dates calendar

[hesi]

3 hours ago, Chief Stipe said:

@hesi turf track maintenance has been a neglected issue for 30 years or more.  The administrators are still stuck in the mode that increasing stakes will fix everything.  They forget that you still need safe and fair tracks to race on.

In that respect Harness have an advantage as their tracks require lower maintenance than turf or even the Polytrack.

Talking about this

NZTR Strengthens Track Advisory Programme with VRC Partnership

NZTR has announced significant enhancements to its Regional Track Adviser (RTA) Programme for the 2025-26 racing season, including a partnership with the Victoria Racing Club.

New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing | August 07, 2025

 

 

 

The VRC and its Head of Racecourse, Liam O’Keeffe, will now support NZTR and racing Clubs across New Zealand. 

New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing (NZTR) has announced significant enhancements to its Regional Track Adviser (RTA) Programme for the 2025-26 racing season, including a partnership with the Victoria Racing Club (VRC).

The VRC and its Head of Racecourse, Liam O’Keeffe, will now support NZTR and racing Clubs across New Zealand. 

VRC Head of Racecourse, Liam O’Keeffe.

Providing turf consultancy services for an average of five days per month, the partnership will deliver knowledge sharing across maintenance and renovation planning, construction and turf management, track inspections, audits, and raceday surface preparation.

The partnership is designed to share international best practices and elevate track management standards across New Zealand.

“The VRC is thrilled to provide turf expertise to NZTR Track Managers, sharing our insights into the world-class standard of Flemington Racecourse,” said Leigh Jordon, Chief Racing Officer at the VRC.

O’Keeffe will consult with Regional Track Advisers, as part of a partnership that reflects NZTR’s commitment to strengthening track infrastructure and improving surface consistency across all racing venues.

NZTR Chief Executive Officer Matt Ballesty commented on the appointment. 

“Bringing in the expertise of the VRC and Liam is a major step forward for our track programme, and the partnership is about strengthening local talent and addressing the areas where we know improvement is needed.” 

“We’re fortunate to have experienced and highly skilled Track Managers across the country, and Liam will work alongside them to provide additional support, share international insights, and help us continue lifting standards nationally for the long-term benefit of the industry,” Ballesty said.

The RTA Programme continues to serve as a critical support network for Club Track Managers. While Track Managers remain responsible for delivering a safe racing surface, RTAs provide mentoring and advisory support and meet regularly with NZTR to plan and review upcoming racing activity.

2025-26 Track Adviser Club Assignments

• Jason Fulford (Auckland Thoroughbred Racing) – Avondale JC, Racing Te Aroha and Whangarei RC.
• Bart Cowan (Waikato Thoroughbred Racing) – Matamata RC, Racing Rotorua, Racing Taupō and Racing Tauranga.
• Jamie Phillips (RACE Inc.) – Foxton RC, Hawke’s Bay RI, Ōtaki-Māori RC, Waipukurau JC, Wairarapa RC and Woodville-Pahiatua RC.
• Colin Cromarty (Waverley Racing Club) – Egmont RC, Taranaki TR and Wanganui JC.
• Alan Chapman (Canterbury Jockey Club) – Ashburton RC, Greymouth JC, Kumara RC, Reefton JC and Timaru JC. 
• Wayne Stevens (Otago RC) – Central Otago RC, Gore RC, Kurow JC, Oamaru JC, Riverton RC and Southland RC. 

[Gammalite]

4 minutes ago, curious said:

I fail to see how the outcome could possibly have any impact on NZ racing?

Did Entain not buy up the NZ TAB ? the revenue is what funds racing is what I'm told. 

If they faced a huge fine maybe they would want to get out of the 25 year deal/ takeover plan ??

Brodie keeps saying the funding for the trots stops at 5 years for some reason ? 

If the ENTAIN owned Betting Agency group of 'Ladbrokes' did not fund Queensland Trotting we would Fold for sure. 

[Chief Stipe]

10 minutes ago, Gammalite said:

Did Entain not buy up the NZ TAB ? the revenue is what funds racing is what I'm told. 

If they faced a huge fine maybe they would want to get out of the 25 year deal/ takeover plan ??

Brodie keeps saying the funding for the trots stops at 5 years for some reason ? 

