Is ATC Solvent

[Brodie]

5 hours ago, Withadream2 said:

It’s not Entains responsibility to spend 10s of millions bailing out racing clubs.  Putting the money they put into The Race into Auckland instead would only pay the interest for a few weeks. 

Reality is they are putting in 900million into racing in Nz

So Franklin being bought by Entain would be a far better option if they want harness to continue in Auckland.

ATC now gave no one for the Franklin site and they are looking at getting nowhere near the 90m or so that the Chinese were paying so there is going to be a very big shortfall, and who is going to wear this?

ATC will not be able to trade their way out and keep racing without soneone outting in s massive amount!

Who is going to be doing this with what their racing currently offers?

Do I think that harness racing is able to continue in Auckland with the amount they are bleeding, no it is impossible!

.

 

 

[Rangatira]

17 hours ago, Brodie said:

Who is going to be doing this with what their racing currently offers?

Redwood Philanthropist?

[westbrew]

So the deadline for Tenders has passed, Lets see how long it takes for an announcement to be made on the successful tender and the amount, could be make or break for Harness racing in the North.  

[mikeynz]

On 4/7/2025 at 10:20 PM, Brodie said:

 

ATC will not be able to trade their way out and keep racing without soneone outting in s massive amount!

Who is going to be doing this with what their racing currently offers?

Do I think that harness racing is able to continue in Auckland with the amount they are bleeding, no it is impossible!

.

 

 

Maybe set up a give a little page😁

[Brodie]

2 hours ago, mikeynz said:

Maybe set up a give a little page😁

Unfortunately it is going to take a lot more than that to make it worth the while, throwing money at it!

There is just very little interest in harness racing in the North and we are going to continue to see this.

There were several races in the age group races on Saturday night with 5 or 6 horses in them racing for good stake money.

If it wasnt for South Island horses flying up then those races would not have been run.

Harness in Auckland is in far bigger trouble than they are willing to admit.

I will be very happy to be proven wrong!

 

Edited April 20 by Brodie

[mikeynz]

1 minute ago, Brodie said:

Unfortunately it is going to take a lot more than that to make it worth the while, throeing money at it!

There is just very little interest in harness racing in the North and we are going to continue to see this.

There were several races in the age group races on Saturday night with 5 or 6 horses in them first good stake money.

If it wasnt for South Island horses flying up then those races would not have been run.

Harness in Auckland is in far bigger trouble than they are willing to admit.

I will be very happy to be proven wrong!

 

Yet TAB man reckons everything Auckland is just so wonderful, Ellerslie for all their efforts fell way short of matching Cup Day at Addington, probably Riccarton too, most in Auckland don't care,, it's just a strange place, but then there is traffic to contend with, another factor why people don't go.

[Rangatira]

Wednesday July 23 Auckland Trotting Club has a meeting to approve the sale of the Pukekohe Training track.

This is part of the letter sent out regarding the club

(e) The Board also understands the desirability of providing for a reasonable timeframe for trainers who use the Pukekohe facilities and will collaborate with HRNZ to find an alternative solution for training facilities once the Pukekohe Land is sold. Current indications are that it is likely that trainers who currently use the Pukekohe facilities would have at least 12 months from the date any agreement became unconditional prior to being required to vacate.

(f) The sale proceeds would all be applied to further reduce current bank debt with Westpac.

 

REDUCE not CLEAR the current bank debt with Westpac.

[Rangatira]

[the galah]

50 minutes ago, Rangatira said:

Everyone has got so used to the ATC thing by now, that no one expects much from the  atc or hrnz anymore,other than to let auckland continue,irrespective of the self harm and harm they do the industry as a whole.

just groundhog day.

Its great that westpacs not panicking though...Actually why would anyone think they would panic. Thats a bit of a mystery as they won't ever lose any money,but hey,they're not ,so thats good so we are told.

