Another Open Letter...from a NZ Racing stakeholder!

[Chief Stipe]

Alledgedly by a Andrew Knowler

 

Open Letter to the New Zealand Racing Establishment

 

This industry is being strangled by boards, bureaucrats, and blazers who cost a fortune and deliver nothing. Owners, trainers, breeders, and punters are footing the bill so administrators can keep their cushy seats warm. Enough.

 

Here are the facts:

• $13 million wasted on “Racing Integrity.”

• $14 million blown on NZ Thoroughbred Racing.

• That’s $27 million a year — $11,000 a race.

• 4,300 starters last year at $6,279 per horse.
   

That money isn’t going into prize money, better tracks, or promotion of the sport. It’s vanishing into meetings, reports, and salaries.

The TAB board? Just another layer of highly paid suits clipping the ticket. No transparency. No accountability. Another trough for insiders while grassroots participants struggle to stay afloat.
 

A nine-raceday card burns about $100,000 in governance costs before the first horse even walks into the birdcage. A hundred grand gone to administration before the product even exists. It’s waste, pure and simple.
 

And let’s name it: NZTR’s board — Cameron George, Sir Peter Vela, and the rest of you — this is on your watch.

Costs balloon. Stakes stagnate. Participants drown. Where’s the leadership? Where’s the courage to clean house? Or is it easier to nod through another round of “business as usual” while pocketing the fees?
 

“Integrity” is the most abused word in this industry. Real integrity would mean cutting the fat, ending duplication, and getting money back to the people who actually put horses on the track. Instead, the current model exists to protect jobs, not the sport.
 

Here’s what must happen now:
 

• Cut the boards: NZTR reduced to five members max, term limits enforced, seats openly contested.

• One lean integrity unit: No overlapping empires. Independent, efficient, accountable.

• Full salary disclosure: Every director, every executive, every consultant — published. No more hiding.

• Hard cap on admin costs: NZTR + RIU + TAB together capped at 5% of turnover. No excuses.

• Redirect savings to stakes: Every dollar stripped from bureaucracy must go straight into prize money and grassroots infrastructure.

• Performance contracts only: Miss targets, you’re out. No golden handshakes. No endless extensions.

• Independent reviews every 3 years: By international experts, not insiders marking their own homework.
   

This isn’t complicated. Slash the boards. Cut the wastage. Put the money where it matters. If you don’t, you’ll go down as the people who killed New Zealand racing — not through lack of passion, but through suffocating it under layers of board papers and inflated salaries.

 

The industry is bleeding out while you polish your chairs in Wellington. Enough. The people who actually run horses, ride them, and pay the bills are done waiting. Change — or get out of the way.

[The Centaur]

There is a bit of AI being exercised at TAB but combining AI with custom databased knowledge should eliminate lot of the costs particularly integrity. Also there are retired people willing to contribute free services and that should be utilised.

Property sales over recent times have kept many management in nice cushy jobs with little oversight. Also lets get rid of the club member mentality where those running the club think they are only answerable to the members. If an initiative is OK for one club then its possibly worth using it for all clubs. 

[Chief Stipe]

1 hour ago, The Centaur said:

There is a bit of AI being exercised at TAB but combining AI with custom databased knowledge should eliminate lot of the costs particularly integrity.

Uh?  AI provides mostly erroneous results particularly when the data set is tiny.  Even when the data is significant it often gets it wrong.  

1 hour ago, The Centaur said:

Also there are retired people willing to contribute free services and that should be utilised.

I'm not sure that would be a good thing for Integrity.  I don't have a problem with paying professionals a professional salary.

[Special Agent]

1 hour ago, The Centaur said:

Also there are retired people willing to contribute free services and that should be utilised.

I get the sentiment but, not all retired people are equal.

Property sales in my eyes should be a last resort.  You can't tell me all revenue has been wisely invested back into the industry.

"Change — or get out of the way."  I love this quote.  Evolve even.  To hang onto a job merely for the salary is not acceptable.  You'd think the top roles would have performance based remuneration, KPI's or whatever.

[hesi]

It is Antony Knowler, he has posted on all of the 3 chat sites and also the FB site.

If he is who I think he is, then he is a loose cannon.

A lot of subjective claptrap, for example.  These are not facts.  $13 mil is not wasted, Racing has to have some sort of controls on integrity.  It may not be being done in the most efficient way.  $14 mil blown on NZTR, it is not blown, the industry has to be administered, maybe not to people's liking.

I didn't read any further, the opening stanza of the letter was as I said, emotive claptrap.

Here are the facts:

• $13 million wasted on “Racing Integrity.”

• $14 million blown on NZ Thoroughbred Racing.

[hesi]

It might help if people actually read the NZTR Annual Report.  A lot of supposedly hidden info in there.

