https://www.thetrots.com.au/news/art...opportunities/

From our new Chairman, Adam Kilgour

First of all, I have worked with one of the best boards I have ever been involved with. The quality of all of the people in my time and their intent has been amazing. I am an activist board member. I believe board members need to roll up their sleeves and apply their specific expertise, not read a set of papers and go to a meeting a month. Under Dale’s leadership, the HRV board has been focused, cohesive and very active.

If this is true then we are dead and buried because we have gone backwards, so if that was with the best board possible (and executives - see later quote) then we were just postponing the inevitable

For the last 10 years, HRV has been living with legacy decisions that weren’t favourable for the sport and its revenues. As a board we feel like we have been fighting with our hands tied behind our backs. This year is the year we get to remake some of those deals, but we are doing it in a vastly different market to 10 years ago.

We were on the slippery slope more than 10yrs ago! We have not raced at Moonee Valley for 14yrs

I have empathy for all the people in this code who ask why we can’t just go back to racing at The Showgrounds or the Valley in front of big crowds? They generated so many fantastic memories, but it’s not going to happen. We’ve got to constantly ask who are we putting the show on for and who’s willing to pay for it?

How was it that MV crowds did not simply hike out to Melton LOL
Who are we putting on the show for - if it is only punters, most of whom don't give a rats about the horses - then why do it? So that horse lovers (and scoundrels - we have plenty of those too) can make a living doing something they love but which the audience/punters don't concern themselves with. Not exactly a meaningful career/life - reason for existence
What is our reason for existence? If we do not aspire to being legitimate entertainment again and a celebration of the standarbred horse

First, you need to attract quality executives. At HRV we have done that in spades despite the restrictions a Government statutory body has on remuneration, which forces us to offer well below market rates. But I think our top quality executives and HRV staff generally cop that because they love racing.

see earlier

The Victorian Government has been very generous to us over the last few years as we worked through Covid-19 and caught up on a lag in infrastructure spend, but that won’t last much longer. The message from the Victorian Treasury is very much live within your means. There are millions of household budgets around Australia that have had to make those adjustments in recent times too. We are not immune.

So we can say we were restricted by previous deals BUT we had the government bailing us out!