of the doubt and not putting the various correspondence up on BOAY or in the media.

I have found the NZTR to be good to deal with re our fiasco. They appreciate there was an issue here and advised that they are seeking a meeting with the RIB to try to sort this type of issue out for the future. You cannot have one guy deciding just because he has a pre-conceived idea that he is going to try to shut three successive meetings down. If they(RIB) want to shut us down tell us now so we can argue our case don't let us do hundreds of hours of volunteer work organising things then try to destroy us the day before or the day of the races. NZTR have paid us our full meeting fees(no deduction for track issues) so they recognise it was no fault of ours. Oatham himself, Richard Fenwick, Allan Chapman and Garry Foskett had all been on course in the preceding couple of months and nobody had a word of criticism of the track. Outside the RIB there is a massive amount of experience among ex jockeys(at our meeting Max Skelton, Mouse McCann David Walsh and Jimmy Walker - 6000 winners there) - they don't need to be playing stipes roles but getting them - and their ilk - to do a track inspection the night before or on the day. Those guys KNOW what they are looking at because they have seen it all before. When we were in the Judicial room I asked Mouse to come with me - he pointed out he had ridden for 30 years at the track and that the slipping claim was BS - Oatham dismissed him outright. And Mouse was a bloke who knew a bad track when he saw one.

I did however manage to at least say hello to our good friend Freda. I reckon the lack of appeal of Riccarton is it is a piss poor viewing course. Even though I was outside for most races the only way I could see until the last 150 was to watch the big screen. On a big course with an essentially flat viewing area it is difficult. I suppose I should have gone up into the stand but they are still miles away for the majority of the races. And I could have stood in front of the old public stand but you are 100m off the post and things can change a lot in 100m at Riccarton. I caught a couple of views of them charging down the outside rail at Trentham though - made me cringe on one of NZ Racing's biggest days.

Well.......... The issue with running them all at Kumara is Kumara has no stables and no training tracks so they had to keep Greymouth. But Omoto is cronically flood prone and when I told Bernard there was no way they were going to be allowed to evacuate to Reefton if we did not have a meeting at our venue NZTR sort of capitulated. Mr Oatham was a lot closer to success in shutting us down than Mr Messara was!

I generally ventured out to watch the races - what's the bloody point of all that travel if, like most people, you are going to watch it on the TV's - but spent most of the day in the bar(not that I was drinking but my two mates were and I was driving home) Two amusing things. Although there were bugger all there they still had a lady opening the door for people entering and leaving the stand. must have plenty of money the CJC. And the other thing was since I had half a leg of one running I went to the owners area (for my one beer of the day) with my mate. They were very reluctant to dish up two beers. Bit miserable I thought. For all that is wasn't a bad day. The track seemed to play well and the racing looked OK to me but not much atmosphere and the horse didn't bloody win!