Am I missing something ?

www.fm.co.za/fm/Money_And_Investing/2012...y-going-on-the-track

Here is the latest commentary on the recently announced Phumelela results. Local racing has done badly but overseas operations have turned in a star performance.

Do me a favour, the local horse racing carries all the costs of operating and the overseas income form the sale of the pictures carries little of the actual cost of producing the product. These 2 should be incorporated as without the local product there is no product to sell overseas. Or are we just being softened up for the next wave of racecourse sales and cost cuts justified by the local losses. If the local racing was such a loss maker then why are they fighting so hard to keep all and sundry out.

exactly my thought.
Let someone else take over the local racing operations.

That statement could play against them at this hearing that is ongoing.

Gajima - Your point is valid with the following clarification :

Local racing as a 'stand alone' venture is , according the the operator's financials , a loss making venture. HOWEVER - they have managed to find international markets which have been happy to take and pay for our product; resulting in a steadily growing division of the business. ( I wonder whether this option would have been explored and developed had we still operated under the old club system where stewards spent more time on their parking bays and the Saturday lunch menu. Lol. ).

So, in fact, the much sought after growth in the industry comes from the international division which actually provides a benefit for all through increased turnover etc.

Furthermore the local racing insider blithely overlooks the contribution now being made to the local industry via sports bets etc., where the racing industry benefits without making any contribution to to those sports that I am aware of!

Any idea how much co-mingling has benefited the turnover?

agra Wrote:

---

> exactly my thought.
> Let someone else take over the local racing
> operations.
>
> That statement could play against them at this
> hearing that is ongoing.

Various spokesmen from P have pointed out repeatedly that all the income made from other sources, rely completely on the back of local racing. In fact, in order to be part of the whole overseas thing, we have to GUARANTEE xxx number of meetings per year. They are under pressure to have events go off as per schedule to fit into the overseas package. Cancellations do not help the bottom line anymore.

Whatever else is going on, it's on the table that all benefits come from having a local product, no one has said different.