Reply With QuoteHaving had a further think about this,why not have a go.Only thing is,announced 8 May to run in July.Does not seem like a plan rather that some-one's had a brain wave That is not to rubbish the idea,it just seems a bit ad-hoc.
We sat with a couple of Victorian owners at the ID10 final and they were adamant that we would see 800m races sooner rather than later.At the time I thought "no,never" but now? Why not?
Having had a further think about this,why not have a go.Only thing is,announced 8 May to run in July.Does not seem like a plan rather that some-one's had a brain wave That is not to rubbish the idea,it just seems a bit ad-hoc.
Last edited by 2minuteman; 05-08-2012 at 11:50 PM. Reason: making it intelligible
I wish people would stop complaining. It is something different and well worth a try.
I think that this idea has been about for two years and is just starting to come to fruition. We are going out backwards at the moment so worth giving it a try but of course the "old school" will have a field day. Not an industry that embraces any kind of change readily.
The Greyhounds are tanning our butts in TAB turnover why wouln,t the administrators obsessed withTAB/electronic punter not look at dressing up harness racing as psuedo greyhound racing. Perhaps we could stick fibro cut outs of greyhounds on the sides of the sulkies. South Australia already races for stakes less than the puppies.
Something new. What on earth is there to be scared of? I reckon trainers will support this big time. Running it over 4 consecutive weeks will give all and sundry every opportunity to gauge how successful it will be, both by revenue and as a visual spectacle. They have built a track for speed, why not give it a burn. Could be the perfect series for some of the speedy squibs that can't get the mile.
If it fails, it fails. What is the worst thing that can happen? An experiment that fails. So what. Punters will still bet on them around the pubs and clubs. Minimal risk for a possible gain.
On the colours, taking it one step further, especially from a club/pub perspective, the punter who bets on whatever is next up on the screen would soon be able to start identifying his horses better over the background noise or lack of volume, with a longer term possibility of wagering increasing on the sport. Of course this is not what the purists would like to see in the long term (myself included) but if it is the way of the future, so be it. Small price to pay.
Instead of fibro cut outs of greyhounds, why not attach well known dog food brands to the sulkies, like MEATIE BITES, PAL, CHUM etc. We might be able to attract new corporate sponsorhips and the signs can send subliminal messages to the horses they are attached to, to go quicker or else....Originally Posted by Tangles
Half false, it doesn't truly reflect the situation.
Per capita, per race, per horse however you want to put it we are in front. But because they have double the races they end up with a higher figure in the 'total' column.
Because they have double the meetings they also have more costs associated with putting them on Sky which is why their cut is smaller.
And if you did want to follow greyhounds into something to increase TAB turnover...it would be getting rid of drivers and the horses steering themselves.
Pinjarra HRC have been running a similar concept for a couple of years called "Super 9s".
http://www.harness.org.au/meeting-re...PA050312&ms=wa
They schedule the meet for the Labour Day public holiday in March each year. 9 races, 9 per race, all run over a mile, and drivers where the silks as described in HRNSW's release. Seems to have been a success as they have no plans to change it. I don't mind the novelty factor and it is positive if it makes more people tune in. 20 minutes between races is good also. The only negative for me is 1000m races.
This has been for me an interesting debate so I have decided to add my views and some facts.
1 Set Colors
As a concept I love the idea because most punters have no idea of the different owners colors and it makes it difficult for them to follow a horses in a race, however that is only conceptually, if I was an owner footing the bills I want my colors going around, the answer is very simple have set colors for the saddle cloths make them bigger so they can be seen and have a cloth cover for the helmet same as the saddle cloth color this way the punter can follow and the owner or stable get to use their silks, a win without a loss to anyone and some gains in ease for the viewer.
2 Distance
Not a drama for mine, in NSW we have already run a couple of sky series where the races were run down to 1300m also Fairfield ran 1300m dashes as well, the industry did not grind to a halt and in fact the races were pretty popular with good interest from a participation perspective and I think the turnover was good as well. It should be remembered the gallops can run 800m races but for the number of races they conduct we hardly see any.
3 Timing
This long term will be a bigger issue because harness has to fit into a bigger overall schedule including the 3 codes and a number of countries, there is already a major fight in the gallops where some states want to go back to 30 minute intervals others want to stay on 40. The fact is that when they tried the 30mins in Victoria recently with everyone else staying on the 40 mins split turnover overall went through the floor, we need to be careful. Across the world experts on wagering will tell you timing is everything. NSW harness racing is blessed in that regard because that is a field in which their CEO Sam Nati is an expert of the highest standard.
In relation to turnover and return to industry by the TAB, this is governed by an agreement that was worked out years ago based partly on approximation of turnover at the time. It is true that Harness is paid more than it produces and you would have to believe in the Easter Bunny if you think the other codes will continue to allow this to happen long term. Would Harness if it was earning more allow it, I think not.
The agreement called the Intracode is not easy to change but it will happen one day as surely as night follow day and harness needs to grow its turnover to ensure its returns.
Finally I am old enough to remember when Kerry Packer said we should play one day cricket in colored clothing, the establishment said it would not work, funny it did and now they have a found a new way to reinvent an old idea with 20X20 , already with a brand change to T20, again this will not work, try telling that to those playing in the Indian league or better still to their tax agents sure looks like its working to me.
Then we have Super League, god I hated it all these bloody stoppages so a bloke called the video ref can decide on a try I hated it because I was a traditionalist, now I love it and wonder how we ever decided on a try without it and yes I hate to admit it, it has added a new dimension to the game.
Does anyone honestly think Harness is going so well that some new dimensions might not help it
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