Damn Reefton and Foxton missed out on Club of the Year!

[curious]

https://nztr.co.nz/news/nztr-2024-industry-development-day-wrap

[Doomed]

Good to see the big award go to a couple of battlers. An inspiration to us all.

[Chief Stipe]

 

NZTR 2024 Industry Development Day Wrap

NZTR | March 28, 2024

NZTR Club of the Year Overall Award Winners Auckland Thoroughbred Racing and Whangarei Racing Club

It’s no secret the New Zealand racing industry has seen an abundance of positive announcements in recent months. That momentum and excitement was carried over to NZTR’s 2024 Industry Development Day this past week. 

 

Held at Ellerslie Racecourse for the second year, an outstanding calibre of guest speakers from various sports and entertainment industries took the stage to inspire innovation and “big picture” thinking for New Zealand’s racing Clubs and Recognised Industry Organisations. 

 

NZTR CEO Bruce Sharrock opened the presentations and welcomed the group of more than 140 attendees from across the racing industry. While Clubs have a big part to play, Sharrock said it’s up to the industry as a whole to work together to ensure the racing product stands the test of time. 

 

“Our industry is at an exciting but crucial stage,” he said. 

 

“We have the ability to leave a legacy, but we must first face a few exciting challenges together. 

 

“Change has to occur across the industry with a mindset to challenge the way things are done.” 

 

Presentations soon got underway with a compelling demonstration by One NZ CEO, Jason Paris, who demonstrated the power of rebranding and repositioning using his own experience within the rebrand from Vodafone to One NZ. The importance of the customer was at the forefront of his messaging but concluded with a warning to not allow internal influences, like our own biases and experiences, to hinder success for the organisation as a whole. 

 

New Zealand entrepreneur Hamish Pinkham was next up. As the creator of New Zealand’s largest music festival, Rhythm and Vines, Pinkham provided the roadmap to what has made Rhythm and Vines a monumental success. While the event only runs for three days over New Year, the entrepreneur attributed much of the success and longevity of the festival to engaging the customer through quality content throughout the entire year. Racing can take a page from this book as a seasonal product with ample content to promote the sport outside of the main racing seasons. 

 

Entain Australia and New Zealand CEO, Dean Shannon, focused on wagering growth and ‘the big and little things’ that make the domestic industry tick. While wagering figures and statistics outlined his presentation, his core messaging was around the presentation of racing and how that can be improved to increase turnover. Presenting the racing product in the best light inspires trust from the punter which will translate into wagering and benefit the entire industry.

 

Sponsorship was the topic of conversation for One NZ head of marketing and branding, Georgia Mahaffie. She simplified her work as part of the rebranding team from Vodafone to One NZ, into one sentence ‘a brand's job is to simplify choice.’ Throughout her presentation, she focused on sponsorship and how to use partnerships to stay at the top of the customer's mind to build loyalty. 

 

The session continued with Ian Bennett, GM of Eleven, NZTR and Auckland Thoroughbred Racing’s public relations agency. The PR executive focused on enhancing the public perception of racing before turning it over to Entain’s Chief Media Officer Chris Haigh and Chief Marketing Officer Mel Kenneday who presented fresh and exciting branding for both Trackside and TAB.

 

Finally, the event closed with a panel of Club CEOs answering the hard-hitting questions presented by George Simon, before moving on to NZTR’s Club Awards. This year saw a revamped Awards structure where NZTR used existing data and information to assess key judging criteria over the 2023 calendar year. 

 

Entain also got behind the awards this year, providing a 25k prize fund distributed across the three classifications, Metro, Provincial, Country and an overall Club Award. 

 

The 2023 NZTR Club Awards Winners are as follows: 

 

Metropolitan - Auckland Thoroughbred Racing 

 

Provincial - Whangarei Racing Club 

 

Country - Kumara Racing Club 

 

Overall Winner - Co-winners Auckland Thoroughbred Racing and Whangarei Racing Club 

 

Additional Awards were presented to Waikato Thoroughbred Racing who excelled in leadership as well as the Club Appreciation Award being presented to Racing Taupo. 

 

Karen Houlihan and Rebecca Swords of Whangarei Racing Club were ecstatic to be recognised at a national level as a smaller provincial club. 

 

“It was good to see a provincial Club be recognised alongside a big Club like ATR.” 

 

“We will be able to make really good use of the prize fund and can’t wait to take it back to the Board and let them know.”

[Special Agent]

I don't see the relevance of Vodafone/One NZ, unless you think that rebranding was a genius move.

