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Someone with construction industry expertise the obvious replacement----Shipley!

In the queue shuffling along to get into Wembley and the mounted police are doing their crowd management .A female cop on a sweated up steed goes by , so I says , hey you’ve got that horse all hot and bothered. She says , and if I had my legs wrapped around you for 3 hours you’d be in a sweaty lather too.

I really hope Machete wins on Friday night, I hope he smashes them. But I wouldn't be betting on him to win. Prefer just to watch and see. One win from his last 8 starts, he has had his share of issues to deal with in recent times. Great draw to work with, and with Jack's Legend drawn the outside of the front line, hopefully Machete can find the lead and dictate terms in front. Wouldn't be surprised to see JL give him a bit of a scare however as he is racing very well at the moment.

I hope so if only to piss off the conspiracy theorists. Losers the lot of them.

The funeral for this wonderful man Gary Tims is at Newstead on Wednesday. Sire of a great racing legend Sir Peter Tims. Champion apprentice. His Stats were unreal in pre computer days. He rode Two year olds, Sprinters, stayers Jumpers . His dad Gary told Peter before he rode the Roger McGlade, Krona in the GroupOne Levin Stakes you've drawn wide go back and finish over the top. At the Barrier as the horses were loading, Pete said," Boys I've drawn wide. I want to be on the rail after 150 metres " and he was. Won. Love to the family and on Wednesday !!

Passed away on my birthday ... Extra special day of remembrance. RIP and thoughts are with the family.

I was grandstand riding two horses OHAKA ! Steering Firefly into brickwalls and worst part of track and hoping Fiscal Fantasy would stay winless at Ellerslie.

lets hope the selection committee and board do a better job when appointing a new CEO. WE need a person skilled in the industry .please do not appoint an accountant who is not well versed in harness racing. All the hot air of 20000 minimum races is escaping rapidly... The line that we need someone outside the industry for new ideas never works.... I have seen it in many Businesses and have seen it mostly fail over last 72 years !!

I rode him as hard as I could Pondy..... Great comp though so many thanks for the fun......

That got your attention hey. Well here goes the story. A friend of mine saw the ad , and email "Deposit $$$ in your account and get a bonus $20 added into your account." He has his bet, $20 multi returns $92. He won that multi but only received $72 (TAB obviously deducted the bonus $20). Now I remember getting a bonus $10 when I put $20 into my account. Think I lost most of the bonus money so that money was never deducted. Now I hear from my friend that he got a bonus $5 twice from the current Match 3 promotion . My friend decides he will have a few extra bets because the money he will get credited to his account the following day. However neither bonus $5 have turned up into his account. Is the TAB encouraging him to bet more often and then lets him down. Ethical business practice is this not ???

Nights like this make it all worthwhile for Mark Purdon. Because it not the money or the glory that keeps Purdon away from home all summer. It is the satisfaction he feels when things go right and Purdon and partner Natalie Rasmussen can get the best out of their horses and do the right thing by their owners. And things went all the way right on Saturday night a Menangle. The All Stars trained four winners, three at group one level and most importantly the quinella in the A$1 million Miracle Mile as Spankem outsped stablemate Thefixer. It was Purdon’s first driving success in the Mile, a race his brother Barry and brother-in-law Tony Herlihy had both driven the winners of before so Mark was thrilled to join the family honour roll. “It is a race I’m glad I finally won because it is one I always wanted and it would have annoyed me if I retired one day not having got it,” says Purdon. But personal glory is not what motivates Purdon to spend three tiring months on the road, with the Hall of Famer admitting his gruelling summer has sapped him. “It has been hard,” says Purdon. “I think the only time I have been home since early December was for the yearling sales and while it is great to have all these horses and to win big races traveling all the time isn’t easy. “I think people see nights like what we had on Saturday and see the glamour but it has been a testing summer in some ways. “But when you see the horses race that well and the thrill the owners and the staff get out of it, it is very, very satisfying.” As dominant as horses like Our Princess Tiffany (NSW Oaks) and Our Dream About Me (Ladyship Mile) were, Purdon still needed his rarest of training skills to get them there. Both of that pair and Spankem were in doubt for this carnival just three weeks ago and part of Purdon’s mastery is his self-belief to change his plans at the last minute to suit how a horse feels. Three weeks ago Spankem was coming home to New Zealand with a hoof abscess, now he is the Miracle Mile champion, with delayed flights also helping. “I wasn’t surprised he won because his work last week was so good and his gate speed was a huge asset,” says Purdon. “And he loved the big track and the speed racing. But he still had to be good to hold out Thefixer.” Spankem will now have a short break while Dream About Me retires a last-start group one winner. Our Princess Tiffany was breathtaking and has raced back to the head of the fillies ranks while All U Need Is Faith got a deserved listed win. As for Purdon, he will make it part of the way home (Christchurch), flying into Auckland today to put the finishing touches on his team for Derby night at Alexandra Park this Friday. The machine rolls on. Harnesslink Greg Michael Guerin

