alumni racing show -15 may 2025-michael antoniades

[the galah]

i just had a listen to this show and i think everybody should listen to it if they are interested in what harness racing can do to prosper.

obviously the usa is different with their simulcasts and so many tracks with casinos and obviously given nz harness have very little control over trackside coverage.

But many of the things he says the industry needs to occur to prosper,well the industry is doing theopposite.

The faster you make the tracks ,the worse your racing is,the less your turnover. (too many front end dominated races)-(-using that observation of his ,i  think you could add the more sprints you have the less the turnover) 

Do you have a horse shortage or a track and race day excess. You have to adapt to market conditions.

whats the interest of the betting supplier(tab/entain). If its racing then they will focus on harness racing and it will prosper-. If its cainos(or sport) then racing will become secondary.. 

you have to drive the breeding industry with the racing industry,but the racing should always be the main focus.

not running competing high oprofile meetings against each other.

Delaying the start by a couple of minutes has a drastic efffect on increasing turnovers.

lowering takeout significantly increases turnover.

refuse the stakes paid if the number of starters is small.(i've mentioned that myself)

you can't run races at similar timeslots as major races elsewhere .

increased % handle on track  is important to support clubs to get people on track.

what are the stakes required to keep people happy. e.g. age group. If they need x amount to get people to race 2 year olds,they should provide it,but reduce the number of said 2 year old races to the level where they get good field sizes.If they are going to run small fields they will go broke.  

move the races to days where they generate turnover and coverage-even if it midweek.

people want as many days as they can get,but the more you spread it out the more people prefer to race in small fields ,the more you lose money.

given the market,there should be less races and tracks.

you have to adapt to market conditions.

Edited 15 hours ago by the galah

[the galah]

actually ,one thing i've observed over the last 25 years, is how stakemoney on south island nz harness has gone from being more than the south island gallops,to now being much less.

And the more i've thought about it the more its obvious why that is.

they get full fields becuase the horse population correlates with the number of races run.

that leads to a far more attractive betting product,which results in increased wagering,which leads to more returns to the industry which leads to increased sustainable stake levels.(and  they always get good timeslots and coverage).

 

[mikeynz]

1 hour ago, the galah said:

actually ,one thing i've observed over the last 25 years, is how stakemoney on south island nz harness has gone from being more than the south island gallops,to now being much less.

And the more i've thought about it the more its obvious why that is.

they get full fields becuase the horse population correlates with the number of races run.

that leads to a far more attractive betting product,which results in increased wagering,which leads to more returns to the industry which leads to increased sustainable stake levels.(and  they always get good timeslots and coverage).

 

 

1 hour ago, the galah said:

 

 

Good points, to the first post, maybe those thoughts and Mark Jones comments should be taken to heirachy of HRNZ and get their ideas, or explain their gameplan.

Edited 14 hours ago by mikeynz

[Westview]

12 hours ago, the galah said:

i just had a listen to this show and i think everybody should listen to it if they are interested in what harness racing can do to prosper.

obviously the usa is different with their simulcasts and so many tracks with casinos and obviously given nz harness have very little control over trackside coverage.

But many of the things he says the industry needs to occur to prosper,well the industry is doing theopposite.

The faster you make the tracks ,the worse your racing is,the less your turnover. (too many front end dominated races)-(-using that observation of his ,i  think you could add the more sprints you have the less the turnover) 

Do you have a horse shortage or a track and race day excess. You have to adapt to market conditions.

whats the interest of the betting supplier(tab/entain). If its racing then they will focus on harness racing and it will prosper-. If its cainos(or sport) then racing will become secondary.. 

you have to drive the breeding industry with the racing industry,but the racing should always be the main focus.

not running competing high oprofile meetings against each other.

Delaying the start by a couple of minutes has a drastic efffect on increasing turnovers.

lowering takeout significantly increases turnover.

refuse the stakes paid if the number of starters is small.(i've mentioned that myself)

you can't run races at similar timeslots as major races elsewhere .

increased % handle on track  is important to support clubs to get people on track.

what are the stakes required to keep people happy. e.g. age group. If they need x amount to get people to race 2 year olds,they should provide it,but reduce the number of said 2 year old races to the level where they get good field sizes.If they are going to run small fields they will go broke.  

move the races to days where they generate turnover and coverage-even if it midweek.

people want as many days as they can get,but the more you spread it out the more people prefer to race in small fields ,the more you lose money.

given the market,there should be less races and tracks.

you have to adapt to market conditions.

Galah do you have a link to the show,  it should be compulsory viewing for everyone in our industry. There are so many points in your summary that are as Brodie would say "On the money ".

[Westview]

12 minutes ago, Westview said:

Galah do you have a link to the show,  it should be compulsory viewing for everyone in our industry. There are so many points in your summary that are as Brodie would say "On the money ".

Found it with the help of Mr Google 

[Gammalite]

Here's some Fair dinkum points to add to the list .

No Participants = No racing at all.... should be the main point.

The Gambling dollar on harness racing is SMALL compared to gallops, casinos, lotteries, pokies , even bloody scratches. There's 'no way known' you are going to 'Lure ' new outsiders.   It'll be just the Stonewall bloke, and a few big-time owners like him having any of the Big bets, that are already involved in the industry. I would say all the old Stalwarts at BOAY even bet LESS than they used to, and we all Love the Product.

and don't think the FAST tracks are the MAIN Player here .

The fact is we have the BEST HORSEMEN on the Planet Still competing and winning . Mark Purdon , and brother Barry and the Williamsons and Butchers , and Dixons and McMullens and McCarthy's and Hall's . + Emma Stewart.

So we are getting the FASTEST and BEST horses ever seen. Does this make the racing Worse ????????

Well the tote prices are quite short I spose ( Personally I never worry about the odds but most do) 

with FIVE of the Most Magnificent Majestic Creatures Ever to put a bridle on Winning the Interdominion over the past 10 years . no wonder the odds are short . ( i'll put some photos on their own thread ) 

15 hours ago, the galah said:

The faster you make the tracks ,the worse your racing is,the less your turnover.