If the ENTAIN owned Betting Agency group of 'Ladbrokes' did not fund Queensland Trotting we would Fold for sure. 

You miss the point - there may be no fine going on precedent.  If there is it won't be anywhere near what the doom and gloomers of the NZ Racing Industry predict.

Certainly I very much doubt there will be a "huge fine" that would force ENTAIN to abandon their Australian and NZ businesses.  The latter is a 25 year license.

[curious]

14 minutes ago, Gammalite said:

Did Entain not buy up the NZ TAB ? the revenue is what funds racing is what I'm told. 

If they faced a huge fine maybe they would want to get out of the 25 year deal/ takeover plan ??

It's not Entain NZ that faces any fine here. The company has a market capitalisation of 6.45 billion GBP and an EBITBA last year of £1,089m. I don't think a few A$100ms in fines is going to change anything much.

Edited Wednesday at 11:38 PM by curious

[the galah]

1 hour ago, curious said:

It's not Entain NZ that faces any fine here. The company has a market capitalisation of 6.45 billion GBP and an EBITBA last year of £1,089m. I don't think a few A$100ms in fines is going to change anything much.

when they got fined 650 million pounds for the turkey bribery thing,it impacted them significantly.

I don't profess to know the significance or care much , of their australian legal woes.But clearly the global entain leadership and the markets consider it signficant..

heres some quotes from  a story i read on it previously earlier this year.

"in addition to its legal troubles in the uk,entain is facing regulatory challenges in other parts of the world,most notably australia.Austrac has opened civil penalty proceedings against entain,accusing the company of serious non compliance with the countries anti money laundering laws. Austrac claims entain failed to implement adequate systems and controls  to prevent money laundering activities within its operations.

entatin has responded by saying it is working towards resolving the issue and is working towards a settlement in 2025. However this growing regulatory scrutiny in australia only adds to the companies growing list of legal challenges.Several senior executives in australia and new zealand have already stepped down in response to the proceedings,but the long term impact on entains operations in the region remains uncertain...

entain is undoubtedly facing significant challenges as it tries to move past the shadow of the turkish bribery scandel)they were fined 650 million pounds in 2023)....

despite the ongoing scrutiny,entains financial results for 2025 show signs of improvement,with losses narrowing and the company managing to stabalize its operations.entain is also focusing on extending its global presence."

[curious]

That story is also 6months or more old. Investors don't currently seem too concerned. The share price has more than doubled in the last 12 months.

Edited yesterday at 03:25 AM by curious

[the galah]

16 minutes ago, curious said:

That story is also 6months or more old. Investors don't currently seem too concerned. The share price has more than doubled in the last 12 months.

at the end of the day,do you think their stock price or the level of the fine they get in australia or what goes on overseas makes any difference to what happens in nz racing?

[curious]

9 minutes ago, the galah said:

at the end of the day,do you think their stock price or the level of the fine they get in australia or what goes on overseas makes any difference to what happens in nz racing?

No. That's really my point. What matters is the performance of Entain in NZ, at what level that will then fund NZ racing from 2028, and if that is at a much lower level as seems likely, how NZ racing will manage that.

[Withadream2]

13 hours ago, Chief Stipe said:

No I know there is an agreement in place which was made public.  I have forgotten the detail I.e. is it 50% of Gross Betting/Wagering Revenue

Apologies if this is a stupid question, but is the 50/50 split of GBR on the total wagering, ie racing & sports betting or does racing just get 50% of the GBR of money invested on racing only?

[Gammalite]

6 hours ago, curious said:

No. That's really my point. What matters is the performance of Entain in NZ, at what level that will then fund NZ racing from 2028, and if that is at a much lower level as seems likely, how NZ racing will manage that.

I fail to see how the outcome could possibly have any impact on NZ racing?

 

These 2 comments above today are very Curious. you live up to your name and contradict yourself. The impact of the Federal case is already effecting NZ with the CEO who helped set up the NZ Entain deal , leaving the position recently on June 30th. Only 2 years from June 2023 when the deal was activated. Shannon's knowledge of the betting Industry and the racing industry in particular is absolutely huge. and will be missed .trotting will be doomed anyway.

