My comments here will no doubt be met with plenty of criticism but I am willing to take the heat! The biggest issue in harness racing is one of the purest features that has defined the sport until this point. For the sport to re-establish itself it must make some serious decisions to delineate between hobbyist non professional trainers & drivers & professional trainers and drivers.
I am not suggesting that we get rid of the hobbyists, I am however in support of a licensing & race programming model that provides exclusivity for both and some opportunity for both to co-participate at certain events. I would investigate the viability of making non tab events exclusive to hobbyists and country meetings open to all trainers and a minimum graded driver. Metro meetings should be open to professional drivers only (all trainers). I would also make the licensing process more stringent particularly for the various driver classes.
Secondly the governing bodies in each state need to make the call on closing down venues which no longer meet the required standard. A prime example of this is Bankstown in NSW. I attended a Monday meeting there a couple of weeks ago and walked away questioning a lot of things. Furthermore a lot of work needs to be done on venue management, in particular restricted access to race day stalls. At Bankstown it was come and go as you please for anyone????
There is a lot more detail that goes with my two suggestions above.
Given that the future of the sport relies heavily on wagering, making decisions that entice the punter to invest more should be prioritised. The above 2 points are a good place to start in my opinion.
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