Project Stamina? Why not earlier- Opportunity Lost?

[Brodie]

Just read on HRNZ an update on Project Stamina!

what a brilliant idea to have discussions about the future of racing in NZ and how it can be viable in the future !!

Seriously well overdue and possibly too late, shouldve been done 3 years ago or earlier as the cash splash from Entain has been wasted big time.

With harness everything seems to take far too long and correct decision making has been lacking unfortunately.

Those that have been making the decisions at HRNZ and those signing off on them should never ever be allowed near the office again, but we know that it is mates looking after mates.

Already the HRNZ Board should be cutting the current stake money being paid on a lot of the current racing until it is under control, but this is not being done because they are getting paid.

it is going to have to happen as the purse strings tighten, so why not Now?

 

Edited May 17 by Brodie

[Nowornever]

10 minutes ago, Brodie said:

Already the HRNZ Board should be cutting the current stake money being paid on a lot of the current racing until it is under control, but this is not being done because they are getting paid.

The stakes ratio is wrong. Keep the bottom level stakes the same and slash all stakes over 20K. 

[Spatchcock]

1 hour ago, Brodie said:

Just read on HRNZ an update on Project Stamina!

what a brilliant idea to have discussions about the future of racing in NZ and how it can be viable in the future !!

Seriously well overdue and possibly too late, shouldve been done 3 years ago or earlier as the cash splash from Entain has been wasted big time.

With harness everything seems to take far too long and correct decision making has been lacking unfortunately.

Those that have been making the decisions at HRNZ and those signing off on them should never ever be allowed near the office again, but we know that it is mates looking after mates.

Already the HRNZ Board should be cutting the current stake money being paid on a lot of the current racing until it is under control, but this is not being done because they are getting paid.

it is going to have to happen as the purse strings tighten, so why not Now?

 

It was done three years ago. It was called the Sapere Report and it provided critical analysis of racetracks countrywide. 
But like every other study commissioned, it was largely ignored and set aside, or briefly implemented then reversed.

You can read it here.
https://nztr.co.nz/sites/nztrindustry/files/2024-05/Size and Scope of NZ Racing 22-23_Draft Report 2024 (HR)_0.pdf

[Brodie]

Hopefully they have people who have a success in running businesses as the ones that were there have been acting recklessly!

Unless things are changed in the very near future then things will become dire in 2 years time.

It is impossible for fathom how HRNZ have been allowed to act the way they have with the cash splash from Entain?

Entain dont give a rats as they are not going to be propping up racing in NZ when the 5 years is up, it is Sports and Online gambling they ever wanted when they bought in! 

 

Edited May 18 by Brodie

[the galah]

4 hours ago, Spatchcock said:

It was done three years ago. It was called the Sapere Report and it provided critical analysis of racetracks countrywide. 
But like every other study commissioned, it was largely ignored and set aside, or briefly implemented then reversed.

You can read it here.
https://nztr.co.nz/sites/nztrindustry/files/2024-05/Size and Scope of NZ Racing 22-23_Draft Report 2024 (HR)_0.pdf

haven't you just provided us with a link detailing the size and scope of the nz racing industry and the impact on the nz economy.

and wasn't the reason the sapere report  was ignored was because it recommended things like closing tracks like orari,timaru or oamaru,rangiora.

So whats the point of getting reports that make recommendations that people with understanding of the harness industry realise will hurt the industry,not help it. its all very well to say reports are ignored,but theres more to it than that.

at least thats my impression of that type of thing.

when will harnes just ever think for themselves and use common sense and put the best interests of the harness industry as the basis of there policies.

if those in charge read this forum they would get more realistic assessment of their policies than from the specail interest groups within the industry who push their own agendas.

And for years,part of  the obvious decline is people have nowhere affordable to train their horse from. That no one,except the mega rich or those whose facilites are passed down from families,could afford the cost of setting up their own training establishment,like they could in days gone by.Yet,here we are,and still that hasn't been addressed and the problem has only got worse.

And when they do talk about solutions,you wonder how they think sometimes..For example,I heard one time that the motukarara track was looking to provide facilities so people could train out there. Like,someone has looked at that track,said,well theres next to no one trains there,so lets invest in them.Obviously whoever did that hadn't asked themselves ,why is there next to no one want to train from that area in canterbury.Thats the same type of thinking that ypu get from people who say,aucklands where the population is,so thats where we need to grow. Comp[letely ignoring the fact the the morwe the population has grown,the weaker the sport has become in auckland. 

anyway,not much point of going over that again i suppose. But one thing i have obsevred over the years,is harness racing investing in providing ithe provganything as a partner with the galloping code,is not in the best intrests of the harness industry. Harness racing should have already have invested in areas that would have minimised the decline of the industry,but it hasn't adnd its just a lack of common sense that you see that makes you scaratch your head. thing is,people have come to expect decisions to be made that have no real logic to them. Like hrnz's investment in auckland without demanding restructuring of that as a condition of their investment.

