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Thread: 10yrs Ago Equineexcellence Called CRISIS - solutions ?

  1. #1
    Super Moderator Stallion Messenger will become famous soon enough Messenger's Avatar
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    10yrs Ago Equineexcellence Called CRISIS - solutions ?

    A decade ago Harness Racing International magazine printed an open letter to harness racing participants which was written by Ray Chaplin

    It began with

    Despite all the rhetoric you may hear or read from many of our self congratulatory industry leaders the fact is that the sport you love is gradually sliding into oblivion as a mainstream entertainment pastime for Australian sporting fans

    The letter went on to detail that between 1980 and 2009
    the number of drivers, trainers, local sires, total foals and horses named
    ALL FELL BY OVER 50%
    despite the Australian population Increasing 46%

    In 2014 Ray updated these figures to between 1980 and 2013
    and showed that they had all fallen further with all these key stats DOWN by 57% plus

    In this updated report which he sent to all HRA Board members he concluded:

    The ever widening gap between costs and returns for most owners resulting in a continued weakening in the supply and demand model for the breeding of Standardbreds (the racing product) will, in the not too distant future, bring a once wonderful sport and past time to its knees

    He never got a reply

    Now we come to current times and in his latest report Ray notes that:

    The Inaugural HRA National Conference was held on Friday 14 December 2018 at Flemington Racecourse and is being hailed a success.

    .........

    Of the 19 initiatives listed above not one is focussed upon the key breeding crisis issue confronting the sport nor the need for a comprehensive investigation into the effectiveness of the sports integrity management

    It is now 7 months since the conference was held and no full review has been published


    Ray has just done the maths on Total Services 18-19 compared to 17-18 and there has been a 13% decline

    He also notes how the following two David Martin statements don't reconcile

    “The signs indicate we have started to turn the corner…
    I sincerely hope that the improved performance already evident gives you confidence that the industry’s future is now more secure”
    David Martin Chief Executive Officer 2018 Annual Report

    However in his April 2019 CEO update David Martin stated:-

    Frustratingly, since January 2017, we have made a number of changes to Victorian programming that have clearly improved wagering turnover on our product but the positive impact of that is being offset by factors outside our control, reducing our share of revenue from the JV and in turn our ability to increase prizemoney, invest in breeding, clubs, industry training et cetera.

    How is this more secure?

    If you are interested in Ray's full report please contact him at

    contact@equineexcellence.biz
    Last edited by Messenger; 07-26-2019 at 02:37 PM.
    per un PUGNO di DOLLARI

  2. #2
    Senior Member Horse Of The Year arlington will become famous soon enough
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    Not diverting Kev, but sticking with Victoria, has Ray any thoughts with the Vic Racing Tribunal starting next week?
    In another thread someone posed participant beliefs and/or perception of integrity/fairness of racing might be a significant factor of the breeding crisis.

  3. #3
    Senior Member Horse Of The Year Dot will become famous soon enough
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    Andrew Fitzgerald
    @AFitzyRacing
    Racing's biggest issue at the moment isn't low stakes, handicapping system, lack of horses, lack of owners, declining turnover, run down racecourses or integrity.

    It's negativity from those involved in the industry at people trying new ideas to improve the industry.
    3:20 PM · Jul 7, 2019 from Waimakariri District, New Zealand·Twitter for Android


    I originally posted this tweet in the Drivers Colours thread for authenticity as it originated from the twitter discussion on driver colours, and Kev has elected to move it.

    Though it isn’t actually laughable as you subsequently write Kev if you want to consider it more broadly.

    “Racing's biggest issues at the moment ARE low stakes, handicapping system, lack of horses, lack of owners, declining turnover, run down racecourses or integrity”

    Your statement above Kev, what do you consider the origins of the big issues in your statement? It wouldn’t be doing what we have been doing would it?

    What would the soloution be? Doing more of the same, and expecting a different result? Or would it be responding positively to new ideas and giving them a try?
    Last edited by Dot; 07-27-2019 at 05:29 PM. Reason: Moved

  4. #4
    Super Moderator Stallion Messenger will become famous soon enough Messenger's Avatar
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    That is the most laughable statement ever

    Racing's biggest issues at the moment ARE low stakes, handicapping system, lack of horses, lack of owners, declining turnover, run down racecourses or integrity.

