Greg Bortz and Hollywood to takeover Cape Racing?

....@Mike...it will change and the punters will come and support better racing.... likewise owners and connections will become more abundant and have more to spend on wagering......the problem may lie with betting outlets as I do not know the lay of the land since Betting World was sold and what TAB has retained.

I used to frequent Cape betting venues very often up until 2014 as I was in the Cape for a week every quarter and stayed close to Milnerton so that I could have my afternoons at all these outlets Parklands, Milnerton, Cafe DeVille and on occasion Sea Point....the Cape punting buzz was by far better than up country.... but we too have lost almost everything since....I believe that HW will grow and brand betting outlets in the Cape but it will drain or limit the tote pools making it not viable to rely on that income to grow pools and stakes nationally, unless the upcountry operator has a plan to counter this potential loss or cap of revenue....:huh:

I have noticed less and less totes. The tote in sea point that betfred took over has now closed down after been in same place for 35 years. Sea point now doesnt have a bookmaker or tote. With less and less totes im not sure how they plan to earn

BATMAN wrote:

I have noticed less and less totes. The tote in sea point that betfred took over has now closed down after been in same place for 35 years. Sea point now doesnt have a bookmaker or tote. With less and less totes im not sure how they plan to earn

I'm sure they have the correct partner to rectify this...

PS the commingling agreement atm is not very favourable to them as a stand alone operator. I think they get a 14% of the pool on all online bets.. (Even if they created their own online website)

BUT.... They receive 100% of all cash if it's handed over the counter in branches

Sometimes you don't need to look too far for solutions. They need to ask themselves what is PE doing right, how come they fill up fields every time they race.

on the end, what happened to the quartet bet? when last did anyone see a quartet dividend of R180k. I once caught 1.7% of a 215k quartet. These days you'd be lucky to see a R17k quartet.

@Bob - interesting what you mention of the 14% share in take out even if they had their own online betting site.

Wonder if they will not be able to renegotiate terms if they developed their own successful new tote products as anything that becomes a hit would surely provide some leverage if terms are to be revisited.

Perhaps time for Cape Racing to look at all kinds of ways to grow their slice of the pie through innovation with all other regions to ultimately benefit as well from any success story.

Racing must cast the net much wider and be less territorial in their approach to increase the pie and build new markets for the benefit of the sport and all it's participants.

......the PE model has been a gr8 success because it caters for many horses that cannot compete against better up country or Cape horses and we now see that it has a big attraction for Cape raiders as the Cape program are was not catering for....as for other up country horses a significant number of fillies and racing mares with breeding potential from top owners and breeders or on leases.... are sent to win races before going to stud as it looks good on a pedigree page that the mare has multiple wins and even some small black type....as some people buying hardly ever check that some multiple race winning sorts did it in lessor company....:whistle:

@ LSU

I think the new product that the Cape can offer is the Superfecta.
Costing R0-10 per line capped at min 10% outlay on specific races only, maybe start with one race per meeting.
Carryovers snowball into a Must be Won pool at the end of the month.

....@Stonelast and others.....HW, WSB and many others are getting the lions share of these exotics like quartets etc.
.....tote players only make up the dividends and the open bet merchants corner the bigger players that could/should make up bigger pools.....many a shrewd punter would be foolish to invest in the tote as he is only buying back his own investment in the miniscule pools....and while they can hide the graft in playing the open bet exotics and the average joe punting public will be none the wiser.....:ohmy:

Nothing wrong with that "mikesack" but I am thinking that they should go even further and develop a few new, more marketable products from scratch and add them to the portfolio.

Once proven successful new terms could be renegotiated which will provide Cape racing with a bigger slice of the pie, nothing that could be considered unfair competition just more favourable terms with improved turnover from bigger pools with a resultant take out benefit to all.

Innovation should be welcomed and if there is a split benefit on take out to those who come up with the most successful ideas it will generate gains for the whole industry as everyone will have a motivation and interest to innovate the racing product.

@ Muhti - you are so right which is why the Tote has to come up with products that are designed to make the tote more attractive. Products can be easily designed to make it better value on the tote and a bigger risk to those offering the open bet.

Lets not forget that the open bet has its roots in uncompromising tote products and operators that were self serving rather than in it for racing and its participants.

There is no need for animosity between tote operators and bookmakers, especially since they can work together for the betterment of racing through growing markets from both sides.

Give bookmakers a better incentive to offer tote products through their outlets directly into pools and provide the punter with better tote products for a better uptake.

These thing have not been done but are needed desperately. The whole industry needs more of a marketing cap to expand the racing footprint.

Time for everyone to work together and also for the tote to realise that the offering has become somewhat stale unless you are a die hard old school punter.

Until they can see the shortcomings of the system nothing will change but it will take a next level of honesty and a willingness to work together and recognise that better ideas exist outside of the current system and that outside ideas have a place in the current dispensation.

Many ego's and self interests have to take a back seat before racing will truly turn a corner.

Does Cape Racing know that their Racetracks are going to be under the direct or indirect influence of the CCO of 4Racing. Gold CIrcle's Racetracks dodged the bullet.

Scary thought of having 4Q influencing anyone's business - unless you also have a bottomless pit of cash.

Fuller fields, a spread of horses from trainers and money going into the hands of many and not just the few in the know will result in more churn...more take-out...more stakes...

A lotto type pick 6 (which is what it became with the end of couplings - here's speaking to all those that have been Greeffed, Smithed, Snaithed, etc) is great but how much of a winning pick 6 will return to pools?

And if trainers / owners / jockeys continue to set up horses for coups because of poor stakes, they will have no jobs...when they think they are taking off the bookies, they are merely taking from other punters not in the know and they will go...good luck in the long term...