NSW- Metro Mares Only racing opportunities

[triplev123]

M0+ mares only races up until Novermber 30th, 2011 in NSW- 4. That's right. 4!!!!
October 8th, $16,000 M0 Mares Only at Menangle.
October 18th, $16,000 M0/M1 Mares Only at Menangle.
November 12th, $16,000 M0/M1 Mares Only at Menangle.
November 26th, $17,500 M0/M3 Mares Only at Menangle.

4 races out of a total of 30 Metro $$$ events carded.
50% of the horse population........ 13% of the races. :(

With all the forelock tugging & hand wringing that has gone on in recent times with both the various States and HRA's let's breed more horses, we need to get more foals on the ground routine...wouldn't you think that it would finally dawn on someone that the idea of simply breeding more foals...whilst at the same time not addressing, and in fact just continuing to ignore half of them by denying them reasonable racing opportunities against their own sex...is at the very least a pretty stupid approach?
What is the God damned point in increasing the Australian foal crop by a 1000 or so if 500 of them will be in the same boat as they are now? i.e. fillies & mares struggling for racing opportunities against their own sex and especially so mares at the upper end of the class spectrum, which are the very horses that should be encouraged to stay in the system for as long as possible.
Interestingly, in the same period as there are just 4 Metro $ races...there are, here in NSW, no fewer than 47 4yo+ C0's through to C4/5/6 type mares only events for the bread & butter $$$.
It's all well and good to work your way through those races when and if they stand up but there's a big ol' WTF coming your way when your mare is say a C6 M0 & looking for a shot at a Metro against other mares. If that's what you're looking for then apparently, you can go whistle Dixie.

[Bonnie]

M0+ mares only races up until Novermber 30th, 2011 in NSW- 4. That's right. 4!!!!
October 8th, $16,000 M0 Mares Only at Menangle.
October 18th, $16,000 M0/M1 Mares Only at Menangle.
November 12th, $16,000 M0/M1 Mares Only at Menangle.
November 26th, $17,500 M0/M3 Mares Only at Menangle.

4 races out of a total of 30 Metro $$$ events carded.
50% of the horse population........ 13% of the races. :(

With all the forelock tugging & hand wringing that has gone on in recent times with both the various States and also with HRA's let's breed more horses, we need to get more foals on the ground routine...wouldn't you think that it would finally dawn on someone that the idea of simply breeding more foals...whilst at the same time not addressing, and in fact just continuing to ignore half of them by denying them reasonable racing opportunities against their own sex...is at the very least a pretty stupid approach?
What is the God damned point in increasing the Australian foal crop by a 1000 or so if 500 of them will be in the same boat as they are now? i.e. fillies & mares struggling for racing opportunities against their own sex and especially so mares at the upper end of the class spectrum, which are the very horses that should be encouraged to stay in the system for as long as possible.
Interestingly, in the same period as there are just 4 Metro $ races...there are, here in NSW, no fewer than 47 4yo+ C0's through to C4/5/6 type events for the bread & butter $$$.
It's all well and good to work your way through those races when and if they stand up but there's a big ol' WTF coming your way when your mare is say a C6 M0 & looking for a shot at a Metro against other mares. If that's what you're looking for then apparently, you can go whistle Dixie.

Totally agree with your comments Jaimie. Same situation exists in Victoria. Here's the Metro Mares at Melton for the same period;

October 14. MO Mares only $ 20,000
October 28. MO/M1 Mares $15,000
November 4. MO/M3 Mares $20,000
November 19. MO/M1 Mares $15,000

