The Centaur

I'll tell you what will happen. Entain will expose to the NZ population all their other gambling brands meaning millions more will flow out of the country. e.g the so called $10m racing carnival will be the Ladbrokes carnival and who are Ladbrokes ... just part of Entain with all those other betting options. English racing is so extremely poor because the proliferation bookmakers such as Ladbrokes hardly the experience NZ needs. Setting up the TAB came from countless debates in Parliament and subsequently since. TAB's Tod has no right to sell off a government induced monopoly for 25 years. Tod has no experience in racing or wagering and neither have the board. Sharrocks great business experience must also be queried. Getting on the phone and selling sport sponsorships hardly rounded business experience. Guerin is a TAB employee so naturally would ask non-questions.

Yes with both squabling over the ever diminishing profit meaning the workers get less. Just watched Weigh In and Bruce Sharrock. This is just beyond unbelievable. The most we got from Sharrock about the deal is "it's going to be exciting" The questions Guerin asked were just beyond stupid if there is such a thing. Like with the deal will it be possible to race Saturdays on All weather tracks?....Really !!!. There seems a great cop out. It all depends on changing legislation. Would it not be better change the legislation then look at deals.

Some of the regular posters on racing social media have gone into retirement. One guy although not always right by any means was Berri. At least he had some involvement with the offshore parasites.

Now its standard practice for stipes to enquire into "improvement" shown by some form reversals. e.g. yesterday Pure Zambezi. Why don't they ask the trainer just straight up and down. "1. Since the previous race has the horse received an injection.? 2. Has the horse had any manipulation e.g. for back. 3. Has the horse had a change of diet. 4. Was something post race rectified from its last race. Four easy questions. Instead we have the same standard explanations e.g. needed blinkers. Needed to be ridden from behind/handy. etc etc. Best of all however "Trainer wasn't able to offer explanation!"

Quite a bit of material on the three pages. Note the little article reports Analei winning the Doncaster Handicap which would have been a red letter day for Te Mania Stud and the Wilding family who also later bred Zonda not to mention the Angus Stud operation. Blast.. Ryan Fox another bogey.

1973 (50 years ago) Saturday Auckland R.C. Rotorua R.C. Feilding J.C. Wairarapa R.C. Riverton R.C. Monday Auckland R.C. Rotorua R.C. Feilding J.C. Wairarapa R.C. Canterbury J.C. Riverton R.C. Trots Saturday Hawera Harness, Addington Harness Trots Monday Hawera Harness, Roxborough Trots Tuesday Hawera Harness, Total for Easter = 17 meetings n.b. due to large horse numbers some races in divisions. Monday Newspaper with results and fields https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/press/1973/04/23/6 N.B. another 2 pages. Click next page. Click any article to read it.

Yes I would. Stealing $1m gets higher penalty than stealing $10.

The Wigg case sounds quite similar to the Andrew Scott case with Penney Gem before the Kelt. The Kelt was worth $750,000 and done on the day so you would expect Scott being penalized much more.

extract from Gambling Act Advertising Overseas Gambling Prohibited Advertising overseas gambling is prohibited under section 16 of the Gambling Act 2003. An overseas gambling advertisement is any communication that publicises or promotes gambling, or a gambling operator, when that gambling, or operator, is outside New Zealand. It is also any communication that is reasonably likely to induce people to gamble outside New Zealand. Section 16 makes this an offence under the Gambling Act and carries a fine of up to $10,000. -------------------------------------- NZTAB, NZTR is clearly breaking the law. Any communication means any communication like the so called partnering deal.

I thought he was permanently settled somewhere in the USA. Don't know why you have such long winded thread headings?

Look the current law is "you can't advertise offshore betting or bookmaking enterprises" This deal is already breaking the law by advertising Ladbrokes and the other parasitic outfits Entain has so many vehicles for gambling and with the sponsorship of racing carnivals would expect to have huge promotional opportunities. All to promote their overseas businesses. So this will promote export of NZ money to these outfits. Sharrock and Cameron George need to be removed TODAY.

