Originally Posted by
triplev123
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.