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WARTA Trainers Sustainability Report

West Australian Racing
It would appear that many WA Trainers face a financial crisis in coming months.

WA Trainers Economic Viability and Sustainability Report.

A recent independent study into the economic future of WA’s racehorse trainers has detailed the
significant vulnerability of the sector and the need for urgent reform to avoid a wholesale collapse of
the WA racing industry.
The WA Racing Trainers Association (Inc.) commissioned former WARRG Chairman Michael Grant,
and respected industry analyst Scott McDowell to undertake a study of WA training businesses and
the state’s thoroughbred racing industry to determine the strength and vulnerability of the code’s
lynch pin cohort, in the face of increasing economic pressures.
In examining industry performance and trends overlaid by the structure and successes of WA
training businesses.

The review was able to conclude that without significant intervention and
reform at an industry level and by individual training operations, there is a very real risk that a
number of WA’s established and emerging trainers are facing an uncertain future and their loss has
the potential to trigger a partial or complete collapse of WA racing.
“In examining the cost of production facing WA trainers, it is clear that it is costing more to train a
horse on behalf of our stable clients, than trainers are receiving in training fees” WARTA Executive
Officer Warwick Bradshaw said. “Costs have risen exponentially over the past 4 or 5 years and
training fees across the board have certainly not kept pace. And that was before the most recent
inflation indicators, which I can assure you pale alongside some of the rising costs WA trainers are
now experiencing, with no end in sight.”
The review shows that most trainers are making large net losses on horses they have in work and
that the flow down of stake money is insufficient for many to make up the shortfall.

While increases
in stakemoney, riding fees and starter incentives recently announced will be welcome, much of this
increased funding will not find its way to the very businesses that have the largest financial stake
and commitment in the industry.
“The concern here has to be the viability of WA trainers” Bradshaw said, “These people are
responsible for the care of the animals in their charge, and they will put the horses in front of
everything else but eventually following the current trends, they will collapse. Once that occurs a
trickle becomes a stream, and there will be wholesale loss of experience and skill from the industry
that won’t be easily replaced.
The report calls for significant reform in the manner by which trainers generate revenue to meet the
costs of production, and calls for changes to the way professional standards and qualifications of WA
racehorse trainers are administered. It also highlights the significant impact spiralling workers
compensation premiums are having on the sustainability of businesses, in what is traditionally a
labour intensive industry.
In providing the analysis to Racing and Wagering WA senior management, and presenting same to
industry participants the WA Racing Trainers Association are calling for urgent action by the
industry to make the necessary corrections before risk turns to reality.

Hall of Fame member and veteran trainer Fred Kersley. “What this review does is place the facts
squarely in the frame, it examines the situation faced by all WA trainers thoroughly. All participants
but particularly, all trainers owe it to themselves to read the report and attend the seminars, become
part of the solution by understanding how your business is being impacted.”
The Western Australian Racing Trainers’ Association’s Economic Viability &
Sustainability of the Thoroughbred Training Sector Review is the most comprehensive
study of thoroughbred training ever undertaken in WA, if not Australia. It clearly shows the
evolution of the business of training without structure has led to significant deficiencies which have
been further exposed in recent times.

The risks to the long term future of thoroughbred racing in
WA posed by a failure to begin addressing the issues and trends identified in the report are dire and
cannot be ignored. It is incumbent of RWWA management and industry leaders to develop and
undertake the necessary reforms before the industry reaches a critical tipping point from which it
may not recover.
WARTA calls for RWWA as the lead industry body to address recommendations made in the review
as a matter of urgency and instigate a restructuring of the sector to reflect a professional standard
that becomes a template for sustainability.
**End Release*

Comments

  • TiversTivers    7,720 posts
    Link to this and / or report ?
  • meatpiemeatpie    410 posts
    edited June 2022
    Wholesale collapse of WA racing industry, geez seems a massive overreach to gain affect.

    What are they suggesting?
  • DamienWyerDamienWyer    7,660 posts
    Tivers said:

    Link to this and / or report ?



    There is a meeting for interested parties tomorrow and again on Tuesday at Bunbury. I can only presume at those meetings a copy of the report will be made available. This was just a press release that was sent to me.


    meatpie said:

    Wholesale collapse of WA racing industry, geez seems a massive overreach to gain affect.


    What are they suggesting?
    I don't think this is an over statement. Large numbers of Trainers should have already made this decision and only persevere due an emotional connection to horse training. 

    freodockers likes this post.

  • TiversTivers    7,720 posts
    Not very well promotoed if so - first I've heard of it
  • DesperadoDesperado    119 posts
    “In examining the cost of production facing WA trainers, it is clear that it is costing more to train a
    horse on behalf of our stable clients, than trainers are receiving in training fees” . “Costs have risen exponentially over the past 4 or 5 years and
    training fees across the board have certainly not kept pace. 