    Plus administrators who do not seem to be listening or drawing on the ideas of those older than 30 too
    per un PUGNO di DOLLARI

  5. #5
    Super Moderator Stallion Messenger will become famous soon enough Messenger's Avatar
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    Well maybe it is not laughable for we desperately need new ideas but not just any ideas - Big ideas
    There will always be some negativity - it too needs to be listened to as it can be a a valuable critique of what is being proposed. Negativity in itself is not IMO the problem and definitley not the biggest problem.

    This is from early in the Equineexcellence report from 10yrs ago. You will love the opening Dot

    Harness Racing in Australia needs to scrap past and present practices, start again and reinvent itself if it to survive

    A fresh green fields approach to how the sport can attract the levels of public following and resultant participation needed for it to flourish and support the employment of your kids and grandkids in the future is urgently required

    I’m sure in the next edition of Harness Racing International you will read a flurry of responses from the current administration regime justifying their existence on the basis of a range of new initiatives – Melton and Menangle being just two that will probably get a mention

    From an inwardly focused industry perspective they might have a moot point that these initiatives are positive changes for the industry’s minuscule heartland

    But in the big outside world where the Internet, I pods, Facebook, and DVD games reign supreme, harness racing has become an entertainment dinosaur from a prehistoric past

    Nothing significant has changed in the sport of Harness Racing to ensure it remains relevant to the Australian sporting public for over three decades

    If anything the sport has abandoned its core follower attraction of a glamorous exciting and exhilarating sporting entertainment experience and its differentiation from thoroughbred racing (close to the action) in favour of industry focussed and driven initiatives

    These include the introduction of some unnecessarily large tracks and/or tracks which are located in less convenient and less attractive population precincts further removed from ancillary entertainment activities of the big cities

    Look from the perspective of the sporting public and compare the location benefits and surrounding quality environments of Flemington, Randwick and Morphettville with Melton, Menangle and Globe Derby Park – no wonder the image of harness racing is more closely aligned with a beat up Holden Ute than it is to a glistening Lexus IS 250C (That’s a sleek Lexus convertible)

    In comparison with the sport in its’ hey day harness racing now generally offers a lack lustre boring entertainment experience in the minds of today’s mainstream sporting entertainment market

    And the result - they vote with their feet and no longer attend

    But it’s great for the industry players especially if their priority is total self interest and no interest whatsoever of the importance of sporting audiences at large (who couldn’t care less if a horse ran 1.59.0 or 1.52.0 especially if they are on a track so big can’t even see how their fancy is going)

    Essentially harness racing today puts on the show for itself and seems happy to leave it at that

    Last edited by Messenger; 07-27-2019 at 04:37 PM.
    per un PUGNO di DOLLARI

  6. #6
    Senior Member Horse Of The Year Dot will become famous soon enough
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    Quote Originally Posted by Messenger View Post
    A decade ago Harness Racing International magazine printed an open letter to harness racing participants which was written by Ray Chaplin

    It began with

    Despite all the rhetoric you may hear or read from many of our self congratulatory industry leaders the fact is that the sport you love is gradually sliding into oblivion as a mainstream entertainment pastime for Australian sporting fans

    The letter went on to detail that between 1980 and 2009
    the number of drivers, trainers, local sires, total foals and horses named
    ALL FELL BY OVER 50%
    despite the Australian population Increasing 46%

    In 2014 Ray updated these figures to between 1980 and 2013
    and showed that they had all fallen further with all these key stats DOWN by 57% plus

    In this updated report which he sent to all HRA Board members he concluded:

    The ever widening gap between costs and returns for most owners resulting in a continued weakening in the supply and demand model for the breeding of Standardbreds (the racing product) will, in the not too distant future, bring a once wonderful sport and past time to its knees

    He never got a reply

    Now we come to current times and in his latest report Ray notes that:

    The Inaugural HRA National Conference was held on Friday 14 December 2018 at Flemington Racecourse and is being hailed a success.

    .........

    Of the 19 initiatives listed above not one is focussed upon the key breeding crisis issue confronting the sport nor the need for a comprehensive investigation into the effectiveness of the sports integrity management

    It is now 7 months since the conference was held and no full review has been published


    Ray has just done the maths on Total Services 18-19 compared to 17-18 and there has been a 13% decline

    He also notes how the following two David Martin statements don't reconcile

    “The signs indicate we have started to turn the corner…
    I sincerely hope that the improved performance already evident gives you confidence that the industry’s future is now more secure”
    David Martin Chief Executive Officer 2018 Annual Report

    However in his April 2019 CEO update David Martin stated:-

    Frustratingly, since January 2017, we have made a number of changes to Victorian programming that have clearly improved wagering turnover on our product but the positive impact of that is being offset by factors outside our control, reducing our share of revenue from the JV and in turn our ability to increase prizemoney, invest in breeding, clubs, industry training et cetera.

