racing

How one club made a bold decision and lived to tell the story (and they put their stakes up!)

/ Mezzasez

 In the wake of the gnashing of teeth and rending of garments from those associated with clubs whose tracks are destined for closure I felt it was an opportune time to provide some perspective.

As I said last week, a reaction of grief is not unexpected.  However, I was left with the strong impression, after reading several online stories that some of those affected were yet to read the Messara report in full.  What was more surprising however, was the fact that clubs claimed this was out of the blue and unexpected. I realise that clubs in this country are run by volunteers but, unless they were totally removed from the realities of the industry, I find it difficult to believe they were oblivious to the fact we were operating on borrowed time (and borrowed money).

I’ve been in their shoes.  Of the three clubs where I served on committees two were small, country clubs.  We worked hard to keep those clubs afloat, working bees were the norm and the financials were never pretty.

With that type of personal investment there also comes a sense of ownership.  But committees, through the ages, have never “owned” their clubs they are merely caretakers for future generations.  As such they have a duty of care.

I am hopeful that those club representatives who reacted in a predictable knee-jerk manner when contacted by media after the release of the Messara report have now had time to read and digest the report.  I am also hopeful that they are now looking at the big picture and seeing a different future for their clubs.

Just a note here too, if you are gobbing off about the report without reading it then please refer to this segment of my earlier blog post Time to embrace the process and be part of racing’s solution – “Read it through, breathe, read it again.  Sit back, mull it over and ask yourself one question.  Am I going to be part of the solution, or part of the problem?”

If you insist on being one of those people who prefer to live in ignorance or glean your “knowledge” of the detail of the report from the mainstream media, then do the rest of us a favour and do not share your unenlightened opinions with us.  As of Wednesday, when I made my second formal complaint against a mainstream media outlet which persisted in broadcasting and printing mistruths, I decided that I would ignore comment from those who patently have not read the report. Other than to scream at them – you can do that in the Twittersphere by using all capitals – READ THE REPORT! At this stage I have refrained from becoming sweary.

Anyway, for those associated with clubs whose tracks are earmarked for closure who are beginning to see that this might have to be their future I wanted to demonstrate just how it could pan out.

I have often quoted the Feilding Jockey Club as an example of what can happen when a president, supported by his committee and members, makes a very tough, but very brave decision.

To give a little history – Feilding began racing in 1879 and, as stated in Tapestry of Turf it was one of the most prosperous clubs of the time.  In 1905 its two-day Easter meeting recorded turnover of 30,117 pounds.  To put this in perspective the turnover a two-day fixture at Canterbury was 19,784 pounds, while three-days at the Auckland Racing Club saw 27,994 pounds bet.  Things obviously just got better because a meeting at Feilding in 1920 when Gloaming graced the track the on-course crowd of 8368 managed to clock up an incredible 103,000 in turnover.

The club also boasted something which the racing bible claimed was a New Zealand record with Goodbehere family members filling the secretary’s role from 1891 when Edmund Goodbehere took up the position.  Following on from his 33-year reign Edmund’s son Guy served for 30 years before, Edmund’s grandson Brian stepped into the role. His 22-year tenure concluded in 1976, just three years prior to the club’s centenary.

Given its rich – in more ways than one – history Craig McNeill, the club’s president in 1999 did not approach the task lightly when he looked to reshape the club’s future.

Craig recalled the lead up to the decision to sell the Feilding JC property and relocate to Awapuni thus:

“Up until 1998/99 season, the Club was losing money, and basically going backwards and reducing its equity very fast.   A stop had to be put in place for this.

“Within the Committee, various members could recall the closure of Ashhurst Pohangina, Marton and Rangitikei Clubs.   They could see the benefit to those clubs who had gone through the process of centralising racing at one particular venue, namely the Awapuni Racing Centre.

“The decision was made by the then Committee to establish a sub-committee to proceed with the relocating of the Feilding Jockey Club to the Awapuni Racing Centre.

“There was a special meeting called for the purpose of discussing the proposed move. There was a presentation made from various industry personnel, mainly on the pro’s and con’s of staying versus moving.  

“The meeting was then asked to vote on the proposed move and there was a clear majority to proceed with the change of venue to the Awapuni Racing Centre,” he said.

What got the decision across the line, with hardly any opposition, was the fact that the presentation to the meeting clearly showed what would happen if the club stayed.

“What a lot of people do not realise, and the other clubs in the country who are facing closure will come to realise, is that moving made us stronger, not weaker,” Craig said.

“We are focused on the community and sponsors like never before and that sees increased investment and attendance at our meetings.”

