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Barry Lichter

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Good factual article on the demise of NZ racing....

The costs have just spiraled out of control, and it has taken Covid 19 to bring these problems to a head?
We all know about blind Freddy, and these people being paid the huge dollars didn’t want to act earlier?
What a bloody joke, sadly at our expense!

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more and more is not always best, once there was only 1 race meet in the country midweek to bet on, those days when racing was doing well, now look at it..........its not just racing though, all sports have become cluttered with too much, i personaly believe nz racing is taking a back seat to aussie racing, which is a very good product in reality,and of course excessive wage packets to arseholes in flash suits dont help a business either,can it be turned around,well thats another matter.

Whether we like it or not sports betting is now becoming the main focus and money flows to the sports here and goes in to the overall turnover but racing probably only get back what goes into it so if the turnover moves fromracing well its kind of self explanetry really.

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if they cut staff by 30 percent, next is cut those big wage earners salary by 30 percent,its then it sorts out if they are in it for racing or not, even if you cut the salary by that much they are still getting a good income.

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That's a fabulous piece, Barry.

I will print it out and have a chuckle or six at it all whilst having my lunch!

A few thoughts.

I so agree re your remarks about the folly of ditching Easybets. I'm no big punter but, having lovingly selected my neddy in any given race, I used to add an Easybet Quinella or three into it, purely as a further interest. No more...

An eye-opener for me was your cute way of incorporating the X, ha. Xpenses. 40.8% of total income. Y-i-k-e-s. And salaries - including 10 people paid between $250,000 and $700,000 - are 18% of total costs. Y-i-k-e-s again.

Isn't it curious that so many of the top earners left under various clouds?

And isn't it even more curious that, invariably, nary a one of those top earners seem to have contributed anything meaningful to the industry here?

Laughed at the mention of Andrew Brown. The man with the degrees from 'Sydney University'. I just hit LinkedIn and see that he has belatedly listed 'Sydney University' as the more-correct 'University of Sydney'. He says he has three degrees from that joint and all I can hope is that whoever employed the plonker in later years made darned sure they checked those claims out thoroughly.

His blurb also reckons he is a 'Strategic leader in digital leisure and media with track record of business creation and transformation.'

Mmmmm...

Remember the 'family reasons' excuse for bailing out of his overpaid job here? Apparently the wife and kids were homesick ... and reportedly wanted a return to Mother England. They must have got over that homesickness, mind, as he's now with News Corp in Sydney, describing himself as an 'Executive General Manager - Wagering and Gaming at News Corp'.

 

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3 hours ago, Barry Lichter said:

This gives a very damning insight into the continued demise of racing in NZ . So many things on point as to where things went and continue to go wrong . This continual downhill slide is what worries me the most . Without the current COVID issue to hasten Rita's slashing of overheads and allow them to use it as a cover for their problems i don't believe cuts would have been forth coming . 

Personally i believe that if , big if , they correct the balance in the short term nothing in the way racing is structured will change . Will programming change ? , will the way horses are rated change ? to allow longevity of horses to race , will stakes increase significantly ? , giving owners a reason to continue to invest racehorses , will they stop treating punters are though they were just dribbling addicts that want to see race on top of race from any far flung place ,  when will they start to realize that there is no real commercial benefit to showing them . I noticed they had 3 races from Brazil this morning , checked the tote betting on the 3rd race , between W/P , Q , Tri , $107 was invested , now i am no business man but even if there was a profit what's the feckin point .

I certainly don't believe i have all or any of the answers but if racing survives this current situation what i want to see is a plan , i can't remember ever having seen a long term strategy plan coming out of NZTR . I have been fortunate to have seen some of the best race horses NZ has seen from the mid 70s onwards , and as much as it saddens me , that was then and things have changed , we wont see racing ride that crest again but i do believe that if things are done properly racing can still be a strong and sustainable industry . Going forward we need to get more hard core racing people involved in the way racing decisions are made . Racing has to start getting a plan for the future , understanding it's position in world racing and if that's not what it used to be , so be it , but we can still be a great sport . A plan for where racing wants to see itself in 5yrs , 10yrs , 20yrs  is a must .

