‘Rocket’ needed under racing Bill

RACING boss John Allen told a public meeting at Wingatui last night of his frustration at the snail’s pace at which changes to the Racing Act were moving through Parliament.

Allen, the chief executive of the New Zealand Racing Board (NZRB), talked about key issues facing his organisation to a small gathering of around 30 racing industry participants.

He was joined by New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing (NZRB) chief executive officer Bernard Saundry and Harness Racing New Zealand chief executive Edward Rennell, who both spoke at the meeting.

Allen told the meeting the wait for changes to the Racing Act was costing $1 million each month.

The Bill’s key aim is to charge overseas bookmakers a fee for the use of New Zealand racing fields for betting.

Allen told attendees he had previously expected the Racing Amendment Bill would have passed through Parliament by now, but it had been caught up in bureaucratic process.

He said the process needed ‘‘a rocket’’ underneath it. He and the bosses of the three racing codes had recently written to Racing Minister Winston Peters offering any support he might need to speed up the process.

Allen implored those at the meeting to rally any politician they came across to get the Racing Amendment Bill made law.

The changes are expected to have a big impact on the NZRB’s bottom line. Before last night’s meeting, the board announced an unaudited halfyearly net loss after distribution of nearly $8.5 million.

That result comes after the board distributed more than $9 million more to the racing codes than it did in the first six months of last year.

That injection has led to lifts in minimum race stakes across the three racing codes.

The organisation’s net profit before distributions was similar to last year’s halfyear result, falling from nearly $80 million to nearly $79 million.

That could be considered a good result, considering the organisation’s operating expenses increased by more than $4.5 million during that time. That amount is similar to what the board poured into its key strategic initiatives.

These include developing a new fixed odds platform, investing in its customer strategy and working to optimise the racing calendar.

Allen gave last night’s meeting insight into the progress of the new fixed odds platform, which is expected to boost the organisation’s bottom line.

NZTR’s Bernard Saundry was questioned on the inconsistent nature of the South Island racing calendar.

A trainer expressed dismay that there were eight thoroughbred meetings in June, a difficult time of year to train horses because of wet weather. He pointed out that at other times of the year, such as January, weeks could go by when were no meetings.

All three racing leaders replied on the challenges of managing and maintaining racecourses and the future role of each racing club.

The NZRB is consulting the industry on the future of racing venues and the meeting heard that only 38 submissions had been received across New Zealand so far.

Later, the programming of races on South Island race days was hotly debated.

Saundry said he would work on appeals from trainers to consider changes to the rating bands used in racing programmes.

Rennell led a debate on increases to stakes levels. His code did not anticipate its levels would increase next season, but an increase the following season was likely.

Saundry said the thoroughbred code was in a similar position.