The broodmare nominations for the Aust.Breeders Crown close on Sept 1 each year and it is the first step in making your resultant foal ABC eligible. I nominated 16 pregnant mares @ a cost of $38.50 each and received the invoice from HRV in the first week of November. In the interim period between nomination and invoice the mares have started foaling and unfortunately we lost 3 foals at birth and HRV have the mares recorded as having dead foals.
I am still required to make the $38.50 payment for each of these DEAD foals to make them eligible for the ABC ! HRV advised me that they use these funds to 'top up' the pool and if they waived the nomination payments for dead foals they could not sustain the ABC prize money. I was flippantly told that it is ' only a nominal payment ' . It is morally wrong to expect payment for something that doesn't exist , will never race at all, let alone in the ABC. It is heartbreaking to lose a foal, help the mare get over her grief and nurse her back to health without additional angst.