No HRA support for the proposed National Owners Forum for the Future
Part 1
This is the disappointing news for the www.equineexcellence.biz clients concerned for the future of Harness Racing in Australia and simply wanting the opportunity to formally meet with other owners in a National Forum to discuss major issues and to help resolve them
HRA Chief Executive Mr Andrew Kelly politely advised on July 1st that such a Forum did not have the support of Harness Racing Australia
Apologies in advance for this very lengthy assessment but it is necessary to cover a lot of factual ground to convey the rationale for my thoughts in regards the HRA decision
If you are interested pour yourself a very stiff scotch and read on!
In May 2014 the highly respected USA Harness Racing Journalist and razor sharp strategic thinker Dean Towers wrote an opinion piece for Harness Racing Update entitled “The disconnect between the rank and file and the alphabets (basic principles of industry leadership)”
Towers lamented how industry leadership in the USA stifles industry prosperity and identified that it is a “cultural” issue with “top brass” management that has inhibited harness racing’s success in that country
He summed up this article with his belief that if the gap between those who paid to provide the sport (owners) and those managing the sport (rewarded administrators) could not be bridged good ideas that could help the sport flourish would continue to die when sent “upstairs”
Harness Racing in both the USA and Australia has been going backwards for more than three decades and as is the case in any business the management must take full responsibility for this decline
It was disappointing but not surprising to receive the “no support” decision from Australia’s peak body for the National Owners Forum for the Future “idea”
Their decision confirms that the same “cultural disconnect” between the leadership and those that pay the bills (owners) is alive and well in this country
Please forgive my reluctant indulgence but to set the scene for my assessment of this decision I need to go back in time to 1972 when I was appointed to the position of Public Relations and Promotions Manager for the South Australian Trotting Club
I was accountable to grow attendances, wagering, sponsorship and media coverage for the metropolitan Club which at that time raced on a small 600 metre track located on the edge of the City at the Wayville Showgrounds, together with the fledgling Globe Derby Park which was some of the SATC leadership’s “vision” for future prosperity
There was no doubting that the very small Wayville track represented an unsafe workplace for reins persons as well as horses and that the public facilities at the Showgrounds were fast reaching their use buy date
But the location and atmosphere created a strong customer product offer with Saturday night crowds regularly upwards of 5,000
Mid week country front race meetings had commenced at Globe Derby Park three years earlier and as the planned shift from Wayville drew closer reservations about the wisdom of the out of town, Globe Derby Park location at Bolivar, were emerging
Globe Derby Park was situated in a wasteland adjacent to a sewerage works on the northern outskirts, seventeen kilometres from the CBD with no transport links and inconvenient to more than three quarters of Adelaide’s population
It was close to what was designated as a future population growth corridor (Sound familiar!)
Like most Committees/Boards where a few hold the real power, and most of the rest just nod this was the case with the SATC committee back then
The push for the Globe Derby Park “vision” was said to have come mainly from a couple of committee power brokers with business interests on the northern outskirts of Adelaide
Given there was some negativity building in regards to the Globe Derby Park location I decided to check the pulse of a cross section of those involved in the sport
A couple of Saturday nights was spent in the crowded betting ring at Wayville researching the opinions regarding the move amongst both “industry connected” punters and regular and occasional “fan” punters
A hundred or so punters were interviewed
No issues with the move amongst the vast majority of “industry connected” punters but major negatives surfaced amongst the regular “fan” punters
They were strongly attracted to racing at Wayville because of the convenient, easy to access location, regular train and bus services together with ancillary after the races entertainment options five minutes away in the City
Around eighty percent of these regular fans customers (“fans”) said they would attend the out of town Bolivar location less often and about one third of these said they would not attend at all
The views of trainers and drivers (many of whom were paid for their participation) were sought followed by the owners (those who pay to make the sport possible) large and small
The former group were overwhelmingly in support – the majority lived north of Adelaide and the convenience of Globe Derby Park together with its training facilities were understandably a huge plus for them
Like the punters the owner’s reaction was mixed and was dependant on how far they lived from Globe Derby Park and where their trainers and horses were located
The further away and more affluent the suburb in which they lived the greater the negative reaction
Again this response was driven by the convenience factor but also an “image” issue associated with moving from the city “showgrounds” to a metropolitan fringe waste land location close to a major sewerage plant plus their usual habit of a quick trip into the city to celebrate a win or take in a late night after the races dinner
The owner’s response was around 60:40 against the move of City race meetings out to Globe Derby Park
These findings were conveyed to the SATC committee but they were ignored
As a result I resigned from the SATC effective from the final meeting held at the Wayville Showgrounds
I believed a move to this particular location would be detrimental to the sports customer (“fan”) popularity and owner involvement and hence there would be little chance of achieving the marketing and promotion results I was accountable to deliver
The self interested and ego driven Club power brokers totally ignored the needs and wants of harness racing’s critical core customer (“fan”) base and all important owners – they knew better
Well they didn’t and as a result the SATC committee decision to proceed with the Globe Derby Park location for its metropolitan headquarters set the course for the decimation of Harness Racing in South Australia
It is no accident, just incompetence and a lack of “real vision” that the sport in SA has plummeted from being a one time successful leader to now being harness racing’s version of “The Men’s shed”
The worst decision in S.A’s harness racing history was made by a small insider power group on the basis of nothing more than an inward industry focus, subjective opinion, self interest and ego
There was no customer or owner focussed research that supported their decision which has resulted in the slow but inevitable and terminal decline of South Australian harness racing
Overall when inflation is taken account total stake money offered in S.A today is less than what it was twenty five years ago
Foal registrations in 2011 – 12 were 949 (87%) 138 less than the 1087 foals registered in 1973 – the year metropolitan racing moved to Globe Derby Park
Most of the professional trainers have been forced to move to Victoria as it was not financially viable to remain in their home state
South Australia faces the very real prospect of not having enough participants let alone horses for the sport to continue for another decade unless massive decisions are taken yesterday