With the Spring Racing season done and dusted for another year, here are 11 things I think Australia needs to embrace to make following racing all it can be in this country.
I’ve put together a list of the television shockers, faux pas and things that grind my gears about the coverage and discussion around the sport in this country. Feel free to contribute yours,
1. Copy Singapore and the USA and display numbers of every runner on the screen as they jump. Guys, this is 2015. We currently have to wait until the race is half over before we just get the first four runners and often they are incorrect. By using an electronic chip it is 100% correct and also advises if your horse is wide.
2. Can the Sky Racing anchors please stop saying: “TAB dot com dot au” a million times every afternoon? Fellas, every man and his dog knows that they have a website. Just “the TAB” is all that is required.
3. Can someone tell Richard Freedman that when he works at Sky Racing it is TV and not radio? We all can see Rich, no need to read us the numbers in the frame and each dividend. Something useful like what Glenn Munsie says is more beneficial.
4. Bigger fields required, especially in NSW. Now Grahame Begg is quitting and the way we are heading it will be Waller, Smith, Snowden and Darley as the only trainers supplying runners in Sydney. Do we have to wait that long before the battling trainer can get some relief from operating expenses?
5. TVN, if you refuse to follow Singapore then at least put up what price the leaders are on the screen during the race.
6. The replays of every horse race in Australia should be available free.
7. An electronic form guide that shows the last 10 runs of each horse should be available free like it is in Hong Kong and like it is for the greyhounds here. Do our administrators get it that by giving punters intel they will invest?
8. Channel 7 needs to hire someone to advise them on camera angles. While they are at it, they can bury that ground level cam just before the home turn.
9. UK racing is shocking at this, but some clubs still have tiny numbers on the saddle cloth that even the jockey would struggle to read.
10. Why do greyhound races always follow a trot race? The dog race does not last long and should be scheduled before the harness race as there is often a delay. If you have zero interest in pacers and are forced to sit through 30 plus drawn out races every night it is punishing. This is a huge advantage to increasing the hold for harness over greyhounds.
11. Live ‘In-Play’ Betting via the internet. Anytime you are ready fellas! How ridiculous is this inane outdated law that encourages betting off shore.
This law applies to all online operators, regardless of whether they are owned and/or licensed in Australia. However, adherence to the Internet Gambling Act is the responsibility of the gambling operators and not individual Australians.
An Australian resident is not breaking the law by betting live online, which encourages off shore investment, or billions “lost” to the local industry. Most offshore betting providers either ignore, or are unaware of the IGA, and continue to offer live betting to Australian residents.
As things stand, Australians are free to participate in live betting offered by international agencies, because any infringements would entail penalties for the betting operator and not the punter. For obvious reasons, live betting isn’t huge in Australia, but it is massive in Europe. According to one agency, live betting accounts for 90% of wagers on cricket, tennis and soccer.
At this stage, no major Australian bookmaker offers live online betting to Australian residents, however most international agencies do.
Horace Traynor
Guest
Excellent? - he's a clown
Horace Traynor
Guest
"4. Bigger fields required, especially in NSW. Now Grahame Begg is quitting and the way we are heading it will be Waller, Smith, Snowden and Darley as the only trainers supplying runners in Sydney"... No mention of Gai Waterhouse?
ScottWoodward.me
Roar Guru
Bondy I think he is excellent and happy for him to come up every week.
