TARANTULA

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  1. Thanks
    TARANTULA reacted to Lamour.2 in NextGen   
    The most important part of Next gen is Increasing ownership numbers.  Increase ownership participation & you increase demand for horses & increase punting revenue.  For the policy to work we need new owners to be successful.  No fun in investing in horses that  don’t race or can’t win a race.  We want them to become repeat customers & encouraging them to buy stock from unproven stallions decreases their chance-of success, Therefore the incentive to promote new stallions runs contradictory to the goal of increasing ownership. 
  2. Thanks
    TARANTULA reacted to Lamour.2 in NextGen   
    There is normally a built in incentive to support new stallions in that they are most often a lot less expensive to breed to.  It doesn’t seem to work well however as most people want stock from stallions that give them a much better chance of success, especially at the top level. For that reason I suspect this new scheme may not be very effective.  We should not be using new owners we attract to the sport as the Guinea Pigs to find out if a new stallion will be successful or not.  Getting them to invest at all is an achievement. Let’s look after them. 
  3. Thanks
    TARANTULA reacted to Lamour.2 in NextGen   
    I sincerely hope it’s a raging success & I’m proven wrong but it seems a bit complicated & contrived to me. That’s just my opinion. Something needs to be done to attract new owners for sure but I would prefer a stand alone scheme.  Maybe if someone takes a share in a horse that hadn’t owned one in the past 10 years they get a bonus if the horse wins. It could be restricted to horses from the yearling sales but no restriction on its breeding. 
     
