OLDWHITEMAN Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 What affect will the looming four-week country-wide lockdown have on harness racing? Horses will still have to be fed, exercised and need vet treatment. Will owners be prepared to keep paying bills when there is no chance of their horses racing for at least a month and possibly longer? How many harness trainers and owners will be lost to the industry due to the lockdown? What will punters do with nothing to bet on? No pokies either. Perhaps on-line casinos will get more business? What will my old mate, punter extraordinaire, Brodie do for the next four weeks with no betting? I will be stuck at home with Ms Oldwhitewoman. Will I survive? At least I will still be able to go for a solo run or cycle in the wide open spaces of Marlborough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Sunrise Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 Will there still be betting from oversea? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harness4All Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 May just be the disruption big enough to require a full reset of the harness racing code and demand every stakeholder group to be included and involved. Anything would be an improvement on the dysfunctional groups of dysfunctional stakeholders currently being demonstrated within the code. There is an opportunity to make real change across the board. OR it could just reduce down to a Canterbury thing! That IMHO would be equally disastrous. TAB could survive, just, by government support and e-sport/virtual racing. We are in for some interesting times over the next 6 to 12 months. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJ Flash Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 2 hours ago, Happy Sunrise said: Will there still be betting from oversea? Yes as i pointed out elsewhere a while back Happy. Might be USA ,Japan or Korea but the show must go on Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hunterthepunter Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 2 hours ago, Harness4All said: May just be the disruption big enough to require a full reset of the harness racing code and demand every stakeholder group to be included and involved. Anything would be an improvement on the dysfunctional groups of dysfunctional stakeholders currently being demonstrated within the code. There is an opportunity to make real change across the board. OR it could just reduce down to a Canterbury thing! That IMHO would be equally disastrous. TAB could survive, just, by government support and e-sport/virtual racing. We are in for some interesting times over the next 6 to 12 months. dysfunctional stakeholders what do you mean?????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harness4All Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 Stakeholders such as owners, punters, clubs, trainers, drivers, breeders, RITA/TAB, HRNZ are the major ones. My observation is that they function from a perspective of self interest and with short to medium term view leading. My belief is that harness racing will need a well defined long term plan (10/20 years) which each stakeholder group can buy into. A plan including setting priorities and actions will require compromise with a focus on the strong long term benefits. A collective, not just collaborative, approach will be required to rebuild the code. Of course all that will require some exceptional leadership given the passions that exist within each stakeholder group. I cannot see how all the core issues can be addressed without collective stakeholder input and agreement. I am sure that this COVID19 thing will reshape the agenda too so hope for clear heads and commitment to really make a difference when it is all over. Then again my opinion might be miles off the mark and is just that, one persons opinion. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brodie Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 19 hours ago, OLDWHITEMAN said: What affect will the looming four-week country-wide lockdown have on harness racing? Horses will still have to be fed, exercised and need vet treatment. Will owners be prepared to keep paying bills when there is no chance of their horses racing for at least a month and possibly longer? How many harness trainers and owners will be lost to the industry due to the lockdown? What will punters do with nothing to bet on? No pokies either. Perhaps on-line casinos will get more business? What will my old mate, punter extraordinaire, Brodie do for the next four weeks with no betting? I will be stuck at home with Ms Oldwhitewoman. Will I survive? At least I will still be able to go for a solo run or cycle in the wide open spaces of Marlborough. Whiteman, I think there will be many owners that will say to their trainers, turn the horse out. What is the point of having a horse in full work when there is no chance of earning any stake money in the next month? Might as well give the horse a break and see what happens in the next month or so? Many owners will not be able to afford having a horse or two in work anyway, with many will be looking to get out of owning and racing horses in the future! Yes, it is a very unfortunate event not just for racing but for all businesses and people’s retirement. .It is going to take a helluva long time to semi recover from this and all because of the health standards of an overseas country!!!!! Fortunately we haven’t had any deaths so far, and touch wood they are few and far between now. Problem is that there are going to be so many people without sufficient income to survive without major assistance. Most people have a mortgage or rent to pay and that isn’t going to go away. Brodie will be fine although he may suffer bouts of boredom without racing however, at the end of the day, keeping everyone safe and alive is far more important! Wishing all BOAY bloggers and supporters a safe time in our time of exile! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJ Flash Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 3 hours ago, Brodie said: Brodie will be fine although he may suffer bouts of boredom without racing however, at the end of the day, keeping everyone safe and alive is far more important! You have 9 hours of Ozzie harness for your perusal today Brodie. Menagle,Bendigo and Gloucester Park. Should be something there for you to get enthused about surely? Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brodie Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 1 hour ago, JJ Flash said: You have 9 hours of Ozzie harness for your perusal today Brodie. Menagle,Bendigo and Gloucester Park. Should be something there for you to get enthused about surely? Greg Yeah I better than nothing I suppose, but I now feel sorry for the TAB as they need all the money they can get, so that the employees can retain their large salaries! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dougie Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 Here in Sydney Harness racing in NSW suspended temporarily, just heard on sky racing channel here. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJ Flash Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 1 hour ago, Brodie said: Yeah I better than nothing I suppose, but I now feel sorry for the TAB as they need all the money they can get, so that the employees can retain their large salaries! Im sure if previous NZRB had not destroyed the balance sheet there would have been money to pay a lot of redundancies to non performers at the renamed RITA by the current board and management. Alas , i cant see how they can afford to get rid of them that way now. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brodie Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 (edited) 27 minutes ago, JJ Flash said: Im sure if previous NZRB had not destroyed the balance sheet there would have been money to pay a lot of redundancies to non performers at the renamed RITA by the current board and management. Alas , i cant see how they can afford to get rid of them that way now. Greg I read something that said that there heaps employed that were on far more than $100k!!! FFS, what on earth are all these employees doing that warrants a salary in excess of $100K? No wonder the costs are so high and the stake money being paid out to the people that actually pay to race horses is now no higher than what the stakes were 30 years ago!! Edited March 24, 2020 by Brodie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJ Flash Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 7 minutes ago, Brodie said: I read something that said that there heaps employed that were on far more than $100k!!! FFS, what on earth are all these employees doing that warrants a salary in excess of $100K? No wonder the costs are so high and the stake money being paid out to the people that actually pay to race horses is now no higher than what the stakes were 30 years ago!! You are very likely correct about many being on very decent salaries but as i said with NZ's employment law it would be a very costly exercise to get rid of some them now. The previous lot allowed such behaviour and from the looks of it preferred empire building than operating a successful business. RITA inherited a mess and i say good luck to them with that lot. Just my thoughts. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 26 minutes ago, Brodie said: I read something that said that there heaps employed that were on far more than $100k!!! 136 over $100k. I don't have an issue with the $100k per se. You don't get much in the market for under that. However the leadership team 8 in number pocketed $3m. 12 are on over $250k. There are 691 employees for a total salary bill of $61m. The 136 people pocket $21m in total. So 17% of the staff take home 33% of the total salary bill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 21 minutes ago, JJ Flash said: The previous lot allowed such behaviour and from the looks of it preferred empire building than operating a successful business. RITA inherited a mess and i say good luck to them with that lot. You keep banging on about the "previous lot" however the "current lot" are cut from the same cloth at board level. In terms of the employees we have seen only one major change at Senior Management Level with Allen cut adrift. So at both the board and senior management we have the same old same old. With Mackenzie heading the board and the business I wonder what the odds are that he is taking home less than Allen? Bearing in mind that between 2018 and 2019 the CEO salary increased $20k. I guess CPI on $690 is a large amount! Hopefully we will hear shortly from the Board that Mackenzie and Senior Management above $280k a year have taken a cut in order to maintain distributions to the codes. Also the Board have foregone remuneration other than expenses for the forthcoming year. Seems none of them are short of a quid and most are on more than one board! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brodie Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 1 hour ago, Chief Stipe said: 136 over $100k. I don't have an issue with the $100k per se. You don't get much in the market for under that. However the leadership team 8 in number pocketed $3m. 12 are on over $250k. There are 691 employees for a total salary bill of $61m. The 136 people pocket $21m in total. So 17% of the staff take home 33% of the total salary bill. Chief, thanks for that re salaries! 136 employees over $100k! Wonder what these 136 employees actually do for their well above average salary? From the outside looking in, it appears that their costs are exhorbitant and the industry can not afford to be paying this amount of money for a battling industry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJ Flash Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, Chief Stipe said: You keep banging on about the "previous lot" however the "current lot" are cut from the same cloth at board level. In terms of the employees we have seen only one major change at Senior Management Level with Allen cut adrift. So at both the board and senior management we have the same old same old. With Mackenzie heading the board and the business I wonder what the odds are that he is taking home less than Allen? Bearing in mind that between 2018 and 2019 the CEO salary increased $20k. I guess CPI on $690 is a large amount! Hopefully we will hear shortly from the Board that Mackenzie and Senior Management above $280k a year have taken a cut in order to maintain distributions to the codes. Also the Board have foregone remuneration other than expenses for the forthcoming year. Seems none of them are short of a quid and most are on more than one board! Whatever you say Chief. I love the constant interest in my posts , becoming a bit obvious though? Just one last correction as i wont respond to you anymore. Apart from Birnie its a whole new board selected by WP and just for the sake of the occasional fact the CFO has recently disappeared off the list of employees. Surely he was well paid but of course you know why he has gone Greg Edited March 24, 2020 by JJ Flash Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 2 minutes ago, JJ Flash said: Whatever you say Chief. I love the constant interest in my posts , becoming a bit obvious though? Greg Don't flatter yourself. If you continue to write your obsequious posts regarding RITA you'll keep getting a response. I'm surprised you haven't experienced the full wrath of Reefton! