NZTR Board’s growth plan launches with stakes increases and infrastructure boost

[Chief Stipe]

 

loveracing.nz

The NZTR Board has committed to an exciting and innovative growth plan revealing a raft of initiatives today.

Heading the announcement is a more than $7 million stakes increase which will see a strategic injection of stakes across 20 of New Zealand’s best performing racedays.   This targets significant Group and Listed races across Iconic and Premier meetings.

NZTR Chairman Cameron George said the Board’s aim is to provide opportunities to increase revenue, delivering bigger racing events on our best performing days. 

“These are our high-profile events which attract crowds and significant wagering interest,” he said.

“By packaging these 20 best-performing events as New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing’s not-to-be-missed occasions which feature our best athletes – horse and human – we see an opportunity to grow and capitalise on that interest.”

“Our Black type racing is critical to all sectors of the New Zealand industry, providing aspirational opportunities and we see these events as having the best cut-through to accelerate revenue growth.  Not only in wagering, but by establishing them in the public eye as important events that underpin our sport in much the same way that other sports globally celebrate their majors,” George said.

Minimum stakes will rise to $14,000 across the calendar, double what they were five years earlier.

“The Board’s view is to slowly increase the minimum racing stakes over the next few seasons. Our intention is to also turn our focus to the middle-range stakes within the next year, or earlier, depending upon performance,” George said.

Stake increases by the numbers

• Minimums $14,000 across the entire racing calendar
• A strategic injection of stakes across 20 of our best performing racedays
• Group 1 – minimums increase from $220,000 to $300,000
• Group 2 – minimums increase from $110,000 to $140,000*
• Group 3 – minimums increase from $80,000 to $100,000*
• Listed – minimums increase from $60,000 to $80,000*
• Iconic meetings – minimums increase from $50,000 to $70,000
• Premier meetings – minimums increase from $40,000 to $50,000
• Targeted South Island increases of $400K in August, February, and March (Canterbury Grand National, Dunedin Gold Cup, Invercargill Gold Cup and Otago Southern Mile)

*At Top 20 meetings. Group 1 races not held at Iconic or Premier meetings will be increased from $220,000 to $300,000.  Group 2 races not held at Iconic or Premier meetings will be increased to $120,000. Group Three and Listed races not held at Iconic or Premier meetings will remain at current minimums.

Infrastructure fund

The Board has also committed $10,000,000 towards an infrastructure fund to allow for an initial five-year programme of necessary work to be undertaken at venues across the country.

“This is an aspect of our industry which needs attention, investment, but also accountability,” George said. “The Board agrees that we will invest in this area, however we will also expect a professional response from the Clubs with regard to their track preparation and the recognition that providing a suitable track is a prerequisite when it comes to date allocation,” he said.

George acknowledged that while this initial investment will require some careful planning around how and when the work is conducted, the Board is committed to providing investment now to benefit the industry’s long-term future.

“The Board further commits to a floor of $4 million that at all times will be available specifically intended for the purpose of infrastructure,” he said.

Sustainable fund injections

The last two years have allowed NZTR to build a fund to protect our industry from a potential COVID shutdown and the impacts that might bring.  The NZTR Board believes that some of this risk has subsided and is looking to spread these funds across the industry over the next five years.

“This distribution will be conducted in a sustainable and sensible manner and, as with all of the increases, will remain subject to TAB NZ and NZTR wagering performance,” George said.

“The spread will be across stakes, infrastructure, and professional development for industry participants through their respective Associations.”

This funding will be in addition to NZTR’s BAU budget.

Licence renewal rebate

The licence renewal fees for the 2022-23 racing season will be funded by NZTR.  Those who have already renewed their licences will receive a credit for the next season.

“When considering how tirelessly our participants worked during the past two years to keep our industry afloat during a global pandemic, the Board was determined to reward that dedication,” George said.

“I’m not sure whether anyone experienced a good day during this difficult period, so the Board agreed it was only fitting that we waive your fees for the next season” he said.

Innovation Fund

The Board has also decided that an Innovation Fund of $500,000 to all clubs, outside of those that will be conducting the 20 best performing race dates, will be made available again.

[Gospel of Judas]

Looks like all Georges mates  in Waikato and co be well rewarded as usually.  A few of them should be taking a good clip of the ticket. Be better off puting minimum stakes up to 20k, since 90% of owners owners don't make any money from them. But as usually Ellis and anyone grave NZ First large donations get protected from a Recession. Crocked indeed.