[Spatchcock]

18 hours ago, the galah said:

haven't you just provided us with a link detailing the size and scope of the nz racing industry and the impact on the nz economy.

and wasn't the reason the sapere report  was ignored was because it recommended things like closing tracks like orari,timaru or oamaru,rangiora.

So whats the point of getting reports that make recommendations that people with understanding of the harness industry realise will hurt the industry,not help it. its all very well to say reports are ignored,but theres more to it than that.

at least thats my impression of that type of thing.

when will harnes just ever think for themselves and use common sense and put the best interests of the harness industry as the basis of there policies.

if those in charge read this forum they would get more realistic assessment of their policies than from the specail interest groups within the industry who push their own agendas.

And for years,part of  the obvious decline is people have nowhere affordable to train their horse from. That no one,except the mega rich or those whose facilites are passed down from families,could afford the cost of setting up their own training establishment,like they could in days gone by.Yet,here we are,and still that hasn't been addressed and the problem has only got worse.

And when they do talk about solutions,you wonder how they think sometimes..For example,I heard one time that the motukarara track was looking to provide facilities so people could train out there. Like,someone has looked at that track,said,well theres next to no one trains there,so lets invest in them.Obviously whoever did that hadn't asked themselves ,why is there next to no one want to train from that area in canterbury.Thats the same type of thinking that ypu get from people who say,aucklands where the population is,so thats where we need to grow. Comp[letely ignoring the fact the the morwe the population has grown,the weaker the sport has become in auckland. 

anyway,not much point of going over that again i suppose. But one thing i have obsevred over the years,is harness racing investing in providing ithe provganything as a partner with the galloping code,is not in the best intrests of the harness industry. Harness racing should have already have invested in areas that would have minimised the decline of the industry,but it hasn't adnd its just a lack of common sense that you see that makes you scaratch your head. thing is,people have come to expect decisions to be made that have no real logic to them. Like hrnz's investment in auckland without demanding restructuring of that as a condition of their investment.

Please, not so long!

[the galah]

3 hours ago, Spatchcock said:

Please, not so long!

Why,is it because you've never been told that before,mr spatch Cock.

Edited May 19 by the galah

[Chief Stipe]

On 18/05/2026 at 11:14 AM, Nowornever said:

The stakes ratio is wrong. Keep the bottom level stakes the same and slash all stakes over 20K. 

Slash is a quantitative term...NOT!

[Chief Stipe]

On 18/05/2026 at 12:10 PM, Spatchcock said:

It was done three years ago. It was called the Sapere Report and it provided critical analysis of racetracks countrywide. 
But like every other study commissioned, it was largely ignored and set aside, or briefly implemented then reversed.

The issue was the fiefdom's i.e. the Clubs reject any reports that challenge their existance more so in Thoroughbred Racing.

Add to that the Central Administrators have no power to enforce change other than remove race dates.

[Chief Stipe]

22 hours ago, the galah said:

So whats the point of getting reports that make recommendations that people with understanding of the harness industry realise will hurt the industry,not help it. its all very well to say reports are ignored,but theres more to it than that.

Who are these "people with understanding of the harness industry"?

Surely not self-interested Club members?

[Brodie]

Nothing personal but the recent CEO’s from where I stand, were never successful businessmen???
Too often these CEO positions are given not on any past performance but because they are mates of the people appointing them!!!

Yes they might like harness racing, yes they may have been on Boards but that dkes not mean they are going to be any good, and many of us know they were not up to the task.

Unfortunately they seem to go from suited position to another and achieving very little!

Anyone is allowed to disagree with Brodie, but if the right people were at HRNZ then they would not be in this position!

 

[Chief Stipe]

22 hours ago, the galah said:

And for years,part of  the obvious decline is people have nowhere affordable to train their horse from. That no one,except the mega rich or those whose facilites are passed down from families,could afford the cost of setting up their own training establishment,like they could in days gone by.Yet,here we are,and still that hasn't been addressed and the problem has only got worse.

I agree with that.  Same problem in Thoroughbred racing where central training facilities with all the necessary extra equipment needed to compete haven't been developed.  That said the advantage of harness is you don't need a very big property to compete compared to Thoroughbreds.

[Chief Stipe]

Thinking about it the best training facility in Canterbury for both codes is Woodend Beach!!

[pete cook]

29 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said:

Thinking about it the best training facility in Canterbury for both codes is Woodend Beach!!

Track maintenance cost are minimal

[Chief Stipe]

42 minutes ago, pete cook said:

Track maintenance cost are minimal

No Gap-man needed.  Salt pool walker.  Easy peasy.

[paleface adios]

3 hours ago, Brodie said:

Nothing personal but the recent CEO’s from where I stand, were never successful businessmen???
Too often these CEO positions are given not on any past performance but because they are mates of the people appointing them!!!