  4. Thanks
    TARANTULA reacted to CeeMeNow in NextGen   
    Have only glanced over this initiative, but agree with your opinion.
    HRNZ have no right to push certain sires with financial incentives, at the expense of others, those sires are not at the top of our winners lists or sales results, so they want to attract new people entering the industry to start with less chance of success? 
  5. Thanks
    TARANTULA reacted to Lamour.2 in ATC   
    I have always been dead set against selling Alex Park but honestly I don’t see any alternative unless a miracle happens & the property deal goes through.  If not the bank will have to force a sale of Alex Park.  
  6. Thanks
    TARANTULA reacted to Thejanitor in SARAH O'REILLY HOW IS SHE????   
    Yes, disappointing mate but she will keep. Class is permanent and she has plenty of it. 
  7. Haha
    TARANTULA reacted to Idolmite in Rain - Abandonments   
    Is that "easy" or "soft" 
    They'd have lost the penetrometer. A "heavy 57" ?? 
  8. Thanks
    TARANTULA reacted to kdt in Alexandra Park   
    Call me an old fossil or whatever but I pine for the glory days of this place. Just looking at tonights fields (and no disrespect to those owners who have horses entered) whats going on. Years ago I would look forward to Friday nights at the park and having a punt. Now, to be honest I barely bother to look. Someone tell me it's all going to change and good times back at the park are coming. 
  9. Like
    TARANTULA reacted to Four more years in Tuesday meeting at Cambridge thoughts?   
    Next week HRNZ have allowed 7 races to be programmed at Cambridge for a total of 47 horses, less than 7 average per race, so even less attractive for betting than the Tuesday just gone where at least there were two 10 horse fields. Yes its early days in this exercise and the betting revenue results will tell the story over time. But what is the basis/ reasoning for splitting 12 or 13 horse fileds into 6's and 7's? This has two negative outcomes overall- it puts up even more examples of a less attractive betting product for Australasian punters, and requires the harness racing industry overall to pay even more $ in stakes subsidies for 7 x$8,000 races instead of 6. Would it be unreasonable for next weeks exercise (and its cost) to be explained?
    Am starting to wonder if HRNZ recognises what damage can be done by putting on more and more of the product (<10 horse fields) that punters demonstrably don't like. Addington vs Alexandra Park tonight is going to be a very bad watch and result for the latter. Yes it's still early days with FNL. But can we deal with reality here- the issue all comes back to the reality expressed so many timea already on this forum- the North Island horse population is highly unlikely to support two meetings a week, now or in the future. Could we please plan accordingly?       
  10. Like
    TARANTULA reacted to Chestnut in Lisa out for a while   
    All the best to Lisa and so very sad for the beautiful chestnut filly Pretending out of the lovely old girl Masquerade.  Thoughts with everyone involved.
  11. Like
    TARANTULA reacted to Pete Lane in Lisa out for a while   
    Her mother posted this on Facebook.
    Hi , Lisa’s mum here, yes, Lisa had a fall after the post race 2 when unfortunately Pretending broke down.
    She has been taken to hospital for scans on her back/shoulder. She has full movement of her limbs and recall of everything. 
    We thank you for your concerns for Lisa, it never gets easier for me watching the races !!
    Our thoughts are also with Terri Rae on the loss of her horse Pretending, it’s a heartbreaking game at times.
  12. Like
    TARANTULA reacted to Japess in Lisa out for a while   
    Aidan's report has added a further dimension to this very unfortunate happening. Lisa has been at the top of her game recently and she is always a fine ambassadress for all jockeys with her personal presentation at the races and her ability to communicate when being interviewed. Our very, very best wishes.
  13. Thanks
    TARANTULA reacted to CeeMeNow in Transformational Change   
    The Auckland centric HRNZ are a joke, unfortunately not a funny one, with breeding numbers going down each year and high numbers of exports, it was glaringly obvious that the horse population would not support their plans for significant increases in North Island races.
    ATC  last week,    8 races, 64 horses, average 8 per race,    2 six horse races
    ADD  last week    10          99                              9.9
    ATC  tomorrow      7          51                              7.3                 3 six horse races & 1 seven horse          4 of the 7 races will have no third dividend & probably no punters.
    ADD  tomorrow    10          90                               9                   1 six and 1 seven
    Auckland were programmed to have 9 races at these meetings, from the 30th August they have planned 10 races per meeting.
    Nominations for next Tuesdays Cambridge meeting will only support 5 races, unless they get more with nominations extended. 
    We are in the second year of Entain splashing the cash, to have maiden winners only getting $4400 this season compared to $6600 last season is insulting, how is this encouraging breeding? the winners were 3 and 4 years old, they were born in 2019 and 2020, obviously the result of the mares being served in 2018 and 2019, breeding is a long game, and to get $4400 in 2024 is disgusting!
  14. Thanks
    TARANTULA reacted to Deep Sooth in Tuesday meeting at Cambridge thoughts?   
    The Cheap Tuesdays will do absolutely nothing to rescue harness racing in the north!
    Much like the idiot who asked to have his pizza cut into 6 pieces because he didn't think that he could eat 8 pieces, hrnz seem to think that cutting the pizza (horse pool) into a different number of pieces (fields) will change the amount of pizza (horse numbers) available for consumption.
    On the contrary, it will further reduce field sizes as the available pool of horses is spread more thinly - as we're already seeing - consequently driving more punters away due to a tasteless product being offered.
    Dwindling horse numbers are the problem, and have been for more than a decade. Ignoring that fact for another decade, and daydreaming about increased stakemoney, and more races curing the problem, will simply oversee the closure of harness racing in the north island.
    The falling breeding numbers started 20 years ago, and has gradually translated into the shortage of racing stock we have today. The core problem of breeding numbers will take at least 15-20 years to turn around, unfortunately northern harness racing doesn't have a 20 year life expectancy.
  15. Thanks
    TARANTULA reacted to Four more years in Tuesday meeting at Cambridge thoughts?   
    And even worse than this, the fields themselves are even smaller than last year, and thus even less attractive as a betting product. This week last year we just had a Cambrdige meeting on Thursday, 9 races , 89 starters, 9 per race.Cambridge permanently shunted to Tuesday this year still has approximately the same number of horses per race, but Alexandra Park on Friday will deliver less per race than Cambridge, 8 per field on average. So together this year vs last the 2 North Island meetings have 13 races vs 9 from one meeting last year and only 8.4 starters on average. Cost to fund these extra races yoy will be substantailly up year on year, but will there be any betting revenue uplift to follow. This will be a recurring question as the months go by. 
    By comparison Addington and Ashburton have 10 more starters in total vs last year and an average of 10 per race, getting far closer to optimal for betting returns for the industry. As is usual they will be the much more attractive betting product for punters across Australasia compared to Alexandra Park.
    The proof of whether the additional cost of all these extra races in the North Island, subsidised from betting returns n South Island racing, will take time to be clear. But there is a really good argument to be made up front that if you offer more and more of a lesser product, and that product becomes worse over time because
    a. (Cambridge) you offer it at a time when no one buys it or
    b.(Alexandra Park) you offer it at a time when it is directly comparable to a better product available at the same price, then
    1.The additonal cost (stakes subsidies and cost of people and production) of offering more and more of that same lesser product will exceed the additional revenue generated from that increased product. In economics this is the principle / law of diminishing returns, and its been that way for centuries!
    2. Perhaps even more worrying, if you keep taking so much money to fund the lesser product away from the profitable better product (Crusaders country racing) that in time the better product suffers exactly the same fate that the North Island faces now, as off course punters keep drifting off into the sunset because even the best product stops being attractive as owners don't get a fair return for their investment. 
    There is only so much money to go around, it isn't enough to fund stakes at top and botom end, it isn't enough to fund all the venues. HRNZ already acknowledge this project is spending money that is not going to be available to them without betting uplift in 4 more years. Let's hope they keep critically evaluating the incremental betting returns if any they get from this project relative to its costs in the months ahead, and keep telling us how it is going! If it isn't shifting the dial substantially, then shunting Cambridge to Tuesdays permanently in favour of Alexandra Park, and even more excessively subsidising Alexandra Park over and above the whole of the industry should be the first two things they modify. The numbers will tell the story.   
     