 

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i must congratulate Barry Lichter for keeping us all up to date with what's happening. No information is forthcoming from any other source. Where are the staff at NZTR, HRNZ, RITA and the TAB, is no one employed to provide information, are none of the managers of these organisations capable of putting pen to paper, or fingers to keyboards

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21 minutes ago, Stables said:

i must congratulate Barry Lichter for keeping us all up to date with what's happening. No information is forthcoming from any other source. Where are the staff at NZTR, HRNZ, RITA and the TAB, is no one employed to provide information, are none of the managers of these organisations capable of putting pen to paper, or fingers to 

 

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7 minutes ago, arjay said:

The Messara report is unpopular, but the useless people running the TAB in past need shooting. That wage bill reads like council staff around the country, loaded with Pigs at the trough.

Another bunch of self centered arseholes

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Barry Lichter's summation of the situation is - sadly - very much "on the money".

One point I would like to make, though, is that he makes no reference to the Directors of the TAB Board leading into the Racing Act of 2003. Prior to the Act there were two organisations responsible for the administration and ultimate success of Racing NZ. The Racing Industry Board and the TAB were separate units although the Chairman and one person were on both Boards. 

It would be difficult to find a more responsive and responsible group than those who comprised the TAB. Yes, you may consider I am biased but this was a genuine RACING group of people interested in RACING. Owners/Breeders/Punters, the General Public were all very well represented. This group oversaw a steady rise in the wagering on racing, including the first billion-dollar turnover. This was a time when NZ still reigned supreme in Australasia. The era of Ethereal and Sunline.

I was personally appalled that not one of those people was on the new Racing Board. The expertise, the knowledge, the PASSION of those people were totally ignored, along with the loss of so much intellectual capital.

Shame on whoever made those decisions, those appointments, which have rebounded so badly on the industry ever since.

As an example, the issue of Free-To-Air Trackside would be raised each year and each year summarily consigned to the this-will-not-change in our time basket.

There were a number of things which that group implemented  including percentage betting and incentives for those running the TAB agencies up and down the country.

As I look back on that time, I find it almost incomprehensible that Racing finds itself in such a parlous position today.

 

A time to weep. A time to mourn.

 

 

 

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16 minutes ago, Jape said:

Barry Lichter's summation of the situation is - sadly - very much "on the money".

One point I would like to make, though, is that he makes no reference to the Directors of the TAB Board leading into the Racing Act of 2003. Prior to the Act there were two organisations responsible for the administration and ultimate success of Racing NZ. The Racing Industry Board and the TAB were separate units although the Chairman and one person were on both Boards. 

It would be difficult to find a more responsive and responsible group than those who comprised the TAB. Yes, you may consider I am biased but this was a genuine RACING group of people interested in RACING. Owners/Breeders/Punters, the General Public were all very well represented. This group oversaw a steady rise in the wagering on racing, including the first billion-dollar turnover. This was a time when NZ still reigned supreme in Australasia. The era of Ethereal and Sunline.

I was personally appalled that not one of those people was on the new Racing Board. The expertise, the knowledge, the PASSION of those people were totally ignored, along with the loss of so much intellectual capital.

Shame on whoever made those decisions, those appointments, which have rebounded so badly on the industry ever since.

As an example, the issue of Free-To-Air Trackside would be raised each year and each year summarily consigned to the this-will-not-change in our time basket.

There were a number of things which that group implemented  including percentage betting and incentives for those running the TAB agencies up and down the country.

As I look back on that time, I find it almost incomprehensible that Racing finds itself in such a parlous position today.

 

A time to weep. A time to mourn.

