Racing: Betting continues buoyant trend and is up $36m

Betting on horse racing for the first two-thirds of the season is continuing a buoyant trend with the TAB experiencing a $36 million increase on last season.

The New Zealand Racing Board's (NZRB) half-year report states total betting on horse racing from the beginning of the season on August 1 until April 17 was $799 million. This represented a 4.8 per cent increase on the same period the previous season.

In contrast to previous years, the biggest growth has been on the domestic scene rather than on Australian and other overseas racing. Betting on New Zealand horse racing increased $30 million or 5 per cent to $543 million.

New Zealand gallops, which had been running 10 per cent ahead at the end of last November, dropped a little but is still running 6 per cent ahead of last year. It is up $16 million to $300 million. There have been an additional five races run in the period and horse numbers have increased by 264.

The harness code has had 51 fewer races but is $9 million or 5.5 per cent up on last season at $178 million while the greyhound code, with an additional 131 races, is up $3.9 million or 6.5 per cent to $64 million.

Total on-course betting has also shown a small growth, being up 0.5 per cent or $270,000 to $59 million. The harness code is faring best with an increase of $907,000 or 4.5 per cent while the greyhound code is up 5 per cent or $100,000. The gallops code has dropped $737,000 or 2 per cent.

Betting on overseas racing continues to grow but mainly through increased product.

It stands at $799 million for the season so far which is up $36 million or 4.8 per cent. But there have been 1130 extra races taken - the majority of them being in the harness (411) and greyhound (598) codes.

NZRB chairman Wayne Larsen said he was pleased with the progress but there was still a way to go in the drive to improve performance.

"These half-year figures are seen as an indication that new initiatives in terms of channels, wagering and marketing along with the contribution from a new management team are producing positive results," Larsen said.

"But also in analysing this result we have taken into consideration the impact of the current economic conditions. While this is a very good result it must be noted that it was achieved in an environment where the domestic economy remained strong."

- NZPA