RaceCafe..#1...Tipsters Thread.... Share Your Fancies For Fun...Lets See Who The Best Tipsters Here Are.
Mattski

Messara Racing Review Full Report and 17 Key points

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22 hours ago, Ohokaman said:

Welcome aboard MJB. The report has certainly generated some comment and discussion and that can only be useful.

Many facets to be considered as you point out. Regional parochialism has always been a problem and no doubt there will be much discussion on who/how and why Clubs should stay or go.....some of the recommendations make little sense like Oamaru and Timaru. Then there is Avondale with a good track and delapidated infrastructure being valued at up to $200m.....obviously a prime target.

All weather tracks are certainly needed. There is a question whether the South Island warrants the expenditure of one there.

The outsourcing question needs very careful consideration and some smart negotiation to achieve the best outcome for NZ Racing. With apparently two offers on the table from Australian organisations...at $100m for 25 years...to include the timetable and broadcast rights but with returns only guaranteed for three years, we could end up a very poor cousin down the track at the mercy of Australian racing product.

Thanks for your welcome and comments.

I’m not qualified to comment on South Island racing issues, in fact my lower Nth Island knowledge is dated, to say the least.

So, the cases for Timaru and Oamaru continuing I can’t say. But assessment logic similar to what I suggested in my original post should still be applicable.

Whether the cost of an all-weather track is justified in the South Island.

The justifications for all-weather tracks by the ‘Authorities’ is they would (1) provide an alternative venue for meetings cancelled due to unsafe track conditions and, (2) provide a better winter training facility.

On transferring race-meetings I, and presumably others, have questions about how it would work in practice. I see back in the New Year a couple of West Coast meetings had to be abandoned and one in Central Otago. Would it be practical from a trainer’s (and other stakeholder’s) viewpoint to simply transfer the meetings to Riccarton? Even with at least 48 hours notice. Or is it just intended to arbitrarily transfer dates when the annual meetings calendar is set?

If winter training facilities need upgrading they could surely be improved to a satisfactory standard with a more cost-effective solution than a synthetic track.

I agree the outsourcing needs careful consideration. $100m per annum sounds very low given, on my reading, the NZRB is already generating some $140m per annum. Even given capital development costs re betting technology, and other direct wagering costs, would be saved. Doubt they with make up the difference.

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6 minutes ago, EmJayBee said:

Thanks for your welcome and comments.

I’m not qualified to comment on South Island racing issues, in fact my lower Nth Island knowledge is dated, to say the least.

So, the cases for Timaru and Oamaru continuing I can’t say. But assessment logic similar to what I suggested in my original post should still be applicable.

Whether the cost of an all-weather track is justified in the South Island.

The justifications for all-weather tracks by the ‘Authorities’ is they would (1) provide an alternative venue for meetings cancelled due to unsafe track conditions and, (2) provide a better winter training facility.

On transferring race-meetings I, and presumably others, have questions about how it would work in practice. I see back in the New Year a couple of West Coast meetings had to be abandoned and one in Central Otago. Would it be practical from a trainer’s (and other stakeholder’s) viewpoint to simply transfer the meetings to Riccarton? Even with at least 48 hours notice. Or is it just intended to arbitrarily transfer dates when the annual meetings calendar is set?

If winter training facilities need upgrading they could surely be improved to a satisfactory standard with a more cost-effective solution than a synthetic track.

I agree the outsourcing needs careful consideration. $100m per annum sounds very low given, on my reading, the NZRB is already generating some $140m per annum. Even given capital development costs re betting technology, and other direct wagering costs, would be saved. Doubt they with make up the difference.

That $100m is an offer ( an early gambit clearly ) for 25 years of the licence.

Taking out Oamaru and Timaru means nothing between Christchurch and Dunedin. Just more travel. Not big centres but where do the horses go ? Both are dual code tracks anyway so they might have a fight on their hands.

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4 hours ago, Ohokaman said:

That $100m is an offer ( an early gambit clearly ) for 25 years of the licence.

Taking out Oamaru and Timaru means nothing between Christchurch and Dunedin. Just more travel. Not big centres but where do the horses go ? Both are dual code tracks anyway so they might have a fight on their hands.

Don't forget Ashburton.. close to Christchurch, .identified as being 'necessary'  but needing extensive upgrading.

Timaru on the other hand has excellent facilities,  a very sound track and caters for quite  few trainers of both codes...hosts jumps racing,  all in all a very bad call there.

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1 hour ago, Pam Robson said:

Don't forget Ashburton.. close to Christchurch, .identified as being 'necessary'  but needing extensive upgrading.

Timaru on the other hand has excellent facilities,  a very sound track and caters for quite  few trainers of both codes...hosts jumps racing,  all in all a very bad call there.

Lets face it JM has Limited knowledge of the make up of NZ racing.Hes not qualified to dissect the racing heartland to that degree.Who is pulling his strings ? 

