NSW-Major Breeding Initiatives Announced

Major Breeding Initiatives Announced





Sunday15 September 2013





HarnessRacing NSW (HRNSW), in conjunction with the NSW Harness Racing Club (NSWHRC),today announced four initiatives designed to stimulate the NSW breedingindustry.



Speakingat the official launch of the NSW breeding season at Pepper Tree Farm, HRNSWChief Executive, Sam Nati, detailed the new strategies worth in excess of$500,000 in the first year.



“Whenyou examine the industry’s critical KPIs, there has never been a better time tobe involved in harness racing,” he said.



“Prizemoneyis at record levels across the state, there is significant investment ininfrastructure, returns to participants are higher than ever before and thestrengthening of regulatory and integrity functions have increased confidence.



“However,the one area of the business which has declined over the past two seasons isfoal numbers and we feel it is important to address the issue and we especiallywant to encourage grass roots participation and attempt to reconnect with thosewho are no longer breeding.”





Thefirst two initiatives announced are part of a new branch of the NSW BreedersChallenge family to be known as Breeders Challenge Blue.



· ABreeders Challenge Blue Incentive Certificate (BCBIC), worth $500, is available to breeders forthe payment or part-payment of a service fee during the 2013/14 season if thesire is physically based at a NSW stud and the broodmare was not used forbreeding purposes during the 2012/13 season. For the BCBIC to be valid thebroodmare must be served or inseminated in NSW (the full terms and conditionsare outlined below and are available at the HRNSW website). The BCBIC is beingoffered for this season only.



· TheBreeders Challenge Blue Race Series (BCBRS) will be conducted at Tabcorp Park Menangle in July two weeksafter the Breeders Challenge Major Race Series. It features $50,000 finals fortwo and three year olds and for both sexes. Eligibility is restricted toprogeny that are by stallions physically based at a NSW stud at the time ofconception and from a broodmare served or inseminated in NSW (the full termsand conditions are outlined below and are available at the HRNSW website). TheBCBRS will be conducted by the Principal Club in 2014 and thereafter.

NSWHRCChairman Mr Rex Horne said: “As a club we recognised the need and importance ofinvesting money into regional areas which we have done so successfully thoughthe country series.”

“OurBreeders Challenge Blue Race Series is an extension of that and represents afurther injection of prizemoney each year to the value of $200,000.”



“Italso symbolises the strong working partnership we have with HRNSW to achievethe best possible outcomes for the broader harness racing industry.”



Theremaining two initiatives announced are changes to the current BreedersChallenge structure:



· Horsesthat are aged five years and older are now eligible to win a Breeders ChallengeOwners Bonus Certificate and the Nominators $3,000 Cash Bonus if they did notwin one as a two, three or four-year-old (the full terms and conditions areoutlined below and are available at the HRNSW website).



· Thefoal notification/Breeders Challenge nomination and sustaining fees have beenrevised with significant savings available for upfront payments (the full termsand conditions are outlined below and are available at the HRNSW website).

HRNSWwould like to thank all the studs involved in the NSW Breeding Season Launchincluding Pepper Tree Farm, Yirribee Pacing Stud, Success Stud, Lonsvale Stud,Golden Gait Stud, Brooklyn Lodge, Medowie Lodge and Lochend Stud.

Once again, mostly incentives to prop up commercial breeders with MORE money allocated to 2yo and 3yo racing, except for one ( about time) deviation.

· Horsesthat are aged five years and older are now eligible to win a Breeders ChallengeOwners Bonus Certificate and the Nominators $3,000 Cash Bonus if they did notwin one as a two, three or four-year-old (the full terms and conditions areoutlined below and are available at the HRNSW website).

This one I applaud with both hands, it is about time ALL breeders were incentivised/rewarded rather than those that are fortunate enough to find a talented early comer.

Cheers,
Dan

Dan, you've failed to read between the lines in favour of your usual anti- commercial breeder rant.
Lazarus IS back from the dead. This is a Quazi NSW Sires Stakes Program.

Given Jamie,
but on a smaller scale and as stated, designed primarily to enhance the returns for ( rant included) commercial breeders.

If every cent of industry money that is spent on incentivising people to race juvenile horses was instead diverted to prizemoney for ALL classes of racing, then perhaps we may be able to entice more poeple to own a horse, pay up for it's ongoing upkeep and all that goes with supplying the wagering organisations with a product. then perhaps we would'nt have seen so many owners leave the game, broke and bled dry by self serving interest groups solely concerned about their own bottom line.....and if all that had not got completely out of hand maybe the industry would not have nurtured some of the twits who thought that asking 15K for stallion service fees and more was "good" for the industry!!!!

Self serving imbeciles have had their day Jamie, it's about time the industy told it to them straight before our game disappears altogether.

Cheers,
Dan

There is a good video on hrnz.co.nz with regards a decline in breeding in New Zealand.

If you watch it I think it shows that both Aust and NZ have very similiar issues with regards harness racing breeding.

It amazes me that the Alabar representative does not believe that high service fees are not affecting people decision to breed.

Jaimie, I was interested that John Curtin suggests that the service fees for Art Major, Bettors Delight and Mach Three are mainly going of shore.

As I said in my other posts I think eligibility for the State Bred scheme should be free. This rewards both existing breeders and new breeders alike and eliminates any possible rorting of the $500 breeding bonus.

As for the races series I can't see this changing peoples minds on choosing to bred or not, I think that HRNSW would be better to remove fees for Foal registration and DNA testing etc. These hidden costs are the ones that continue to add costs to the breeding process.