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Bit Of A Yarn

Tracks Closing?


Newmarket

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27 minutes ago, Newmarket said:

I see Motukarara is on list? Is this just for gallops, surely not. 

No mention Kaikoura, or are they not closing any harness tracks? 

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i think that is part of the galloping reduction

but really timaru oamaru waimate where will those clubs race wingatui and ashburton deary me

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9 hours ago, Happy Sunrise said:

Seriously, where does this leave trotting clubs like Waimate? 

No gallops at Oamaru or Timaru, maybe harness could become the preferred racing choice of the provinces? 

Waimate just spent a huge amount of money building new stands and upgrading facilities

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2 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said:

Back to the topic....will the closing of those tracks targeted affect harness racing?

What if they change Section 16 and reduce the share of TAB revenue that currently goes to harness?

Other Codes

We have considered the information provided by the harness and greyhound codes to the Future Venue Plan Joint Working Group meetings on 6 June and 6 July. We note at the time of writing that harness racing is proposing to reduce their number of venues from 35 to 31 over 3 years, to 28 over 5 years and to 25 after 10 years. Greyhound racing is proposing to reduce their number of venues from 7 to 3 after 10 years. We have not undertaken detailed work on the harness or greyhound codes, so are not in a position to comment about their preliminary venue plans.

As noted earlier, we have looked at the thoroughbred venues that we recommend be closed and which also conduct harness meetings. There are 9 thoroughbred racing or training venues which we propose should be closed that also will continue to host harness meetings as per the Harness Racing New Zealand (HRNZ) preliminary venue plan. Having reviewed the land ownership arrangements for each venue we believe that NZTR, HRNZ and the relevant clubs should be able to work out future arrangements satisfactory to both codes. There are no thoroughbred venues proposed to be closed that also host greyhound meetings

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11 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said:

Back to the topic....will the closing of those tracks targeted affect harness racing?

What if they change Section 16 and reduce the share of TAB revenue that currently goes to harness?

This is the big worry.   My worry is that we could see A bias in the amount of thoroughbred racing broadcast from overseas  thereby  increasing galloping share of betting which they will then use to justify taking funds off harness & Greyhounds.   Hope I am wrong but I don’t think Winston’s is in the least bit interested in helping anything but gallops.  I think he would happily sell harness down the gurgler to help his mates.  Harness leaders must lobby politicians to make sure this doesn’t happen

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How sad it would be to lose those small tracks on the west coast for Gallops/harness, it must add to the economy there,  as a lot of people make the trek to watch on the coast. That is the problem also with getting an outsider in to assess the sustainability of racing in NZ, they have no attachment to racing tradition over here, these small meetings I have always thought are what made nz racing/harness racing unique,  how boring will it be just having everything centralised to the main tracks!

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2 hours ago, Flagship uberalles said:

That is the problem also with getting an outsider in to assess the sustainability of racing in NZ, they have no attachment to racing tradition over here, these small meetings I have always thought are what made nz racing/harness racing unique,  how boring will it be just having everything centralised to the main tracks!

I think the of point the report & Winston are trying to make is without drastic change (track closures) the entire industry will be gone.

Is it worth fighting to keep the smallest/least used venues open for the next few years until there is no racing whatsoever within NZ?

Or do they close/discontinue those tracks before that doomsday arrives & focus on fewer tracks & an industry that can remain intact?

I'm a Rotorua resident who seems to have a track on the list. In my 14 years in Rotorua there have been many race meets held at the venue, mostly gallops & a few harness. In those 14 years I personally have been to two of the gallop meets & one harness.

Yes I was a rather serious punter (99.9% greyhound as dogs can't read the odds board) & the Rotorua track is a 5 minute drive from my home. The point for me was, why bother going to the track to watch them in person, when I could even more easily watch them on the tube (before it left freeview) or stream the races on my computer. I could have my punt, watch the race, then tend to the mowing/laundry/dishes for the next 45 minutes in the lead up to the next race. If I decided to have a few cold ones during the coarse of the day, I needn't worry about how to get back home if I had one to many under my belt.