There is an interim CEO in place Andrew Vouris. I think there will be impact at some stage. the changing of the guard so quickly will tell the story shortly . Vouris is a former TABCORP executive so should have a fair handle on the situation .😎

Afterall he was deputy CEO at TABCORP when they were dragged over the coals in 2017 by Austrac in the Federal Court , for this money laundering that All these betting companies do for these BIG punters. just PAR for the course it seems.  TABCORP ended up getting fined a Australian record highest ever civil Penalty of $45,000,000 for the breaches.   Mr Vouris an experienced hand at it 🤣

[Brodie]

The truth of the matter is we do not know what is in the agreement between the NZ TAB and Entain!

The TAB went on this nationwide PR exercise saying how things are now rosey for racing in NZ with Entain on board!

Hopefully it is, but from where I am currently sitting I believe that it is not looking at all flash for harness racing in the next 5 years!

HRNZ have put a band aid on a festering sore and then come out with BS about how things are going?

At the end of the day most if us know why Entain bought into the TAB and some not all will have their eyes  opened  big time in under 3 years if not before!

Foes anyone know shat has happened to the COMMITTEE that was meant to be happening ?

 

[Chief Stipe]

5 hours ago, Gammalite said:

TABCORP ended up getting fined a Australian record highest ever civil Penalty of $45,000,000 for the breaches. 

I don't get your point @Gammalite  The "record fine" didn't last long as a record.  Three years later WestPac was fined $1.3 billion.  $45m is loose change to ENTAIN.

[Chief Stipe]

3 hours ago, Brodie said:

At the end of the day most if us know why Entain bought into the TAB and some not all will have their eyes  opened  big time in under 3 years if not before.

What do "most of us know"?

[Brodie]

Entain bought the  NZ TAB so they could get the profits from Gambling Online and Sports betting!

They have no interest in racing in NZ at all.

Maybe that is why Dean Shannon got the DCM?

You may think they were here to help out racing in NZ, I wouldnt be betting on that at any odds and time will in my humble opinion will give us the answer.

They started out ok but have gradually shown their colours!

If they actually did care about racing they wouldve challenged HRNZ  as to the way they were spending the dollars granted by Entain so far!

Anyway time will certainly tell.

[Chief Stipe]

22 minutes ago, Brodie said:

Entain bought the  NZ TAB so they could get the profits from Gambling Online and Sports betting!

Makes business sense.

23 minutes ago, Brodie said:

They have no interest in racing in NZ at all.

That doesn't appear to be the case given their investment to date.

23 minutes ago, Brodie said:

Maybe that is why Dean Shannon got the DCM?

Who said he got the DCM?  Perhaps he left of his own accord.  Not withstanding the fact that ENTAIN are streamlining their operation.

25 minutes ago, Brodie said:

You may think they were here to help out racing in NZ, I wouldnt be betting on that at any odds and time will in my humble opinion will give us the answer.

Yes I do think they are here to help racing.  It wouldn't be very prudent to bite the hand the fed them the opportunity in the first place.

28 minutes ago, Brodie said:

If they actually did care about racing they wouldve challenged HRNZ  as to the way they were spending the dollars granted by Entain so far!

Are you suggesting HRNZ should put the money on Term Deposit and have zero stakes?

Anyway they are still restricting your betting so that must improve their profit.

[Gammalite]

4 hours ago, Chief Stipe said:

I don't get your point @Gammalite  The "record fine" didn't last long as a record.  Three years later WestPac was fined $1.3 billion.  $45m is loose change to ENTAIN.

You know Chief that's the bit I don't get. If they are so rich (allegedly with some from the proceeds of crime) they shouldn't be allowed to get away with it. Some get too big for their boots . Good on AUSTRAC trying to Not let them profit from crime laundering . 

So with $45 mill being 'small change' then the Investment in NZ racing must be fairly small change then. 100 mill odd.

So QA/  why is Brodie saying the funding will stop ?  at 5 years ?

and B/ why is Brodie constantly forever criticising the HRNZ and its officials for poor performance ? , when they are distributing this supposed 'Loose Change' to the fine participants of New Zealand harness racing ? 

