I'm on a hiding to nothing Greg.
Agree with HRNSW when they have good ideas and I'm a Stooge. Disagree with their bad ideas & I'm a Knocker.
You see, for mine...the fact is that a 'new' idea does not automatically = a good idea.
I have always held this very same position re the COT Rule. It was, is and will forever remain a nothing short of ridiculous imposition on all concerned. Furthermore, this recent addition is a tacit admission that not only has the much vaunted COT rule ( which incidentally has been repeatedly & incorrectly applied here in NSW) proven to be a huge waste of time & effort insofar as its original intention of curbing team driving was concerned...it apparently now needs the addition of this rather absurd Pre Race Interview of Trainers routine in order to give it a spine...and guess what?
The travesty is that they'll still not manange to bring team driving to hand.
You know why?
It is because the ONLY thing that ever brings this sort of thing to hand are Stewards who know what they're looking at who jump on any and all such cases and duly hand out heavy fines & significant time on the sidelines. Financial penalties will carry the day.
Broadcasting the gear changes & COT's and putting it about that the Stewards will be pre race interviewing Trainers with multiple starters in a given race re: their intentions etc. will do nothing. These & other such rules which are slowly but surely being put in place will increasingly allow for the partial and perhaps ultimately the total obfiscation of sound Stewarding practices & responsibilities.
Perhaps it is simply a direct response to the widely acknowledged generally shallow nature of Stewarding talent pool here in Australia?
We've got automated betting machines.
One wonders how long it will be before we write the rules in such a way that no thought or feel for racing is required and we get ourselves 'an automated Steward'...perhaps one along the lines of 'Dexter' from Perfect Match?