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

Racing Board ignored warning on risks of expensive betting platform

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We are now using the exact same script with the A/W tracks , too few making the decisions with very little input from industry participants . The main point for me is that NZ racing isn't big enough for 3 A/W's , circa $39mil for 3 tracks is money that could be spent in a much more sustainable way , that is before factoring maintenance costs . These will become bigger white elephants for NZ racing than the FOB debacle . In 10 years i believe they will either be sitting redundant because of a lack funds to repair or upgrade , or because of a lack of use due to participants having lost faith in them .

Either way they along with the FOB will become massive millstones around our necks , so much so racing might not be able to recover .

They need to go out to their wider base of racing participants and ask for feed back and find out if there is genuine support from all sectors in regards the necessity for these tracks , and i don't mean just big name trainers/owners/administrators based around where these facilities will be .

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What will happen is the powers that be will go all out to prove their decision a success. Any excuse will be used to transfer meetings which will artificially skew all racing. They may even get to the stage where rather than risk any injury by not transferring it will be done automatically. 

Still haven't seen anyone comment on whether the ready to run sales prospects will be using the track. If so only logical a healthy sales levy is imposed.

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1 hour ago, slam dunk said:

What will happen is the powers that be will go all out to prove their decision a success. Any excuse will be used to transfer meetings which will artificially skew all racing. They may even get to the stage where rather than risk any injury by not transferring it will be done automatically. 

Still haven't seen anyone comment on whether the ready to run sales prospects will be using the track. If so only logical a healthy sales levy is imposed.

Their whole mentality about not consulting the wider community in racing is they think if your a no name , smaller , battling trainer/owner/ small club administrator then you don't carry any weight and your opinion doesn't carry any weight . Some of the best thinkers i have met have tended to be low profile characters and not ones to push there opinions on others but when asked for opinions usually have something worth listening to , and most have been no name , smaller , battling racing people . Racing people at all levels know and understand their sport , not just the ones on high .

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4 hours ago, nomates said:

We are now using the exact same script with the A/W tracks , too few making the decisions with very little input from industry participants . The main point for me is that NZ racing isn't big enough for 3 A/W's , circa $39mil for 3 tracks is money that could be spent in a much more sustainable way , that is before factoring maintenance costs . These will become bigger white elephants for NZ racing than the FOB debacle . In 10 years i believe they will either be sitting redundant because of a lack funds to repair or upgrade , or because of a lack of use due to participants having lost faith in them .

Either way they along with the FOB will become massive millstones around our necks , so much so racing might not be able to recover .

They need to go out to their wider base of racing participants and ask for feed back and find out if there is genuine support from all sectors in regards the necessity for these tracks , and i don't mean just big name trainers/owners/administrators based around where these facilities will be .

I never took you for such an optimist Nomates. 10 years is very generous.

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Those who keep instigating these white elephants need to be held to account.

 It reeks of IT incompetents we have been landed with employed who originate from countries where they are unable to get jobs in IT as they are not qualified enough back there.

Cindy said there's more jobs planned in IT, didn't she?

We'll she can start by paying a decent wage to locals & ditch the dumbing down of NZ  that her counterparts started in  Lange / Palmer/ Clark eras of governance.

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2 hours ago, poundforpound said:

Anyone else think we lost a rare gem when the industry let Barry Lichter go ?

This series of articles he’s producing make great reading 

RITA should maybe bring him “inside the tent” and get him to help him articulate the vision, the strategy for our future, presuming we actually have a future 

He's worth his weight in gold presently for the simple fact that he is keeping front line participants informed on what is going on at RITA/NZTR . God knows they aren't .

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3 hours ago, poundforpound said:

Anyone else think we lost a rare gem when the industry let Barry Lichter go ?

This series of articles he’s producing make great reading 

RITA should maybe bring him “inside the tent” and get him to help him articulate the vision, the strategy for our future, presuming we actually have a future 

If that happened PFP then the pages would be blank. 

