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or high- depending on your perspective Race 7 at Cambridge tonight, final field book framed at 160% on opening prices. Just pathetic...........

I found this point interesting in the P&E Report Leggy: "Broadcasting is critical to the conduct of race betting as there is a direct correlation between the broadcasting of a race and the betting turnover on that race." I will highlight the words "CRITICAL" and "DIRECT CORRELATION" Yet the NZRB in their wisdom have removed racing on Freeview thereby eliminating thousands of viewers. Worth noting is that in Australia the complete opposite has occurred with Freeview having been introduced. NZ racing turnover has decreased whereas it has increased in Australia. This would indicate the sentence from the P&E report is indeed correct.

I agree with him on one point the Easter has been Donald Ducked, how can you run an Easter not even at Easter.... they are farking geniuses....... and moving the Auckland Cup and Derby has been an unmitigated disaster... ruined a great carnival.

I'd like the TAB to have a guaranteed $50k quaddie on a NZ Saturday meeting instead of 2 in Australia also. Support your own bloody industry.

Another week and another mountain of awesome racing. $180 each for the blue water and the mccook clan.

Have to post early ! I presume' this is PJ's Round (5) Five entry thread . Race 1 # 3 ~ 6 Race 2 # 8 ~9 Race 3 # 1 ~ 4 B/B Race 4 # 9 ~ 14 Race 5 # 1 ~ 8 Race 6 # 2 ~ 3 Race 7 # 1 ~ 3 Race 8 # 1 ~ 10 Race 9 # 13 ~14 B/B Race 10 # 2 ~ 8 Good Luck Sharne ! Steve P, Sir Castleton, Kay and Cubes. Trust , we have an unlucky day and find a few winners ! PJ, Cheers

What I find amusing is their perpetual self-confidence despite decades of complete failure. Two years ago (three?) we were told the Triple Trio was going to be the answer to all their problems and the bet type that was going to capture the imagination of the general population. And when it was launched all the Trackside presenters kept telling us how popular it was even though no-one in NZ even really understood the bet as the TAB don't offer Trios. I'm not speaking with the benefit of hindsight as I think any serious punter could see it was going to be a complete lemon because it was too complicated, and what do you know within 12 months and after millions spent on marketing and advertising (remember the awful Seabiscuit ad?), this "popular" bet type was canned. Now it's Race Fields Legislation which Allen and Glenda are convinced is going to save the industry by pumping back some of the supposed millions that Kiwis lose to overseas bookies. Well, newsflash, it's not. I absolutely guarantee that whatever legislation the government pass, NZ racing will never get ONE CENT from any overseas bookmaker. Their margins are so tight that if they were forced to pay (which would be unprecedented) they would simply stop offering NZ racing which let's be honest is one of the least attractive betting propositions on the planet. Yesterday 7 races on a bog track, the last two races had 7 and 4 runners. I don't know how or even if it is possible to save the New Zealand racing industry, but there are a few obvious things the TAB could do to drastically improve their fixed odds profits (I think at least double, maybe a lot more) without outsourcing it which would be the second dumbest thing they have ever done, the dumbest of course being the purchase of the Typhoon system for seven million or whatever it was. They are absolutely set up to succeed. They are the biggest retailer in NZ and were handed an exclusive betting license in a country full of affluent mad gamblers. But instead of using this "Golden Ticket" as a platform to expand and compete in the incredibly lucrative overseas market, they instead try to use this market as an excuse for their own shortcomings and go crying to the government asking for more legislative help. The government, which also has no clue whatsoever about the betting industry, was sufficiently impressed to appoint a working group to try to look at how they could legislate to force overseas betting companies. What a complete waste of time and money, just cos Allen, Purcells and co don't have the faintest idea how to run a betting company.

Everyone knows that the hardest time for horse owners is the period between purchasing/breeding and up until the first win. How has this increased helped them? $7,000.00 maiden races when the bill each month varies between $1500.00 and $2500.00 and they wonder why there are few new owners wanting a horse. Do the maths.

Sorry, I meant 'whether'. I feel rather sheepish about that mistake.

Bit of a problem for Trump, A'man. Given they're a multi-national family of refugees he wouldn't know wether to build a wall to keep them in or keep them out.

Ok multi at Gore to kick it off Race 4 flying sardine race 6 fantamo $20 to win $246

Time for our team to cause an upset Kay Hollis 1 - 1, 6 (4, 3) 2 - 6, 8 (5, 3) 3 - 1, 7 (5, 4) 4 - 5, 8 (1, 6) 5 - 1, 4 BB (2, 8) 6 - 4, 12 (1, 2) 7 - 2, 8 (1, 7) 8 - 2, 4 (1, 5) 9 - 2, 6 (7, 9) 10 - 2, 11 BB (6, 5) Sylvia 1 - 4, 6 (1, 2) 2 - 5, 8 (1, 6) 3 - 4, 5 BB (1, 7) 4 - 1, 6 (5, 8) 5 - 2, 8 (1, 4) 6 - 1, 2 BB (4, 12) 7 - 1, 7 (2, 8) 8 - 1, 5 (4, 2) 9 - 7, 9 (6, 2) 10 - 5, 6 (2, 11)

Ok Louie here we go. R1 1-6 R2 2-8 R3 6-7 R4 8-14 R5 1-10BB R6 1-10 R7 1-8 R8 4-5 R9 6-9 R10 8-9BB All the best Howie. Captain please keep an eye on scratchings . GO the Sharkies

My thoughts also Biff. Mind you she must have been naughty at some stage to warrant Blinkers in her 1st trial. I still like her. She has Spunk & a turn of foot. Hope I haven't shortened the odds for Oct 1st Cubes.. We will all be cheering. .Good Luck. RT.