 

 

 

I agree but for one minor detail, percentage betting has been with us since forever,10 s bets 50c bets etc etc ,set percentages but they are nevertheless  percentage bets every way you look at them. Having the current system means we can no longer scoop the pool with % bets something we used to be able to do even in the days of pounds shillings and pence,so now we get to win less money for the same spend , what a great incentive for punters.

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30 minutes ago, Nukkledragga said:

I agree but for one minor detail, percentage betting has been with us since forever,10 s bets 50c bets etc etc ,set percentages but they are nevertheless  percentage bets every way you look at them. Having the current system means we can no longer scoop the pool with % bets something we used to be able to do even in the days of pounds shillings and pence,so now we get to win less money for the same spend , what a great incentive for punters.

That's not totally correct. Trifectas used to be $1 units as did many other bets. And I'm personally not a big fan of someone being able to scoop the whole pool with a 5% bet.

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Percentage betting in its previous form which is what you refer to was very limited and, funnily enough, was not considered as "percentage betting", nor referred to as such.

"Flexibet" was the term used when this form of betting was first introduced to the NZ TAB and after some to-ing and fro-ing came to be known as 'percentage betting' with a much wider scale of operation that the 5-bob double and the like.

 

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1 hour ago, Jape said:

Barry Lichter's summation of the situation is - sadly - very much "on the money".

One point I would like to make, though, is that he makes no reference to the Directors of the TAB Board leading into the Racing Act of 2003. Prior to the Act there were two organisations responsible for the administration and ultimate success of Racing NZ. The Racing Industry Board and the TAB were separate units although the Chairman and one person were on both Boards. 

It would be difficult to find a more responsive and responsible group than those who comprised the TAB. Yes, you may consider I am biased but this was a genuine RACING group of people interested in RACING. Owners/Breeders/Punters, the General Public were all very well represented. This group oversaw a steady rise in the wagering on racing, including the first billion-dollar turnover. This was a time when NZ still reigned supreme in Australasia. The era of Ethereal and Sunline.

I was personally appalled that not one of those people was on the new Racing Board. The expertise, the knowledge, the PASSION of those people were totally ignored, along with the loss of so much intellectual capital.

Shame on whoever made those decisions, those appointments, which have rebounded so badly on the industry ever since.

As an example, the issue of Free-To-Air Trackside would be raised each year and each year summarily consigned to the this-will-not-change in our time basket.

There were a number of things which that group implemented  including percentage betting and incentives for those running the TAB agencies up and down the country.

As I look back on that time, I find it almost incomprehensible that Racing finds itself in such a parlous position today.

 

A time to weep. A time to mourn.

 

 

 

You are totally correct Jape, you obviously know what you are talking about. The way things were allowed to deteriorate over the years was a total disgrace and showed no respect for the likes of Jack Bennett and others who ran Racing in a very competent fashion for many years. The names of the incompetents who have destroyed racing need to be recorded and made known, which is what Barry has done to an extent.. 

It shows the lack of interest in racing when mainstream media have never latched onto the fact that greater wgtn, or whatever they are called, have just employed someone who is considered responsible for leaving a trail of destruction behind him. It is quite incomprehensible really.

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1 hour ago, We're Doomed said:

That's not totally correct. Trifectas used to be $1 units as did many other bets. And I'm personally not a big fan of someone being able to scoop the whole pool with a 5% bet.

Then you must be a fan of winning less money.  It was possible for trifectas for instance  to be scooped by a single 50c unit, nowadays half of YOUR winnings are jackpotted , what a great incentive for punters

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1 hour ago, We're Doomed said:

You are totally correct Jape, you obviously know what you are talking about. The way things were allowed to deteriorate over the years was a total disgrace and showed no respect for the likes of Jack Bennett and others who ran Racing in a very competent fashion for many years. The names of the incompetents who have destroyed racing need to be recorded and made known, which is what Barry has done to an extent.. .

WD, I can not let this one go through to the keeper.

Jack Bennett was one of the first names on, and carved extra deep into the TAB Wall of Shame. 

If he ever invites you to dabble in property - stay well clear.

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