Racing to receive major boost from NZ betting law changes – $100m payment to be made by Entain
Changes to New Zealand betting laws which passed in Parliament today will provide a vital boost to New Zealand sporting and racing codes and to the safety of New Zealand bettors when the bill becomes law later this month.
Alongside the strengthened harm minimisation protections for New Zealand customers as a result of these law changes, a NZ$100 million payment from Entain Group, which will be made after the changes to the Racing Industry Act take effect, will further deepen Entain’s commitment to the New Zealand industry and will boost the fortunes for Kiwi racing participants and national sporting organisations.
Entain’s suite of brands in New Zealand include TAB and betcha, offering Kiwis a choice of bookmaker and betting preferences.
Entain’s 25-year strategic partnership with statutory body TAB NZ was established in June 2023 to provide an immediate financial uplift to the New Zealand racing codes and 38 National Sporting Organisations, committing more than $360 million to boost the fortunes of racing and sports in the first two years of the partnership, and almost $1 billion in the first five years.
The payment to racing and sporting codes and ongoing benefits from the law changes plays a crucial role in supporting communities and teams across New Zealand, sitting alongside efforts from government, member participation and sponsorship, Entain Australia and New Zealand’s Managing Director – New Zealand, Sam Moncur said.
“Entain is proud to be building on TAB NZ’s legacy of backing Kiwi racing and sport,” Moncur said. “We are also very aware of the privilege we have to provide a world-class betting experience to Kiwis. Entain, through TAB and betcha, will deliver odds as fair and competitive as a customer would find in the highly competitive Australian market. “Kiwis love a fair go, and we’re committed to providing fair odds for our racing and sports fans into the future.”
Entain Australia and New Zealand has been relentlessly focused on improving both the betting experience through investment in technology and the TAB retail network, as well as harm minimisation measures for customers since the strategic partnership began.
The TAB platform refresh in April 2024 brought with it a world leading suite of safer betting tools available to all customers. These best-in-class tools offer comprehensive choices to help customers tailor the way they manage their betting. These tools also became available to betcha customers upon its launch in August 2024.
These include: the ability to set deposit limits, an individual bet limit, curfews, controlling the markets a customer can choose to see, blocking out days of the week, deposit options, self[1]exclusion and account closure.
More harm minimisation options will be introduced to the New Zealand market to add to Entain’s world-class support in this area.
“We’re honoured to contribute to the future of the racing codes and play a part in keeping Kiwi sport alive and thriving,” Moncur said.
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10% Share in West Indies available on the Secondary Market
WEST INDIES – Derby Day – Flemington November 2024 – Craig Newett aboard
A member of the West Indies Syndicate has had a change of circumstances and wishes to offer his 10% share for the sum of NZ $5000.
West Indies was acquired by Fortuna in late October for AUD $200,000 off the Inglis Digital Sale site, He had run 4th in a Stakes race in Melbourne for his previous ownership group after breaking Maidens in NSW. He had been owned by a Coolmore Colt syndicate (but had been gelded and so this is why they were offering him for sale) and he had been nominated for the VRC Derby, which was to be run a couple of weeks after we had bought him.
Drawing wide in the Derby, he finished back in the field and our assessment of him at that time was that he was still raw, so we gave him a good paddock spell. Resuming in the New Year, he had two good runs for third placings, before running 4th at Flemington in the VRC St Leger – post race assessment of that run drew the conclusion that the 2800m was just a bit far for him and so the decision was made to bring him back in trip a bit.
Two subsequent runs at Mornington and Bendigo were rather ordinary, but he was hampered by wide draws and tracks that were too firm for him. His most recent run at Pakenham (22nd June) on the synthetic saw him return to form, looking to be a real winning chance as they turned for home, but just got run down closing stages under the impost of 62 kgs, a big weight for a 3yo. Click HERE to see the last 800m of that race
He will return to the same track and surface 14th of July for a benchmark 64 event in which he will carry 59 kg
Shares are available in this opportunity in minimum parcels of 1% of $500 each and $60 per month ongoing from the 1st of July – if you wish to participate in this opportunity please drop me a note indicating the percentage that you are interested in
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Guest Selector – Des Coppins
Des tells me that around 40 of our readers took up his “free offer” last week which is a great outcome and later on Friday afternoon I was copied into the note below by one of those readers, who had an immediate significant collect from Friday’s selections – see that note below
Well done Des.
I took your offer through Fontuna Friday Flash this morning and for an interest, spent $24 on the late Quaddie today coupling up your selections and collected 100% of the $1255 quaddie – excellent result. I will owe you a few drinks in Melbourne in November!!
Many Thanks
KH
And as you will see from Des’ comments below, he is extending that free offer for this coming weekend as well –
Here is what Des has for our readers this week –
Greetings John and Fans of Fortuna
Hopefully the 40 or so who took up my invitation to try my email tipping service ex gratis are enjoying it and appreciate the work that goes into providing the email delivery before 8am each race day.