    If a trainer is receiving less in training fees then what it costs to train a horse who's fault is that.

     Aren't each individual trainer allowed to set there own rate at which they charge to make a profit or at least cover costs, as any other business would do?

    thefalcon, JimmyPop, meatpie likes this post.

  • thefalconthefalcon    19,949 posts
    ^^ exactly, desperado!
  • DamienWyerDamienWyer    7,660 posts
    Not much hope for the battling Trainer.

    When giants of the local racing scene demand less than daily training fees, fraudulent owners who misrepresent and break agreements to pay on time, or when ponzi scheme operators get caught (read also misappropriation of public funds resulting in jail terms) yet those same Trainers are asked to pay their creditors or be shut down.

    Not everyone can have organised buying groups of syndicated horses and even they get jabbed with ludicrous over charging and service fees.

    There are very few major players who act in a decent manner and of those that do, their ranks are thinning from father time.




    Tucool likes this post.

  • meatpiemeatpie    410 posts
    edited June 2022

    Not much hope for the battling Trainer.

    When giants of the local racing scene demand less than daily training fees, fraudulent owners who misrepresent and break agreements to pay on time, or when ponzi scheme operators get caught (read also misappropriation of public funds resulting in jail terms) yet those same Trainers are asked to pay their creditors or be shut down.

    Not everyone can have organised buying groups of syndicated horses and even they get jabbed with ludicrous over charging and service fees.

    There are very few major players who act in a decent manner and of those that do, their ranks are thinning from father time.




    no one is forced to train for anyone

    All the rest are common to every business that operates

    gotta be more to it than that,  influence? or do they want to reduce trainer numbers?

    in the end they operate a business which they choose to operate.

    be interesting to see what they actually want or see the need for improvement

    Desperado likes this post.

  • wedgewedge    266 posts
    financial stress = more shortcuts (feed/ vets etc) + greater incentive to push the boundaries of integrity by one way or another.  I hope I'm wrong but it feels like it's a state of decay from here.
  • Vincent_vegaVincent_vega    463 posts

    “When giants of the local racing scene demand less than daily training fees”

    Quick, let me know what top trainer is doing this, i will send my yearling to them!!

    Desperado, thefalcon, Arapaho likes this post.

  • DamienWyerDamienWyer    7,660 posts


    “When giants of the local racing scene demand less than daily training fees”

    Quick, let me know what top trainer is doing this, i will send my yearling to them!!



    Ever heard the expression 'if you have to ask the price you can't really afford it'


  • ArapahoArapaho    222 posts
    It would be interesting to know what are the actual costs compared to what the trainers are charging owners, can anyone do a itemized account of this would be appreciated.
  • Precision1Precision1    544 posts



    “When giants of the local racing scene demand less than daily training fees”

    Quick, let me know what top trainer is doing this, i will send my yearling to them!!



    Ever heard the expression 'if you have to ask the price you can't really afford it'


    As has been said before, no one can force you to train their horses.  If a trainer agrees to train for less than their usual rate they obviously would assume the quality of animal they are getting will mean the prize money will make up for it.  That’s a business decision they are making willingly.  Every business makes these types of decisions all the time, you either survive or not on the back of them.


    Desperado likes this post.

  • TiversTivers    7,720 posts
    Arapaho said:

    It would be interesting to know what are the actual costs compared to what the trainers are charging owners, can anyone do a itemized account of this would be appreciated.

    Spurred by this thread, I did the math today (all of today).
    Based on $100 a day per horse (more than most are charging), I only got to Payroll (paid properly, incl workers comp insuracne etc), Rent & Feed - and was alreay trading at a loss.

    Those three items account for approx 70% of total expenses, so the shortfall on those plus the other 30% of costs to be covered from...............ummmm, still working on that bit.

    Tucool likes this post.

  • DesperadoDesperado    119 posts
    edited June 2022
    Arapaho said:

    t would be interesting to know what are the actual costs compared to what the trainers are charging owners, can anyone do a itemized account of this would be appreciated.



    Spurred by this thread, I did the math today (all of today).
    Based on $100 a day per horse (more than most are charging), I only got to Payroll (paid properly, incl workers comp insuracne etc), Rent & Feed - and was alreay trading at a loss.

    Those three items account for approx 70% of total expenses, so the shortfall on those plus the other 30% of costs to be covered from...............ummmm, still working on that bit.



    So Your losing money every month? 


    "In examining the cost of production facing WA trainers, it is clear that it is costing more to train a
    horse on behalf of our stable clients, than trainers are receiving in training fees”

    Maybe a basic business  management course will rectify the above.
        