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Barry hasn't inquired into the reasons the Delloite report was hushed up for so long. Not much in the story for those that took an interest. Perhaps the $23M loan to keep up the stakes needs examination.  Most get fooled by the fact it was taken out to maintain stake level funding. A better way of looking at it was to keep the inflated salaries and plush lifestyle of top management. Had the $23M been subtracted from stakes there would have been an outcry demanding resignations. 

So isn't that a classic ponzi scheme? Maintain the perpetrators lifestyles whilst burning the stake holders.

 

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2 minutes ago, poundforpound said:

Not sure it was hushed up

 NZTR have referred to it often, the NZRB dismisses it just as often for the reasons stated by Glenda Hughes.

Not sure who’s right and who’s wrong about implementing it, but in this case hindsight is a wonderful thing, and NZTR. / Deloittes win this round of the battle 

There were a lot of requests for the report including several here on Racecafe. It would seem NZTR went out of their way to hush it up so one can surmise it was at Racing Board request to not question the Platform deal at the time.

However with these reports there often isn't a definite so more of an each way approach.

As a matter of interest has Bernard Saundry just once questioned Racing Board or RITA. Just happy families in Petone that's why NZTR must relocate to Ellerslie racecourse.

 

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1 hour ago, Stables said:

From what I understand NZTR frequently and publicly questioned the rationale for the new TAB betting platform and the Deoitte report was referred to on several occassions

Brian de Lore in a story dated 9 March 2018 had this to say....

......."The Deloitte Report was released last week in an abridged form but why hadn’t NZTR shown enough foresight to release it last August? I had been asking for a copy since June but it was always denied on the grounds of ‘highly sensitive information.’

If NZTR had released the report in August we would be at least six months in advance of where the industry currently sits. And who knows, perhaps something could have been done to reconsider the whole FOB platform project which just might contribute to the ruination of the New Zealand racing industry as we (used to) know it.".......

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10 minutes ago, slam dunk said:

Brian de Lore in a story dated 9 March 2018 had this to say....

......."The Deloitte Report was released last week in an abridged form but why hadn’t NZTR shown enough foresight to release it last August? I had been asking for a copy since June but it was always denied on the grounds of ‘highly sensitive information.’

If NZTR had released the report in August we would be at least six months in advance of where the industry currently sits. And who knows, perhaps something could have been done to reconsider the whole FOB platform project which just might contribute to the ruination of the New Zealand racing industry as we (used to) know it.".......

 

 

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Harry Markopolos  remember him?

He was the guy who battled against a brick wall trying to convince the authorities that Bernie Madoff was a fraud.

Well the Harry Markopolos award goes to Brian de Lore. 

There were several cheer leaders for John Allen on this forum like P4P, Trump & Nerula  blighted by some political agenda that said Allen could do no wrong until the obvious couldn't be excused.

That was the battle de Lore was up against. So please could someone solve the mystery why was the Deloitte Report not released in time and as Brian de Lore acknowledged could have prevented the crippling FOB project proceeding,

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12 minutes ago, slam dunk said:

Harry Markopolos  remember him?

He was the guy who battled against a brick wall trying to convince the authorities that Bernie Madoff was a fraud.

Well the Harry Markopolos award goes to Brian de Lore. 

There were several cheer leaders for John Allen on this forum like P4P, Trump & Nerula  blighted by some political agenda that said Allen could do no wrong until the obvious couldn't be excused.

That was the battle de Lore was up against. So please could someone solve the mystery why was the Deloitte Report not released in time and as Brian de Lore acknowledged could have prevented the crippling FOB project proceeding,

I don’t recall being a Cheer Leader for John Allen. Never met the guy, don’t know him and didn’t know he existed until his name popped up in his Racing job. Once chosen one should be given a chance but unfortunately he failed. Explain how I was a “Cheer Leader” please. 

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4 hours ago, Trump said:

I don’t recall being a Cheer Leader for John Allen. Never met the guy, don’t know him and didn’t know he existed until his name popped up in his Racing job. Once chosen one should be given a chance but unfortunately he failed. Explain how I was a “Cheer Leader” please. 