Why Not be enthused. ?  ( I think Auckland should have 100 race days myself ) race every Tuesday for low stakes with slower horses so everyone gets a winner across 50 days, but you have to have triple the stakes every Friday for Metro City horses for another 50 dates  , so the richer blokes like Telfers and the two Purdon's mobs etc race. This would ENCOURAGE MORE PARTICIPATION , which is what you are lacking at the moment.  Horses could have 'Graduations' from the Tuesday racing to the metro racing. (we call them Quallies  ) and is the right way to go. HRNZ need me as NI Handicapper lol 😆 . i'd sort em' out in No time. 👍 and have some great regular racing for All grades. Not cancellations like yesterday. It is WINTER though. just 4 weeks and the Spring racing is ON . some of the blokes that constantly grizzle on harness forums like big babies might even enjoy the racing then . ( 'might' but don't hold your breathe ) I've never seen so many people bagging the product like you get in NZ. you see none of that in Australia.  

We have an extra 20% increase in NZ race dates this season (year) . surely this is an excellent thing ? , and MANY more Participants are getting  race starts, AND IMPORTANTLY , in a Race that they CAN win. a big chunk of QLD horses start around 40 times per year. to return a profit for owners. This is what NZ should be aiming to accommodate too. horses NOT winning or sitting at home in Stalls and paddocks is just a Waste.?🤔 

here's some when they made the deals. to do with the Dates Calendar which looks great. 

Harness Racing New Zealand has today unveiled a significantly revamped calendar for the 2024/25 season which it says is designed to deliver more racing opportunities for industry stakeholders and punters alike.

“The changes come following an 11-month window which has seen the most radical shift in the racing and wagering landscape that New Zealand has ever seen. The introduction of Entain as operators of the TAB has brought with it increased funding and innovation, and has given Harness Racing New Zealand the opportunity to redefine itself in partnership with them,” says Chairman Phil Holden.

“In particular, it has allowed us to take a fresh look at our racing calendar, to identify opportunities for growth, and to weave initiatives through it to get horses racing and to keep them racing. This new calendar is the first step in a joint plan to revitalise harness racing, much as we have seen with thoroughbred racing,”

 

[Chief Stipe]

17 minutes ago, Gammalite said:

You know Chief that's the bit I don't get. If they are so rich (allegedly with some from the proceeds of crime) they shouldn't be allowed to get away with it.

ENTAIN didn't commit the first crime.  Following your logic WestPac and the CBA should be closed down.

18 minutes ago, Gammalite said:

So with $45 mill being 'small change' then the Investment in NZ racing must be fairly small change then. 100 mill odd.

Correct.

BTW I agree with the rest of your post.  It is becoming tedious all the uninformed comment.

The AML issue is a legacy issue and many many good honest legitimate businesses have struggled with implementing systems to meet the evolving legislation.

[the galah]

11 hours ago, Gammalite said:

I fail to see how the outcome could possibly have any impact on NZ racing?

 

These 2 comments above today are very Curious. you live up to your name and contradict yourself. The impact of the Federal case is already effecting NZ with the CEO who helped set up the NZ Entain deal , leaving the position recently on June 30th. Only 2 years from June 2023 when the deal was activated. Shannon's knowledge of the betting Industry and the racing industry in particular is absolutely huge. and will be missed .trotting will be doomed anyway.

There is an interim CEO in place Andrew Vouris. I think there will be impact at some stage. the changing of the guard so quickly will tell the story shortly . Vouris is a former TABCORP executive so should have a fair handle on the situation .😎

Afterall he was deputy CEO at TABCORP when they were dragged over the coals in 2017 by Austrac in the Federal Court , for this money laundering that All these betting companies do for these BIG punters. just PAR for the course it seems.  TABCORP ended up getting fined a Australian record highest ever civil Penalty of $45,000,000 for the breaches.   Mr Vouris an experienced hand at it 🤣

i agree that its silly to call the possibilty of big fines loose change.

i also agree that its just common sense to recognise that it was a significant advaantage to have had someone  like dean shannon,a harness supporter, in charge at entain. 

everyone knows that people,organisations,companies decsion making is influenced by the interests of the people making the decisions.

However it was shown to be a double edged sword as entain also collaborated with HRNZ to come up with their stupid and easily predicted  failed policy of 2 year old bonuses which failed to result in the promised larger field sizes and more breeding numbers.

that was an example of mr shannon influencing something which he appeared to think would benefit the industry because he saw how it benefitted himself. That is the best way to look at that,otherwise one could become a bit cynical about mr shannons poor judgment on that issue. But when we look at the big picture,he was putting a lot of personal time and effort into helping harness racing and him being the top entain guy was a positive harness racing no longer has.

