yes I said congrats VRC and Perth Racing.

Here is the video of Takeover Target winning in Perth

Can anybody find the video of the Villers in 2008 when Honour in War beat Takeover Target on protest.

here is the story

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/superracing/murrihy-defends-his-decision/story-e6frey6r-1111115259765

And all Victorian owners just got this note from the CEO.

An update from the CEO on the broadcasting of Victorian racing
Dear Owner,

I write to provide you with an update on the industry’s media rights and the current and future broadcasting arrangements for Victorian thoroughbred racing.

I am pleased to advise that we have this week signed an agreement with Seven West Media to showcase Victorian thoroughbred racing nationally via a new, dedicated free-to-air channel, which will be integrated with a suite of streaming and digital services at Racing.com.

Country Racing Victoria (CRV), the Melbourne Racing Club (MRC), Moonee Valley Racing Club (MVRC) and Victoria Racing Club (VRC) are united in supporting the Seven West Media deal and have aggregated their media rights with Racing Victoria to achieve this.

As an industry, we are committed to growing the audience for Victorian racing now and into the future so that we can generate further interest in our sport, boost returns to participants through increased wagering, drive ownership and breeding numbers and encourage attendance at race meetings across the state.

We want the broadest possible distribution model for our racing so that you and future generations of punters, fans and participants can watch and enjoy Victorian racing whenever, wherever and however you choose.

Our partnership with Seven West Media is an investment in the future. It is a unique and exciting opportunity for vision of Victorian racing to be accessible, free-of-charge, in lounge rooms right across Australia, as well as on every mobile phone via Racing.com.

Not only does the partnership with Seven West Media broaden our reach, it allows us to enhance the quality of coverage of Victorian thoroughbred racing and showcase the many great stories and personalities within our sport which has been missing since TVN ceased broadcasting.

Seven West Media is contracted to launch its showcase free-to-air programming on Channel 78 on Saturday, 29 August 2015 to coincide with the first Group 1 of the season – the Memsie Stakes at Caulfield.

I’m pleased and appreciative that Seven West Media has recognised that the options for punters, fans and participants to view Victorian racing is currently restricted and they have agreed to implement an interim broadcast from tomorrow – Friday, 26 June 2015.

It is a valued gesture by Seven West Media to facilitate an interim broadcast as our agreement is not for the launch of their showcase channel until 29 August.

Channel 78 will re-transmit the existing Racing.com coverage of our races daily from Friday as an interim measure whilst Seven West Media tests the distribution network and commences preparations for the launch of its premium coverage on the channel in late August.

Seven West Media will be able to transmit Channel 78 across its national metropolitan network in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth from Friday.

With the long-term broadcast agreement signed for Channel 78, we are continuing to work with Seven West Media on extending the coverage to regional areas and Foxtel as soon as possible.

When the test broadcast goes live into metropolitan markets on Friday, there will be many people that can access Channel 78 immediately, there are others who will need to tune their television to it and there are those with older televisions, in particular those purchased prior to 2009, that will need a set-top box or Personal Video Recorder (PVR) to enjoy the broadcast.

This broadcast won’t reach all markets in the test period. There will be people in regional areas that cannot access the interim re-transmission of Racing.com on Channel 78.

Punters, fans and participants in regional areas should be assured that they are an important part of Seven West Media’s broadcast plans for its showcase coverage once officially launched. Our goal remains to showcase Victorian thoroughbred racing to the widest possible audience.

As you are aware, Sky Racing has chosen not to show Victorian races on their network since last Tuesday, 16 June 2015.

We see Sky Racing as an important part of our future media distribution model and we are very keen for Victorian racing to be broadcast on Sky Racing’s wall-to-wall channels (519 and 520) into pubs, clubs and homes, both now and into the future.

We have re-commenced discussions this week with Tabcorp, the owners of Sky Racing, with a view to ending the Sky Racing blackout as soon as possible. These discussions are on-going and a further update will be provided once a resolution is reached.

All Victorian races are currently being streamed live and free across computers, tablets and mobiles via Racing.com, sportsbet.com.au and crownbet.com.au, and broadcast into the state’s 92 retail TAB agencies. This will continue into the future.