One has to wonder if there was a farewell payout or a PG lodged.? Not unusual in many CEO departures these days

Sold

Spot on Chevy. How she ever got that job beats me...hubby had some experience at Addington and that was it. Canam are now off the job and they are suing for millions. Ganellen are suing for $13m.....this could get very nasty. Involving Alan Reay ( the bloke who was involved in the CTV building debacle ) and using Chinese steel on the job was a recipe for disaster.

Dowding had her main experience in catering, food and beverage etc(George Hotel and Ch Ch Town Hall) so maybe the builders found life too comfortable in the lunch room portacom rather than getting on with the job. Notwithstanding the issues with the engineering that needed rectification, amongst other issues. Just have to question at times the female tokenism of the PC world where lack of true ability (experience) translates into poor performance. (Ardern Shipley,Curran, Hughes etc) JM(white, patriarchal) O.

Rod Petrovic if he is available????

Steve have to agree the food they presented was a bloody embrasment which they offered to the guests, if finances are a problem I would suggest they find a sponsor. They need to come Christchurch to see what the guests are offered.

Whatever the reason, Mark WILL make changes and he WILL be a force to be reckoned with, whatever the draw.Count on it.

rumours are dangerous- good time to let things settle and see the outcome

Anyone know the fixed odds figures? Just One Smile/Diddilee - congratulations to all the connections of the Group 1 winners. Diddilee was able to show that the St Leger win at Addington was definitely not a fluke.

Very wise words John. The trouble is half those on the board are never any better. A classic example is HRNZ, a quick look at Ken Spicer's CV would not leave you with any great confidence that he has the governance experience and or qualifications to run a multi million dollar industry. IMHO

And how did that impact your performance Cubes when the "gates" opened?

I went to confession once and as soon as I sat down the guy next door said "don't ask, there's no toilet paper in here either!"

But you did on Saturday Tim!!

If you can’t understand that your policies have failed miserably, just go and look at the Derby field.....two last start winners in a field of 18!!!!!!! anyone who isn’t publicly making statements about the requirements for reformation and change needs to be noted and removed from their post. what an international embarrassment. Our Derby is a 3yo conditions race this year and if I were on the international patterns committee, I’d be giving notice to it’s group one status. How we have fallen. Currently in Sydney and saw an add on TV this morning. Aus Breeding was skiting that the last 6 Oaks and Derbies were Aussie bred. Who’d have thought that could happen

Make sure your sitting down to read on., First week - $27.014m vs $31.382m last year Second week - $31.990m vs $35.075m last year (helped this year by 200k of BGP money Third week - $30.614m vs $33.596m So around $10,000,000 down in racing turnover in the first three weeks an average of just over $3,300,000 a week multiply that by 52 weeks = $175,000,000 down. The Betting Platform was sold to the Racing Industry on the basis that it would pay for itself in three years due to how much more turnover it would bring in. By God it's going to lose the Industry tens of millions plus the cost of tens of million to build it plus $17,000,000 to pay in fees to Paddy Power & Openbet plus the millions to service the loan the Industry had to take to pay for it. And I thought the Nigerians were good extracting money on promised dreams. Industry told it pays for itself in three years by: 1. Doubling customers (not happening). Retain what they had last year and it will be amazing plus now a full season of no Australians able to bet into NZ) 2. All the 1,000's of more betting options would increase turnover (not happening). Over 100 more race meetings in the first three weeks equate that to the number of race betting options and turnover down by millions. Figures look far worse if you equate them to actual number of races over the three weeks compared to last year. 3. Stop arbitraging (that was an odd one odds are only as good as what goes into the system, few of my mates last three weeks have got on sports games that have moved overseas but not on the NZ market so I don't believe that line. 4. Race Field Fees (not happening this season) Word is that the Sports betting yield is miles behind compared to the same period as last year which is no surprise when you get told by a couple of customers they betting on sporting matches in play and making thousands because whoever was trading was doing so to delayed coverage (like backing a horse when it's past the post). Who needs to arbitrage when you know you can't lose.Yes I don't blame you, you just double checked you were in fact reading Race Cafe and not a Fantasy novel. Deloittes in the report commissioned by NZTR that a Betting Platform costing the Industry $30m (not $50m) wasn't sustainable in such a small market warranted the expense of it and they were unfortunately 1000% correct. At least the NZTR appointed Board Member had his vote recorded as against signing the Betting Platform agreement. If anyone from NZRB in the media states how good the new Betting Platform is performing for the NZ Racing Industry and the NZRB's revenue they should be sacked on the spot as should whoever put the agreement in place for the Board to sign. Looking at which tracks to close should go on hold as there might be a bulk deal coming soon. If you can't read between the lines above I will put it in simple plain and simple English in just a few words "The NZ Racing was stuffed but is now totally f#@%#ed.