Edited 7 hours ago by the galah

[Gammalite]

33 minutes ago, the galah said:

i agree that its silly to call the possibilty of big fines loose change.

i also agree that its just common sense to recognise that it was a significant advaantage to have had someone  like dean shannon,a harness supporter, in charge at entain. 

everyone knows that people,organisations,companies decsion making is influenced by the interests of the people making the decisions.

However it was shown to be a double edged sword as entain also collaborated with HRNZ to come up with their stupid and easily predicted  failed policy of 2 year old bonuses which failed to result in the promised larger field sizes and more breeding numbers.

that was an example of mr shannon influencing something which he appeared to think would benefit the industry because he saw how it benefitted himself. That is the best way to look at that,otherwise one could become a bit cynical about mr shannons poor judgment on that issue. But when we look at the big picture,he was putting a lot of personal time and effort into helping harness racing and him being the top entain guy was a positive harness racing no longer has.

Yes it was great having a trotting man as the helm of the Entain venture. And yes , with 17 horses including Merlin , having races for his horses is nice too. I wouldn't begrudge him that. afterall , other people can enter the races.

and I think someone at HRNZ is the main Set-up person for Feature racing and schemes anyway , ahead of the Entain Rep . Mr Shannon may have had some suggestions though. He has had horses for decades (had 70 at one part of the 90's with his wife partner) so knows what sort of things might have helped a Breeder/owner/ racer

I think if the 2 year old bonus scheme has failed you, then they will just try something else? . Currently QLD has a FIRST WIN bonus of $10k for any QLD bred horses that wins it's first race anywhere in QLD. I know a few blokes with fairly slow horses who tried desperately for it and some did !! excellent. 🏆  maybe NZ will try something like that for it's territory soon?

We Still have the Australian Pacing Gold series. Any horse sold through that APG Yearling Sales around the nation,  can compete in the heats and rich finals. Some states only get a handful of the graduates running and there have even been 2 horse 2 year old heats on occasion. It's just one of those things. At least the owner gets some money for sure (if he can get his horse to the races) 

Sires Stakes racing is Important . and each state and NZ still invest heavily into that. To encourage the New Generation each year ( like displayed so awesomely by Marketplace last year ) and the 'Choc's and Rubira in the heats. You really need BIG prize 2 year old racing to get the new ones racing (owners and trainers motivated) 

[Gammalite]

1 hour ago, Chief Stipe said:

ENTAIN didn't commit the first crime.  Following your logic WestPac and the CBA should be closed down.

I didn't say Close them down. Perhaps a stock standard Fine? . $400,000,000 Austrac fine, is proving too much for Star Entertainment to Cope with currently. they want it reduced to $100,000,000 to survive.

ENTAIN have joined in doing the same stuff . (criminal activity NEVER bloody ceases)

and yes I guess a lot of Banks are holding their 'proceeds'  from Drugs and what not. They should just bury cash in drums in the ground like Pablo Escobar lol 🤣🤣.  it's such a delimma for crime organisations these days. they don't use Cash as much anymore at a lot of places. The Gambling institutes suddenly look VERY appealing lol. Off shore betting companies like Entain are great for moving a bit of the 'Lolly' lol .

ENTAIN would have a lot more than the named dodgey 17 customers for sure and certain. But they won't tell you That. there's a lot of sand shovelling going on 😎

Perhaps they (Austrac anti-laundering )  should stick to the $400,000,000 Fine ? if you're saying the TABcorp one was just chickenfeed at $45 mill And be a little bit of a detterent to a billion dollar organisation like Entain ? .  would try and make them keep 'clean ' books at least, even when everyone knows what is really going on under the table. 

[the galah]

14 hours ago, Withadream2 said:

Apologies if this is a stupid question, but is the 50/50 split of GBR on the total wagering, ie racing & sports betting or does racing just get 50% of the GBR of money invested on racing only?

I see no ones answered this so i will give it a go.

someone could correct me if its not entirely accurate,as at today,but this is how i understand the money generated from sports betting is distributed .

The new zealand sports organisations,each have a signed agreement with the tab,giving the tab approval to operate sports betting on their individual sports and they have an agreement in how they are reimbursed by the tab from money bet.