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2 hours ago, Pam Robson said:

Don't forget Ashburton.. close to Christchurch, .identified as being 'necessary'  but needing extensive upgrading.

Timaru on the other hand has excellent facilities,  a very sound track and caters for quite  few trainers of both codes...hosts jumps racing,  all in all a very bad call there.

True Pam. Another dual code track home of the Jewels. Queries everywhere you look.

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4 hours ago, puha said:

Lets face it JM has Limited knowledge of the make up of NZ racing.Hes not qualified to dissect the racing heartland to that degree.Who is pulling his strings ? 

Alan Jackson and NZ Thorougbred Racing who wouldn’t know shit these days. Remember Bittar, Purcel and now another Australian called Saundry? All Australian’s so what would they know about SI heartland racing? Nothing in my opinion. There other so called expert, a local named Campbell Moncur has gone like three of the above and what did he contribute? 

Anyway, why walk away from tracks that offer great winter & summer surfaces and where the costs of the facilities are halved because they share with harness?

It doesn’t make an once of sense to me. 

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5 hours ago, premixer said:

With the proposed synthetic track at Riccarton, do they keep the turf track as well and run the synthetic inside it?   

Or would it be say goodbye to grass completely and run only synthetic?

Yes okay terrible wording...

Will there be two tracks, a turf and a synthetic similar to one of the Hong kong where they have a mixture of synthetic and turf races.

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On 9/11/2018 at 3:00 PM, Ohokaman said:

A new track at Riccarton eh..?

There will be a hell of a lot going on there by the looks of things....$178k for 218 sq m....??!!!! :rcf-shocked-5:

https://karamuriccarton.co.nz/assets/Uploads/Karamu-MasterplanMap.pdf

I watched this Doco on the internet itself last night...and its ability to sway opinion etc for political gain.

When are all these proposed changes to take place winstone ?...(meetings with affected clubs scheduled and results published.)

and highly paid suits and consultants efforts reliased? ... or shown the door to stop more wasted stake money !

If something like this major plan at Riccarton is mooted...stop the talking...get the bull dozers in,

The mind boggles at the possibilities infield and outfield (market is all very nice, and I,m not close enough to the action)...BUT

weekend market space could possibly be better used or shared during the week with with another activity. 

 

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On ‎9‎/‎2‎/‎2018 at 7:30 PM, tripple alliance said:

$600 a head and a sneak preview from Winston on Wednesday night .

Ex stuff , $600 a head for their dinner. Many were from the world of breeding and racing: Te Akau Stud's David and Karyn Fenton-Ellis, Blandford Farm's Graham Bax, Brendan and Jo Lindsay of Lindsay Racing, and Mark Chitty of Haunui Farms. Peters had good news for them: he had delivered everything he promised. Not just one all-weather racecourse but three, not just tax breaks in the Budget; the very next day he would be announcing plans to restructure the NZ Racing Board. 

He did not discuss details but he boasted of his restructuring plans to his wealthy donors, even before he'd disclosed them to the Racing Board itself.

The following evening at Claudelands Events Centre in Hamilton, Peters unveiled the proposed restructuring: slashing the numbers of small courses from 48 to 28 .

Winston delivering ''everything promised'' to his racing backers has been well and truly paid for , the wealthy racing fraternity were happy to pay $600 , perhaps the legal profession has asked for less so this time it's $350 a head and he's throwing in members of his caucus as a bonus.

Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters is holding two fundraising dinners at Russell McVeagh offices for $350 a head.

The dinners will be held at the law firm's offices in Auckland and Wellington.

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1 hour ago, porky said:

I watched this Doco on the internet itself last night...and its ability to sway opinion etc for political gain.

When are all these proposed changes to take place winstone ?...(meetings with affected clubs scheduled and results published.)

and highly paid suits and consultants efforts reliased? ... or shown the door to stop more wasted stake money !

If something like this major plan at Riccarton is mooted...stop the talking...get the bull dozers in,

The mind boggles at the possibilities infield and outfield (market is all very nice, and I,m not close enough to the action)...BUT

weekend market space could possibly be better used or shared during the week with with another activity. 

 

Karamu is a development by Ngai Tahu Porky, and is already underway. The weekly Riccarton Markets are an institution in Christchurch and attracts thousands over a weekend in the Summer...no doubt retaining them was part of the discussions. Riots otherwise.....;)

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38 minutes ago, tripple alliance said:

Winston delivering ''everything promised'' to his racing backers has been well and truly paid for , the wealthy racing fraternity were happy to pay $600 , perhaps the legal profession has asked for less so this time it's $350 a head and he's throwing in members of his caucus as a bonus.

Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters is holding two fundraising dinners at Russell McVeagh offices for $350 a head.

The dinners will be held at the law firm's offices in Auckland and Wellington.

AND ? ...DOES THIS RELATE TO RACING ?...

 

 

A spokeswoman for Russell McVeagh referred any requests for comment to NZ First MP Clayton Mitchell. His office has been asked for comment.