    How is this more secure?

    If you are interested in Ray's full report please contact him at

    contact@equineexcellence.biz
    To be clear the falling KPIs quoted here commence from 1980, well preceeding claims our demise is the result of moving away from the inner city entertainment precincts and small track racing in Sydney and Melbourne and which is in general terms Rays premise as to why our sport is failing

    Similarly to “reconcile” David Martins statements then knowledge of how the JV works and the deal the previous adminstration entered into. Changes to programming introduced with David Martins tenure have increased turnover on Vic harness racing despite agreements entered into with TAB/Sky which guarantee that TBs and greyhounds even if they are late are guaranteed a certain amount of lead time and to remain on Sky 1. That places us at an enoumous commercial disadvantage to the other two codes, offsetting the benefits that changes to programming created, and our funding is linked to market share which is reduced by being shown on Sky 2. Also included in that agreement is “imported” trots racing, we obtain revenue from wagering on imported trot races however we have no control over how much trot racing is imported, hence we have no control over that revenue stream, and TAB/Sky have chosen to reduce the amount of trots races that they show and wager on, roughly corresponding with when we began to increase wagering on our own Vic product.

    Hence David Martins statements do not reconcile, because of changing circumstances during the timeline between the two statements. There’s no easy fix’s, those agreements entered into by the John Anderson led administration extend until 2024.

  7. #7
    Super Moderator Stallion Messenger will become famous soon enough Messenger's Avatar
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    So are you saying that our percentage of turnover, the basis of JV revenue, has not decreased between the anniversary dates?

    So are you saying the statement that the industry's future is more secure is not at odds with saying reducing our share of revenue from the JV and in turn our ability to increase prizemoney, invest in breeding, clubs, industry training et cetera.
    per un PUGNO di DOLLARI

  8. #8
    Super Moderator Stallion Messenger will become famous soon enough Messenger's Avatar
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    Solutions?
    You were a major poster about HRV providing free services to mares not served last season - possibly leasing a sire for that purpose.
    Lennytheshark was suggested by somebody (but may now be tied to a stud)
    Have you emailed David Martin with the suggestion?
    We do a lot of brainstorming on this forum but I am not sure HRA/HRV are even reading (I know it would be strange if they're not but they seemed to disappear of the face of the earth/this forum)
    per un PUGNO di DOLLARI

  9. #9
    Senior Member Horse Of The Year Dot will become famous soon enough
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    No I’m not saying that, I’m saying that our percentage of turnover had increased on the elements we control, that is programming and volume of our races, BUT overall our market share has declined because of factors we don’t control, ie our races being bumped to Sky 2 because of the contracts Sky/Tab have with TBs and Greyhounds, and particularly the amount of foreign harness product imported by Sky/Tab for viewing and wagering on which has been markedly reduced by Sky/TAB so there has been a bigger decline in share from that then the amount gained from programming and volume of our races.

    No Im not saying the statements aren’t at odds, they are at odds, and that is because of the joint venture and the actions of or occurrences at Sky/TAB, during the time interval between the two statements. When the first statement was made we had made improvements that had arrested our slide under the joint venture since it was signed in 2012 and should have seen us improve our market share. However subsequent to the first statement being made Sky/Tab more frequently began bumping harness to Sky 2 and reduced the amount of imported foreign harness product being provided, and wagering on this foreign product is included in the calculations so our overall market share began to decline again hence the second statement.

    I don’t know how to put it anymore simply Kev, we have been on the downward slide since 2012, for a short period when then first statement was made the line had flattened out and was, I recall, beginning to rise again, Sky/Tab then reduced the amount of overall harness product available to create market share for harness causing the line to angle downward again, precipitating the second statement. The statements do not reconcile but are reflective of the conditions prevailing at the time each was made.

  10. #10
    Super Moderator Stallion Messenger will become famous soon enough Messenger's Avatar
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    More importantly - why don't you see if DM will give the 'free service' an airing

    To be fair to Sky, if we don't run on time you put yourself at risk, do we ever get bumped when on time? (used to happen very occasionally in the past)
    I don't watch very much at all on Sky - prefer Trots Vision nowadays
    per un PUGNO di DOLLARI

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