Cowra Harness Racing Club

[gregcattell]

WOW...Just absolutely stoked with the support the Harness Racing community has shown our little club...It is going to be a FANTASTIC day of racing at Cowra on Saturday 23/3/13....with a huge 10 RACES...First race @ 1pm...come & enjoy a great afternoon of racing plus Live Music trackside, plus free activities for the kids, jumping castle, Yoyo the face painting clown...Undercover betting, food & bar...

[broncobrad]

Hey Greg is Doug Lee still the President out there? He is still listed as that on the NRNSW website.

Hope you have a big day on Saturday, Blayney had a bottler the other week.

[Greg Hando]

Good fields for Cowra and good to see .These are the meetings HRNSW and those in power seem to want to get rid of and shift it all to regional centres and have been seemingly for a few year's now.These little clubs and the bush connection are what keep's our game going.Well done Cowra and it's worker's. No Doug is now domiciled in QLD.

[gregcattell]

no Doug moved to Queensland just before Xmas going great guns since the move

[broncobrad]

Yeah, last I heard he was looking to set up just south of Logan. He used the sprint lane beautifully at AP last week to get one home. Brought it up because he is still listed as the contact person for Cowra at the HRNSW website.

[Mitch]

Good fields for Cowra and good to see .These are the meetings HRNSW and those in power seem to want to get rid of and shift it all to regional centres and have been seemingly for a few year's now.These little clubs and the bush connection are what keep's our game going.Well done Cowra and it's worker's. No Doug is now domiciled in QLD.

Hi Greg, I'm curious to understand a bit more about how the 'bush connection' is keeping the game going? Last time I checked wagering turnover kept this Industry going.

[Danno]

Mitch,
there are a number of things that keep the game going, turnover is but one.

Owners pay for the horse and all it's not unsubstantial costs to get to the races, some people wear the cost of breeding their own, some people prefer to buy them at the yearling sales and pay then for the costs of breeding and rearing.
Owners also pay up for eligibility for races,vets,shoeing,transport,gear etc etc etc.

Sure we need turnover mate but if owners were not copping the cost of getting horses TO the races, their would be no races to generate turnover.

What Greg was saying I completely agree with, the "bush connection" he was refering to is the community spirit within harness racing which has been eroded since many tracks lost their licence to race through a "restructuring" initiative we "had to have" some years ago. The people who promoted this restructuring were warned at the time by many that it would shrink the game rather than help it grow and this has proven to be the case, both HRNSW and Victoria have realised this in recent years and are commendably making cautious moves to reverse it, in part at the very least.

This game like any other needs exposure and opportunity to flourish, the regional centralisation was reducing the population exposure to harness racing and hence reduced triggering interest in a percentage of those people and it was also reducing the opportunity to participate by the tyranny of distance.

So the bush connection Greg mentioned has been futher explained? I hope this has helped.

Cheers,
Dan

[HISGEN65]

g'day Greg
Good stuff mate..!!
I have been VP of the Marburg Pacing Assoc for several years now & "country" racing is awesome.
We get big crowds & everyone has a super day.
So mate I know first hand what sort of effort is put in by your club & all its volenteers to make these days happen..my hats off to ya's.
We have our big Easter race meeting coming up & we are all looking forward to another bumper event.

I have only recently met Doug & he seems like a top bloke.
Actually he drove a couple of my no-hopers last weekend

[HISGEN65]

Hi Greg, I'm curious to understand a bit more about how the 'bush connection' is keeping the game going? Last time I checked wagering turnover kept this Industry going.

Mitch...country racing is the gateway for alot of new prospective participants...so they may not contribute to keeping the industry going on a monetary level as such but contributes greatly in many other areas

[Mitch]

Mitch,
there are a number of things that keep the game going, turnover is but one.

Owners pay for the horse and all it's not unsubstantial costs to get to the races, some people wear the cost of breeding their own, some people prefer to buy them at the yearling sales and pay then for the costs of breeding and rearing.
Owners also pay up for eligibility for races,vets,shoeing,transport,gear etc etc etc.

Sure we need turnover mate but if owners were not copping the cost of getting horses TO the races, their would be no races to generate turnover.

What Greg was saying I completely agree with, the "bush connection" he was refering to is the community spirit within harness racing which has been eroded since many tracks lost their licence to race through a "restructuring" initiative we "had to have" some years ago. The people who promoted this restructuring were warned at the time by many that it would shrink the game rather than help it grow and this has proven to be the case, both HRNSW and Victoria have realised this in recent years and are commendably making cautious moves to reverse it, in part at the very least.

This game like any other needs exposure and opportunity to flourish, the regional centralisation was reducing the population exposure to harness racing and hence reduced triggering interest in a percentage of those people and it was also reducing the opportunity to participate by the tyranny of distance.

So the bush connection Greg mentioned has been futher explained? I hope this has helped.

Cheers,
Dan

Dan,

In many respects I agree with you, and let me say upfront I am a huge fan of country racing. It's what I grew up with and I will always support it.

I do think we need to look very, very differently at the strategic framework of harness racing if the sport is to remain commercial. Everyone keeps talking up participant growth as the key stimulator. As controversial as this may sound I have a different view. Previously I have supported the view of increased participation.

Simply put our number one priority must be to increase wagering turnover. It is the main source of revenue for prize money and without prize money why would we race?
To do this we need to think about who we are competing against for wagering revenue. When the trots were in their glory days throughout the 70's and 80's sports betting was not a competitor. Times have changed. Sports betting is a major competitor to harness racing from a wagering perspective and is currently much more appealing to a lot of punters.