The Feilding Jockey Club raced for just over 100 years at their last venue, that land after being sold to the Manawatu District Council in 1999 is now part of Manfeild Park.

The move, which saw the club transfer its racing operations to Awapuni, has been lauded as one of the best decisions made by a New Zealand club in recent decades Craig said.

Back in 1999 the Feilding Jockey club struggled to conduct three low-key midweek race meetings at their course and their feature event – the Feilding Cup – carried a stake of just $8000.

“Today the $50,000 Ricoh Feilding Gold Cup is a Listed open handicap with the club offered $232,500 prizemoney on this day, which is more than they paid out for their three meetings in the 1998-99 season,” Craig McNeill said.

Feilding currently runs three meetings at Awapuni, with the RACE Board allocating them the Manawatu Racing Club’s popular ANZAC Day feature meeting, which has provided the club with a second black type feature day.

“The club is in a very strong financial position and is a major contributor to the RACE concept,” Craig added.

Without making the move he is adamant the club would not have survived and he has no regrets about the decision.

“The club would be long gone,” he said.

To those clubs whose tracks are among the 20 slated to close he offers four bullet points:

  • “Embrace this proposed change”
  • “The Minister has given us a once in a lifetime opportunity – take it.”
  • “Do not be afraid of change.”
  • “Engage now with the venue you are looking to move to and start to agree how you can grow your business.”

“Moving gives the clubs a sustainable future and enables decisions to be focused on the customer and community, not on how to keep a derelict facility going,” he said.

Take it from someone who has been there and, instead of adopting a parochial view which would have heralded the club’s slide into oblivion, took bold action and allowed the club to thrive. History, and future racing generations, will thank you.

 

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Much to digest as we absorb the Messara report

/ Mezzasez

Fall out day.  That’s what a racing friend of mine dubbed today.

Friday 31 August 2018 will be remembered as the day those in the racing industry woke up and suddenly found our industry leading news bulletins across the board.

All those mainstream media types, whose exposure to racing previously may have involved being wined and dined by the Racing Board at a major Cup meeting, were in a muck lather.  Without the benefit of any understanding of what went before and the mess we were in, the recommendations of the Messara report had them in tizzy.

They weren’t alone.  The previous night, while the Rt Hon Winston Peters was delivering the report and before it had been released to the wider public, comments on the live stream of the event proved once again that some people should not be allowed near a keyboard.

There was, and still is, much to digest from the Messara report, this blog post will tackle what featured on this morning’s news.  The points most media latched on to, possibly due to their inability to understand the depth of our problems and what has driven us here, related to track closures and TAB outsourcing.

In general media land these have ended up translating as club closures and the TAB being controlled from Australia.

Subtle differences but enough to churn up a feeding frenzy.

Before we delve further into the mainstream media misconceptions here is the full list of recommendations from the Messara Report.  I do recommend that anyone with any involvement in the industry first reads the report in its entirety before making any comment you can find it here:

https://www.dia.govt.nz/vwluResources/Racing-Report-August-2018/$file/Review-of-the-NZ-Racing-Industry-Report.pdf

  • Change the governance structure, so the NZRB becomes Wagering NZ with racing responsibilities devolving to the individual Codes. This will sharpen the commercial focus of TAB operations and improve the decision-making and accountability of the Codes.
  • Establish Racing NZ as a consultative forum for the three Codes to agree on issues such as entering into commercial agreements with Wagering NZ, approving betting rules and budgets for the integrity bodies, equine health & research, etc.
  • Change the composition and qualifications for directors of regulatory bodies.
  • Request that a Performance and Efficiency Audit of the NZRB be initiated under section 14 of the Racing Act 2003, with particular emphasis on the operating costs of the NZRB.
  • Amend the Section 16 distribution formula of the Racing Act 2003 to a more equitable basis for fixed 10-year terms.
  • Initiate a special review of the structure and efficacy of the RIU and allied integrity bodies, to be conducted by an independent qualified person.
  • Begin negotiations for the outsourcing of the TAB’s commercial activities to an international wagering operator, to gain the significant advantages of scale.
  • Seek approval for a suite of new wagering products to increase funding for the industry.
  • Confirm the assignment of Intellectual Property (IP) by the Clubs to the Codes.
  • Introduce Race Field and Point Of Consumption Tax legislation expeditiously. These two measures will bring New Zealand’s racing industry into line with its Australian counterparts and provide much-needed additional revenue.
  • Repeal the existing betting levy of approximately $13 million per annum paid by the NZRB, given that the thoroughbred Code is a loss maker overall, with the net owners’ losses outweighing the NZRB’s net profit.
  • Clarify legislation to vest Race Club property and assets to the Code regulatory bodies for the benefit of the industry as a whole.
  • Reduce the number of thoroughbred race tracks from 48 to 28 tracks under a scheduled program. This does not require the closure of any Club.
  • Upgrade the facilities and tracks of the remaining racecourses with funds generated from the sale of surplus property resulting from track closures to provide a streamlined, modern and competitive thoroughbred racing sector capable of marketing itself globally.
  • Construct three synthetic all-weather tracks at Cambridge, Awapuni & Riccarton with assistance from the New Zealand Government’s Provincial Growth Fund. Support the development of the Waikato Greenfields Project.
  • Introduce robust processes to establish traceability from birth and the re-homing of the entire thoroughbred herd, as the foundation stone of the industry’s ongoing animal welfare program.
  • Increase thoroughbred prizemoney gradually to over $100 million per annum through a simplified three-tier racing model, with payments extended to tenth place in all races.