[mikeynz]

2 hours ago, Rangatira said:

I only hope they don't want Forburys money, over 100 years of history run down the drain if they do that, had to laugh at the sites idiot TAB man once commented about Forbury, to use his words frittered it all away,  also said no one cares about the NPC seems that might just be a Aucklanders thought process, mind you for those in Auckland he may be right, but the rest of NZ does. 

[mikeynz]

Probably  should add, the amount from Forbury is just a splash in the bucket, compared to the shit bucket Auckland are in.

[Brodie]

Unfortunate that another sale has fallen through but I think many of us knew this would happen.

They are paying massive amounts of interest so of course Westpac wont be worried .

They are totally up the creek and the only way out was if Entains money hadve been more wisely than blowing it the way They have been doing it!

Really depressing for North island racing as there just is not enough people who give a damn to make it feasible financially!

Wonder if Brad Steele is still going to come out again and say everything is positive?

[the galah]

i was just reading the latest article by m guerin g on the ATC.

now ,i read the article and several questions came to mind,which you would have thought should have been answered in the article.

for a start,who really will end up paying for the interest that is accumulating at apparently $450,000 per month.

Its the ATC debt,but it seems it will be HRNZ(in reality all nz harness racing), that actually will end up paying the $450,000 per month.

why,well mr steele from HRNZ has said hrnz are  committed to contributing and helping source the extra money needed for a new training centre,by redirecting funds that HRNZ could have used for other purposes.

So if the ATC only had x amount to contribute and nothing has changed for them,then the shortfall due to the increasing interest debt,for funding the new training establishment,won't be coming from the ATC,because they have no more, it can only come from hrnz(mr steele)

so its ATC only in name, In reality its hrnz who have to come up with each extra months $450,000 interest debt,not the ATC .

m guerin seems to go along with the ATC's ,almost propoganda,that now the latest $70m franklin park sale has fallen through,they will go to the strategy of selling commercial property under the apartments they own. But hang on there fellas,whats new about that as when you wrote your article 3 months ago you said the atc was intending to do that anyway and that the funds from that had already beeen factored in at that point.

so ,why mr guerin and the atc and HRNZ are you trying to infer that the commerciial building sales is something that is a new positive.

these people that write these articles and run the ATC and run HRNZ really do think everyone is stupid.

And another question.

If the ATC has to go through a long process to have the land use of alexandra park redefined before it can be sold,well,duh,why haven't they already started the process. I mean,on the face of it,it seems these people have totally relied on the sale of a property that has never eventuated ,and not even started the process of giving them a possible plan b. Like wouldn't that have been the obvious thing to do as ,like it could save them millions and millions down the track by keeping the option of selling alexandra park.How did hrnz not understand that either. I mean,these are the people in charge.

Then theres other questions.

if the ATC sells its revenue generating assets like the commercial buildings,then why do they not explain ,where are they going to make up the shortfall in income in the future.

So,my take on the m guein article and the box seat segment on the ATC,is why don't they have the brains to ask the obvious questions.Well i think they do have the brains,but just think they think their viewers don't.

personally i think m guerin deserves little credilbity at all when talking about the atc.

I remember him,year after year,often around the yearling sales time,waffling on about how there was never a better time to get involved because the atc was doing so well,even at times when it was obvious they were in big trouble.

I remember starting topics on this forum pointing out ,does anyone believe what m guerin says about the ATC.You know some people have what they call memories.

i saw m guerin,a few months back expressed his supposed anger over what had happened with the atc. I mean,there he was saying the complete opposite of what he had been saying publically for years.We can only judge him on what he says,and thats why i say,why should he be shown  much credibilty when he talks about the atc.

anyways,the atc is stuffed,we all know that,hrnz is doing their best to hitch their boat to the sinking ship,we all can see that.The reporting and the comments from those at the ATC are fudging the true story,everyone can see through it.

Whats new. Nothing actually.Other than another chapter where  people on social media get to point out the holes in the latest atc story.

