Double-digit percentage turnover increases may sound like a reason for the Jockey Club to rest on its laurels and a reason for its critics to think continued requests for government assistance boil down to something approaching greed.
But the club has so often been at pains to point out where the turnover increases are going and its critics might find some interesting reading on the subject in last weekend's Australian Financial Review newspaper.
The paper ran an article on Zeljko Ranogajec, the world's biggest and most successful...we were going to say punter but it doesn't really fit. Along with the names of the late Alan Woods and American player Bill Benter, Zeljko, as he is known, was one of the players to totally transform betting on horses from a pastime to a field of quantitative investment.
The Australian bets more than US$1 billion a year on meetings from Santa Anita to Fuchu to the Portuguese trots, and of course on racing in Hong Kong.
But what was relevant in the article were some figures presented during a court hearing that highlighted his use of rebates to increase profits. In order to attract the business of his organisation, Zeljko is, like other mega-bettors, offered double digit percentage rebates on losing bets by operators in many different jurisdictions, with the result that total profits on the losing bets can be as much if not more than on the winning ones.
It just becomes a game of betting more to collect more. Cover huge proportions of the betting array, bet $100 million with the aim of losing $5 million and you're $5 million in front after the rebate.
Imagine playing every number on the roulette table. Naturally, paid at 35-1 for your 37 bets, you lose off the stick. But then the 10 per cent rebate on your 36 losing bets kicks in and happy days. (Though in the unlikely event that you find a casino doing that with roulette, hurry up and take advantage because it won't be there for long.)