The Serious Shortcomings of HRA's performance records
HRA's performance records for horses born in the late 70's and 80's are incomplete
We all know that the HRA db does not contain Horse Performance records prior to 1980 but it is the incomplete nature of them for the 1980's which need a lot of work or at least an * to say 'these records are incomplete'
Sure it is understandable that we were just going online at the time but incomplete records can be very misleading and people need a date from which they can be relied upon
Here are some examples
Black Top (1978) is listed as having won $101,089 with a record of 13 starts and 3 wins and when you click on the Racing Performances tab for him you will only see 13 starts listed for him (all in 1984) but with a little further investigation you will notice that these races do not produce $101k of prizemoney. Starts: 13 should at the very least be 13* (* incomplete). Black Top won a NSW Derby heat in 1982. If you are doing research for breeding or sale purposes you need to know that HRA records from around the early 80's cannot be relied on. It would almost be better if they were non existent (like pre 1980) than misleading by being incomplete
Under A Cloud (1976) only has 11 starts from 1984 listed and once again it doesn't match his prizemoney total listed for him. He won the 1980 Vic Derby. Better to see nothing listed so that you know you need to look elsewhere
There are hundreds of examples like this but what can make you believe them, is that for some horses you will see results from 81, 82, 83
Strong Recommendation: If you are looking at a late 70's/early 80's horse check him/her at
https://classicfamilies.azurewebsite...sedetails.aspx
Or if you have the year books from around this period, check them
Just like you have to for horses from the early 70's and earlier, use these resources
If he/she is on classicfamilies, they have won a classic race or have progeny that have
HRA may lead you to believe otherwise
If HRA cannot afford to have all the data entered from say the 1980 year book onwards then they should * incomplete records, delete incomplete horse performance records (a bit drastic) or provide a warning at the top of the list which clearly states from what year onwards their records are complete
I edited this to include the 80's see post 8
Trainers and drivers records are also hit and miss
It is not just the horses I have a problem with on the HRA website. The trainers and drivers records can't be used as a definitive source of information.
I see Howard James trained and drove a winner at Menangle today. Does his name ring a bell? He was formerly Brian Hancock's foreman and drove Thorate to victory in the 1990 Inter-Dominion final.
Either that was not a feature race or HRA does not recognize Howard James' achievement as significant as winning a Breeders' Crown final.
https://www.harness.org.au/racing/drivers/howard-james/
I note that James' record as a driver only goes back to 1990/91, his Inter-Dominion win being the previous season. Whatever, HRA's records diminish his record as a driver whereas records for other drivers go back to 1980/81.
Village Kid Career Record....one of many
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Messenger
It is worse than I thought
Late 80's records are not complete
Use HRA Search to look up Village Kid
https://www.harness.org.au/ausbreed/...on=main.search
His racing performances chart is a complete mess
You would have hoped that for a champion foaled in the 80's we might get his whole racing performance
Not only do we not get anything before 1985, it is all the gaps (not declared mind you) that are the worst,
you would not know that he raced in 1989 much less won 3 heats of the Interdominion in 1989
For more than 30 years, Bendigo trots historian Stephen Spark has compiled hundreds of accurate career records of notable horses. His original career record charts were compiled on a typewriter.
Steve has scanned the charts and they have been uploaded into the Harness Racing Heritage Collection at Lord's Raceway site on Victorian Collections.
Click here to go straight to Village KId:
https://victoriancollections.net.au/...29d6bc59eeacb4