  16. Like
    TARANTULA reacted to Palliser in The Cossack   
    Bloody hell, I wonder if he was feeling that during the run. So sorry for all the connections and the champ, still had heaps to offer. Hope he recovers well and has a wonderful retirement
  17. Sad
    TARANTULA reacted to SameOld in The Cossack   
    A shame to hear of his retirement prior to this weekend.
    An absolute champion of a horse
     

  18. Like
    TARANTULA reacted to Keneperu in Sarah O'Reilly Injured   
    Any reports on how she is progressing. Wishing her a speedy recovery.
  19. Thanks
    TARANTULA reacted to Palliser in Entain getting things right ?   
    I'm like you, just discovered it. What gets me is they tell you nothing. If they add things or take things away, how bloody hard is it to inform your customers through Trackside or other means ??? .. I think someone hit the nail on the head in a previous post, they basically just ignore their customers. I know I go on about it, but Entain have never impressed me, and neither has the man in charge of Entain NZ
  20. Like
    TARANTULA reacted to Four more years in $723   
    A brand or business selling to consumers undoubtedly needs Auckland customers to reach its potential. But over 90%, probably closer to 95% of harness racing punting revenue comes from off course punters, and harness racing already has a product that those customers nationwide including those living in Auckland can engage with and they don't care where it is being manufactured / produced (just like sports betting and any other form of gaming). The owners and trainers to sustain investment for that product to keep being "made" exist, they just happen to be 70%+ in the South Island. And that 70% plus Cambridge could deliver 100% of the product Entain has requested from HRNZ from 1 August.    
    We buy or consume products virtually every day of our lives that are produced by business/ industry operated anywhere but Auckland- the country's most trusted brand Whittakers has grown from the penaut slab to hammer the bigger player Cadbury's in the 21st centuryfrom its factory in Porirua. Cookie Time has done the same in its category from Christchurch. The wine industry is a global success achueved from the South Island, Hawkes Bay and Martinborough.
    Why is the harness racing industry stuck in a time warp that somehow it has to be physically present in all places to be a success? Most 21st century  consumers get most of their products with reference to the digital world. For that world harness racing has a product mix that works, has a point of difference (grass track racing) and a quality standard (Addington) that engages and keeps punters coming back off course every week. FNL may help Alexandra Park hang on (but the product could have been delivered at far less cost for the industry at Cambridge). Our punters living all over NZ and Australia that keep harness racing with about a quarter of total market share of New Zealand domestic turnover already primarily spend that money on product manufactured/ delivered outside of Auckland, and they like it better than Alexandra Park. 
    Harness racing will still have that core base in the South Island in 2028, but how many $ millions will we have lost in the meantime to not fairly support the industry that does manufacture the product our customers want, and then even more scarily how much moeny will Entain leave us with to keep going once the 5 years is up?
      
  21. Thanks
    TARANTULA reacted to lamour in Carter   
    Didn’t waste much time in USA.  Drove a 11-1 winner today on a son of Lazarus. 
  22. Like
    TARANTULA reacted to Spikecity in Addington Drone   
    The drone view of standing starts really show how shambolic they are.
    Who wants to have a bet when a certain number of the horses are either turning in or a couple of lengths behind - disgraceful - bring back LAMB - I didn't think anyone could be worse than Lamb but there you go I am proven wrong again.
    Are there any rules about how these races are meant to be started or is it a just start them as you see fit attitude
  23. Like
    TARANTULA reacted to Alf Riston in Accountability & Change   
    As NZ Racing is becoming more and more of a laughing stock, how can things ever be expected to improve when the heads of the responsible organizations just continue to roll out PR spin or are totally M.I A.?
    There seems to be an 'immunity to accountabilty' in these roles which will just allow the crisis to deepen until the next unaccountable lot take over.
    For an industry that was once widely respected from fellow industries worldwide we have now just sadly disappeared into the shadows and become insignificant on a global basis.  
    Perhaps the industry participants need to take action that might force change?
    Owners, trainers, jockeys and all other associated employees here in New Zealand are poorly done by and falling behind as each and every year goes by.
    My thoughts are that there should be a 'coming together' of all these parties and strike action served to NZTR - for the entire week starting xxx, there will be no horses (harness included?) presented for racing.
    This situation has been survivable before (lockdowns), and at least this will be a planned absence from the track, rather than what is being served up to them now and the mostly non-recoverable costs that abandonements cause.
    There are many and various industry participants in Racecafe so I would like to hear others thoughts around accountability and change.
  24. Thanks
    TARANTULA reacted to nomates in Accountability & Change   
    I would add some thoughts , but been there done that and I am now firmly of the belief that there is an agenda and no one is going to make them deviate from it .
    What it is I have no idea but if the current situation is part of the pathway then I bow to the great Chris Rea's "Road to hell" theory . 
  25. Sad
    TARANTULA reacted to JJ Flash in Sarah O'Reilly Injured   
    Leading driver Sarah O'Reilly faces an extended spell on the sidelines after a trackwork accident at Ashburton Raceway yesterday.
    She is currently in hospital awaiting surgery on her arm and has a broken cheekbone and jaw.
    "The horse in behind me jumped into my cart," she says, "and it crushed me."
    "It was no-one's fault. They were young ones."

    O'Reilly sent an image of her x-ray showing her broken arm.
    "I'm not sure what the recovery time will be."
    After being the country's top junior driver in recent years, O'Reilly is now in her first year as an open driver.
    She is currently 12th in the drivers' premiership with 32 wins in 2024.