Racing recovery depends on clubs

Racing enthusiasts are still getting their heads around the double-whammy served up in the past week. On the eve of the Budget, Racing Minister Winston Peters disclosed that the Racing Industry Transition Agency (Rita), which runs the TAB, was on the brink of insolvency. Peters forked out $50 million for Rita as part of a $72.5m rescue package, with $26m urgently needed as the cashreliant agency couldn’t pay its suppliers. Lenders said they could no longer extend credit.

Obviously forewarned, the racing industry responded the day after the Budget, announcing the cancellation of betting licences for a number of racetracks from the start of the new season in August, pending a period of consultation.

That came as a shock for many. While the racing codes – thoroughbred, harness and greyhound – had been working on cutting the number of venues, their hand has been forced by the devastating impact of Covid-19 to come up with immediate cuts.

If the closures go ahead, 14 thoroughbred tracks, including Avondale in Auckland, will not hold races again; Forbury in Dunedin, Manawatu¯ and Timaru harness venues will be cut, while Forbury will also lose greyhound meetings. The clubs themselves will have the option of racing at other venues.

The new thrust will be to increase the number of meetings at venues with the greatest population of horses and dogs. Tying in with that is $20m in the Budget from the Provincial Growth Fund to install synthetic tracks at Awapuni, Palmerston North, and Riccarton in Christchurch, in addition to one being constructed at Cambridge.

Since Peters reassumed the mantle of the racing portfolio three years ago, he has been working on reforming the racing industry, which has been rent by divisions, resentment and poor management for the past two decades.

While critics of horseracing were aghast that an industry with gambling at its core should get a big money boost when other more ‘‘essential’’ sectors were struggling, Peters has highlighted that racing contributes $1.6 billion to the economy annually, with 15,000 people employed full-time.

Peters, whose backing from the racing industry in the lead-up to the 2017 election has been well publicised, was always going to support the agency he set up to replace the New Zealand Racing Board, of whose stewardship he had been highly critical. There will be sympathy for the new agency, which took over from a board that saddled it with huge costs, and then had its income devastated by global sports being cancelled, as well as New Zealand racing. So much so that Ukrainian table tennis has become one of its main attractions for punters.

But it has been slow in taking a knife to the high salaries among its head count. It also blundered to the tune of $3.2m on a recent betting promotion. Government support will only go so far.

Peters has claimed it will be a quick recovery for racing. But that will be reliant on clubs earmarked for the chop not fighting through the courts. Some are threatening to fight to keep their meetings. In the meantime, racing bosses must be more transparent and release publicly the criteria for the closure decisions. It’s the least they can do for people whose livelihoods will be greatly affected.

While critics of horseracing were aghast ... Peters has highlighted that racing contributes $1.6 billion to the economy annually, with 15,000 people employed full-time.