On the other hand the success of Rhythm and Vines makes much more sense.

[curious]

On 3/04/2024 at 8:50 PM, Chief Stipe said:

The 2023 NZTR Club Awards Winners are as follows: 

 

Metropolitan - Auckland Thoroughbred Racing 

 

Provincial - Whangarei Racing Club 

 

Country - Kumara Racing Club 

 

Overall Winner - Co-winners Auckland Thoroughbred Racing and Whangarei Racing Club 

 

Additional Awards were presented to Waikato Thoroughbred Racing who excelled in leadership as well as the Club Appreciation Award being presented to Racing Taupo. 

 

 

Yesterday makes a bit of a mockery of this doesn't it?

[Huey]

6 hours ago, curious said:

Yesterday makes a bit of a mockery of this doesn't it?

Absolute joke Curious.

Anyone with any knowledge in NZracing knows its all a rigged fiasco at any rate.

A leadership award for Waikato Racing Club as an extra award , I can't stop laughing at the utter stupidity of it all and if you know anything about the relationships amongst leadership in both capacities you'll understand why they got that.

[TAB For Ever]

On 3/17/2024 at 11:33 PM, TAB For Ever said:

I assume the narrative has a typo.....these numbers for the one season 22/23 not 20/23 over covid etc.

Interesting the % of the the NZTR total club meeting funding that each club puts into stakes .

Kumara with its one iconic raceday on a Saturday in early January put 60% into of its funding into Stakes. Got $230k after betting commission etc .Stakes $140k

Riverton had 4 days....New Years , Easter Saturday and Monday plus one day in May. They go hard in increasing stakes and received $$830k and paid out $701 Stakes { 83% } I note them and Wairio are offering travel subsidies for their May meeting. They earn money from Farming ,livestock etc. and work hard to justify their racedays

Wairarapa  pushes their Family picnic outing on their days which was 3 x last year .They also race on Public Holidays Jan 2 ,Waitangi Day and a Sunday in Canterbury Cup week. They got nearly $600k from NZTR paying out $387k in Stakes [ 63%]

They also do Farming,livestock for extra income and do various other things for Income.Venue rental, Camping ground/accomm, music festival ,pony club eventsetc.They also host Masterton raceday.As a result they have more paid staff and much bigger Cash flow and own their course freehold. They also include Harness races on their January 2 day so do a lot to  enhance their standing .

 

 

For Special agent..........last years discussions.........I think you contributed !

[Special Agent]

And?

[TAB For Ever]

1 hour ago, Special Agent said:

And?

And ....you asked me a question re the Awards and commented about Riverton too so I knew it was discussed last year. 

And it kinda reminds us that the negativity around the awards is still around to day...and I refer to the quicksand crowd.

I've said all I want to say on the subject as I find it quite a boring subject  even tho I support this type of recognition.Very little downside IMO and it should encourage clubs to make an effort to improve .

 

[Chief Stipe]

7 hours ago, TAB For Ever said:

I've said all I want to say on the subject as I find it quite a boring subject  even tho I support this type of recognition.Very little downside IMO and it should encourage clubs to make an effort to improve .

I don't have a problem with awards for outstanding contributions to racing however the random plethora of such rewards are diminishing their effect.

As well some of the nominees tend to make a mockery of some awards.  For example how does a Club that doesn't own a racecourse and has 3 meetings abandoned in 5 years make the finalists ahead of many worthy Clubs?

[Bloke]

16 hours ago, Chief Stipe said:

I don't have a problem with awards for outstanding contributions to racing however the random plethora of such rewards are diminishing their effect.

As well some of the nominees tend to make a mockery of some awards.  For example how does a Club that doesn't own a racecourse and has 3 meetings abandoned in 5 years make the finalists ahead of many worthy Clubs?

At the last AGM, Masterton members showed common sense and rejected a proposal to join Race. Some misguided fool in the club moved the motion. That is the only reason I can think of to give them an award. 

 

[Chief Stipe]

8 hours ago, Bloke said:

At the last AGM, Masterton members showed common sense and rejected a proposal to join Race. Some misguided fool in the club moved the motion. That is the only reason I can think of to give them an award. 

 

They might have a better chance of getting through a race meeting if they held their meeting at Awapunit run by RACE.

[Chief Stipe]

Technically it's fair to say Masterton Racing Club does have a track that being the training centre at the old Opaki course.  Which produced a multiple Oaks winner recently - Pennyweka.