Our digital broadcast agreements with wagering operators are part of our desire to ensure that punters can watch Victorian racing whenever, wherever and however they choose. To that end, the number of viewers to date on Sportsbet and CrownBet, along with Racing.com, has been very pleasing.

I appreciate that the current broadcast arrangements may not be accessible for all, however we trust that you will see the exciting opportunities and benefits of embarking on a partnership with Seven West Media to grow interest and participation in Victorian thoroughbred racing.

CLICK TO READ FAQs ON HOW TO WATCH THE INTERIM CHANNEL 78 BROADCAST

CLICK TO VIEW REGIONS THAT WILL RECEIVE INTERIM CHANNEL 78 BROADCAST

I wish you every success on the track.

Yours sincerely,

Bernard Saundry
Chief Executive

Here we go!

http://rv.racing.com/news/2015-06-25/media-rights-update

Industry seems happy

http://www.racing.com/news/2015-06-25/industry-happy-with-valley-wagering

I would like to se how this will play out in the RNSW annual report. So the $10m not a loan and granted .

Its game on State v State. So how will this play out – is it a race to zero? NT basically provides zero free tax for all the corporates.

Mr Grant said change was needed to ensure the racing industry thrived in NSW and was competitive with other states.

“The industry is worth $3.3 billion per year to NSW and employs almost 56,000 people — we want to secure its future for the economy and the race-going public,’’ Mr Grant said.

“Such an important industry needs to be able to compete on a level playing field, otherwise we’re sending jobs and investment interstate.’’

on the mark

http://www.afr.com/business/sport/seven-in-the-race-for-a-wagering-licence-20150609-ghjsm9?stb=twt

Sheek,

The owner has done a deal with Coolmore but still retains racing control. He is a big fan of promoting the sport and i believe will most probably run in the Breeders Cup. Might even attract some appearance money.

I reckon the Sheiks will do a deal to see this horse in Dubai but only on the dirt.

But lets dream for a moment (like the guys that RNSW that went to New York to speak with the owners) how much is his stud career enhanced if he can win a G1 on the turf?

I am just keen to see the impact a Triple Crown winner after 37 years can have. An interestingly does it impact next year.

Looking forward to see California Chrome at Royal Ascot!!

As a Owner – and any owner would applaud any increases in prizemoney. Also all the participants, trainers , jockeys even strappers!

But Racing has to be more innovative. Does $16.5M increase in prizemoney bring one new owner to Victorian racing. Does $20M , $30M $40M.

Bruce Slade from Slade Bloodstock on twitter made some great immediate comments.

“great initiative now for strategy, $ & a promotion platform to attract new owners to the industry #odue”

And I could not agree with more. I have advocated for racing to do more re a marketing platform to attract owners – and I have founded Ownerforaday. The idea is you would have the unifying brand and marketing platform to bring new owners to the track to experience all the pleasure of ownership as Ownerforaday.

The package could include hospitality, a free bet and all the benefits and trapping of horse ownership – including the opportunity to win a percentage of any winnings.

My research says just 5%. So for a $100,000 race – now in Victoria the winner gets 55%. so the

Ownerforaday bonus would be $2,750. Think of it as similar to the breeding bonuses paid by Vobis and Bobs.

The great thing is that any winning experience can be leveraged by using that content as promotional marketing. And it works for all races, a country race, a city metro all the way up the ladder to our G1’s (although need a big budget for 5% – so maybe you can have a cap of $10K or something – great sponsorship activation for the race sponsor).

So thats the plan. Over to a racing club/jurisdiction thats wants to license the Ownerforaday strategy. And please don’t try and do your own variation – say Owner for the race, join team Boban , own a champ/chump – please

WA will have to catch up again – Racing Victoria to announce prize money increases this morning at 10.30am

This will be countered by RNSW for sure.

Qld might be bit slow to respond whilst they don’t have a board!

Anybody know if Ubet doing anything special re The Straddie for promotion? First Four Jackpot?

Such a shame for the thoroughbreds in Qld especially in Stradbroke week!

