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I can't believe i'm about to agree with Greg Hayes, under the n.s.w structure i think it is an absolute disgrace. Surely they must be joking right ?
It seems while I was sleeping Greg Hayes has somehow warped my brain and stolen my thoughts.
http://www.harnesslink.com/www/Article.cgi?ID=90553
I'd almost give the article a 10/10 but now I got Say it aint so Joe stuck in my head.
I can't believe i'm about to agree with Greg Hayes, under the n.s.w structure i think it is an absolute disgrace. Surely they must be joking right ?
I hope they are joking. Totally agree with the article. If the powers to be think the ID is no longer viable then cease the series. Do not cheapen it and turn it into something it isn't.
I like Hayes, always have, and while I don't always agree with him he puts his views across from the heart. I can see exactly where he is coming from here in this latest commentary, it has long been his often repeated position however I think he might have gotten one aspect of this a little wrong.
I'm aware of the basics of the proposed conditions & nowhere does it actually guarantee each State & NZ a starter. Rather, what it does it that it guarantees the winners of designated races in each State & NZ a start...and that's something very different. A VIC trained horse can still go to QLD and win such a race. A WA horse can still score in VIC, a TAS horse in NSW, a Kiwi horse in SA or whatever.
As I understand this proposal has been loosely based on an extension of / alteration to the previously employed 'points earned in other GC races' concept. In effect it's going to become an Australasian Grand Circuit Championship where the 'Heats' will be the designated races in each State & NZ and it'll culminate in the Final at Menangle. Personally, I think it's a pretty good idea.
Myself i like the 3 heat's and then the final, i like seeing all the top horses go at it for a couple of wks. If n.s.w think they have the best track why not use it.
If heats are on at different day/week then that is stupid as some can go around chasing and lose out once but get a 2nd chance against a different batch of horses; it isnt even (or designed evenly)for all horses. If they are on at the same time then it may not be about the best horse but rather the best placed horse.Originally Posted by triplev123
Still don't like it!
My thoughts exactly , mango. Surely if it did go ahead in the style proposed by HRNSW , then it would be a travesty to still call it by the title "Interdominion" , with all the history that comes with that.
Regarding Hayes and his often self-important opinions on harness racing matters, I will not make any comment as I might get a bit carried away. However , others may feel the need to always take what he says as gospel , not me ;-)
Bring back the three heats and the final. It separated the men from the boys! Anyone who thinks the modern horses can't do it should watch the 3yos on Jug Day! Racing 2 sometimes 3 times in the one day, with times never slower than about 52 for the colts, all on a half mile track! Good on WA for reverting back to the original format!
I always find it fascinating how so many people in the Harness Racing Industry are taken aback by those who feel it neccessary to stridently express their views about where the Industry has been, where it is at present and where it should be headed in the future.
I've been watching these absolutely wonderful Standardbreds of ours go around since back when I wasn't tall enough to see over the outside fence & was of an age where I didn't have to worry about going to school the next day if we got home late from a Sunday meeting...and little has changed in the ensuing 38 odd years as far as the way in which the Industry meets change.
Whenever they're confronted by views that are a little outside the square...there has always existed a widespread desire to turn a blind eye and pretend it is not happening and so continue to live in a state of blissful ignorance...and woe betide the messenger of anything and everything that did not allow this situation to continue ad infinitum.
It is true that Hayes balances rather beautifully upon the fence in respect of a great deal of the above and a great deal of the time too because while he is quite forward thinking in many areas he's also back with the Dinosaurs in some others, with this particular ID discussion IMO being a very good example thereof.
Nevertheless I can't pot the guy the forthrightness of his views and I will take his part when anyone lines up on the guy personally. We all see things through our own individual prisms and IMO if we had more people that were as passionate about things as he is then I'd be pretty damned pleased about it let me tell you.
The simple answer to the question that Hayes and others pose as to why the ID needs to undergo some level of change, in this instance a quite substantial level of change, is the same basic answer to question of why the thankfully now defunct NSW Sires Stakes needed to be given the rocket...IT WAS NO LONGER WORKING. The ID Brand was also NO LONGER WORKING.
Perhaps, if I have my understanding of the new/proposed format right, GC races effectively being Heats leading up to a GC/ID Final at Menangle will work a treat, perhaps for reasons unforseen it won't. We'll know in due course & it will not be the end of the world that some are painting the finding out period to be. One thing is for sure, doing nothing & leaving it basically rudderless as it is now...will definitely see us preside over the ID's demise.
What is the point of tending for a series that gives the races away to other states and countries I don't get it they would be better of not bidding and making their own series, I don't like it one bit but I'm a bit of a traditionalist I like the boxing day test to be on boxing day I like the Melbourne Cup run on the first Tuesday of November and I like the Inter Dominion run the old way three heats and a final. I might take me old claimer down to Globe Derby and hope for an incident and make a Inter final wouldn't that make for excitement in the final if that happened a couple of times a couple of flogged out claimer racing for a million dollars. Give it up its has to be a joke it's not April 1st again Aussiebreno LOL
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