[nomates]

Can't fill a G1 with quality horses so the response is give them more , can't fill Group races for mares so the response is give them more money .

Doesn't matter as we won't have group 1 races in a few a few years as we are not meeting the average rating measurement , maybe even no G2 races . 

Then don't give any incentive for the battler to keep racing the average horses or invest in new horses .

As per usual a poorly thought out plan that doesn't deal with the big issues in our industries .  

[Chief Stipe]

Meanwhile out country and in the provinces in Victoria:

Prizemoney for standard country races will jump $2000 to $27,000 with premium provincial meetings to feature $37,500 prizemoney for every race, a rise of $2500 on this season.

 

 

[Doomed]

I'm actually speechless. No point even bothering really.

[Doomed]

I have partly got over being speechless, but it is all pointless really isn't it. 

Just when I was thinking we had to reduce the numbers of group races dramatically, as they were becoming an embarrassment, here they go increasing group ones to $300,000. At least they didn't fire another $1m or so into the derby, oaks and 1,000 and 2,000 Guineas.

How many 2 or 3 win horses do they think will hang around in NZ because they can race for $70,000 ($40,000 odd the winner) a couple of times a year when they can race for $140,000 every week in Aussie?

Imagine what that Otaki group 1 meeting will look like with a $300,000 race and the rest small fields for $30,000, all on a bush track.

Look at this weekend. 11 noms for the $25,000 Waimate Cup, 5 noms at Trentham for $35,000, and just yesterday 4 starters for $35,000 at Hastings. To my mind the whole allocation of stakes money is totally wrong. The latest announcements will make it worse.

[nomates]

29 minutes ago, Doomed said:

Imagine what that Otaki group 1 meeting will look like with a $300,000 race and the rest small fields for $30,000, all on a bush track.

 

The G1 will also be a small field , we simply don't have the depth at the top end anymore .

 

31 minutes ago, Doomed said:

Look at this weekend. 11 noms for the $25,000 Waimate Cup, 5 noms at Trentham for $35,000, and just yesterday 4 starters for $35,000 at Hastings. To my mind the whole allocation of stakes money is totally wrong. The latest announcements will make it worse.

The stakes become irrelevant when we simply don't have the numbers to fill the races , as above the number of horses that get thru to the higher ratings is thinning year on year , and by that i mean the quality horses . There are plenty of horses who are getting into a high rating by shear attrition , being the best of a small bad bunch , why , because we now lose so many horses to Aus , horses of all grades . And now i regularly see nice lower grade horses being sent to Aus to race , 1/2 race winners who's owners aren't prepared to race for the mediocre money anymore . And as owners see that their horse could compete in the metropolitan races for the 140k on a Saturday , more and more will try .

And this is just going to continue gaining momentum , we have lost so many nice fillies in the last 2/3 years , the ones that go usually go thru to make up our fillies and mares stakes races that the result was seen in the size of their group races a couple of months ago .

On top of that the numbers being bred are slowly dropping so that after sales , have been held , yearling and rtr etc , that the available pool for racing becomes reduced on a regular basis .

Yet i see no strategy from the power brokers of our industry to stop the avalanche of horses leaving our shores , this is the single biggest issue for the coming seasons , because as our numbers drop so our quality drops , and if the group racing is under fire at present given the current decline we might be lucky if we can run a genuine G3 race , no matter what the big breeders want . 

[Doomed]

4 minutes ago, nomates said:

The G1 will also be a small field , we simply don't have the depth at the top end anymore .

 

The stakes become irrelevant when we simply don't have the numbers to fill the races , as above the number of horses that get thru to the higher ratings is thinning year on year , and by that i mean the quality horses . There are plenty of horses who are getting into a high rating by shear attrition , being the best of a small bad bunch , why , because we now lose so many horses to Aus , horses of all grades . And now i regularly see nice lower grade horses being sent to Aus to race , 1/2 race winners who's owners aren't prepared to race for the mediocre money anymore . And as owners see that their horse could compete in the metropolitan races for the 140k on a Saturday , more and more will try .

