The race-fields fees increases of up to 4 per cent on turnover have caused much debate in the low-margin business of bookmaking. The betting marketplace continues to change at a rapid rate and the domination of racing in the Australian landscape is in decline as racing authorities attempt to collect funds from the corporate bookmaking sector, where business has leaked from its cash cow of the TAB.

"It is like they are hunting woolly mammoths with shotguns. The mentality is stuck somewhere back in the 1960s rather than moving with the times," Waterhouse said. "It is the punters that suffer and really they make up 99 per cent of the industry. Every cost to a bookmaker or a corporate bookmaker has to be passed on to the punter and they are the ones that are paying."

Waterhouse, personally, has had to operate on a smaller scale because of the costs.

"I have stopped going to the provincials because I need to stay under the $5 million [turnover] threshold -  it is not worth me turning over over more than that because it is not viable," Waterhouse said.

The $5 million mark of turnover on NSW racing was put in place to protect oncourse bookmakers, and all operators only pay 1 per cent up to to that mark, but it is proving to be a glass ceiling.

Waterhouse believes the corporate bookmaking business has only added to Australian racing and made the wagering field more competitive but race-field fees affect the way corporates have to run their businesses.

Sports betting is becoming a more attractive option because it has low costs and corporate bookmakers are filtering their punters towards it rather than racing.

Waterhouse believes a gross profit model would benefit both bookmakers and racing as it would encourage both businesses to grow and revenue to flow.

Quality rising

Change is in the air as the cold, wet winter becomes the warmth of spring and its means the quality on track is increasing.

The Rosehill meeting was a turning point on Saturday and gaps on the track were a show of it as Japonisme, Kimberley Star, Fell Swoop and Countryman simply outclassed their rivals. It is rare to see such big winning margins in Sydney.

Fell Swoop's trainer Matt Dale summed it up, saying: "I think he is a nice horse but I wanted to get him back before the really good ones in the next couple of weeks."

The same horses will have their work cut out in coming weeks to match it against the real spring horses but one thing is for sure they will have fitness on their side.

Tracks on improve

The wet winter will have an effect on the transitional meetings to spring as trainers play catch-up. Gerald Ryan's spring team is a little behind where he would like.

"The tracks are very tired everywhere because it has been too wet for too long," Ryan said. "It's no one's fault, it is just the way it is. It is very hard to get a line on how anything is going at the moment. They have all been working on artificial tracks and heavy tracks and you just can't get a line on them."

The top end of this week's Randwick meeting – the Missile Stakes and The Rosebud – will be affected. Ryan pointed out on Saturday that things have turned quickly with a couple of warm days.

"You can see the difference in the tracks in the morning already and we will be able to step things up in the next week. It is an exciting time," he said.

Waterhouse mentors jockey

Gai Waterhouse has a reputation as a mentor of jockeys and racing professionals and Michelle Payne is the latest to be taken under her wing.

The Melbourne-based jockey spent three days riding work at Randwick last week before jumping on a couple at the barrier trials on Friday.

"Gai asked me to come up and it was good to work some of her horses with her riders and see how she does things," Payne said. "The opportunity to come up and do that can only help me in the future and Gai was generous with her time."

Waterhouse's influence on the riding ranks is enormous but there is always  some tough love when it comes to working for her.