Edited 13 hours ago by the galah

[Withadream2]

2 hours ago, the galah said:

Whats new. Nothing actually.Other than another chapter where  people on social media get to point out the holes in the latest atc story.

It’s crazy putting Franklin back on the market. Isn’t it obvious that a residential development is not commercially viable on that land?.  No one is going to buy it for anywhere near what the ATC need. If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over & over and expecting a different result then the ATC is adopting an insane strategy. I believe the only viable option is to sell Alexandra Park, retain Franklin, & invest the excess proceeds in Cambridge.  I’m not sure about this business of taking 10 years to change the land use but they have already sold part of it without any problem.  Also if they really couldn’t sell it for 10 years I would expect the bank would be panicking. 

[the galah]

44 minutes ago, Withadream2 said:

It’s crazy putting Franklin back on the market. Isn’t it obvious that a residential development is not commercially viable on that land?.  No one is going to buy it for anywhere near what the ATC need. If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over & over and expecting a different result then the ATC is adopting an insane strategy. I believe the only viable option is to sell Alexandra Park, retain Franklin, & invest the excess proceeds in Cambridge.  I’m not sure about this business of taking 10 years to change the land use but they have already sold part of it without any problem.  Also if they really couldn’t sell it for 10 years I would expect the bank would be panicking. 

They've boxed themselves into a corner by the sounds of it.  

had they had a plan b like having the process of changing the land use well underway then they would have had better options.,but they haven't by the sound of it.

the strange thing about that is,why haven't the atc,hrnz or the media reported the need for a change of land use before? has anyone read that before? the answer i guess is it didn't suit the purposes of any of those mentioned to inform people.

to do that you would think it would have cost a lot of money but when you read they are paying $450,000 a month in interest then that puts some perspective on that cost.

also,without that in the pipeline prospective buyers of the land at franklin would be aware of how desperate and out of other options the atc is to sell,so you would think that would be reflected in the level of any future offers.they would have had greater bargaining power had they had the other options. 

the most disappointing thing about the auckland club is not what the auckland club is doing. Even though the current lot seem to be only interested in themselves,you can't blame them for that or trying to hang in there and hope HRNZ will bail them out.

Its the people at hrnz who are enabling the auckland club to do what they are doing that is most surprising. Surprising being a kind word..

and after all this time since the debacle has played out,still no one has the ability to put forward a vision that people can see will work. Theres a real lack of leadership all round in my opinion.

And i would also say,the other harness clubs and racing participants,sort of deserve the future that they seem very likely to live in.. Sure ,there are many pointing out the lack of common sense thinking,but there efforts have seen no change in the heirachys thinking,which indicates the level of apathy and disengagement fro the majority of clubs and harness particiapnts. So in a way,the harness racing throughout nz will reap what they sow,sp to speak.

[Nowornever]

2 hours ago, the galah said:

$450,000 a month in interest

At the snails pace they move at there is going to be at least another two or three million added to the debt before they even put it on the market again.

[mikeynz]

4 minutes ago, Nowornever said:

At the snails pace they move at there is going to be at least another two or three million added to the debt before they even put it on the market again.

Just as well interest rates are low lol.

[TAB For Ever]

1 hour ago, Nowornever said:

At the snails pace they move at there is going to be at least another two or three million added to the debt before they even put it on the market again.

Prior to last year ,the inflated Valuations were increasing the Equity or net asset value year on year.

That has slowed and decreased which made the situation very dicey.........but overall there has been a strong desire by those closest to ATC action not to move out of the City.

HRNZ obviously wants ATC to become strong again ,still a fair bit of investment up this way . There's still a few hoping Harness in the North can cling on. 

Some still see a glimmer of hope ! The North still has the biggest owners the best stables , the best horsemen/women and obviously dominates the thoroughbred scene in NZ.

And the ribbon of light ,still has a bit going for it ,certainly in the top two venues for Night racing !

Still has a nice cash flow from the pokies , and has a few assets still to sell to appease the bank for a bit longer !