They should immediately put in place some feel good marketing/brand strategies.

Just a quick comment re prizemoney and the size of WA population to generate a return. I think that is not the full story. Victoria now racing 9 races on Wed and Sat which is a very smart economic decision re utilisation of assets and maximizing your audience for wagering turnover.

Wa because of its timezone , could produce a very attractive product specifically for Asia and look for wagering growth offshore.

Wa could certainly do a lot more promoting WA races right after the last in Melb/Syd/Bris

Just a follow up.

In the Racing NSW annual report it is noted that RNSW own 35% of RISA. Risa financials for year ended 30th of June are stated.

Assets $16,257552

Revenue $7,766,699

Profit for the year $2,534,196

So I would think these figures are correct.

As per the first radio interview with new Racing Victoria Chairman David Moodie . He has not spoken to John Messara in a year because they had a blu regarding the conflict of the Australian and Randwick Guineas!

If NSW under instruction or motivation by the NSW Govt wanted to move The Championships and/or the Slipper – I think they will just do it!

Here is what Gai Waterhouse thought of the Scone carnival.

Also my input – no race over 1600M.

The two day meeting at Scone is a lot of fun. I generally had a lot of time to meet and great and speak to many people. However, there were a couple of things that really stood out to me…

The Friday meeting was good. It was a really strong meeting with excellent betting and really deep fields with no exceptions. The marquee which I am told holds 800 people (at $400 a head) was full to capacity. Yet the Saturday meeting really seemed weak. The same marquee that was shoulder to shoulder on Friday, was only 1/3 full and I am informed that there was barely a Sydney punter in the betting ring.

I fear it is a wish of the breeders to have a back-to-back two day meeting in the heart of the Hunter and not a common sense decision. What I have found over the years, is that when a meeting leaves Sydney, the average punter, the men and women who keep the industry alive, drop off. Racing is in such a fragile state in NSW that we can’t afford to lose a single person.
On the Friday at Scone, in the heart of Australia’s famous breeding precinct, one colt and one entire only competed for the whole day. The colt was by a relatively new sire in Hinchinbrook while the entire was an Irish import having his first start in Australia. On Saturday, at what I believe to be the much weaker meeting, there was not a single colt or entire entered for the whole eight race card. This is despite us being in the heart of the Hunter Valley, which is of course where a great majority of our homebred champions take their first steps.

The Friday meeting is fine. The town of Scone take a half day off and all and sundry are there. But we need to reconsider the Saturday meeting; the fields were weak, the betting was poor and as mentioned, even in the $400,000 Guineas (which is not even a black-type race), there was not a single colt in the field. Guineas’ races are stallion making races and to not have one potential stallion in the field despite the huge prize money is a real worry.

Max Presnell interviews Kenny

Dr Turf on SEN in Melbourne just reported that Kenny resigned after a direct call was made to the Daily Tele editor re a comment re a conflict of interest in Kenny’s article.

Wow – I hope that didn’t read his article in 2011 when John Messara was appointed Chairman on Racing NSW.

The article is still available online unlike the recent one that was deleted.

The article : http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/superracing/why-john-messaras-wrong-for-role-as-nsw-racing-chairman-ken-callander/story-fn67rc85-1226223313724

Some of Kenny’s pretty blunt commentary

“There is no doubt Messara is a smart man, a successful businessman with plenty of charisma and indeed he has a love of racing and a good knowledge of many facets of it. But a conflict of interest he definitely has.

Messara is not popular in the racing industry.

Three times he stood for election for the committees of the AJC and the STC and was beaten at the polls each time. He offered himself for the Board of the Australian Turf Club and was not successful in the selection process”

I wonder what Kenny would have written about today?

Maybe the great win of Alberto Magic and his trainer Allan Denham and his current strike rate with 9 winners in last 50 starts. And a photo of the trophy presentation for the Kenny Callendar Cup!

He might have had something to say about the vision on Saturday and we jumped from Group 1’s in Brisbane and Adelaide whilst still trying to highlight Sydney and Melbourne.

I am sure he would have a had a comment about 5 wins for Blake Shinn and a reference to his long suspension for betting and his courageous comeback. Even a wag in the betting ring who told Kenny that Shinn had “pants” them in Brissy.

