Peter Harrop

That's certainly been the case at my local BP. I'd normally go over to pick up a copy Thursday lunchtime. It would never be on display at that point and they'd have to run out the back to get one for me. Checking on a Friday lunchtime, sometimes it would be on display, more often not.

Yep, can't blame the NZ TAB for this one. The blocking is done at the Aussie end.

I remember backing Fritz, who was trained by Neil Coulbeck at the time, in the 2000 Telegraph. Had been told it had no chance, being trained down south, which was the general consensus. Sprinted in at 18s. Can get some good overs for the right southern horse.

The attendance looked bigger than most Saturday City meetings. I wonder how many there would have travelled to Hastings? I think it's easy to say close down these tracks to save costs, but I think the counter to that is the long term effects on participation in the sport.

I do wonder myself how the issue of trackside broadcasting has never seen the light of day in the discussions. Between when Trackside joined Freeview in 2010 and 2014, returns to the industry rose from $121mil to $134mil ($13mil increase). In 2014 Trackside went to Sky TV. Returns since then have been $134mil (2014), $134mil, $136mil, $136mil and this year $148mil (which includes a special $12mil payment, so in real terns $136m). A real increase of just $2mil. Maybe if they'd stayed with Freeview, thus not halving the potential New Zealand audience through the move to Sky, they'd be up to $147 mil by now and with the $12mil payment $159 mil? There is the extra cost of the additional channel to consider but it shouldn't put that much of a dent in it, if anything. It's all conjecture on my part, but it seems to make sense. Does anyone know of any flaws in this argument?

Can't help with the accounting, but the way I see it is that there are 3 groups. Group 1 : Breeders and owners who can see promised windfalls (some might argue short term ones) and increases in stakes, mainly through the sale of Avondale and Rotorua racecourses, plus the 'outsourcing' or 'sale' (depending on which side you're on) of the TAB. Group 2 : Punters, who couldn't give a s%$#. If they take racing away from their town, or are unable to watch it on television, they'll just do something else. Group 3 : Observers, without any financial interest in the game, but a keen interest in its success (ie Luke Radich), who maybe are more capable of seeing the wood for the trees.

Expand. My interest is piqued.

Unfortunately (or fortunately) I'm young enough so that my database only goes back as far as 1995

I think Nivesh Teeluck is back in Mauritius riding.

Fascinated that Jamie Richards (Te Akau) won his first ride as an amateur at Oamaru in 2008. This list is created from my database. Please let me know if you know of any errors. Jockeys Who Have Won on Debut at the Races in NZ Jockey Date Track Horse 1 A SKELTON 17 May 2000 Ruakaka Top Hit 2 M BROOKS 5 Jul 2000 Pukekohe Solar Rebel 3 J TUNBRIDGE 23 Nov 2000 New Plymouth Judge Judy 4 S SAKAI 19 Jul 2001 Awapuni Sir Ryan 5 T VAN ROOYEN 2 Oct 2002 Avondale Day Tripper 6 N SINCLAIR 7 Sep 2003 Paeroa Barzulu 7 B PREBBLE 27 Sep 2003 Hastings The Dynamo 8 T HARRIS 23 Jun 2004 Ruakaka Southern Storm 9 S SCRIVEN 28 Aug 2004 Hastings Jurys Out 10 A MUNDY 29 Aug 2004 Oamaru Starkay 11 B RAWILLER 26 Feb 2005 Otaki Penitentiary 12 N COLLETT 8 Jul 2005 Ellerslie Norville Prince 13 C TETZLAFF 10 Jun 2006 Te Rapa Destinate 14 S FIELDES 3 Aug 2006 Hastings Shinko Dancer 15 R RATTLEY 18 Oct 2006 Te Aroha Shortblackmini 16 S COLLETT 7 Dec 2006 Matamata Zergar 17 J MCGUINNESS 28 Jun 2007 Waverley Enko 18 JAS COLLETT 25 Aug 2007 Ellerslie Bobby Dazzler 19 J RICHARDS 29 Aug 2008 Oamaru Never Plead Guilty 20 A DENBY 6 May 2009 Dargaville Duke 21 J ANDERSON 9 Sep 2009 Taupo Bankside Belle 22 Z PURTON 6 Mar 2010 Ellerslie Keffiya 23 C VAN DWERF 3 Apr 2010 Riverton Kimberley Boy 24 S POMARE 15 Sep 2010 Rotorua Eye Kept Him 25 D WHYTE 5 Mar 2011 Ellerslie Treasure Hunter 26 I MILLER 15 May 2011 Invercargill Theruler 27 T BARNABAS 25 Jun 2012 Rotorua The Muffin Man 28 S WYNNE 7 Sep 2012 Ashburton Pinsgold 29 K JOYCE 7 Nov 2012 Paeroa Society Ruler 30 J CHILDS 15 Aug 2013 Hawera Duffers Creek 31 M HARUKI 30 Sep 2013 Gore Five Kings 32 N TEELUCK 17 Oct 2013 Woodville The Rahtwo Rebel 33 T ABEL 27 Dec 2014 Rotorua Crimson Prince 34 S HIGGINS 4 May 2016 Riverton Revenge 35 T NEWMAN 25 Feb 2017 Matamata Massofdash 36 P MOLONEY 1 Dec 2017 Otaki Bocce 37 B ALLEN 13 Dec 2017 Ellerslie Lily The Pink 38 K CHOWDHOORY 8 Apr 2018 Pukekohe Cinematic 39 W PINN 12 May 2018 New Plymouth London Express 40 C BURDAN 27 Sep 2018 Waipukurau Lady Zeraph

Reading some of the stuff online, when looking at outsourcing of gambling to an overseas operator, consideration needs to be given to the perceptions this will feed to the public about punting. The general public might see it as a sell out of sovereignty and look at gambling less favourably.

Has anyone else noticed how the stagnant revenue returns since 2014 coincides with Trackside's move from Freeview to Sky?

Maybe they figure it's a way of getting around the Aussie legislation that forbids Aussies betting on the NZ TAB. It might benefit punters if it leads to bigger pool sizes and lower takeout rates. From a selfish point of view though, this might be countered by having 3 synthetic tracks. This would surely make form more difficult to follow and may honestly mean giving up punting altogether, for me.

I can't see how 2 or 3 all weather tracks spread through the country will help lower the number of abandonments in real life. Clubs will still want to race on their own tracks. And most meetings are abandoned either on the morning or after the program has started. By then it is too late to shift the meeting to another venue.

If thats the case, which venues will give up meetings (or close) to accommodate racing at Cambridge? That would have to put Te Awamutu, Te Aroha, Matamata in danger??