TARANTULA

It sounds like a real cowboys outfit mate? Bloody joke reading the stipes report. Part of the railing blew off due to high winds? WTF? Crossing also damaged by high winds?? Give me a break. Clearly, little maintenance done at that track. 
Yes, crossings are dangerous and should be banned. A lot of horses don't handle them and it's a wonder someone, or a horse, has not been killed at a crossing. I owned a mare and she would always jump the crossing at Motukarara. She always came down pacing but it was scary watching her because you never know... it must have been frightening stuff for driver. Unfortunately, all crossings in NZ are substandard. Improvement needed. 

This will be where industry leaders can have their say so we get both sides of the stories and a clear picture of issues confronting the industry.

Well I can tell F , I have to be out of the house because the misses doesn't want to be my mate either .
You want people on course to spend their cash on the tote , well that was the way it used to be , maybe an outdated philosophy now .
But then if you have to pay for a band/DJ so people can come and dance and buy your alcohol , well then , get rid of the fucken horses and get into night clubs .
Geez I am getting so old , or maybe I have forgotten what the core product is .

Struggling for on course patronage , anywhere , I honestly can't think why .

I just had a look online and had to laugh.  The $95 gets you 3 beverage tokens but doesnt get you a table.. that privilege is an add-on
 

The big question is how come they have struggled to pay down debt yet they have stripped Trentham bare , where the feck is that money gone , just paying interest .
The whole thing is an absolute debacle and exactly why NZ racing is slowly dying in decreasing circles .

I have acquired a copy of The Annual Report for Race.
 
Main financial details are as follows:
 
Deficit from operations               = $2,971,179
Less depreciation                        =$1,342,049
                                                       -$4,313,229
Plus Non operating income         = $1,365,543
(Grants for tracks etc)
Plus gain of sale of Assets           =$2,039,400
Reported Deficit For Year                = $908,285
 
The following are some observations:
 
- Bank Borrowing $6,878,746. Up from 2024 $5,664,311.
 Why would The BNZ lend to an entity that cannot generate a cash surplus. Surely The BNZ has breached "duty of care" and is liable? Especially as Race appears to be cash flow insolvent with a working capital deficit of $1.3M.
 
- The interest paid on bank loans =$502k
 
- The cafe at Trentham has been closed. I recall that there was a substantial set up cost and trading was poor. You have to question whether they did their due diligence.
 
-  In their wisdom The Board has decided to purchase a slot at $450k in the NZ Kiwi. In my opinion this is gross negligence, arrogance and sums these fools up. They are up to their eyeballs in debt but have no issues with speculating on a horse race.
 
-Salary costs Includes $839k for 7 key management personnel.  Salaries totalled $1.8M up from $1.6M in 2024. Surely it is prudent to reduce wage costs when they are underperforming.
 
- There is an expense item of $37k for Board/ Committee / Membership which I sincerely hope is not for grog. Given the plight of Race, I trust that free grog is a thing of the past.
 
-The Annual Report lists the membership for the various clubs which make up Race and there is some sobering reading:
Marton Jockey Club = 10 subs paying members
Fielding Jockey Club = 16  "       "   "      "      "
Rangitikei Racing Club = 4          "    "      "     "
Ashurst Pohangina       = 7           "    "     '     '
 
These figures do not include Committee and life members. The concern for me is how can these clubs manage to nominate Directors of the required quality to sit on The Board? Quite simply their results show that they cannot, so the structure of Race is flawed.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Is it a marker pole? 
Is it a stick? 
No….it’s the Rangiora winning post 🤣

41 runners in 6 races…..
I know there will be 6 winners….hardly worth getting the Mobile out of the shed! 

Also Mick G mentioned the $80 million or so money Entain is paying for the Geo Blocking.  It would be very unsatisfactory if the Harness share of that was swolled up entirely by the ATC.  Some of that money should be going to the South Island that is keeping the industry alive. 

