Well said Dan.
G'day Trish, there are many leaving now but for current reasons, many of which were brought about by the "centralisation" garbage....some were simply exacerbated by it....but it remains a fact in any walk of life, if you seek to shrink something.....you WILL succeed when your competitors are seeking to grow. This silly game was grown through everyday people having fun and engaging lots of other everyday people along the way, it's never succeeded at being elitist, it's never succeeded by going to the "dogs" The game is NOT about breeders getting wealthy off their investments...sure there have been a few isolated cases that do not fit that mould, but they are not "the norm" One of the problems this game has at the moment is too many people trying to make a living off it.....that in itself can be a corrupting factor for both participants AND administrators.
Well said Dan.
Hi Pat,
You're right, sadly, about the days of the odd old codger owning a horse by himself or breeding one are fading fast, that era is over. And I think that is a big part of the problem; many moons ago I was a young codger nineteen to be exact a regular trot goer not harness racing as called today who got very sick of doing my hard earned at the red hots every week so I thought if I couldn't beat them I'd join them. Applied for an owner/trainer permit, bought myself a cheap, experienced horse and went along for a fantastic ride. Didn't know too much about training a horse but my old mate (horse) taught me a hell of a lot only won a couple of good country races but was regularly placed in the city, paid for his purchase price many times over.
None of that today, racing is regulated to the hilt any new owners want to see their horse yep on a certain day at a certain time don't turn up you will miss out and you soon realize no hands on here it's exactly as you say, make friends within the ownership go to the races have a few drinks together and hope for a winner exciting I don't think so. Honestly, if any new owners knew how much more exciting it was in the bygone era they wouldn't be in the least bit interested today. The concerted effort to attract a younger clientele has been happening for a while now in WA with limited success. The regular race goers are just that regular not a lot of attraction for a younger enthusiast with all the other avenues of entertainment open to them.
I am not an optimist when it comes to future harness racing in some states in Australia particularly when there appears a more concerted push for greyhound racing. Sadly I never thought I'd see the day when greyhounds would displace harness racing for second spot in the racing codes. I just hope administrations and governments can get together with honesty and work out what is best for the industry.
I believe there have been a couple of stallions up for sale in NSW and VIC of late as well. Bonavista Bay, Ifihadyourluck and there may have been one other which was a giveaway.