He might have referenced the Warrnambool carnival and chief Stipe Ray Murrihy catch up with his Warrnambool cousin Des Glesson.

He might have had a comment about Jason Collet riding a huge priced running double for Chris Waller and would have probably said congrats to the ATC for the running of the Darley Crown and Hawksbury Guineas and his old friend a Hawksbury member liked that he had free reciprocal membership and attended Rosehill for first time in 5 years- but what happened to the betting ring?

But we wont know – hope the Daily Tele can give a racing personality a regular gig on the Monday.

Both Chairman and Ceo of Racing Australia have received my letter and promised a reply.

Great review.

Below I have found a summary of the AJC Easter carnival just 10 years ago in 2005.

In 10 years basically the same AJC management have managed to take a successful easter carnival to one now where we have the Daily Telegraph writing absolute lies about “huge crowds” at Randwick and stories of increased turnover without backing up with facts.

I cant understand why the ATC cannot provide or would want to publish and promote the results of the recently completed The Championships.

A healthy stable of interesting facts – and some blatantly useless ones – emerged from the 2005 Tooheys New Easter Carnival. Here’s a selection from the Australian Jockey Club’s showcase event . . .

Photo by Racing and Sports
COMEBACK kings provided plenty of feel-good stories over the 2005 Tooheys New Easter Carnival. David Jones AJC Australian Derby victor Eremein almost died from a bout of colic, AJC Doncaster Handicap champion Patezza broke a cannon bone as a yearling and Mahtoum, winner of the Schweppes Sydney, had been spelled for 18 months after suffering a broken pelvis and tendon injuries.

THREE rainy days out of four conspired in the AJC’s bid to improve on last year’s modern-day record crowd figure of 129,017 that ushered in the revised carnival format. Still, 109,741 made their way through the turnstiles over the four days in 2005, including a healthy crowd of 46,251 on what proved a wet and wild Easter Saturday. The Derby Day Lawn Party sold out 10 days before the event.

GUY Walter’s historic trifecta in the AJC Doncaster Handicap certainly took a few people by surprise, least of all the man himself, who thought Patezza might struggle to run the distance. No trainer in the race’s 139-year history had ever filled all three places . . . so you would think the trifecta might have paid more than $1,310.10.

ATTENDING the Tooheys New Easter Carnival builds a healthy appetite. Over four days the crowds consumed 20,000 pies, three ton each of beef and ham, 600 dozen oysters, 600kg of prawns and 700kg of cheese. And great food needs to be washed down. About 2,800 casual catering staff served the masses 345,000 bottles and 400 kegs of beer, along with more than 1,000 bottles of Moet & Chandon champagne.

HORSES trained at Randwick won 22 of the 53 Group or Listed races over the STC and AJC carnivals, for a strike rate of 41.5 per cent. Next came Warwick Farm-based horses (22.6 per cent), Rosehill and Victoria (each with 9.4), NSW provincial (7.5) and NSW country and New Zealand (each with 3.7). Complete race-by-race analysis is available upon request.

EMIRATES Fashions on the Field this year became the world’s richest racing fashion event, with more than $260,000 in prizes given away including eight return business class airfares to Europe. Vintage was the fashion theme of the carnival, with tweed, gloves, brooches and lace detail prominent among winners. The event attracted a record 1,082 entrants over the four days.

THE fashion judges thought Royal Randwick was living up to its regal name on Derby Day, with many doing a double take as Princess Mary look-a-like Lenia Rockwell won Best Dressed Lady. Persistence paid off for Telisha Nelson on Schweppes Sydney Cup Day. She had entered the competition the previous three days with meticulously organised ensembles, before winning Best Dressed Lady in a dress bought on impulse the previous evening.

GRAND Armee’s commanding victory in The Daily Telegraph All Aged Stakes signalled Gai Waterhouse’s most successful season when it comes to the “majors”. Australian racing’s first lady racked up her 11th Group One victory of the season when Danny Beasley guided home the celebrated gelding on the final day of the carnival. Her season prizemoney tally now stands at $5,102,115.

