Victoria to only have 11 tracks

That is the rumour for July 1

Obviously
Melton
Ballarat
Bendigo
Shep
Mildura
Cranbourne

Probably
Maryborough
Terang (lucky IMO)
Charlton (training facility had to help its cause)
Kilmore
One out of Ararat, Stawell or Hamilton

Likely gone
Geelong!
Horsham!
Warragul!
Cobram
Echuca
Yarra Valley
Swan Hill
(some of these will join our existing once a year tracks)

The 'one of' is interesting in that Ararat has lights, Stawell has facilities, Hamilton has the biggest track
I cannot justify Hamilton and Terang
Terang over Geelong with its population seems strange

They have to make bold decisions but without consultation they are taking a massive risk (even pretend consultation eases the blow)
Whether it is an answer is another question as I cannot see how it makes us 'more relevant'

Bolder solutions than track closures are needed but have we the best brains working on the problem!

I would keep Geelong and dump Cranbourne. Though it's more likely that they will keep the ones at gallop tracks as they share expenses. This is purely cost cutting and would also cut participants and punters.

A gallops track is not saving Horsham or Yarra Valley if the rumours are correct. Cranbourne has a training centre helping their cause

The state needs to have a reasonably fair spread of tracks to try and keep participants AND because this is purely economic - the saving/return cases for each closure has to be clear compared to those which are being spared

It should all be based on a clear plan and rationale that takes into consideration attendances, punting turnover etc etc

I still need someone to prove to me that attendances is not important in terms of ownership - show me some figures on how many owners have never attended a harness meeting before becoming an owner

https://www.thetrots.com.au/news/art...a-celebration/

The above interview with the CEO between races on Saturday night mentions further interviews involving these two which have already been filmed (to break the news in the coming weeks)