And this is just going to continue gaining momentum , we have lost so many nice fillies in the last 2/3 years , the ones that go usually go thru to make up our fillies and mares stakes races that the result was seen in the size of their group races a couple of months ago .

On top of that the numbers being bred are slowly dropping so that after sales , have been held , yearling and rtr etc , that the available pool for racing becomes reduced on a regular basis .

Yet i see no strategy from the power brokers of our industry to stop the avalanche of horses leaving our shores , this is the single biggest issue for the coming seasons , because as our numbers drop so our quality drops , and if the group racing is under fire at present given the current decline we might be lucky if we can run a genuine G3 race , no matter what the big breeders want . 

The problem is that no one has ever figured out that we need to find our level and discover what works best for our racing industry. Instead they just keep firing money into group 1 races thinking we can compete with Australia.

[Huey]

18 minutes ago, Doomed said:

The problem is that no one has ever figured out that we need to find our level and discover what works best for our racing industry. Instead they just keep firing money into group 1 races thinking we can compete with Australia.

Plenty have understood and for some time, but comprehension at the top isn't a strong point.

I see the free trainers licensing as somewhat admiting the numbers are dwindling and trying to put a fire out with a water pistol.

You only have to hear many in the industry label Saundry a success because he was a good guy and always picked up his phone FFS that's about all that's expected. 

[Delta Bro]

My best memories in racing come from taking my horse to Australia. I think everyone who has had this experience will say the same regardless of whether they won or lost over there.

Years ago I was talking to Alan Fenwick (some might remember him) and I said that good horses should be able to win a race which pays for the trip. He agreed and said we needed more races with a stake of around $70k. 

Once the stake gets to the stage where it attracts all the best horses then putting more money in doesn't make much sense. 

I have always thought the people who are in racing for the money should go find something else to do.  

 

[Mark D]

Before Cameron George returns to Australia (permanently) he would overseen the dramatic downfall of both the Warriors and the NZ Racing industry. In both positions incompetence on a grand scale did precede him but kudos to him for making it much worse.  Not easy

[nomates]

20 hours ago, nomates said:

And this is just going to continue gaining momentum , we have lost so many nice fillies in the last 2/3 years , the ones that go usually go thru to make up our fillies and mares stakes races that the result was seen in the size of their group races a couple of months ago .

 

Reputable , this seasons SI filly of the year , xfered from Pitmans to Moroney in Melbourne . Seems their strategy of pumping even more money into the top end isn't stopping our best young talent from going to Aus .

But hey what do the plebs know . 

And to top that off i read that story on the Love Racing website , fucking clueless is giving them far too much credence . 

Edited June 8, 2022 by nomates

[Doomed]

1 hour ago, nomates said:

Reputable , this seasons SI filly of the year , xfered from Pitmans to Moroney in Melbourne . Seems their strategy of pumping even more money into the top end isn't stopping our best young talent from going to Aus .

But hey what do the plebs know . 

And to top that off i read that story on the Love Racing website , fucking clueless is giving them far too much credence . 

You only have to look at the winners of the multi million dollar Derbies and Oaks during the three years of Winston's earlier beneficence to see that massive stakes boosts achieve nothing long term. Purely from memory, I don't think any of the Derby or Oaks winners went on to achieve anything. I think several of the Oaks winners were sold overseas straight afterwards.

Edited June 8, 2022 by Doomed

[Huey]

On 7/06/2022 at 9:44 PM, nomates said:

The G1 will also be a small field , we simply don't have the depth at the top end anymore .

 

The stakes become irrelevant when we simply don't have the numbers to fill the races , as above the number of horses that get thru to the higher ratings is thinning year on year , and by that i mean the quality horses . There are plenty of horses who are getting into a high rating by shear attrition , being the best of a small bad bunch , why , because we now lose so many horses to Aus , horses of all grades . And now i regularly see nice lower grade horses being sent to Aus to race , 1/2 race winners who's owners aren't prepared to race for the mediocre money anymore . And as owners see that their horse could compete in the metropolitan races for the 140k on a Saturday , more and more will try .

 

So basically we have to wait for these races to lose their status before they are appropriately funded (when I say wait thats stretching it a bit, not sure as an industry we have the time to get much more wrong) , certain they will find a way to make up races to fit their Prizemoney motives at any rate.

[Huey]

On 7/06/2022 at 10:35 PM, Delta Bro said:

 

I have always thought the people who are in racing for the money should go find something else to do.  

