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When we raced at Moonee Valley we would invite 20/30 clients 2 or 3 times a year to dinner and a night of harness racing. Some of these people would then race horses with us for fun and a social night out. We have never invited anyone to Melton. It is our premier harness racing venue but because of location and lack of corporate facilities it fails to attract ' top end customers ' HRV 's focus is on the punter but IMO the punter is not tomorrows owner. It is a serious concern for breeders as ownership requires not only a passion for the sport but the spending money to sustain that passion.
We attended an ownership group meeting a few weeks ago . When I looked around the table I realised that all attendees were business people who had an income outside of harness racing . The AFL have realised that there is a higher expectation for better facilities , comfort ,dining, and public transport access and have rationalised and improved their grounds to cater for this ( no more standing room at the Footy ).
Until we lift our game at our premier facility I cannot see top end customers wanting to drive all the way to Melton for a night out.
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Spot on Anne. I am only an enthusiast who has drifted to and from harness for 45yrs and was in my 'cycling period' when Melton happened (not that I would have had any say) but it just astounds me that HRV adopted this "we will just create our own little pond" mentality
ps The 7 racing coverage just had a story about how failed racehorses are retrained - all these stories are no coincidence, they are the gallops industry showing how it can respond to adverse publicity.
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Two points from Junee meeting on Saturday night.
Race 5. First quarter is up a hill and round a tight bend. Panella absolutely rushes out her metropolitan drives to go low 26s at Menangle. I'm not convinced they went 25.8 at Junee.
Race 6. Can anybody point me in the right direction on the non runners and Gina Gina. To be declared a non runner my understanding is you must have been denied a fair start. To me Gina Gina clearly gallops before the point of no return, impacting the three non runners. So to me, this is the correct ruling that they were declared non runners. But isn't it also true Gina Gina didn't get a fair crack at the start (albeit it was it's own fault)? So why is that horse declared a runner. Stewards comments say Broke After Start. While I am of the opinion it broke before the start, if it was in fact after the start then obviously the other three got impacted after the start and were then therefore deemed to be given a fair start and should be runners? Where am I going wrong?
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Totally agree Breno, Gina Gina should have been declared a non runner as well and the horse 3 in from the outside has clearly struck the gate before they were released, Surely you would flip the red light on and restart the race.
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Google "M F Hollywood" and check out the positive stories on a standardbred outside of the racetrack.Also "james the first abc landline" although showing the darkside of racing in the begining it tells of the remarkable story of horse and rider.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
Messenger
Is Reid leaving?
Don't think so, not by the add.
Please send resume and cover letter to rsanders@hrnsw.com.au
For further information please call Reid Sanders (02) 97226600
If you need a reference let me know. :D:D:D
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I thought Reid was the Chairman (but I am a Vic)
Some reference that would be!