Spot on. IT history is littered with rags to riches stories and also massive blunders from the most intelligent of organisations. How often do we hear of multi million dollar computer projects scrapped. Back in the early eights Xerox was the technology leader with the cream of research scientists at work. Just took a couple of upstarts i.e. Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs a few minutes how to exploit the technology and launch Apple. Today Xerox is an expert in staff layoffs. Apple and Microsoft have made their share of blunders as well. But then along came John Allen. He had it all figured. He knew everything about technology, wagering, horse racing so couldn't miss. What he didn't know then Glenda knew. Wow here was the combination that was going to launch racing into dizzy new heights. Well take some consolation John Allen even super brains such as e.g. Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos all make mistakes. But better move on to the next mistake this one will take some solving.

In terms of sports betting, I went to bet on a basket ball game I was going to watch. There was 177 options to try and sift through to find what I wanted so I gave up. Granted they did need more options but I think they have gone to far the other way. Last night I also went to place a live bet, same problem as in the past odds suspended or can’t get my bet on due to the odds changing between the same two figures over and over again. I got sick of waiting 8 seconds over and over again only to be told the odds had changed so I gave up.

premixer i now wish that you hadn't asked for the compared figures as it's more depressing that I thought it would be. Have the headache pills on standby to take once you have finished reading the figures. Figures include total NZ and overseas racing turnover (fixed & tote) for all codes 2017 1st August to 31st December 2017 turnover = $766.21m on 34,027 races 2018 1st August to 31st December 2018 turnover = $743.607m on 40,432 races In 5 months this season 6,000 more races taken and $22,000,000 down in turnover with still 7 months of the racing season to go. So in 22 weeks 1st August to 31st December down $22,000,000 which equates to $1,000,000 a week. Remember the Platform was sold to the Industry on the basis that the 1,000's of new betting options that would be made available would increase turnover. It's not happening as the figures show. No wonder they are taking every possible race eg USA, UK, Timbuktu, and Tokyo they can to boost turnover premixer in reply to your query re the first 3 weeks compared to same period last year for the new Betting Platform . 2019 - 3 week period prior to the new web site $119,930,191 2018 - the same period 3 week period $122,204,000 So this year 3 weeks prior to the Platform is $2,268,000 less or $756,000 per week. Into 3 weeks of the Bet Platform launch and with 19% more races this year compared to last year down 10% in turnover compared to 2.5% down in the 3 weeks prior to the launch. So in financial returns the new Betting Platform has seen that decline increase to $3,000,000 a week. In simple terms the new Betting Platform has sped up the decline in NZRB racing turnover. Get Deloittes to do an update on what the Betting Platform is contributing now verse previously and their thoughts on it all. Shouldn't cost much to do as only requires one page. With the above figures and the development cost of the Platform to be paid for along with $17,000,000 a year to service it by Open Bet and Paddy Power and the millions in interest on the loans to pay for it I can't paint any clearer picture for the final outcome which was endorsed by Deloittes. These figures don't even allow for what yield returns sports and racing bookmaking is returning this season compared to last. I don't have access to sports turnover figures but it's highly unlikely that there has been an increase to offset the higher margin racing products. The Racing Minister needs to act now as a Company leaking millions a week instead of making millions it was sold on as doing is only ending up in one place. The false promises haven't eventuated its that close to having a statutory manager needed in the NZRB right now not in months. Winston do what a Minister is voted into do' Act now". Time isn't running out it has already done that.

Its about time John Allen fronted up.

Have you got the figures for the 2-3 weeks before the new platform roll out compared to the previous year? Be interested to see if the decrease is directly related to the new platform, or just a downward trend in racing turnover in general.

I detect a hint of pessimism