Horsham Cup this Sunday Jan 10

[Messenger]

A bit of a twilight meeting with the actual cup not until 6.07pm
A sunny day in the mid 30's is expected
$70k is bloody good money. I reckon you may have got the same field for half that but half the field is grand circuit quality so maybe not.
The trotters cup is for $20k

http://www.harness.org.au/fields.cfm?mc=HS100116&fromstate=vic

[Fan of Jate]

Yes, it is good money but about par for a group 2 race, the Ballarat cup is $120,000 Group 1 and the SA Pacing Cup Group 1 is $100,000. The Horsham cup field actually looks a bit stronger to me at first look especially as there are a couple of M0's in the SA cup field but I could easily be corrected on that.

[Messenger]

You're right Pat, I suppose it is simply my bias toward Stawell - thinking of it as more of a harness centre than Horsham even though Horsham has the population. When you get Gp2 status for your cup you are not going to give it up but I wouldn't mind seeing Horsham put some money aside to develop a dining facility - in this day and age I think the lack of one is pretty ordinary. Being a Pokies joint one would almost have expected it to be a given

[Amlin]

Unfortunate (moreso for Adelaide) that the Horsham and SA Cup races fall on the same weekend - there are 51 other weekends in the year after all!


And the Mount Gambier meeting run two nights later which suffered with entries.


Here is a chance to reminisce - the last Horsham Cup run at night on the old Showgrounds.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXNRgh1W8Oo

[Adaptor]

The last Horsham Cup at the Showgrounds...That's a good one Kyle.
Who was the race-caller?

In the shake-up of cup dates caused by the Miracle Mile and Interdominion date changes, the original date for the Petstock Bendigo Cup would have been the same night as the SA Cup.
February 13 looks to be a much better date for Bendigo's Cup. Good that BHRC agreed to the change.

[Fan of Jate]

The planning does not seem brilliant, as Amlin pointed out the obvious, there are plenty of other weekends that could have been used for the cup races and the fields would be stronger most probably bringing in a bigger crowd and more money into the clubs pockets.

[Amlin]

The planning does not seem brilliant, as Amlin pointed out the obvious, there are plenty of other weekends that could have been used for the cup races and the fields would be stronger most probably bringing in a bigger crowd and more money into the clubs pockets.



You should be on one of the boards Pat!

[Fan of Jate]

Kyle, I have made my thoughts clear to some of the people running the show/s but some are still stuck in the old days and ways and have the hearing aids turned off. Having said that, some of the clubs are very progressive and do set things up right and do try to get a good crowd in. But if you don't plan properly you don't make money and we know what happens after that. Kevin has clearly highlighted one way to bring customers in, we might have to get him onto a board if he isn't already on one.

[Amlin]

Kyle, I have made my thoughts clear to some of the people running the show/s but some are still stuck in the old days and ways and have the hearing aids turned off. Having said that, some of the clubs are very progressive and do set things up right and do try to get a good crowd in. But if you don't plan properly you don't make money and we know what happens after that. Kevin has clearly highlighted one way to bring customers in, we might have to get him onto a board if he isn't already on one.



Having been on a country club committee for 13 years I know exactly what you mean!

[Messenger]

Kyle, I have made my thoughts clear to some of the people running the show/s but some are still stuck in the old days and ways and have the hearing aids turned off. Having said that, some of the clubs are very progressive and do set things up right and do try to get a good crowd in. But if you don't plan properly you don't make money and we know what happens after that. Kevin has clearly highlighted one way to bring customers in, we might have to get him onto a board if he isn't already on one.

It is the Kyle's of this industry that will hopefully get the chance to make a difference Pat. Kyle's club Warragul is one of the most progressive around - despite being in the neglected Eastern half of the state

[Messenger]

The Cup was a fantastic advertisement for Quarter horse racing!
There was absolutely no action for the first 2100m
It will go down as one of the most boring Cups/races EVER
Thankfully it was too hot to go

http://www.harness.org.au/meeting-results.cfm?mc=HS100116&ms=vic#HSC10011601

Tell me I am wrong

[Adaptor]

Agree
All that money put up for the four inside horses from the front row to sprint the last half a lap for. THE RESULT 3,2,1,4.
Driver initiative? Not evident !

