• Latest Posts

    • Looks like he's got friends over for Xmas. How long before his place gets ransacked?.
    • If you go on ZB week on demand Monday arvo about 2 30 till 4 they are discussing online gambling and we could say Winston's proposal but we know it's not really Winston it's his backers who back him, the same ones who got their AWTs and the TAB bail out. I guess Entain want to close down the money going off shore so that they can take all their profits off shore. Oh the. irony.
    • The Guerin Report, Ep15.  From Hong Kong. A great interview with The Boss of Hong Kong Racing. 
    • If HRNZ were being transparent and not "spinning" performance since the new Entain imposed dates calendar was started what Brad could have said today was: 1. We have achieved 16% more turnover vs last year under the new dates structure but up till 4 November we had to run 24% more races at Entain's "request" to get this turnover , so clearly our result per race is well down. 2. Most of those extra races were held at Cambridge, where our Tuesday meetings that Entain requested us to run have performed woefully in relation to our turnover targets and the benchmark performance of harness racing at any other  New Zealand venue except Manawatu. We thank Cambridge for taking "one for the team". 3. The level of customer/ betting support for North Island  venues appears to be little different to date in 2024 under the new dates structure compared to prior years, and clearly the cost of running all the extra poor performing Cambridge meetings has only added to the shortfall of GBR $ earned from North Island harness racing compared to stakes subsidies HRNZ has had to pay for at those meetings. 4. Overall nothing to date has moved the dial on the core challenge facing harness racing in New Zealand, that is it is being funded for stakes/ share of betting $ for a guaranteed period of now less than 4 years, which is not being earned from GBR $ on our product. The most promising growth engine remains country racing north of the Waitaki supporting Addington, but we continue to discount promotion of and fair investment in that comparatively unique product in preference to our continual over weighting of investment in the North Island product that our customers don't choose to follow. 5. We are very much aware of the fiscal cliff that our counterparts in Victoria have fallen off in 2024, and HRNZ assures you we have no intention of continuing to spend money we are not earning at the same rate as we are currently for the next 3 years. We just haven't worked out how yet. 6. And we acknowledge yet again the ongoing sacrifice that Canterbury owners and trainers have made for yet another year in 2024 to cross subsidise to the extent of $ millions the stakes raced for in the North Island, and we hope that one day somehow the results coming from Alexandra Park, the now unfairly treated Cambridge and Manawatu will make your sacrifice all worth while. We currently expect Canterbury owners and trainers, like Cambridge, to keep taking one for the team in 2025, as we keep taking surplus funds earned from meetings north of the Waitaki river and put them into subsidising small fields in the North Island and similarly small fields in 2yo bonus scheme races. We acknowledge we haven't published any performance targets to test and measure whether our subsidy approach is working. It's pretty depressing I'm afraid, but the numbers don't lie. How much more will the golden goose of Canterbury owners and trainers be able to withstand before our HRV moment arrives?    
    • Aussies already have dozens to choose from.  Doubt they would want the hassle of an off shore account?
    • Kiwi-bred a sprint star LOVERACING.NZ News Desk@LOVERACINGNZ     2 Ka Ying Rising (Image: HKJC) New Zealand has been synonymous with producing quality middle-distance and staying thoroughbreds, but now it can lay claim to the best sprinter on the planet after Ka Ying Rising took out the Gr.1 Longines Hong Kong Sprint (1200m) at Sha Tin on Sunday. The Kiwi-bred gelding has been a dominant force since making his debut in Hong Kong in December last year, posting eight wins from his 10 prior starts, including three at Group level, and he was duly backed into $1.10 favouritism for Sunday’s sprint feature. However, things didn’t go to script for the son of Windsor Park Stud stallion Shamexpress, who was slow away and jockey Zac Purton had to get busy on the four-year-old early to make up the deficit, urging him forward to sit outside California Spangle. He was quickly met on the outside by Victor The Winner, who continued to apply pressure throughout, but Purton kept a cool head and sat quietly on Ka Ying Rising until the 300m mark where he asked his charge for his best, and he quickly responded. The David Hayes-trained gelding put several lengths on his rivals in a few bounds, but the pressure from the middle stages began to tell and Helios Express and Satono Reve began to close late. However, Ka Ying Rising was able to call on his brilliance to hold on for a half-length victory, much to the delight of his adoring Hong Kong fans. While they were in full voice as Ka Ying Rising thundered down the Sha Tin straight, back in Marton, New Zealand, his breeder Fraser Auret was also at full volume when cheering him home. Group One success is nothing new to Auret, who has posted multiple elite-level victories as a trainer, but he was over the moon to add Group One-winning breeder to his name on Sunday. “It was a massive thrill,” he said. “It is just one of those joys and it has been a fairytale.” That fairytale began five years ago when Auret decided to head into the breeding game and he struck gold at this first attempt, resulting in the now Group One sprinting sensation. Fresh off the victory, Auret said winning a Group One as breeder gave him the same rush as his Group One victories as a trainer. “It gives you the same euphoria,” he said. “It was the same sort of pride there as when we trained our first Group One winner.  “At that elite-level, we all know how hard it is to get there and the journey that is involved. “It seems like it was just the other day that we turned up in the truck at Windsor Park to pick him up as a foal. It has been really fantastic all the way through.” While proud of producing the world’s best sprinter, the ever-humble Auret said he is delighted to continue New Zealand’s proud breeding record on the global stage and help change the narrative that it can also produce world-class sprinters. “We (New Zealand) have always punched well above our weight in terms of results, and we haven’t necessarily been looked at as producers of top sprinters, but there you go,” he said. Auret is also hoping Ka Ying Rising’s success can entice more Kiwis to enter the thoroughbred breeding industry and help bolster the foal crop. “Our foal crop has dwindled a fair bit in recent years here in New Zealand. I just hope that this is a good advertisement (to breed),” he said.  “With the smaller foal crop, I think it is actually a wonderful time for anyone to get involved in our industry.” Ka Ying Rising was raised and educated at Auret’s Marton property, and he is proud that a product of provincial New Zealand has made it to the peak of world racing.  “From Marton to the big smoke, it is really that pinch yourself moment,” he said. Ka Ying Rising left a strong impression on Auret from the moment he laid eyes on him as a foal when picking him up from Windsor Park Stud, near Cambridge, with his family, and their initial impression of the horse has now come to fruition. “We still laugh with the kids because the day that we went to pick him up he was running around the paddock like a mad thing and our middle son, Oscar, said ‘Dad, we better call him Rocket because he is running around the paddock so fast’. As it turns out, he really is a rocket,” Auret said. While Auret lost Ka Ying Rising’s dam Missy Moo a couple of seasons ago, he still has plenty to look forward to with her only other progeny, Ka Ying Glory, who is making an early impression on trainer David Hayes in Hong Kong. “He (Ka Ying Glory) was a magnificent horse, and it is such a shame that we lost the mare so early in the piece,” he said.  “In saying that, I have always said that horse welfare is first and foremost and as she got more and more pregnant with Ka Ying Glory, she was getting lamer and lamer with the arthritis that she had in her back leg (and ultimately had to be euthanised). “Obviously, he (Ka Ying Glory) has got big shoes to fill but he will certainly leave his mark because he never put a foot wrong and showed a tremendous amount of ability as well.” The son of Letham Stud principals Nigel and Adaire Auret, thoroughbred breeding was a focal point of Auret’s formative years, and while he elected to go down the training path, he said he has now well and truly caught the breeding bug, and his broodmare band has quickly grown. “I have watched Mum and Dad be quite successful in the breeding arena over a 40-year span. One of their earlier bred horses (Pompeii Pearl) went on to win a Gr.1 Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes, so I have certainly seen the better side of breeding,” he said. “It (breeding) is a long timeframe and investment before you know what you have got. In saying that, it is safe to say that I am being converted pretty quickly. “We have got five mares that have gone to stud this year, so we have certainly gone on from the one mare we started with.” Auret is hoping Ka Ying Rising can continue on his upward trajectory and quickly add to his elite-level tally, with his trainer David Hayes now eyeing the Gr.1 Centenary Sprint Cup (1200m) at Sha Tin next month before possibly looking to extend his charge over a mile. “We will see how he pulls up, but the initial one (target) will be the Group One sprint in late January, six weeks between runs, and after that we will make the decision on whether we go for the mile or not,” Hayes said.     
    • Clearly.  But i thought it was obvious i think  Entain called the shots.  Including getting rid of your mate Sharrock.  But you win.  Have a nice Christmas. 
    • Interesting that the finance minister  wants more competitive banking, yet Entain want no competition in their field, would make more sense to open up the market for Australians to have accounts here, have unique promotions and then increase your customer base.
    • Their $180m estimate includes only racing and sports losses overseas by NZ punters. They estimate Casino losses at $600m plus – again as a loss not turnover number.
    • Especially as they're extremely unlikely to get anywhere near $100 million for Pukekohe. They'll be lucky to get $35million, based on other valuations, plus the $10 million deposit they get to keep. But as they're reportedly paying $500,000 per month in interest to the bank, and the lack of speed in which big deals move, much of that  $10 million could disappear before anything concrete happens. If they end up losing/selling Alexandra Park and need to build a replacement facility as well as a new training facility, they'll need a lot more than $50 million dollars. A lot more. 
    • Gary is my cousin and he would love to help too 😀
    • They're so dumb at the basics sometimes. 
    • Sounds good in theory & they may be forced to by the bank if a new buyer doesn’t emerge with a similar offer to the failed one.   The problem I can see is that, after paying off the debt they will be left with approximately $50m to purchase the new land & build a new track, stand, stables etc.  They would need to be careful they don’t go from the frying pan into the fire. 
    • Certainly has a lot of 'Phar Lap' inspiration.
    • I have drawn this post to the attention of a few of our senior and retired commentators
    • I will be very happy to be proved wrong.  However I don't think the sum of money been reported as punted offshore is correct, I think the calculation is not right.  I think there is also a lot of on line casino type bets in this calculation.  These will continue via the dark web. The old TAB only started to improve because of competition.  No competition does not help a company stay sharp.        
    • I see Jason Lee give a flourish of the whip in his first start, but nothing after the first win. Was Jason spoken to or relieved of some money.
    • Most horses from a stand theorically once the tapes are released , are on the second , third , or fourth row from a mobile or worse . So standing starts don't give them an even chance but know what you mean . Different for some of the smaller fields in the North 
    • Well if the TAB Entain deal gets past the 5 year it will take the Geo blocking to do that I reckon.. T/O not that flash at the mo. I didnt go to Ellerslie Saturday but a mate did. Said there were 20 people in the members and the 5th floor was closed. Probably a lot in the Winning Post area. Theres the pre Christmas swill midweek where a lot Neds go down. But T/O? Ah well BGP will boost the big days - unless BGP get lucky
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