Now let’s just take a look at those two items which have been the focus of media attention today.

The recommendations around the outsourcing of the TAB’s commercial activities are as follows:

  1. Progress full operational outsourcing of all domestic wagering, broadcast and gaming operations, to a single third-party wagering and media operator of international scale, under a long-term arrangement with the NZRB (Wagering NZ) holding the licence and contracting all operational activities to a selected outsourced operator.
  2. Seek the approval for the NZRB (Wagering NZ) to: • Conduct virtual racing games; • Remove legal restrictions in Section 33(3) of the Gambling Act that prevent the NZRB (Wagering NZ) from acquiring class 4 gaming licence venues; • Conduct in-the-run race betting; • Conduct betting on sports where there is no agreement with a national sports organisation.
  3. Complete the chain of agreements and arrangements to prepare for the outsourcing process including the assignment of Intellectual Property (IP) by the Clubs to the Codes.

Hardly what it was painted as by an over-exuberant AM Show this morning, but that is what happens when an industry is so far off the radar as to be non-existent for most!

Again, I suggest reading the entire report to see all the alternatives which were considered and how these recommendations were reached.

The issue of track closures was one which also tripped up more than a few this morning, with most of the courses mentioned being ones which were labelled to continue.  For some reason the perception seemed to be that those tracks destined end their days would all be country tracks.

There will, of course, be a grieving period for those associated with the following 20 tracks:

  • Dargaville • Avondale • Thames • Rotorua • Wairoa • Stratford • Hawera • Waipukurau • Woodville • Reefton • Greymouth • Hokitika • Motukarara • Timaru • Kurow • Oamaru • Waimate • Omakau • Winton • Gore.

However, as the Messara report stresses, the clubs associated with the tracks would be encouraged to continue to race at nearby venues.  Had the recommendations of the 1970 McCarthy report been acted upon in full then many of these tracks would have closed some 45+ years ago and perhaps we may not have required such bold actions now.

The recommendations around track closures, which also includes those around prizemoney (the positive news which appears to have been overlooked by the general media) follows:

  1. Reduce the number of existing thoroughbred racing venues in New Zealand over the next 6 years by 20, from 48 to 28 venues, and establish Cambridge as a new synthetic track racing and training venue within 1 year, so making a total of 29 venues. Sell all freehold racecourse land of the closed venues with the proceeds to accrue to NZTR. Maintain racecourses in all regions of New Zealand where racing is currently conducted. Not require any Race Clubs to close but encourage them to race at another venue or merge with another Club.
  2. Significantly improve the racing and facilities infrastructure at all remaining tracks over the next 6 years and build 3 synthetic racing and training tracks (including Cambridge) over the next 3 years, at an estimated total cost of about $190 million.
  3. Fund all the proposed capital expenditure by the sale of surplus freehold racecourse land, grants from the Provincial Growth Fund for the synthetic tracks and co-funding by some Race Clubs. Clubs racing at retained venues (or NZTR as per recommendation 5 below) should also be required to sell any surplus freehold land holdings to help co-fund infrastructure investment.
  4. Build an exceptional new racing and training venue in the Waikato within the next 8 to 10 years at an estimated cost of at least $110 million and then close and sell the Te Rapa, Cambridge and Te Awamutu racecourses to fund the development. There would then be 27 thoroughbred venues racing in New Zealand.
  5. To allow for recommendations 1 to 4 to be implemented, amend the Racing Act 2003 and any other relevant legislation to provide for the vesting in NZTR of the ownership of freehold racecourse land and other net assets of Race Clubs. This would allow NZTR, if it decided not to issue licences to a Race Club/s to hold any race meetings at a venue, to then take possession of the Race Club/s freehold racecourse land and sell the land with the proceeds being used to benefit the entire thoroughbred racing industry. The proposed amendments to the Racing Act 2003 should also facilitate the ability of NZTR to negotiate loans, secured by the freehold racecourse land, to fund infrastructure investment before the freehold land of the closed venues is sold.
  6. To introduce a simplified 3 Tier structure for New Zealand thoroughbred racing and a simplified Prizemoney Matrix that will provide for about $110 million of prizemoney (up from $53.7 million in 2016/17 and an estimated $59.4 million in 2017/18), including 6th to 10th prizemoney, subject to the implementation of the other recommendations in this report. All races at the same meetings to have the same minimum prizemoney whether they be an Open Handicap or a Maiden race.
  7. To introduce the measures described to reinforce the importance of good corporate governance practices by Race Club controlling Boards or Committees, to improve the Race Club management skills of CEOs and senior staff and to lift the NZTR minimum acceptable standards for racecourses in terms of the presentation of racing tracks, training tracks and facilities infrastructure. Increased attention should also be given to ensuring the adequate training of all Race Club staff and, in particular, track maintenance personnel.