[Smoken]

Agree Kev, bloody boring race to watch! I enjoyed watching the S.A Cup more..

[aussiebreno]

Agree
All that money put up for the four inside horses from the front row to sprint the last half a lap for. THE RESULT 3,2,1,4.
Driver initiative? Not evident !
The horses at the back were 100/1 with the best horse in the race controlling the race like he has done numerous times from the death. Corzin Terror pretty tough but he is better for a late sprint eg beat Terror To Love 12 months ago. Tell me which horse would have been better off making a move earlier being plastered 3 wide and getting a stitch besten 50m+?

[Messenger]

The horses at the back were 100/1 with the best horse in the race controlling the race like he has done numerous times from the death. Corzin Terror pretty tough but he is better for a late sprint eg beat Terror To Love 12 months ago. Tell me which horse would have been better off making a move earlier being plastered 3 wide and getting a stitch besten 50m+?

Tell me it was not BORING IN CAPITALS. We have to find a way around this.
I sometimes think we either need 1mile races for the fast action pace or 2miles races where very few drivers would have the courage to refuse challenges to the death

[aussiebreno]

Tell me it was not BORING IN CAPITALS. We have to find a way around this.
I sometimes think we either need 1mile races for the fast action pace or 2miles races where very few drivers would have the courage to refuse challenges to the death
I was just talking in terms of driver initiative.

It depends on how the race is run but I don't think you are to far off with the 1 mile or 2 mile racing. 1 mile the leaders only get a 400m breather so are still a bit gassed for the sprint home and brings backmarkers into it. 2 mile racing bread and butter horses would be running 34 quarters. Lot easier for backmarkers to gradually make a move in 34 quarters than 30 quarters. If the leader was to run to quick over 2 mile they would run out of petrol tickets. Bit harder for a driver to judge just how quick to go maybe?
Mile and 3/8 racing that dominates in most of Aust the leaders get best of both worlds 1000m breather and 31 quarters that means backmarkers are near on sprinting to make ground and gas themselves.

But it is a double edged sword...make things easier for the backmarkers then what is the point of PBD or Handicap? (In general terms, Horsham was RBD).

Industry complains about too many leaders winning, which means back line horses aren't winning...but then industry complains the back line horses aren't being handicapped 20m stand start????

[Beltane]

But there is good news for the track with Horsham to benefit from $470,000 track upgrade:

http://www.harness.org.au/news-article.cfm?news_id=28583

This track upgrade should result in a better spectacle of racing.

[Messenger]

Half a million dollars - unreal. I wonder whether the 500k will bring 1 additional punter to the track or any increase in revenue? I suppose some will argue that the sprint lane might but I cannot remember seeing many hard luck stories at Horsham anyway. I would put the money towards Lights and dining facilities before any of the above (or leave Horsham as is and put the money towards improving our Big Picture exposure). I reckon racing under lights and potentially bigger crowds might be a better spectacle still Steve but a track inside a gallops track is always going to be limited from a viewing perspective. Just my opinion.

ps Looking at that Cup field again Brenno, you were right - the biggest problem was probably that there were only 5 contenders

[Njcstables]

Another track to be ruined by a sprint lane!

[Amlin]

Apparently not many at the meeting from what I was told.

The upgrade will improve the camber like it has at Ballarat and therefore a smoother run for horses.

[Adaptor]

Then when all of the improvements for the equine participants are done, the sensible thing to do would be to amalgamate Stawell, Ararat and Horsham, upgrade the faciliies for human participants and race at Horsham.

[Messenger]

Then when all of the improvements for the equine participants are done, the sensible thing to do would be to amalgamate Stawell, Ararat and Horsham, upgrade the faciliies for human participants and race at Horsham.

You are kidding Noel. Horsham has the atmosphere of a 2016 Essendon game. A harness track inside a gallops track is one of the greatest mistakes our industry can make, one of our major points of difference should be proximity to the action and tracks like Horsham lose that. Moonee Valley was not too bad because it made up for it a bit by having tall grandstands (and facilities) to offer good viewing. I go to most of the local meets up this way and Stawell is a mile ahead of the others for atmosphere (and amenities). Horsham with improvements may become a poor version of Hamilton