Bondy
Guest
Why does the Victorian Jason Richardson come up to Sydney to host meetings on TVN haven't we got somebody from Sydney to do it, what's barracking ? ....
kv joef
Roar Guru
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RkWs6P2IwE
ScottWoodward.me
Roar Guru
kv The biggest gamble we have is getting married. I hoped you backed a winner because if you didn't it would be greater than any loss at the races.
kv joef
Roar Guru
yes scott ... even though i don't gamble on any other form, even lotto :) . you are aware that i hate casino games ... because the gambler has little chance over time. one or two win the million-dollar jackpot but the losers have paid twice as much for them to do it ... while i mainly talk of horse-racing, the reality is ONLY LIVE SPORT gaming gives an astute judge a chance of profit. i choose horse-racing because of the odds-spread (and it's what i know) ... the wider the spread the more chance of error in the odds. As you have pointed out Scott, the racing industry doesn't employ the right people to run the promotion of the sport ... they need high-level casino-manager-types who understand gambling ... i reckon they might get a few interested if they were willing to put up a competitive salary ... because there are a small number who may appreciate the opportunity to do some 'good' from the other side of the fence ... maybe. But the caveat says 'other greedy saps should be exported into the nevada desert'. But these days gambling is a business ... i have no doubt a racing-industry based casino-manager would say ... "give the punters everything they want ... we just need to get them thru the door ...".
ScottWoodward.me
Roar Guru
kv Greyhound and Harness racing is way ahead of Racing in this key area. The penny will drop one day.
kv joef
Roar Guru
There are a couple of intrinsic pieces of form that are not available to the AU racing public. to exemplify what this means ... it is like a dealer in a game of blackjack removing an ace and 'ten' from a six-deck shoe. the mugs will say 'who cares', the amateur card-counters will think that the count will still work 95% of the time BUT now the 'house' can do a mathematical calculation about how to limit bets that makes the removal of those two cards out of an original shoe of 312 cards profitable (in the long-run). the racing industry derives a significant income from the 'teams' in whatever form they manifest themselves but as the HK experience shows ... you can give punters the same RELEVANT 'starting' info as the teams (more or less) ... mugs are still mugs b ut there is another level that maybe thinks they can see an edge ... the teams will not go away because you make the 'public' smarter. be like HK, at least, create a level playing field ... BUT for 'some reason(? :))' the AU Racing Industry doesn't make ALL the CORE important form stuff available ... there is no need to belt the average punter around the ears with a telephone book, you don't want to bankrupt them - bad punters will lose regardless - gambling is a sum-zero game but for the benefit of racing it is a good idea if they lose more slowly . the 'good' teams will still get their 'net' without causing betting havoc ... it is not in their interest to flex their muscle but most 'computer-model' teams, whether corporate bookmakers or other, stay within parameters that don't adversely effect the pool (mostly). When you let the current lack of key info go missing don't be surprised when happen the 'racing punter' JUST BECOMES A GAMBLER IN A CASINO ... BETTING ON ANYTHING not just horse-racing. The Racing Industry needs to treasure the long tradition of racetrack gamblers that AU has. Not bleed them or hunt them into desperate forms of gambling that creates the problems we hear about. Free dissemination of key information will enhance our industry.
Strummer Jones
Guest
Here, no? http://racing.racingnsw.com.au/FreeFields/Results.aspx?Key=2014Nov19,NSW,Canterbury%20Park#Race3
ScottWoodward.me
Roar Guru
Kv I appreciate your sentiments. The reality is that little is going to change as the Federal Minister of Sport would need to create a governing National administration that had the power to make decisions for the betterment of the sport encompassing the wider picture. This National body would have to have power over Racing Victoria and Racing NSW as both those entities only care about their own patch which is counter productive nationally. Politics is alive and well and charity begins at home. Can you believe that RNSW are turning their backs on millions because they only want the TAB to advertise on their tracks? These are the guys that signed off on Trackside, the TAB’s digital racing product that takes market share from real thoroughbreds and to boot, the industry does not get any taxes or product fees for 99 years. You would have thought that the Chairman, a high profile stud owner, would have protected his industry. The problem with not having any savvy punters on these Boards is they do not fully comprehend their industry as Punters are the life blood. Without punters no one has a job; what part of that don’t they get? It is crazy that we are almost in 2015 and we still do not have “Live ‘In-Play’ Betting via the internet”. It is not like anyone is asking to do it as you can do it know via the phone. Surely one of these “thinking” Board members can make this happen which would double the turnover on some distance races. That means more jobs, more tax, more product fees and less billions lost offshore. Got it!