No. I was being serious. I see nothing wrong with being a lift operator and greenkeeper, then moving onto human resources. There's not enough information to make a call on this guys suitability for the role, but he spent time with another organisation as a human resource advisor prior to joining NZRB. Since leaving NZRB he's publicly demonstrated himself to be a competitive type and also a winner. He was probably too good for the NZRB job. Just imagine some of these ex postmen trying to compete on something like The Block. What kind of background do you want the guy to have? In business I've employed people with years of learning and time in the industry behind them. Some of these have turned out to be absolute duds. I've hired people with no industry experience and little specific job related training who have turned out to be superstars.

Yeah well this outfit is particularly prone to trying to prove that wrong by doing more and more of what's already not working.

Think it's a bit more complex than just putting hands out Barry. What we are talking about is a total restructure /reorganisation, starting with the Act, then looking at the organisations involved. Clearly things haven't been working as they should for some time, so changes are needed starting at the top. Otherwise we are just rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic... That Old Chinese proverb comes to mind : "If you always do what you've always done, you will always get what you've always got.."

So what? Those industries pay income tax. The next time racing went with it's hand out, they got another $10m of Class 4 gaming revenue which they use to fund the RIU and other safety projects etc. As a taxpayer, who wants to give them more? It's embarrassing enough being a beneficiary to the extent we are. If racing had to stand on its own feet like the other industries you mention, it would be nowhere near the size you quote. It is that size because of taxpayer generosity, not its own productivity.

http://www.racingbase.com/category/harness/harness-racing-victoria-stewards-issue-39-charges-against-nathan-jack-20160920-0004/

Phantom if we had horses like The Phantom racing in New Zealand none of these races would be getting downgraded. All our top horses are racing in Australia and Asia. Can't see the situation being turned around.

The following is an excerpt from a newsletter I receive from a very knowledgeable NZ racing scribe on this topic: Take a bow once again Butch Castles and Desmond Coppins….I see the pattern committee has now downgraded the Easter Handicap (NZ’s oldest race and once best mile by so far it was not funny from G1 to G2…..now that Castles and some misguided miscreants tried to change this race to the Champions Mile (copying Hong Kong ffs) and then the date…..well that soon go shat on……can you believe now that the Easter Handicap is a G2….and not always on Easter weekend ….my goodness…..what a disgrace………and that brown-nosing Coppins at the Wellington RC (where farkin Castles came from the bullshitting blimp) have been outraged ever since the Wellington Cup got downgraded to G2…..well grab hold of the toilet seat at Trem-Fim because some turbo-laxative action is about to happen ala Dumb & Dumber and Jeff Daniels as Harry…..it is now a G3 race and a wilderness highweight like the NZ Cup….you cannot make this up….because it is true……..and how they never downgraded the Auckland Cup defies belief…..that race has been excrement for 4 years….it is gone after next year to G2 if the field is old jumpers again….that will teach Butch and the Auckland RC clowns that moved the Cup……my goodness. You cheat, lie, keep up appearances, spin, act like Trackside hosts, interview more often than not mates and riders/stables with awful strike rates, then the chickens will not come home to roost and so will vermin, grubs, Wai-Kat-To people (is there any filthier?)……NZ racing is infested with vermin…..the lying is out of control….the conflict of interest is off the charts….stud and breeding plants are everywhere and these people should never ever be trusted. I think it is safe to assume NZ racing is headed to third world status…..if not already there….the RIU has a rotten trio at the top….the NZTAB cannot take too many bets before the website or system collapses……Trackside has an entire staff of liars and silly looking and speaking people beholden to saying and doing anything…..NZTR is a joke and Greg Purcell, well, my goodness, how far backwards can a sport go under one person?.....and finally the NZRB…..John Allen should be forced to resign, as he said he would if the turds kept hitting the fan, and under his tenure so far the co-mingling of big Aus Quaddies has stopped and races downgraded and Trackside is getting worse and the RIU has no integrity at the top…..and turnover is collapsing with the only increase being pokies, which is addiction central.....just leave now John Allen and let another monkey have a go on the organ grinder and peanut selling stall that is NZ racing….!

Portability of skills works in some industries but patently DOES NOT work when applied to the Racing Industry.

How you go from a Lift operator and Greens Keeper to a Human Resources role defies belief. Henry and Woodham are both JA "mate" appointments. Looking at this it does explain why the Marketing is so crap though.

Why increase one race by $250,000 when the increases at lower, and arguably more important levels are so small...?