Originally Posted by
Triple V
VVV- Trish, I can immediately read one extremely significant positive into that PDF.
The Named Horses figure as it directly relates to annual foaling numbers and in turn Industry wastage.
We are breeding far, far fewer horses than we ever were 35+ years ago HOWEVER at the same time it is a FACT that we are conducting significantly MORE races than we did 35+ years ago.
This is because the horses we are breeding these days are sired by infinitely better class/quality stallions than were ever even dreamed of being available in the past, the foals by those sires are... I suspect to the surprise of nobody who's been paying attention...getting to the races in vastly greater %'s, age wise they are getting there earlier across the board & consequently they are having MORE RACE STARTS LIFETIME than their predecessors could ever have dreamed of.
That there are fewer Trainers & Drivers now than there were 35+ years ago merely reflects ongoing Industry changes from a large number/greater % of part-time/Hobby trainer/drivers to a smaller number/ greater % of more full-time participants. I hesitate to use the word 'rationalisation' however, like the number of small tracks throughout the State being closed down and the Industry moving to a focus on fewer but larger Regional Centre operations (Menangle/Goulburn/Bathurst/Newcastle/Tamworth)...trainer/driver numbers, like tracks and foal numbers, are not immune to rationalisation as a result of financial pressures/constraints. How would you like to have another 7000 odd foals across Australia out there looking for someone to shell out their hard earned, a % of those at the sales & others privately, to buy and pay to have trained and subsequently...looking for somewhere to race?
At one stage there not so many years ago we had 16 mares. We saw the writing on the wall and to remain a part of the Industry we loved so much we cut our cloth to suit the returns, we're back to 5 now, probably drop one more off/not replace her over the next few years.
It is what it is, the basic financial fundamentals of remaining part of the show are what they are.
Even now the Australian & NZ Breeding Industries produce more foals each year than there are Owners out there who are willing to shell out to buy, train and race.
Hand in hand with the above...the lack of Owners is in now way assisted by the really spineless efforts of recent times that have occurred on behalf of a great many Trainers. These are blokes who are at the coal face and who, despite being much more aware than most of the shrinking pool of Owners out there and becoming aware of the Owner pool dwindling much sooner than anyone else, still steadfastly refuse to put their hands into their own pockets and own shares in the horses that they train. They are of course more than happy to fire off their monthly accounts... but as far as sharing even a part of the risk they expect their Owners to take on...by and large they are notably gun shy.
If a Trainer doesn't show some faith in their own Industry, faith in their own product, faith in that which puts food on their table by way of taking a piece of each horse than enters their stable...it's more than a bit rich for them to nevertheless expect Owners to do so.
There are some VERY notable exceptions of course...however they are unfortunately very few and far between.
Interestingly those few and far between Trainers are often more successful than most BUT also inexplicably critiqued by their contemporaries...often whilst said critics stand at the bar at the Yearling Sales, a can of Jimmy in hand and waiting, like a Venus Fly Trap...for some poor unsuspecting bastard to wander by and drop a horse or two into their lap.
All this makes me think of a short story. In response to a journalist suggesting he had been lucky throughout his career, the late, great 5 time Little Brown Jug winning Trainer, Billy Haughton was quoted as saying "The harder I work, the luckier I get". That's been used many times by many different people...but always to the same end. We all need to take a leaf out of Billy's book.
A good many people in this very much loved Industry of ours simply need to quit their bitching and moaning and groaning, pick their battles and otherwise just get on with it. There are a dozen or more things that I would change if I could. I would fight 20 battles plus a day if I had the time & the inclination. I like a good old stoush more than most & way more than I should. I have found one thing to be true however. There's more than one way to skin a cat. If you want to kick the chairs out from under those you believe to be cheating, very little is to be gained by running the Industry down here in a public forum. You need to be a little bit more creative.
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