 

Understand where youre coming from , but when they take alot of the fun out of it , well then money may be the only motivating factor.

[Delta Bro]

On 9/06/2022 at 8:51 AM, Huey said:

Understand where you're coming from, but when they take a lot of the fun out of it, well then money may be the only motivating factor.

When I was in Japan, I talked to an owner who raced a string of horses and was enormously wealthy. He said he kept meticulous records and had only made a profit from racing in one of the last eight years. He said those setting stake levels needed to look at the earnings of the horses who, when you looked at all the horses racing from the best through to the worst, were in the middle. If those horses earned more in stakes, then racing horses would be a better financial proposition. He said champion horses would always win lots of money and the chances of owning such a horse were remote.

Personally I think that there are not enough wealthy people in New Zealand to sustain a racing industry that resembles the JRA model (ten racecourses & 2 training centres).  The current obsession with reducing racecourses and creating large training centres is taking us in that direction. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Huey]

3 hours ago, Delta Bro said:

When I was in Japan, I talked to an owner who raced a string of horses and was enormously wealthy. He said he kept meticulous records and had only made a profit from racing in one of the last eight years. He said those setting stake levels needed to look at the earnings of the horses who, when you looked at all the horses racing from the best through to the worst, were in the middle. If those horses earned more in stakes, then racing horses would be a better financial proposition. He said champion horses would always win lots of money and the chances of owning such a horse were remote.

Personally I think that there are not enough wealthy people in New Zealand to sustain a racing industry that resembles the JRA model (ten racecourses & 2 training centres).  The current obsession with reducing racecourses and creating large training centres is taking us in that direction. 

 

 

 

 

 

Exactly why stakes to shuffle more through the bottom to middle. 

[nomates]

NZTR are increasing minimum to 14k but the new consortium in Auckland are already paying 15k minimums , wouldn't the smart thing to do be increase the minimums to 15k so everybody is aligned , or is that asking tooooo much of the brains trust .

Or would it have meant that to cover that extra 1k they would have only been able to increase G1's to 299k ? 

So many big questions .

[Doomed]

1 minute ago, nomates said:

NZTR are increasing minimum to 14k but the new consortium in Auckland are already paying 15k minimums , wouldn't the smart thing to do be increase the minimums to 15k so everybody is aligned , or is that asking tooooo much of the brains trust .

Or would it have meant that to cover that extra 1k they would have only been able to increase G1's to 299k ? 

So many big questions .

I imagine that the Auckland clubs will probably move their's to $17,000 now anyhow as the first $14,000 is being fully funded.

[nomates]

3 minutes ago, Doomed said:

I imagine that the Auckland clubs will probably move their's to $17,000 now anyhow as the first $14,000 is being fully funded.

Well it's good to see we finally have a tiered racing system . The haves and the have nots .

[Joe Bloggs]

12 minutes ago, nomates said:

NZTR are increasing minimum to 14k but the new consortium in Auckland are already paying 15k minimums , wouldn't the smart thing to do be increase the minimums to 15k so everybody is aligned , or is that asking tooooo much of the brains trust .

Or would it have meant that to cover that extra 1k they would have only been able to increase G1's to 299k ? 

So many big questions .

But you should only ask one question at a time, don't want to overtax them.

[curious]

This seems grossly unfair to those who renewed and paid for licences early. Presumably, the credit will be refundable for those who do not renew for the 23-24 season?

See above. "The licence renewal fees for the 2022-23 racing season will be funded by NZTR.  Those who have already renewed their licences will receive a credit for the next season."

 

 

[Huey]

3 hours ago, curious said:

This seems grossly unfair to those who renewed and paid for licences early. Presumably, the credit will be refundable for those who do not renew for the 23-24 season?

See above. "The licence renewal fees for the 2022-23 racing season will be funded by NZTR.  Those who have already renewed their licences will receive a credit for the next season."

 

 

It's NZTR logic for keeping numbers up in training ranks.

[Huey]

5 hours ago, nomates said:

Well it's good to see we finally have a tiered racing system . The haves and the have nots .

It's now well and truly pronounced.

[curious]

6 hours ago, nomates said:

Well it's good to see we finally have a tiered racing system . The haves and the have nots .

The problem may be that shortly there won't be anything for the haves to have.