Leaderboard

This article confirms what I have been saying for years. Betting turnover and stakes are inextricably linked. https://www.racing.com/news/2019-01-06/comment-cool-heads-needed-in-track-debate NZ desperately needs to open up betting to bookmakers to increase punter interest and give them a choice. The bland product offered by the NZ TAB turns punters away, and with it, turnover. Without that you cannot have a healthy level of stakesmoney. Messara missed a golden opportunity. It is not about having all weather tracks or closing tracks down. It is about giving punters something to bet on and giving them options. Victoria has a track in just about every town and picnic meetings attract 3000-4000 people on a Saturday. Even the picnic meetings have stakes of $4000. Maiden races in the country are $23,000. This matter needs to be addressed urgently. What is being proposed is just shifting the deckchairs on the Titanic. The ship is going down fast. Time to act, people.

It's not actually even shifting the chairs. It's just gluing them down so they go down with the ship.

Right JOT I've done 1 an hour youtube course on Node.js so am an expert now ...well did 20 minutes anyway. Changing the subject a bit what I've always wanted to see is the TAB and other racing organisations to be completely open about the skills and job descriptions within their organisations. January is the month the education sector runs a lot of adverts on careers, courses and such like. Why are the Saturday clubs not getting on the bandwaggon with oncourse promotions and sponsors. If there are some people with skills like yourself willing to attempt a complete dissection of the $50M spend forcing the the TAB to open their books and procedures I would be a starter to join in. For some it could be good way to gain extra knowledge. I maintain the TAB is basically a government created monopoly with a public responsibility. Lets get rid of this commercial confidentially nonsense. Its scandalous Racing Board hire overseas personel without any real attempt at seeking locals. Its also scandalous huge salaries are paid yet no one knows just what these recipients do and are only accountable to someone on an unjustified salary themselves.

after costs including initial cost of horse- the syndicators seem to take a decent slice of the action- I wonder the return of the much lauded syndicates even with a good horse. the average sale price at the yearling stake is a bit higher than harness- what would be the average number of starters for a galloper. at Auckland the owner will be getting 400 to run last in march- no nomination fees- how does that compare to gallops. drivers fee much lower than jockeys- training fees I general much lower- in march more than 40 times a year stakes will be minimum of 15k- the money is spread around much better in harness

This competition will be run on all the feature races on the Magic Millions Gold Coast programme, 8 races i believe and also on the 3 features at Trentham. It will be a points based competition 5 points for a winner,3 points for 2nd and 1 point for 3rd. Group1 Levin Classic and the Magic Millions Classic for 2yo's are triple points if you pick the WINNERS, so 15 points The Group 3 races are double points so 10 points if you pick the WINNERS of these. Placings in any of the Group1,Magic Millions Classic or the Group 3 races will only receive normal points. Need to select 1 horse in each race and select 1 horse to be you BB of the day, in other than the races mentioned earlier, your BB will get you another 2x points wherever it finishes in the first 3. Scratchings go onto TAB Fav ,no replacements after entries are in. Entries will close 1 hr before the first race of the competition. Prizes are betting credits. First prize $300 2nd prize $150 3rd $50 Draw prizes split, my decisions will be final.

Rangiora all weather is a training track at best. Rangiora grass has proven a good addition to that club and is proving popular with race-going public. Grass is actually the future of the game and yet so many think premier racing is the shop window...

Would agree with that Tim except the stake money for the horses finishing further back than 5th is taken from the stakes of the first 4 horses. It's not new money and the value of winning a race is much reduced. It's like communism actually. Take money from people who have earned it (with having the best horse) and give it to the poor (who have mug horses that can't even keep up)

Ninety five per cent of horses do not have "Ability" and trainers will tell you that many of the "All weather" tracks are too hard anyway!

Well on the way to recovery.

Why would a trainer with a horse that he thought had ability risk it by racing on a rough grass track which would be subject to whatever weather conditions prevailed, that is either too wet or too hard

What a lot of nonsense. The Rangiora all weather track is the only thing that is holding the racecourse together. The galloping people don't want the track and if it was up to them the place would be sold. If the Messara report is properly implemented then the place would be sold. It would be worth millions as it is now surrounded by houses. Property developers would lap it up. Grass track racing is a thing of the past and until that is recognised and we concentrate on developing the main race courses by upgrading their facilities and increasing stakes then racing is going to continue to disappear down the plug hole.

Breeder Yes we got a nice big colt

Happy NY one and all. I'm encouraged to report after a break that the P and L is not too bad over the holiday period. Lots of AS wins at lovely prices Lee including yours and some really nice civvies on Willliamson horses down south. Good luck to all the owners and to you all if you like a bet

Tim Vince if the harness code is so rewarding how is it that only 3 trainers have stake earnings higher than $300k in the harness code whilst in the galloping code 18 have achieved this figure. Six trainers have won over $600k. The Greyhounds also have 3 trainers that have won over $300k.

Give me grass any day. Bigger fields and better dividends!

Why worry about stakes when it's a hobby or a sport , Saturday rugby players don't get paid , cricket the same , come to think of it virtually no sports are rewarded until they turn pro , racing is the SPORT of kings isn't it . Look at Awapuni a few days ago , trainers weren't interested in the stakes , in 4 races nobody bothered to claim 5th prise , no doubt some of the scratched horses will line up for $10k mid week . Racings biggest problem is the age of participants , owners , trainers and punters , we are all getting old (if we are lucky) , that's the real issue facing racing .

I am struggling with your logic. Today's NZ harness meeting has one race at $10,000 and one at $13,000, the rest all lower. Tomorrow's meeting has one race over $9,000. Open class gallopers can race all over NZ every weekend for $35,000+. Virtually all the open class trotters in NZ are trained by one stable and when they win they pay about $1.40, and they only race a few times a year. Most harness meetings only cater for maidens up to about 3 or 4 wins. I have no idea what happens to harness horses once they win 3 or 4 races as there are hardly any races for them. If I recall correctly most of the races at Addington over Cup Week had stakes of about $20,000, whereas even Riccarton had minimum stakes of $30,000. And that was harness's big meeting of the year, the gallops have heaps of other more prestigious meetings.

I just want to wish all the members & their families a very Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year. I look forward to our talks next year. From my family & myself (Gary Sharp)