[westbrew]

So was the reason that NZTR gave them an award, so they could say how great they are and we don't need Levin because we have this wonderful club in Masterton, hence it adds to their narrative to shut Levin, this is typical corporate bullshit tricks that i am sure the New CEO is more than happy to employ.  

[Chief Stipe]

47 minutes ago, westbrew said:

So was the reason that NZTR gave them an award, so they could say how great they are and we don't need Levin because we have this wonderful club in Masterton, hence it adds to their narrative to shut Levin, this is typical corporate bullshit tricks that i am sure the New CEO is more than happy to employ.  

Well they need to find capital from somewhere to fix Trentham.  In my opinion that is a sink hole.

Few realise that if it wasn't for substantial interest free capital lent by the local councils to the Wellington Stadium Trust that venue would run at a loss. 

So given the number of events held at that venue how do they expect Trentham that holds 12 race meetings a year (no trials, no jumpouts, no horse training revenue) and limited non-racing facilities for functions expect to make a profit?

 

[Bloke]

4 hours ago, Chief Stipe said:

They might have a better chance of getting through a race meeting if they held their meeting at Awapunit run by RACE.

Maybe but I don't fancy their chances be of surviving financially given Race's appalling history.

[Chief Stipe]

1 hour ago, Bloke said:

Maybe but I don't fancy their chances be of surviving financially given Race's appalling history.

Well a lot of the RACE criticisms are often misdirected.  You can't blame them for trying to diversify revenue streams and minimising administration costs.  However they should never have taken on Trentham in my opinion.  A lack of capital to make a difference with that place.  Surprisingly Awapuni has as much equity as Trentham.

[Chief Stipe]

2 hours ago, Bloke said:

Maybe but I don't fancy their chances be of surviving financially given Race's appalling history.

Just remembered what I read in Mastertons financials.  They have taken quite a hit with the abandonments and it is the training operation that sustains them at the moment.

[Bloke]

2 hours ago, Chief Stipe said:

Well a lot of the RACE criticisms are often misdirected.  You can't blame them for trying to diversify revenue streams and minimising administration costs.  However they should never have taken on Trentham in my opinion.  A lack of capital to make a difference with that place.  Surprisingly Awapuni has as much equity as Trentham.

Race's problem goes back to "The Awapuni Debacle" when they built a conference centre  / grandstand without any money. The plan was to subdivide residential land at Awapuni, sell sections and then build the new centre.

However, they decided to build before they sold the land and the $9M cost was funded by the Bank with the debt to be repaid from section sales. The building was completed just as the GFC hit and they could not find buyers for the sections.

When they did sell a section well below expected price the proceeds were used to only repay interest to The Bank. So, Trentham has been sold off to repay interest and principal as well as to cover the many other blunders made by so called experts.

The other issue they have is that each club has two directors on the board but some of the clubs are so small in terms of membership that it would be incredibly hard to find two members with the expertise to sit as directors.  For example, Marton has about 20 members plus the committee.  Rangitikei and Feilding are not much better.

[Chief Stipe]

1 hour ago, Bloke said:

Race's problem goes back to "The Awapuni Debacle" when they built a conference centre  / grandstand without any money. The plan was to subdivide residential land at Awapuni, sell sections and then build the new centre.

However, they decided to build before they sold the land and the $9M cost was funded by the Bank with the debt to be repaid from section sales. The building was completed just as the GFC hit and they could not find buyers for the sections.

When they did sell a section well below expected price the proceeds were used to only repay interest to The Bank. So, Trentham has been sold off to repay interest and principal as well as to cover the many other blunders made by so called experts.

The other issue they have is that each club has two directors on the board but some of the clubs are so small in terms of membership that it would be incredibly hard to find two members with the expertise to sit as directors.  For example, Marton has about 20 members plus the committee.  Rangitikei and Feilding are not much better.

I don't dispute any of that.  But it is no different (or maybe better) than most Club management.  Some of the issues you have posted were beyond the prediction of  most investors.  My point was that their intention was correct - diversify and establish other revenue streams.  A racetrack can't survive otherwise.

That's where Trentham is stuffed because they have nothing other than 12 meetings a year.  The business case doesn't stack up.

Time to retrench to the real CD.

[Bloke]

2 hours ago, Chief Stipe said:

I don't dispute any of that.  But it is no different (or maybe better) than most Club management.  Some of the issues you have posted were beyond the prediction of  most investors.  My point was that their intention was correct - diversify and establish other revenue streams.  A racetrack can't survive otherwise.

