Happy Sunrise Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 From September 1, Racing NSW will pour an additional $24 million to boost prizemoney levels with each Sydney Saturday race to be worth $125,000, an increase of $25,000, city midweek meetings has minimum race prizemoney of $50,000 (up from $40,000), and public holiday race days has a stakes surge from $50,000 to $60,000 per race. An all-weather racing track is set to be built in the South Island, Racing Minister Winston Peters told the southern racing industry in Invercargill last night. Could these two things have an impact on harness racing? It seems it will be a great incentive to buy a galloper in Oz now rather than a harness horse with those stakes so what will that mean for harness there in the future? Will galloping finally sort itself out now with 3 all-weather tracks and have a resurgence? Will this affect the viability of the Alexandra Park plans in the north? Having a harness horse is a luxury as one has to keep chucking money into a black hole with little prospect of making decent money let alone a small fortune with the stakes available. The rah rah crew refuses to believe it but the All Stars winning everything means harness is especially unattractive at the moment. Too many people are not getting a return or even a chance. Winston says.. ''I believe racing is terminal unless something dramatic happens now. If we don't get this thing fixed up, then this thing will drastically decline. Racing is situation critical. It is possibly terminal in the provinces in this country. Peters pledged the racing industry would be better off once he was able to implement the recommendations of the John Messara report on the industry. The report, which is due to be finished in the coming weeks, will be specifically focused on the thoroughbred industry. But Peters said all three racing codes would be better off under his direction. ''I guarantee every code will be better off. It is not going to be difficult to do that.'' Peters said the racing industry only had itself to blame for being in decline. ''The truth is that there has been a failure across the industry to face the raw bitter hard facts.'' Good to hear it won't be 'difficult to fix' considering the situation is 'critical' and possibly terminal in the provinces' If I ever have to go to the hospital in the future I hope my doctor is as good as Winston. Can't wait to see the easy revival. I also await Winston's upcoming impersonation of the Saviour himself. Bit of a rant but where does one start! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Sunrise Posted July 19, 2018 Author Share Posted July 19, 2018 Sorry, Basil. Didn't see your post was up way before mine. Hadn't refreshed the computer for awhile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
With A Dream Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 Amazing money for thoroughbreds in NSW. I don’t think it will make much difference to Harness in NZ as the stakes over there have been far superior for years. To make Harness Racing financially attractive here stakes would need to quadruple for Ratings races and double for group races. But I don’t see how we will ever achieve the income streams needed to achieve that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
With A Dream Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 Interesting also that in spite of a windfall after selling Harold Park, harness stakes are only a fraction of thoroughbred stakes in NSW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flagship uberalles Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 22 minutes ago, With A Dream said: Interesting also that in spite of a windfall after selling Harold Park, harness stakes are only a fraction of thoroughbred stakes in NSW. Yes all the real estate must have been worth a fortune, I think $22000 for a sat night race at menangle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Sunrise Posted July 19, 2018 Author Share Posted July 19, 2018 1 hour ago, With A Dream said: Interesting also that in spite of a windfall after selling Harold Park, harness stakes are only a fraction of thoroughbred stakes in NSW. “In 2012, total NSW prizemoney was $118.9 million. Following today’s announcement, I’m delighted to advise that annual prizemoney in NSW will be more than $204 million, an increase of $85 million over that time.’’ “These increases are entirely sustainable and are fully-funded from the proceeds of the sale of digital media rights, racefields legislation fees and (wagering taxation) parity.’’ So can something be done here which is similar? Why is harness racing not doing the same in NSW? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
With A Dream Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 45 minutes ago, Happy Sunrise said: “In 2012, total NSW prizemoney was $118.9 million. Following today’s announcement, I’m delighted to advise that annual prizemoney in NSW will be more than $204 million, an increase of $85 million over that time.’’ “These increases are entirely sustainable and are fully-funded from the proceeds of the sale of digital media rights, racefields legislation fees and (wagering taxation) parity.’’ So can something be done here which is similar? Why is harness racing not doing the same in NSW? I’m no expert on this but I assume the rights to broadcast NSW gallops is in high demand Are they broadcasting their races all over the world? Would be interested to hear from anyone who knows more about digital media rights 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basil Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 20 hours ago, Happy Sunrise said: Winston says.. ''I believe racing is terminal unless something dramatic happens now. If we don't get this thing fixed up, then this thing will drastically decline. Racing is situation critical. It is possibly terminal in the provinces in this country. Peters pledged the racing industry would be better off once he was able to implement the recommendations of the John Messara report on the industry. The report, which is due to be finished in the coming weeks, will be specifically focused on the thoroughbred industry. But Peters said all three racing codes would be better off under his direction. ''I guarantee every code will be better off. It is not going to be difficult to do that.'' Peters said the racing industry only had itself to blame for being in decline. ''The truth is that there has been a failure across the industry to face the raw bitter hard facts.'' Good to hear it won't be 'difficult to fix' considering the situation is 'critical' and possibly terminal in the provinces' If I ever have to go to the hospital in the future I hope my doctor is as good as Winston. Can't wait to see the easy revival. I also await Winston's upcoming impersonation of the Saviour himself. Bit of a rant but where does one start! I'm pretty sceptical that anything useful or lasting will come out of Peters' grand pronouncements, particularly for harness. Now maybe I'm doing him and his promised Report a dis-service; maybe he'll come up with a brilliant plan that'll get people flocking back to racetracks and exponentially increasing betting turnover. Maybe. But I doubt it — Isis converting to pacifism is more likely! What we'll probably get is a subsidy here and a subsidy there (primarily for his galloping mates), combined with a one-off boost to stakes, which will have all the lasting effect of a can of coca-cola. And at the end of it, racing will be even less able to stand on its own two feet than before. Anyway, I hope I'm wrong. But I'm not setting myself up to be disappointed.? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Sunrise Posted July 19, 2018 Author Share Posted July 19, 2018 3 minutes ago, Basil said: What we'll probably get is a subsidy here and a subsidy there (primarily for his galloping mates), Can anyone in the know tell me what pressure the harness industry is putting on Peters? What is harness racing asking for? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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