Racing: Departing NZTR chief calls for more customer focus from TAB

Outgoing New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing chief executive Paul Bittar has called for a more customer-related focus on betting from the TAB.

Bittar, an Australian, ended his stint at NZTR yesterday, 3 years after arriving from the British Horseracing Board.

He has had many successes and frustrations during a changing time in New Zealand racing.

"It's been my first chief executive gig and a fantastic learning experience," he said.

"It's been an industry of a manageable size and quite a personable one. People are prepared to pick up the phone and let you know what they think can improve situations."

A major change Bittar initiated was a more professional stewards regime to adjudicate at race meetings, while more recently he has been the driving force behind a review which he hopes will lead to a single industry body.

He also been a passionate advocate of horse safety and has led the calls for padded whips, which will be introduced from August 1.

But one of his frustrations has been the slowness of the Racing Board, which runs the TAB, to offer its customers consistency of product.

Bittar, who says he enjoys a punt himself, said the Racing Board had done some great things for racing with its internationalisation programme, but had shown signs of a "classic lazy monopoly" in other areas.

He cited the inconsistency of fixed odds betting and the recent debacle where the TAB switched off its mingled win betting pool with Supertab in Australia for some Saturdays but maintained place and quinella pools.

"If the customer is asking for fixed odds for all races and if you can't do it because you haven't got the confidence of your bookmakers or you think there is too big a risk, then you have to address those issues.

"I don't think you should offer fixed odds on some races and not on others. There has been a fundamental lack of addressing what the customer wants."

- NZPA