Punters ignored as prizemoney soars
In his first full year as Racing Victoria CEO, Aaron Morrison delivered a multi-million dollar loss. Betsy isn’t having a crack at Morrison – he made some tough calls to try and turn the ship around. But if you needed any further proof that stakeholders hold all the power, it’s in his comments following the release of the results, where maintaining prizemoney was framed as RV’s top priority.
“We have said keeping prizemoney has been a bit of a north star,” Morrison said.
Betsy has been told Morrison was one at RV who previously supported reductions in prizemoney – before he got the CEO gig of course.
Prizemoney went up significantly during Covid on the back of punters supporting the industry en masse, but post covid owners were kept at the same levels (or increased) while punters just copped higher taxes and market percentages.
Additionally, clubs have a new revenue stream (which has no doubt assisted with prizemoney maintenance) via World Pool on feature days, and guess who pays? The punters, via increased take out rates.
The question is, will the industry remain sustainable if the price to punters continues to rise? When will it be seen as necessary to make some investment in racing’s customer – the punter?
Don’t mention the war…
Finally the Victorians can watch another state try and kill each other. Now, it’s NSW’s turn. One story that continues to simmer is the shit fight between the NSW Trainers’ Association and Racing NSW.
For those who have missed it, the NSW Trainers’ Association gave feedback to a political inquiry that wasn’t what Racing NSW believed would or should be shared and a fair old fight has transpired.
Despite the confidential nature of the inquiry, Racing NSW seemingly were almost immediately briefed.
Chairman Richard Pegum and PVL have fallen out big time. There is rampant speculation what it all may mean for the sport in NSW.
Now as racing’s best administrator enters his 20th year in charge, you’d think a story like this would typically be fodder for a decent tabloid newspaper, especially one as popular and well-read like the Daily Telegraph? To the surprise of none, not a single word has been written.
Could their be a new super club in Victoria?
Could Southside Racing in Victoria be the first that’s targeted for a merger with another big Melbourne club? Once promised metropolitan status, money and voting rights, some powerful racing types have essentially made sure it won’t happen.
Southside [who was actually created by another merger between Cranbourne and Pakenham] has commercial upside with their pokie venues and a massive area of Melbourne that racing bosses once believed had huge growth potential.
Betsy wouldn’t mind a few dollars on the likelihood that club mergers in Victoria will be a big focus in 2026. While Southside hasn’t been mentioned in public discussions, it has been spoken about by those who make or influence the calls. Watch this space.
Gai Nails it Again
After Gai Waterhouse gave a terrific and passionate defence of the Victorian Derby – she hit the nail on the head again on the weekend, this time on social media.
“I can’t for the life of me understand why race clubs charge an entrance fee 🤔 $30 at some courses, wouldn’t these $ give the clubs better returns going into betting or food & beverages?”, the Queen of racing tweeted.
I can’t for the life of me understand why race clubs charge an entrance fee 🤔
$30 at some courses, wouldn’t these $ give the clubs better returns going into betting or food & beverages?— Gai Waterhouse AO (@GaiWaterhouse1) November 15, 2025
Gai, of course, is right. Outside of major carnival days, entry should be free. With the high prices of booze, food and even a bottle of water, clubs should be doing whatever they can to get people on course.
The traditional notion that free entry tarnishes or undervalues memberships can be argued no longer. Member facilities are vastly superior to those in the public – and anyone joining their club ain’t doing it to save on the cost of entry.
As one punter noted, he can watch all the races, drink cheap beer, avoid traffic, and enjoy a good feed all from the comfort of his lounge room.
Entain’s tough week
Word is Entain are going through massive cuts – slashing costs of around $60 million, which sadly usually means jobs too. There is no word what it means for the Ladbrokes stable of on air hosts – the wagering giant this spring focused on smaller, but arguably better content offerings. Its talent on Friday nights on racing.com has been elite.
They got on the beers
There was some fear mongering in September from a few up north that the VRC might have some issues with their liquor licence and may not be able to serve beers during the Melbourne Cup Carnival because Kylie Roger’s underage son had a bevvie in the committee room. Going by the good time being had during the week [including a few wobbly guests coming from the committee room], plenty of booze was consumed.