TAB betting turnover for the carnival was $45.1 million, up six per cent on last year’s total of $42 .4 million. On-course bookmaker and telephone betting was down slightly to $29.5 million, compared to $30.2 million in 2004.

THE Schweppes Sydney Cup provided a couple of prominent firsts. It was Rosehill-based trainer Kim Moore’s first Group One victory – just a week out from her marriage to former Australian cricketer Mark Waugh. The race also marked champion jockey Darren Beadman’s first Sydney Cup win.

LITTLE wonder trainer John O’Shea and managing owner Peter Horwitz were elated by Charge Forward’s victory in the David Jones Galaxy. The colt broke through for its first group One win in its 11th and most likely final start, ensuring its sale price to Arrowfield Stud – negotiated earlier in the year with performance clauses included – increased significantly.

THE Napoleon/Goldwell Princess Pampering Marquee was a popular spot for those keeping up appearances amid trying weather. It is estimated almost 3,000 people took advantage of the free gift packs, make-up artists and hair technicians based on the Fig Tree Lawn.

DANNY Nikolic was the odd man out in winning the AJC Doncaster Handicap aboard Patezza. Not only was he the lone interstate jockey to claim a Group One race during the carnival, he was the only jockey not sporting a surname starting with “B”. Darren Beadman, Corey Brown and Danny Beasley shared the other nine Group One races between them.

JUST 25 words have Isaac Ferris on a plane to Paris. He won a $32,000 trip to the Arc’ de Triomphe race, courtesy of Emirates and the AJC by submitting this little ditty to The Daily Telegraph: Away on wings, soar the sky; to Paris with Emirates I fly; Le Arc at last I see; the world’s best race, waiting for me.

Australian Jockey Club

I wonder if NSW and the ATC happy with the almost 24,000 crowd figure. Certainly seems dissappointing if the ATC has a membership tally of 15,000. I was in Little Sydney and the members – and it was great as no line ups for a beer and/or a bet! Personally I had a great day – Thanks Gust of Wind, Federal and Otterman – just got nutted with Who Shot The Barman!!!

Yep a long article! I found it interesting re the number of owners . If I ask Eddie Maguire how many members of Collingwood he can tell me to the exact number.

I think ownership numbers and segmentation should be a priority kpi for racing jurisdictions and even a national marketing campaign .

Peter said ownership numbers are declining . This needs to be addressed with or without tax parity for Nsw. Each state has its own issues re prizemoney and returns for owners. The key is for the sport to engage with more fans and convert them into ownership – which we know is a wealth/income related issue.

For example would be interesting to see growth in overseas owners. Should we have somebody dedicated to this?

Lets see how Saturday goes for day 2 of The Champs. Deserving of some better luck re the weather.

It will be interesting to see the crowd figures this week. ATC have been discounting and giving out free guest passes. I think Day 2 will attract a larger crowd.

The best improvement this year has been the country and provincial races for The Championships – but I cannot understand why RNSW have not promoted this to race club to get them to attend The Championships. Also is is almost impossible to book even if you are an owner.

I like the branding of the Grand Finals – but gee they lost an opportunity re the naming of the QE – considering the highest prizemoney. The Sydney Cup should be much more prominent – especially re the challenge of handicapping – have you seen any promotion re Red Cadeux??

Having the Japanese and HK horses are great but huge missed opportunity if not broadcast and simulcast. We need a person that can make this happen – and at present this is tasked with Sky.

Interesting banter – I think we should at least wait for the “Grand Finals” at the Championships but I look forward to State V State stats.

I think the racing jurisdictions could leverage off this by promoting home state hero’s. Probably not as prominent this year – but I thought Rqld should have promoted Buffering more. Examples could be better odds or promotions on home tabs, exclusive Ownerforaday experiences and for cult horses like “The Cleaner” full blown marketing campaigns and activations.

I must say I am somewhat not engaged nor been impressed re the promotions for The Championships considering the barrier draw is tomorrow morning. Seen any promotions re Sacred Falls going for a 3rd Doncaster. This TJ is outstanding – one for the ages!

Thoughts?