The TAB has a lot to do with it as well. If TABcorp gets its way they'll determine what, where and the type of races we'll bet on. 5 or so years ago no sunday racing, up till about 12 months ago sunday racing ended at about 2 or 3:00 WA time now it's 7/8:00. TOO MUCH RACING!!

Why would new people or even regular punters bother going to the track when better facilities and comfort are offered at pubtabs. A few years ago Ascot: Admittance $6-10, racebook $2.00, Can of light beer +$4.00, crappy tasting hamburger $6.00. There's $16.00 minimum 1 person and you haven't even had a bet yet. Unlike footy racing is not seasonal if they want crowds/families every week raceclubs have to do more to attract people.

Some of the ideas about actual racing are good but ESTABLISHMENTS are slower than a nudist trying to climb a barbwire fence when it comes to ....CHANGE.(Ahhh scarey)

Cheers

tragic - my class system would eliminate many maiden races as more horses would get out of the maiden area quicker and there would be incentive to race at ones best to get out of class 1.
the footy attracts people because its consistent, racing isnt.
we need to see more horses winning race after race - this is what people notice.It builds up an aura, the current system is obsessed with producing so many jumbled races that very few horses put together a winning streak.
I suspect this is encouraged by the bookmakers, who obviously dont want favourites winning all the time.

I dont think the problem is that there is too much racing, there is just too much meaningless racing - it just needs structure.

Nanook - dont get me started on what the TAB does :smile:

they attract massive revenues yet have hopeless websites, some so slow you die before the bet is processed.
I am all in favour of the TAB, because they have no reason to want crooked racing, they just want lots of it.

but... they dont seem to understand supply and demand very well.
the racing industry gets its money from TAB turnover, the more money invested on the TAB the more the industry gets.

you dont have to read much of this forum to hear people say they dont bet on the place, or they dont bet on harness and greyhound for the place because of the collapsing price.
the TAB's should fix this because they would increase turnover.

I would suggest the introduction of 2 mechanisms - I am not an expert on the TAB but I believe they could do this.

1) place betting on the trots and dogs sees a deluge of money in the last minutes. I would like to see the TAB's limit bets to less than $100 over the final 5 minutes so that if bookies are using the system they have to get their money in 5 minutes before go or not use the TAB. Small punters are unaffected but you would get more stability of price.

2) for trots and dogs there should be an incentive offered to favourites supporters to protect against getting nothing for your bet.
NSW offers 1.04 as the minimum on most bets whilst the other two TABS only give you 1.00

I would like to see a bonus of 10cents offered to punters placing bets of $100 or less who bet 5 minutes or more before the race. So if you take the favourite, put your bet on 5 minutes before go and it pays only 1.00 or 1.04 then you would get a bonus that takes the payout up to 1.10

this would see more small punters have a go at place betting because you would know you get something rather than nothing, it would pay for itself with increased turnover and it would create greater price stability over the final few minutes.

from a betting point of view harness and dogs are the weak links, they need help to get more people involved. The TAB should be proactive in this area because everyone benefits from increased turnover.

see ya
Every Topic

It seems that some people are either happy with the current racing offerings or feel that nothing can be done to change peoples perceptions so why bother. My question to these people is where do you think the racing industry will be in 10 years if nothing changes?

In the last 10 years TAB turnover on racing has been fairly static in dollar terms but in real terms (ie. adjusted for inflation) it has fallen and in real per-capita terms it has fallen dramatically. I don't have the actual figures handy but years ago the majority of the public's gambling dollar went into horse racing - now it is a very small fraction. I would also guess (although I have no figures to back it up) that the average age of a horse racing punter has risen significantly and that there simply aren't sufficient new punters being attracted to the sport to sustain it as these older punters start to leave (or die).

If something drastic isn't done to attract some new interest (and hence new punters) then the sport is going to be in serious trouble very soon. The sport is currently dependant on the gambling revenue to sustain it and if that revenue keeps shrinking then obviously costs will have to be cut (and cut drastically).

Personally I think it is already too late to save a lot of the current clubs and tracks - what should be happening NOW is deciding which tracks should be kept and merging the various clubs so that the money can be spent on keeping a much smaller number of tracks in much better condition so that we can have a smaller number of better quality race meetings. By all means the other tracks can be kept running for non-TAB meetings if they can be funded by other means but the TAB support should be directed only to those that will be used for the main racing "circuit".

[ This Message was edited by: becareful on 2003-09-04 10:43 ]

i tend to agree tragic. Northerly(P.PAyne) were my anchor on slipper day. needless to say northerly got done first leg of quadie due to Payne's abissmal ride and i got the next 3 legs of the quadie(I think they were polar success, hossanah and grand armee). anyway the quadiepaid 30 000. i was and still am ********ed off with payne.

thought i would spin a yarn.

cheers umrum