Good News(for Reefton at least)

[Reefton]

The latest draft of the venue review comes out and, on the basis of our submission, we have a reprieve(for the short term at least).  Pretty thrilled but at the same time deeply saddened for the Westland Racing Club and the other NZ Clubs who have been arbitrarily terminated.

A lot of hard work went into it(the Submission) and to be fair I was worried I was wasting my time but at the end of the day the message got through. 

Thanks to everyone on here for their support and encouragement

 

 

Edited April 11, 2019 by Reefton

[pete]

Blenheim and Wairoa also spared.

[nomates]

46 minutes ago, Reefton said:

The latest draft of the venue review comes out and, on the basis of our submission, we have a reprieve(for the short term at least).  Pretty thrilled but at the same time deeply saddened for the Westland Racing Club and the other NZ Clubs who have been arbitrarily terminated.

A lot of hard work went into it(the Submission) and to be fair I was worried I was wasting my time but at the end of the day the message got through. 

Thanks to everyone on here for their support and encouragement

 

 

And so it begins , the resurrection of thoroughbred racing in NZ . Me thinks not . Well done Reefton on gaining a short repreive for your club , hopefully longer than next season . Funny how they say there are still improvements to be made by your club but in this whole process of trying to find savings for racing have never chosen to look at themselves . There will be a few sausage rolls going round at head office this avo along with patting themselves on the back for a job well done .

[Reefton]

2 minutes ago, nomates said:

And so it begins , the resurrection of thoroughbred racing in NZ . Me thinks not . Well done Reefton on gaining a short repreive for your club , hopefully longer than next season . Funny how they say there are still improvements to be made by your club but in this whole process of trying to find savings for racing have never chosen to look at themselves . There will be a few sausage rolls going round at head office this avo along with patting themselves on the back for a job well done .

As it stands it is for five years so by the time we have to fight again hopefully I will be long gone and forgotten from the joint.  I have fought this battle twice and racing doesn't pay the mortgage(though if Consensus puts her best foot forward this weekend it might help!)

[Freda]

8 minutes ago, nomates said:

And so it begins , the resurrection of thoroughbred racing in NZ . Me thinks not . Well done Reefton on gaining a short repreive for your club , hopefully longer than next season . Funny how they say there are still improvements to be made by your club but in this whole process of trying to find savings for racing have never chosen to look at themselves . There will be a few sausage rolls going round at head office this avo along with patting themselves on the back for a job well done .

methinks not as well.

The figure of  $37,500.00 paid to a club to conduct a meeting goes with the club regardless of which track it races at..so is not saved at all.

I don't know why that figure was even mentioned as it is completely irrelevant from the 'savings' context....and as well, is a drop in the bucket to the amounts really needed.

[curious]

Good point Freda. That's absolute nonsense and why would clubs even mention it in a submission given the same amount will be paid to the same club regardless of where they race. I don't see why that would even be an issue that clubs would consider engaging with. Reefton may be able to enlighten me.

Compared with this, there were submissions which, while they may have been passionate, simply
failed to engage with the issues or provide a considered argument to support their case. A lack of
understanding regarding how clubs are funded, and the level of investment required by NZTR to
keep 48 venues fit for purpose was also apparent. The cost to the industry to stage an average midweek
race day is $37,500 (excluding stakes and RIU costs and the costs to owners of racing such as
transport etc) yet we constantly read of clubs claiming not to cost the industry anything.

 

[Chimbu]

13 minutes ago, curious said:

Good point Freda. That's absolute nonsense and why would clubs even mention it in a submission given the same amount will be paid to the same club regardless of where they race. I don't see why that would even be an issue that clubs would consider engaging with. Reefton may be able to enlighten me.

Compared with this, there were submissions which, while they may have been passionate, simply
failed to engage with the issues or provide a considered argument to support their case. A lack of
understanding regarding how clubs are funded, and the level of investment required by NZTR to
keep 48 venues fit for purpose was also apparent. The cost to the industry to stage an average midweek
race day is $37,500 (excluding stakes and RIU costs and the costs to owners of racing such as
transport etc) yet we constantly read of clubs claiming not to cost the industry anything.

 

Surely the comment on the $37.5k can only be a feeble attempt at smoke and mirrors?As usual they aren't even smart enough to do that well! They must really consider that racing's grass roots players are very stupid.

[nomates]

14 minutes ago, curious said:

Good point Freda. That's absolute nonsense and why would clubs even mention it in a submission given the same amount will be paid to the same club regardless of where they race. I don't see why that would even be an issue that clubs would consider engaging with. Reefton may be able to enlighten me.