kv joef
Roar Guru
Firstly, i apologise to racing-roarers as i promised this and that and then promptly disappeared. Had some sad news that needed immediate attention. SCOTT, absolutely first-class article. And great comments racing-roarers. this article represents why i post to THE ROAR because it does represent punters on every level ... who have the welfare (and love) of racing at their heart. Racing Boards have to workout who is paying the bills. WHAT BUSINESS SURVIVES WHEN YOU TREAT YOUR CUSTOMERS LIKE MUGS? Scott, probably we have only had one point of real contention and i'll even concede that maybe racing boards should have a fixed tenure (initially staggered) then suitable replacements are appointed as each term finishes. i would like to continue the thrust you have started Scott and encourage others to post articles on the nuts and bolts of our sport. But again, we (all) who care, need to speak up otherwise the dumbos that manage to attract 10 people, 4 pigeons, and a cat (i think he was only there for the pigeons) to a mid-week metro race-card in a city of 3 million will continue to do the most stupids things as we have just witnessed. I believe the above article and comments are the most important of the spring ... lets keep it going BECAUSE they (the main players) do read us.
ScottWoodward.me
Roar Guru
michael I look at the make up of various Boards, especially RNSW, and for years the resume's are political and the MOST important participant, the punter, is never represented. I know many thinking quality people who comprehend the racing industry very well and importantly have no affiliation or conflict. There input would be valuable for the bigger picture as the lot we have now are agenda driven.
michael steel
Guest
You'd like to think that at some time each year that they do a review and look at the issues. Maybe people in Pay TV are like those in Community TV who are so excited to be there that improvement is not on the agenda.
ScottWoodward.me
Roar Guru
Bondy good call on the instant replays. TABs are less occupied as they have lost their monopoly. The growth in betting is via Apps which means all we need is an iphone.
Bondy
Guest
I agree with the sectional times being immediate that way you can also judge the way a track is playing or is it just speed and tempo related . What I'd like to see especially for TVN is immediate replays like they do in Honkers, generally punters dont see race replays until Racing/Review /Retro the next day and thats the closing 400 mtrs . Off topic I notice Tab's are becoming less and less occupied nowaday ,Pub Tabs still do ok . Good ideas everyone ...
ScottWoodward.me
Roar Guru
Max I like 1, its a bit out there. You ever wonder what expertise you need to have to give advise of looks and if its ready to win? I would like to have a someone who can give expert advice on if the horse can win based on looks totally relative to its price. eg. A horse can be a bit fat with a Winter coat so taking 1.5 to totally different to say 20/1. It is all fuel for punters which is what should be encouraged.
MAX
Guest
Hi Scott, Excellent piece. May I contribute as follows with some items I have been advocating for decades only to be told ..."you punters are never happy... you always want more" 1 Field paraded BEFORE saddling with expert commentary as to condition and appearance. 2 Take a lead from Greyhound racing Racing weights and variances. Saddle cloths same as barrier position. Racing style and positioning Leader , On Pace, Mid field etc. 3 Field Strength of each race... Total prizemoney or other method. Best regards, MAX I
ScottWoodward.me
Roar Guru
Glenn, If not for the Corporate bookies, the TAB would be nothing like it is today. They would still have 1.85 lines and no fixed odds. They still round down the divys and take huge cash from the racing industry via Trackside, the digital horse races of which they pay zero turnover tax and zero product fees. I would like to know how many horse trainers where registered in those days as opposed to now.
ScottWoodward.me
Roar Guru
ray If they must have a ground shot then have it as they are going in the barriers, not only does the current shot kill any momentum but they show it just as the horses are making their runs and we miss out on a crucial part. Just plain dumb!. Mmm the channel 7 panel; let's do a market for the most popular to100%. Bruce McAvaney 67 Francesca Cumani 1.01 Richard Freedman 501 Simon Marshall 501