CosmicBlackie

Yes, every two, and not wrong there about the charge of the light brigade, especially the Clydees.

I remember in my youth hearing of large jackpots at race meetings.  If Lotto is allowed to have jackpots up to 50mil why is racing not offering bets capable of jackpotting to 1 or 2 mil.  It would create a lot of interest & buzz and bring in extra sorely needed revenue to the industry. 

I'm pretty sure the charge is $2.15, not a percentage. In the last month or so I've deposited $200 and been charged $202.15 (as per my bank statement), then deposited $800 and been charged $802.15.
It may have been a percentage a while ago when they first started accepting cc deposits, from memory.
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It would be possible for the clubs to offer rebates to oncourse punters. Have punters turn in all of their tickets at the end of the day and give them back 5% of their turnover as a TAB voucher. This would make up for the complaints about entry fees to the course; pay $20 to get in and don't bet, a day at the races costs you $20. Pay $20 to get in and turnover $400, get your entry fee back. Turnover $600 and you get a "free" beer or two too.
Sure it makes sense for the TAB/NZRB/RITA/whoever to do it and to capture bets placed on course via accounts using location sharing with the punter's device (so you're not forcing punters to bet at the tote windows, which is a PITA), but given how well their past few IT projects have gone I'm not super confident they could manage it without blowing another $50m we don't have. It's not like we have an existing relationship with the Australian TAB who do the same thing and could offer them a couple mil to let us copy their homework.

Geez, you get a certainty and there is always someone to rain on the parade.
Lets hope he does the business that man, it’s been a hospital pass in the last few years.

I thought that was an exceptional performance by Amazing Dream, out wide like that and the speed she showed, she looks something really special that one.
 
 

Amazing Dream

By the end of today, Matt Cross will have called about 72 races in 8 days. He is an exceptional talent. Every caller makes mistakes, I don't think Matt has fluffed anything important this week - and even if he does, we should all recognise that race calling is an art, a demanding one done under pressure of immediacy and public expectation. Not many people are prepared to try it, let alone make a career of it. Best wishes to him, he will become one pf the best, and probably go on to a international career. 

Good on you Blair, you deserved that, well driven
and the Bromac team, the Bromac name keeps popping up with good horses and they got the rewards today. 

The above confidence in their new betting partners managing of risk and world class pricing algorithms didn't work out to well below.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7641115/Sportsbet-forced-pay-9million-40-disposal-saga-round-10-AFL-game.html

Not even talking about Race-O. I'm talking about the DIA/ NZ Government making sure the lottery gravy train isn't messed with. That's the fund where the fat cats, social mis-fits and community bribes are sourced. Any challenge to that is not looked upon favourably.
Gets one thinking....why doesn't the NZ government give the tote back to racing (it stole it in the first place) and let racing organise who should be doing what? I don't see a minister of Rugby, appointments to Rugby being OKed by the Minister of Sport, and that the NZ rugby has to have the minister OK the accounts?
 

What a beautiful trotter so well gaited and 1.5386 WOW !!
Clearly one of the best we have ever seen.
The spectacle was somewhat demininished by the Trackside TWATS crossing over to cover a dog race worth $2,300 at Palm Nth ALL because of their bloodyminded insistance not to let viewers hear the judges call which always includes THE TIME.
GIVE YOURSELVES AN UPPPER CUT............ cost viewers hearing HISTORY in the making .....a new NZ record.
 

According to Michael Dore he wasn't consulted on the design and features(lack of) of the website. 
I find that extraordinary. Michael Dore had over 30 years dealing with customer issues including any problems surfacing re the previous website. Just what kind of management is that???  Its like designing a website for police without consulting frontline officers. 
Listen to John Allen in this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeTl2V9aNzkWhat gets me is given the almost universal negativity about the website why no official inquiry. What brought about the maniacal support by John Allen?  Why hasn't Dean Mackenzie roundly condemned John Allen?
 