A spokesman for New Zealand First said "In the absence of state funding, dinners like this are a typical part of fundraising for political parties in New Zealand."

While steep, $350 is relatively cheap for a fundraising event. Labour charged $600-a-head for seats at a post-budget speech from Finance Minister Grant Robertson earlier this year.

A dinner with then-candidate Donald Trump in 2016 would cost you US$250,000 ($383,836) a couple, according to Bloomberg.

Stuff

 

1 hour ago, porky said:

I watched this Doco on the internet itself last night...and its ability to sway opinion etc for political gain.

When are all these proposed changes to take place winstone ?...(meetings with affected clubs scheduled and results published.)

 

 

 

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2 minutes ago, porky said:

AND ? ...DOES THIS RELATE TO RACING ?...

 

 

A spokeswoman for Russell McVeagh referred any requests for comment to NZ First MP Clayton Mitchell. His office has been asked for comment.

A spokesman for New Zealand First said "In the absence of state funding, dinners like this are a typical part of fundraising for political parties in New Zealand."

While steep, $350 is relatively cheap for a fundraising event. Labour charged $600-a-head for seats at a post-budget speech from Finance Minister Grant Robertson earlier this year.

A dinner with then-candidate Donald Trump in 2016 would cost you US$250,000 ($383,836) a couple, according to Bloomberg.

Stuff

 

 

US$250,000 to listen to Trump...??! To bullshit about himself presumably.....more money than sense some people.

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2 minutes ago, Ohokaman said:

Karamu is a development by Ngai Tahu Porky, and is already underway. The weekly Riccarton Markets are an institution in Christchurch and attracts thousands over a weekend in the Summer...no doubt retaining them was part of the discussions. Riots otherwise.....;)

Thanks for that Ohoka...along way from the action up here...and yeah i,ve even heard of the Riccarton Markets (probably been myself)..

.to be quite honest I like markets as a community event...some are better than others ...up north...Waihi / Thames / Coromandel excellent.(as well as the fishing)

And crikey yes , the Maori deserve to hold onto their land...Foreign investment would see it gone in a heartbeat !  

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Racing had better be quick if change is going to happen , it looks like Winston is flexing his muscles and Cindy will either do as she is told or we are headed for an early election . Winston seems to has realized he is in government with no hopers and the future of his party is in dire straights , his latest moves are directed at traditional National party voters , it looks like an attempt to save his party and he is holding plenty of fund raising dinners at the moment so something is going to happen .

''The government was forced to halt a planned announcement about its Crown/Māori Relations portfolio after New Zealand First raised last minute objections. ''

This is the latest in a series of moves that will undermine Cindy so for racing to protect the implementation of the Messara report it's time to talk to Ian McKelvie , Nationals racing spokesman .

Rangitīkei MP Ian McKelvie is the only parliamentarian to have been president of a racing club, to have owned and trained racehorses . McKelvie is National's racing spokesman and although he is in opposition, he agrees the changes have to happen if the industry is not to go down the plughole. 

''Since 1965, he has seen review after review come a gutser and "all have said more or less the same".

''That's where things get tricky. Legislation will have to be passed to get it through and in the Government's coalition, the Greens won't have a bar of gambling, so the Right Hon Winston won't have the numbers unless he has National's backing.''

So whatever happens to the coalition of losers , National support is needed for the Messara report to go anywhere .

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Internal Affairs have just invited submissions on the Messara Report to be made by October 19.

racingreview@dia.govt.nz

Looks like a delaying tactic to me. We don’t need paper shuffling we need action now eg. Immediate stake increases and the devolvement of the NZRB into RITA- the Racing Industry Transitional Authority.

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On 9/8/2018 at 12:38 AM, tripple alliance said:

Really , so the RB didn't advance the industry $24 million over two years specifically for stakes  , where did the $10k minimum stakes come from then ? , note the , '''future increase early ''.  “However, we recognise that more urgent financial assistance is needed by the industry, which is why we are committing to deliver some of this future increase early, ahead of full implementation,” says Ms Hughes.

The additional $24 million will be specifically targeted at lifting stakes across the three racing codes.

Yes this was all done because they had faith in their strategy , the irony is if their plans fail  the RB is off the hook , it was Winston and his backers who delayed the RBs plans so they cannot be held responsible  , no wonder they welcomed the report .

 

I stand corrected. I misread it. Thought they were saying they would get $24 million in two years from the passing of the legislation. Instead they say "some" of it wlil come from that, which is not exactly going out on a limb. It's not going to produce anywhere near some of the figures that have been bandied about but it all helps I guess.

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On 9/6/2018 at 7:08 AM, puha said:

Des Fredericks told Peter Early

 Winston Peters could stop the levy the government take and return to the industry at the stroke of a pen.

all these bloody delaying tactics...proposed closures that will be argued out in court and cost the industry heaps more in suit wages.

stop using racing as a political football and put stakes up Winstone. 

 

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