Did nt say it would. All im saying is everything we love about harness racing, may not appeal to the next generation.
Did nt say it would. All im saying is everything we love about harness racing, may not appeal to the next generation.
I have to agree Leigh that again we have a couple of eloquent posts on a topic.
Lee..
I accept your point about views re the malaise of Harness Racing. I looked to where there are a number of recent threads on that very topic but I will take your point on how this appointment is another factor in that.
cheers
I think the bigger problem is who from the outside world would actually take on the role? For many Sam Nati was a strange appointment - personally i thought it was a master stroke, but he was dealt the ultimate shit sandwich by people who should have been working with him instead of corruptly destroying the game from the inside. He has had to spend so much of his time on one issue and ultimately the result is one less than satisfactory to most rank and file participants. That casts a shadow over the some of the really good stuff that he has been a part of. Not all of Sam's work has been great, the Inter is now a shambles, but on the whole he has left new in a much better place than it was.
If a head hunter came to me and said how about it and I knew little about the industry, if I did my research and looked at revenues, market share, competition, perception, infrastructure, there is no way anyone in their right mind would take the job and aside from WA, (which might as well be classified as another country) I can't see any state actually going ahead.
In another life I actually did some consulting, in far too many situations for my liking across many different levels, I was hired to deliver an outcome that was already predetermined, but by being able to point to the report as being "independent" it was able to pass the probity test.
Bottom line, I doubt the roll call of candidates was very long at all.
I must add, I attended HP trots for approximately 5-6 years with Rex Horne and I consider him a friend and a genuine bloke who has done a massive amount for the industry, but sometimes you can get too close to things and your judgement can be impaired.
Last edited by Mister JayKO; 08-01-2014 at 12:59 AM. Reason: Add
It would seem as though WA have done the least wrong and have city central racing with atmosphere.
I think we need a messiah to lead us - maybe it should be the CEO of HRA.
Any such messiah has to get all the smart people that are out there (and it would seem many are willing to give their time) and draw up a believable strategic plan
We need to know how Melton and Menangle are going to grow our product
Are we locked into the betting dollar only or are we going to be an entertainment industry.
(I will quit as having just got out of hospital I am probably talking shit - I know we are a caring community on here so the answer is Yeah I am fine and might be able to hear again soon!)
Greg Sugars was a Champion harness racing person
As someone who has spent a lot of time in Perth over the years, it is so different to everywhere else. Go along to a Friday night meeting and the crowd is huge compared to anywhere else I've been to in Australasia for an everyday meeting. The only reason I could see was Pokies were restricted to the casino. If you wanted to bet in any pub in WA then the horses were your only option so it has helped maintain a grassroots following of horse racing.Turnover drives stakemoney and keeps people involved. In NZ gambling on the Pokies in the pubs is worth over two billion a year and has decimated our turnover on horse racing. Dont know how you fix that as the pokies aren't going anywhere.Originally Posted by Messenger
BINGO Viv! (excuse the pun). Solution to build a harness facility that has pokies? Like Melton. Even then the government comes along and takes and extra slug.
They've been talking about restrictions on the pokies for a long time here but nothing has come to light as yet. Tony Abbott's government is finally getting a bit more serious on the Dole bludgers and this is a step in the right direction and if this goes ahead, I think that the amounts that you can gamble on a poker machine might closely follow that.
and pigs might fly.
Melton has pokies and trots, Horsham has pokies and trots, Stawell has pokies and trots, Kilmore has pokies and trots .....
Some form of entertainment needs to be happening at all our trots venues or else the tracks are just underutilized facilities (how I saw my old Yarra Glen track)
But in the end harness racing still has to be attractive and grab an audience or else one day the facilities will be circled by housing not tracks.
Let us say the pokies rooms and restaurants are supplying most of the revenue for the trots (which I think some are declaring to be the case in the US) at what point do the trots no longer become a vital part of the equation.
If you are running subsidiary businesses to fund another business it has to be seen as worth doing it for.
The ethics of Pokies joints being run to fund football clubs is debatable but there is no doubting that people care about football
If a pokies joint was being run to fund a theatre company that nobody gave a rats about - how long before the survival of the theatre company becomes questionable. I would think only until the old brigade are gone.
Gerry Ryan pouring money into Australian cycling/Orica Greenedge team will only last as long as Gerry is around unless people are interested in the cycling product, in which case someone else will keep it going
I fear I am going around in circles (its the drugs) but the crux of it would seem to be having a product that people care about for there are hundreds of things for people to bet on.
For sustainability we have to tap into peoples love of beautiful animals, of horses, of standardbred horses or else it may as well be cartoon video racing
We need champion equine athletes and we need them to get air time - that is a major role for administrators. If we had a standardbred equivalent of Black Caviar going around would the public even hear about it
Our newspapers are full of absolute garbage football stories for filler and yet we cannot get a column inch about ITMQ in some of them
Greg Sugars was a Champion harness racing person
We don't know who the other applicants were for the position of CEO but who could doubt the dedication to the sport by John D. It has been his life from his days in the, I think Parkes area. His family are still involved. He is still a country boy and I can imagine he has a few ideas for those regions.
Working along side Rex Horne to me is a benefit, these 2 fought for the current changes and development of Menangle with a long term vision, now the State may benefit.
Having the benefit of being part of a dramatic change from Harold Park to Menangle with all the good and bad that must have been involved and probably is still being felt, can only be an advantage for the future imo.
Or maybe a businessman with no passion for the sport could have been better.........not for me.
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