Compared with this, there were submissions which, while they may have been passionate, simply
failed to engage with the issues or provide a considered argument to support their case. A lack of
understanding regarding how clubs are funded, and the level of investment required by NZTR to
keep 48 venues fit for purpose was also apparent. The cost to the industry to stage an average midweek
race day is $37,500 (excluding stakes and RIU costs and the costs to owners of racing such as
transport etc) yet we constantly read of clubs claiming not to cost the industry anything.

 

Would love to have a break down of the costs that amount to $37,500 , as you say these costs are raceday costs not venue costs . The interesting bit for me was the line about the lack understanding of the level of investment required by NZTR to keep 48 venues fit for purpose . OK enlighten us then , but we already know from Reefton about NZTR's level of investment in keeping his venue fit for purpose , i also have a fair idea about how much they invest keeping my local tracks afloat . There is a level of contempt about the way they say people have engaged in making submissions regarding their venues but are lacking understanding of NZTR investment , that yet again shows their attitude of arrogance towards the participants of this once great industry . 

[Freda]

Exactly..and it is clear who shows the biggest ' lack of understanding'  ......dear oh dear,  and these are our managers.

[nomates]

5 minutes ago, Freda said:

Exactly..and it is clear who shows the biggest ' lack of understanding'  ......dear oh dear,  and these are our managers.

" Managers " , not sure i'd call them that , they're a bunch of suits ( guns for hire ) earning a salary whilst having very little personal investment in the business they are working in , they could be growing lettuce in pukekohe as long as they are earning well above the average wage . they will walk away from our industry as quickly as they would growing lettuce with out so much as a backward glance or the slightest sigh of " I COULD HAVE DONE BETTER " .

[Reefton]

The $37,500(I didn't think it was that high but however) is paid on a per Club basis not on a per Course basis.  So if we moved to Greymouth we would have presumably got that same amount.  So closing courses would not have saved any of that money.

Infuriatingly I cannot identify exactly how much we got, in addition to stakes funding, in the 2017/18 year because of the way the financial statements are put together(that is an accounting issue and,given I am one of them myself, I cannot blame NZTR for that).  That information is simply not disclosed separately but I do know none of it was tagged for venue costs.  We have NEVER, in my time or in my recollection, received a cent from NZTR for venue running costs.

So to say all these venues cost the industry money is BS because the money would be paid out anyway.  The only way to reduce it is to cut the number of Clubs(which they no doubt will given I am sure Westland and Stratford at least will not be persevering if this ultimately comes to pass).    

[curious]

Thanks Reefton. That matches my non-accounting understanding. I don't actually see how even reducing the number of clubs would have the slightest impact on that cost, though they clearly are determined to do that (reduce clubs as well as venues). This is a cost per raceday, not per venue or club.

I'm not now sure if they are completely thick or they think we are. Doesn't make an iota of sense to me.

Edited April 11, 2019 by curious

[Bloke]

Let's not forget the objective was to close tracks,  sell them and pocket the cash to fund  the big "Bludging Clubs" .

[Reefton]

22 minutes ago, curious said:

Thanks Reefton. That matches my non-accounting understanding. I don't actually see how even reducing the number of clubs would have the slightest impact on that cost, though they clearly are determined to do that (reduce clubs as well as venues). This is a cost per raceday, not per venue or club.

I'm not now sure if they are completely thick or they think we are. Doesn't make an iota of sense to me.

There are a lot of different payments they make to clubs outside of the stakes lump sum.  When you produce your audited financial statements i think it is $10000, for a health and safety plan I think it might be $2000 and I think there is a dollop to help with raceday costs(outside stakes).  I am sure it does not come to $37,500 though and my understanding is it is per club per year not per raceday(though I guess if it is in part for raceday costs then it might , to an extent, be per raceday)

Don't know why they just don't make one payment per raceday and save the complication.  That would squeeze the small clubs as well which I am sure they would enjoy

 

[curious]

Yes, there is a club compliance funding amount of up to10k, part of which is a bribe which they will save from closing clubs, but they could have just removed it to the same effect. The rest of the funding for meeting type, venue category and meeting compliance is all per meeting. They will only save that 10k per club if clubs actually close and relinquish their licences, not if they change venues, so the 35k bs is just that.

