McKenzie: industry must ‘embed’ costs-saving culture

The belt-tightening in racing is going to be the way of the future, and not just when the Covid-19 pandemic ends.

Racing Industry Transition Agency chief executive Dean McKenzie said earlier this week the culture of stripping back costs was the way ahead and this culture needed to be embedded by everyone.

McKenzie said the agency had front-footed its response to the Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on the racing industry.

Everyone in the industry had to meet the issues facing it as the lockdown shuts down all racing in NZ.

"We have got to work together to solve the problem — if we are not working together to solve the problem, we won’t solve it," he said.

Looking at reducing costs and maintaining that discipline was the way he was approaching the crisis, and he was not backing away from that approach.

"But I underline this does not start and stop today, tomorrow or last week. We have to embed this culture into the future of NZ racing. Because that is the only thing that is going to sustain us through the tough times ahead and make it grow.

"It is not going to be an easy road and I’m not advocating it is going to be. We are fully embracing that we have to run in the most cost-effective manner."

The Messara report, penned by Australian racing administration John Messara, was released in August, 2018 and proposed multiple track closures around the country, leading to a concentration of tracks, and the construction of three all-weather tracks around the country.

The report proposed seven tracks in the South be closed to thoroughbred racing: Timaru, Kurow, Oamaru, Waimate, Omakau, Winton and Gore.

It had been met with resistance by many clubs, but was supposed to be implemented by the end of July this year.

McKenzie said the Messara report was very much alive but he was waiting to hear from Government. The Government obviously had many things on the agenda, so no-one knew what direction it would take.

Australian eastern seaboard racing was still on and was proving a godsend to the TAB. Western Australian racing was also continuing, as was that in Hong Kong and Singapore.

Sports betting had taken a huge hit and along with retail stores shutting, the agency was exposed as it lost three-quarters of its product.

The situation was evolving all the time. Mackenzie said sports betting was 27% of all betting and the NBA was a fifth of that, so that being taken away so early had hit hard.

In New Zealand, harness racing is scheduled to begin late next month and galloping is set for a return on July 1.

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