Good update on the ATC by Mick G tonight.  Apparently selling Alex Park could take up to 10 years due to legal issues to do with the land use.   If this is true then as far as I can see it’s not a viable solution to their problems.  Now that two developers have looked at the land at Franklin & pulled out of a sale during the due diligence period it’s unlikely they will get anywhere close to what they need to solve their problems from a potential sale there.  All the while the debt is increasing.  It looks very bleak indeed. 
 

You have to remember if they sell those units, as well as giving them capital to reduce their liability it also reduces their income. Even if they sell them for $20mil (I have no idea what they are worth) they are still in a precarious position.  The danger of selling those properties is that without selling Pukekohe as well the proceeds could be swallowed up in ongoing interest payments. 

Administrative decline is sending racing down a rabbit hole
 by Brian de Lore
Published 17th October 2025
Anyone in racing long enough will be aware of the wonderful history the NZ thoroughbred has carved out over the past 150 years, but they will also know that the headwinds facing the horse business today come only minimally from climate change, and mostly from a sharp decline in the quality of its administration.
The incumbents will argue that it’s a global thing, and a modicum of truth exists in that belief, but for NZ, the thoroughbred business has declined in tandem with a series of unsuitable director and executive appointments over the past 20 or so years.
From the days of good governance, when the ‘Captains of Industry’ and the leading names of racing and breeding had a lifetime of experience when they went onto boards, the degradation of the decision-makers is matched only by the depletion of clubs, members, racegoers, race meetings, races run, foals born and every other stat that applies to horse racing.
A major difference between the people who once made it work and those who now can’t is that they used to be on the inside looking out into the clear blue; now they’re on the outside looking in through a hazy fog that won’t lift. The former typically had extensive experience and a vested interest in the business, remaining in it after serving their time.
Institute of Directors a curse for racing
Today, decision-makers from outside the industry, often introduced through the Institute of Directors, typically arrive with limited or no knowledge of racing and depart for another sector before the allocated time of their tenure. Their departure leaves the industry with another lemon to suck on.
The paradigm shift towards this recurring theme happened around 2005, when it was decided that paid professionals would replace the horse-passionate honorary directors who had industry knowledge.
Suddenly, all you needed was a degree in something, completion of a five-and-a-half-day course at the Institute of Directors, and you qualified to sit around the NZTR board table knowing little more than what end bit and what end kicked – enough to collect your directors’ fees.
Worst of all, the appointment to the board is made by the ‘Members’ Council’, a hotchpotch of appointed people from around the country, including jockeys and trainers, none of whom would have the qualifications to recognise a good director if one bit them on the arm.
Since regional representation was killed off in 2011 and replaced with the Member’s Council, of the 30 NZTR directors appointed that have come and gone, not one has stayed long enough to serve out their full term.
Members’ Council also a curse
I recently spent an hour talking to a prominent person on the Members’ Council and came away shocked by how little they knew about the problems facing the racing industry.
The administrative structure of racing in NZ is broken; the stakeholders all know this, so why haven’t we seen a revolution to bring change?  It’s a one-word answer – apathy. They sit on their hands, hoping someone else will do something.
When NZTR called for applications for the board in 2021, they asked for “proven corporate governance experience and understanding of governance policies and processes, strategic insight, and guidance of change.”
