NZ Racings Growth

[JJ Flash 2,646]

Came across this article on Racing .com 

Rewind 12 months and there was an air of excitement about New Zealand racing.

The Karaka meeting came on the back of a mega announcement which saw its feature calendar shaken up with prizemoney changes and the creation of the Southern Hemisphere's richest three-year-old race: The Kiwi.

Fast forward to 2025 and that excitement has been justified, with New Zealand Racing in a strong position on and off the track. Is it?

"I think this time last year the industry was coming to grips with whether (the changes) were sustainable and something that would work. This year it's a lot better because there's a lot more confidence that it is," Entain New Zealand's managing director Cameron Rodger said.

"The changes we have made around the summer calendar are driving increases in turnover which will fund them for years to come. Really

"It's an industry that's just as excited as before but ready to get on with it, if that makes sense."

The addition of the World Pool also added an international flavour to Saturday's Karaka Millions meeting.

"It's big for punters, right?" Rodger said.

"But the bigger part for us is the exposure it brings to New Zealand Racing. To get this meeting and Champions Day (in the World Pool) … it's a real 'we've-arrived' moment for New Zealand racing."

Rodger said New Zealand is 'bucking the global trends' when it comes to wagering turnover. 

"It's helped a lot by the Entain partnership and improving the wagering offering.    A lot is to do with the changes to the summer calendar, for example," he said.

 against the global standards of single-digit decline and double-digit decline in some jurisdictions.

"We are thrilled with how it's been going in a tough economy."

For me Cameron knows how to spruk an interview. Mind you Entain is run out of Oz not here from what i was told

[nomates 5,591]

Words , words and more words . 

If turnovers were that great they would be spruiking them everywhere to prove it .

It's all good talking about the so called positives even if they are correct , but to just ignore other major issues we have thinking money is going to solve everything is asking for a right dicking eventually .

[Pam Robson 1,918]

But - as said by cleverer folk than moi - turnover isn't the metric, it's revenue that matters.

How is that looking and how will it be looking in another 3.5 years when the largesse is reined in and NZTAB has to share 50/50 with Entain?

[Idolmite 3,525]

In simple terms, whaat does the "world pool" actually add to New Zealand racing. The only thing I've really read is that the take-out is larger? That sounds like a negative to me, but is the theory that it generates worldwide interest in certain races, thus higher turnover? In reality, does it work?

i must be old and tired these days, as l thought interest in the "Kiwi" was higher when first announced than it is now when it's only a few weeks out. I guess it might ramp up again a week out, but is it really going to pay off? All that money to one lucky group of individuals? Are slot races sustainable in the long term? Do they only make the rich richer while the true battlers in the sport - which have always made for the best stories - are forced even further to the extremities? I can never see the Kiwi story - the horse from Waverley, not the slot races at Ellerslie- being repeated. Or another Bonecrusher being bought for pocket change. It's all rather clinical and boring today by comparison. More international, maybe, but better? I'm not so sure. So many people, clubs and tracks forced into extinction can't really be good, if they're not being replaced? Like many sports, rugby included, centralisation over participation doesn't appear to work in the long term.  

[Ripples 88]

Don’t want to be a killjoy and spoil the negative vibe in this post but I see a lot more positives than negatives since Entain got involved.  I am especially surprised about some of the comments around Champions Day.  I was at Karaka Night the vibe was awesome, better than anything else I have experienced in NZ apart form perhaps Kumara, Kaikoura  and Trot and Gallop cups in Christchurch.  We now have Australian involvement in these meetings which surely can only boost turnovers. Looking ahead to Auck Cup on  Champions Day I see Ciaron Maher has two nominated and Chris Waller also has one nominated  and all at the top of the early market.  Without these significant cash injections into stake money there would be no Aussie involvement.

Im not suggesting everything is rosy, far from it as personally I am saddened by the demise of many country race tracks, particularly those on East Coast NI where a lot of my teenage pocket money was spent.

Bring on 8 March I say

[tripple alliance 1,275]

1 hour ago, Ripples said:

Don’t want to be a killjoy and spoil the negative vibe in this post but I see a lot more positives than negatives since Entain got involved.  I am especially surprised about some of the comments around Champions Day.  I was at Karaka Night the vibe was awesome, better than anything else I have experienced in NZ apart form perhaps Kumara, Kaikoura  and Trot and Gallop cups in Christchurch.  We now have Australian involvement in these meetings which surely can only boost turnovers. Looking ahead to Auck Cup on  Champions Day I see Ciaron Maher has two nominated and Chris Waller also has one nominated  and all at the top of the early market.  Without these significant cash injections into stake money there would be no Aussie involvement.

Im not suggesting everything is rosy, far from it as personally I am saddened by the demise of many country race tracks, particularly those on East Coast NI where a lot of my teenage pocket money was spent.

Bring on 8 March I say

Well said Ripples and to the perennial wingers why don't you try and view the interview with Chris Waller at the sales he was super complementary at the way NZ racing was being steered , long term planning by people who know what they are doing , he thought it was fantastic

How's the Ellerslie track performing  BRILLIANTLY but have we seen any of the wingers who bagged the track last season acknowledging they were wrong and this will keep getting better and will develop, if not already there into the best track NZ has ever seen ,the horses seem to glide over it ,  it's the big high profile meetings that build an industry , racing will keep improving because of the current management are thinking big . Ellerslie swapped the hill for a top class track what a great move 

[racingoutsider 392]

6 hours ago, Pam Robson said:

But - as said by cleverer folk than moi - turnover isn't the metric, it's revenue that matters.

How is that looking and how will it be looking in another 3.5 years when the largesse is reined in and NZTAB has to share 50/50 with Entain?

Yes, and if there was something worth hyping about, that would be it but nary a mention which is a serious worry.

[JJ Flash 2,646]

8 hours ago, Pam Robson said:

But - as said by cleverer folk than moi - turnover isn't the metric, it's revenue that matters.

How is that looking and how will it be looking in another 3.5 years when the largesse is reined in and NZTAB has to share 50/50 with Entain?

Correct and a wee bird told me they are 30 mil behind budget already. Admirable that they are so positive

 

8 hours ago, JJ Flash said:

"The changes we have made around the summer calendar are driving increases in turnover which will fund them for years to come.

And us mere mortals were of the opinion that it was NZTR running programming

[nomates 5,591]

9 minutes ago, JJ Flash said:

Correct and a wee bird told me they are 30 mil behind budget already. Admirable that they are so positive

 

No , can't be , bullshit , some bloke who trains in Australia was super complimentary and said that things were fantastic and being run by people who knew what they were doing and that things were looking great long term .

What would you or anybody else who has been involved in the NZ industry for the last , oh I don't know , say 20 years or so , know about what's going on here .

Bloody perennial wingers (whingers) the lot of us .

Maybe that Aus based trainer might just want stakes to stay the way they are so they can send their lesser horses over top get some easier black type and money .

I might get excited when a Winx type horse comes here instead of the Championships .