I think 23/24, NZTR had 48 operating staff for a salary cost of 5.5 mil (correct me if I am wrong).  Even if you saved half of this, it is not a lot you could direct back into stakes as suggested

[westbrew]

This did prompt me to have a quick look thru some annual reports for 23/24 year

I did not want to waste a lot of my valuable time going into the detail to extract 

the real number but a very rough estimate from each of the set of accounts

i tried to remove any amounts that were support payments to clubs and just

get the running cost of each organization. The TAB i believe still run the venues

which have pokies in and as such is basically using up pokies money to run itself

NZ TAB 18.4m

NZTR    14.9m

RIB       15.3m

HRNZ   7.0m

GRNZ   5.5m

total     61.1m

 

Now the question is looking at the Racing industry as a whole is 61.1m to run it value for Money.

As an aside back of the envelope for RIB they presently have approx. 26 stewards,2 investigator's , 2

swab related administrators, and 2 office based animal welfare staff, and the real eye opener

11 office based (wellington and Auckland) so called corporate service based staff.

Having run a business Hesi i can assure you that just looking to save money from staff salaries is not

the way to cut your expenses, when you need to cut your cloth to make your business efficient and able to

keep producing for the shareholders(stake holders) every expense is open to examination.       

[Chief Stipe]

37 minutes ago, westbrew said:

NZ TAB 18.4m

NZTR    14.9m

RIB       15.3m

HRNZ   7.0m

GRNZ   5.5m

total     61.1m

Those figures are not correct.  

[Huey]

Who ever wrote it wasted their time, it's all been said before and nothing has happened and nothing will happen (well nothing positive anyway) the same regurgitated facts have been said by many in the industry for years but no action equals no outcome.

It's not in the interests of the current industry leaders to do any of this , so none of it will  happen. It's gone too far now, the only future is an industry that looks very different and a lot smaller than it is now. Plan for it! 

[hesi]

I'm surprised there are so many people that are so negative towards the NZ racing industry.

Perhaps there aren't, just a small number making a lot of noise, giving the perception that it is a lot more.

In Entain's first year, thoroughbred stakes increased 20 mil, from 70 to 90 million.  And they are guaranteed to go up 2-3 million a year through till 2028.

Sure there are problems with non-proactive management, tracks, scheduling and where that stake money should go, top end or bottom.

These are all issues that can be fixed

The biggest issue for racing, is gross betting revenue, which by far is the biggest challenge.

 

[Nowornever]

He is dead right on a lot of what he says, but good luck changing the process which seems to get more administrative every year.

[Chief Stipe]

2 hours ago, Huey said:

It's gone too far now, the only future is an industry that looks very different and a lot smaller than it is now. Plan for it! 

But why would it worry you?  You seem to have hung the bridle on the wall years ago and are Waiting For Godot.

[curious]

2 hours ago, hesi said:

In Entain's first year, thoroughbred stakes increased 20 mil, from 70 to 90 million.  And they are guaranteed to go up 2-3 million a year through till 2028.

Really? Guaranteed by who? NZTR forecasts are for stakes to be flat through 2028 aren't they? That's because they arranged with NZTAB taking the total 5 year increase partially in advance for the greater more immediate lift.

[hesi]

28 minutes ago, curious said:

Really? Guaranteed by who? NZTR forecasts are for stakes to be flat through 2028 aren't they? That's because they arranged with NZTAB taking the total 5 year increase partially in advance for the greater more immediate lift.

I wasn't aware of that if it is in fact the case.  Regardless  we are talking about a huge increase in payout to thoroughbred, guaranteed for 5 years.  Factor into that the way results were trending down in Q1 22/23, and that should be a cause for optimism within the industry.

[curious]

3 minutes ago, hesi said:

I wasn't aware of that if it is in fact the case.  Regardless  we are talking about a huge increase in payout to thoroughbred, guaranteed for 5 years.  Factor into that the way results were trending down in Q1 22/23, and that should be a cause for optimism within the industry.

Not imo if it can't be sustained because Entain doesn't generate the necessary revenue from 2028 which seems likely, and TABNZ have significantly reduced income to distribute.

Edited 7 hours ago by curious

[Gammalite]

2 hours ago, curious said:

Not imo if it can't be sustained because Entain doesn't generate the necessary revenue from 2028 which seems likely, and TABNZ have significantly reduced income to distribute.

Yeah , but they'll still give something. They have a Monopoly on the NZ betting by banning Off shore betting , so Entain /TAB have a good thing going and will contribute past this 'Dreaded Five years thing ' that yourself and Brodie go on with all the time . 

You yourself said the Share price for the Company was doing Very Well this year ?  doubled in fact. 

Chief said they have set aside $100,000,000 in some form , in case the AUSTRAC Federal case , costs them something in fines . And thinks its just small change in the Billion (s) they clear annually globally.

They won't let Racing die in NZ . Gallop or trots. Some fellow will will keep it going. A Shame Dean Shannon left , a great racing supporter . But Entain are replacing 10 or so Executives worldwide. so will be Business as Usual. hopefully with less of the Money Laundering, but man, that this is Hard to Stop .  

Although as you say the Race Stakemoney might be reduced , from reduced punting revenue on racing these days. 

