Racing: Carnival coffers well filled

Two factors delight Auckland Racing Club officials as they look back on the inaugural March-based Derby and Auckland Cup carnival.

The first is the revenue gained from non-betting activities and the other - the thing that has all of racing buzzing - is the Racing Minister's announcement of an additional $30 million-plus for the industry for the new racing season and what that will mean to the 2007 March carnival.

Because of the difficulty in driving betting figures up significantly, the Auckland Racing Club focused in its business plan to generate additional income from non-betting activities.

"One of our major goals has been to reduce the club's dependence on generating revenue solely from betting turnover," said CEO Chris Weaver.

"Our statistics show that for this event [the carnival] just one third of our total revenue was provided by betting turnover, which clearly demonstrated we are on the right path."

Many corporate heads congratulated the club on staging the major raceday away from the traditional Boxing Day and New Year's Day dates. Corporates are now able to entertain their guests, many of whom were out of town over the summer holiday period.

The significant lift in corporate hospitality and sponsorship support, as well as the unprecedented media coverage was gratifying for the club.

Weaver was keen to build on the non-raceday social occasions that run through the carnival.

"Our aim all along has been to introduce an event that took racing in this country to a new level through unparalleled hospitality, entertainment and the best racing action. And I believe Auckland Cup Week demonstrated that."

Weighing Derby Day and Cup Day against the traditional dates was never the point of the exercise. It was about creating a second and bigger carnival, which betting figures indicate it did.

The ARC budgeted to handle $11.58 million through the three days and did $12.36 million. Food and beverage sales came to $1.15 million.

"We paid out $21 million in stakes and served 28,000 glasses of champagne," said Weaver.

While the club paid more attention to overall revenue, Weaver understood that many of the public would judge the meeting on betting turnover.

"Taking into account the movements of selected races at both the summer carnival and this new event, the most appropriate measure is to compare the three days of Auckland Cup Week and the two main days of our Summer Carnival, Boxing Day and New Year's Day, with the same five days of the previous financial year. The total figure for the five days in the current season 2005/2006 was $22.371 million opposed to $20.712 million in 2003/2005, an increase of 8 per cent."