They then requested seven additional skills and attributes in bullet points, all of which were corporate world requirements. Notably, there was no mention of racing knowledge, and the word ‘horse’ did not appear anywhere in the document. You reap what you sow.
In the latest ‘Position Description’, extended to four pages, the requirements are much more detailed and corporate-specific. On the last page, in the last paragraph, on the very last line under the heading of “Desirable but non-essential skills of applicants currently include’, it says, ‘An interest or involvement in thoroughbred racing.’
Racing hijacked by corporates
If this document wasn’t written by the ‘Institute of Directors, then it was written for them, because it all but eliminates anyone with a deep knowledge of racing and racing experience. The Institute of Directors has gradually hijacked NZTR and now controls it for its own monetary gain.
We know that when you have a board weak on racing knowledge, they will fail to deliver on racing’s core mission: to appoint a competent and experienced chief executive and have an educated overview of what to prioritise for the long-term value and sustainability of racing, to know where the problems lie, and provide strong oversight and strategic support to the management.
Do we have that at NZTR? Not on any available evidence.
But if you had watched the Guerin Report a week or two ago, when he interviewed the Institute of Directors graduate, NZTR CEO Matt Ballesty, you would have heard Ballesty say, “My board is an exceptional board, everyone has an opinion, and they are very knowledgeable about racing and are steering me along the way.”
What else is he going to say about the people who employed him? He did, however, virtually admit he knows nothing about racing.
“My skills are unique” – Ballesty
He said, “My skills are unique; I’m unique in that I have a bit of grassroots mixed with the corporate side of things. Whilst I’m learning the racing industry, I’m learning very quickly – a product is a product – and I believe I can learn it very quickly.”
The simple fact is, Matt Ballesty has come to NZTR from the casino business, and three of his new appointees to new key positions come from the same area of experience – one from OlyBet, Tabcorp, and William Hill, another from Tabcorp, Sportingbet, BlueBet and Bet365, and a third from Racing and Wagering Western Australia.
You will likely think that these new individuals are better suited to Entain or TAB NZ, and doubt that wagering professionals possess the expertise to make a meaningful impact on NZ racing.
Well, everyone knows that racing knowledge is a lifetime of learning, and you cannot absorb it quickly, and it raises more concern when you’re planning to make fast and dramatic changes. There was more arrogance displayed in that interview than has been witnessed by racing people for a very long time, and it should be ringing alarm bells.
Quoted in ‘The Straight’, Ballesty talked in platitudes when he said, “These changes reflect feedback we have received from industry participants about the need to enhance our leadership capability and sharpen our focus on delivering better outcomes. Bold change is the theme of our strategic focus going forward, and this restructure is a key part of enabling that.”
Relocation of group and listed races???
The numerous changes that Ballesty alludes to include an eight-page policy, currently in draft form, for the relocation of group and listed races. This policy outlines the clubs’ role only as custodians of these time-honoured races and threatens relocation if certain expectations are not met.
That appears to be a veiled threat to the Canterbury Jockey Club about losing the 1000 and 2000 Guineas races at Cup time.
In recent times, NZTR has markedly increased its operating costs in deference to the contracting industry it presides over. Not including special projects and other one-off expenses, but only the day-to-day running of the organisation, in the ten years between 2014-15 and 2023-24 seasons, the cost per race run has risen from $2200 to $3900.


