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- Chariotsonfire February 2019
- curmudgeon January 2019
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- freodockers October 2019
- Gilgamesh October 2019
- Glen January 2019
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- Markovina February 2019
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RWWA Performance
Harness & Greyhounds
freodockers
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I am new to this forum but have read with much frustration all of the valid comments regarding the Current state of the pacing industry. There are the usual suspects handicapping, turnover, field sizes which used to be not being able to get a start in a race, short priced favourites the list goes on. I don't have statistics maybe jj has he seems fairly up to date with these things. Nowadays I watch from my lounge chair but I have never seen a more discriminatory body than the current. Pacing and greyhounds advertising vs the racing industry is a joke (just have a look at RWWA homepage for an example or listen to racing radio aptly named). How can the first two compete with the later given this bias. Victorian and NSW pacing to my knowledge is doing quite well whilst SA seem to be on the improve, why not WA ? I can go on forever but to me the the answer is RWWA is responsible for the current state. A result of bad decisions and not acting on industry advice for the past ten or so years. They answer to nobody and bury any bad publicity. The major problem being nobody measures their performance, if they did they would all be looking for a job.The TAB is up for sale, to me now is the time for both the pacing and greyhound industries to put there heads together and act on what has been going on for the past ten years. The next question is who do you turn to for help because it shouldn't be RWWA based on previous performance. The people of the greyhounds and pacing industry need to stop blaming themselves for not being the major turnover players and ask outside government bodies what RWWA are doing to fix the issues.
+1 -1
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Offthebit, jum, savethegame, Ridersonthestorm33, Cant_Refuse likes this post.
VillageKid, curmudgeon, savethegame likes this post.
Not suggesting anything - but the only reason for that - is they sold Harold Park - and with some of the proceeds ( and the yearly return on the money they have invested ) substantially boosted stakemoney right accross NSW- with an excellent Country Cup programme - even Broken Hill gets part of the pie
Before they sold HP - NSW Harness Racing was the pits $ wise - even Steve Turnbull was looking at moving to Vic
As Neil Day once aptly said ( before the sale of HP ) that NSW Harness Racing is like a slow cancer
If you sold GP - well Kalgoorlie would be still be in action - all the country circuits - they would be keen to keep - even resurrecting ones that have closed in years gone by .- there would be plentifull money for everyone
I can remember the Vic govt about 8-10 years recognised the importance of trotting to the fabric and culture of country towns - plus the tourism aspect - and reopened a number of country tracks
Im not sure how much GP would be worth now? That area of Perth is flooded with Apartments etc with more to come.
I was always anti a sale, would be anti a move to no metro head quarters but with attendances how they are now all avenues need to be looked at
Offthebit, VillageKid, JayJay, jum likes this post.
JayJay, Offthebit, Ridersonthestorm33, jum likes this post.
Exactly and I think there product will only get better @ GP too. I have gone through there 3 times to get too Optus. the last time we all met there had a few beers then went across to the footy. It was a much more enjoyable time having a beer than the Camfield.
GP could start to make a nice profit of the back of Optus. Unlike there Galloping counterparts who are too short-sighted to utilise the stadium to there benefit.
VillageKid, AbbysAce, Gilgamesh, Ridersonthestorm33 likes this post.
You want the best of both worlds - you want a city track - everyone wants that - in every state - however the example i showed - if they sold it would stakewise state wide give a tremendous boost to the industry
I would love to know ( outside the feature nights ) what the average crowd is on a Friday night ( on a Tues night - they wouldnt get a 100 outside of the participants )
So on a Frid night what is the average crowd - say 1000 -so for those 1000 you have to keep it - and racing on a 800 metre track
But what presence do they have? I am a sport FM man, GP pumped some effort in to New years, free tickets to go see live entertainment and some fireworks. Bugger all talk of actual racing. No mention of the Fremantle Cup that I heard but pretty sure Mat Young was on Friday morning for the Pacing Cup to do a preview but no adds in the build up.
A greyhound advert is on there nearly every second add break talking up the dishlickers and the meal options.
The only advertising they do is to those already converted, I get emails for Beaurivage but if I wan't a member I wouldn't even know the place existed.
If they have made a motza from parking and drinks from the stadium then that would be sensational, I look forward to seeing the books come Oct. My expectation is that while Revenue is going to be up expenses are going to be up something similar. I've parked over near Belmont a couple of times and walked over, the amount of traffic management involved to have their bit of parking every chance they are struggling to break even from the revenue raised.
I think the real value would be in running race meetings in line with Stadium events. Not from the growth of punting revenue but in actually having a true presence in the metro area. People will actually see one or two races first hand and might fall in love with the sport and come back for a closer look. Now they stop in and slam down a few cans (myself included) and head off to the stadium with scant regard for what actually goes on there on a weekly basis.
This was where I thought PR were extremely short sighted in the changes they made for Perth Cup. Yes they make the same amount of profit from 12000 odd as 40000 and a few less drunk yobos head along but I know first hand for many of my mates that was there introduction to the races and they went back multiple times a year from that introduction, now that next gen never gets that intro.
For the record I am not for leaving GP I am just open to debated.
Also I disagree with Marko as much as anyone but it would be nice to be able to have Civil intelligent discussions from time to time.
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VillageKid likes this post.
I'll probably get shot down for this next statement but here goes,
GP is an on pace, peg biased track, was much better before they played with the camber, wouldn't hurt my heart a great deal if they did sell it and built a new more modern track.
Kane_26 likes this post.
They used to have a traditional night meeting on the Monday night before the Melb Cup - they use to have a preview of the Cup on the radio - and id listen to on the drive their
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freodockers likes this post.
This is my current perspective freo
Is it cheaper to feed and pick up **** down there?
If so I might have to go down that way and take advantage of this great value
Rocket_Reign, freodockers likes this post.
Iread a few months back - Lance Justice who is the spokesman for the Vic Drivers - they now get Super - on top of their drivers fee - another 9.5%- very good
If i was Morgan Woodley whose career seems to have stalled ( maybe he is only part time ) - then circumstances permitting id be heading straight to Victoria - he would get 25-30 drives a week - he is a very good driver - but he is getting very few drives
"A number of operational issues "....I think you may be a master of understatement Chariots.
Well for a start, CEO Richard Burt was on $300k, now he's on over $800k. Check the annual reports. If you get a chance ask Burt about the Mazzucchelli's payout of millions of dollars that cost him his General Manager's position (sacked) then when Ray Bennett retired he came back (like that fella from Nazareth) as CEO. Then ask him will he ever release the board minutes that sit in a safe in an envelope marked "Never to be opened". He's a liar, he's a bully and he's a marked man.
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