You obviously realize being knowledgeable on racing improves your chances of winning. Off course you can get lucky and defy the odds. When John Allen was appointed it was an absurdity and insult to many highly competent working striving a lifetime to get into these positions. There was no track record or even the remotest suggestion he had racing at heart.

You should have made the call there and then but the posting I happen to come across you seemed to endorse the appointment. Not as much as Nerula who was all in. Then P4P who seemed intitially to be skeptical but perhaps John Allen's "chance" wander into one of those Viaduct establishments changed all that. To the point P4P wanted even more than $50M spent i.e. $100M. Perhaps John Allen listened.

How on earth could someone with no knowledge or experience in an industry become CEO still is baffling. It was always going to be a disaster waiting to happen.  Maybe this guy also hadn't raced ninety but zero wasn't encouraging.

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17 hours ago, Trump said:

Then refresh my memory if you are saying that I “SEEMED” to endorse JA’s appointment. I like to learn from my mistakes so please, table the posting you are referring to. Thanks.

Look Trump I don't make an issue of it but suffice to say your posting clearly did not criticize the appointment at the time and that is the crucial part.

However its quite fascinating going back over previous postings and seeing who was right and who was wrong. Midget who at the time was either p4p or the real Midget came out with an interesting comment. His "impeccable sources" told him that the Paddy Power deal was $10million as a one off payment. How did that morph into $17m per annum.

Now Barry Lichter. Your article did not come out with anything new. If you want to do some investigating find out the puzzling mystery why did NZTR suppress the report for enough time the FOB project to be signed. (yet to be delivered)

 

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10 minutes ago, slam dunk said:

Look Trump I don't make an issue of it but suffice to say your posting clearly did not criticize the appointment at the time and that is the crucial part.

However its quite fascinating going back over previous postings and seeing who was right and who was wrong. Midget who at the time was either p4p or the real Midget came out with an interesting comment. His "impeccable sources" told him that the Paddy Power deal was $10million as a one off payment. How did that morph into $17m per annum.

Now Barry Lichter. Your article did not come out with anything new. If you want to do some investigating find out the puzzling mystery why did NZTR suppress the report for enough time the FOB project to be signed. (yet to be delivered)

 

I guess you SD are puffing out your chest to indicate that 'you were right' with your astute opinions on these matters.

I hadn't noticed your contribution at all until P4P singled you out as a particularly 'disturbed' poster.

One morning his reference to that had me in fits of laughter !

Since then you decided to give out small titbits of your credentials.

One I remember was a reference to doing some Harness work for famous bookie Bill Waterhouse ,which suggests it was a long time ago last century !

Then soon after you suggested the crumbling TAB should be run and referred to along the same lines as Silver Ferns Farms which  is a 'co-op' of farms and they have been thru some turbulent times with volatile results.

I noted this cos I did some work with them when they were called Primary Producers in Dunedin.

But your 'best ever' was when you compared  the RITA collapse with that of the legendary fraud of ENRON.

Now that really did show your vivid imagination.

Now you are trying to prove your standing by putting down other posters......who have been quite accurately, and  for a long time pointing out the limitations of Racing Admin in this country !

Trump obviously reports in from Australia and it not his style to post in the way you suggested.

Im puzzled by you.....other than your obsession about RITA highlighting their total turnover instead of just net gross revenue , what is your pedigree and current position in racing.

If you are just like most of us....an enthusiastic follower/'keyboard warrior ,you need to lighten up and remember we all put on our pants the same way !

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16 minutes ago, tasman man 11 said:

I guess you SD are puffing out your chest to indicate that 'you were right' with your astute opinions on these matters.

Perhaps you could start with your background. Like most on here haven't a clue who you are nor do I care. I'm not into personal abuse. I'll get back and address the fairytales you have spun later.

Getting back to the topic of this thread.

Calling on Barry Lichter to solve the mystery of NZTR suppression.  Also an explanation if possible of the $17million Paddy Power deal.

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