This is crazy. Judging by the level of discussion on social media of this TAB deal it appears most have been sucked into the absurd edict of no discussion whilst the minister is looking at it. Is this a murder trial or whatever where everything is sub judice. The high salaried managers have found a deal that guaranteed their income for 2 years and current owners trainers jockeys etc will have no decrease in stake money. But for how long? If there are developments in technology why bring in a third party to reap the benefits? There are so many red flags about this deal that National will have a field day if McAnulty OK's it in a hurry.

The so called deal just does not make sense. The proponents all seem to be in the dark. Take for instance Dennis Ryan's editorial. He admits he knows nothing about the detail yet writes what a great thing for racing. Could it be the TAB subsidy for Raceform has some influence on his thoughts. Same Michael Guerin's shocking non disclosure in his reporting. Bookmakers have got their money by being sharks so what makes one think they are suddenly great benefactors to New Zealand racing. I guess they have spotted a gullible easy touch.

The $200m per year is pretty much what NZTAB would generate. But wait.....N.B. the money is given to the TAB. Out of that TAB must pay its own expenses which depending on the secret "detail" could be $100m. So the amount distributed by the TAB is far less than before. Who cares we all love a change.

Chief, What bad timing. Training is more than just getting winners.

I am shocked at the unprofessional manner NZherald publishes Michael Guerin pieces. He is employed by the TAB therefore the articles relevant to TAB should have a conflict of interest statement or disclosure. It is noticeable that Guerins articles are trying to hurry MacAnulty into approving the deal and the online articles also undergo changes after publishing.

This brings to mind a bit of history. Only a vitamin administered but a 3 year disqualification. extracted from https://www.kingsoftheturf.com/1975-no-sign-of-battlers/ ..... Walton had brought to Australia a strapping chestnut colt of his own breeding by Knight’s Romance, for the rich two-year-old races in Sydney. Both on the basis of appearance and performance the horse was appropriately named Commanding; and was the winner of five of his six starts and $7,490 in New Zealand, including the prestigious C.J.C. Welcome Stakes (6f) at Riccarton on January 14, 1961, when he ran a sensational 1 minute and 9 seconds to defeat a good field of two and three-year-olds. Considering that the Australian record for a two-year-old over the same distance then stood at 1 minute and 10 seconds, Walton’s confidence was understandable. Alas, Commanding injured his leg on the boat while crossing the Tasman, which interrupted his program. A cold contracted shortly after arrival didn’t help matters either. Nonetheless, Walton persisted in his quest for Sydney’s triple crown for juveniles. Commanding was the first New Zealand colt ever to contest the S.T.C. Golden Slipper and he went to the post in 1961 at 9/4 with Bill Longworth’s Young Brolga, trained by Maurice McCarten, as the 5/4 favourite. As it transpired, the little Star Kingdom filly, Magic Night, gave her sire his fifth win in five years when she came from the back of the field to swamp the favourites. At the post, she had a half-length to spare over Young Brolga, with Commanding four lengths away third. The same three horses then filled the placings in the A.J.C. Sires’ Produce Stakes, only this time Young Brolga was victorious with Commanding the runner-up as the 7/4 favourite – beaten two-and-a-half lengths in a time of 1 minute 22.8 seconds, which bettered the race record of 1 minute 23.5 seconds established by Ajax back in 1937. Two days later, Commanding completed his two-year-old season when he ran the minor placing in the A.J.C. Champagne Stakes behind the high-priced Columbia Star and Young Brolga. On the boat transporting both he and Commanding back to Wellington, New Zealand, in April 1961, Walton planned a spring Derby campaign for his prized racehorse. ....... As early-season three-year-olds, Commanding and Castlerae were nigh unbeatable. Although the pair were officially listed as being trained by L. M. Lewis, in reality, George Walton prepared them and they were only under Lewis’s name because George believed it would assist the younger man to establish a reputation. Kept apart by Walton, Castlerae won both the Wanganui Guineas and the Hawkes Bay Guineas (after losing lengths at the start), while Commanding won four races on the trot including the Great Northern Guineas and the Wellington Guineas, which saw the giant colt promoted to short-priced favouritism for the New Zealand Derby. However, it was after the Wellington Guineas that Commanding returned a positive urine sample to thiamine. Although not a prohibited drug according to the doping regulations, the New Zealand Racing Conference had cautioned that excessive use of it could lead to charges being laid. Thus began an interminable legal challenge. Given that Commanding became ineligible to run in the New Zealand Derby, George Walton switched Castlerae from his Stewards Handicap engagement to become the stable’s representative in the classic, a race and distance for which the horse had not been trained. As it transpired, Castlerae managed to run second to the favourite Burgos, a galloper that Commanding had easily beaten in the Wellington Guineas. Of course, it is impossible to know whether Commanding would have won that Derby, but Walton had no doubts, for he had tried Commanding to be a stone better racehorse than Castlerae, who nonetheless won the prestigious Jockey Club Handicap and Churchill Stakes later at the same Riccarton meeting. There was another measure of consolation when George Walton’s filly, Fair Symbol, impressively won the New Zealand Oaks at the same time. Soon after, however, New Zealand racing authorities disqualified Walton for three years. Commanding and Castlerae were subsequently sold to the Californian racing identity, Rex Ellsworth, for an undisclosed amount and never raced in New Zealand again. When this turbulent history is taken into account, was it any wonder that in 1975, Walton sought Derby salvation in his impressive chestnut colt by Battle-Wagon?