In other words, racing in NZ is now living well beyond its means, and although the 2024-25 Annual Report is yet to be released, it is known that the NZTR spend for the season has risen to over $13 million.
The arrival of Ballesty, his new executive appointments, and the projects he intends to undertake, will balloon that figure outwards again for the current racing season; all against the tide of racing, and which costs that will have to be eventually borne by the most underrated and maligned group of people – the owners of racehorses.  
It’s about time the true stakeholders in racing got together and discussed a complete overhaul of the administrative structure of racing. It badly needs change, and if it doesn’t change, the corporate ‘comers and goers’, who are the takers and not givers, will surely condemn racing to obscurity.

The best news at Addington on Friday is that Super Sarah O'Reilly is back. She is driving Moses in R5, the horse will need the run and I don't think the mobile suits. But she's back at last!!! 
 

He will be much better off there too if this is his attitude...post as often as you want most in here appreciate good posters, I for one certainly do.🥂

This is the best indicator of the struggle the industry has , horse numbers simply aren't there , especially in the CD .
NZTR can program as many meetings as they want but if horse numbers are low there is going to be struggle to fill fields , IMO especially at the low stake meetings .
The low stakes meetings where the majority of owners exist , the meetings that prop up the industry . IMO these are the true indicator of the health of our industry .
My argument for a long time is that these owners are slowly exiting the industry . And it is going to continue .
I see just on here the number of posters that have said they are slowly moving away from horse ownership , their last horse or two , I am in that bracket . But just in my area I know of many , many  owners who have given it away or are doing what people on here are doing .
If come the end of the 5year Entain contract the reduced revenue returns to the industry force a reduction of say 40% in stakes , that is going to be a huge dagger for many .
Yet we see those in charge keep increasing the top end , The Kiwi up to 4mil , how the F@#K is that going to help the overall industry ????
It's those kinds of decisions that are going to continue to force owners to ask why are they bothering .

Entain are going to do what is best for their pocket and if that means it's to the detriment of racing then so be it .
It's not their fault that the product we produce 90% of the time is not good enough .
I am a lifetime punter , over 50 years now since the age of 13 , I now very rarely bet outside of a Saturday and even then my spend would be 15-20% of what it used to be , sometimes less . 
I know of so many people who are exactly the same or have stopped altogether .
If some people think that the future is rosy , they are simply not looking at the facts .
Numbers don't lie .

And will continue to do so. The younger generations have grown up with mass coverage of Sports so all Entain have to do (legally and resposibly of course) is encourage them to 'have a go' because it's more fun with a bet on.
Sports betting is essentially 'plug and play' - much less bother than Racing from Entain's perspective and they will continue to heavily promote Sports to the wider public and leave us oldies to fade into the sunset. 
Racing in it's current form will continue on it's slow death journey unless major reform to meet today's societal interests are undertaken.
 
 

The Sports growth must clearly be the target market going forward, the numbers say so
Meantime the twilight industry “racing” will just drift further and further until it dies away
Sports organisations have much reason to celebrate today and a very bright future whereas racing further drifts into turmoil

The way I reading the appointments is:
IT'S EITHER GOING TO MAKE OR BREAK THE INDUSTRY.
Current odds:
Make the Industry $5.00
Break the Industry $1.16
P.S. Same odds as NZ v Aust tonight. [NZ might win and the new strategy might work]
 

It's hard to know what the transformational change might be. These are all gaming people, more at home with sports betting than tote betting on horses.
They must look at the current situation and quickly spot what the problem is.  You have shitty little fields racing on shitty tracks for unsustainable stakes and nobody goes to watch them so you have no younger generation coming through. Bonus funding stops in a couple of years and won't be replaced. And the industry is top heavy with unaffordable administration costs.
There's the problem. Does anyone have any idea what their transformational solution might be?

Imagine what it must be like for Bruce Sherwin. He must sit at his desk and look around and think "My god, I'm the only one here who has the faintest idea what is going on."

Yeah Right !!! 
We got one over the Aussie industry , maybe the Aussie industry were purposely looking skywards and twiddling their thumbs .
If they weren't already employed in the Aussie industry it would be because better qualified people had got the plum jobs , we are getting what they don't want .

From the Herald….

New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing has a plan and believes it now has the people to implement it.
The code’s ruling body has announced three key appointments to its leadership to implement strategies in what will be a crucial next period for the industry.
NZTR chief executive Matt Ballesty announced the appointments, all Australians, with a wink to his home country.
“It was a global search and that meant we had applicants from across the world, including Australia and here in New Zealand,” says Ballesty.
“I like to think we have got one over the Australian industry by luring three high-qualified people to come help us run New Zealand thoroughbred racing.”
 
Yeah Matt, like those others before them that did such a great job….🙈

I wonder what level of accountability there is for any of these people? What happens if they make horrendous cock-ups?
For instance, jamming all those group races onto slot day was always going to be an horrendous cock-up. Anyone could have told them we didn't have the horses to do what they tried to do.
And they have acknowledged they cocked up by moving "one" of the races away this season. But have any fingers been pointed at the person whose idea it was? Has Ballsy announced that someone has been "let go" because they were too stupid even for NZTR?