Yes they might like harness racing, yes they may have been on Boards but that dkes not mean they are going to be any good, and many of us know they were not up to the task.

Unfortunately they seem to go from suited position to another and achieving very little!

Anyone is allowed to disagree with Brodie, but if the right people were at HRNZ then they would not be in this position!

 

So who is the fill in ceo Brodster 

[pete cook]

9 minutes ago, paleface adios said:

So who is the fill in ceo Brodster 

Liz Bishop is filling in. She has been with HRNZ for a number of years

[the galah]

3 hours ago, Chief Stipe said:

I agree with that.  Same problem in Thoroughbred racing where central training facilities with all the necessary extra equipment needed to compete haven't been developed.  That said the advantage of harness is you don't need a very big property to compete compared to Thoroughbreds.

in my opinion the harness code's thinking should be kept relatively simple. Identify where the demand for training facilities exceeds the supply and go from there.

In my opinion the part of nz where demand  exceeds supply is canterbury.

but like every region you want your training facilities in areas of the region with suitable weather and soil,where commute times are reasonable,where reasonably priced housing is available for rent,where investment in land is affordable but not excessive,in an area which will see  land values subject to capital gain in the future,where commute times to the likes of tracks at addington,rangiora,methven and ashburton is addington is not excessive. All those type of costs are reflected in what an owner can pay in training fees.

one of the easiest ways to identify where that is ,is to look at where trainers currently operate and where they don't.

personally i think the most obvious area is around rolleston.. Theres many obvious factors why the stonewall operation chose to set up where they have.The people behind the stonewall operation would be in a knowledgeable position to give advice to the industry decision makers on this subject.

i firmly believe history has shown each code should do their own thing and invest their own money,not combine to run from the same facility. Maybe they could do so side by side.but not using the same facilities. Each code has different needs ,priorities and ways of running things.

what the industry shouldn't do is look at areas where there is room,but no one is training from. The likes of motukarara comes to mind as an example of that.. Some tracks can be well run,but still theres no demand for them as training facilites. Thats just the way it is. 

its a topic thats been discussed on here many a time over the years,not so much recently as i think people have come to realise no one really listens until its too late and now its too late to do it on a scale that is needed,but affordable. thats just reality.

i've started several threads previously on this topic and many of the regular contributors on here put forward some good thoughts and ideas. The likes of gamma had some good ideas. I once read tim vinces thoughts on the subject and i thought he was quite astute as well.

but reality is,its all hypothetical really as the funds that could have been directed into it have been prioritised elsewhere.One consequence of that under investment is the industry has failed to retain particpants that it could have, had they has such a facility. And once they are gone,its very hard to re engage them.

Edited May 19 by the galah

[Brodie]

2 hours ago, paleface adios said:

So who is the fill in ceo Brodster 

Not sure they shouldve appointed someone who currently worked at HRNZ as the interim CEO!

They need a successful businessman and a good marketing team.

If they appoint in-house then I have no confidence that things will be turned around!

It is not Rocket Science you just can not payout more than you take in And the fact that that they have been blowing the Money from Entain is the worry!

[pete cook]

13 minutes ago, Brodie said:

Not sure they shouldve appointed someone who currently worked at HRNZ as the interim CEO!

They need a successful businessman and a good marketing team.

If they appoint in-house then I have no confidence that things will be turned around!

It is not Rocket Science you just can not payout more than you take in And the fact that that they have been blowing the Money from Entain is the worry!

She's not really an interim CEO, just someone to handle things because Mr. Steele left in a hurry

[Gammalite]

23 hours ago, Chief Stipe said:

Thinking about it the best training facility in Canterbury for both codes is Woodend Beach!!

currently the form from there is incredible. With Dunn's operation along with the well performing 'Hope team' and 'Bob Butt' stables with all their staff , getting great results too.

All 3 training operations well with-in the Top 10 stables going in NZ ?  first 3 I would look at if had a nice horse to race. Nigel seems to be having a great time with it lately lol 👍💰 

[paleface adios]

18 hours ago, pete cook said:

She's not really an interim CEO, just someone to handle things because Mr. Steele left in a hurry

Obviously not handling thing's when drunk driver 4 times over the limit gets payed fuel  subsidy then gets caught  disqualified  driving with out a drivers license 

[pete cook]

41 minutes ago, paleface adios said:

Obviously not handling thing's when drunk driver 4 times over the limit gets payed fuel  subsidy then gets caught  disqualified  driving with out a drivers license 

It's a bit tough to blame her for some idiot behaving like that!

[paleface adios]

1 hour ago, pete cook said:

It's a bit tough to blame her for some idiot behaving like that!

Not really  you answer emails or phone calls  from genuine  owners shouldn't take over 2 years to answer  emails  to get a response