We need to drastically improve the appeal of the harness product to prospective punters. This can only be achieved through changing some of things that are very sentimental to a lot of participants and very much part of the tradition of harness racing. Until the administrators of our sport realise this and execute such change we will continue to struggle.

Breeding schemes, ID formats, Import Fees & the experience of country racing are all band aid solutions to a much bigger core issue.

I have a view that we need to focus on quality not quantity on two fronts. Firstly race drivers, we can't continue to let incompetent & hobby drivers drive at metropolitan meetings. Smart & professional punters will simply avoid these races as it presents too much risk. I would like to see some new rules & licensing introduced that only allows professionally accredited drivers to drive at metro meetings. Similar to the t/breds we should have 2 days per week that are set aside for metro meetings and get the big states to align on programming meetings that support each other. Just like the thoroughbreds have metro meetings every Wed & Sat in capital cities, I would like to see a similar routine in harness racing where every Tuesday night & Friday night their are metro meetings at Menangle, Melton, GP, Albion Park & Globe Derby.
Secondly we need to focus on race programming that helps both sexes prolong and maximise their race careers in the most competitive way possible. We need to look at more revolutionary options outside of class racing, conditioned races etc. To achieve this it may mean less race meetings and less overall races to start with.

This can be achieved without alienating or removing the hobbyist component of our sport and still allow country racing to have a very important footprint.

You only have to look at the evolution and revolution of every other major sport in Australia and consider what it looked like 30 years ago and what it looks like today. Harness racing is stuck in the past and until that changes not much else will. Controversial? yes.

Mitch.

[Mitch]

And for the record I do genuinely hope the Cowra meetings is extremely successful tomorrow for all involved.

[Danno]

Mitch,
at least you are thinking mate, as a matter of fact, there is merit in some of your "controversial" views, but without going into a long winded reply, I believe one of the biggest things that has hampered our game in the last 25 years is the demise of our free news coverage, think about this mate, the thorougbreds are getting heaps of coverage like they always have, once upon a time trotting ( thats right the "red hots") had similar space in our dailies and similar numbers of specialist writers/journos.

Sure the gallopers are not imune to the battle for the entertainment/punting dollar, but they are travelling a bucket load better than we are!!

Have the gallopers introduced rules banning amateur jockeys?

Have they changed the distances, starting methods, qualification criteria etc for their feature races?

Have they adopted dog style numbers for even one millisecond??

No mate they have done none of these things, because they are still getting plenty of free coverage, which in itself generates interest and the income that flows from that.

a bit of food for thought Mitch,

Cheers,
Dan

[gregcattell]

Mitch,
where do you think these so called professional drivers learnt to drive, same place as hobby drivers on provincial & country tracks

[gregcattell]

Cowra had a fantastic day of racing today...the sun was shining...the crowd was plentiful...& the track was on fire, with 2 track records being broken...BIG thank you goes out to all the industry participants who supported our meeting today...We had a lot of first timers in the crowd, who had such a great time, they were asking when the next meeting was happening, because they would most definately be there....A lot of hard work goes into putting on a meeting that caters for more than just TAB turnover...a country event that involves the whole community, gets them away from the television, out into the sunshine to enjoy a day out with family & friends

[Mitch]

Mitch,
where do you think these so called professional drivers learnt to drive, same place as hobby drivers on provincial & country tracks

And that alone keeps the game going? C'mon Greg! Anyway I get your point and its a valid one. I absolutely agree that one of the important roles country racing plays is the recruitment and development of new talent, both training & driving.

Glad your meeting went well today.

[eliteblood]

I absolutely agree that one of the important roles country racing plays is the recruitment and development of new talent, both training & driving.



More than that, it is the involvement of new people and the potential attraction of new owners. A strong presence in the country is critical for the overall health of the industry IMO

[broncobrad]

Those of us who live in the bush or rural areas know exactly where you are coming from Greg. Hard working committees, volunteers, family and friends provide community events that bring both racing and non-racing patrons to these meetings. Sure, you can measure the success of such days by turnover if the numbers need to be crunched, but the mere fact that crowds turn out in their droves for more than just the punt is a better measure. If you were to compare the crowd numbers with the entire population of the district to the metrop meeting crowds versus the metropolitan area you would gain a better understanding of these meetings and their importance and value within the local social calendars.

My last recollection of a Cowra meeting was loading up a couple of slow conveyances from Parkes back in the 90's that duly ran accordingly but their presence helped the club field a good card. We knew we had no chance but we were still supporting the club. That's community spirit.

Glad to hear the day was a great success.

[Greg Hando]

Hi Greg, I'm curious to understand a bit more about how the 'bush connection' is keeping the game going? Last time I checked wagering turnover kept this Industry going.

Mitch go to HRNSW website and check out the premiership standings so far for this season and have a look at how many trainers and drivers cut their teeth west of the mountains or are still training/driving from the country areas, now take them off the lists and see what you have left. Not many at all. This is what i mean by keeping the game going. Also horses to race take the little people out and you don't have an industry.

[Greg Hando]

Brad which leach do you belong to Rawson or Dick ? or neither.

[Mitch]

Mitch go to HRNSW website and check out the premiership standings so far for this season and have a look at how many trainers and drivers cut their teeth west of the mountains or are still training/driving from the country areas, now take them off the lists and see what you have left. Not many at all. This is what i mean by keeping the game going. Also horses to race take the little people out and you don't have an industry.

Fair point, agree. I interpreted 'keeping the game going' more from a commercial perspective.