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2 minutes ago, Yankiwi said:

I think the of point the report & Winston are trying to make is without drastic change (track closures) the entire industry will be gone.

Is it worth fighting to keep the smallest/least used venues open for the next few years until there is no racing whatsoever within NZ?

Or do they close/discontinue those tracks before that doomsday arrives & focus on fewer tracks & an industry that can remain intact?

I'm a Rotorua resident who seems to have a track on the list. In my 14 years in Rotorua there have been many race meets held at the venue, mostly gallops & a few harness. In those 14 years I personally have been to two of the gallop meets & one harness.

Yes I was a rather serious punter (99.9% greyhound as dogs can't read the odds board) & the Rotorua track is a 5 minute drive from my home. The point for me was, why bother going to the track to watch them in person, when I could even more easily watch them on the tube (before it left freeview) or stream the races on my computer. I could have my punt, watch the race, then tend to the mowing/laundry/dishes for the next 45 minutes in the lead up to the next race. If I decided to have a few cold ones during the coarse of the day, I needn't worry about how to get back home if I had one to many under my belt.

You are quite right, unfortunately!!......those small harness meetings in the summer on the west coast have capacity fields and big crowds, even the likes of motukarara get big fields and a good attendance in summer. I guess this is now the reality of trying to salvage the wreck that is racing in this country, problem is you get sick very quickly of the same old shit running around Alex Park and Addington every week, those smaller clubs are a great novelty and I much prefer to spend more gambling wise at those venues.

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The problem is that the costs of running racing is too high compared to the amount of profit being generated.

The track attendance at most meetings nowadays is abysmal and it is the same punters that keep going, however I personally know many who have given up going in recent years.

The TAB doesn’t make money on racing in NZ and would be happy just to have sports betting as it costs them very little to run.

There are going to be drastic changes coming in in the next couple of years and is going to costs thousands of people their jobs.

New punters need to be enticed into punting or the industry is doomed!

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1 minute ago, Brodie said:

The problem is that the costs of running racing is too high compared to the amount of profit being generated.

The track attendance at most meetings nowadays is abysmal and it is the same punters that keep going, however I personally know many who have given up going in recent years.

The TAB doesn’t make money on racing in NZ and would be happy just to have sports betting as it costs them very little to run.

There are going to be drastic changes coming in in the next couple of years and is going to costs thousands of people their jobs.

New punters need to be enticed into punting or the industry is doomed!

So how do you get new punters involved....well for one, you don't slice through racecourses like they want to.

I live in chch....in the past 12 months I have been to these racetracks. Addington once, Riccarton once, Kaikoura 2 days racing, Ashburton twice, Timaru once, Motukarara 3 times, Rangiora once.

Now I don't go to the races much like I used to, but I prefer to go to smaller clubs, Add + Ricc does little for me, would rather watch on TV.

Another thing to remember, my visit to add + ricc, I was by myself.....all other tracks I went with family or friends.This is how I got involved in the game...but sadly this will be lost.

So brodez...people don't wake up in the morning and want to punt....get people to the track with others....have fun....that's how punters are born.

 

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3 minutes ago, Brodie said:

The problem is that the costs of running racing is too high compared to the amount of profit being generated.

The track attendance at most meetings nowadays is abysmal and it is the same punters that keep going, however I personally know many who have given up going in recent years.

The TAB doesn’t make money on racing in NZ and would be happy just to have sports betting as it costs them very little to run.

There are going to be drastic changes coming in in the next couple of years and is going to costs thousands of people their jobs.

New punters need to be enticed into punting or the industry is doomed!

New punters now seem to just like Sports betting on u.s Sports! The problem is all the nzrbs fault really, the introduction of tracside with Wall to Wall racing (90% from Australia)no one can arsed going to the track anymore...even though our population has doubled since the 1980s patronage has shrunk!

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