This complimentary service continues to include the big winter meeting at Trentham on Saturday and Ruakaka as well as Wingatui on Sunday. If you missed the column last week you can still take advantage of my offer as long as you email me dcoppins@xtra.co.nz before 8am on Saturday.
Here are three horses to back at their very next start after what I saw in their latest runs.
OCEAN ROAD (Te Aroha last Sunday) : it was slowly away and hit the line as good as any to run a close 4th. This horse was my value bet ($10) but the young rider had trouble riding him out effectively as tended to hang out. Keep this horse in mind over 1200m on a heavy track.
VICTOR ROUGE (Riccarton last Saturday): any horse who over races on a heavy track is a liability. This runner was a total handful for its young rider and ran itself into the ground and was a spent force at the furlong. I wouldn’t let it slip under your guard.
FAST IMPACT (Tauranga last Saturday): the rider copped a suspension for an indiscretion during the running. It may not have been the easiest to ride but clearly it’s due to break its duck. The second placing on Saturday came on the back of a strong form race at Te Rapa.
1O QUESTIONS TO PONDER
Q1: Isn’t Riccarton trainer Lance Robinson the complete horseman? He grabbed three wins as a trainer on his home track last Saturday; one of his most successful days in his 14 years in this profession. We cannot forget what a handy jockey he was, either; firstly as an apprentice at Woodville and then a CD senior jockey before moving to the south. He had close to 7,000 rides with approximately 465 wins and 15 at black type level and retired from riding after the 2013-14 season.
Q2: While winning races at Riccarton is nothing new to Lance Robinson as a jockey or trainer, three license holders broke their duck at Riccarton last week; Ayush Mudhoo ( Taimate Diva) Suzy Gordon ( Ka Ying Lucky) and Liam Kauri( Connor O’Cieran and Highland Fling).!
Don’t you agree that Liam is an apprentice to watch right throughout the winter with his 3kgs allowance? It’ll be 2kgs only before the season is too far advanced, however.
Q3: They may have the budget and they may have the horses but there has to be nothing but praise for the season after season with the two year old results of Te Akau. Cool Aza Rene was the tangerine’s 20th two year old success for the season. Getting a quick return on an ownership investment is something I’m sure all those involved with the Te Akau youngsters agree with don’t you think?
Q4: I know I’m repeating myself but Brazilian jockey Bruno Queiroz is capable of becoming one of the few jockeys world wide to win a premiership in three countries. He’s done it in Singapore and Brazil and who knows, after 16 wins in the short time he’s been in NZ, could he win the title as early as the 25-26 season?
Q5: Did you see Bruno’s ride on Gallant Hero at Tauranga last Saturday? He lost both his irons when the saddle slipped and was forced to ride like “John Wayne” for half of the race before shuffling the saddle back somehow in transit and getting his toes back into the irons. He’s a class act, make no mistake!
Q6: Do you agree that common-sense has come to play with the re naming of the Great Northerns to Great NZ Hurdles and Great NZ Steeples? With Ellerslie’s famous hill no longer and no jumps at Ellerslie the hallowed Northern names should be protected in respect of the many good people and horses over the past century who made the Northerns, in the north, so famous.
Q7: With these two iconic jumps races staged on Saturday at Trentham who, In the last 50 years, would be the two most famous Wellington Hurdles and Wellington Steeples winners?
In my humble opinion, Royal Mail, in winning the Wellington Hurdles in 1977 is high on my list because four years later he ran 3rd against 36 runners in the famous English Grand National Steeples!
As far as the Steeples goes, maybe the 1990 event because it gave the amazing Ken and Ann Browne the trifecta, Royal Hush, Trelay Boy and Injun Joe.
Q8: Who will be the top apprentice jockey this season?
While Lily Sutherland has a comfortable lead she’s on the injured list and making ground to be close to a dozen behind are Amber Riddell, Triston Moody and Ace Lawson Carroll who are in a battle amongst themselves with all three in splendid form. This is the time of the year the apprentices gain plenty of chances through their allowances. In the meantime congratulations to Amber who rode her 50th career win at Awapuni on Sunday.
Q9: If Lily holds on to her second title it’ll be richly deserved nonetheless as she’s been off the scene since mid April. Agree? We are all wishing her well following her trials mishap which resulted in concussion – and a special mention needs to be made of the Te Akau apprentice, Hayley Hassman, who has ridden 14 winners as a professional rider since the 13th of March 2025, at a strike rate of 7.57, which is actually the best strike rate in the amateur ranks – she seems to have a bright future
Q10: Do you sometimes wonder why tracks like Foxton and Waipa are given the green light to hold trials meetings with up to 30 heats but not considered good enough to pick up the slack and hold the occasional 8 or 9 card tote meeting?
Good punting!
Des Coppins
021 448 052
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