I realize it's not worth referring to the cafe site but really the TeAkau/scooby postings are hilarious. Everyone who posts anything re Te Akau requires a terrorist vetting procedure from him. When Probabeel won the Epsom I brought up the fact Margaret Bull had won the Epsom & Turnbull on the same day. This resulted in a torrid of abuse from this scooby who believed I was downplaying Te Akau achievements.

Just like when the OpenBet/Paddy Power thing came in we had the same gullibles with the same lines. Amazing how in a short time they saw the so called "change" wasn't for the better. Like many I don't have the facts simply because there has been scant detail. Online casino/sports betting/racing will all be mixed up meaning Ladbrokes will have a monopoly on casino betting as the they will expect the government to get tough on geo blocking. Casino betting online is the elephant in the room.

This seems a back door entry into the online casino market. There are so many questions that NZTR needs to explore. Its written in the legislation NZTAB must consult with the codes who in turn need to have feed back from participants and stakeholders.

Just when a discussion is needed with all points of view they clam up. This whole scenario is rubbish. When the last great software system was introduced everything was going to be wonderful. WHAT!!! are they going to write off the whole $60 million's worth??? Just so they can send any profits overseas to Ladbrokes. Ridiculous.

Absolutely disaster for racing. This will just be one big promotion of sports betting. Racing would do far better going alone without any links to sports betting.

Another aspect of the TAB to consider with the divestment is Voice Technology. This could be a hugely popular with punters whereby their personal phone has all the options, voice words & commands stored. One could scan a QR Code which immediately sets up the phone for say Ellerslie quaddie. After being voiced in the bets are the reviewed and finally sent off. This could avoid duplicating TAB and NZTR websites in fact only need the NZTR website for raceform. Hopefully all these options are considered with respect the TAB selloff. Anyone had experience with it overseas? https://dontgetserious.com/the-rising-importance-of-voice-recognition-technology-in-gaming/

On the money there. Those running racing should be looking to future technology usage. Even the slavish compliance to AML regulations could be streamlined costing next to nothing. I would query whether corporate bookmaking has worked well as opposed to the old style bagmen. Bookmaking is open to disruptor technology i.e. as in the case of taxis being disrupted by Uber. In fact I'll make a prediction bookmakers as they operate now won't be around in 5 years time.

With NZTAB seemingly about to undergo huge operating changes by passing control offshore its worth noting the UK "THE TOTE" business model. UK Totalizator betting was sold off to bookmaker interests in 2011 but bought back by racing interests in 2019 https://www.racingpost.com/news/racing-consortium-completes-deal-to-take-over-the-tote-from-betfred-akebc8B7SL8z/ Thats important to note. Even with the proliferation of UK bookmakers it was deemed necessary for racing interests to control totalizator betting. I hope the lesson is learnt in NZ so that clubs who produce the product are able to run their own pools tying in with the marketing of racing. However I can see given the level of understanding by NZTR of the wagering industry a decision will be made resulting in the death of NZ racing.