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hunterthepunter Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 Gregs starting to fartoomuch 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OLDWHITEMAN Posted March 24, 2020 Author Share Posted March 24, 2020 21 hours ago, Brodie said: Whiteman, I think there will be many owners that will say to their trainers, turn the horse out. What is the point of having a horse in full work when there is no chance of earning any stake money in the next month? Might as well give the horse a break and see what happens in the next month or so? You are right Brodie. Most horses will be spelled now that the Harness Jewels at Cambridge are cancelled. There is little point in having a horse in work because no one knows when racing will resume. Bigger stables like the Hopes, Dunns, All Stars and Tony H. will probably enjoy some time off from their usual hectic schedules. Smaller stables will struggle with little income coming in and could go bust? Owners will still have to fork out for agistment fees, feed, covers, blacksmith etc etc. With winter approaching is also not the ideal time for a horse to be turned out as supplementary food, lucerne hay, oats, chaff etc, will be needed meaning more expense for owners. Testing times ahead for the harness industry. Hope you and your family get through this unscathed my old mate. All the best Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brodie Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 1 hour ago, OLDWHITEMAN said: You are right Brodie. Most horses will be spelled now that the Harness Jewels at Cambridge are cancelled. There is little point in having a horse in work because no one knows when racing will resume. Bigger stables like the Hopes, Dunns, All Stars and Tony H. will probably enjoy some time off from their usual hectic schedules. Smaller stables will struggle with little income coming in and could go bust? Owners will still have to fork out for agistment fees, feed, covers, blacksmith etc etc. With winter approaching is also not the ideal time for a horse to be turned out as supplementary food, lucerne hay, oats, chaff etc, will be needed meaning more expense for owners. Testing times ahead for the harness industry. Hope you and your family get through this unscathed my old mate. All the best No one will get thru this unscathed, but we fortunately will be fine. It is a matter of everyone riding it out and we will get thru it, some better than others tho. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquaman Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 16 hours ago, Chief Stipe said: You keep banging on about the "previous lot" however the "current lot" are cut from the same cloth at board level. In terms of the employees we have seen only one major change at Senior Management Level with Allen cut adrift. So at both the board and senior management we have the same old same old. With Mackenzie heading the board and the business I wonder what the odds are that he is taking home less than Allen? Bearing in mind that between 2018 and 2019 the CEO salary increased $20k. I guess CPI on $690 is a large amount! Hopefully we will hear shortly from the Board that Mackenzie and Senior Management above $280k a year have taken a cut in order to maintain distributions to the codes. Also the Board have foregone remuneration other than expenses for the forthcoming year. Seems none of them are short of a quid and most are on more than one board! Does anybody remember the million dollar man, Andrew? something. Pom they brought out from England to head our racing industry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
globederby12 Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 On 24/03/2020 at 8:05 AM, Harness4All said: Stakeholders such as owners, punters, clubs, trainers, drivers, breeders, RITA/TAB, HRNZ are the major ones. My observation is that they function from a perspective of self interest and with short to medium term view leading. My belief is that harness racing will need a well defined long term plan (10/20 years) which each stakeholder group can buy into. A plan including setting priorities and actions will require compromise with a focus on the strong long term benefits. A collective, not just collaborative, approach will be required to rebuild the code. Of course all that will require some exceptional leadership given the passions that exist within each stakeholder group. I cannot see how all the core issues can be addressed without collective stakeholder input and agreement. I am sure that this COVID19 thing will reshape the agenda too so hope for clear heads and commitment to really make a difference when it is all over. Then again my opinion might be miles off the mark and is just that, one persons opinion. My worry after hearing from our syndicate manager and my son in law ( TB trainer) that those stake holders will be hit so hard that there will not be many left fiscally to continue to be a part of the Industry, therefore what remains is a small core that collectively cannot resurrect a sinking ship . To many variables in these unprecedented times to have a diffinative answer but I dare say the landscape is being changed dramatically, and with that comes a power of hurt for a wide range of business owners. Some on here may concur with that sentiment,so my thoughts are with those that produce the work .Take care folks 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Posted March 25, 2020 Share Posted March 25, 2020 Howdy all, well I have turned the team out 3 race horses and a couple of young ones.I think people are naive if they believe racing will start again in 4 weeks I TRULY HOPE that I am wrong because it is major part of my life and has been for few years now. The sad thing about this virus is that with the other issues that is happening in the racing industry, 3 of the small group of owners and we have been together for 12 years now have decided to pull the pin on racing horses including a Thoroughbred and a greyhound, the rest us will continue on with the pacers and trotters when the time is right. I wish all of all the best and we all get through this virus in good health and remain strong. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJ Flash Posted March 25, 2020 Share Posted March 25, 2020 23 hours ago, Chief Stipe said: With Mackenzie heading the board and the business I wonder what the odds are that he is taking home less than Allen? Just shows what little you know, McKenzies salary is no where near what Allan's was and was decided by an external body well after he took the job. Im also hearing that he has offered , like all good leaders, to cut his salary and did so weeks ago as a result of the devastating effect the virus has had on TAB income Might be time for you to listen for a change rather than attack those running the show Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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