That's where Trentham is stuffed because they have nothing other than 12 meetings a year.  The business case doesn't stack up.

Time to retrench to the real CD.

I do not agree with your comments that the Awapuni cock ups were beyond the prediction of most investors.

Firstly, they had no experience with property development so should have sought advice. For the sale of the Awapuni land it was simple. They should have firstly subdivided, then sold the sections and finally built the conference centre. That way they would have removed the risk

So far as Club Management goes, Race has been a chapter of incredible cock ups. Just look at recent years. They bought the land at Sherrif's Road Awapuni for $1.6M as they though it would be good for stables. Only problem was that once again they did not do their due diligence as there was a stream around the land with a bridge which they thought gave them access. 

But it didn't so the last I heard was that the land was back on the market for offers of near $1M.

They started a Cafe at Trentham which has cost a fortune to set up and for the first 8 or months of operation lost around $70k. Then we find the CEO's brother in-law is the chef. Once again poor research as there is an excellent Cafe across the railway line which attracts the foot traffic.

 

]

 

[TAB For Ever]

6 hours ago, Chief Stipe said:

Just remembered what I read in Mastertons financials.  They have taken quite a hit with the abandonments and it is the training operation that sustains them at the moment.

Unsure about this........

IMO Masterton Financials look OK....$200 k in the Bank and Total Equity ie This Cash and Freehold Land/Buildings recently revalued in books . Equity close on $3 mil ,NO liabilities of any note

And they seem to be frugally run by mainly Volunteers , earning a positive cash flow from 40+ horses on training track ,plus some income from sale of farm products and lease of land.

Yes they run their meeting at the well run and maintained Tauherenikau course.

Their meetings the past few years seem to have gone ahead as planned ,hence their nomination in the 2024 Awards.....the 2024 Awards were based on the 2024 year ,as one would expect !

[TAB For Ever]

On 4/22/2025 at 6:10 AM, Chief Stipe said:

I don't have a problem with awards for outstanding contributions to racing however the random plethora of such rewards are diminishing their effect.

As well some of the nominees tend to make a mockery of some awards.  For example how does a Club that doesn't own a racecourse and has 3 meetings abandoned in 5 years make the finalists ahead of many worthy Clubs?

Surely you haven't forgotten one of the key Management essentials you would have learned during your MBA...ie gather your facts !

As I found out when discussing some parts of the Messara report with you , I suspect you did not read the full report / criteria for these Awards.

You had such a dislike before reading ,you skimmed over it looking for defects.......I compare it with someone walking into an award winning garden.

You [ and your  cheersquad  of the tight five plus one or two wannabees  ] walk into the garden and step on the Flowers in the quest to point out any weeds !]

The Criteria for judging is well thought out covers the essentials of a well run club in 2025 ...NO random plethora but rather Governance , Finance, Racing, Innovation, and Marketing .

And it is a annual award...covers 12 months [ Masterton ran a 8 racecard on 24 March 2024] so defects from the past largely irrelevant in the judging except they could help if they have resulted in great improvements and changes. And ownership of Assets such as racecourses no big deal. Indeed clubs often better off if they cash up and lease another course .  Certainly could be overall better for the Industry as a whole .And easier to upgrade a few courses than upgrade 50 ! Possibly a reason that countries / regions overseas with more land and /or less people than NZ have far less Courses  and Clubs work better together in clusters .

And who are these worthy clubs  who failed to be nominated. Maybe they were not worthy . Maybe they didn't try or care ,made no effort .One Bloke on here gives huge raps to the Tauherenikau course and the clubs that race there and no one has ever suggested any other pearls ! One old fella gets excited about Washdyke and Woodville ,I'm not so sure !

In fact IMO many posters on here , including the tight five are very biased , I doubt if too many have attended Ellerslie of late and that course gets the most mentions and much of it negative. And I doubt if any at all have visited Avondale for many many years and it gets it's share of affection !

So if folk don't attend live meetings much , they don't read key documents in their entirety , they don't read the financials ,they don't read many articles and news updates as some of this behind walls then how do the get their info to form opinions. 

From their neighbours mother in law ? Or off anonymous social media where abuse is welcomed . Yes and yes methinks plus TV is huge.

And how people long for the good ole days , when they got out and about a bit !

[Chief Stipe]

I wasn't talking about one award but the increasing number of awards for anything that can be imagined.  I guess you are lined up for the cheerleaders and the embellishing the Messara report awards.

As for not reading the report I did but I doubt you did.