      
  • ManchildManchild    679 posts
    Would a trainer Add up all costs from the year previous, assuming that he has the same numbers of staff & horses, then divide by 365 that must be what they charge ,allowing of course for staff, fuel & feed inflation.

    or is that too simple ?
  • ArapahoArapaho    222 posts
    Looking from a owners perspective, if a owner gets a bill of say $4000 in total , for the month of May,
    then that owner is getting charged 4000 divided by 31 which is $129 odd per day.

    Do know a few of my friends pay over $400 for a ten per cent share in a horse per month and sometimes even more.
    At the end of the day the total of the bill is what counts (especially to the people that are paying it)

    jum, thefalcon likes this post.

  • Vincent_vegaVincent_vega    463 posts



    “When giants of the local racing scene demand less than daily training fees”

    Quick, let me know what top trainer is doing this, i will send my yearling to them!!



    Ever heard the expression 'if you have to ask the price you can't really afford it'





    Not sure what that has to do with the price of eggs, but anyway. If trainers want to run their business this way, then fair enough, not up to me to be their forensic accountant.
  • shothrushothru    243 posts
    Unfortunately trainers are there own worst enemy, they nevet stand together as a group, and they would undercut there grandmother to pinch an owner

    Tucool, JimmyPop likes this post.

  • DesperadoDesperado    119 posts
    edited June 2022
    Arapaho said:

    Looking from a owners perspective, if a owner gets a bill of say $4000 in total , for the month of May,

    then that owner is getting charged 4000 divided by 31 which is $129 odd per day.

    Do know a few of my friends pay over $400 for a ten per cent share in a horse per month and sometimes even more.
    At the end of the day the total of the bill is what counts (especially to the people that are paying it)


  • DesperadoDesperado    119 posts
    edited June 2022
    Desperado said:

    Arapaho said:

    Looking from a owners perspective, if a owner gets a bill of say $4000 in total , for the month of May,

    then that owner is getting charged 4000 divided by 31 which is $129 odd per day.

    Do know a few of my friends pay over $400 for a ten per cent share in a horse per month and sometimes even more.
    At the end of the day the total of the bill is what counts (especially to the people that are paying it)


    Is that unreasonable?
    For $129 a day your horse would have someone making sure its every needs are being looked after. 
    To feed the horse and get it worked properly would take up a lot of that.
    If you are paying much less the that, you need to ask yourself if your horse is getting everything it needs.  
    I think there maybe trainers that cant make a go of it making excuses for there own shortfalls. 
  • spinkingspinking    3,738 posts
    Exactly as you say Desperado . A bloke laughed at me the other day when we compared bills. He was laughing at the fact he only payed $70 a day all inclusive . When we compared the two bills mine listing the day rate and all the extras supplement minerals medications etc . And his just $ 70 a day and after pointing out to him what is is horse not getting to be competitive with one’s that are getting what’s itemised on the bill he wasn’t laughing to loudly then

    Tucool likes this post.

  • TiversTivers    7,720 posts
    If you're paying $70 a day training fees you have to ask why.
    Likewise does your mate drive one of those cheap Chinese SUV's instead of a Toyota by chance ?

    Tucool likes this post.

  • ArapahoArapaho    222 posts
    Paying more doesn't mean you get more,
    Have noticed trainers who charge more,
    are driving around in Mercs.
  • TheDivaTheDiva    13,246 posts
    trainers driving Mercs?  :-??

    Tucool likes this post.

  • spinkingspinking    3,738 posts
    It works exactly the opposite way around as well Arapaho. More to the point . In my bills everything is itemised. So pretty sure they would be getting it. If it’s not even on the bill doubt they would be getting it
  • thefalconthefalcon    19,949 posts
    not mercs but 200k horse transport vehicles....i'm not kidding.
  • shothrushothru    243 posts
    Arapaho said:

    Paying more doesn't mean you get more,

    Have noticed trainers who charge more,
    are driving around in Mercs.
    I think youve confused the trainers car park with the jockeys carpark

    thefalcon likes this post.

  • FlandersFlanders    1,197 posts
    thefalcon said:

    not mercs but 200k horse transport vehicles....i'm not kidding.


    I would have thought an average truck to transport horses would be a bare minimum 100k Falc. If you want one that presents a professional look, or is anywhere near new, it probably comes in at 200k surely.

    Desperado likes this post.

  • DesperadoDesperado    119 posts
    thefalcon said:

    not mercs but 200k horse transport vehicles....i'm not kidding.

    Who Falc has a 200K truck?
    I know trainers that have a 90k truck and live in a rented house worth a lot less.
    there own fault mind you 
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