The ASBP Report: How can they be serious? Bad news for harness owners

[mango]

I think it just goes to show people prefer to buy going horses if anything, breeding and buying yearling's isn't for everyone.

[The Big Mile]

WA is a particularly bad example TBM.
Vested Interests in WA Harness Racing saw to it that their State's Breeding Industry was destroyed and now their racing relies almost entirely upon a veritable river of high priced ready mades from NZ. Certain persons over there should hang their God damned heads in shame. Gloucester Park should be renamed Alexandra Park West or maybe Cambridge on the Swan.

Particularly bad? I think it shows that without Kiwi imports, they would be struggling big time. In fact you would think that it is only been Kiwi imports that have saved the product over there.

Did the Sires Stakes series fall over because of lack of patronage from local owners?

[mightymo]

Last night at Gloucester Park for their metro meeting 46% of horses were NZ'ers.

Take them out, you have no meeting = no turnover = no returns to the industry.

Take Take out half of the NZ'ers and you have 2.5 less races = less turnover = less returns to the industry.

MENANGLE tonight:

40% of all runners were NZ'ers. Take them out, no metro meeting conducted.

MENANGLE Tuesday:

39% of runners were ex NZ'ers. Take them out, no meeting conducted.

MENANGLE Monday:

27% of runners ex NZ'ers. Take them out, no meeting conducted.

The Ex-Kiwis would appear to be fairly important to our racing it seems like.

The Big Mile

In trying to prove your point, you have actually highlighted the major problem our industry is facing and which the panel tried to address - lack of foals being born in Aust!!!!

Forget everything the panel has put forward, and starting from scratch, how would you and others address this situation?

[aussiebreno]

7800 being born @ 49% making it to the races. So 3822 make it to races. There is enough 2yo and 3yo racing imo; those fields always stand up and the smaller fields can be blamed on not as many make it to the races. So lets say the racing pool is made up of 4, 5 and 6yos. Thats 3822 x 3 = 11466 horses in our racing crop.
There is say 5 meetings a day x 8 races x 10horses x 363 days = 145200.
Horses divided by spots needing to be filled = The average 4, 5, 6yo only needs to be having 13 starts a year to fill our fields.

Those figures are guesstimates.

I don't believe the problem is lack of foals.
Retention of horses racing? Standardbreds are very capable of having 13 starts a year; a hell of a lot would double or triple; even quadruple this quota.
So why aren't horses racing? Not good enough? Lack of prizemoney? We need to program for lesser class of horses? Excusing the odd exception are there to many breeders breeding rubbish and then wondering why they can't break 2.10? Costs to high for horses once they are in training?

If you can't win races with horses in our market; or the ones winning aren't for sale, then of course you are going to go to NZ.
Are the influx of NZ horses ruining careers? Well programme more races for lesser class horses. Do we have the prizemoney for that? Maybe not, and if so then we have the right amount of horses as it is.

[mightymo]

"Excusing the odd exception are there to many breeders breeding rubbish and then wondering why they can't break 2.10? "

This is a very real issue - the fact that breeders cant breed competitive horses at the dollar value they have to spend. As a result they are simply not breeding. In allowing open books we have greatly improved the breed but at a cost, and the gulf between the lesser bred ones and the better bred ones has increased dramatically causing people to just give it away.

[mightymo]

Take a look at menangle next week - there are 3 races with only 8 starters, and 2 with 9 starters - why are they not full fields? They have the best prizemoney and the best handicapping conditions.

We need full, and competitive fields to maximise TAB turnover.

Irrespective of how you view any of the panel recommendations, the one irrefutable fact is the fact that our racing population is dwindling and each day there are fields that are not full, and that is something we need to address, and quickly.

Some of you might suggest we should give a subsidy to bringing NZ horses over... that might help things in the short term, but would not provide a sustainable long term solution. Like it or not, we do need to get more foals(and better bred ones) on the ground. Id like to know how we can do that.

[aussiebreno]

"Excusing the odd exception are there to many breeders breeding rubbish and then wondering why they can't break 2.10? "

This is a very real issue - the fact that breeders cant breed competitive horses at the dollar value they have to spend. As a result they are simply not breeding. In allowing open books we have greatly improved the breed but at a cost, and the gulf between the lesser bred ones and the better bred ones has increased dramatically causing people to just give it away.

Yes and $150 in credits for a mares lifetime is not going to stop this.
And they are part of the 51% that don't make it to races. What about retaining the 49% of those that do make it to the races?

[eliteblood]

This is a very real issue - the fact that breeders cant breed competitive horses at the dollar value they have to spend. As a result they are simply not breeding. In allowing open books we have greatly improved the breed but at a cost, and the gulf between the lesser bred ones and the better bred ones has increased dramatically causing people to just give it away.

That is very very true Mightymo. The Art Major's, Bettors Delight's, Mach Three's and Christian Cullen's are totally dominating. Many, many breeders cannot afford to breed to these sires but cannot afford not to.

[triplev123]

Particularly bad? I think it shows that without Kiwi imports, they would be struggling big time. In fact you would think that it is only been Kiwi imports that have saved the product over there.

Did the Sires Stakes series fall over because of lack of patronage from local owners?

Yes, particularly bad...particularly bad with bells on, a whistle, a novelty sound for the horn, a Fox tail on the aerial & a large rear-view mirror with a nice fuzzy purple Gonk attached. That's how bad. You're given to railing againts vested interests if, when and as you see them, you've made those calls with regard to various aspects of the Industry in the past...and good for you by the way. Well, in WA, under pressure from a small group of big $ spending vested interests in that part of the world, a combination of both active and passive lack of intent on behalf of WA Administration saw to it that...rather than $$$ being directed to where it would have done more longer term good by way of bolstering a strong local breeding Industry (ala the NSW Breeders Challenge system, VicBred & so on)...the WA Breeding Industry went to Hell in a hand-cart. Like it or not, those are the facts of the matter.
Painting the rafts of ready mades from NZ as though they rode over the hill as the saviours of WA Harness Racing is akin to admiration shown for the bandages worn by someone that quite intentionally shot themselves in the foot.

[mightymo]

Yes and $150 in credits for a mares lifetime is not going to stop this.
And they are part of the 51% that don't make it to races. What about retaining the 49% of those that do make it to the races?

Breno - stop complaining and actually add something constructive. you are in charge. What are you going to do to improve the situation....give us something useful