SPRINTS AND STRAIGHT TRACKS: these are also getting another run on twitter and have been raised here before, and at least one tried before. HRNSW under Sam Nati not long before his departure for the greener pastures of the Isle of Mann staged an extensive trial of 1000m races known as the flying “k”, complete with greyhound coloured silks ( something Sam was keen to introduce for well over a decade!) and I guess that as most people have never heard of it that tells you the resulting “improvements” to turnover weren’t what was required to save, enhance or innovate the sport and the flying “k” died a natural death. From memory and only anecdotally as I recall this style of racing resulted in a higher injury rate to the horses. Whether that was the 1000m course itself or because trainers thought this type of racing would be better for horses of questionable soundness I doubt is known. I doubt very much that another result would occur if 1000 or 1200m races were trialed again now and “sprint” harness racing is probably best left as an occasional gimmick or promotion. I don’t know of any other harness racing jurisdiction that does it on anything other then an ad hoc basis either.

Straight tracks have also been talked about for at least 2 decades though we haven’t built one in that time and I don’t know of a harness jurisdiction that has. So build one and let’s try it some are saying ( seemingly forgetting that that would require quite considerable financial resources, the sort of thing we’re sadly lacking )and what if it doesn’t work and I imagine it wouldn’t and we’ve spent more then we intended ( specially cause we had to make the track longer cause we don’t do standing starts for pacers!) what then? So how about instead of trying it we take a look around and, what’s that, how many straight tracks for gallops sprint races do you see? One is it? Flemington you say, don’t think there’s another one of any significance anyway. Kinda tells us something don’t you think. Our TB friends are as obsessed about turnover as we are and if they aren’t carving out straight tracks left right and centre for their predominantly sprint race programs I think that kinda tells you that turnover on ordinary sprint races on a straight track is likely to be about the same as going around the, I mean, a bend. I don’t see them rushing out to paint lanes on the grass up the straight six either.

Interestingly does anyone think that when Racing Victoria increase the number of staying races for gallopers in the probably forlorn hope that we can get at least one locally bred and produced stayer in the Melbourne Cup in the future Sky Chanel will be telling them to only run shorter races?