In this Discussion
- Chopchop43 December 2024
- JayJay December 2024
- Markovina December 2024
- PictureSon1973 December 2024
- Rocket_Reign December 2024
- savethegame December 2024
- sonny December 2024
- Swampgas December 2024
- warrenrobinson December 2024
Methven Mile Better Eclipse
Harness & Greyhounds
Harness racing at it's best....on the grass at Methven in the Canterbury....Great run by Better Eclipse 1.57.5 in the Methven Mile. They got the Victa out and trimmed up the grass, magnificent venue and race.
+1 -1
warrenrobinson likes this post.
Comments
Arapaho, JimmyPop likes this post.
well we are keeping tracks open at the moment and the industry definitely isn't moving in the right direction ,fact.
TimmyBee, JimmyPop likes this post.
Arapaho, JimmyPop likes this post.
So, the solution is?
Arapaho likes this post.
well one state that seems to be heading in the right direction is qld and thanks to an anonymous source who reached out to me this evening with the facts to back up the model they used to downsize, consolidate and regrow there product actually has had a positive effect on the industry over there.
The messages with facts pertaining are as follows
QLD closed tracks throughout the nineties and 2000's consolidating to South East QLD, the most recent closure was the Gold Coast track in 2013. Was a fabulous track but resumed by state government to build 2018 Commonwealth Games Athletes Village on, replacement promised but not delivered, reducing QLD to 3 tracks, Albion Park, Marburg, and Redcliffe, racing 6 days a week most weeks plus limited number of grass gallop track meetings and "show" as in agricultural show 4 horse fields for a few hundred dollars, (part one)
From latest Racing QLD annual report, turnover on harness growing from at least FY17, and stable from FY21 Covid lockdown highs to this current financial year, growth corresponds with changes in the admin staff running harness racing at RQ, including experienced harness administrator with sports marketing degree from Victoria. QLDs winter harness racing carnival also growing every year over same period, this year saw introduction of Protostar, $500k slot race for 2yos, next years see first of 3 years of Inter Dominions, $1m stake for pacing final, $400k for trotters.
Wagering giant ENTAIN dropped out of buying WA TAB because they could secure the NZ TAB on lease instead, since then ENTAIN (Ladbrokes/Neds in Australia) boss Dean Shannon ( also a harness racing owner) advised HRNZ on program changes and some tracks lost meetings, and HRNZ also employed former Albion Park Chairman Brad Steele as CEO, NZ is experiencing double digit growth in turnover. The key is having the right people running the administration, WA doesn't have that, and isn't likely too, and is further disadvantaged by isolation and time zones
Now a little bit of fact checking will show what this person has sent me are well facts, it goes to show that maybe taking 2 steps back in order to regrow the product maybe isn't a terrible idea, we have way too many tracks for the pool of horses we got and with how stale the industry is over here following the qld model of a hard reset isn't a terrible idea, now this person did send me through a graph showing turnover in all codes in qld from 2017-2024 which further shows the upturn in growth but I have zero idea how to place that in here
my purposal would be something similar to what they did in qld , consolidate racing in and around peel and south west region , before you go on about reducing the foot print not working, it has worked to some degree in qld and having as many tracks as we for the pool of horses we have isn't sustainable. I would push for the on course stabling set up at Pinjarra and make a huge effort in enticing new participants into the industry , by centralising the product especially for the hobby trainers with there 1 or 2 horses who live and train out of said regions your cutting out one of the ever increasing overheads in this industry and that's the cost of travel , in old terms the old R class meetings at a Bunbury or pinjarra Sunday is going to be a much more attractive proposition than lumping 1 horse to Keller for stakes of 6k
And yes in a perfect world the sale of GP would be a no brainer prop up the industry and help regrow the industry in a smart manner , we need to get new blood with a new perspective into this industry and sometimes you have to go backwards to move forwards , I know it's probably not a popular opinion but continuing to do the same thing year in and year out at a loss isn't sustainable, and that also includes racing at the number of tracks we have with the shrinking pool of horses we have
Run those low cost meetings on the proper tracks and get better figures. Makes sense in my head
Chopchop43 likes this post.
I wasn't coming at it from a punters point of view I was coming at it from a participants point of view , and I was referring to Kellerberrin/Bunbury not Collie/Bunbury , the stat's came from someone who actually thinks before saying something so I do trust what this person says , I did notice however you didn't lump the greater Bunbury area when mentioning horse population , which was one of the areas I mentioned on top of peel region , so maybe we in fact have 2 different sets of stat's on this issue
your posting stat's from one year tho that's not a very big sample size in the grand scheme of things, qld Product Turnover from memory is all 3 codes combined in which gallops suffered a very big downturn , harness revenue was down due to an increase in wagering with corporates and not the tab , tho Turnover was constant. Feel free to check it out for yourself but I believe the qld annual report for the profit and loss statement shows a profit of 3 million compared to a loss of 1 million the previous year
As for the nz product I don't believe ENTAIN yet or at worst, for that long in F23 , and Brad Steele's appointment didn't commence until 1/7/24 for what it's worth, again feel free to fact check me I'm not perfect but it's just what I found from digging around a bit
warrenrobinson likes this post.
Sportsbet control the major betting on Melb. Sydney Races
Talking to Corporate owner his company wouldn't and don't Advertise . Harness Racing & Dogs, and no real interest in Adelaide Gallops, virtually for employees hours, These a belief Ladbrokes have gone a bit deep in N.Z. time will tell only sure thing winning punters will. be starved of options
warrenrobinson likes this post.
Selling Gloucester Park is the biggest crime to be ever proposed in regards to Harness.
Actually the Biggest Scandal ever in Harness in WA.
Why would you sell prime real estate which will give you 20 year benefit and then be back to
the same situation as today being back in the Doldrums.
We need a new form of revenue to be put back into the Industry .
I’ll give you my I’ll informed opinion.
1- Racing at Gloucester Park Ends
2- considering it’s proximity to Optus & Casino Prime Hotel / Self Contained Apartments Site.
3- offer 50 + Year leases to well established companies willing to Build & Operate such enterprises.
4- Upgrade & Race at Byford & Pinjarra for 10 years .
5- in the meantime look at buying & establishing new metropolitan track close to Tonkin Highway.
THE DAYS OF RECIEVING REVENUE FROM GOVENMENT is over don’t kid yourself
that model is dead it’s a antiquated and non viable source of funding if the industry continues
on that path we’ll be the next Holden or Ford Australia.
VillageKid, JayJay, Betonme likes this post.
loose with facts you say ?? 7 years of sustained growth and the stat's and facts to back that up in pages 11 and 23 I believe it was of the qld harness code report , they are one of the only states that have actual shown any form of growth in recent memory but because the model they used to implement change doesn't fit in with thr ideologies and self interest of some posters on this forum its taken as non sense and not in the interest of the industry. Jayjay asked for my input for a solution and I offered it, I dont see too many other feasible solutions to help turn this industry in WA being put forward
TimmyBee likes this post.
I agree with most of what you've stated , the only things I would challenge would be investing in a new metropolitan track while the industry is in the doldrums, from a financial point of view I think it would make more sense to install lights and have pinjarra our metro track , the facilities are already there, it's a fairly central location. On top of that to intice new blood into the industry set up oncourse stabling there, give prospective participants an affordable way into the industry . The industry would have to be haemorrhaging money as we speak I just think from a business point of view consolidate what assets we have focus on turning the industry around and make it profitable before investing a substantial amount of money on a new track
Constantlybroke, Pinballwizard, LightningJake likes this post.
Before the Federal Court the fine could be in the millions Shannon & Hamilton's mob like playing inside the witches hats.