If you have managed to get this far then you will realise that this report is not a “once over lightly” effort.  There is depth and the type of insightful and intelligent analysis which, had it been present at NZRB may have precluded the need for a report.

Over the following weeks I will be unpacking the report and, with luck, following its progress through to implementation of Mr Messara’s recommendations in their entirety.

As our Racing Minister said last night,”Many will have plenty to say,”  however I encourage them to take on his advice to “judge [the report] against what is critical for the industry to survive.”

The Minister, as he concluded his address last night, ended with the words Brutus spoke to Cassius in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar:

There is a tide in the affairs of men.
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat,
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures.

This quote adorned my office wall for many years.  A reminder to seize opportunity when it came so as not to be left rueing what might have been.

As the Minister said last night, we can either accept parochialism and poverty or use Mr Messara’s report as a blueprint for survival.

My memories of a mighty man and the best life advice I ever got..

/ Mezzasez

I can’t picture Nick Columb without hearing his voice.  Booming, distinctive and always accompanied by that laugh.

There was always laughter.

I remember the first time I met him, back when we still held yearling sales at the Claudelands complex in Hamilton.  I was working at BloodHorse and we had a stand which, oh so flash for the time, included a video player.   This was handy because Nick and his ever-present side-kick Ross – Rossco – McDonald had a video they wanted the world to see.  The video featured the wonderful Magari.  As I type that name I hear Nick saying it, he had a way of getting inside your head.

As a journalist, Nick felt he was well placed to provide me with some guidance and instruction and I am sure some of it stuck. Like all good journalists he was a brilliant observer and noted things others might not.  Based on that observation he also decided I required life advice.

His instruction was simple: “When you walk into a room, do it as though you own it!”  Again, I hear that voice.

For a gauche 23-year-old it was the best advice.  I have lost count of the times I channeled Nick and that great advice. How I laughed in later years when a friend told me why another “friend” had a problem with me because, “she thinks you walk into a place as though you own it.”  Life lesson achieved, thanks Nick!

While much of the 1980s have blurred into hazy memories, I can recall times spent with Nick in vivid technicolour.  Like the jaunt to Waikato Stud, along with “Jack the vet” and Rossco, after which Nick confirmed he would buy the filly which had caught his eye.  I remember quizzing him as to why this horse?  What made her so special?  Being able to absorb those insights into what he saw in Courtza was gold, and one time he was completely serious!

The dinners in Wellington back in the Trentham yearling sale days were also memorable.  Nick’s insistence that “the little albino vet” – everyone had a “Nick” name – would sit alongside him, just in case he might need him to again perform the Heimlich manoeuvre.  The original story which accompanied that explanation produced tears of laughter.

But that was Nick.  He could tell magnificent stories, many of them against himself.  He could be incredibly caustic utilising his extensive vocabulary to fire verbal bullets but only if the target deserved it.

He was fundamentally kind.  Kind, funny, exuberant, loud, generous and, as so many people have said when recalling him, larger than life.

It feels wrong to be writing about him in the past tense, knowing there is a massive Nick-sized gap in the world. It is a duller and much quieter place without him.

On owners, diversity and the future

/ Mezzasez / 1 Comment

Last season I took the plunge and joined the NZ Thoroughbred Owners’ Federation.  The organisation, with which I had quite a few dealings during my time at the NZ Trainers’ Association, just requests a mere $55 annual sub.

For this one gets membership and the promise that they will, on my behalf, work “to improve the economics, integrity and pleasure of the sport of thoroughbred racing.”