We currently have 10 horses in work ; 9 fillies/mares and 1 gelding. As breeders we retain some fillies as future broodmares and endeavour to give them every opportunity on the race track. We have made numerous submissions to the powers that be at Harness Racing Victoria for a programming review to cut a better deal for the fairer sex. All to no avail! More opportunities for mares would result in a longer racing life, better stats against their broodmare page in the catalogue, and owners who will purchase yearling fillies at the sales.
Our two best mares are assessed M1 C9 and M3 C6. There are no country mares only races at this level and very limited Metro races as shown above. Why race them? For the love of the game and the enjoyment of being able to pursue our passion for these wonderful girls. However, I feel that a change in racing programming is long overdue to provide a fairer and more equitable prizemoney distribution.
It is worth mentioning that last November we purchased a mare at Harrisburg. She has had 7 starts in Victoria ( 6 against "the boys "). She had 42 starts in the USA and NEVER RACED ONCE AGAINST A COLT OR GELDING!

[triplev123]

G'day Anne,

Geeze, unfortunately you're no better off than we are up here then.
I just cannot fathom the thinking behind this almost mindless 'we must breed more foals' mantra as opposed to the more obvious approach of first at least seeking to make much, much better use of as many of those (as is physically possible) from that which we currently produce.
Not only is there a need for much more extensive fillies & mares only race programming/opportunities... but with it there is an absolutely desperate need to examine the entire handicapping system as well as the associated prizemoney distribution aspects thereof.
For mine, a magic wand waved would duly produce at the very least State based Centralised Programming using full-on Conditioned Racing principles & with an associated $$$ distribution system that worked from 50% of the purse to the winner downwards.
The fact that thinking participants continue to encounter so many administrative hurdles & road blocks in their efforts to promote the case for much if not all of the aforementioned is, in and of itself, quite damning evidence of just how far up their individual & collective backsides the heads of many of those in administration in this country have ventured.

[mightymo]

dont get me started!!

I like Anne race almost exclusively fillies. In recent times through my role on the breeders panel I have been pushing like crazy to get additional racing opportunities for fillies/mares at both a country and metropolitan level.

Handicappers tell us that whenever they programme these mares races they struggle to fill the fields. They would point to this Sat at Menangle where they only received 7 nominations for a Metropolitan maiden worth $16000.

The only "defence" I can think of , is at this time of year, a number of mares have been retired to stud and so there are less of them around. My counter argument would be that if there were more racing opportunities for fillies/mares to race against their own sex, then many of these mares would not be retired.

As a result of the lack of mares races, I am shortly sending Arctic Fire to race in the USA. She can race every week for 25-50K against mares only

I strongly suggest you write/email your state handicapper and express your concerns in writing. Eventually they may get the message! :):)

[Bonnie]

Hi Mightymo

We too have come up against the old argument that mares races don't stand up due to lack of nominations. This is a symtomatic problem caused by years of neglect and inaction on the part of race authorities. They must run some of these races with minimum field sizes to provide a starting point as an incentive to mare owners. With the provision of more races, less mares will be retired due to lack of opportunities and the racing pool will grow. Surely after all these years we deserve some consideration. Unfortunately, there is no quick fix ; just consistent programming to cater for mares.
In the field of human sports endeavour females are very rarely ( if at all ) expected to compete against their male counterparts!

[Flashing Red]

I would like to see more mares races too, but I understand the handicapper's comments (which are pretty much echoed in all states). Doesn't matter what time of year, most states struggle to get the numbers for mares only metropolitan races (even midweek mares country races sometimes too here in Qld). We don't have the same horse population as the USA. I raced one filly over there, it was so good to just have to race fillies week in week out. But they didn't struggle to fill mares fields. We do here.

Perhaps as you say Bonnie, the starting point is running with minimum field sizes for mares, just like the do with the FFA at Albion Park to give the good horses a run. It is all tied in with turnover too however - I can understand why handicappers want to run with a full 10 or 12 horse M0 field than a 5 horse mares field.

[Greg Hando]

If the races aren't programmed people wont keep mares in work to get the racing mare population up the races have to be programmed and run even if they lower the prizemoney until such time as full field's are achieved
if you want to promote a product you have to advertise it and if the product comes good then you make money