[Doomed]

3 hours ago, hesi said:

I wasn't aware of that if it is in fact the case.  Regardless  we are talking about a huge increase in payout to thoroughbred, guaranteed for 5 years.  Factor into that the way results were trending down in Q1 22/23, and that should be a cause for optimism within the industry.

Optimism? You must be dreaming. Regular 4, 5, 6 horse fields despite $40,000 and $50,000 stakes. How on earth is that sustainable? We used to work on stakes like these being funded by turnover. Now we work on about 10% of stakes being funded by turnover.

I'm quite staggered at people who think 5 horses racing for $50,000 with virtually no turnover generated is a sign that the industry is doing well.

[mikeynz]

7 minutes ago, Doomed said:

Optimism? You must be dreaming. Regular 4, 5, 6 horse fields despite $40,000 and $50,000 stakes. How on earth is that sustainable? We used to work on stakes like these being funded by turnover. Now we work on about 10% of stakes being funded by turnover.

I'm quite staggered at people who think 5 horses racing for $50,000 with virtually no turnover generated is a sign that the industry is doing well.

Doomed, if you switch over to Harness Racing 5 or 6 in a race is common and some dont even seem  concerned, for now.

[hesi]

16 minutes ago, Doomed said:

Optimism? You must be dreaming. Regular 4, 5, 6 horse fields despite $40,000 and $50,000 stakes. How on earth is that sustainable? We used to work on stakes like these being funded by turnover. Now we work on about 10% of stakes being funded by turnover.

I'm quite staggered at people who think 5 horses racing for $50,000 with virtually no turnover generated is a sign that the industry is doing well.

It is mid-Winter, let's reserve our judgment until the Spring racing really kicks in

[Doomed]

4 minutes ago, mikeynz said:

Doomed, if you switch over to Harness Racing 5 or 6 in a race is common and some dont even seem  concerned, for now.

They often race for about $12,000 though. In the gallops they have 5 or 6 racing for $50,000. 5 horses for $40,000 today at Riccarton, numerous 6 and 7 horse fields for $40,000 and $50,000 this weekend at Awapuni. Unsustainable. It is incredible that number of halfwits, to be generous, who think that is great for the industry.

[Gammalite]

2 minutes ago, mikeynz said:

Doomed, if you switch over to Harness Racing 5 or 6 in a race is common and some dont even seem  concerned, for now.

You people panic over nothing. It's Winter. The Star horses aren't racing yet. It's nearly Spring so some better horses and fields will turn up soon.

Last month would of been dark and cold and rainy in New Zealand. Why race your horse then lol.  But shine the light mate .  Turn on your torch. Get out of the warm bed. You won't know yourself in another 4 weeks.

Just be Patient , instead of bagging the Winter harness product . The racing tonight was excellent at Waikato but you blokes have gone past the point of even appreciating your horses anymore. very sad. I picked 6 out of 7 winners without even trying.   

 

[hesi]

4 hours ago, curious said:

Not imo if it can't be sustained because Entain doesn't generate the necessary revenue from 2028 which seems likely, and TABNZ have significantly reduced income to distribute.

What concern is this of anyone in Racing.  Entain is responsible for this, they are contracted to it and it is their area of expertise.

It seems people will complain no matter what.  We had wagering in NZ handled by the Racing Board/TAB, and everyone took aim at that, and rightly so, because they were out of their depth by comparison.

Now we have a specialist operator in place, and guess what, people are still bitching

Racing people need to get their own house in order, to facilitate the moves Entain has made, rather than telling Entain how to suck eggs

[hesi]

26 minutes ago, Doomed said:

Optimism? You must be dreaming. Regular 4, 5, 6 horse fields despite $40,000 and $50,000 stakes. How on earth is that sustainable? We used to work on stakes like these being funded by turnover. Now we work on about 10% of stakes being funded by turnover.

I'm quite staggered at people who think 5 horses racing for $50,000 with virtually no turnover generated is a sign that the industry is doing well.

The other thing on this, horses don't magically appear, there is a time lag.  Entain underwriting the industry was announced in June 2023, so we are looking at 3 years plus before any horses bred as a result of any renewed confidence in the industry start appearing.

Latest foal crop numbers might help

But yes, 4-6 horse fields is not sustainable

[Doomed]

41 minutes ago, hesi said:

The other thing on this, horses don't magically appear, there is a time lag.  Entain underwriting the industry was announced in June 2023, so we are looking at 3 years plus before any horses bred as a result of any renewed confidence in the industry start appearing.

Latest foal crop numbers might help

But yes, 4-6 horse fields is not sustainable

There are horses out there. Tiny fields at Riccarton today, small fields there again next week. If Timaru raced this weekend they could probably fill 10 good sized fields. It is just a matter of programming the right races for the right horses on the right tracks.

[hesi]

2 minutes ago, Doomed said:

There are horses out there. Tiny fields at Riccarton today, small fields there again next week. If Timaru raced this weekend they could probably fill 10 good sized fields. It is just a matter of programming the right races for the right horses on the right tracks.

Separate issue also there with the poly track and the anti that seems to have developed against them