If I’m honest, I only joined to see who was running the group and how well they had embraced technology to grow their membership and fulfil at least the latter promise.  I wasn’t really surprised to see that the president was the same one I used to attend meetings alongside back in the early 2000s.  It’s not easy getting people to volunteer for such thankless tasks.

Not wanting to put the boot in – it would be akin to kicking puppies – the Federation seems mired in a time before technology even though it does have a website.  Their communication with members could be so much better, as could their acknowledgement of winning owners who are members of syndicates.  Achieving the latter might even assist when it came to attracting members.

I paid my membership – online, so that must be a positive – and then, sometime later in the mail came a card which declared me a member and was my Owners’ ID card.  Nothing else with the card, no welcome letter or list of membership benefits, just the card.  It did seem to be a waste of an opportunity to maybe recruit new committee members or extend an invitation to up-coming events or, anything really.

No doubt there will be more mail awaiting me at my home address when I return, advising me my membership for the current season is due.

The other item which arrives in the mail – although also available to view online – is the Owners’ Bulletin.  My background in magazines means I have an addiction to all things glossy and printed.  While there is a convenience to being able to read stories online I still prefer the tactile approach while sipping my beverage of choice.

The Bulletin has the potential to provide owners, old and new, with relevant news, information, background, insights as well as the opportunity to bask in the reflected glory of one’s equine stars.  However, this also suffers from the fact that too much is being required from the few put-upon souls volunteering their time to run the Federation and get the Bulletin out on time.

There is only one word for it – tired.  Probably much like the volunteers.

Surely the clearest sign that they struggle to find current and relevant content is the inclusion of an NZRB puff-piece – it would appear the Federation is drinking the NZRB kool-aid!  Running press releases without questioning their veracity doesn’t put me in mind of an organisation which is fighting to improve the economics of our industry.

Owners are footing the bills which keep horses going around in this country and we deserve so much better than the NZRB has been delivering.

A little debate in the July edition which I found interesting was a discussion about diversity within racing.  It amuses me, coming from my current role at a University, when people within racing speak about diversity and assume we are talking only about men and women.  Anyway, I’ll play their game!

So, let’s examine the inclusion (I prefer this term when we are talking the male/female divide) of the fairer (in so many ways) sex within the NZ racing industry.

As everyone knows we are marking 40 years of women competing on an equal playing field with men as jockeys.  And, unlike so many other sporting areas, there has been no gender pay gap, from day one they have earned the same money for the same work.

Female jockeys are an accepted part of racing life here to the extent they nearly outnumber the blokes.  In this area we are leaving Australia behind.

Likewise, we also recognised female trainers many, many, many decades before the Australians.  As far as they are concerned Shelia Laxon was the first female to train a Melbourne Cup winner.  In fact, it wasn’t until that happened that the Aussies managed to ‘fess up that they had indeed done Granny McDonald wrong.  Back in 1938 when her horse Catalogue won the Cup rather than be able to stand up and claim the win as hers, Granny had to sit back while husband Allan was lauded as the winning trainer.

We have females working in most every area of racing here, although I haven’t noticed anyone putting their hand up to attempt commentating.  Considering the feverish backlash in the world of cricket and rugby it may be some time before we find a female with a suitable alto voice and a skin thick enough to take the barbs!  A shout out to Victoria Shaw in Australia here, this is one area where they have beaten us.  Victoria making her calling debut in 1998.

The talk within the industry about diversity, seems to stem from general media talk about representation on boards and the age-old pay parity argument.  Numbers are growing, albeit slowly with the NZX reporting in January that 27% of directors on NZX/S&P50 boards were female, up from 22% the following year.

It’s progress but I think amid the clamour to get more women on Boards we should also be considering how many women WANT to be on boards and focusing on having, first and foremost, people with the best skillset, regardless of gender.

Having served on the committee/Boards of three very different racing clubs I can report from personal experience that things have changed since my first experience in 1996 when I was the only female.  A subsequent experience saw me serve as Vice-President to a female president on a committee which boasted five women.  I am certain that was because it was an extremely hands-on committee which held working-bees (read, cleaning frenzies) in the days prior to race days!

Again, it comes back to whether women want to be involved and what they bring to the table.

The Owner’s Bulletin piece seemed to feel the solution lay with the industry attracting more young people who embrace the idea of diversity, after all the future will be in their hands.

While it is a great concept it is also a cop-out.  Great ideas are not the preserve of the young and some people push boundaries until the time comes to push up daisies.

What the industry needs in spades is passion and a desire to see things change for the better.

We need to be part of the solution!