At one point the national sporting bodies,as a colllective,were pushing the tab to give them...a minimum of 23% net betting revenue to each relevant national sporting body   plus 3% of net betting revenue to the wider sport sector via nz sport.

that was just a minimum with individual nz sports organisations  able to negotiate greater % with the tab.

so as far as the sport betting goes the money flowws like this,the tab would deduct all the costs of providing the product,the sporting organisations get their share,enain get  their share and nz racing their share.With greyhounds no longer there from next year then th likes of gallops are harness will get what would have been their share as well.

so the geo blocking should be a major  plus for nz racing because of the sports betting income boost,even if it doesn't help the racing income side.

of course,sometimes sports betting revenue net profit varies whatever the turnover. E.g entains usa sports betting partner had a bad year last year because of all the favorites winning in the gridiron.

but exactly how much,only time will tell .

thats my take on how it works anyway.

Edited 5 hours ago by the galah

[Chief Stipe]

3 hours ago, Gammalite said:

I didn't say Close them down. Perhaps a stock standard Fine? . $400,000,000 Austrac fine, is proving too much for Star Entertainment to Cope with currently. they want it reduced to $100,000,000 to survive.

Sometimes @Gammalite I don't know if you or @the galah actually read what is posted.

I'll day it again one more time.  The quantum of the non-compliamce by ENTAIN is nowhere near the same as Star Entertainment.  The quantum of any penalty will reflect that disparity.  ENTAIN may very well get what SportsBet have got and that is enforceable action to remedy flaws in their monitoring systems.

3 hours ago, Gammalite said:

ENTAIN would have a lot more than the named dodgey 17 customers for sure and certain. But they won't tell you That. there's a lot of sand shovelling going on 😎

You have no idea whether they do or don't.  However a public company finds it very hard to hide cash if not impossible.  AUSTRAC have done a thorough investigation just as they have with every other organisation they have investigated.

I just don't get why you want to slag ENTAIN.

3 hours ago, Gammalite said:

Perhaps they (Austrac anti-laundering )  should stick to the $400,000,000 Fine ? if you're saying the TABcorp one was just chickenfeed at $45 mill And be a little bit of a detterent to a billion dollar organisation like Entain ? .  would try and make them keep 'clean ' books at least, even when everyone knows what is really going on under the table. 

FFS read what I have said the penalty matches the quantum of the non-compliance.

$45m is not a lot off the bottom line when your profit is AUD$2.1 billion!!!

As I've said before ENTAIN may not even get a financial penalty.  But it certainly will be less than $400m and close to $45m.  TABCORP had 105 breaches (Entain 17) as well as credit card fraud.

SportsBet had one individual whose turnover was more than the NZTAB annual turnover and the money was funnelled out of Hong Kong.  

[mikeynz]

4 hours ago, the galah said:

I see no ones answered this so i will give it a go.

someone could correct me if its not entirely accurate,as at today,but this is how i understand the money generated from sports betting is distributed .

The new zealand sports organisations,each have a signed agreement with the tab,giving the tab approval to operate sports betting on their individual sports and they have an agreement in how they are reimbursed by the tab from money bet.

At one point the national sporting bodies,as a colllective,were pushing the tab to give them...a minimum of 23% net betting revenue to each relevant national sporting body   plus 3% of net betting revenue to the wider sport sector via nz sport.

that was just a minimum with individual nz sports organisations  able to negotiate greater % with the tab.

so as far as the sport betting goes the money flowws like this,the tab would deduct all the costs of providing the product,the sporting organisations get their share,enain get  their share and nz racing their share.With greyhounds no longer there from next year then th likes of gallops are harness will get what would have been their share as well.

so the geo blocking should be a major  plus for nz racing because of the sports betting income boost,even if it doesn't help the racing income side.

of course,sometimes sports betting revenue net profit varies whatever the turnover. E.g entains usa sports betting partner had a bad year last year because of all the favorites winning in the gridiron.

but exactly how much,only time will tell .

thats my take on how it works anyway.

Do you believe there will be a sports betting boost, based on what I see I'd be surprised, irrespective of that the money sports organisation's get is very significant, the large punters won't migrate to TAB unless they update the platform, there are also concerns about pokie money slowly drying up with people playing online, awkward times indeed.

Many curse gambling but without it many up shit creek.