Governance/audit annual payment of $10,000 per club
paid upon fulfilment of club governance and audit
requirement as outlined in the Funding Policy, with
additional addition, one-off payment of $2,000 available
upon update of Club Rules.
Name change to Club compliance.
Annual funding of $10,000 now divided into three
components:
$5,000 for annual financial reporting by 31 December 2018
$2,500 for annual track management planning
$2,500 for annual Health and Safety planning.
One-off payment of $2,000 for Club Rules has been
removed.
Some conditions of the compliance funding have been
amended, see Section 13 for full details.

Edited April 11, 2019 by curious

[Freda]

18 minutes ago, Bloke said:

Let's not forget the objective was to close tracks,  sell them and pocket the cash to fund  the big "Bludging Clubs" .

Under the Messara report,  yes....but this is an NZTR plan that was on notice long before that report saw the light of day.    It would seem that there is no [ or bugger all ]  cash coming from that source however.

Club committees will dig in their toes to prevent that happening.

 

[curious]

It's probably a bit too logical for them, but if they want to reduce the number of 37k per meeting costs they are spending, would it not make sense to consider reducing the number of meetings (instead of clubs and venues)? Alongside that, fix the handicapping and programming issues so that starter numbers, competitive racing and wagering revenue (though that might be difficult given the way the NZRB is going) are sustained or improved over less meetings?

[Gospel of Judas]

Interesting club by club and area breakdown.

Phase 1_NZTR_VenuePlan FINAL.pdf

[Freda]

38 minutes ago, curious said:

It's probably a bit too logical for them, but if they want to reduce the number of 37k per meeting costs they are spending, would it not make sense to consider reducing the number of meetings (instead of clubs and venues)? Alongside that, fix the handicapping and programming issues so that starter numbers, competitive racing and wagering revenue (though that might be difficult given the way the NZRB is going) are sustained or improved over less meetings?

Seems logical and obvious to me as well....as are the handicapping/programming matters that have been allowed to deteriorate - probably at the behest of various trainer/breeder groups.

Edited April 11, 2019 by Freda

[Reefton]

1 hour ago, curious said:

Yes, there is a club compliance funding amount of up to10k, part of which is a bribe which they will save from closing clubs, but they could have just removed it to the same effect. The rest of the funding for meeting type, venue category and meeting compliance is all per meeting. They will only save that 10k per club if clubs actually close and relinquish their licences, not if they change venues, so the 35k bs is just that.

Governance/audit annual payment of $10,000 per club
paid upon fulfilment of club governance and audit
requirement as outlined in the Funding Policy, with
additional addition, one-off payment of $2,000 available
upon update of Club Rules.
Name change to Club compliance.
Annual funding of $10,000 now divided into three
components:
$5,000 for annual financial reporting by 31 December 2018
$2,500 for annual track management planning
$2,500 for annual Health and Safety planning.
One-off payment of $2,000 for Club Rules has been
removed.
Some conditions of the compliance funding have been
amended, see Section 13 for full details.

The amendment to Club rules was the 'give us control of the disposition of your assets' clause they wanted in all our constitutions.  I told them to get stuffed (basically in those words) so I think we missed out on that.

[curious]

2 minutes ago, Reefton said:

The amendment to Club rules was the 'give us control of the disposition of your assets' clause they wanted in all our constitutions.  I told them to get stuffed (basically in those words) so I think we missed out on that.

Yeahhh and they've withdrawn that bribe now so too late to collect the 2 grand for giving up your community assets.

Edited April 11, 2019 by curious

[Reefton]

A lot of the Clubs including the other three here rolled over for the $2000 but for the RJC it would never happen on my watch.  I would have resigned on the spot.  Reminds me of the thirty pieces of silver story in the Bible.

[curious]

True Reefton. Though I think most club constitutions would allow them to rescind or add to their rules at a GM with a certain member majority if they decided to wind up, so it seems a bit pointless anyway and maybe you could have used the 2k usefully in the mean time. Don't think NZTR would hold the necessary half or 2/3 vote or whatever to prevent that.

[Reefton]

1 minute ago, curious said:

True Reefton. Though I think most club constitutions would allow them to rescind or add to their rules at a GM with a certain member majority if they decided to wind up, so it seems a bit pointless anyway and maybe you could have used the 2k usefully in the mean time. Don't think NZTR would hold the necessary half or 2/3 vote or whatever to prevent that.

Fair comment but for me it was the principle involved.  I would NOT bend to their bullying ways.  I had quite a scrap with my Club Secretary over it in a Committee meeting one night(he wanted to do it but I was adamant and my committee were behind me).

[curious]

I'd walk too if my club even suggested it.