I know everyone on this forum is concerned primarily about what is happening in their own backyard which is fair enough.
Here in the Hunter Valley we have, for quite some time had a super trainer and driver combination in our midst which is, in my humble opinion, gradually and unwittingly killing the game in our area.
Each week there are basically 1.5 meetings in the Hunter and one stable is taking approximately 50% of the winners purses home.
When you consider that the number of trainers\stables in the area and the number of horses in those yards and the number of owners paying up for those horses and that they are now effectively sharing 50% of the spoils when they had previously contested 100% of that pie, it's not easy to see why we are struggling to fill fields.
I know some exceptionally intelligent person is going to say something like " if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen" but hey EIP, it's not quite that simple!!
We are seeing horses that improve virtually overnight for this super trainer and driver combination not just occasionally, but VERY frequently and I'm not into bagging people, that's not what this post is about, I am genuinely concerned about the future of the game if this one stable dominance continues...how long does it take before so many people get sick of perceived reductions of potential purses that they decide to give the game away and go racing ferrets??
I believe HRNSW is aware the situation here is imperfect, I believe they have made attempts to correct it, I also believe that so far, they have failed..........damned if I know what the answer is, but as a trainer/driver/owner/breeder/ local harness committee man
who has been involved in this silly game we play for over 45 years....I've just about had a gutful, and please don't take this as "sour grapes"..... in my time I've seen the swings and roundabouts of this game many, many times.
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