Horse Racing - Paying the Price

chewy14 said :

Deckard is correct.
I wouldn’t call asking for a bigger slice of the revenue you generate for the government, a handout.

Or the tens of million being spent by sponsors and TV rights for the Melb Cup carnival could be distributed around the country to support the industry as a whole. Not to mention the money wasted on new outfits and hats by the social set just to be seen. And why do Canberra and Queanbeyan both need a racetrack?

Buzz2600 said :

Horse racing should go the way of the dodo. Who wants to see horses whipped and euthanized for public entertainment and money?

whinge, whinge, whinge.
Why don’t they let the horses go so they can run free and wild like nature intended? Then we can all dance around naked and eat tofu with our animal brethren.

Don’t know what everyone else is seeing on their browsers, but I get a banner ad for sporting bet right in the middle of this thread. Classic

Quite ridiculous really.

The industry itself doesn’t need handouts, it the racetracks that do…
From what I have heard, most (if not all) racetracks in Australia are losing money and are only kept open by proping up by tax dollars.

In an “industry” which deals with multiple lots of 6 and 7 figure “winnings” (not to mention the other aux industries such as TAB)on a single day I find it hard to believe that the racetracks themselves haven’t managed to get themselves a better deal where they don’t need to rely on gov’t handouts to stay in business.

Horse racing should go the way of the dodo. Who wants to see horses whipped and euthanized for public entertainment and money?

Deckard is correct.
I wouldn’t call asking for a bigger slice of the revenue you generate for the government, a handout.

When the horse flu shut down the whole horsy thing for a weekend, the papers claimed that the industry lost $100 million in just 1 weekend. If it makes that much every weekend on average then it doesn’t need a handout from the government.

Horse racing. Marginally more interesting than “motor sport”, but probably behind darts and marbles in the Canberra Vatican. Way behind the Roller Derby. Never really seen the point of it, and never really understood why people would wager real money (that they work for and could spend on something useful) on the vagaries of horses and the variable intentions of the people who train and ride them.

A bigger problem locally is that I am told the local racing scene (except for one or two races a year) is of no more than ordinary quality and that it is hard to get worthwhile odds on anything with half a chance. So why bother going? Why bother chucking public money at it (better to get a statue of John Hargreaves)? If the punting tragics pay enough to keep their hobby going, good luck to them. The modest tax take can be better used than on supporting more ordinary horses and the people who live on their efforts.

54-11 said :

So, vg, what’s naive about wanting an end to corporate welfare when our social services, such as health, are crying out for more money?

But these services receive some of their money from revenue raised by gambling. Don’t you have to sometimes feed the hand that feeds you?

This sounds familiar after the horse flu bug came through a couple of years ago, and all the racetracks and horse owners and the like, started begging government because they lost their income through lack of racing and gambling. It wasnt like the racing stock all just died, or people got horribly sick and needed intensive medical care. A few animals got the flu so they couldnt race, and they had to stay in their paddocks instead of being moved around to make money for their owners, so while the episode might have cost them a little bit out-of-pocket, the real problem is the lack of gambling money coming in and their $300 tables (as mentioned above) and the like that they were unable to sell.

So, vg, what’s naive about wanting an end to corporate welfare when our social services, such as health, are crying out for more money?

THe other article in the CT is about the costs associated in running junior sport competitions. The request for money into this is in the form of tax rebates to encourage parents to encourage their kids into sport to keep them fit and healthy.

This sort of thing I fully support as it promotes active lifestyles and better health which in turn reduces the cost on the health system and increases productivity in the workplace.

Horse racing is gambling. It is a sport for the jockeys and that is all. Greyhound racing is just gambling – go throw a stick for them and give them a feed.

We shouldn’t be propping the so called “sport” up, it’s more about money and betting than about the actual participants and obviously they cannot control or manage their money well enough (surprising in a betting arena?). This is no reason for public money to be provided to keep it going.

54-11 said :

Horse racing is an industry, and a well-paying one at that. There is absolutely no need for ACT taxpayers to be supporting businesses like this. There is already far too much industry welfare, at the expense of vital public services.

Agreed! They are all professionals in a massive money-making machine. Why should one single one of our tax dollars go into propping it up? Not to mention the massive land space it consumes. If there is to be any nexus between ACTTAB and the industry I would have thought it would be a simple fee-based arrangement for the rights to base the gambling on meets at their track. Highest bidder – then perhaps we’d see a situation where the government doesn’t have any part in the industry.

Post 2 shows the naivety one would expect on the subject. Post 3 expresses the reality.

Probably because the ACT Govt makes a lot of money through ACTTAB. The racing industry probably just wants a bigger slice of this pie.

Horse racing is an industry, and a well-paying one at that. There is absolutely no need for ACT taxpayers to be supporting businesses like this. There is already far too much industry welfare, at the expense of vital public services.

This would be yet another nail in the Stanhope coffin if he bails out horse racing.

Also on the back page of Saturday’s CT, Thoroughbred Park is increasing the price of admission for Melbourne Cup Day to make ends meet. They are also selling tables in a fenced off area for $300, BYO food. “Plenty of tables are still available”.