 

Seemingly racing in Keeneland is held in much higher regard than our industry here is. More and more it seems to me that the image of racing in NZ is on the decline & I'm not sure that there is enough impetus, or even willingness to halt the slide.
At one end of the bell curve, it is perceived as being 'elitist while at the other the perception is that it is full of rogues and vagabonds. The area in the middle is populated by those who either see it as a sunset industry or feel it is an industry that they themselves wouldn't want to work in (hard work, long hours, low pay, limited future prospects) so consequently, don't want their kids to go there either.
Twenty years ago if I told people I met aged 20-60 that I lived, breathed and made a living from racing a reasonable percentage of those people would react quite positively and seem interested. Today, most new people I meet (outside of those inside the industry) don't react positively. They usually know nothing about any facet of the industry, wouldn't dream of having a bet (sports or racing) even when told it is easy to do online & they certainly don't see a day at the races as being a great day out.
 It is almost as if the industry is so out-of-the reach of the ordinary person, tainted by a poor image, and/or so meaningless that it is off the radar of most.  Its not in-vogue or 'sexy' and career-wise it isn't encouraged through ignorance of what might be possible.
Despite the efforts of many industry players (fragmented efforts for the most part), we are still in a slide that isn't going to be revived by merely injecting more money into stakes.
It fills me with sadness that I am devoid of ideas for change & can't see a light at the end of this dark tunnel. Perhaps, there is a revival just around the corner, I certainly hope so, but have no idea where it might be coming from. 

Ha ha if you believe he went on his own accord you are thicker than I thought.

After looking at race dates for the current season, is there a particular reasoning behind the placement of mid-week meetings given most race-goers are better able to attend weekend meetings?
What are his thoughts on maybe even a couple of months shutdown during the year for the local product as there are periods of the year when trainers, jockeys and owners must surely bleed money on loss making meetings?
My humble contribution.....

 
Gerrymir  The dates calendar for the current season contains a similar number and flow of midweek meetings to prior years, which has seemed to work well for the codes. 
 
There are a number of drivers that the Dates Committee look at with a particular focus on optimising betting revenue from the meetings. There are more than 1,000 meetings every year to schedule, with the majority of the most popular meetings being held on the weekend. The scheduling is largely driven by the Codes but it is also consulted with the industry on. Your idea of a “shutdown” for a couple of months could be something worth investigating further.
 

PT Wolfendon won the Auckland Cup on Enterprise with a jem of a drive(surprise) in 1984✔️

PT Wolfendon won the Auckland Cup on Enterprise with a jem of a drive(surprise) in 1984✔️

This f**ker and his team have been a complete waste of time. Good riddance.

This f**ker and his team have been a complete waste of time. Good riddance.

Exactly. Hate to be in the trenches with him.
 
 

Same epitaph as Glenda., Good fucking riddance to an absolute disaster whose legacy consists of wasting years of time and energy on the ridiculous "Race Fields Legislation" project and then doubled down by spending $50 million plus on an abortion of a website and outsourcing the crown jewels, the fixed odds operation. But as others have pointed out, it's not his fault he was hired, the people who hired someone with absolutely no racing OR betting experience should be at least fired or preferably put up against a wall and shot.

More to fall, he has only gone as he lost 50mil on the website, holy fcuk how did that happen

Total fckuen loser who got away with it for 5 years - why did we let it happen, he has only bailed as he fcuked up 50mil on the new site that dont work

Trump, you are not too far away from reality, or what it really should be. But if you have seen him in action, you can see how he could convince the “Board” he was going in the right direction. The chair was the culprit, she of little upstairs, but plenty everywhere else. JA convinced her, and she wouldn’t know what he was talking about because she didn’t understand the industry anyway, as exampled by the resignation statement.
JA will show up again, possibly as the new President of the Labour Party as he and Jacinda would get on well together, both smiling and shallow and trying to provide answers to everything.
Sorry folks, there is still a funding shortfall of significance, so there has to be less racing or races, to consume the less money available for stakes. Betting levels will be a real challenge but if the second part of the plan is franked in Parliament before Christmas then there is light ahead, but a wee way off as yet.

This f**ker and his team have been a complete waste of time. Good riddance.